It was, what, 95 then? I would have been twelve at the time.

I remember my dad used to watch the news, and

saw how things were going. There were all those protests in the paper about germ warfare. I didnt really
understand what it was about then we were all just kids, werent we?
It musta been September, we was watching some crap, and theres this news flash comes up. News anchor
looked terrified, I can remember it perfectly. Reports indicate that Project Styx has been released in the last two
days. Death tolls in Russia have already reached several hundred million, and are expected to rise rapidly. We
do not yet know if the Soviet Union will make a nuclear retaliation. My Dad went white as a sheet when he
heard that. Just froze up, like he had when he heard Mum got run over.
I asked him what Project Styx was. He told me that American scientists had made an illness to fight their wars
for them. I asked how it would only target enemy soldiers. He said it wouldnt.
The sickness reached Britain within a few days. For about a day, there were police everywhere to stop riots, and
then the police all fell sick. So did the doctors, and the lady on the news. Within a week, the hospitals were full,
doctors desperately trying to make things better for their charges whilst they were dying themselves. My Dad
got it, of course. He was lying up in bed, his face swollen and oozing, his eyes puffed shut and his breathing
choking through his lips. He used to send me out to buy stuff for him. He said to leave money in the shop in case
anybody cared. Eventually, it became too painful for him to speak, so instead Id just get what I thought was
best. I stopped paying too, but Id make sure I was carrying a knife, just in case. Id seen people prowling around
outside, and Id heard gunshots at night.
I never found it odd that I wasnt sick, you know? Its funny what us kids never noticed.
One morning I went to bring my dad coffee and painkillers, and I realized he wasnt waking up. Theres that
hollow sensation when you realize somebody you loves dead, huh? I didnt move for days. I was just staring at
this swollen, tortured corpse, wishing my old man would come back. I was just blank, you know?
Eventually, though, I knew I had to go get myself food. I strapped the kitchen knife into my belt, pulled on my
coat and stepped outside. Everything was barren, you know? In the golden evening light, with the hum of
grasshoppers and the buzz of carrion-flies. I wandered through this shell of a city, wondering if I was the only
one alive.
When I got to the supermarket, I found Mark from down the road sat in front of it. He was only, what, nine at
the time? Bottle of coke and a load of chocolate next to him. He was filthy, his face covered in grime and tear-
streaked. I seem to remember he was drawing people all over the pavement in chalk.
I called over to him. He grunted back, then stood up. My family died he shouted. Mine too was my response.
He looked at me. Why do you have a knife? Theyre dangerous. I shrugged.
There was one of those long, awkward silences. We looked at each other, trying to work out what was supposed
to happen. We both knew there was no grownups to tell us how things worked. It was confusing. Must have
been worse for him, though. He cant have understood it at the time.
Eventually, I broke the pause. We should find some proper food I decided. He seemed to accept this. I suppose
that was when I really understood what had happened. Turns out that, after the Mixi came, I was the oldest, so
it was down to me to make sure people were OK.
We walked off together, leaving our dead parents in their houses, and that was the end of the world over for us.
Autumn was hard, learning how little there was left and how much had changed. That winter was worse,
because then the gangs came out, and the cold, and the tins of food were running out. But then the spring came,
and there was fruit and sunshine and young rabbits to hunt, and we left the city full of rotting corpses and set
up out here. Life goes on, I figure.










Autumn- 2
Index - 3
The Setting- 4
The Land- 4
The Sickness- 4
The People- 5
Herders- 6
Villagers- 7
Skavvies- 8
Bikers and Gangers- 9
The Messenger Faith- 10
The Tested- 11
Trade- 11
Religion- 12

Holy Ground- 14
How the Game Works- 15
The Game- 15
Characteristics- 15
Resistances- 15
Knowledge- 16
Using Skills- 16
Combat- 16
Healing- 17
The Effects of Mixi- 17
Starvation and Thirst- 17
Poison and Unsafe Food- 18
Travel- 18
How Characters Imporive-18
Dice Rolls- 19
Turf War- 20

Character Creation- 21
Cultures- 21
Knowledge- 22
Skills- 23
Equipment- 26
Advantages- 29

Dear Diary- 31
Extra Material- 32
Character Questions- 32
Sample NPCs- 35
Character Sheet- 37





In 1995, the Cold War reached its conclusion,
wiping out most of earths human population.
In February, American generals learned that
the Soviet government had constructed vast
underground bunkers, capable of supporting
human life for years at a time, able to
withstand almost any attack by nuclear
weapons and impregnable to conventional
forces. On receiving information that most of
the Soviet military and leadership had already
been moved to safety, American scientists
began work on Project Styx.
By August of 1995, American scientists had
genetically engineered a variant strain of
myxomatosis to affect humans specifically.
The virus had only a minimal effect on most
other species, but in humans it would cause
massive buboes and swellings, on internal
mucus membranes, leading to a rapid death
by suffocation as the victims lungs became
blocked off and ruptured. For some reason,
those that survived were almost always
children under the age of ten. Unusually, it
also had a minor effect on some feline species,
although it was rarely fatal for them. On
September the 23rd, American infiltrators
released several cats infected with the Styx
virus in the vicinity of entrances to soviet
bunkers. It is unknown whether the infection
penetrated these bunkers, although a
subsequent lack of activity around them
suggests that the inhabitants either all
perished or sealed themselves in completely.
What is known is that the virus swiftly spread
to the rest of the world. By September the 28th
the infection had spread to almost all of
mainland Asia and Europe, leaving billions
dead in its wake. By September the 30th, it had
reached Africa and Australia, with similar
effects.
By this point the Americas had placed
themselves under strict quarantine, but on
November the 7
th
the virus appeared in Brazil,
and spread to the rest of the continent in the
ensuing days. By the end of the year, only one
person in every ten thousand remained alive,
and modern civilization had conclusively
ended.

The Sickness:
Mixi was engineered to spread as quickly and
effectively as possible. The main vector for
infection is through biting insects such as lice,
fleas and mosquitoes, most typically through
human lice. As well as this, the virus can lie
dormant in dead flesh: disturbing corpses of
those it killed can release the virus into the
surroundings even after several decades.


Early symptoms of infection include red or
watering eyes, loss of apetite, lethargy, and
fevers. In time, this progresses to cause lumps
and swellings on the patients mucus
membranes and skin. Most noticeably, the face
becomes inflamed and scarred. As well as this,
swelling around the eyes will force them shut,
and similarly breathing becomes difficult as
the throat and lungs become distended out of
shape. Mixi infection commonly results in
secondary infactions taking hold, particularly
respiratory conditions such as pneumonia.
Usually, these secondary infections coupled
with slow suffocation are what eventually kills
the victim.
The comparatively high survival rate amongst
British children after the infection hit the
British Isles is an anomaly. It is understood by
the Tested that those who survived were
children who had received a trial vaccination
for chickenpox, which granted a little
protection against the sickness.

The Land:
The year is now 2010, the region southeast
England. Those that had survived Mixi, as it
came to be known, inherited an unwelcoming
world. Pockets of the infection remain in the
cities, carried by a population of feral cats that
thrive in the abandoned streets. Buildings lie
overgrown and empty, many scattered with
the bones of their human inhabitants. Some,
such as hospitals and supermarkets, have been
raided for supplies but most lie untouched
since the outbreak of Mixi. In these empty
houses, human skeletons lie, gnawed clean by
rats and feral dogs, whilst most useful
supplies have rotted or rusted away. In the
countryside, sheep, cattle and other livestock
have gone wild, and on an island with few
large predators they have flourished. Roads
have cracked and sprouted brambles and
grass, buildings are overgrown and much of
the land is covered with low scrubland. Dotted
here and there can be found wreckage of
vehicles, or human dwellings.

The People:
Most of those that survived Mixi were
children between 5 and 10 years old: few
survived the infection older than this, whilst
those younger rapidly died of starvation,
disease or injury without adults present. Those
that survived have slowly banded together
and live as scavengers and hunter-gatherers.
Vast swathes of knowledge have been lost
since the outbreak- a large number of
individuals are illiterate, and those that can
read have found that over the intervening
years many books have rotted or become
illegible, or even been burned as fuel. For this
reason, technical knowledge tends to be
rudimentary at best, with functioning
technology being highly valuable and sought
after.
Over the years, many groups have raided
facilities such as military bases, police stations
and even hunting clubs, so it is not unusual to
see people equipped with firearms. Many
more have forged weaponry from scrap metal,
sometimes with surprising skill.
Over time, most groups have clumped
together in an area, forming loose coalitions
for trade and mutual support, and a culture of
sorts has developed amongst these groupings.
Many gather regularly- on full moons, for
example- in some location, where they trade,
settle disputes and share any knowledge they
may have gained. Almost all such groupings


have become highly superstitious people who
were adults when the outbreak happened are
treated with great reverence and respect, in
part because of the knowledge they possess.
Towns, cities and even smaller settlements are
seen as being cursed or haunted by many, and
in any case they are overrun by vicious packs
of cats, dogs and rats, and many who travel to
them subsequently contract Mixi. Similarly,
cats are seen as being intelligent, evil creatures
which spread Mixi, and are usually shot on
sight.

Herders:
The largest group in the southeast are the
Herders, consisting of several separate tribes
of a few dozen individuals- exact numbers
change constantly as tribes merge or split
apart, and individuals often move from one
tribe to another. This group lives on the South
and North Downs in Sussex and Kent, and
large swathes of land in between. They exist
principally through herding great flocks of
sheep across the landscape, from which they
take meat, milk and wool. The Herders are
almost entirely nomadic, and have become
highly skilled in living off the land with
resorting to scavenging pre-infection
equipment.
This is as well, as the Herders are highly
superstitious regarding the old buildings,
more so than most groups. What knowledge of
science and technology they remember has
become confused and subject to degeneration.
It should be remembered that these people
were children, only partially educated, when
Mixi came, and that what knowledge they did
possess was incomplete and simplified at best.
They are aware, for example, that Mixi is
caused by viruses, and hold that a virus is a
tiny, evil spirit. Similarly, they mistrust a lot of
old technology, believing that electrical items
are essentially possessed by electric spirits-
the absence of tame electric spirits is why
they no longer function.
Herders do not build permanent homes,
instead claiming a large area of land as their
own and following herds of cattle or sheep
through it, setting up camp for a few days
before moving on as the herds do. Many
herders have carts drawn by cattle or horses to
carry their supplies, and a rare few use
motorized vehicles. Whilst they do not make
any permanent buildings, must herder tribes
leave a number of supply drops across their
territory. These drops will be well hidden so
that only those in the know can find them, and
contain a few essential supplies- medicinal
herbs, preserved food, clean water and spare
arrows for example. A herder that is in trouble
can find one of these drops and use the goods
stored within, but is expected to replace the
goods they used within a few weeks. The
herder tribes violently- sometimes lethally-
punish those who abuse this system.

Each herder tribe has a somewhat fluid
membership with members joining and
leaving freely and tribes merging or splitting
fairly frequently. Each tribe has a mark or
symbol to identify itself and members will
display their allegiance by wearing it as face-
paint of marking it on their clothing. Similarly,
livestock and vehicles claimed by the tribe will
be branded with this mark as a sign of
ownership. As the tribe moves, they leave this
mark behind them by cutting it into tree-
trunks, arranging piles of stones or cutting it
into the turf. As a general rule, the larger the
mark is the more successful the tribe is and the
more permanent the mark the more territorial
the tribe is, but there are a myriad of other
meanings that can be left as well. In this way, a
smart Herder can make an assessment of the
people occupying an area of land by studying
the marks they have left behind.


Whilst the tribes are in a constant state of flux,
there are three tribes that are particularly
successful and well known: the Broken Horn
in Kent, the Three Eyes on the south coast and
the Burning Man near Lewes.
The Broken Horn tribe live in south Kent and
number around eighty individuals. They
follow herds of cows for milk, meat and
leather, but are better known as brewers-
alcoholic drinks made by the Broken Horn
tribe are eagerly traded for across the south
east and commonly reach as far as Worthing.
Their most well known drink is Hedge Beer, a
liquor made with hops and various berries,
but the tribe also make a large number of
drinks using the pulp from hallucinogenic
mushrooms and other herbs, and are well
known for the mind-altering effects their
creations can have.
The Three Eyes tribe claims a huge length of
the south coast as their territory. Unlike most
tribes, they do not follow herds of animals,
instead sustaining themselves through fishing.
They set of nets to catch fish and traps for
crabs and lobsters, as well as harvesting
shellfish. The Three Eyes are often held to be
similar to a Villager community as they
maintain a number of caves in the chalk cliffs,
with barrels of fresh water, beds and fire-pits,
and are much less nomadic than most other
tribes, often staying in one place for up to a
month before moving to another established
camp.
The Burning Man tribe herd sheep on the
South Downs around Lewes and number
around thirty individuals. However, they have
strong links with a number of other local tribes,
and they and their allies comprise a much
larger force. Every autumn, the tribe and their
allies gather on the hills above Lewes and
assemble a huge bonfire from wood, petrol
cans and dried dung- this bonfire usually
reaches thirty foot high or more and can be
seen from as far away as Brighton when lit.
When the bonfire is lit, the tribe throw weak or
sick livestock onto it as offerings to momma
chalk, an entity who they take to be their
patron. The tribes name comes from rumours
that they also throw captured enemies onto
the fire as human sacrifices, and the tribe
maintains a sinister reputation due to its
territorial nature- they carve their tribes mark
onto the downs as huge chalk figures visible
from miles off as a show of bravado.

Villagers:
In contrast to the Herders are the Villagers.
The villagers form a network of tribes across
the countryside, occupying small villages and
isolated buildings. They hold that Mixi only
really remains in the larger urban centres, and
can be eradicated in smaller ruins. This they
achieve by frequently torching their dwellings
and all but their most valuable belongings (to
kill the Mixi on them), and killing and
burning any animals that may be infected
within miles of their homes. A Villager
dwelling can easily be anticipated long before
it is found by the scorch marks on the ground
and trees and the charred remains of animals
left in ditches and pits. To the astonishment of
other groups, this seems to work, and
Villagers have been seen living in buildings
that other groups would avoid, quite literally,
like the plague.

Unlike the Herders, the Villagers believe that
knowledge from before the coming of Mixi is
worth preserving and that civilized society
can be restored- different Villager tribes tend


to have formalized sets of laws and something
approaching a bureaucratic structure.
However, confusing though their many
customs- each half remembered from the Old
Times- may seem, the Villagers are often the
most innovative group when it comes to new
development. They were the first to forge
scrap metal into swords and axes, and are the
only group to have built an electric generator
from scratch, something viewed with a sense
of wonder by other groups.
Each Villager community lives in a small
cluster of buildings such as an old farm or
abandoned hamlet. They will normally set
aside two or three buildings as sleeping
quarters, one more for storage and another as
a common hall. The remaining buildings are
used as industrial centres- one building will be
a blacksmiths forge, another a workshop for
broken-down vehicles, another used for
weaving and a fourth used to produce arrows.
As well as this, each village generally sets
aside a small area of land in which they grow
vegetables, although this farming is not
particularly successful owing to the frequent
scorched earth policy of the villagers. Each
village is, therefore, a miniature industrial
centre. The village will have trade links with
maybe seven or eight Herder tribes nearby
and probably a Skavvie band as well. The
villagers rely on trade for most of their food,
producing goods such as ammunition, tools,
carts and cloth as they learn of demand in
exchange for food.
The social structure of each villager
community is normally very well defined.
Each villager has a set task, such as producing
trade goods of some sort or growing food, that
they are expected to fulfil regardless of other
duties. Most villages are run democratically,
electing a leader and his officials each year as
well as tasking some with the defence of the
village in the event of an attack. In a typical
village of sixty, there will be a single leader,
with four officials beneath her each tasked
with overseeing a specific area. There will
typically also be around 15-20 villagers
expected to fight in a militia if the community
is attacked. Most Villages do not attract
attention, but a few have become famous in
their surrounding area.
Near Eastbourne, the village known as New
Pevency has gained renown for creating a
working electrical generator. Every building in
the village is lit with electrical lights, and they
make use of a number of other electric items
such as welding torches, power tools and
electric ovens. New Pevency is bordered by
marshes on three sides, but the fourth is
heavily barricaded and usually features an
armed guard as the village has been attacked a
number of times by those seeking to claim its
technology.
The Hove Smiths are another well known
village. Most of this village is devoted to the
production of guns and ammunition- they
have successfully produced an ironworks that
can cast molten metal and even manage to
produce their own bullets. Whilst the goods
made here are nowhere near as high quality as
salvaged guns, their availability to produce
cheap firearms and ammunition has made the
village very wealthy.

Skavvies:
The third major group is the Skavvies.
Skavvies, unlike Herders and Villagers, still
live mainly by salvaging and scavenging Old
goods rather than living off the land, hence
their name. The Skavvies make a living by
finding functional technology, medical
supplies and raw materials in the cities and
towns where other groups fear to tread,
although they regard such places as dangerous
and are reluctant to stay in them for any
length of time.
The Skavvies recognize one another as
members of a single large community- they
have their own slang and customs and regard
non-Skavvies as outsiders. Each Skavvie has a
small tattoo on their wrist or forearm of a
spiral that can be sued to identify themselves
to others of their culture. The Skavvies live in
bands of around five to twelve individuals.
Each band is somewhat insular, with its own
slang terms and traditions that are baffling to
outsiders. Members of a band typically try to
dress and conduct themselves similarly to
create a band identity with trade partners,
but other traditions are pure superstition or
just in-jokes within the band.



Each band claims a large territory, but unlike
herders, skavvie bands are not territorial and
will happily co-exist with other groups.
Scattered across their territory will be a
number of well-hidden bolt-holes, such as
caves or abandoned buildings. The Skavvies
maintain dwellings here and store most of
their salvaged goods in these places. A typical
skavvie bolt-hole has enough food and trade-
goods to support the Skavvies dwelling there
for a while.
Each skavvie band spends a large amount of
their time visiting Villages and Herder tribes
to trade. To both groups they offer tinned food,
fuel, medicines and other salvage, claiming
food from the Herders and crafted items from
the villagers in return. In this way, the
Skavvies form a merchant class going between
various groups.
A skavvie expedition into a town or city will
not last more than a few days and will likely
have been planned in advance to minimize
time spent inside the town. To protect
themselves from the Mixi infection that still
lingers in the towns, the Skavvies don
facemasks, take various herbs and carry a
number of lucky charms and wards. Generally
these precautions are successful, but every
now and again a member will contract the
disease. The Skavvies have a higher rate of
Mixi infection than other cultures and have
learned a number of ways to increase their
survival rate. An infected Skavvie will be
tended to by their team-mates as the common
belief is that if one member is infected then the
others will have been exposed to it as well. If
in a few days the skavvie shows no sign of
recovery, they will be given a number of
hallucinogenic herbs to ease their suffering,
and then eventually given a poison to take
before the disease makes their life a living hell.
The Skavvies are well known for their ability
to locate fuel for other groups. Most outsiders
believe the Skavvies know the location of
hidden reservoirs of petrol, and whilst this is
true, there is more to it than that. Hidden
within the large towns and cities where no
others will venture, many skavvie bands farm
various plants that they ferment for crude
alcohol. This alcohol is then distilled and
mixed with petrol and other oils to be traded
with outsiders. The existence of these fuel
production facilities is a closely guarded secret
by the Skavvies, and a number of outsiders
have been killed to prevent the secret getting
out so that the Skavvies can maintain their
monopoly on fuel.
The skavvie bands also maintain a number of
locations on the edge of towns where other
will not venture. Here, the bands meet every
few months to swap news and information
and conduct trade amongst themselves. These
meetings go on for several days and in some
cases include a number of small rituals to
promote a group identity within the Skavvies.
There are various dark rumours about the
Skavvies; that they work with the Tested, that
they conduct human sacrifice, that they
secretly control most of the population or that
they are working for some darker master.
Whilst these are mere paranoia, outsiders
somewhat justified as the Skavvies are a well
organized, insular and secretive group.

Bikers and Gangers:
Other minor groups exist, for the most part
petty gangs that exist purely to rob, loot and
scavenge for a time before disbanding. These
groups are referred to by more civilized


people as Gangers or Bikers, and they tend to
be regarded as being untrustworthy and
dangerous. The social structure in Ganger
society is constantly changing as gangs go to
war, form alliances or get themselves wiped
out. The Gangers tend to be well equipped,
and are the most likely to own motorized
vehicles and firearms. Whilst many gangs
simply take what they need by force, others
hire themselves out to Villagers or Skavvies as
bodyguards and mercenaries.
At one point, the number of gangs in the
south-east was much higher, but over the last
few years the numbers have dropped
dramatically. Predictably, after years of being
raided periodically by armed lunatics, most
groups have armed themselves and defend
themselves against attackers. As such, many
gangers have died, and out of those that
remain large numbers have abandoned their
gangs to join more stable groups.

Out of those who have remained in these
gangs, the majority are no longer aimless
raiders. The gangs find work as mercenaries in
the various territorial wars between different
groups. A gang might be tasked with raiding a
village for their technology or guarding herds,
or a hit might be taken out against the leaders
of a rival group. Whatever the situation is,
gangers are increasingly finding themselves
drawn into the politics of the area.

The Messengers:
The Messengers are a large cult-like
organization found across the south east. They
are found living amongst other groups, but
their loyalty lies with their own kind. They
believe that elsewhere- somewhere over the
sea- civilization survived the coming of Mixi,
and that it will be coming any time soon to
rebuild England. They therefore believe that
they must prevent the various societies from
becoming unduly savage and lawless, so that
when civilized forces arrive in Britain, the
British will be worthy of re-joining more
sophisticated cultures. For this reason, the
Messengers are split into two orders: The
Recruiters are open with their affiliation,
spreading the word that civilization is
returning and encouraging those that will
listen to rebuild civilization. In contrast to this,
the Shapers keep their affiliation a closely
guarded secret. They believe they must
prevent society from leaving the correct path,
and do this by sabotaging or murdering those
that their superiors disapprove of.
Whilst exact numbers are not known, Shapers
are rumoured to have infiltrated almost all
communities and to hold great influence.
The Messengers have a distinct pattern to their
activities. A recruiter will pass through an area,
spreading the message that civilization has
survived and will be coming to England soon.
Any individuals who seem particularly
receptive to the recruiters words will be taken
aside a short time later and asked if they
wished to join. Those who respond badly are
killed on the spot, as the recruiter will
inevitably have allies with them. Those who
politely decline are instructed to keep their
mouths shut- these individuals are watched by
other Messengers and may receive another
invitation at a later point.
Those who accept are told to keep their
membership secret. They are put in contact
with other Messengers in the area, and often
given weapons and poisons. They become one
of the Shapers, and will periodically receive
instructions from their contacts- these will be
small matters at first, but eventually a Shaper
may be instructed to commit murder or arson,
to poison water supplies or to start wars. A


Shaper who completes these tasks gains
prestige amongst his contacts and may be
allowed to start issuing orders of their own to
newer recruits.
A Shaper who has proved their competence
and loyalty is then offered a choice by their
superiors. They can reveal their allegiance and
become a Recruiter, keep working as a high-
ranked Shaper, or in some cases join a smaller
group known as the Command.
Members of the Command leave whichever
group they had previously lived amongst. The
Messengers have a number of hidden
dwellings set up which the Command live
within. They are given access to handwritten
records of the Messengers membership and
activities, and given significant authority over
Messengers and Shapers. At this stage, the
members machinations will cover huge areas
and be able to make massive changes.
The true nature of the organization is
unknown, and subject to widespread
speculation. Maybe they are working for some
foreign organization, maybe they are merely a
freemason-like group dedicated to
accumulating power for its own sake, or
maybe they really are preparing for when
Britain is re-settled by an outside force.

The Tested:
The last major group is known as by most as
the Infected, although they call themselves
Tested or New Men. The Tested believe that
Mixi was sent by some divine power (or is a
divine power in its own right) to punish
mankind for becoming weak and complacent.
They believe that, since clearly only the strong
have survived Mixi, Mixi makes one strong.
And, the very clear message that has sent is
that mankind must be strong. Therefore, the
Tested believe that mankind should be pushed
even further, and to that end they spread Mixi
as much as they can and even go so far as to
infect themselves with it.
The Tested are the only group which posses a
true cure for Mixi. The group was founded
shortly after the infection first struck when a
group of scavengers found a research facility
that had been working on a cure for the
disease. Whilst this drug was still in early
testing and had severe side-effects, it did
manage to cure the disease. The group spent
several years working out how to create this
drug from scratch, using salvaged chemicals
and equipment, and eventually hit on a
method for producing it.
Facilities that can produce the cure for Mixi
are kept hidden by the Tested and heavily
guarded. The group as a whole deliberately
infect themselves with the disease as a
religious rite, allowing the infection to take
hold before the cure is administered. New
converts are left for a longer period, so that
they are on the verge of dying before they first
receive the cure. Those that survive are
initiated into the cult fully.
The tested are spread across the UK, living in
small cults within the cities near to old
hospitals, universities and chemical facilities.
They mainly keep to themselves, practicing
their bizarre religion and killing any who
disturb them, but occasionally a cult will
launch a series of raids into the surrounding
countryside to spread the infection, secure
resources and possibly kidnap new converts.
For obvious reasons, the Tested are hated and
feared by most other groups, particularly the
Messenger organization. Most Tested have
short lifespan once initiated, but the cult as a
whole lives on.

Trade:
The vast majority of trade is conducted
between Skavvies, Herders and Villagers. The
economy is simple. Each group produces
something the other groups need- salvaged
goods, preserved food and technology
respectively. Money has fallen out of use, and
a barter-based economy has sprung up: both


sides in a deal must have something the other
side wants. For this reason, the Skavvies have
become the main traders in the region, as the
groups tight-knit nature allows a given
Skavvie band to locate whichever commodity
their trading partners want. Each Skavvie
band maintains an intricate network of deals,
some of them ongoing and some of them one-
off, getting the desired trade items to their
contacts and skimming a healthy profit off the
top.
Trade with Biker gangs is somewhat more
variable. Most are reluctant to deal with them
due to their reputation for being violent and
unpredictable. Despite this, some Biker gangs
have a reputation for reliability and have
made deals whereby they act as scouts,
bodyguards or enforcers for a group in return
for supplies. Trade with the tested is much
rarer. Indeed, most would claim it does not
happen at all, but a few groups have
established non-hostile relations with the cult,
and wary trading can occur. Occasionally
much larger trade events will occur. Several
tribes of herders, skavvie bands and
representatives from a number of villages will
congregate on some neutral territory to trade.
These events resemble festivals in many ways,
with market stalls being set up trade, and
competitions being held between groups for
spectacle and prestige.
These events are riddled with political
intrigues, with each group trying to
outmanoeuvre their rivals and sometimes
blatant assaults and murders occur. For the
most part, however, these tensions remain
under the surface and the festival is primarily
a peaceful place.
For the most part, no currency is used.
However, certain goods are used as trade
commodities between groups as they hold
their value and are always in demand.
Medicine, luxury foods, alcohol, matches and
working mechanical parts are all used in this
way. However, the precise value of these
goods varies depending on what the supply
and demand for it is. A canny trader can make
sure they always have those goods considered
most valuable, and make a profit in this way.
With most trade goods being of variable
values in this way, most traders use the cost of
a single basic meal as a fixed value to
compare other values to. Indeed, some traders
bundle enough food for a single meal, or large
multiples thereof, as tradable commodities
that retain their value.

Religion:
The coming of Mixi ended most of the
structures that enforce religious orthodoxy.
Families, churches and Sunday schools all
suddenly stopped functioning and instead, a
large number of children were left to piece
together their views for themselves. The
religious views of these children have taken
strange new turns. The Tested are the most
recognizable example of this.

The worldviews of most children shifted
rapidly when left to develop on their own.
Childhood belief in ghosts and monsters- as
well as a flawed understanding of micro-
organisms- has morphed into a somewhat
animistic religion. Most people now believe in
a plethora of minor beings lurking out of sight,
from vengeful ghosts in the city to spirits
living in the wilderness. Whilst most people
do not fully believe the world is filled with
goblins and so forth, the belief is pervasive
enough that many groups leave small
offerings to the ghosts at certain sites.
This belief has merged with more traditional
faiths. Angels are counted with viruses and
ghosts, and many former churches are seen as
holy without any real understanding why.


Those who still practice a religion have
developed their own odd faiths- Catholicism
in particular seems to have taken an unusual
turn, with blood from slaughtered animals
replacing the traditional wine as the blood of
Christ used in religious rituals. Other variants
of Christianity abound, with their own take on
the relationship between humans, gods and
spirits. Overall, religion has become a very
mix-and match affair, with a given person
believing a hodgepodge of superstitions and
half remembered articles of faith and often
cheerfully adopting the beliefs of others as
equally valid.
Some variations on this pattern exist. Many
villages have an expected orthodox belief
system. This varies from a strain of traditional
Christianity to rigorous rationalism. In many
ways, the Tested are an overgrown offshoot of
this. Their religion ties Mixi to divine anger,
and takes a number of steps to appease God
through displays of worthiness. The beliefs of
the tested seem very similar across the whole
cult, suggesting that the individual Tested
shrines are part of some larger organization.
The precise nature of this organization is
unknown, but many believe that it exists in
direct opposition to the Messenger Faith.
The herder tribes also appear to develop their
own religions, and a polytheistic faith seems to
be emerging that worships beings best
described as embodiments of the landscape.
Mother Chalk on the downs, the Tree Queen
in the woodlands of the Weald and the Old
Man Of The Sea on the coast are all well-
recognized figures, and other aspects of the
landscape often have their own personification
that Herders respect and give offerings to. In a
similar way, many hold that each abandoned
town or city has a similar being embodying it,
but they believe these entities to be malicious
or insane and avoid attracting their attention.
The last interesting development of this nature
has been the rise of the Messenger Faith. The
Messengers are best described as a secular cult.
They believe in a judgmental higher power
that is out of the reach of their worshippers, in
a way that is reminiscent of traditional
religions. However, they hold that this power
is a human organization rather than a divine
being, and reject many of the superstitions that
others believe in. In many ways, their strict
faith combined with clinical rationalism forms
a direct opposite to the more vague
superstition of the wider population.



So, this one time we got a contract from a buncha villagers to get em lead ta make shot with. We were gonna
bring them a few sacks of the stuff, theyd make it up for us an wed get a sixty percent cut by weight. Good
deal, right? Now, Millie, bless her, says that she heard a while back you could get lead offa the roofs of really old
buildings like churches and shit. We got up on the downs with a scope and scanned for a church spire with a
easy route to it, an found a few right by the big road going in.
So, we load up the wagon and in we go. If you aint bin in Brighton, an I can see you folks hant by your faces,
its fucking terrifying in there. See, in the countryside, you got birdsong and sheep and the wind in the trees.
Its like you know the I dunno spirit of the fields is there, right? Now, the big towns aint nothing like that.
Theyre still and quiet. Theres this low buzz of flies constantly, and thats it. The place feels all old an dead and
malignant. Its sickness is what it is, you can feel it. The air in there is evil, an if you breath it, it can give you
the Sickness, and thats the enda you. So, we wear full body suits an' gasmasks when were in there, to keep us
safe.
And there we are, with buildings surrounding us like these dead skeletal faces, the windows all smashed in like
broken eyes and dead leaves and grime and shit all piled an rotting in the street. We can see the church spire up
ahead, an as we go round the corner, Jack goes all quiet alla a sudden, an when we ask him whats up he say he
used to come here as a kid an hes got a proper bad feeling about this cos you dont wanna piss off the ghosts in
the church.
Well, we get to arguing about it, nothing big but you can hear our voices echoin around the empty streets.
Millie says we should shut up, 'cos the noise will bring attention to us, an that the church is no more haunted
than the rest of this fucking graveyard. Yeah, pretty much every house in there has skellingtons in em, where
they died in their own homes, an they ghosts get riled up if you try moving them or their stuff. Anyways, we
decide to go for it an me and Millie and Jack get a ladder up to climb up onto the roof.
Just like she promised, theres all lead round the edge of the roof keepin the tiles down an so we gets a claw
hammer and rips it all up and it peels up real nice in long strips. Easy job, right? Yeah, that werent gonna
happen, cos of course we woke up the city when we argued and dont you know it, as were goin to the ladder
to climb down theres a splinterin sound and the roof where us threes stood caves in.
Now, Jack, he falls right down into the bowels of the church oh sixty, seventy foot. Theres this sick, dead
crunch as he hits the brick floor that booms around the inside of the building and right there we know thats
the end of him.
Me an Millie, we grab onto the edge of the roof and haul ourselves up, and were climbing down, knowing
Jacks dead. Millies all quiet like, an I can tell shes thinking this is my fault over an over. And then, as we
gets back to the wagon, she looks down, and theres this huge hole been torn in the side of her hood by the
splintered wood, and shes gently bleeding from the side of her shoulder. I can see this look of horror in her eyes
through the glass of her gas mask and she rips in off in this moment of fury, cos it aint protecting her any more.
Fast forward three weeks, and Millies lyin' in the back of our truck, strugglin to breathe, her eyes swole shut
an her skin a bald puffy mess. That fuckin Sickness got into her lungs in the city, and this is the end of it for
her. We all know she wont make it, Sickness is a fucking death sentence once you got it. So we made up a
strong beer for her, with honey in how she liked, and puts in like half a bottle of foxglove juice wed all hoped
wed never have ta use. An she takes the cup from me an is all like I guess this is goodbye then and gulps it
down. Broke my heart that did. And that was the end of her.
Two of us ended up dead for this ammo, is what Im sayin; which is why weve had to push our prices up.







The Game
This is a rules light post-apocalyptic RPG. One
player acts as a storyteller, the remainder each
control one character. You all know how RPGs
work, stop being awkward.
Most of the mechanics have been stolen from
elsewhere, over-simplified and then possibly
renamed.

Characteristics
There are three types of characteristics in the
game: resistances, knowledge and skills, each
of which works differently. Broadly speaking,
resistances track how badly hurt a character is,
knowledge represents things that the character
is aware of and skills represent things the
character has a chance of succeeding at.
In addition, a character may take Equipment
and Advantages at the start of the game. These
cover what the character owns and their place
in the world, and may be gained or lost as the
game progresses.

Resistances
Characters have three resistances: Health,
Nutrition and Stamina. Health tracks the
progress of Mixi in a character, and stamina
tracks physical damage.
A resistance is recorded in the form of four
rows of boxes- the number of boxes in a row is
equal to the score the character has in that
resistance. Each time a character takes damage
to that resistance, cross off that many boxes,
starting at the top and moving down. The
highest row with empty boxes in indicates
how much the character is affected- as a
character becomes injured or unstable, they
take successively more severe penalties to dice
rolls.
For example, Murphy has 3 points in stamina,
so her stamina track looks like this:

[ ] [ ] [ ] Intact -0
[ ] [ ] [ ] Hurt -1
[ ] [ ] [ ] Injured -2
[ ] [ ] [ ] Disabled -3
As the highest row with empty boxes in it is
the top (healthy) she operates at no penalty.
She takes four points of damage from a
thrown knife, so four boxes are crossed off,
looking like this:
[X] [X] [X] Intact -0
[X] [ ] [ ] Hurt -1
[ ] [ ] [ ] Injured -2
[ ] [ ] [ ] Disabled -3
Now, the highest row with empty boxes in is
the second (hurt) so Murphy takes a -1 to all
dice rolls.
The four levels for Stamina are Intact (-0), Hurt
(-1), Injured (-2) and Disabled (-3).When a
character has no empty boxes in Stamina, they
will die from their injuries.
The four levels for Nutrition are Fed (-0),
Hungry (-1), Starving (-2) and Malnourished (-
3). A character that has no empty boxes of
Nutrition dies of exposure.
The four levels in Health are Healthy (-0),
Infectious (-1), Sick (-2) and Dying (-3). When a
character has no empty boxes in Health, they
die of Mixi.
It is worth noting that whilst physical damage
is likely to be more prevalent, Mixi and
starvation are harder to prevent and
potentially more dangerous. At character
creation, all Resistances start off with one
point in them and may have a maximum of 5
points in them.



Knowledge
Knowledge characteristics cover a characters
education and background- stuff they will just
know. Knowledge is always successful- there
is no roll, either the character knows
something or they dont. Since knowledge is
automatically successful, you only ever put 1
point into a knowledge characteristic.
For example, suppose Murphy from before
has knowledge (plants). She wants know if a
plant she has found is safe to eat. The player
states that she wants to use knowledge
(plants), and the storyteller informs her that
plant is highly poisonous.

Using Skills
All skills represent a task that the character
has a chance of failure at. As such not all tasks
require a roll- a character is assumed to be able
to run, hold a conversation, find their way
around and perform similar mundane task
without making a skill roll.
When a skill is used, a player rolls a six-sided
dice and adds the value of that skill (if they do
not have that skill, that value number will be 0)
to the number rolled. If they beat a target score
set by the storyteller, then the skill was
successful.
For example, Murphy is attempting to flee
from her attacker. She rolls a dice, getting a
five, and adds her Athletics score of two, for a
total result of 7. The storyteller decides that the
task would be comparatively easy, and gives it
a difficulty of 5. Murphy has beaten the score
needed, and so succeeds.
A slightly more complex example would be
where one character is trying to resist
anothers actions. In this case, the acting
character and resisting character both roll, and
if the acting characters score is higher than the
resisting characters score, they succeed.
For example, Murphy draws her handgun and
takes a shot at her mystery assailant, which he
attempts to avoid. The Murphy rolls and adds
her Shooting value, for a total of six. The
mystery man rolls and adds his dodge value,
getting a total of five. Since the Murphy beat
his score by one point, she has hit him.

Combat
Fighting in combat is normally a resisted roll
of
Fighting vs. Dodge or Shooting vs. Dodge. The
amount the attackers score beats the
defenders score by is added to the standard
damage dealt by a given weapon, as listed
below. For example, in the example above,
Murphy has hit her assailant with a pistol shot.
The shot hit by only one point, so a total of 3+1
damage was dealt.

Weaponry Base Damage
Fists 0
Dog bites, Knives, 1
Swords, Axes, Hammers, Arrows 2
Handguns, Claymores 3
Rifles, Grenades 4
Bombs, Flamethrowers 5
Heavy Machineguns, 6

In an extended fight, each character involved
takes it in turn to make a single action- be it
attacking, attempting to flee or anything else.
The order characters act in depends on the
situation ambushing characters always get to
go first, for example. If it is unclear who would
act first, have each character roll Perception,
with the highest roll getting to go first.
A character with some form of weapon can
easily kill a victim who is unable to defend
themselves. As such, against an opponent who
is unconscious, tied down or similarly helpless,
any armed character can make a roll of combat
resisted by the victims constitution- if the roll
passes, then their victim is killed by a
headshot, slit jugular or similar.
If failed, the attack still does d6 damage plus
the weapons damage modifier. If the
character is unarmed, they may still attempt to
kill a helpless victim by strangulation, but this
will take significantly longer. The storyteller
should be very careful with which situations
they allow one-hit kills to happen in,
particularly when player characters are on the
receiving end.
It is worth noting that combat has been
deliberately kept quite free-form, relying on
the storyteller to arbitrate who acts when and


so forth. Those wishing for three chapters to
tell them how to fight are advised to find
another game to play, possibly one involving
dragons.

Healing
The Healing skill can be used to heal damage
done to Stamina. The difficulty for these tasks
will normally be equal to the amount of
damage taken with situational modifiers.
In combat or similar high stress situations,
there will probably only be time for rapid first
aid - if the skill succeeds, a total of 1 point can
be healed. Outside of combat, more time may
be taken and proper equipment and methods
used. The amount the roll succeeds by is the
amount of damage healed. Note that treating
wounds or trauma in this way will take at
least a few hours, and possibly more. Making
a first aid roll or healing roll in this way
requires the use of suitable equipment- a First
Aid Kit for first aid and a Medical Kit for
healing.
Between (or sometimes during) narrative arcs
there is likely to be a significant period of
down-time during which the storyteller may
allow characters to heal all damage to their
Stamina.
Mixi infection cannot normally be treated.

The Effects of Mixi
One of the main threats to player characters
over the course of the game is that of Mixi.
A character starts off with no health boxes
filled. So long as they have no health boxes
filled, they are completely uninfected.
Whenever an uninfected character has a
chance to contract Mixi, they make an
Immunity roll. The difficulty is typically 6, but
may be higher or lower depending on the
circumstances. If they fail this test, cross off a
single Health box- they are now infected.
At the end of every day, there is a chance the
characters condition will worsen. Roll a d6
and add the total number of Health boxes the
character has crossed off. If this number is
greater than the characters Immunity score,
their condition worsens. Cross off an
additional 1 box if they are Healthy, 2 Boxes if
they are Infectious or 3 boxes if they are Sick
and 4 boxes if they are Dying. A character who
is Healthy does not appear to carry the disease
and is not infectious to others- the sickness is
still latent in their system and may remain so
for quite some time. A character who is
Infectious still shows no outward signs of Mixi
other than a slight wheezing, but now the
infection has started to progress. At this stage,
they can infect those around them unless great
care is taken.
A character who is Sick is quite obviously
infected: their skin is swollen and their eyes
begin to force themselves shut. They will be in
significant discomfort and rather distressing to
look at.
A character that is Dying is basically screwed.
It is not long until they die entirely, and they
likely will be blind, struggling to breathe and
in significant pain.

Starvation and Thirst
Finding food is never an easy task. A character
must either have access to a surplice of food or
acquire food on a day-to-day basis. A
character requires a minimum of a single meal
and a single drink each day.
Food can be found quite easily. A character
can find edible plants using the Foraging skill,
generally enough for a single meal. Foraging
will normally have a difficulty of 3, higher in
places with little to offer or on the off season
but lower on land that used to farm food-crops.
Foraging will generally only yield a single
meal for the character foraging. Hunting is a
less reliable way to gain food, but can yield
several meals with a little effort. In order to
hunt, a character must have located a prey
animal and makes a Foraging roll just like if
they were searching for any other food. One
roll is used for the entire hunting exercise. The
difficulty is generally 4, more against spooked
or flighty animals. A single kill yields 2 meals
for a rabbit, duck or pigeon, 3 for a dog or
goose, 4 for a sheep or pig, 5 for a deer and 6
for a cow or horse. A human corpse would
also yield four meals should a character resort
to cannibalism. Water sources can be found
using Foraging or Navigation, with a difficulty
of around 4, or characters can dig wells or
similar. Normally, a character can carry 1


drink for each bottle they have on them, so
they can go several days without needing to
stay by a water source.
A character that does not eat a meal each day
crosses off a box of their Nutrition resistance.
A character that does not drink during a day
crosses off a box of their Nutrition resistance
and all boxes below it. If a character can neither
eat nor drink, do both, first crossing off a box
an then crossing off an additional box and all
boxes below it. As soon as a character can both
eat and drink in a day, uncross one of the
boxes on their Nutrition resistance.

Poison and Unsafe Food
Characters can be poisoned- either by
venomous creatures such as snakes or
deliberately by their enemies. Generally, to be
poisoned a characters skin must be pierced to
introduce the venom to their bloodstream. As
such, at least one box of Stamina damage must
be dealt. Some poisons need only skin contact
or to be inhaled, in which case no injury is
needed to introduce the venom. Once the
venom is introduced, cross off a single box of
Stamina and all boxes beneath it.
Not all food or water will be safe to consume.
A character can treat unsafe water with
purification tablets or set up a device to distil
it. Unsafe food might be poisonous plants,
tainted meat or substances that must be
cooked to be safe to eat.
Food is harder to make edible, but cunning
methods may render it safe to eat. If the
character consumes unsafe food or water, they
should make a Constitution roll (difficulty 5).
If failed, they become violently ill, suffering
from food poisoning. Depending on the nature
of the substance consumed, they might be
violently sick, run a fever or go into shock.
Whatever happens, cross of a box of Stamina
and all boxes below it just as if they had been
poisoned.
Treating poison is a little more complex than
treating injuries. Immediate attention (sucking
venom from a wound before it takes effect or
vomiting up unsafe food) may prevent the
poisoning before it takes effect, but otherwise
a specific remedy will be required to treat the
poison: antidotes or ways to purge the venom
from the characters system usually. These
remedies may be difficult to locate in some
cases, requiring old hospitals to be looted, but
specific plants may be useful as well.
Generally, an appropriate Knowledge (science
or plants, maybe) will determine the cure to a
given poison.
Poison will also heal over any significant
period of downtime.



Travel
Characters may need to travel long distances.
It isnt required to play through several days
of travel; a couple of sentences of description
from the storyteller are generally all that is
required.
Unless they are following a specific trail
(which is rare) the characters will need to
make a Navigation test to find their location.
In one hour, a character can travel around 2
miles on foot, 5 miles on horseback and 25
miles in a motor vehicle. In a single day, a
character can travel around 16 miles on foot,
40 miles on horseback and 250 miles in a
motor vehicle. If the characters wish to avoid
being noticed, they travel at three-quarters
their normal speed, and if they are foraging
supplies as they go similarly reduce their
speed by a quarter- if they wish to forage and
not attract attention, they travel at half speed.

How Characters Improve
At the end of each session, each character will
gain a certain amount of experience. A
character gains one point of experience if they
were present for that session and at the
storytellers discretion another point if the
group succeeded in their goals during that
session.
Whenever a character experiences a significant
period of downtime, you may spend any or all
of the experience points that character has
acquired to gain new Knowledges, or improve
their Skills or Resistances. Characters can NOT
buy equipment with experience- it must be
acquired through in-character actions. One


experience point is equivalent to one point in
character generation. If a characters
Resistance improves, redraw the relevant
Resistance table wider, and then cross of as
many boxes as were crossed off previously. A
character can never have a Skill or Resistance
above 5.


Dice Rolls
The game is designed so that only one dice roll
is ever made- d6 plus skill. For the most part,
we recommend dice rolls do not need to be
made for what can be called narrative tasks.
Dont make players roll for things like talking
to a contact or setting camp- just let them
accomplish it based on their description. Rolls
are for more important actions such as finding
food when you risk starvation, convincing an
angry biker to back down or dodging in a fight.
On the flip side to this, its generally bad to
inflict things on players without giving them a
chance to roll it away. Rather than stating
that a character falls asleep, have them roll
constitution. As an addition to that, some tasks
(such as running or loading a gun) are so
simple that they have a difficulty of 1 or 0- no
matter what an uninjured character rolls, they
will always succeed so there is no need to roll.
However, an injured character may struggle
with these actions, as reflected in the penalty
to dice rolls. When a character is injured
enough, expecting them to roll for these basic
actions is a good way to get across the severity
of their injuries.

Difficulty of tasks
0 (effortless)
A very easy task that even those in dire straits
should manage
Crawling, basic communication
1 (easy)
A basic task that can normally be taken for
granted
Running, shouting and so on.
2 (simple)
Any trained character takes this for granted,
and its simple even to those without training.
Noticing large tracks, climbing a fence, un-
jamming a gun.
3 (standard)
A trained character shouldnt have a problem
with it, but untrained characters will struggle.
Making arrows, swimming across a fast river,
finding useful parts when looting an
abandoned car.
4 (tricky)
Fairly easy for a well-trained character.
Without proper training the character is
relying more on luck than skill.
Treating a deep wound, building a trap,
finding edible plants in midwinter.
5 (Challenging)
This requires expertise or a lot of luck to pull
off.
Navigating in the dark in unfamiliar territory,
climbing a sheer cliff.
6 (Difficult)
This is near-to impossible for untrained
characters, and an achievement for even
skilled characters.
Calming a rabid animal, eating rotten meat
without becoming sick.
7 ( Demanding)
Very difficult tasks that will not succeed
without talent and a lot of luck.
Building a gun from parts, finding edible
plants in the middle of a city.
8 (Unlikely)
Normally not possible, but a skilled character
can try.
Jumping onto a moving vehicle, Building a
motorized vehicle from parts.
9+ (Near impossible)
Most characters stand no chance of succeeding,
and those that can try will still fail most of the
time.
Building an electrical machine, leaping from
one roof to another across a street.








Yeah, we get raiders around here sometimes, but its not just pirates and bandits, you know? Its all about this
dance of alliances and territory and fame that all the tribes take part in, and the raiders are just a tool when it all
goes south. This one time, the Snake Eaters decided they wanted our land down by the river Ouse near the coast,
right? You know, where its all flat and those little irrigation ditches make it like marshland. Its good grazing
there, and they wanted to bring their horses down.
Now, the Snake Eaters are a nasty bunch. Theyre with the Burning Men, meaning theyre big on prestige and
sacrifice, and that means theyre fucking nuts when they go to war. This lot, from what wed heard, kept adders
as pets in little baskets, and theyd milk the venom outa their fangs. Theyd smear that stuff over their arrows
when they went hunting or got in a scrap, so that even a slight scratch would drop their targets. Wed been
finding their coiled-snake symbol burnt into the turf further and further into our territory, and our stocks
started getting stolen in the night.
Herder politics is all about prestige, right? So, we started pushing up into the woods where they lived, painted
our own marks on the trees and grabbed their game when we could. This went on most of the spring, and by the
time we hit midsummer- even though both sides had barely seen the other in person- tensions were pretty damn
high. All the Skavvies were gossiping about how there was going to be a war soon. The sun beat down and the
sense of danger was oppressive, like a steam boiler with too much pressure built up.
Then one day, we heard that a gang of raiders was in the area. That news is never good, but with things about to
kick off the way they were we all knew that they were probably looking for mercenary work. A trader we knew
was talking about how he could put us in touch for a small fee, but before he could come through, we got
attacked.
We heard their engines from miles off, and then before they came over the hills, they cut their motors and must
have crept forward on foot. They had been hiding in the undergrowth, apparently waiting for the right moment.
There was a sudden burst of gunfire out of the quiet pasture. Four of us were dropped right there. They chucked
in a couple of molotovs after that, and in the height of summer the dry grass caught alight and began to
smoulder. This panicked the cattle, and the beasts just stampeded. Were there with terrified cows everywhere,
burning turf smoking enough that we cant see, and as we try to react, these killers dart forward, knives out,
and just flit between us, blades lashing out when they get close, and their victims would just collapse in spurts
of blood. Id seen hunters methodically take out a whole pack of dogs before, and this was the same thing. It was
cold, was how it was.
I was a little way away at this point, and when I realized what was happening I just legged it. Last thing I saw
was these figures in long coats crouching down to take trophies from the fallen.
That pretty much ended the conflict for the time. We were too scared and outgunned to do anything back, and
they just rolled in and took the land they wanted. Turns out we werent even the issue for them, theyd been
under pressure from other tribes and needed to make an example as a show of strength. And then, a few years
later, when things had died down, we burnt their camp down whilst they were sleeping.



Firstly, each player must select which of the
four cultures their character comes from. Each
culture comes with a starting package that all
characters belonging to that culture have for
free.
Each player then has 20 points to spend on
their character. They always have at least one
point of Stamina, Nutrition and Health, and
can put a maximum of 5 points into each. They
may take any number of knowledges, each one
costing one point. They may take any number
of skills, putting a maximum of 5 points into
each one. They may take any equipment they
wish, with each character point buying up to 5
meals worth of gear. Finally, a character may
take advantages at the cost listed, representing
their place in society.
A group containing Skavvies or Tested and
members of another culture is likely to
experience problems as those two cultures
have significant secrets of their own and avoid
mixing with others.


Cultures

Herders
Herders are the culture most at home in the
wilderness. They are self-sufficient, nomadic
and not entirely comfortable with technology.

Starting Defences:
1 Stamina, 1 Health, 1 Nutrition
Starting Knowledge:
Geography, Plants, Animals, Herder Signs
Starting Skills :
1 each in Tracking, Animal Empathy, Foraging,
Navigation

Villagers
Villagers are the only culture living in
permanent settlements. They are skilled
craftsmen and better educated than other
cultures.

Starting Defences:
1 Stamina, 1 Health, 1 Nutrition
Starting Knowledge:
Literacy, Numeracy, Old, Culture, Technology,
Starting Skills:
1 each in Crafting, Repair, Memory

Skavvies
Skavvies are the Culture with most friendly
interactions with other groups. They make
good social characters or criminals, and are
well trained to explore urban environments.

Starting Defences:
1 Stamina, 2 Health, 1 Nutrition
Starting Knowledge:
Geography, Old Culture, Trade



Starting Skills:
1 each in Lock Picking, Looting, Stealth,
Immunity

Bikers
Bikers are the most violent culture. Their
members tend to be tougher than other
cultures and all must be skilled fighters just to
survive

Starting Defences :
2 Stamina, 1 Health, 1 Nutrition
Starting Knowledge:
Local Politics
Starting Skills:
1 each in Combat, Shooting, Dodge, Intimidate,
Willpower, Psychology

Tested
The New Men are dramatically unlike other
cultures, living ritualized lives and innately
hostile to other cultures. Tested are tough and
skilled at science, but not as well-trained as
other cultures.

Starting Defences:
2 Stamina, 2 Health, 1 Nutrition
Starting Knowledge:
Science, Medicine
Starting Skills:
3 in Immunity, 1 in Medic

Knowledge
Knowledge shows which broad areas your
character is an expert on. Generally no roll is
ever made for Knowledge, but obscure facts
may merit a memory roll.

History covers the events of the past. The
initial creation and release of Mixi is covered
by this, knowledge, as is older history from
before characters were born.

Geography covers the lay of the land- the
names of towns, major roads, and what
resources and groups can be found where.

Plants covers which plants are edible or
poisonous, and how to gather and prepare
them.

Animals covers the habits and basic anatomy
of different animals, as well as rarer animals
such as those from zoos.

Literacy is the ability to read and write.
Without this skill, all characters are barely
literate by default, and will struggle to read
more than a few words.

Numeracy covers the ability to use numbers
beyond a very basic level. A character would
probably need numeracy to calculate exchange
rates when trading goods, for example.

Old Culture covers things left over from the
past. It is used to identify and understand
items and practices from before the coming of
Mixi.

Science covers basic science- physics, biology
and so forth. A character with this knowledge
has scientific understanding similar to that
gained from a good modern education.

Technology is a characters familiarity with
and understanding of technology- how
devices function and what their purpose might
be.

Medicine gives the character a basic
understanding of human anatomy and how
the human body can fail. Without this skill, a
characters approach to healing will be based
on guesswork and rote learning, not
understanding.



Folklore covers the myths, rumours and
urban legends that have sprung up since the
coming of Mixi. It might give insights into
particular customs or remind a character of
different rumours.

Trade is the knowledge of what is valuable,
and who can locate what goods. It gives the
character a good understanding of the
exchange rates between different goods.

Local Politics gives the character an
understanding of most key groups and
individuals in the area, what their aims are,
what values they hold and who is allied with
or at war with who.

Herder Signs allows the character to
recognise and understand the messages being
sent through the marks Herder tribes leave
behind them.



Skills
These represent the actions a character is
competent at. Each skill can have a maximum
of five points in it, and need not have any. The
skills available are:

Combat
Combat is used in any hand-to-hand fight,
with or without weapons, as well as throwing
items such as knives or grenades. It is used
when making attacks (not to avoid them).
Combat is generally resisted by the targets
Dodge roll.

Shooting
Shooting covers firearms, bows and other
projectile weapons, and is used to hit a target
in a fire-fight.
Like combat, shooting is generally resisted by
the targets Dodge roll. Shooting at a man-
sized, inanimate target has a difficulty of
around 4.


Dodge
Dodge is used to avoid blows, shots and other
dangers. It includes a characters ability to
parry, to use cover and to physically dodge
attacks. As well in fights, dodge would also be
used to avoid a pit-trap, avoid being trampled
by stampeding animals or avoid falling rocks.
Dodge is generally used to resist an attacker's
Combat or Shooting roll. Avoiding an
environmental hazard might have a difficulty
of around 3; avoiding being trampled by
stampeding cattle might have a difficulty of 6.

Stealth
Stealth is used to avoid detection. Sneaking up
on a security guard, fleeing a crime-scene
without being spotted or avoiding showing up
on security cameras are all covered by stealth.
Stealth is usually resisted by a perception roll.



Athletics
Athletics covers a character physical strength,
fitness and speed. It is used when climbing
and jumping, when chasing or being chased
on foot and so forth.
Climbing a cliff-face or jumping a short
distance has a difficulty of around 4- if the roll
fails the character will fall taking perhaps d6-1
physical damage. It is not always necessary to
make an athletics roll- anybody can climb a
tree.
Chases on foot are often rolls of Athletics
resisted by athletics. If the pursuer wins, they
catch up to the target; if the target wins they
successfully lose their pursuer.



Driving
Drive covers a characters ability to use
motorized vehicles such as cars, wagons,
motorbikes and boats.
A character with no ranks in Drive is assumed
to be completely unfamiliar with the workings
of such a vehicle. Simply driving from place to
place generally requires no roll so long as the
character has at least 1 dot in Drive.
A car chase will generally be a roll of Drive
resisted by Drive, and can be handled in the
same way as chases on foot. Navigating
difficult terrain at speed might have a
difficulty of 3 or more, whilst avoiding a
pedestrian who has dived in front of you
probably has a difficulty of 6.

Perception
Perception measures how sharp a character's
senses are and how much they notice about
their surroundings. Perception determines
how quickly a character reacts to an ambush, if
they wake when their house is broken into at
night and if they can spot a hidden enemy.
Perception either opposes or is opposed by a
stealth roll, possibly with a significant penalty
if the character is asleep or distracted or if
there is poor visibility. Spotting hidden details
probably has a difficulty of 4 or more.
In order to keep dramatic tension, the
storyteller may wish to make characters
perception rolls in secret, so the player does
not know if they pass or fail; only what (if
anything) they spot.

Charm
Charm measures a characters charisma, ability
to manipulate and social savvy. Characters
with high charm skills are often good looking,
but not always. Charm is used in most social
situations where a character is trying to
deceive or persuade somebody.
Attempting to lie to a character will probably
be opposed by perception, an attempt at
seduction is probably opposed by willpower
and an attempt to win a debate might be
opposed by another charm roll.
In order to keep dramatic tension, the
storyteller may wish to make characters charm
rolls in secret, so the player does not know if
they pass or succeed, only what (if anything)
they achieve.

Intimidate
Intimidate covers a characters ability to seem
frightening and command respect. It might be
used to interrogate captives, convince an
enemy to back down or scare off assailants.
Intimidate is generally resisted by a Willpower
roll.

Larceny
Larceny covers a wide range of skills, most of
which have criminal applications. Larceny
would be used to pocket an item without
being seen, slip out of handcuffs and or pick
pockets. It includes both knowledge of the
tasks in question and manual dexterity.
Usually, a larceny roll will be opposed by a
perception roll. Slipping out of handcuffs is
probably difficulty 5.
The storyteller may wish to rule that certain
tasks are impossible without the larceny skill.

Tracking
Tracking is the art of following and
interpreting the marks left by an animal or
persons passing. A skilled tracker can follow
tracks that are several days old to locate their
quarry, and make accurate predictions about
their quarry from doing so.
The difficulty for most tracking will be 4.
Following very old tracks will be higher,
maybe 6, whilst very obvious tracks (such as
those left by a vehicle or herd of cattle) will be
lower, maybe 2.

Crafting
Crafting is used whenever a character wants to
make an item from suitable parts. They must
have access to a suitable place to work (which
may be anything from a small flat surface to a
smiths forge depending on the task at hand)
and suitable tools.
The difficulty of the roll varies depending on
what the character wishes to make. A small
knife or spear might have a difficulty of 2,
whilst items such as bows, bombs and shelters
might have a difficulty of 5. Truly difficult


items such as a gun or engine might have a
difficulty as high as 8.

Navigation
Navigation is used to avoid becoming lost. If
in familiar terrain or following an obvious
route (such as an old road) there is no roll
required. Otherwise, a character may need to
make a navigation roll to avoid becoming lost
or find a specific location. Generally this has a
difficulty of 4.

Animal Empathy
This skill is used when dealing with wild or
domesticated animals. It allows you to
understand, train and predict animals.
Avoiding spooking a flighty animal or
angering an aggressive one probably has a
difficulty of 2.
Training animals, predicting the movements of
herds or calming a panicking or aggressive
animal probably has a difficulty of 5.
Animal Empathy is also required in order to
be able to ride horses- normally no roll is
required, but some tricks such as risky jumps
may require a roll.

Psychology
Psychology is used to read an individuals
behaviour, assess their mental state and
understand the workings of the human mind.
A psychology roll might be required to tell if a
character is insane, guess at a characters
motivation or judge if a person is lying.
Making a guess at a characters honesty or
emotional state is probably opposed by a
charm roll, unless they are making no attempt
to hide it. Understanding a characters
behaviour is opposed by their Charm if they
are trying to hide their motives.

Healing
Healing as a skill can be used to diagnose
illnesses or heal damage. Healing is dealt with
previously in the rules, in more depth.

Repair
Repair covers a characters ability to make
broken items function properly. It might be
rolled to fix a broken down car, un-jam a gun
or so forth. The difficulty for most repair rolls
will probably be 3.

Foraging
Foraging is the skill of finding food and other
supplies in the wilderness. A foraging roll can
be made whenever a character spends
significant time in the wilderness (a few hours),
or in less time if they make a concerted effort.
Most characters will possess at least 1 point of
foraging.
To find sufficient sustenance for a single meal
probably has a difficulty of 3. Finding more
specific things, such as poisonous plants or
herbal remedies may have a higher difficulty,
perhaps 5 or so depending on the location.
Foraging is also rolled when a character
wishes to hunt- the difficulty will normally be
at least 4.

Lock Picking
Lock picking is used to open locks without
possessing a key. The task takes around 2
minutes in most cases, and is fairly simple.
Lock picking may not be attempted without at
least 1 in this skill.
The difficulty to pick most locks will be 3.
More complex or unusual locks (such as safe
locks) will have a higher difficulty, perhaps 6
or 7.

Looting
Looting is used to find useful supplies in
urban environments, in much the same way
that Foraging is used in the wilderness.
Looting can be used to find food, supplies and
so on. It is worth noting that most items worth
taking have often been stolen from abandoned
buildings already- looting is used to pick over
the scraps for lucky finds.


To find sufficient sustenance for a single meal
has a difficulty of 2. Finding more specific
things, such as mechanical parts or alcohol
may have a higher difficulty, perhaps 5 or so
depending on the item sought.
A looting rolls Difficulty will be significantly
raised or lowered depending on the location
being looted.


Memory
Memory covers a characters ability to recall
pertinent information. For example, it might
be used to recognize somebody from a photo,
memorize the contents of a document or
memorize a car number-plate. Another use for
memory would be to remember trivial
general knowledge. For example, a character
might ask to make a memory roll to tell
somebody is acting out of character or identify
a piece of poetry.
Memory can also be used as a second chance
by the storyteller when a player misses or
forgets clues. On a successful roll, the player
will be told what theyre getting wrong.
In order to keep dramatic tension, the
storyteller may wish to make characters
memory rolls in secret, so the player does not
know if they pass or fail; only what (if
anything) they remember.

Constitution
Constitution is a measure of a characters
physical toughness. It is used to avoid
suffering penalties from inhospitable
environments (very hot or cold, say) shrug off
the effects of poison or avoid becoming
exhausted from lack of sleep. The difficulty of
a constitution roll might be 5 to shrug off the
effects of a poison, hold breath or resist sleep
when exhausted- harder tasks will have higher
difficulties.

Immunity
Immunity measures the robustness of a
characters immune system. In short, it is how
a character avoids contracting Mixi and other
diseases. The rules for contracting Mixi have
been stated already.

Willpower
Willpower is a measure of somebodys
strength of character, conviction and self-
confidence. Willpower is often used to resist
Intimidate or charm rolls. In addition, it may
be required to resist extreme temptation or
fear.

Equipment:
Characters are assumed to start off with
clothing, food for a day and access to some
shelter as a group. As well as this, minor items
such as string, chalk, and other odds and ends
can probably be taken for free. Any additional
equipment must be taken from the list below
at the cost given.
Each character point you spend gives you
equipment worth the equivalent of five meals.
The more points you put into equipment, the
more meals worth of equipment you can take.
Equipment can easily be gained and lost
during play, so we do not advise putting too
much into gear initially.

Knife: Worth 1 meal
This is a simple weapon that can be used as a
tool for some tasks. It has a base damage of +1

Hand Weapon: Worth 2 meals
This is a somewhat larger weapon- a sword,
axe, hammer or similar. Most such weapons
have other uses as well, and can be used as a
tool for some tasks. They have a base damage
of +2

Bow: Worth 2 meals
A bow is a simple ranged weapon that is easy
to make, maintain and create ammunition for.
A well made bow shoots nearly silently and
has a range of up to a hundred meters. A bow
has a base damage of +2

Arrows: Worth 1 meal
Arrows are simple to make and easily traded
for. A single purchase of arrows will provide a
quiver of twenty. Arrows can be recovered
from a target, unlike bullets.



Large Weapon: Worth 3 meals
This is a somewhat larger weapon- a spear,
spade, pickaxe, chain or similar. Such a
weapon may have other uses beyond violence
and might be usable as a tool for some tasks.
They have a base damage of +3

Handguns: Worth 3 meals
A handgun is a pistol, either recently made or
recovered. These guns are comparatively rare
and seen as a status symbol by many. A
handgun has a base damage of +3.

Rifles: Worth 4 meals
These weapons are somewhat bulkier than
handguns and are both found and made more
commonly. A Rifle has fantastic range and can
deal huge amounts of damage. A rifle has a
base damage of +4

Heavy Weapon: Worth 7 meals
Heavy Weapons are weapons such as
flamethrowers, machine guns or harpoon guns.
They fire specialized ammunition and are
difficult to maintain, but are capable of doing
huge amounts of damage. Most heavy
weapons are lovingly maintained and
regarded as irreplaceable by their owners. A
heavy weapon has a base damage of +6.

Bullets: Worth 1 meal
Bullets are used up when fired, and in short
supply. As such, they are a very valuable
trading commodity. A single purchase of
bullets gives a pouch of ten.

Shield: Worth 5 meals
A shield is carried in one hand and designed
to protect the user from incoming blows. It
gives you +2 to your Dodge rolls to avoid
being struck in a melee. It provides no
protection against arrows or bullets, which
usually go straight through it.

Scope: Worth 5 meals
This attatches to a single ranged weapon you
own, such as a bow, handgun or similar. A
scope allows you to aim more precisely, giving
you +2 to your Shooting skill when you have
time to carefully aim. Note that a scope will
probably not come into play in the heat of
combat, unless you are giving covering fire
from some way away- with enemies rushing
towards you, you have no time to aim
properly.

Medical Kit: Worth 1 meal
A properly stocked medical contains
antiseptics, bandages, drugs, braces for broken
bones and painkillers. A medical kit gives a +2
bonus to Healing rolls. If not kept stocked, it
will begin to run out, becoming effectively
useless after around a dozen uses.

Mixi Treatment Kit: Worth 1 meal
A Mixi treatment kit contains a number of
drugs and herbal remedies, as well as face
masks and painkillers, designed to combat the
advance of Mixi infection. When used, a
character rolling for Mixi progress gets +2 to
their Immunity skill. This kit has enough
supplies to treat a character for one week.

Skeleton keys: Worth 1 meal
A set of skeleton keys makes the task of
getting into locked buildings much easier, and
give a +2 bonus to appropriate Lockpicking
rolls.

Protective Clothing: Worth 5 meals
Protective clothing is any thick or bulky
clothing that might give them a modicum of
protection such as a heavy coat or denim
overalls. A character wearing Protective
Clothing ignores the first point points of
damage they take, after which the armor is
wrecked and provides no protection until
repaired. A character may only wear one suit
of armor at one time.

Light armor: Worth 10 meals
Light armor consists of heavy leathers with
some metal plates or similar protective gear. A
character wearing Light Armor ignores the
first two points of damage they take, after
which the armor is wrecked and provides no
protection until repaired. A character may
only wear one suit of armor at one time.




Heavy Armor: Worth 15 meals
Heavy Armor consists of bulky purpose-built
armor- stab vests, helmets, metal plates
strapped over limbs and protective face masks.
It allows the character wearing it to ignore the
first three points of damage points of damage
they take, after which the armor is wrecked
and provides no protection until repaired. A
character may only wear one suit of armor at
one time.

Water Purification Tablets: Worth 1 meal
Water Purification tablets can be used to
render dubious water safe to drink. A single
purchase supplies a box of ten- each tablet will
process around a pint of water.

Matches: Worth 1 meal
Matches can be used to easily start fires, and
are a very rare and valuable resource. A single
purchase supplies a box of twenty.

Bike: Worth 5 meals
A pedal-bike is simple to maintain and does
not require fuel to operate. However,
compared to horses or vehicles, they are
comparatively slow and have a low carrying
capacity. Bicycles are a popular choice for
traders and scouts, and many villages have a
small group mounted on bikes that patrol their
territory. A bike can carry one person and as
much gear as they could hold on foot.

Motorbike: Worth 15 meals
Motorbikes are commonly used by Biker
gangs or scouts for Savvy bands. They are less
fuel efficient than other vehicles and can only
carry two people at a pinch, but are incredibly
maneuverable and can cope easily with rough
terrain. Most motorbikes are customized by
their owners to have greater carrying capacity.
A motorbike requires fuel to function.

Car: Worth 20 meals
A car is a motorized vehicle capable of
carrying as many as 5 passengers and supplies.
Working cars are in short supply, the majority
having rusted to the point of uselessness or
been taken apart for scrap metal and parts.
Most working cars have received significant
modification to reduce their weight or increase
their ability to travel over rough ground-
many also have weapons mounted on them. A
car requires fuel to function.

Van: Worth 25 meals
A van is a large motorized vehicle that can
carry huge amounts of supplies or as many as
twenty people. Vans are rare and prized
vehicles, usually only found in the possession
of Skavvie bands who use them to carry their
supplies from place to place. Most vans have
been altered significantly, making them
effectively mobile homes that can easily be
defended and provide most amenities needed
to live. A van requires fuel to function.

Fuel: Worth 3 meals
Petrol, bio-fuels and diesel are in short supply
and are very valuable resources. Only the
Skavvies know where to reliably find fuel, and
it is guarded jealously. A single purchase of
fuel is enough to run a vehicle for around a
week.

Local Map: Worth 3 meals
A map of the area might have been salvaged,
or drawn up recently. Either way, it adds +2 to
navigation rolls when travelling across
country.

Gas Mask: Worth 5 meals
A gas mask covers the characters face and
prevents them from breathing in tainted air.
The character gets +2 to Immunity rolls to
avoid contracting Mixi in the right
circumstances.



Craftsmans Tools: Worth 1 meal
This set of tools is adapted for one specific
material, usually Metal, Wood, Cloth or Stone.
In the right circumstances, it gives +2 to
Crafting and Repair rolls.

Trade Goods: cost 1
Trade goods covers items such as food, alcohol,
mechanical parts and so on that are frequently
used for barter. A single purchase of trade
goods is probably a backpacks worth of goods,
and is valuable enough to get a careless
character mugged for it.

Other Gear: cost varies
If you want to take any other significant
equipment, ask your storyteller how many
points any specific item is worth. Equipment
that gives a bonus to a dice roll always has a
static bonus of +2 in appropriate situations.


Advantages
Advantages represent other facets of your
character beyond what they know and own.
Advantages can be taken at character creation
by spending character points, but cannot be
bought with experience- the only way to gain
a trained animal is to find and train one in
play. Like equipment, advantages can be
gained and lost through in-game actions.

Older- cost 1
You were one of the oldest survivors of mixi-
somewhere between ten and fourteen when
the infection came. The disease will have been
harder to for you, and your body shows the
scars from where your skin swelled and
cracked. However, you were still young
enough to fight of the infection eventually,
and will have naturally risen to a position of
leadership among those children you met up
with. Age brings responsibility, and as the
new cultures developed, most of your age-
group will have been the leaders and thinkers
behind this. As the population reaches
adulthood, respect for those of your age has
become entrenched.
Your scars and age mark you out as important
and respected. Most people who do not know
you will naturally assume that you are a
leader, and many of your allies will naturally
defer to you. You get +2 to charm and
intimidate rolls made to lead or motivate those
who respect your age.

Parent- cost 0-2
You have a child, born after the infection, that
you are responsible for. This child might be
your own, or you may have found them
abandoned or orphaned and decided to raise
them yourself.Such children are the first
generation born since the end of civilization-
they know very little of how the world used to
be compared even to adults. A child has 1 each
in Stamina, Health and Nutrition, no
knowledge and no skills. Like an adult,
children require a meal each day or they begin
to starve. The number of points you spent on
the child determine how old (and therefore hw
useful) it is. A child that cost 0 will be a baby
or toddler, unable to care for themselves and
requiring care and attention. A child that cost
1 will probably be about 4 years old, capable
of following instructions and performing
useful tasks- however they are still
inexperienced and immature, and cannot
safely be left t their own devices. A child that
cost 2 is perhaps around 9 years old. Whilst
unskilled, such a child is comparatively
competent and responsible, and can usually be
relied on.

Trained Animal cost 1
You have a horse, ox, dog, ferret or similar
animal that you have trained to be obedient
and useful. Such an animal will normally be
able to feed itself by scavenging or grazing. It
will be trained to the best of your ability- the
higher your Animal Empathy skill, the better
you will have trained it. The animal will
normally behave according to its instincts and
training, but you will be able to command it.
In some situations, you will need to make an
Animal Empathy roll to control or restrain it.
Only the Tested keep cats as pets, as it is
understood that cats spread the Mixi and as
such all other groups will kill them on sight.
An animal has a Stamina of 2. Animals do not
suffer from Mixi and are assumed to feed
themselves by grazing or scavenging leftovers,


so their Health and Nutrition are irrelevant.
Each animal has three points in a single skill
representing its main use. Possible animals
you could own include Sniffer dogs (tracking),
Horses (athletics), Warhounds (combat),
Guard dogs (perception) and Sheepdogs
(animal empathy).

Herd- Cost 1+
You have a small herd of livestock that you
follow, using them for meat and possibly milk
or wool. They will probably be branded with
your tribes mark and be familiar with your
presence. However, these animals are not
trained and will not obey (or even understand)
instructions you give them. You follow them,
rather than them following you.
A typical herd consists of around 10 animals.
If you or your companions take this advantage
more than once, it increases the size of your
herd- so if three people each have a herd, the
herd will have about thirty animals.

Allies- Cost 1
You have friendly relations with another
group outside your own, such as a skavvie
band you frequently trade with or a tribe you
used to belong to. You can normally rely on
these people for help and information, and
they would probably take you in if you were
in danger. You need to keep your allies
friendly- if you constantly lean on them for
help whilst giving nothing back theyll get
tired of you.

Bolt-hole- Cost 1+
You have access to a hidden dwelling
somewhere nearby. It may be a set of caves, a
ruined building on the hills, or a set of tree-
houses deep in the forest. This place is stocked
with enough food to for three days meals, as
well as bottled water and firewood. The
building is secure enough to easily defend,
with easily barricaded windows, strong locks
on the doors, and possibly a number of hidden
exits. If you take bolt-hole multiple times, this
could either make your safe-house larger and
better equipped, or it could mean that you
have a number of bolt-hole in separate
locations. Unless you specifically tell others, it
is assumed that you are the only one who
knows the location of your bolt-hole.






Hello again, diary. It has been ten days since my last confession. The date is approximately fourteen years,
three hundred and twenty-five days since the Mixi came.
I am once again clean, my body having fought off the sickness that ailed it and my mind having overcome the
doubt that plagued it.
Father Simon visited me in my room again today, and inspected me. He saw that the swelling about my face had
not increased in the night, and I was still able to open my eyes and breathe through my nose. He judged me
strong and fit to live, and gave to me the medicine that would make me whole again.
It is the third time I have received this medicine, and it is no easier. The injections hurt- anybody who tells you
otherwise is lying or a fool. For hours you wonder if the cure has taken, or if you will have to wait another day
in sickness to receive the cure again. After a while, the cure does its holy work, and your body reacts against the
sickness that is sapping it. I have always found that I become so very cold when this happens, and I shiver and
cant bear to even move. It is weakness, I know, but I am weak at this point. Then, as the fever continues, I find
similar complaints to my monthly trials, and I bleed and nausea overtakes me. Each time, I feel faint, and will
sleep for some time, and wake feeling invigorated and filled with life, though the sickness still ails me. These are
my trials and I overcome them to be worthy of life.
When Father Simon visited that evening, he saw that I was well, and that I could attend church again that
evening. After two weeks of isolation and sickness, I am judged well enough to return to the flock. For this, I am
grateful.
Church was not of any great significance. Sister Abigail was preaching today. She greeted me as I entered, and
told the assembled worshippers that I had proved myself, and they should give praise for my survival. The
sacrifice to the Almighty tonight was a young fox. Sister Abigail did her usual ritual- her transubstantiations
always give me a shiver of excitement- and we drank the wine of Christ from it. She moved onto her sermon,
which centred on mercy. She said that though we are strong, many in the world are not. She pointed to those
who hunt outside the town, and said that though they were weak, they had in them the seeds for growth. We
should be compassionate, she said, neither killing them nor leaving them to rot in their idleness. She reminded
us that our duty was to test them where possible, to push them into conflict and pride and sickness so that they
might emerge stronger or create their own ruin. When they understand, she said, they will come to us. I think,
perhaps, that Sister Abigail is a little soft on the unbeliever. Were it my decision, we would scour the land so
that only the truly strong remained. I fear that those over-enamoured with pity for the weak may once again
cause a schism within our little community. I hope that we can avoid this, and those in error be made to see the
light. I do not doubt Sister Abigails conviction, only her judgement. I shall have to have stern words when it is
my time to preach again.
After r the service, I saw Brother Tony again. He said he had prayed for my recovery every night whilst I was
being tested with sickness, and how he had missed me. As the congregation scattered to go about their tasks for
the evening, we kissed again- it had been two weeks and I had been so alone without him- and went to prepare
the evening meal together.
After we ate, he returned to his quarters, and I to mine. Soon, I think, I shall ask him to marry me. The thought
of it fills me with anticipation. Still, things must be done properly, and the longer I delay this, the stronger my
resolve will be and the greater our marriage will become.
As I am once again clean from the sickness, I shall include my thanks in tonights prayers, for I have much to be
grateful for. I have my strength, I am enlightened to the Faith of the Tested, unlike so many, I am young and
clever and powerful, and I have Tony in my life. All this is good.
I remain, your obedient servant,
Sister Emily Hernandez, a New Woman in Gods Eyes



Character Questions
The following list of questions is designed to
give you a good concept of your character
before you begin play. It may help to discuss
your answers with other players, and your
storyteller, in order that everybody has a
strong idea of what each character is about.
Obviously, you do not need to write your
answers anywhere (or even bother answering),
but putting a little thought into how your
character fits into the world and what their
history is like makes them that much more
realistic and rewarding to play.
Again, if all you want is a list of stats and
numbers, I recommend you play a game
involving dragons instead.

What is your name?
Is this your characters birth name, or a
nickname they acquired. Some groups,
particularly the Tested and some villages, use
titles (such as sister, citizen, captain or
similar) to address each other- if this is the
case, which title does your character use?

How old were you when Mixi came?
The older your character was, the better they
would have understood what was happening
and the more they will remember of life before
Mixi. Most characters will have been between
five and twelve years old- those much older or
younger are very unlikely to have survived.
Obviously, your character will be fifteen years
older than that now, so a character who was
nine when Mixi came will be twenty-four now.
Where did you live?
The important question here is whether they
lived in an urban area or not. If they did, they
will at some point have had to abandon the
towns as it became obvious that Mixi was still
around.
What was your family like?
Who formed their immediate family: one or
both parents, and any siblings? Were they
wealthy or poor? Well educated?
Dysfunctional? Did any of their siblings
survive Mixi, and are they still alive?
How did your family die?
Theres no getting around it: youre characters
family are dead. Whilst some (those who
became infected early on) will have been taken
to hospitals, many will have died in their own
homes. Often, older children will have cared
for their dying family. Ask yourself how long
it took them to die. Maybe they chose to end


their suffering swiftly and cleanly, maybe
there was some impassioned deathbed
conversation between mother and daughter,
or maybe they simply stopped breathing in the
night.
Whatever is the case, all your characters
family died horribly, and your character was
powerless to stop it.
How did being orphaned affect you?
Many children will have been somewhat
scarred by the experience, and some will have
seen things that were thoroughly traumatizing.
Maybe your character spent months, years
even, stunned by what had happened. Maybe
they came from an abusive family, and felt a
sense of guilty relief that at least the beatings
were over. Maybe you were young enough
that you had no idea what was happening or
why your mummy wouldnt wake up any
more. In any case, pretty much everybody will
have been affected by what happened to them.
How long were you alone?
Not everybody immediately linked up with
other survivors. Perhaps you spent years in
the heart of the city, believing you were the
only person left alive, before an emerging
band of Skavvies found you and took you in.
On the other hand, some children quite
quickly found others like them and became
organized. Many have happy memories of
childhoods spent looting and playing among
the empty cities.


Who are your friends?
Obviously, the other player characters, but
how does your character know them. Were
they childhood friends? Did they meet up after
Mixi came and help one another survive? Are
they temporary business partners and nothing
more?
How do you live?
Obviously, your characters culture affects this,
but be specific. Does a herder hunt game, trap
animals, fish, or follow herds of cattle? What is
a villagers job within their community? What
goods does a Skavvie trade in, and who with?
Your food, water and shelter needs to come
from somewhere, after all.
Do you care about morality?
Does your character believe that some things
are just right or wrong? Where do they
draw the line? Is violence acceptable to them?
Murder? Torture? Do they have a code they
live by, and if so does this match that of their
compatriots? For example, Herder society has
fairly strong principles regarding things like
ownership and territory- your herder support
these principles, or do they merely go along
with the general consensus?
Has your character ever stolen to survive?
Killed another human? Hurt somebody they
cared about? Put their life at risk to help a
stranger?
What are your supernatural beliefs?
Do you believe in the supernatural at all?
Many people recognize spirits and lesser gods,
and perform small rituals to appease them.
Others believe in one christian-esque God,
and still cling to what they can remember of
tradition religion. Does your character practice
one or both of these? How important are these
beliefs to the character? Does your character
have any superstitions or rituals, and where
did they come from?




What are your relationships like?
Does your character have a lover? Many lovers?
Do they have have (or want) a single partner,
or a series of brief flings? Who do they find
attractive? Does your character have any
unusual kinks?
What do you do for fun?
Life is not all work, and most people in the
world have at least something they do that
doesnt actively keep them alive. Does your
character have a hobby or interest? Maybe
they paint, write poems or have some other
creative pastime. Many cultures have large
feasts, with food, intoxicants and so on.
What frightens you most?
This could be fairly straightforward- a fear of
Mixi, of harm coming to your child or of dying
young. On the other hand, it could be much
more straightforward. Many people will
develop phobias from the deaths of their
families or the events immediately after. Other
characters might fear weakness, signs of
sickness, violence or one of any other things.
What gives you hope?
The world is not a completely bleak place, and
most characters have something they cling to
when things are hard. They might treasure
their child or lover, or they might be dedicated
to some cause (possibly even the Tested or
Messenger faiths). On a less grand level, some
characters might have a passion for art, music
or food that consumes them, or gain immense
satisfaction from hunting, building things or
exploring.
How do you feel about the dead?
Does your character bury or cremate their
dead companions? Are they pragmatic enough
to leave them where they fell or even to eat
them? Do they respect the old corpses of Mixi
casualties you find, or are they just another
part of the landscape? Do they think you can
contact or be affected by the dead, or are they
just gone?
What do you want?
What motivates your character? Do they want
profit, comfort, fame or to be moral? Maybe
they have some goal they are working towards
(such as conquering new territory for their
tribe) or ideal they promote (such as a Tested
cultist who subtly proselytises to other
cultures). Either way, there has to be
something that makes your character more
than just another grunt.
Whats your great vice?
What is your characters biggest weakness or
hidden flaw? What holds them back or makes
them repellent to others? Are they a coward?
Addicted to alcohol or hallucinogens? Prone to
violence or cruelty? Callous? Are they
ashamed by this part of themselves, or do they
accept or even glorify it?
Whats your great strength?
What makes your character heroic? What is
their better nature? Are they honourable,
compassionate or ambitious? What made them
this way? Maybe they were taught that this
behaviour was good by their family, or learnt
that it was necessary to survive after Mixi
came.
What do you wear?
A characters clothing reflects their lifestyle,
from the masks and hooded coats worn by
Skavvies to the furs and leathers worn by
herders. Its worth thinking about the kind of
clothing your character wears: whats it made
out of? Is it elegant or crude? Does it display
any sort of iconography, and if so why? Does
it offer any physical protection or have any
similar practical uses?
What do you look like?
What is your characters hair like? Long, short,
braided, matted, shaved? Do they have any
scars? Are they missing teeth, eyes or fingers?
Whats their build like- muscular, wiry or thin?
A character is unlikely to be fat unless they are
very high status. Do they have tattoos,
piercings, brandings or scarification?


Sample Non-player Characters
These are a short list of characters for
storytellers to use, rather than preparing a
character from scratch. These characters only
include the details that the storyteller will
need whilst they interact with player
characters: they have no Health or Nutrition
resistances, and know whatever it is useful or
reasonable for them to know.

Annie Green- Hunter
Culture: Herder
Appearance: short and slim. Sunburnt skin
and dark blonde hair plaited with feathers.
Personality: somewhat reserved and
suspicious of outsiders. Becomes much more
open when intoxicated. A cheerful drunk.
Role: Her tribe- the Knotted Vine- hunt and
trap animals and trade furs. Annie patrols a
large area of land, sets traps, leaves her tribes
mark as she goes, hunts any game she finds.
Age: 24
Stamina: 2
Skills: 2 Shooting, 2 Stealth, 2 Tracking, 1
Foraging, 1 Navigation, 1 Animal Empathy.
Gear: A bow (base damage +2), 14 arrows, a
knife (base damage +1), several hunks of
smoked meat, a bottle of water, parts to make
several rabbit snares, a flint and steel.

Kyle Denton- Sentry
Culture: Villager
Appearance: Stocky. Tanned skin. Wears a
boiler suit with a heavy jacket over it, and has
a short beard.
Personality: Usually open and gregarious, but
easily angered. Very loyal. Prone to risk-taking.
Role: His village has many industries, but
primarily makes cloth and tents. Kyle works
partly as a weaver, and partly on guard duty,
patrolling the edge of the villages territory.
Age: 25
Stamina: 3
Skills: 1 Combat, 2 Awareness, 1 Tracking, 1
repair, 1 crafts, 1 memory, 1 willpower
Gear: A hand-axe (base damage +2), a flare-
gun (base damage +3), 2 flares, Protective
Clothing (ignore 1 damage), matches

Pistol Jenny- Sentry
Culture: Skavvie
Appearance: Small, pale skinned with freckles
and dyed black hair. Normally wears a plastic
anorak and a bird-styled gasmask.
Scrupulously clean.
Personality: Talkative, flamboyant and a
friendly. Seems to have an anecdote about
every piece of junk she sells. Doesnt mention
who or where she gets it from.
Role: Turns up every few months in a van
marked Pistol Jenny with a new haul of stuff
to sell.
Age: 20
Stamina: 1
Skills: 1 awareness, 2 crafts, 2 repair, 1 stealth,
2 charm, 2 willpower, 1 looting, 1 lock-picking,
2 larceny.
Gear: A car, filled with junk and the occasional
useful item. A few knives, a few dozen bullets,
some clothing, a few padlocks, large amounts
of scrap metal. Soap: lots of soap.

Bikechain Gaz- Mercenary
Culture: Villager
Appearance: Large, muscular, covered in
tattoos and Mixi scars. Shaved head. Wears
torn denim trousers, a leather coat studded
with small metal plates, and a ww2-style
helmet.
Personality: Competitive, proud of his own
abilities and achievements. Not a big talker,
however- a doer not a speaker. Fond of horses.
Role: Hes old, tough, and fearsome. When
people want something done, they put the
word out and hell turn up, name his price,
and do it.
Age: 27
Stamina: 3
Skills: 2 combat, 2 dodge, 2 Intimidate, 1
willpower, 1 shooting, 2 Animal Empathy, 1
navigation.
Gear: A large spiked motorbike chain (base
damage +3), Light Armour (ignore 2 damage),
Horse (Athletics 3), 3 firebombs (base damage
+2)




Sister Natasha- Tested cultist
Culture: Tested
Appearance: Slightly plump, wearing a long
robe and veil that conceals most of her skin.
What can be seen is pale, with dark make-up
around her lips and canine teeth filed to a
point.
Personality: Driven to prove herself and a little
insecure. Strong sense of compassion she tries
to keep in check.
Role: Works in her cult as a medic and cook.
She preaches irregularly, and lives to the same
strict rules as the rest of her community.
Age: 26
Stamina: 2
Skills: 1 Combat, 3 medicine, 3 immunity, 2
dodge, 2 willpower, 2 charm.
Gear: Walking cane (+2 damage), Scalpel (+1
damage), Robes and veil, Mixi Treatment Kit
(+2 immunity), Medical supplies (+2 first aid
or medical treatment), a few sedative pills, a
silver star of David on a chain.

Freddy Blythe- Shaper of the Messengers
Culture: Villager
Appearance: Thin, wiry. Tanned skin, hair
cropped short. Neatly groomed sideburns and
moustache.
Personality: Enthusiastic about machinery and
its workings. He covers for his activities well
by playing the harmless mechanic most of
the time.
Role: He makes bombs, which he passes on to
other messengers when needed. Sometimes,
he puts a bomb with a timer into the vehicles
of his targets whilst ostensibly repairing them.
Age: 26
Stamina: 1
Skills: 1 Shooting, 1 Awareness, 3 charm, 1
dodge, 2 crafts, 1 repair, 1 memory, 1 larceny.
Gear: Several bombs (+6 damage), concealed
handgun (+3 damage, 1 shot), pamphlets,
metal-working tools (+2 to crafts)

Cormack Wynn- Recruiter of the
Messengers
Culture: Skavvie
Appearance: Tall, muscular, and commanding.
Wears a smart red jacket and has long, flowing
blond hair. Tends to ruin the impression by
ringing a loud bell and carrying a placard
reading stop fucking about OK.
Personality: Loud, opinionated but still rather
charming. Uses humour and appeals to the
masses to get his points across. Actually very
shrewd and coldly dedicated to his cause.
Role: Wanders across the countryside with a
few hangers-on, trading goods and news for
food. Never stays in the same place for long.
Age: 21
Stamina: 1
Skills: 2 combat, 3 dodge, 2 stealth, 3 shooting,
3 charm, 1 willpower, 2 larceny, 1 navigation,
1 looting.
Gear: Bell and sign, eye-catching clothes,
Shotgun (+4 damage) with 6 reloads,
handmade pistol (+3 damage) with 10 reloads.
Several bottles of mead, some trail rations, and
a wide variety of hand-written pamphlets.

Violet of the Burning Men- Tribal Chief
Culture: Herder
Appearance: Tall, red headed, with swirling
blue body-paint over most of her skin. Has
flowers woven into her hair. Dressed well an
embroidered cloth tunic and leather coat over
the top. Overall, imposing to look at.
Personality: Speaks quietly and decisively.
Prone to sudden, shocking bursts of rage when
threatened. Chooses to rule through
intermediaries rather than directly. Religious.
Role: Leads the Burning Men tribe, and so
indirectly controls a huge number of herders.
Something of a high priestess to Mother
Chalk.
Age: 29
Stamina: 4
Skills: Combat 3, Dodge 3, Stealth 1, Shooting
3, Animal Empathy 2, Tracking 1, Navigation
2, Foraging 2, Intimidate 2, Charm 4,
Willpower 4, and Constitution 3.
Gear: Bull-slayer- a massive two-handed
pickaxe with the blade fashioned to resemble
the beak of a crow (+3 damage, poisoned),
hand-held crossbow with 6 bolts (+2 damage,
poisoned), Protective Clothing (Ignore 1
damage), Local Maps (+2 navigation)
[Type text] [Type text] [Type text]
[Type text] [Type text] [Type text]
Combat
Shooting
Dodge
Athletics
Constitution
Immunity
Charm
Intimidate
Psychology
Willpower
Memory
Healing
Stealth
Drive
Foraging
Looting
Crafting
Repair
Lockpicking
Animal Empathy
Tracking
Perception
Navigation

Animals , Plants , Geography ,
History , Medicine , Science ,
Technology , Local Politics , Herder
Signs , Folklore , Trade , Literacy ,
Numeracy