MELEE WEAPONS
Typical Knife
Damage: STR +1D
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Knife
Difficulty: Easy (7)
Concealability: Very Easy (3)
Note: A typical knife can be thrown, but increase the
difficulty by 5.
Typical Throwing Knife
Damage STR + 2 if thrown, STR +1D if used as a regular knife.
Scale: Character
Skill: Thrown Weapons: Knife
Range: 2-3/5/10
Concealability: Very Easy (3).
Sword
Damage: STR +2D
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Sword
Difficulty: Easy (10)
Concealability: Difficulty (20).
Club/Baseball Bat
Damage: STR + 1D+1
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Club
Difficulty: Easy (7)
Concealability: Moderate (15)
Notes: Clubs are any blunt object made to hit something
else hard. GM's should alter the damage rating depending on the quality
of the club. For example, a broom stick might only do STR + 2 pips
of damage while a crowbar might do STR+ 1D+2.
Battle Axe
Damage: STR +2D+2
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Axe
Difficulty: Moderate (12); If the wielder attempts
to decapitate (cut the head off) an enemy, she must match a Very Difficult
(25) target number + any Dodge or Parry effort by the defending victim.
Concealability: Difficulty (20).
Staff
Damage: STR + 1D+2
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Staff
Difficulty: Easy (7)
Concealability: Difficult (20)
Notes: Staves give a +1D to Melee Weapons skill when used
to parry melee attacks.
MISSILE WEAPONS
Bow
Damage: STR + !D
Ammo: 1
Range: 2-5/10/20
ROF: 1
Concealability: Very Difficult (25).
Crossbow
Damage: 5D
Skill: Missile Weapons: Crossbow
Ammo: 1
Range: 2-5/10/20
ROF: 1
Concealability: Very Difficult (25).
Crossbow Pistol
Damage: 4D
Skill: Missile Weapons: Bows
Ammo: 1
Range: 2-5/12/20.
ROF: 1. Requires 1 action to reload.
Concealability: Easy (7)
Notes: Crossbow Pistols may be wielded one-handed.
FIREARMS
The characters of Neverwhere will likely have little opportunity to
use a gun. In most cases, guns simply don't work in the World Below.
It might be loaded, a character may pull the trigger, but in all likelihood,
nothing will happen. Why? Who knows, it's just the way it goes...
I've included guns with the equipment because GM's may sometimes find
a need to have them for a game. For example, there are occasions
when Underdwellers may run afoul of the police or other armed forces and
have to engage in a firefight (GM's discretion as to whether the players'
guns will function).
The guns listed here are pretty basic. For much more detailed
lists of firearms, check out Joe's
Gun Catalog or Aaron LaBow's weapons list in PDF
or Word 2000 formats.
You can use the ranges given below for the weapons that Joe lists (or the
ranges listed by Aaron).
Handgun
Damage: 4D
Ammo: 12
Range: 3-10/30/60
ROF: 3 shots per round maximum. No burst.
Concealability: Very Easy (5)
High-powered Handgun
Damage: 5D
Ammo: 12
Range: 3-7/25/50
ROF: 2 shots per round maximum. No burst.
Concealability: Easy (7)
Notes: -1 pip to all "To-Hit" rolls.
Machine Pistol
Damage: 4D
Ammo: 15
Range: 3-10/30/60
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of
3 bullets rendering 5D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit"
rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round,
either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire
resulting in +1D to hit and 5D+2 damage.
Concealability: Easy (7)
Submachine Gun
Damage: 5D
Ammo: 30
Range: 6-10/35/75
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of
3 bullets rendering 5D+2 damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on
"To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip in
one round, either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating
Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 6D damage.
Concealability: Easy (9)
Automatic Rifle
Damage: 6D
Ammo: 50
Range: 5-30/100/300
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts
of 3 bullets rendering 5D+2 damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D
on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic. Full automatic: Can empty the clip
in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in the Combat section) or Concentrating
Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 6D damage.
Concealability: Very Difficult (25)
Pump Shotgun
Damage: 5D (buckshot) / 6D (solid slug)
Ammo: 5
Range: 2-5/10/20
ROF: 2 shots per round maximum.
Concealability: Difficult (20) for full-barrelled shotguns.
Moderate (10) for sawed-off shotguns.
Notes: Sawed-off shotguns do 6D damage at Point Blank range
but suffer a -1D cumulative penalty to damage rolls for every 5 meters
beyond the first.
ARMOR
Shield
Type: Personal protection.
Scale: Character.
Protection: Free action to Parry a melee attack (roll
with Melee Weapons, Martial Arts or Brawling). Acts as 4D Protection
when used as Cover against missile attacks (no free action).
Cost: Highly variable (depending on style and quality).
Availability: Common. In the World Below, medieval
shields can easily be found. Also, many underdwellers use makeshift
shields made out of street signs, garbage can lids, and hubcaps.
Concealability: Very Difficult (25)
Leather Clothing
Type: Personal clothing.
Scale: Character.
Cost: Affordable.
Availability: Common
Concealability: Very Easy (but usually unnecessary to
hide).
Game Notes: Leather gives +1D versus damage.
Breast Plate / Chain Mail Shirt
Type: Archaic body armor.
Scale: Character.
Cost: Affordable.
Availability: Moderate.
Concealability: Moderate.
Game Notes: Grants +2D protection, -1D to Dexterity based
actions..
Full
Plate Armor
Type: Archaic body armor.
Scale: Character.
Cost: Expensive.
Availability: Rare.
Concealability: Very Difficult.
Game Notes: Grants +3D protection, -2D to Dexterity based
actions. Must have 3D STR to wear.
Kevlar Vest
Type: Personal body armor.
Scale: Character.
Cost: Expensive.
Availability: Extremely rare in the World Below.
Concealability: Moderate.
Game Notes: Grants +2D protection.
Full Body Armor (modern)
Type: Military armor.
Scale: Character.
Cost: Extremely expensive.
Availability: Extremely rare.
Concealability: Difficult.
Game Notes: Grants +3D protection versus physical damage,
but reduce all Dexterity-related skill tests and checks by 1D.
STEAMWORKS
Steamworks represent the very elegant technology that exists in the
World Below. Often comprised of copper pipes, delicate glass domes,
and powered by steam, these machines appear as a cross between 19th Century
technology and advanced modern engineering. Most Steamworks devices
are unique, the brainchild of some brilliant (perhaps half-mad) engineer
who strives to push the limits of available technology within the constraints
of the World Below.
Holographic Recorder/Diary
Type: Personal Holographic Recorder
Cost: Expensive.
Materials: Uncommon (15).
Construction Time: 1-3 months.
Effect: Holographic recorders are elegant little items
about the size of a globe, fixed with mirrors, copper, and a crystalline
memory unit. The units can be used to record the events of a room,
or the speech and actions of a single person. Often, recorders can
be locked with a key, a push-button sequence, or a vocal command.
If so, it will require a Difficult (20) to Extremely Difficult (30) to
attempt to crack the lock without damaging the unit.
Skill: No skill required to operate with simple instruction
(Easy Knowledge or Steamworks test). Moderate to Very Difficult Steamworks
skill to repair.
Difference Engine
Type: Punch-card Mechanical Computer
Cost: Very Expensive.
Materials: Extremely Rare (30).
Construction Time: 1-2 years.
Effect: Basic Difference Engines, often referred to as
the "Babbage Machine," are mechanical computers that can perform complex
mathematical calculations much faster and with greater accuracy than normal
humans. Data are input with a series of punch cards and a stream
of paper is "printed" out with the solution. The Engine runs extremely
hot and requires a good deal of technical know-how to properly operate.
There are rumors of more advanced Difference
Engines, some that take up rooms and rooms, that churn away on solving
problems of unimaginable complexity, such equations for bending time and
other laws of physics. Some of these machines, sometimes referred
to as "Turings", may even take self-awareness and personality, evolving
in ways their creators could never imagine.
Skill: Difficult Steamworks (20), Difficult Sciences:
Mathematics.
Steam Powerplant
Type: Steam-driven power source.
Cost: Very Expensive.
Materials: Rare (20).
Construction Time: 3 to 6 months.
Effect: The Powerplant can be used to provide power to
other mechanical devices, such as light bulbs, fans, like contraptions.
It will operate as long as it is continually fueled (about 1 log per hour
once the fire begins) and a continual source of water (which is transferred
into steam to power the generator).
Skill: Steamworks (15).
Steam-Driven Railcar
See Railcar below.
Patchworks
Type: Steamworks medical treatment device
Cost: Very Expensive.
Materials: Very Rare (25).
Construction Time: 6 months to 1 year.
Effect: The Patchworks is actually a long cylinder into
which a physician-engineer can slide a patient. Once inside, the
patient may undergo a variety of medical treatments: blood treatments,
detoxification, skin rehabilitation, bone-setting, etc. For every
1 hour in a Patchworks Bay, the patient may make a healing roll.
However, he will also recover 1 full day of bed rest for each level healed.
Skill: Steamworks (15), Medicine (5 for each Wound Level
of the victim. May increase for rare or severe conditions).
Steamworks Forge
Type: Steamworks metallurgical contraption.
Cost: Expensive.
Materials: Rare (20).
Construction Time: 3 to 6 months.
Effect: The Steamworks Forge provides numerous advantages
over typical, manual blacksmithing. The Forge can keep metals hot
with its inferno-like core, provide running cooling water, and even has
its own hammers that can pound metal into a desired shape with greater
strength than any normal man (STR=6D). It halves the time of production
of items that would normally require a blacksmith's hand.
Skill: Steamworks (10); Craft-Smithing (Depends on the
item created).
MISCELLANEOUS GEAR
Ropes, Grappling Hooks and 10-foot poles...
EXPLOSIVES
Grenades
Scale: Character.
Range: 2/5/10.
Cost: Extremely rare and only available in the World Above.
In case, there is a very good chance that a modern grenade simply won't
explode if an underdweller attempts to use it (Roll D6, on a 5 or below
the grenade does not explode).
Damage:
-
Standard: 5D.
-
Fragmentation 5D+2. If armor is worn, reduce its protective value
by 1D. -1D for every 2 meters from point of explosion.
-
High Explosive 6D. -1D for every 5 meters from point of explosion.
-
Phosphorous 6D (Heat damage). Sprays a sticky, burning substance
all over target with splash effects on anything with 1 meter. Burns
for 5 rounds.
Molotov Cocktails
Scale: Character
Range: 2/4/8
Cost: Very inexpensive--easily Scrounged together if alcohol
or fuel is available.
Damage: 3D+2 fire damage. The cocktail's fuel will
splash about 1m in all directions from impact and burn for 1D6 rounds.
Powder Bombs
Scale: Character
Range: 2/4/8 (thrown). Range may be extended if
some kind of slingshot or catapult is used.
Cost: Inexpensive--easily Scrounged together if explosive
powder or chemicals are available (sulfur, etc.).
Damage: 6D damage within 2 meters of explosion.
Reduce damage by 1D for each additional 2 meters from site of impact.
Note: Powder Bombs include just about every small, makeshift
bomb the characters might whip up.
PRACTICAL CONVEYANCES
For the most part, characters will walk their way through Neverwhere.
Don't worry, there are always shortcuts of both magical and mundane sorts
that crafty navigators can find. However, sometimes a conveyance
of some sort will come in handy. Because modern combustion engines
will not work for underdwellers, and because the subway trains that pass
through the World Below will ignore (or even eject) most underdwellers,
characters will have to look for alternative, sometimes more primitive
means. Below is a small sample of options available to the characters.
Sewer Ferry
Scale: Personal Vehicle
Length: Variable: 3 meters for a canoe, 5 meters
for gondola, up to 10 meters for longer ferries.
Cost: Inexpensive.
Skill: Boating
Speed: Moderate (x 1/2)
Body: Variable: 4D for a canoe (Provides 1/4
cover); 6D for a gondola (1/2 cover); 8-10D for larger ferries (3/4 cover).
Maneuverability: 2D for canoes; 0D for gondolas; -2D for
larger ferries.
Crew: 1-3 for a canoe (at least 1 must row); 1-4 for a
gondola (at least 1 must row or use a push pole); 2-6 for a larger ferry
(usually powered by a steam or paddle engine).
Crew Skill: Generally 4D.
Cargo: Variable: A canoe can carry up to 3 passengers
and their personal effects. A gondola can probably squeeze in 5 or
so folks with a few boxes. A larger ferry may carry as many as 10
and a fair bit of cargo.
Underdwellers often make use of the
many subterranean "rivers" to hasten their movement. It is usually
not hard to find a pilot with whom to barter for a short trip or the movement
of cargo. The boats themselves are as varied as their pilots:
makeshift rafts, old Indian canoes, elegant gondolas recently stolen from
16th century Venice, or perhaps even well trained giant sewer rats...
Railcar
Scale: Personal Vehicle
Length: Approximately 6 meters.
Cost: Expensive.
Skill: Driving: Railcars.
Speed: Fast (x 1/4)
Body: 6D. Provides 3/4 cover for passengers.
Maneuverability: 0D (can only travel along the tracks).
Crew: 1-2 (steersman and stoker).
Crew Skill: Generally 4D.
Cargo: Most personal rail cars can fit 4 passengers and
some cargo fairly comfortably.
Railcars are often old mining or construction
devices used by workers to travel along the rails as they were being built.
They are often powered by the strength of the pilot or a pack animal or
a small steam engine stoked with wood and coal.
In the World Below, Railcars are something
of a luxury, used regularly only by the wealthy (who often own their own,
ornate cars) or by the desperate.
Subway Trains
Scale: Large passenger vehicle.
Length: Several meters long, depending on the number of
cars in the train.
Cost: Free...if you can get aboard..
Skill: Driving: Trains
Speed: Very Fast (x 1/10)
Body: 15D. Provides full cover for passengers.
Maneuverability: 0D (can only travel along the tracks).
Crew: 1-2 (driver(s)).
Crew Skill: Generally 4D.
Cargo: Can often have hundreds of people aboard.
Generally, most cars have room for about 50 people to sit and another 50
to stand.
Subways exist in many of the world's largest
cities (though not all of them!) and are run by the municipalities.
As such, they are conveyances dedicated to moving updwellers through their
lives. Subway trains seem to take a bit of life on, developing personalities
that appear to be in accord with the particular stations and passengers
they serve. The trains will often ignore underdwellers, slamming
their doors on any underdweller that attempts to board them. Characters
may try all sorts of ways to connive to get on the train, yet somehow it
will won't work. The Universe just sucks that way sometimes...
However, some trains may be made to respect underdwellers,
they just have to be "shown who's boss" (according to Door). How
to do this varies with the situation and the train involved (may be Command
skills, Persuasion, etc.).
MOTORIZED VEHICLES
The motorized vehicles given below will usually be of little use to
the characters. In all likelihood, when an underdweller attempts
to start a car or any other modern motorized conveyance, the vehicle will
not work. It will be as if it does not recognize the underdweller's efforts
(regardless of how many times he punches the ignition). However,
these vehicles are quite common in the World Above and characters may figure
out ways to hitch rides or, more likely, have to avoid being run over by
one of them when the driver fails to see them...
Motorcycle
Scale: Personal Vehicle.
Length: 2 meters.
Cost: Civilian models: $2000 (used); $10,000 (new).
Skill: Driving: Motorcycles
Speed: 80 kph / 200 kph.
Body: 6D (note this game does not use Scale to add or
remove dice).
Maneuverability: 2D.
Crew: 1 (can hold another rider, but increase Piloting Difficulties
by 5).
Crew Skill: 5D for professional racers; 3D for standard
riders.
Cargo: Very little: enough for a water bottle, a few camping
supplies, and small tool kit.
Jeep
Craft: 4-wheeled, all terrain passenger vehicle.
Scale: Personal Vehicle.
Length: 3.5 meters.
Cost: Civilian models: $7000 (used); $15,000 (new).
Military models: 18,000 (used); 32,000 (new).
Skill: Driving: Cars
Speed: 30 mph / 60 mph / 90 mph / 110 mph.
Body: 8D
Maneuverability: 1D.
Crew: 1.
Passengers: Fits 4 (including driver) comfortably.
Up to 8 may be squeezed in if no additional cargo is carried.
Crew Skill: 4D for professional/military drivers; 3D for
most experienced civilians.
Cargo: Cargo area "trunk" is approximate 2 meters wide,
1 meter deep, and 1 meter high..
Description: Jeeps are 4-wheeled all terrain vehicles
commonly used on outpost worlds where roads are rough or nonexistent.
They tend to be reliable, tough vehicles, but provide little of luxuries
and comfort.
Economy Car
Craft: Standard, economy hatchback or small sedan.
Scale: Personal Vehicle.
Length: 4 meters.
Cost: $25000 (used); $12,000 (new).
Skill: Driving: Cars
Speed: 35 mph / 55 mph / 70 mph / 90 mph.
Body: 7D
Maneuverability: 0D for most cars. Sportier cars
may have +1-3D.
Crew: 1.
Passengers: Fits 4 (including driver) with some squeezing.
Up to 6 may be squeezed in if no additional cargo is carried.
Crew Skill: 4D for professional/military drivers; 3D for
most experienced civilians.
Cargo: Cargo area "trunk" is approximate 2 meters wide,
1 meter deep, and 1 meter high. Hatchbacks may have a bit more space.
Luxury Car
Craft: Standard, fancy sedan.
Scale: Personal Vehicle.
Length: 4 meters.
Cost: $10,000 (used); $20,000 (new).
Skill: Driving: Cars
Speed: 40 mph / 60 mph / 90 mph / 110 mph.
Body: 8D
Maneuverability: 0D for most cars. Sportier cars
may have +1-3D.
Crew: 1.
Passengers: Fits 5 (including driver) comfortably.
Up to 8 may be squeezed in if no additional cargo is carried.
Crew Skill: 4D for professional/military drivers; 3D for
most experienced civilians.
Cargo: Cargo area "trunk" is approximate 2 meters wide,
1 meter deep, and 1 meter high.
The book Neverwhere is copyright Neil Gaiman, the TV series was copyright
to the BBC, and the gaming system is copyright West End Games. This
site is wholly unauthorized. Please don't sue me.
August 2002