Luck

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.”

-Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

LUCK SUMMARY

Luck factors into the game in two forms: Luck Points and the Luck Test.

Luck points grants players agency in affecting the outcome of dice rolls, while the Luck Test arises in situations that are unclear or may be a matter of chance.

Luck Points are determined by your Legend’s Charisma ability, which will be explained later.

Some Boosts or Banes influence the use of Luck Points and Luck Tests.

LUCK POINTS

Luck Points are used to change the outcome of a Legends fate by influencing dice rolls and allowing rerolls. All Legends begin their Lifepath with a single Luck Point that can be spent to reroll any dice. Spend all of your Luck points to prevent Death.

REGAINING LUCK POINTS

Luck Points are regained by succeeding at dice tests that, against all odds, should not have succeeded.

This is left at the discretion of the Monitor, but as a rule of thumb if a test is made against a value of 10 or less and succeeds, the Legend should regain a Luck Point.

Luck Points may also be regained as a reward for a Crit on an important test, at the decision of the Monitor.

LUCK TEST

Sometimes events in the Universe just come down to pure chance.

• Does the dead Marine have ammunition for your Legend’s nearly empty weapon?
• When the ATV your Legend is driving flips from the concussive blast of the alien tank’s plasma artillery, does it land upright?

If the Monitor calls for a Luck Test, there’s a 50% chance that things will go your Legend’s way.

A Crit or a Fumble on the Luck Test means being unusually lucky or unfortunate.

Situations that favor your Legend may gain a 20% circumstance bonus; situations that don’t may factor in a 20% circumstance penalty. Either way, the Monitor has the final say.

Some Boosts and Banes may also influence a Legend’s Luck Test.

LUCK DURING CHARACTER CREATION

A Legend may use a Luck point one time during Lifepath character creation.

Afterwards, make a Luck test. On a success, they regain Luck Point back as a special circumstance.

WEALTH

Paths list the level of wealth that they provide.

Wealth is not measured using quantitative numbers, but is described using a sense of comfort and ease when it comes to using Wealth.

WEALTH LEVELS AND TIERS

There are five levels of Wealth: Poor, Standard, Unusual, Major, and Extreme.

Wealth has Tiers within Levels denoted in parentheses.

Tiers determine how many uses of Wealth a character has, and also how many times that level of Wealth must be earned before a character gains a new level of Wealth. To gain a new level of Wealth, a character must max out their tiers and then gain one more Tier.

It is possible to lose levels of Wealth by living beyond your means or losing an income stream, such as being fired from a job or having a revenue stream dry up. Losing levels of Wealth follows the same rules as gaining levels of wealth.

For example, a character with Standard Wealth II who then earns another Standard Tier through a Path earns a level and has Unusual Wealth.

A character without a Wealth level has the Impoverished condition.

Poor (0-I)

Food, sundries, adequate temporary lodging, or other small expenses.

Standard (0- II)

Low-grade technology, standardized temporary housing, common weapons, and small personal vehicles.

Unusual (0-III)

Mid-grade technology, standardized owned housing or luxury temporary housing, uncommon weapons, personal vehicles

Major (0-IV)

High-grade technology, luxury owned housing, restricted weapons, large personal vehicles

Extreme (0-V)

Prototype technology and weapons, multiple luxury housings, interstellar vehicles