The Wasteland world might have changed, its inhabitants had not.

The World
The 30% of the world that is not covered by water
is mostly one giant, barren desert. Very little plant-
life remains and humanity is only a mere shadow of
what it once was.

The Wasteland is set in the former United States of

America. After the end of the Last War, the United
States was heavily warped. The entire eastern coast
was decimated by constant bombing during the
war. All that is left are large ruins and an enormous
desert referred to only as “the Wasteland”.

The Wasteland is a land of anarchy and blood. A

number of small groups try to gain control of the
large swath of land, but all fail. The only sign of
civilization that can be found in this hell hole are
small villages of people who have banded together
to help each other survive. Most Wastelanders are
scavengers who delve into the ruins of Chicago and
New York, finding valuable items they can use to
barter for supplies. Because of this, many people
who do not live in the Wasteland see its inhabitants
as thieves and scoundrels.

While the Wasteland dominates most of the former

United States, there are two places where
What is The Wasteland? civilization has grown anew; the Republic of New
The Wasteland is a simple, rules light game that
Texas and Paradiso.
allows a group of players and a Game Master to
experience adventures in a post-apocalyptic world
Around 20 years ago, a man by the name of Dallas
filled with deadly threats.
Howard. A bear of a man, Dallas looked at the
sand-covered land before him and dreamed about
Background only one thing; controlling it all. With his gang of
The year is 2062, and the world has gone to hell in
thugs known as the Enforcers, Dallas quickly took
a hand basket. In 2012, after North Korea launched
over a number of small towns and became
a nuclear missile at what used to be the United
something of a warlord. As his territory grew
States, World War III began. That war is known as
bigger and bigger, he stumbled upon the ruins of
“the Last War” by many older people since it was
Austin and discovered a number of old, falling
the last war the old world would ever have.
apart history books telling tales of a nation known
as “Texas”. Inspired by what he read, Dallas named
After only 5 years of armed conflict, the destructive
his began to call his new territory “New Texas”.
nature of man could no long sustain itself. The
Currently, New Texas is the larger of the two
world was consumed by nuclear fire and radiation.
civilized territories and is the most powerful.
However, it was not the end of the world. Instead,
the apocalypse was simply the beginning of another
While a now middle-aged Dallas rules New Texas
carnage-filled chapter of human history. While the
with an iron fist, he does have a number of advisers
from all of the New Texan towns. Each of the
advisers are elected by citizens of their town and At 1st level, players receive five points to spend on
serve terms of four years. Dallas discovered this their attributes. The maximum amount of points a
form of government from the same books that held character can have is three times their current level.
the stories of Texas. It was called a “Democratic
Republic”. Skills
Like in other games, skills define a characters
New Texans are notorious for being loud and natural and learned abilities. There are eighteen
stubborn. If they have an opinion about something, skills and each skill has a matching attribute. The
they aren't afraid to say it out loud and to everyone skills (and their matching attributes) are:
they meet. They also tend to very good fighters and
know how to take a punch very well. • Academics (Wits): This is a catch-all skill that
shows how much your character knows. Need to
The smaller, less powerful civilized land is known remember who invented the revolver or the atomic
as Paradiso. Founded before New Texas by a group mass of oxygen, Academics is the skill you use.
of religious zealots known as the Encargado de Luz • Acrobatics (Brawn): This skill shows how agile
(or the Light Keepers in English). The leader of the a character is and how well he can balance, dodge,
group, a now elderly man named Augusto jump, or tumble.
Cervantes, discovered a well-persevered church in • Arts (Guts): This skill shows how well a
the ruins of Los Angelos. While there, Augusto character can create different art, like paintings,
supposively received a message from god, telling dancing, singing, etc.
him it was his mission to gather worshipers and • Athletics (Brawn): This skill shows how well a
protect them from the dangers of the world. character can climb, run, and swim.
• Bluff (Guts): This skill shows how well a
Paradiso, unlike New Texas, is a lot more friendly character can lie to someone.
to outsiders. They tend to welcome them with open • Crafts (Wits): Another catch-all skill, Crafts
arms, seeing it as the duty of the faithful to help shows how well a character can create and fix
those in need. However, if they catch someone something.
speaking ill of their faith, they will bring the wrath • Diplomacy (Guts): This skill shows how well
of God upon you. The nations theocratic rulers see you can talk to people and get them to see your side
vocal non-believers as a threat and used armed of things.
warriors, known as paladins, to protect their land • Disguise (Guts): This skill shows how well you
from “vile heathens”. can disguise yourself and get people to believe your
are someone else.
Character Creation • Driving (Brawn): This skill shows how well a
Characters in The Wasteland are defined by a person can drive a vehicle (whether it be a wagon
number of different traits. The two major traits are or a spaceship) and perform maneuvers while
attributes and skills. driving it.
• Fighting (Brawn): This skill shows how well a
Attributes character can fighter, whether barehanded or with a
Unlike in other games, characters only have three weapon.
attributes; Brawn, Guts, and Wits. • Heal (Wits): This skill shows how well a person
can heal another (or his own) wounds and ailments.
• Brawn: Shows how strong, fast, and tough a • Intimidate (Guts): This skill shows how well a
character is. person can intimidate another, either by just using
• Guts: Shows how likeable and intimidating a words or enhancing it with the help of brute
character is. strength.
• Wits: Shows how intelligent and wise a character • Perception (Wits): This skill shows how well a
is. character can listen, search an area, or spot
something from afar.
• Stealth (Wits): This skill shows how well a
character can hide or move silently.
• Streetwise (Guts): This skill shows how much a
character knows about the streets and the darker
side of life.
• Shooting (Brawn): This skill shows how well a
character can fight while using a ranged weapon
(whether it be a bow or a pistol).
• Thievery (Guts): This skill shows how well a
character can steal and break into things.
• Technology (Wits): This skill shows how well a
person can use any form of technology.
thirty feet (or six squares on a battle mat) unless
stated otherwise.
Initiative
Initiative shows how quick a character is to take
action in combat. A character's Initiative score is
equal to one plus a character's Guts score.
Fate Points
Fate points are a way characters can take fate into
their own hands. When a character makes a bad
roll, he can spend a fate point to re-roll the action
and then keep the better result.

At 1st level, a player receives ten points to spend At 1st level, characters receive 3 fate points. The
on their skills. The maximum amount of points a maximum amount of fate points a character can
character can have is three times their current level. have is three times their current level.

Some skills, if a character so chooses, can become Character Advancement

more focused. These skills are Academics, Arts,
Crafts, Driving, Fighting, Shooting, Thievery, and
Technology. If a character chooses to make a skill
focused, he receives a +3 bonus when using the
skill with it's focus. Even if you make a skill
focused, you can skill use it as stated above. A
character can only have three focused skills at a
time.
When a character receives one hundred times a
character's current level in experience points, he
gains a new level. When this happens, a character
receives ten points to do the following:
• Raise their attribute scores.
• Raise their skill scores.
• Buy more fate points.

Health A character also adds their Brawn score to their

Health, like other games, show how much damage health each time they gain a new level.
a character can take before he dies.
Game Play
At 1st level, a character has ten plus their Brawn Playing a Wasteland game is rather simple. When
score in Health. performing an action, first see if there is a skill that
matches it. If there isn't, use the attribute that
Speed would make he most since. Then, take a d20 and
A character's speed shows how fast a character can roll it. Add any bonus you have. If you are just
move in one round. All characters have a speed of using an attribute, you only add your attribute's
score to the roll. If you are using a skill, you add
both the attribute's score and the skill's score. After
you have rolled and added any bonuses you have,
check the Success Table, which looks like this:

Success table
Roll Result Level of Success
1 to 5 Utter Failure
6 to 10 Failure
 11 to 15 Success merchant or someone else must be bartered.
16 to 20 Utter Success When a character is bartering with someone, they
make a one of (or a combination of) three checks:
If you have rolled a Success or an Utter Success, Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate. When using Bluff,
you succeed at the action. If you roll a Failure or an you are most likely trying to barter with something
Utter Failure, you fail at the action. that is worth less than the item you are trying to
get. When using Diplomacy, you are most likely
If a character makes an action and gets an Utter trying to barter with something that is close to or
Failure, he receives a -1 to all future attempts of the equal to the item you are trying to get. When
action until either A) he succeeds at the action, or Intimidating, you are most likely trying to barter
B) the session ends. If a character makes an action for something worth a lot, but trying to intimidate
and gets an Utter Success, he receives a +1 to all the person so they will except something worth
future attempts of the action until either A) he fails little or nothing at all.
at the action, or B) the session ends. This penalty or
bonus does not stack, so two Utter Successes does Bartering works like a normal skill check. When a
not give you a +2 on the action. character is bartering, they make the check (or
checks) they want to use. They roll the check, look
Combat at the Success Table, and see if they succeed.
Combat The Wasteland works much like normal
game play, with a few minor changes. When If they get a success, doesn't mean they
making an offensive action, a character either automatically get the item they are trying to barter
makes a Fighting check (when attacking with his for. Only an Utter Success allows you to do that.
bare hands or a melee weapon) or a Shooting check The other person can make some checks to, trying
(when attacking with a ranged weapon). If he gets a to haggle the cost down or up. The number of
Success or an Utter Success, he succeeds and hits normal successes it takes to finally get an item
his opponent, dealing damage. depends on the GM.

When making a defensive action, a character makesHere are some common items that most characters
a Acrobatics check. If he gets a Success or an Utter can get their hands on quite easily:
Success, he succeeds and dodges the opponents
attack. Equipment
If a character gets an Utter Success when making Basic Clothing Binoculars
an offensive action, he does not receive the normal Goggles Gas mask
+1 bonus to future rolls like normal. Instead, he
Various Tools Flashlight
receives a +1 bonus to damage until his next round.
Backpack Batteries
When attacking barehanded, a character deals his
Brawn score if he hits his opponent. When
attacking with a weapon, he deals the set amount of
damage the weapon deals. Most weapons only deal
the set amount of damage, but some allow you to
add your Brawn score to damage as well.

Equipment
Equipment and supplies are hard to come by in The
Wasteland. No form of currency exists in the world.
Every item that a place wishes to get from a
 Armor
Armor in The Wasteland works a little differently
than in other games. Unlike other games, armor
does not add a bonus to your Acrobatics score
when in combat. Instead, armor allows the wearer
to negate a set amount of damage from an attack.

Armor
Name Reduction
Reinforced/Thick 1
Clothing
Weapons are also highly important items in The Kevlar Vest 2
Wasteland. A man with a gun tends to get a lot Flak Jacket 3
more than a man without one. Here are a number of
weapons players can choose from for their Full Riot Gear 4
characters.
The Wasteland Awaits...
Melee Weapons Now that you have everything that you need to play
The Wasteland, adventures in this harsh world and
Name Damage
it's your duty to survive it. Good luck.
Brass Knuckles 1 + Brawn
Club (wood) 2 + Brawn
Mace (metal) 3 + Brawn
Knife 1 + Brawn
Machete 3 + Brawn
Chattersword 5 + Brawn
Hatchet 2 + Brawn
Ax 4 + Brawn
Chatterax 5 + Brawn

Ranged weapons
Name Damage Range
Automatic 4 40 ft.
Pistol
Revolver 5 30 ft.
Hunting Rifle 7 80 ft.
Automatic 10 80 ft.
Rifle
Shotgun 8 30 ft.
©Cody Connelly, The Wasteland, El Diablo Games