Nature has a way of repairing itself, and two years after a major nuclear exchange most of the severe radiation hazards will be gene. The most dangerous areas are the actual blast craters ff warheads that, by accident or design, detonated following a ground strike. Since most weapons achieve their best destructive effects from air burst, ground strikes would be rare if not for the sheer volume of warheads exchanged.

A major city has a 50% chance of containing 1D6 impact craters. A city has a 25% chance of containing 1 impact crater. Occasionally, craters are found in the countryside, the site of a tactical strike against an army unit, and the crater may have derelict {and radioactive) vehicles and equipment nearby. Most craters are due to tactical and small strategic nuclear weapons, although an occasional crater, usually in a major city, is due to a larger strategic nuclear weapon.

For tactical and small strategic weapons with yields ranging from 100 to 75O kilotons, the apparent impact crater is about 100 to 400 meters in diameter and is 20 to 70 meters deep. For larger strategic devices with yields ranging from 1 to 10 megatons, the apparent crater is from 200 to 800 meters in diameter and from 50 to 150 meters in depth. The term “apparent” is used deliberately; it refers to the diameter of the apparent (visible) crater. An area of about twice the visible diameter has been completely shifted and disrupted and is as radioactively dangerous as the visible crater itself.

In the two years following the strikes, erosion has reduced apparent diameter to some extent and has reduced the depth considerably. Many smaller craters are shallow depressions in the ground, but the lack of vegetation should alert characters to the potential danger if they do not have Geiger counters or other radiation monitoring equipment.

Every impact crater had an initial radiation level of about 6,000 rads, an immediately fatal dosage. However, most radioactive contamination quickly falls off over time, and the main danger from the impact crater will be from heavily irradiated metal remaining in the crater area. A character in a crater area suffers 1D6 rads per minute. If riding in an open vehicle, this is reduced by half, and if riding in an enclosed armored vehicle it is reduced by a factor of ten. If traveling in a radiologically shielded vehicle, it is reduced by a factor of 100. The referee may choose to ignore the accumulation of fractional rads.

Effects of Exposure: Exposure to lower levels of radiation will produce temporary illness, white higher levels can kill, All exposure is cumulative. When a character's accumulated rads reach or surpass 50, he must be checked for radiation illness. Thereafter, each time the character accumulates one or more rads he must be checked for radiation illness. However, the character is checked for radiation illness only once per day, on each day that he accumulates additional rads.

The radiation illness chart gives the multipliers used to determine the chances of illness and death from exposure to radiation. The character uses the rad level on the chart that is closest to without exceeding his accumulated rad level. For example, characters with rad levels of 75 and 99 use the 50 line, while a character at 802 uses the 800 line. Possible effects are checked for in the following order: death, serious illness, slight illness. There is no need to roll for a lesser effect if a more serious effect is achieved. A dash (-) on the chart means the effect does not apply at that rad level.

Multiply the character's CON by the multiplier to determine his percentage chance of avoiding the effect. Roll D100. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the percentage chance the character avoids the effect. Otherwise, he is affected. For example, a character (CON of 10) has a rad level of 75 and must check for radiation illness. The 50 rads line is used, and there is no chance for death or serious illness at this level. However, slight illness is possible, and the character has a (9.5x 10 = 95% chance of avoiding it.

The referee checks for radiation illness for the character but does not inform the player of the result. Instead, the referee informs the player of his character's symptoms as they occur.

Slight illness: The character suffers nausea, vomiting, and headaches. Onset is 1D6 hours after exposure. Character has strength, agility, and intelligence halved for duration of illness. Symptoms will last for one day at lower exposure levels, two days if exposure is 600 rads or higher.

Serious Illness: The character first suffers slight radiation illness as described above. Then the character suffers serious radiation illness and is incapacitated, with severe vomiting and diarrhea, spotting on the body caused by bleeding under the skin, and blood in stool and vomit. Onset of serious illness is 2D6 days after exposure levels of 300 rads or less, 1d6 days at levels above that. (Note that the character usually will recover from slight radiation illness before suffering from serious radiation illness.) Incapacitation lasts for 1D6 weeks, plus one day for every two days spent without bed rest and medical care. (The amount of medical care required is the same as for characters with a serious wound.) General illness approximating the effects of slight illness listed above will persist for 1D6 months.

Death: The character first suffers from slight radiation illness and the from serious radiation illness (both as described above). During the incapacitation period (and usually withing thirty days of exposure) the character dies.

Radiation Illness Chart