It happens time and again, the heroes beat staggering odds to save the day or avoid an unpleasant fate. The arch-villain conveniently escapes to plague the
calculating every possible modifier to an action slows things down. Just use the highest modifier possible rather than add them all together (i.e., modifiers don’t “stack”) – it’s a lot faster and easier.
Ignition! - V6 Engine Basics
heroes another day. In books and movies, it’s because everything occurs as set out in a preordained plot – but that’s not the case in roleplaying games. To represent that level of plot immunity and jaw-dropping luck, Major characters in Atomic Highway, namely the PCs and any important villains, have something called Fortune. PCs start each game session with 5 Fortune, but Players may earn more in play. Unspent Fortune cannot be saved from session to session, so be sure to use it! Fortune can be spent after any roll.
During play, Fortune can be spent by the Players or GM to gain any of the following benefits at the listed costs: Gain Extra Successes (1 Fortune per extra Success): You can add an extra Success to a character’s action. This can ensure at least one Success or add to those already rolled. Extra Successes gained with Fortune cannot be used to offset Bad Things Happen.
Example: Attempting to sneak past a guard dog, Jane
rolls and scores one Success. As it’s a competing roll, the guard dog rolls and gets three Successes, meaning it will notice Jane easily! Realizing she simply cannot afford to be noticed, her Player spends 3 Fortune, raising Jane’s Successes to four, enough to beat the dog’s total. Jane manages to sneak past the alert hound.
[Optional] Perform Dual Action (2 Fortune): Ordinarily characters may only attempt a single Action in a given Round, but by spending 2 Fortune, a character can attempt two Actions in the same Round, either simultaneously or in a particular order, at no penalty. They might kick one opponent while shooting another, for example. A character cannot perform concurrent Actions and dual Actions in the same turn.
Example: Jane is surrounded by slavering freaks and
wants to take them down quickly. Her Player spends 2 Fortune, and describes how Jane launches a kick at the head of one opponent while she fires her pistol at another! Her Player makes a separate roll for each Action.
Plot Tweak (2 Fortune): You can make a minor tweak or addition to the current in-game environment or situation that somehow benefits the character. Any tweaks should be somewhat believable in the given circumstances.
Examples: Rex just happens to find a rusted but
usable hammer on the shelf in that decrepit shack when he most needs one. Jane suddenly realizes that the chains the raiders wrapped her in are partly rusted through on one link, and won’t be too hard to break and escape.
Plot Twist (5 Fortune): You can make a significant twist or change to the current situation that somehow benefits a character. These twists should have some
level of vague plausibility as anything too ridiculous can ruin the entire game. This use of Fortune should be carefully considered, and its inclusion should be agreed to by the whole group before play.
Examples: The jailer who comes to feed Jane just
happens to be someone who owes her their life and will help her escape. The defeated villain’s body cannot be found, indicating he likely survived or escaped against all odds.
Reduce An Opponent’s Successes (2 Fortune per Success removed): You can remove a Success from a character’s roll. This can cause them to fail entirely.
Example: Rex is engaged in an arm-wrestling contest
with a local bruiser, his reputation on the line. Both contestants are equally matched in all ways, and both achieve two Successes! Wanting this contest done with, Rex’s Player spends 2 Fortune and removes one of the bruiser’s Successes, reducing him to one Success, making Rex the clear winner.
Reduce Injury/Damage (1 Fortune): You can remove some Damage from a character or vehicle equal to half its normal full Health. Lethal and Non-Lethal Damage are treated equally, and you cannot raise the character’s or vehicle’s Health above it’s normal maximum.
Example: Jane has been pretty badly mauled in
a savage fight with a mutant cougar, and though victorious, has been reduced to 3 Health, a fraction of her full 16 Health. She spends a Fortune and immediately gains back 8 Health (half of her normal full total), bringing her up to 11 Health. Grimacing, wiping away blood and dust, the pained and bloodied Jane rises to her feet in surprisingly good shape given the fight, looking worse than she actually feels.
Reroll Bad Things Happen (3 Fortune): You can completely negate the bad incident that occurs when you roll all 1s on your dice by rerolling. In the unlikely event you reroll all 1s again, reroll until you get a result that isn’t all 1s.
Example: Rex is attempting to leap from the top of a
speeding automobile to a nearby truck. To his Player’s horror, all the dice rolled come up 1! This could be disastrous in the circumstances, so the Player spends 3 Fortune and rerolls.
R.A.D. Says: Make It Tactile!
Rather than just record and tick off Fortune gained and spent, we recommend you use something more tactile to represent these points. Nuts and bolts, glass beads, spent bullet casings, coins, pebbles, whatever you like. It adds to the fun of the game to be given or discard Fortune this way.
Outrider