Wastoid (WIP)
A downloadable game
Wastoid is a gonzo, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi RPG, inspired by games like Fallout, Mutant Crawl Classics, and Gamma World. (Especially Fallout! But not so much that Microsoft should sue me.)
THIS IS A PREVIEW of the rules and character creation chapters, updated August 2022. The full version (in development) will feature....
- Rules built on Knave, loosely compatible with content for OSR games like Mutant Future and Scientific Barbarian
- Quickly character creation from random rolls or "starter packages" (like robot, test subject, and scavver), or create your own custom build
- 70 "tricks" — 10 for each ability — plus 20 mutations and 20 robotic modifications
- Wasteland generator tables with regional factions, adventure hooks, traveling companions, and various other denizens of the wastes
Recommended for 1 GM and 1 or more additional players.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Pages version, work continuesMay 10, 2024
- Wastoid previewAug 31, 2022
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hey there, Jason! Recently read your game while looking for fallout-like systems and got maybe a bit too excited about it. I know it's still a WIP and a lot can change, but I ended up making a simple character generator for it: https://jvfe.github.io/wastoids/ and a form-fillable sheet to go along with it.
Some parts about the generator are still a bit wonky (e.g. Hulkification mutation) and I may have gotten some rules wrong, but I mostly made it to get inspiration for NPCs/give more options for pre-mades when I eventually get to run it. Hopefully it can be useful to you or someone else.
Eagerly awaiting the final version, cheers!
Thanks for sharing! (And yeah, Hulkification has proven so annoying to work with for me that it is no longer in the latest as-yet-unreleased revision.)
Ah I see. Yeah, my confusion was mostly related to how it changes the attribute spread compared to other characters, where the sum ends up being +3. So I wasn't sure if it should also sum up to +3 (Str +3, Tough +3, Any attribute except weird -3) or something else.
Currently how I'm doing it is that it reduces one random attribute (except str, tough or weird) by -3 and increases Str and Tough to +3, but that can lead to an attribute spread that's very different from other characters (e.g. Weird +2, Str +3, Tough +3, Int -3), so I'm still thinking if that's the way to go.
Thanks for the response, glad to hear you're taking a look into it! Just out of curiosity, have you decided if you're keeping the option for trog PCs as one of the package deals?
Still actively playtesting, so any answer I give you now may or may not be true in a week— but yes, there’s still a trog in the package deals!
And to be honest, I’m also fiddling with ability score spreads in playtesting. We started our trog with an extra +1 Strength and extra +1 Toughness, and -1 to 2 other abilities.
Awesome! The spread you suggested also makes more sense to me, still gives the same "meat-head" vibe without going too far from the rest of the characters. Looking forward to the full release! Thanks once again.
Some advice converting creatures from Modiphius Fallout. Don't know for sure if take the Body ability plus 10, add it with Melee and divided by 2 or whatever. Any insight? Don't want to make pulp of players and think I getting it wrong. Thanks again!
Thanks for your comments! I haven't tried converting from Modiphius yet, but I will have to give that a shot. When I've run it so far, I've just tried to use my own randomly generated stuff, or quickly convert stuff on the fly from post-apocalyptic OSR/D&Dish D20 games like The Wasted Hack and NUKED!
Thanks Jason! Will give those a try! Again, awesome work! Keep on coming :)
"Design work" I read?! Amazing job! Mostly expected now from you 😁 again amazing and tight ruling and setting. Really enjoying reading it and hope to play it soon. Looking forward for an updated version 😉😉
Just a month ago I was thinking about making a post apocalypse Knave game and then I discover someone has already made this😌
Well hey, NUKED! is great, but it isn't stopping me! And actually, I'm trying to design this one in a way that makes it easy to use bits of it with other post-apocalyptic games with similar rules, so if you end up making one too, please share a link!
Rad!
(Sorry for the pun, Mr. Tocci.) Good luck on all of your projects, sir. I can't wait for the final version of WASTOID!
Thank you, and no worries: This is a safe space for puns.
Incredible quality, fantastic layout. Puts the official stuff to shame.
What a wonderful style! All I ever could have hoped to make myself (but can’t). Really looking forward to this. So elegant.
I'm so excited to see an update that I can't help but keep returning to this page!
Oh gosh! I will try to post an excerpt ASAP—hoping to share the sample adventure after I playtest it very soon. Been really busy trying to find a new day job, but still actively working on this too!
Oh, I look forward to progress, but take your time! Thanks for being so vocal about that kinda thing!
Cool game! Can you provide a version with single pages? It's easier to print the zine. ^^
Ummm, let me get back to you on that! I think I saved a backup of this that I could export from, but I need to find it, and I’ll be tied up with some family obligations for a couple days. There has been a lot more design work since this last version, and the working file is not ready to export from just yet. Feel free to pester me again about this shortly!
+1 to that!
Hey Jason, can't wait for the full release, I'll be defenitely buying! Great post-apo OSR alternative for Fallout 2d20! :D
Thanks so much! Still actively working on this!
This is super cool, I'm thinking about running it in my next campaign. The full version is still coming right? I'm incredibly hype for it
by the way that little mask fella is very cute and I love him
Thanks! Still coming, yes. Been putting a lot of work into it recently, including editing old pulp magazine art (now with fewer damsels in distress and more ladies with laser guns) and writing up a sample adventure this week.
So exciting!
Super excited for this. Fantastic work. Better than many "full" TTRPGs by far.
That's so kind – thank you!
Hey man just wanted to cheer you on and let you know that I'll be buying a physical copy of this as soon as you're ready to bring it to print. Cheers!
Thank you!
Just found this and read over the rules. Can't wait to try and to see the complete rules!
I'd love to own a physical copy to run a fallout game set in Canada
Thanks for posting! I had to step away from this for a bit to deal with some health issues, but am (admittedly very slowly) working on finishing it up. I'll send out a message via Itch when it's ready!
Hope you feel better soon
This game is awesome, Jason! Best ttrpg system for Fallout!
Thank you! I’m still plugging away on this!
Best of luck on all of your projects, Jason! I am really looking forward to Wastoid Final Version!
This is beautiful
Has me itching to convert it to a fantasy setting.
Thank you! The rules are based on Knave (which is fantasy and very much designed to be hacked too), so that might help!
glaive is my go to fantasy knave hack right now but I really like how you split the talents up based on abilities.
Hey man! Hope you get well soon, and love all your work! I hope this doesn't bother you but do you have basic guidelines to convert B/X creatures to this system?
Thank you! I recommend Ben Milton's Knave for this (as Wastoid is based on its rules). Beyond that, I can share with you what I've got from the relevant portion of the manuscript in progress, with two caveats:
That said, here's what I've got so far…
Ability in Wastoid could refer to the 7 abilities players’ characters have, but most denizens of the wastes are simply represented by a generic “ability” that covers anything vaguely related to what they seem they should be good at. If adapting creatures with hit dice (HD), you can use this as ability. If unsure, give a default ability of +5. [When doing anything else, they have a +0 modifier.]
HP in other games generally runs much higher than in Wastoid. For quick and dirty conversion, add the creature’s HD value to 5.
AP can be converted by looking for a game’s equivalent of light, medium, and heavy armor (often leather, chain, and plate in fantasy games). Wastoid uses leather (4 AP), scrap (8 AP), and combat armor (12 AP), +1 to 2 for a shield, and another +1 to 2 for a helmet. If unsure, give a clearly thick-skinned creature 6 AP and call it a day.
Damage can usually be simplified as d6 for most attacks, d8 for those with two-handed weapons, and d10, d12, or multiple d6 for only the most powerful attacks (like with explosives and high-tech).
Special effects like “double damage from fire” or “two attacks per action” can generally be used as-written in Wastoid. The GM should just take care to telegraph to players when something looks really, really dangerous. Remember, running away is (almost) always an option!
Heya! Just ran a one shot with what I assumed last minute and I got pretty close to what you have in your manuscript.
I ran this Re-Energizers - Catthulhu | DriveThruRPG.
HP
For this I just used the creatures straight up HD value as their HP. This produced what I felt were pretty squishy creatures, so I think you might be right with HD+5, or maybe HD+2
Damage
I think d6 is a bit high. I used d4 for most attacks and scaled it similarly in the same way. I decided to use critical hits as dealing max damage on a single die instead of doubling the dice, I think this is much more forgiving for both creatures and the players.
AP
I removed armor more or less on all creatures in the adventure. This may have contributed to them being a bit squishy.
The special effects and ability I never got a chance to use. So far so good however! Players loved the system! My only thought though is that the Follow Through trick is so extremely good, especially on a level 1 character. I'd probably limit it to a number of extra enemies equal to their Strength score, theres also no real idea to the limitations of Relentless other than the player being invincible, so I instead limited it by "You're up below 0 HP but if you go below your health in the negative you die instantly"
Thanks so much for sharing this!
this game is gorgeous!!
Aw, thank you!
Wow, this game is great. And allready more stuff in it than in a lot of other published games.
I really love the theme and how you worked it into great mechanics.
Looking forward to buy the finished product.
Thanks so much! Still working on it — looking forward to announcing more when I can!
Hope you're recovering well as you mentioned in the comments below. Love the project, hope you revisit it someday!
That’s the plan — thanks!
I want this in print. <3
Thank you! I want to get it printed! (But first I have to recover enough from long covid to finish it.) 😄
get well bud!… not for the print… just in general… hope you get well soon
Finally got around to flipping through this and dang, this is sick! Hits the flavor notes just right. I literally laughed out loud at the “Tells knock-knock jokes in combat” char gen result.
Thanks! It's extremely affirming to know somebody's actually reading all those details! 😄
Great way to introduce folks leery of OSR rulesets to OSR style gameplay. Excited to see the GM side generators to roll up some wasteland weirdness!
Thanks so much!
I'm so in love with this project!!!
Aw, thank you so much!
I'm sure you have other things going on, but do you have an ETA on a new preview?
Thanks for your interest! Just about everything on my plate is currently on hold due to health issues. I’ll certainly update when I have a better sense of when I can complete this, though!
Question: how long do repairs generally take? Can't find a length of time
Ah, good catch. The way I run it, in the span of a few minutes’ rest, you can fix your stuff and regain your HP.
Any chance of splitting up the landscape pages so that it can be booklet printed? As is it doesn't work. Other than that gotta say I love what you are doing here
Thanks! And yeah, I’ll include a single page version (and a text-only version) when it’s done.
Pretty cool! But a 200-ish MB file for a 40-ish page PDF is pretty extreme. Any chance of some optimization?
Yeah, that sounds like I messed up. This isn’t the final version, though, just a work in progress preview.
Phew, 22 MB now—thanks for the heads up!
You're welcome! Just belatedly got around to giving a rating. Really Great work. Anxiously awaiting the full game.
Update: It worked!
Great layout, pretty good read so far.
Is anyone having trouble downloading this title?
I changed the setting and still cant get a download.
Very nice layout. Crispy. ❤
I'd love to give feedback on a VERY minor thing, if you like it: in the Unique Items, there's a chopper. I suggest you to change the name F-92 into UH-92. While probably you don't want to be realistic with this game, it's still cool that you use a sort of "convincing tag". UH means (military) Utility Helicopter, the family of the famous Hueys or Black Hawks, the kind of chopper you are describing. F is used for (military) aircrafts designated to Fighter role.
Thanks! I actually meant to change it to some letter that is not used in real life at all, and I forgot!
😁 It's actually pretty difficult to avoid already used letters... Check out page 23 of this PDF, it can be a sort of primer about it:
https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/ar70-50.pdf
Thanks!
This is really well put together, I love it. The game fits very well for what I'd like from a fallout ttrpg; being a fan of 2 with all the wacky easter eggs, themes, and jokes. I was just wondering on when you think a full version may be completed?
Thanks! I had hoped to finish it this month, but I got covid, and recovery has been slow. I hope to upload another draft soon, at least, with some more GM tools, and sample adventures to follow.
Hello, is there any hope that this might somehow be offered in a print version? Thanks.
Yes! I plan to speak to a publisher, but if nobody picks it up, it’ll eventually be available as print on demand.
Thank you for responding and that is excellent news. I don't use pdf's so much, but I would buy and run this in a physical copy. Please do think about going the print on demand route, it would allow it to stay in print for a longer time, rather than instantly selling out in one printing. Thank you again.
I hope you recover well!
Thanks!
Loving this! What is the status on the full version?
Thanks! The text is close to done (still working on some GM tools for wasteland site generation), but I have a bunch more art and layout work ahead of me. I shifted attention to another project for a bit so I can come back to this one with fresh eyes. Still near the top of the to-do list!
Thanks for the quick reply! Sounds promising, keep up the good work. Can't wait to see the final version.
Great game. Love the flavour it has, very strong theme and reads fun to play. Looking forward to the full release!
Thanks!