Updates and balancing

Hi all,

the PDFs have now been updated with the changes mentioned in the last post, they're available for download using the links on the right hand side of the page. There's also about a dozen additional Edges and a handful of Hindrances in there, so have a look if you haven't yet.

The most important change has to do with a bit of rebalancing for the non-human races; while I don't think perfect balance is necessary, Ghouls and particularly Super Mutants did have a big mechanical advantage on human characters, while the drawbacks were mostly RP focused. So to counter that I've changed the character creation for these races: Ghouls and Super Mutants must now take a race specific Hindrance in addition to any other Hindrances they wish to take. Super Mutants no longer get the Brawny Edge for free, and must pay double the points if they want to raise Smarts.

If you don't want to use the additional Hindrance rule, I would suggest giving these races some other drawbacks to balance things out a bit. The new/changed racial Hindrances are:

Ghouls:

- Decrepit (Major): Ghouls have prolonged life spans and the hero has been around for quite a while. The character’s body is becoming dangerously frail. -1 die type Vigor and cannot be raised after character creation. The character receives an additional -1 penalty to all Soak rolls.

- Feral (Major): Accelerating decay has started to impair the character's brain functions, slowly turning him/her feral. -2 die type Smarts and cannot be raised further. Aside from an increasingly bestial disposition, the hero lapses into a murderous frenzy during combat, as per the Berserk Edge, making only unarmed attacks.

- Glowing One (Major): Long term radiation exposure has made the character permanently irradiated and even glow. -1 die type Spirit and cannot be raised further. Lighting penalties for attacks made against the hero are negated and he/she gains a -4 penalty to Stealth checks. Travelling companions take low level radiation damage once per day. The Glowing One gains the Rad Child Edge.

- Old School Ghoul (Major): The character has been around for at least a century and the effects of old age are acutely felt. -1 die type Strength and cannot be raised after character creation, pace -1, cannot run.

Super Mutant:

- Battle Scarred (Major): Decades of raiding, skirmishes and fights have left the hero with injuries that will never fully heal. The character has two permanent injuries, randomly rolled on the Injury Table.

- Gentle Giant (Minor/Major): The character abhors violence, to the point of physical revulsion. The hero must make a Spirit check (at -2 for the Major version) at the start of each combat, or suffer a -1 (-2 for the Major version) penalty to all Trait rolls for the duration of the fight.

- Ham Fisted (Minor/Major): Genetic engineering - or dumb luck - has endowed the hero with huge hands. The character’s Small Guns, Explosives, Repair, Medicine and Lockpick skills all suffer a -1 penalty. With the Major version the aforementioned skills become impossible for the character, all actions requiring fine manipulation suffer a -2 penalty.

- Super Duper Mutant (Major): The character is a born grunt; he/she excels at following orders, not so much at independent thought. Smarts can never be raised above d4. The hero must always carry out all orders given by his/her master or leader. Without guidance, the character is prone to panicking and inaction; if his/her master is killed, the hero’s only goal becomes seeking a suitable replacement. The character is extremely gullible and easily fooled; he/she must make a Smarts check to avoid being bluffed, tricked or goaded into performing actions detrimental to their own best interest (except extremely obvious suicidal commands).