SageDaMage

RULES CHARACTERS
PLAY: Players describe what their characters ► Choose your character’s specialty.
do. The game moderator (GM) advises when an
DRIVER: Skilled in Operate (d8) and either Rally
action is impossible, requires extra steps,
(d8) or Maneuver (d8). Take something loud and
demands a cost, or presents an avoidable risk.
a vehicle upgrade of your choice.
Players only roll to avoid risks.
MARAUDER: Skilled in Offense (d8) and either
ROLLING: Roll a d6 skill die — higher with a rele-
Tactics (d8) or Labor (d8). Take something
vant skill, or d4 if hindered by injury or circum-
overly large and a vehicle weapon upgrade.
stances. If helped by circumstances, roll an
extra d6; if helped by an ally, they roll their skill SCAVENGER: Skilled in Trash (d8) and either
die and share the risk. Take the highest die. Mechanisms (d8) or Improvising (d8). Take
something normally useless and a vehicle armor
1–2 Disaster. Suffer the full risk. GM decides if
upgrade.
you succeed at all. If risking death, you die.
TRADER: Skilled in Negotiation (d8) and either
3–4 Setback. A lesser consequence or partial
Appraisal (d8) or Swindling (d8). Take something
success. If risking death, you’re maimed.
cowardly and a vehicle storage upgrade.
5+ Success. The higher the roll, the better.
PREACHER: Skilled in History (d8) and either
If success can’t get you what you want (you Persuasion (d8) or Reading People (d8). Take
make the shot, but it’s bulletproof!), you’ll at something that sends a message and either ₡2
least get useful info or set up an advantage. or a follower with two overly-specific skills (d8).

LOAD: Carry as much as makes sense, but more
than one bulky item may hinder you at times.
DEFENSE: Say how one of your items breaks to
turn a hit into a brief hindrance. Broken gear is
useless until repaired.
HARM: Injuries take time and/or medical atten-
tion to heal. If killed, make a new character to be
introduced ASAP. Favor inclusion over realism.
JOY: Upon use, roll Coping. 1-2, overuse. Always
benefit. Joy lasts as long as needed to find an
inopportune time for it to run out.
RUNNING THE GAME: Lead the group in setting
lines not to cross in play. Fast-forward, pause, or
rewind/redo scenes for pacing and safety, and
invite players to do likewise. Present dilemmas
and problems you don’t know how to solve. Move
the spotlight to give everyone time to shine. Test
periodically for bad luck (e.g., run out of ammo,
or into guards) — roll d6 to check for (1–2) trou-
ble now or (3–4) signs of trouble. Offer rulings to
cover gaps in rules; double back during a break
to revise unsatisfying rulings as a group.
ENGINEER: Skilled in Repair (d8) and either
Craft (d8) or Operate (d8). Take a bulky toolbox
full of bits, bobs, and 3 other tools.
► Choose your character’s alignment.
THE JOYFUL: Skilled in Coping (d8). Start with
three doses of Joy and a mutation.
THE TRUTHFUL: Choose two settlements that
you are on good terms with and gain a skill at
d8 that most of the residents commonly pos-
sess for each.
THE EMPTY: Apply 2 skill increases (from no
skill Ô d8 Ô d10 Ô d12). You can take new
skills and/or increase skills you already have.
► Take ₡2. Most individual items cost ₡1 each.
ARMOR: scrap plate (break once for defense),
battle armor (₡2, bulky, break up to 3x).
WEAPONS: pistol, dagger, rifle (bulky, +1 to
ranged rolls), sword (bulky, +1 to melee rolls)
 VEHICLE MUTANTS
► Your vehicle has basic versions of these ► The Joyful roll 2d10 and combine results, and
functions; upgrades cost ₡10 each. In an invent your mutation from the result.
emergency, players pick a function to do, help
MUTATION
with, or something different.
1 Bodily 1 Amoeba
HANDLING: Start with old tires and unrespon-
2 Combustion 2 Badger
sive steering. Upgrade with monster wheels,
3 Contorting 3 Frog
turbo (feed spice to boost), 4-wheel drive.
4 Defying 4 Isopod
STORAGE: Meager. You can barely fit your- 5 Dripping 5 Kudzu
selves. Upgrade with compartments (up to 2x 6 Feral 6 Pufferfish
bulky), trailer (up to 5x bulky), gas reserves 7 Scaly 7 Rhino
8 Secret 8 Tree
HULL ARMOR: Break for defense. Upgrade with
9 Spongy 9 Virus
reinforced plating (normal weapons are harm-
10 Viscous 10 Vulture
less, slow), light frame (remove slow), spikes
and deterrents (difficult to climb).

WEAPONS: None at first. Upgrade with mounted

weapon, ammo cache, explosives.
HUMANS
► The Truthful or Empty roll on the tables below:

BARTER TRINKET

For each ₡ you receive, determine if it is Fuel,
Food, or Ammunition.
Fuel doubles your distance a day of travel for
each ₡ you spend. If you run out of Fuel, you
only have basic gasoline.
Food is required to heal during a day. For each
₡ you spend, heal an injury. If you run out of
Food, you only have the most meager of rations.
Ammunition is checked after a battle where you
fire a weapon. On a 1-2 on a d6, you need to
spend ₡1 to reload. If you run out of Ammo, you
can’t continue to fire the weapon.
Traders will have a preferred type of resource, or
on occasion a required type of resource for a
purchase. Joy is precious to most.
1 A dynamite jacket, for the impending day
2 A preserved limb, for when you need one
3 A real bouncy ball, returns to your hand
4 A pill bottle, makes you forget your sins
5 A flask of oil, for when you burn it all
6 A working radio, for when help arrives
7 A few pounds of human jerky, just in case
8 A flashbang, it never stopped working
9 A decorated spear, for staking heads
10 A wallet, like that’ll be useful ever
CONNECTION
1 A troupe of musical racers, the Rubber Band
2 Alura, a popular drag queen you flirted with
3 Banzai, captain of the last warship
4 Buggy, leader in an always-moving caravan
5 Crack Jack, will do anything for a hit
6 Extrap, explosives vendor you supported
7 Koi, just a reliable guy conveniently nearby
8 Pol, former teacher, now has a gang of kids
9 Pop, godfather of the Great Sons
10 Spider, integral part of the radio movement
 THE FINAL GENERATION OF LIFE, in just 24 years the world has largely become a barren hellscape of
anarchy. In The Flash, all women disappeared from the world. Blinded by grief, men have destroyed the
only thing they have left—the planet. Midst this chaos, a strange drug has fallen to common use: Joy.
Despite the name, it incites a pure state of unfeeling, ecstasy to those who are wracked by the past.

► d20 People You Might Find in the Wastelands ► Roll d20 for a contact, client, rival, or target

1 8E, the last unironic skater, very lonely
2 Armament, Joy dealer immune to feelings
3 Botch, innovative mechanic and surgeon
4 Castellan, exiled settlement-founder
5 Flare, mutant boy with explosive sweat
6 Graff, painter of blood and warnings
7 Hasselhoff, genius with only bad ideas
8 Loon, can stretch infinitely, never retract
9 Pharaoh, the doomsayer that lived through
10 Pinhead, punk with a literal spike mohawk
11 Qualm, deserter from a Horde inner feud
12 Rando, mute warlord and kung-fu master
13 Recu, mutant who regenerates as fractals
14 Sent, “money”lender with nothing to lose
15 Smiley, Joy addict with paralyzed face
16 T.Weed, expert street fighter and parkourist
17 Timbuck, rancher who ate his last horse
18 Toke, philosopher of hallucinogenic utopia
19 Worm, professional dirt packer
20 Wranglr, vagabond noose cowboy
► d20 Places Discovered in the Wastelands
1 Arcimboldo, quirky tech dealer & tinkerer
2 Aurora, wealthy collector of unique items
3 Blackout, quiet evidence removal specialist
4 Bleach, wry janitor android turned assassin
5 Bron, dour security chief with a metal arm
6 Bullet, no-nonsense android gun runner
7 Carryout, cocky courier with fast cyber-legs
8 Fisher, eager street kid looking for a crew
9 Ginseng, people-loving drug dealer
10 Hot Ticket, extremely cautious fence
11 Kaiser, grinning loan shark in a silver suit
12 Osiris, tired, street-level sawbones
13 Powder Blue, android fixer, generous rates
14 Reacher, sharp mercenary tac squad leader
15 Rhino, thickheaded, bighearted bodyguard
16 Sam, plucky journalist, likely to get killed
17 Shifter, hard-working chop-shop owner
18 Walleye, businesslike information broker
19 Whistler, smiling cabbie/getaway driver
20 “X,” unflappable broker for an unnamed corp
► d6 Signs of Joy Overuse

1 A giant hole with the sign, “Pleasure Pit” 1 You lose the ability to feel pain
2 A lightning rod standing above the clouds 2 You lose all taste and smell
3 A makeshift fort caught in an eternal LARP 3 You physically cannot frown
4 A “wizard” tower with working electricity 4 You gain empty blobs of skin on your body
5 Church turned satanist commune 5 Your skin peels off in large bloody chunks
6 City in which everything is upside-down 6 Gain a new mutation
7 Dam turned into a private utopia bunker
► d6 Temporary Benefits of Joy
8 Drug factory ran by mutant Joy junkies
9 Evaporated lake, a farm is at the bottom 1 You can push your muscles past its limits
10 Field of solar panels, eternally on fire 2 You can stretch your limbs to double length
11 “Guano’s Delight,” a life gambling house 3 Injuries only apply once the Joy wears off
12 Hamlet of liars and pretenders 4 All your skin becomes calloused (break x2)
13 Man-made crater, filled with nuclear waste 5 All speed-reliant rolls are helped.
14 Mound of mutant termites, they want Joy 6 Everyone fears you, more likely to run away
15 Petrified forest, now lumber quarry
► Roll d4 to see if someone is a Joy addict
16 Scrapyard turned one guy’s mech project
17 Theme park now held by the former military 1 Reroll (on another 1, they are not addicted)
18 Toppled oil tanker filled with bloody meat 2 Abuser, regrets it (no Joy for bartering)
19 Town with a new random law each week 3 Addict, will go out of their way for Joy
20 Zoo with “hyper-realistic” furry costumes 4 Junkie, will go against principles for Joy
Version 1 • Made by Jason Tocci under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0) • Art from Pixabay & SVG Repo