• Roll for a skill
• Activate a mutation

• Move one range step
• Seek cover
• Get an item from your gear
• Pick up an item from the ground
• Draw a weapon
• Aim with a gun
• Reload a gun
• Use an item

• Arm’s Length: Just next to each other
• Near: A few steps away
• Short: Up to 20–30 yards
• Long: Up to a few hundred yards
• Distant: As far as you can see

When you attack in close combat you use the Fight skill. Close combat usually happens at Arm’s Length. With some weapons – like a scrap spear – you can attack from Near range.

• You inflict one additional point of damage each
• You subdue or tire your enemy for one point of fatigue each
• You knock or pull a weapon or other object from your opponent
• Your opponent falls to the ground or is pushed back
• You hold the opponent in a grapple

When you attack someone at a distance you roll for the Shoot skill. You’ll need a ranged weapon, if only a rock to hurl. The table on page 87 indicates the range of each weapon, i.e. the maximum distance at which the weapon can be used.

• You inflict one more point of damage each
• You pin down your enemy for one point of fatigue each
• Your target drops a weapon or another handheld object
• Your opponent falls to the ground or is pushed back

Some rare artifact weapons are capable of full automatic fire. When firing full auto, roll as usual for the Shoot skill. You can push the roll normally – but it will cost you one extra bullet. You can then continue to push the roll, again and again. Every re-roll costs you one bullet. As usual, you risk fatigue and the weapon risks being damaged every time you re-roll. You can push the roll as many times as you want, until you run out of bullets or until you collapse or the weapon breaks.

• Damage: Bruises, bleeding wounds and broken bones. Decreases your Strength.
• Fatigue: Physical exhaustion, sweating and panting. Decreases your Agility.
• Confusion: Lack of clarity, bewilderment and misjudgement. Decreases your Wits.
• Doubt: Lack of confidence, distrust, disappointment and sadness. Decreases your Empathy.

When an attribute score hits zero, you are broken. You’ve had enough and lack the will or ability to keep going. Exactly what it means to be broken depends on what attribute has been depleted.

• Strength: You’re knocked out, or in paralyzing pain. Being broken by damage is much more dangerous than by other types of trauma, because it also means you suffer a critical injury.
• Agility: You’re physically exhausted.
• Wits: Your brain is overloaded and you can’t think straight.
• Empathy: You break down in fear, self-pity or sorrow.

Every day, you must eat at least one ration of grub, on top of what is needed to recover lost Strength. After one day with no grub you are starving. Note this in the checkbox on your character sheet. Being starving has several effects:

• You cannot recover damage (restore Strength) in any way. If broken by damage, you need to eat some grub before you can get back on your feet. You can recover other types of trauma.
• You suffer one more point of damage per day without grub. If broken by damage while starving you will die after another day has passed, unless you are given grub.
• As soon as you have eaten one ration of grub, you are no longer starving and you can recover normally. To recover all damage (above) you need to consume another ration of grub.

Every day, you must drink at least one ration of water, on top of what is needed to recover lost Agility. After one day with no water you are dehydrated. Note this in the checkbox on your character sheet. Being dehydrated has several effects:

• You cannot recover any type of trauma. If broken, you need to drink some water before you can get back on your feet.
• You suffer one point of damage and one point of fatigue per day without water. If broken by trauma (of any type) while dehydrated, you will die after another day has passed.
• As soon as you have imbibed one ration of water, you are no longer dehydrated and you can recover normally. To recover all fatigue you need to consume another ration of water.

Every day, you must get at least four hours of continuous sleep. After one day without enough sleep, you become sleepless. Note this in the checkbox on your character sheet. Being sleepless has several effects:

• You cannot recover confusion (restore Wits) in any way. If broken by confusion, you need to sleep for four hours or more before you can get back on your feet. You can recover other types of trauma.
• You suffer one more point of confusion per day without sleep. If broken by confusion while sleepless you will collapse and fall unconscious for four hours or more.
• As soon as you have at least four hours of sleep, you are no longer sleepless and you can recover Wits normally. To recover all confusion you need to sleep another four hours.

In the Ark, you can warm yourselves by the trashcan fires or huddle up close to each other under old tarpaulin and cloth when the Zone cold is bitter. Out in the Zone, the cold can be a threat as deadly as the Rot. When you are exposed to a cold environment, the GM can make you roll to Endure at regular intervals. The colder it is, the more often you must roll. Around the freezing point, once per day or so is enough – in the deep atomic winter, you might need to roll every hour. Things that can keep you warm, like an old blanket or a jacket, can give you Gear Dice to use. If the roll fails, you become hypothermic. This has several consequences:

• You immediately suffer one point of damage and one point of confusion – the cold makes the blood flow more slowly to your brain.
• You may experience strange hallucinations – the details are up to the GM. It is said that someone who is freezing to death will experience a burning heat, making them tear their clothes off in the final moments before dying.
• You keep rolling to Endure at the same intervals, with the same effect if you fail a roll. If broken by damage when hypothermic, you die the next time you are called upon to roll.
• As long as you are hypothermic, you cannot restore Strength or Wits. It is only once your are warm again, even if only heated by a meager campfire, that you can sleep and eat to recover.

Portrait [+]

The first thing you pick for your mutant is his role. The role determines who you are and what you do in the Ark, your position in the world. There are three roles to choose from; ENFORCER, GEARHEAD, STALKER. More roles will be unlocked as the Ark develops.

Your rank is bestowed upon you by the leader the Ark. It denotes your greatest achievements and contribution to the community of Ark Humanity. Others will look to you in times of need to resolve unique circumstances.

Your four attributes determines what basic strengths and weaknesses you are born with. They are measured on a scale from 1 to 5 for PCs and other regular mutants. A higher score is better. Your attributes are used when you perform important actions. The attribute scores are decreased when you suffer different types of trauma. If an attribute reaches zero you are broken. You can also recover lost attribute scores - by consuming a different resources for each.

Your skills are trained abilities and learning, things you have picked up along the way in the harsh post-apocalyptic world. In this game there are twelve basic skills that all mutants can use. In addition, every role has a unique, thirteenth skill – a specialist skill. Skills are measured by skill level, from 0 to 5. You can use a basic skill even if you don’t have a skill level. To use a specialist skill, you need at least skill level 1.

Talents are tricks, moves and minor abilities that give you a small edge. They are more specialized than skills and give you a way to fine-tune your character. You can pick one talent when creating your character – but your choices are limited. Your role description indicates which talents you can choose from. You can learn more talents during the course of the game, at which point you will have many more talents to choose from.

Your mutations are superhuman abilities. Where the mutations come from, no one among the people knows. The problem is that they are both unpredictable and dangerous – even to yourselves. Besides, they can’t always be activated on command. Sometimes the power is there, ready to unleash, sometimes it’s not.

Without friends to back you up you won’t survive for long in the Ark – and even shorter in the Zone. But you have to know who you can trust. Turning your back to the wrong mutant can kill you faster than the Rot. Relationships are not the only things connecting you to the world. You also have a personal dream of a better future. Your relationships and dreams affect how you earn Experience Points (XP). These choices are also important to the GM, who will use them to create story elements for the game.

Choose what your big dream is, what you want more than anything in the world. As in the case of relationships, your role description provides you with pre-made options to choose from. Use them if you want to.

The People are hungry and the struggle for grub and clean water is hard. To keep others away from your grub and water you need weapons – preferably guns. And guns need bullets from the Old Age. There is no money in the Ark, all business is done through barter, but bullets are often used as an unofficial currency. In the Ark, there are no shops. But you can trade with other mutants, and there are fixers and bosses who can get you almost anything – for something valuable, or some service, in return. It’s all about how much you need it, and what you’re willing to pay – or do – to get it.