Don’t List Out Gear

Art by Sam Mameli / Better Legends / Skullboy - go buy his stuff!

This quick post was inspired by a question from /u/DeliriumRostelo on the OSR subreddit: How far do you go with gear when creating OSR shit?

I started from scratch. Prismatic Wasteland is a science fantasy game, so I couldn’t simply crib the equipment list from a fantasy game and call it a day. At the same time, most sci-fi gear lists left me cold; they weren’t strange enough. I began writing up gear, drugs and mechanics for each but a small handful of items just took up so much space. I am very deliberate with space in my game and aim for the much-vaunted “control panel” layout (here is a great Questing Beast article on that subject if you’re interested). Instead of using 2 pages to list maybe 20 specific items and drugs, I now have 1,600 possible random items (Gear) and 1,600 possible random drugs/potions (Chems) all on one page. Yes, you read that right.

I use a Spark Table with an element of choice to generate Gear and Chems. Spark tables were developed by Chris McDowall and you can read about them here. Where these spark tables differ is that for each result, the person rolling has two words to choose from.

The current iteration of the Gear and Chem spark tables for Prismatic Wasteland!

To generate random Gear or Chems, roll 2d20 to determine the first and second words of its name and choose the combination of words that sound most natural to the person rolling. With 3,200 possible results on these 5 columns, there are a lot of results that might be silly or non-sensical and the limited ability to choose the combination of words should cut down on this. However, it doesn’t totally foreclose it; if a player wants Night-Vision Gloves, by all means pick that over the Night-Vision Goggles. (As an aside, I would say for night-vision gloves to function, you have to cup your hands around your eyes like a child pretending to use binoculars).

Game mechanics are determined ad hoc through communication. The players should collaborate to determine what the Gear or Chem does based on its name. By default, Gear takes up 1 slot and performs one simple function. A Chem has Usage d8 and either (a) restores 1d4 to one particular stat and deals 1d6! damage to Health or (b) grants advantage at tests with two particular stats and disadvantage to another stat for 1 Duration. More useful Gear may take up 2 slots or have a Usage Die and more useful Chems may take up 1 slot or have a lesser Usage Die. These are the roughest of guidelines and use terminology from Prismatic Wasteland, so simply ignore it if your game doesn’t use inventory slots, Usage Die, Duration, stats or Health.

The name of the item, above all else, should determine how it functions. In my game, I list a very small handful of combinations and the mechanics I would use for them, but I think it is most fun to be surprised by a combination and try to determine for yourself what it does. The characters of the Prismatic Wasteland are surrounded by gizmos and gadgets from the long-gone advanced societies that came before, so the stuff they find in the chrome dungeons should feel a bit weird and hard to explain. Example Gear and Chems are listed below for inspiration.

Example Gear

Floating Rug. Can fly and carry up to two people for 2 Duration. 2 Slots.

Night-Vision Goggles. Allows the wearer to see in darkness. 1 Slot.

Pocket Sand. Throw at a target’s eyes to blind them for 1 Duration. 1 Slot, Usage d8. 

Space Helmet. Can breathe underwater or in space. Ignore toxic fumes. 1 Slot.

Smart Torch. Emits light (in a color of your choice) in a small area. Voice controlled. Dimmable. 1 Slot. Usage d12.

Example Chems

Healing Crystals. Attuning heals 1d6 Health. Usage d8.

Love Potion. Fills the imbiber with non-romantic, familial affection for the first person they see for 1 Duration. Usage d6.

Old Fashioned Cola. Advantage at all Dexterity and Wisdom tests for 2 Duration. When the Duration ends, deals 1d4 Constitution damage. Usage d8.

Smelling Salts. Awakens creatures, restores 1 level of fatigue and deals 1d4 Intelligence damage. Usage d8.

Snake Oil. Advantage at tests to sell it and disadvantage at tests to buy it. 1 Slot.