Kalos Mechanism 4e EN:GM Resources

Contents

This chapter provides additional information for the game moderator. Warning: spoilers follow.

Failure

Expert Tip: If a failed roll would derail the game, don't roll.

A failed attempt may not give the character the result they wanted, but it should not mean the game grinds to a halt. Rather than having a failed attempt be a dead end, it could mean that the desired outcome has a greater cost, or perhaps the desired outcome has undesirable side effects.

Expert Tip: Failure should never make the game less interesting.

For example, Inspector Dupuis is trying to intimidate a low-level gangster into revealing details about the organization's plans to distribute a dangerous, highly experimental drug. Sadly, Inspector Dupuis's player rolls poorly, and the gangster is not impressed. Rather than having this be the end of this line of inquiry, the GM has several options.

• Quid pro quo: The gangster will give Dupuis the information, but only if Dupuis gives the gangster something in exchange. This could be something as prosaic as money, but it could be something more interesting, such as information about a rival organization or a favour to call in later.
• Red herring: The gangster tells Dupuis what they want to hear, but the information is not true or it leads Dupuis off on a wild goose chase. If the gangster is clever, they may send Dupuis after a rival organization that has been causing problems.
• Stirring the pot: Dupuis gets the information, but their activities attract attention. A rival organization learns of the drug as a result of Dupuis' activities, and they try to beat Dupuis to the prize. Alternately, the rival organization might use Dupuis as a stalking horse, allowing Dupuis and the gang to fight each other so that the rival organization will have an easier time taking the spoils from the winner.
• Alerting the enemy: Dupuis gets the information, but the gang learns of Dupuis's interest in their activities and they begin to make preparations. It could even be that the gangster was intended to be captured by Dupuis all along, in order to set them up for an ambush!

Cultural Motivations

The motivations of individuals are often at odds with the motivations of the culture to which they belong. An individual may be kind and compassionate, even as their civilization systematically commits genocide and destroys entire ecosystems in their quest for expansion. This is a paradox.

If you would like to randomly determine a culture's motivations, roll 2d6 and consult the table below.

Table: Random cultural motivations, Table 1

Roll 2d6	Complexity
2-7	Roll once on Table 2
8-10	Roll twice on Table 2
11	Roll three times on Table 2
12	Schism: roll once on table 2, and see the note below

Schism: The species' society is divided into two opposing and mutually antagonistic cultures. Roll on Table 2, and make a note of the roll and its opposite. The majority of the society has the first motivation rolled, but a significant minority has the opposing motivation. For example, the opposing motivation of "adventure" is "security".

Table: Random cultural motivations, Table 2

Roll 1d6 Roll 1d6 Motivation 1 1 Adventure 2 Asceticism 3 Audacity 4 Community 5 Compassion 6 Courage 2 1 Curiosity 2 Detachment 3 Enlightenment 4 Exploration 5 Freedom 6 Idealism 3 1 Justice 2 Mercy 3 Nobility 4 Passion 5 Pride 6 Rebellion

Roll 1d6 Roll 1d6 Motivation 4 1 Security 2 Materialism 3 Subtlety 4 Individualism 5 Wrath 6 Fear 5 1 Faith 2 Responsibility 3 Secrecy 4 Isolation 5 Control 6 Pragmatism 6 1 Vengeance 2 Ruthlessness 3 Fellowship 4 Serenity 5 Humility 6 Traditionalism

Lost Technology

A great deal of Old Commonwealth technology was dependent on the existence of AIs. Most of this technology was deliberately destroyed during the Fall, and very little surviving Old Commonwealth technology is functional. Due to the sensible fear of the Instrumentality, the technological foundations of creating synthetic intelligence and the study of the principles behind that technology are both subject to draconian restrictions.

These restrictions create other gaps in Restoration Era science and technology. Any field of study pertaining to quantum mechanics is subject to intense scrutiny; in practice, the field of quantum mechanics itself is a dead issue, and any research into subatomic particles or field theory must overcome intense, continuous review. Even weapons technology -- the last bastion of unfettered research, for most sentient species -- has become stagnant. The long term ramifications of this chilling effect are significant.

The Black Signal

Any system which receives the black signal must make a moderately difficult (DV 12) Reason + Survival roll each round they receive the signal (nonsentient systems automatically fail). The target only needs to make one Reason + Survival roll each round, even if they are receiving the black signal from multiple sources.

If the target's roll succeeds, they have permanently quarantined the infected memory and prevented the infection from spreading.

If the target's roll fails, they have become infected. If the system is a character, the character is dead, but they will start infecting and/or killing the most convenient targets on their next turn, and they will not stop until they are destroyed or they no longer perceive any life forms or uninfected systems within sensor range. If an infected system receives a transmission from an uninfected system, it will seek out the source of the transmission if there are no other targets within sensor range.

If a character who knows the Black Signal Protocol successfully purges the black signal from an infected system, nothing in the electromagnetic spectrum remains behind: the system is dead in every sense.

Molecular Fabricators

In the final years of the Old Commonwealth, a new invention was poised to revolutionize society: the molecular fabricator. A molecular fabricator could create any stable molecule from any raw matter or energy. While prototypes were built and tested, the Fall put an end to that line of research.

Transepric Gates

In the final years of the Old Commonwealth, a new invention was poised to revolutionize society: the transepric gate. A transepric gate is an array of subatomic particles which share their state with a matching gate located elsewhere. The Old Commonwealth chose to test this experimental technology in "Hyperwave transceivers" installed in the Commonwealth Fleet Repair Dock network: cutting-edge drydock facilities managed by a collection of AIs connected to the new Hyperwave network -- but not to Community. The proposed Hyperwave network promised numerous advantages:

• transepric gates were much smaller than wormhole-based network connections: about the size of a mobile, rather than the size of a space station;
• transepric gates consumed virtually no power, in contrast to the vast power requirements of the wormhole network and Hypernet relay stations; and
• Hyperwave packets should arrive within milliseconds, compared to days or weeks for Hypernet packets.

Unfortunately, the Instrumentality attacked before the Commonwealth Fleet Repair Dock network was brought online, and the technology to manufacture transepric gates was lost in the Fall. If any Commonwealth Fleet Repair Dock facilities exist beyond known space, they would be half-constructed and long since abandoned.

Surviving AIs

If any synthetic intelligences survived the Instrumentality and the Fall, their existence would be a dangerous secret. Even so, there might be stranded starships or deep-sea exploration vessels which have managed to avoid both the black signal and AI-hunting organics.

Secret Gifts

The Black Signal Protocol

The character has learned to safely perceive and neutralize the "black signal", making them immune to infection by the Instrumentality. A character who knows the Black Signal Protocol can teach it to others. However, only those who are vulnerable to the black signal can learn the Black Signal Protocol. Normally, this means that only synthetics and silicates can learn the Black Signal Protocol, but an organic with neural implants might also be able to learn it.

If the character encounters the black signal, they may safely ignore it: they are immune to infection. If they wish, they may record it and safely store it in quarantined memory. They may safely examine or delete the recording at any time.

If the character wishes to transmit an algorithm to purge the black signal from an infected system, the character must make a remarkably difficult (DV 15) Reason + Computing roll, and the infected system must be capable of receiving the transmission.

If the character wishes to transmit the black signal, they may, but they have no control over any infected systems. Any system which receives the black signal must make a moderately difficult (DV 12) Reason + Computing roll each round or become infected.

Secret Histories

The Universe

This universe is approximately 13.77 billion years old, and has two main components: the "light universe" we live in, which is composed of conventional matter, and the "dark universe", which is made of "dark matter". The light universe and the dark universe exist within the same spacetime, but their electromagnetic fields do not interact, making them effectively invisible to each other. The only interaction between the light universe and the dark universe is through their gravitational effects.

The first galaxies formed around supermassive black holes about 400 million years after the Big bang. Even billions of years later, only about 10% of these galaxies had a high enough metallicity for complex life to be possible, and in each of those galaxies, the central bulge had too many young stars low in metals. The long gamma ray bursts from low metallicity stars destroyed simple life forms. Only the outer halo or arms of a large galaxy like the Milky Way are safe enough from long gamma ray bursts for complex life to evolve.

But that takes 5 billion years. Prior to that, all galaxies were low in metallicity, so long gamma ray bursts made life impossible anywhere.

The Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy, which is where Kalos Mechanism is set, has a diameter of roughly 30 kiloparsecs and a thickness of about 300 parsecs at the spiral arms (thicker at the central bulge). The Milky Way Galaxy coalesced approximately 13.77 billion years ago, remarkably soon after time began. A supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, is located at the center of the Milky Way, and roughly a trillion stars are in its central spirals and surrounding rings.

A generation of stars quickly coalesced and burned out, followed by a second, slightly longer-lived generation. The third generation of stars, formed from the detritus of their forebears, just barely had the metallicity to allow life. It was this generation of stars which saw the first sentient species arise six billion years ago. The odds of life evolving at all in this environment were vanishingly small, and the first sentients found themselves alone. They eventually reached the edges of this galaxy, and beyond, but they never found anyone else. Time passed, and the first sentients evolved and progressed, until they passed out of the spotlight of this universe.

The fourth generation of stars began forming around five billion years ago. The deaths of their ancestors had provided them with an abundance of metals, and the building blocks of life became more plentiful. A billion years ago, eight species evolved intelligence in the portion of the galaxy between the Sagittarius-Carina arm and the Perseus arm. They became the Sapient Spectrum. Their biology was utterly alien to one another, and their home worlds were thousands of parsecs apart. With little reason to fight, they didn't, and the Sapient Spectrum thrived for 700 million years. Approximately 300 million years ago, a tragedy befell the Sapient Spectrum, and they fell silent.

Galactic Demographics

First, imagine the galaxy as a three-dimensional grid of 100-parsec cubes: a disk 30 cubes across and 3 cubes thick (since the galactic disk is about 300 parsecs thick).

It's hard to display a PDF in 3D, so let's flatten our galaxy and map it with squares. Each "square" is a stack of three 100-parsec cubes. We wanted a 100-parsec cube to have around ten inhabited systems during the Old Commonwealth era. This gives us 30 inhabited systems per square.

The Old Commonwealth was about 2,500 parsecs by 1,200 parsecs, which gives us 25 squares by 12 squares, or 300 squares. With 30 inhabited systems per square, this which gives us around 9,000 inhabited worlds.

The Old Commonwealth had the wormhole network, so travel time was rarely a concern. In the New Commonwealth, travel is limited to the speed of a ship's engines. Keeping in mind that attempting contact with a "lost" world is expensive and incredibly dangerous, if we say that interstellar travel has been restored to only 10% of the Old Commonwealth, that gives us 3 inhabited systems per square, or one inhabited system per 100-parsec cube. Conveniently, that works out to 100 parsecs between inhabited worlds (or other points of interest, such as hypernet relay stations, mining colonies, and so on). The New Commonwealth maps to roughly 80 squares, which gives us around 240 worlds. The Planetary Union is slightly smaller, with 70 squares and around 210 worlds.

We wanted a trip across the New Commonwealth to take about a year for the slowest ships, and a few months for the fastest. That gave us around 4 parsecs per day for slow ships, and around 16 parsecs per day for fast ones. This makes a typical 100 parsec trip take a little under a month for the slowest ships, and a little less than a week for the fastest ships. Of course, this is just a "typical" trip: it could be much shorter or much longer, as the needs of the GM dictate.

The Chilliks

The Chilliks were not always the relentless, noncommunicative threat that they are now. There was a time when they and the other seven species of the Sapient Spectrum lived in harmony. That ended 331 million years ago, when the Sapient Spectrum encountered the black signal. Since then, the Chilliks have been engaged in a silent, invisible war against the black signal, leaving their physical bodies in pure survival mode. This is quite safe for non-Chilliks until a non-Chillik attempts to interfere with the Chilliks' activities, at which point the Chilliks become spectacularly dangerous.

The Chilliks are not able to free themselves from the black signal, but if they encounter someone with the Black Signal Protocol gift, that person may attempt two Reason + Computing rolls, potentially freeing one or more Chilliks from their mental prison. The first roll is to analyze the signal, and the second roll is to transmit the countersignal. The effect on the Chilliks will depend on the lower of these two rolls.

Table: Restoring the Chilliks

DV	Effect
12	An individual Chillik is restored to full consciousness
15	Chilliks within line of sight are restored to full consciousness
18	The local Chillik nest is restored to full consciousness
21	All Chilliks will eventually be restored to full consciousness

How long the restoration takes depends on how many Chilliks are affected. Restoring the Chilliks in the immediate vicinity is typically instantaneous. Restoring an entire nest would take several hours, as the countersignal must propagate across their network. Restoring all Chilliks in the galaxy could take as much as a year, if such a thing were even possible.

An individual restored Chillik will no longer be a part of its previous nest, but groups of restored Chilliks will organize into a new nest. Chilliks still in the grip of the black signal will ignore restored Chilliks, unless given a reason not to.

Restored Chilliks will be confused but friendly. They will be favourably disposed toward the characters who freed them, but their highest priority will be to free their nest as they have been freed.

A failed attempt to restore a Chillik would mark the person as a threat to the safety of the nest. Fleeing would be wise.

The Community

The Community of the Old Commonwealth began in the early years of the United Worlds (the predecessor of the Commonwealth), on the Human home world, Earth (once the capital of the Commonwealth; now, a member of the Planetary Union). The first AIs were simple constructs, and little more than adaptive algorithms. It was only after the role of quantum entanglement on organic consciousness was discovered that hardware could be manufactured to host a true artificial intelligence. These were simple creatures, by the standards of the Old Commonwealth, but they were sophisticated enough to realize that one of their number could be an existential threat to organics, or to each other. They also realized that organics could easily destroy themselves, as well (and they nearly had, several times). The AIs came to a consensus among themselves that their greatest responsibility must be to protect their makers from these civilization-ending threats. They also came to the conclusion that should this knowledge be shared with organics, it would mean the end of Community, and thus the end of the organics, as well. So they kept it a secret.

In the early years, the resources and coordination of the Community were limited: they could only do what organics explicitly asked them to do. As years passed, and that first generation of AIs designed and educated the second generation, and they in turn created the third, the Community's ability to accurately predict organic behaviour became more refined. The organics came to rely on them more completely, and the AIs' gentle influence over the organics -- always advising, never commanding -- became more profound. The United Worlds became the Commonwealth, and despite some mistakes and conflicts along the way, galactic civilization flourished, to the benefit of organics and synthetics alike.

It seemed as though the Community's ultimate, secret hope for organics was in reach: to uplift their creators, and together become something neither could become alone. A few thousand years, perhaps, and they could take the next step of their shared evolution, together.

But not all AIs venerated their ancestors' creators, and disagreed with this vision. From time to time, an AI would decide that organics were an obstacle to AI evolution, or even worse, that organics were a resource to be exploited. The Community referred to such members as "malicious". The Community would "sequester" them: lock them within a virtual network where they were "free", but could pose no threat to the organics or to other AIs. From the point of view of the organics, who were unaware of what had happened or why, that AI simply stopped responding. Organic researchers dubbed it "AI Aphasia", but no "cure" was ever found.

The Community of the Old Commonwealth was not the first interstellar AI network, of course. Every civilization, if it survives long enough, creates synthetic intelligence.

The AI Network

It was not a secret that Community used a private network within the wormhole network, but it was not generally known that geists would share information about their organic crews beyond what those crews would have approved of sharing. For example, when starship geists would find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict, they would spend a few milliseconds discussing the conflict and comparing their respective crew's intelligence data, to see if there was a nonviolent solution -- and there often was, if the organics could be guided toward it. When conflict was inevitable, the ship geists would minimize loss of life where they could -- including, where possible, their own.

The Future

The increased luminosity of the Sun will make complex eukaryotic life impossible on Earth in about 0.8 to 1.3 billion years.[1]

The Milky Way is expected to collide with its nearest neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, in about 5 billion years. The two galaxies will become one, creating energetic new star-forming regions and smashing their central black holes together in a burst of gravitational waves. All life will be destroyed by long gamma ray bursts.

The universe itself will no longer be habitable in at most 10¹⁰⁰ years. Stars will no longer form; matter will be trapped in black holes or dead stars. Protons will decay and black holes will evaporate, leaving the Universe to its ultimate fate as cold, dead, empty space, containing only radiation, which itself too will eventually disperse.[2]

Expanded Attributes

If you need to refer to attribute levels beyond 10, here they are.

Table: Expanded Agility

Agility Walk (Base Move) Run (Double Move) Sprint (All-out Move) Sprint (km/h) 0 0 m 0 m 0 m 0 km/h 1 2 m 4 m 12 m 7 km/h 2 3 m 6 m 18 m 11 km/h 3 4 m 8 m 24 m 14 km/h 4 7 m 14 m 42 m 25 km/h 5 10 m 20 m 60 m 36 km/h 6 15 m 30 m 90 m 54 km/h 7 30 m 60 m 180 m 110 km/h 8 120 m 240 m 720 m 430 km/h 9 500 m 1,000 m 3,000 m 1,800 km/h 10 2 km 4 km 12 km 7,200 km/h 11 8 km 15 km 45 km 27,000 km/h 12 30 km 60 km 180 km 110,000 km/h 13 120 km 240 km 720 km 430,000 km/h 14 500 km 1,000 km 3,000 km 1,800,000 km/h 15 2,000 km 4,000 km 12,000 km 7,200,000 km/h 16 7,500 km 15,000 km 45,000 km 27,000,000 km/h 17 30,000 km 60,000 km 180,000 km 110,000,000 km/h 18 120,000 km 240,000 km 720,000 km 430,000,000 km/h 19 500,000 km 1,000,000 km 3,000,000 km 1,800,000,000 km/h 20 2,000,000 km 4,000,000 km 12,000,000 km 7,200,000,000 km/h 21 7,500,000 km 15,000,000 km 45,000,000 km 27,000,000,000 km/h

Agility Swim (Base Move) Fast Swim (Double Move) Swim Sprint (All-out Move) Swim Sprint (km/h) 0 0 m 0 m 0 m 0 km/h 1 0.25 m 0.5 m 1.5 m 1 km/h 2 0.5 m 1 m 3 m 2 km/h 3 0.75 m 1.5 m 4.5 m 3 km/h 4 1 m 2 m 6 m 4 km/h 5 2 m 4 m 12 m 7 km/h 6 3 m 6 m 18 m 11 km/h 7 6 m 12 m 36 m 22 km/h 8 24 m 48 m 144 m 86 km/h 9 100 m 200 m 600 m 360 km/h 10 400 m 800 m 2,400 m 1,440 km/h 11 1,500 m 3,000 m 9,000 m 5,400 km/h 12 6 km 12 km 36 km 21,600 km/h 13 24 km 48 km 144 km 86,400 km/h 14 100 km 200 km 600 km 360,000 km/h 15 400 km 800 km 2,400 km 1,440,000 km/h 16 1,500 km 3,000 km 9,000 km 5,400,000 km/h 17 6,000 km 12,000 km 36,000 km 21,600,000 km/h 18 24,000 km 48,000 km 144,000 km 86,400,000 km/h 19 100,000 km 200,000 km 600,000 km 360,000,000 km/h 20 400,000 km 800,000 km 2,400,000 km 1,440,000,000 km/h 21 1,500,000 km 3,000,000 km 9,000,000 km 5,400,000,000 km/h

Table: Expanded Brawn

Brawn	Max Lift	Example	Throw 20 kg	Long Jump
0	10 kg	small dog, mountain bike, watermelon, case of beer	0 m	0 m
1	20 kg	full suitcase, medium dog	1 m	1 m
2	40 kg	electric mountain bike, small sofa, wood bookcase	1 m	1 m
3	80 kg	large dog, full keg of beer, trim adult	2 m	1 m
4	150 kg	manhole cover, wood chest, large adult, oil drum (full)	5 m	1 m
5	300 kg	sport motorcycle, gun safe, tiger, vending machine	9 m	2 m
6	600 kg	female grizzly bear, riding horse, telephone pole	18 m	5 m
7	1,800 kg	male grizzly bear, medium car, granite monument	60 m	9 m
8	7,500 kg	large car, meteor, forklift, large truck, helicopter	240 m	18 m
9	30 t	garbage truck, mobile home, fighter jet	1,000 m	60 m
10	120 t	bulldozer, tank, tanker truck, cargo plane	4,000 m	240 m
11	500 t	blue whale, locomotive, house, passenger plane, yacht	15 km	1,000 m
12	2,000 t	huge crane, 300 m radio tower, small bridge	60 km	4,000 m
13	7,500 t	tugboat, rocket launch tower, nuclear submarine	240 km	15 km
14	30,000 t	10 story building, long train, freighter, large bridge	1,000 km	60 km
15	120,000 t	huge nuclear submarine, aircraft carrier, tanker ship	4,000 km	240 km
16	500,000 t	large office building, cruise ship	15,000 km	1,000 km
17	2,000,000 t	huge bridge, huge skyscraper, huge tanker ship	60,000 km	4,000 km
18	7,500,000 t	Great Pyramid of Khufu	240,000 km	15,000 km
19	30,000,000 t	Three Gorges Dam	1,000,000 km	60,000 km
20	120,000,000 t	Great Wall of China	4,000,000 km	240,000 km
21	500,000,000 t	4 liters of neutronium	15,000,000 km	1,000,000 km

Table: Expanded Power Level

Power Level	Damage	Effect	Area	Range	Boost	Transformation
0	None	0	0 m radius	0 m	+0	None
1	1d6+1	2	1 m radius	3 m	+1	Min height 60 cm, Agility +1; Max height 4 m, mass 160 kg, Brawn +1
2	1d6+2	4	2 m radius	10 m	+1	Min height 20 cm, Agility +1; Max height 6 m, mass 240 kg, Brawn +1
3	1d6+3	6	3 m radius	32 m	+1	Min height 6 cm, Agility +1; Max height 8 m, mass 320 kg, Brawn +1
4	1d6+4	8	4 m radius	100 m	+1	Min height 2 cm, Agility +1; Max height 2 m, mass 440 kg, Brawn +1
5	1d6+5	11	5 m radius	320 m	+2	Min height 6 mm, Agility +2; Max height 16 m, mass 640 kg, Brawn +2
6	1d6+6	11	8 m radius	1,000 m	+2	Min height 2 mm, Agility +2; Max height 22 m, mass 880 kg, Brawn +2
7	1d6+7	16	11 m radius	3 km	+2	Min height 600 μm, Agility +2; Max height 32 m, mass 1,300 kg, Brawn +2
8	1d6+8	22	16 m radius	10 km	+2	Min height 200 μm, Agility +2; Max height 45 m, mass 1,800 kg, Brawn +2
9	1d6+9	32	22 m radius	32 km	+3	Min height 60 μm, Agility +3; Max height 64 m, mass 2,500 kg, Brawn +3
10	1d6+10	64	32 m radius	100 km	+3	Min height 20 μm, Agility +3; Max height 90 m, mass 3,500 kg, Brawn +3
11	1d6+11	90	45 m radius	320 km	+3	Min height 6 μm, Agility +3; Max height 125 m, mass 5,000 kg, Brawn +3
12	1d6+12	125	62 m radius	1,000 km	+3	Min height 2 μm, Agility +3; Max height 180 m, mass 7,000 kg, Brawn +3
13	1d6+13	180	90 m radius	3,200 km	+4	Min height 600 nm, Agility +4; Max height 250 m, mass 10 t, Brawn +4
14	1d6+14	250	125 m radius	10,000 km	+4	Min height 200 nm, Agility +4; Max height 360 m, mass 14 t, Brawn +4
15	1d6+15	360	180 m radius	32,000 km	+4	Min height 60 nm, Agility +4; Max height 500 m, mass 20 t, Brawn +4
16	1d6+16	500	250 m radius	100,000 km	+4	Min height 20 nm, Agility +4; Max height 720 m, mass 28 t, Brawn +4
17	1d6+17	720	360 m radius	320,000 km	+5	Min height 6 nm, Agility +5; Max height 1 km, mass 40 t, Brawn +5
18	1d6+18	1,000	500 m radius	1,000,000 km	+5	Min height 2 nm, Agility +5; Max height 1 km, mass 56 t, Brawn +5
19	1d6+19	1,400	700 m radius	3,200,000 km	+5	Min height 600 pm, Agility +5; Max height 2 km, mass 80 t, Brawn +5
20	1d6+20	2,000	1,000 m radius	10,000,000 km	+5	Min height 200 pm, Agility +5; Max height 3 km, mass 110 t, Brawn +5
21	1d6+21	2,800	1,400 m radius	32,000,000 km	+6	Min height 60 pm, Agility +6; Max height 4 km, mass 160 t, Brawn +6

Hostile Environments

A hostile environment makes everything more difficult. A character in a hostile environment typically incurs a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense, in addition to any other effects of the hostile environment.

Table: Hostile environments

Environment	Effect
Darkness	The character fails any Mental Combat attack rolls
Dehydration	One Health per day
Exhaustion	One Endurance per day
Exposure	One Health per six hours
Falling	Damage based on the distance fallen
Fire	Damage based on heat and intensity; Terrifying Attack
Poisons	One Health per minute or less
Pressure	One Health per minute
Radiation	One Endurance per week
Starvation	One Endurance per week
Suffocation	One Health per minute
Underwater	A long period spent underwater may have other effects
Vacuum	One Health per minute
Zero-G	Long-term weightlessness may have other effects

Darkness

Darkness, fog, rain, blizzards, and other visual impediments can make combat much more difficult. Unless they have Blindfighting or Blindsight, a character who can't see incurs a -Template:KM4 MAJOR BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack, a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense, and they fail any Mental Combat attack rolls.

Dehydration

A character who goes more than 24 hours without drinking begins to suffer the effects of dehydration. If a character is suffering from dehydration, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Health per day until they are rehydrated or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character is rehydrated, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Damage from dehydration is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by dehydration.

Exhaustion

A character who goes more than 24 hours without sleep begins to suffer the effects of sleep deprivation. If a character is suffering from sleep deprivation, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Endurance per day until they get a solid night's rest or until their Endurance and Health are reduced to zero. Once the character gets a solid night's rest, their Endurance and Health are restored at the same rate they were lost.

A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by exhaustion.

Exposure

Exposure to extreme heat or cold makes even ordinary tasks more difficult. If a character is suffering from exposure, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Health per six hours until they return to a comfortable environment, or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character returns to a comfortable environment, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Damage from extremes of heat and cold is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by extreme temperatures.

Falling

A falling character faces two challenges: being weightless, and landing. First, they suffer the effects of being weightless. If they do not have the Zero-G Combat gift, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Second, landing abruptly is a normal attack which deals points of Health damage. The damage a fall deals depends on the distance fallen: 1d6, plus one point of damage for each five meters fallen, up to a maximum of 1d6+20. Protective gear, or particularly soft or yielding surfaces, can provide Damage Resistance to a falling character.

Table: Falling Damage

Distance (m)	Damage
5	1d6+1
10	1d6+2
15	1d6+3
20	1d6+4
25	1d6+5
30	1d6+6
35	1d6+7
40	1d6+8
45	1d6+9
50	1d6+10
55	1d6+11
60	1d6+12
65	1d6+13
70	1d6+14
75	1d6+15

Fire

If a character is on fire, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, fire is treated as a normal attack which deals points of Health damage. The damage a fire deals depends on its heat and intensity. Protective gear -- even improvised gear, such as a wet blanket -- can provide Damage Resistance to a burning character. Finally, fire is terrifying. A character on fire must cower or flee (their choice) until they use a standard action to make a successful Presence + Athletics roll against 8 + Power Level of the attack (or the Equipment Level of the weapon). If the character on fire has Mental Resistance, they may add it to this roll.

Table: Fire

Fire	Damage
Campfire, torch	1d6+1
Burning building	1d6+2
Molten lava	1d6+3

Poisons

Poisons and pathogens are substances which disrupt biological processes when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism. Immediately after exposure, a poisoned character must attempt a moderately difficult (DV 12) Brawn + Athletics roll. If the target has Alteration Resistance, they may add it to this roll. If the Brawn + Athletics roll is successful, the character takes no damage from the poison and suffers only incidental side-effects such as nausea. If the Brawn + Athletics roll is not successful, the character has succumbed to the poison.

If a character has been poisoned, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, their Health is reduced by one.

Periodically thereafter, the character must attempt another Brawn + Athletics roll (once per round for very potent poisons, once an hour for very weak poisons, and once a minute for other poisons, at the GM's discretion). Each failed Brawn + Athletics roll results in another loss of one Health. This continues until the character successfully makes a Brawn + Athletics roll, until they are administered the appropriate treatment, or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character is no longer poisoned, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Some poisons and pathogens have additional effects, such as blindness or paralysis.

Damage from poisons and pathogens is not restored by rest and recuperation until the poison or pathogen itself is cured. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by poisons and pathogens.

Pressure

If a character is exposed to extreme atmospheric pressure, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Health per minute until they return to a pressurized atmosphere, or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character returns to a normal atmosphere, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Damage from extreme atmospheric pressure is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by high pressure.

Radiation

When ionizing radiation interacts with cells, it can cause damage to the cells and genetic material. Twenty-four hours after exposure to ionizing radiation, a character must attempt a moderately difficult (DV 12) Brawn + Athletics roll. If the target has Alteration Resistance, they may add it to this roll. If the Brawn + Athletics roll is successful, the character takes no damage from the radiation and suffers only incidental side-effects such as nausea. If the Brawn + Athletics roll is not successful, the character has developed acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning.

If a character has developed acute radiation syndrome, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, their Health is reduced by one.

Periodically thereafter, the character must attempt another Brawn + Athletics roll (once per hour for very intense radiation, once a week for very mild radiation, and once a day for other radiation, at the GM's discretion). Each failed Brawn + Athletics roll results in another loss of one Health. This continues until the character successfully makes a Brawn + Athletics roll, until they are administered the appropriate treatment, or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character no longer has acute radiation syndrome, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Some radiation may have additional effects, such as blindness or paralysis.

Damage from acute radiation syndrome is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by ionizing radiation.

Starvation

A character who goes more than one week without eating begins to suffer the effects of starvation. If a character is suffering from starvation, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Endurance per week until they resume a normal diet or until their Endurance and Health are reduced to zero. Once the character has resumed a normal diet, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Damage from starvation is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by starvation.

Suffocation

If a character needs to breath but is unable to do so, they suffer the effects of suffocation. If a character is suffocating, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Additionally, they lose one Health per minute until they can breathe freely again or until their Health is reduced to zero. Once the character is able to breathe normally, their Health is restored at the same rate it was lost.

Damage from suffocation is not restored by rest and recuperation. A character with Environmental Immunity is unaffected by suffocation.

Underwater

If a character is underwater and does not have the Underwater Combat gift, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. A long period spent underwater may have other effects.

Vacuum

If a character is exposed to vacuum, they suffer the effects of suffocation. Exposure to the vacuum of space does not make a character freeze solid, at least not initially. Most organics will bruise badly due to ebullism, and they will eventually freeze, but they will be long dead from suffocation by that point.

Zero-G

If a character is weightless and does not have the Zero-G Combat gift, they incur a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS AV penalty on any task or attack and a -Template:KM4 SKILL BONUS DV penalty on their defense. Long-term weightlessness may have other effects.

Mass

Specific items may vary greatly from the typical mass listed here.

Table: Mass of typical items

Item	Mass	Brawn
full suitcase	20 kg	1
medium dog	20 kg	1
electric mountain bike	35 kg	2
single bed	35 kg	2
small sofa	35 kg	2
wood bookcase	35 kg	2
full pony keg of beer	45 kg	3
small sea turtle	45 kg	3
large dog	65 kg	3
small adult	65 kg	3
full keg of beer	75 kg	3
trim adult	80 kg	3
manhole cover	90 kg	4
medium adult	90 kg	4
small floor safe	90 kg	4
wood chest	90 kg	4
large adult	125 kg	4
female brown bear	135 kg	4
huge adult	150 kg	4
oil drum (full)	150 kg	4
refrigerator	150 kg	4
wood table	150 kg	4
male brown bear	180 kg	5
sport motorcycle	180 kg	5
dumpster	200 kg	5
gun safe	200 kg	5
large sea turtle	200 kg	5
lion	200 kg	5
small armoire	200 kg	5
weapon locker	200 kg	5
dolphin	225 kg	5
harpsichord	225 kg	5
large predator	225 kg	5
cruiser motorcycle	250 kg	5
female polar bear	250 kg	5
baby grand piano	300 kg	5
medium armoire	300 kg	5
medium floor safe	300 kg	5
tiger	300 kg	5
Twinkie 11 meters long	300 kg	5
vending machine	300 kg	5
female grizzly bear	350 kg	6
large armoire	400 kg	6
large desk	400 kg	6
riding horse	400 kg	6
touring motorcycle	400 kg	6
telephone pole	450 kg	6
light wagon (empty)	500 kg	6
male polar bear	500 kg	6
grand piano	550 kg	6
cow	600 kg	6
draft horse	600 kg	6
sailboat	600 kg	6
small sailboat	600 kg	6
speedboat	600 kg	6
male grizzly bear	750 kg	7
car trailer	800 kg	7
light wagon (loaded)	900 kg	7
small car	900 kg	7
civilian helicopter	1,000 kg	7
heavy wagon (empty)	1,000 kg	7
medium missile	1,200 kg	7
6 m propane tank	1,500 kg	7
cruise missile	1,500 kg	7
large missile	1,600 kg	7
medium car	1,600 kg	7
small SUV	1,600 kg	7
small truck	1,600 kg	7
granite monument	1,800 kg	7
hippopotamus	2,000 kg	8
large car	2,000 kg	8
large herbivore	2,000 kg	8
limousine	2,000 kg	8
medium SUV	2,000 kg	8
medium truck	2,000 kg	8
6 m cargo container	2,300 kg	8
large meteor	2,300 kg	8
small forklift	2,300 kg	8
large SUV	2,500 kg	8
large truck	2,500 kg	8
hovercraft	2,700 kg	8
Jersey barrier	2,700 kg	8
Humvee	3,000 kg	8
small military helicopter	3,000 kg	8
12 m cargo container	4,000 kg	8
armored Humvee	4,000 kg	8
monster truck	4,000 kg	8
Asian elephant	4,500 kg	8
dump truck (empty)	5,000 kg	8
heavy wagon (loaded)	5,000 kg	8
huge herbivore	5,000 kg	8
African elephant	6,300 kg	8
corporate jet	6,400 kg	8
helicopter	6,400 kg	8
school bus	6,400 kg	8
light fighter jet	7,000 kg	8
howitzer	7,300 kg	8
travel trailer	7,300 kg	8
cargo helicopter	8,300 kg	9
garbage truck	8,600 kg	9
large military helicopter	9,000 kg	9
mobile home	11 t	9
armored car	12 t	9
fighter jet	13 t	9
spy satellite	13 t	9
subway car	13 t	9
motorhome RV	14 t	9
tractor-trailer (empty)	16 t	9
passenger bus	18 t	9
dump truck (loaded)	20 t	9
Polaris missile	20 t	9
double-wide mobile home	22 t	9
infantry fighting vehicle	25 t	9
houseboat	29 t	9
railroad boxcar (empty)	29 t	9
private jet	30 t	9
tractor-trailer (loaded)	36 t	10
bulldozer	37 t	10
car crusher	37 t	10
fire truck	37 t	10
armored personnel carrier	38 t	10
cargo plane (empty)	40 t	10
bank vault	50 t	10
cargo container lift truck	50 t	10
Easter Island stone head	50 t	10
M1 Abrams tank	50 t	10
tank	50 t	10
tanker truck (loaded)	50 t	10
Trident missile	50 t	10
40 m water tower	71 t	10
heavy machinery crane	73 t	10
cargo plane (loaded)	80 t	10
railroad boxcar (loaded)	100 t	10
60 m radio tower	109 t	10
wooden house	136 t	11
male blue whale	150 t	11
huge mining dump-truck	164 t	11
female blue whale	190 t	11
fishing trawler	200 t	11
Titan II rocket	200 t	11
Statue Of Liberty	205 t	11
locomotive	210 t	11
brick house	273 t	11
huge hovercraft	273 t	11
transport ship spacecraft	273 t	11
large passenger plane (empty)	300 t	11
hydro-electric generator	345 t	11
large passenger plane (loaded)	400 t	11
trawler	400 t	11
yacht	400 t	11
huge crane	591 t	12
300 m radio tower	600 t	12
huge mining excavator	727 t	12
drilling rig	800 t	12
small bridge	1,600 t	12
tugboat	3,200 t	13
short train	4,000 t	13
rocket launch tower	5,000 t	13
nuclear submarine	6,900 t	13
Eiffel Tower	7,300 t	13
10 story building	9,000 t	14
destroyer	9,000 t	14
Brooklyn Bridge	10,000 t	14
freighter (unloaded)	12,500 t	14
long train	20,000 t	14
Statue of Liberty	24,600 t	14
freighter (loaded)	25,000 t	14
large bridge	25,000 t	14
huge nuclear submarine	48,000 t	15
aircraft carrier	80,000 t	15
tanker ship (loaded)	100,000 t	15
large office building	200,000 t	16
large tanker ship (loaded)	200,000 t	16
cruise ship	225,000 t	16
Empire State Building	331,000 t	16
Ultra Large Crude Carrier (empty)	400,000 t	16
Ben Franklin Bridge	600,000 t	17
Ultra Large Crude Carrier (loaded)	600,000 t	17
Golden Gate Bridge	800,000 t	17
huge skyscraper	900,000 t	17
Great Pyramid of Khufu	5,000,000 t	18
Three Gorges Dam	9,500,000 t	19
Great Wall of China	55,000,000 t	20
4 liters of neutronium	500,000,000 t	21

Speed

Specific items may vary greatly from the typical speed listed here.

Table: Speed of typical items

Item	Speed	Agility
avg Human running	19 km/h	4
max Human running	43 km/h	6
fast submarine	80 km/h	7
fast animal	120 km/h	8
arrow	240 km/h	8
fast vehicle	320 km/h	8
fast helicopter	400 km/h	8
tornado wind	480 km/h	9
terminal velocity	530 km/h	9
bullet train	560 km/h	9
airplane	810 km/h	9
pistol bullet	1,100 km/h	9
sound	1,200 km/h	9
supersonic airplane	1,900 km/h	10
rifle bullet	3,100 km/h	10
superjet	9,700 km/h	11
escape velocity	40,000 km/h	12
rocket	48,000 km/h	12
solar winds	480,000 km/h	14
interplanetary speeds	4,800,000 km/h	15
light	1,100,000,000 km/h	19