Radiation

Radiation (rad) is a Damage Modifier Enhancement representing ionizing radiation--or more exotic, supernatural attacks with similar effects. 
As a modifier: If it is a Toxic Attack it is +25%. If it causes a Burning Attack then it is +100%
==Radiation Effects Table==
Damage is figured on Accumulated Dose which is measured in rads. For simplicity use this table for Mana-Active Radiation such as on Merlin-1.
AccumulatedDose	HT Roll	CriticalSuccess	Success	Failure	Crit Failure
1-10 rads 	+0 	-- 	-- 	A 	B
11-20 rads 	+0 	-- 	A 	B 	C
21-40 rads 	+0 	A 	B 	C 	D
41-80 rads 	-1 	A 	B 	C 	D
81-160 rads 	-3 	A 	B 	C 	D
161-800 rads 	-4 	A 	B 	C 	D
800-4,000 rads 	-5 	C 	D 	E 	E
Over 4,000 rads	-5 	D 	E 	E 	E
*- : The dose has no obvious effect, but doses continue to accumulate
*A: Radiation burns and chronic “somatic” damage
*B: Hematopoietic (Bone Marrow) syndrome
*C: Gastrointestinal syndrome; Mana-active necrotism
*D: Terminal radiation sickness; Terminal Mana-active necrotism, Rise as undead if 4,000+ rads
*E: Rapid cerebrovascular death; Demonic subsumption on critical failure
== Avoiding Radiation ==
* Breathing Gear: Radiation is most dangerous if it gets in your lungs, which is why breathing apparatus is always necessary, such as a hazmat suit with lead lining with PF 2.
* High-tech Medication: Some high-tech and ultra-tech medications can provide PF 2.
* Caves, Walls, and Seals: Radiation is not effected normally by damage resistance. It requires raw mass to be blocked--lead, steel, concrete, even layers of soil can help block radiation. A fully insulated vault can easily reach PF 1,000!
* Raw Speed: Radiation "trickles in" over time. It's important to not linger in hot zones--the PCs may have to work fast to avoid dangerous consequences.
* Ultra-Tech Solutions: Robotic vehicles and sealed battlesuits can provide PF 10 or so. The hefty HEX Suit has a whopping PF 100!
** Some ultra-tech (and magic) medicines can remove or regenerate damage from rads after a mission.
==Quotes==
===Kromm===
2004 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=26577&postcount=2
Radiation is a "direct, physical attack" -- build it as an Innate Attack with the Radiation damage modifier (p. B105) -- and Resistant, and hence Immunity, don't affect such attacks.
2005 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=165101&postcount=7
The Machine meta-trait includes:
*Immunity to Metabolic Hazards: Protects against all threats that only affect the living, including but not limited to disease and poison.
*Injury Tolerance (No Blood): Immunizes against threats that affect the blood.
*Injury Tolerance (Unliving): Your body is not composed of living flesh.
Most radiation effects are metabolic, which means that if you're not alive and lack blood and living cells, they don't apply to you. That's part of what you're buying when you take the above traits.
Machines do still enjoy a marginal advantage, because the above traits are debatably a better deal than very high Radiation Tolerance. However, machines also experience a huge down side for having no metabolism or cells: They have an eight-hour energy reserve. After eight hours, they simply drop, cease to function, etc. A human who misses a meal merely loses some FP and keeps going, because his metabolism can tap cellular energy reserves . . . cells do have their uses. That's a pretty big drawback for machines right there.
===PK===
???not sure why this heading is here with no PK quotes...
==Additional Material==
*The True Story of The Demon Core - 1945-1946
*Acute radiation syndrome (wikipedia)
* Rads and Grays: The rad is a CGS unit that has effectively been replaced by the gray (Gy) though the former is still widely used in the United States. A 100 rads = 1 Gy.
==See Also==
*Increased Life Support
*Radiation Tolerance
Category:Rules