Radiation in TFT
 

A while back I promised a set of guidelines for incorporating radiation into TFT. After a number of revisions I've finally finished the first version of the document, which is uploaded to the Shadekeep site here:

https://shadekeep.com/files/Radiatio...ntasy_Trip.pdf

I would appreciate any feedback on these before I advertise the link more publicly on the front page. Hopefully you'll find something of use here. Thanks!

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

An important part of the campaign setting I'm working on is: The Glassy Waste *cue ominous music*. All the players will be told is that there's supposedly a lake of glass in the middle of the desert on the other side of the mountains, but no one has ever seen it with their own eyes and returned to tell the tale. Also, the mountains are full of strange creatures not seen elsewhere...anyway, this is all very timely and useful to me.

Also, it reads almost like a GURPS supplement, with the attention to detail and adaptation of real-world science to game mechanics. Great work! I do wish the answers to the question "how many dice do I need to roll, when, and against what number?" weren't buried quite so deep, though.

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

Thanks, and glad that it is useful. I'll see if I can make the dice rolls a little more obvious in the release version, and let me know if you have specific suggestions along those lines. Cheers!

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

I appreciate giving us Radiation rules. It is something that I thought was needed. They will be good for space and high tech games. Delving into Security Station type facilities or lands, etc., now have some additional risk factors.

However, if you are not playing High Tech, I feel a stripped down version of these rules are needed. All those pages could be intimidating.

Perhaps a 2 page article.
1) Simple Radiation
2) Deadly Radiation
3) Effects of Radiation in gameplay

I think you rendered the subject into playable terms. I like it. Just make two versions available.

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

I give it a glowing review. ;)

[All your stuff is excellent BTW.]

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

Thanks for the reviews and comments! I am working on making the rules a bit more accessible, and I like the idea of a "cheat sheet" short version too. Perhaps I can nuke two cities with one bomb there and provide the short version as the handy overview for the longer article.

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

I really like when you start bringing in the flavor with "hot-earth ague." I think approaching it more from that side: How has it been noticed? How has it been used? Before diving into the game mechanics would be good. I also agree with JohnPaulB's comment that you could probably simplify this for TFT.

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

That's a good point, and I like the idea of leading with the colorful stuff instead of the stats. This article is dry reading overall, apart from the touches like you mention, and would no doubt benefit from a more evocative approach. Thanks!

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

Thanks to all the feedback I have revised the guide. It is now simpler, with radiations grouped into four categories and a lot of calculations removes (attenuation is very basic now). The new doc weighs in at a little over 7 pages and hopefully is a much better read now.

https://shadekeep.com/files/Radiatio...simplified.pdf

There is also a two page Quick Guide, which just lays out all the basic numbers and tables. It doesn't go into patagurgic (magical) radiation in detail, because that has different effects than other radiations. So the reader is advise back to the main guide for that one.

https://shadekeep.com/files/Radiatio...quickguide.pdf

Would love to get your impressions on these new guides, and thanks again for all your help!

Re: Radiation in TFT
 

This is much easier to follow and use. The larger document is for GMs and for sci-fi games (meaning that the players are expected to have more serious knowledge of radiation.) The smaller document I feel is just right for basic fantasy or modern gaming.

I like the simpler hex based affects.

Something missing is the onset times of these radiation effects. Do any of these effects start showing up during combat. Or how many minutes later do they occur? Hours later?


Attenuation - Divide rads by number of megahexes the target is from the source (same or adjacent megahex is full strength).
So does this mean that if its in your hex (center of megahex) or 4 hexes from that center hex, you get full strength?
Is it -1 for every megahex (three hexes) farther than the initial megahex?


Can you walk us through Joe being exposed from Spectrum radiation?
From Energetic radiation?