Chapter 1: Character Creation

Halo

THE COVENANT WAR A Halo: Combat Evolved Roleplaying Game By Ewen Cluney

Table of Contents

Introduction..........................................................................................................................3 Setting Information.......................................................................................................... 3 Tools of the Trade............................................................................................................3 Canon Cannon..................................................................................................................4 Fudge Basics.................................................................................................................... 4 Not Done Yet................................................................................................................... 5 Standard Disclaimers....................................................................................................... 5

Character Creation............................................................................................................... 6 Step 1: Attributes............................................................................................................. 6 Step 2: Secondary Values................................................................................................ 6 Step 3: Select Profession..................................................................................................7 Step 4: Select Specialty....................................................................................................8 Step 5: Personal Traits..................................................................................................... 9 Skill Descriptions...........................................................................................................10 Gift Descriptions............................................................................................................11 Spartans..........................................................................................................................12

Rules.................................................................................................................................. 14 Action Resolution.......................................................................................................... 14 Combat........................................................................................................................... 16 Vehicles..........................................................................................................................19 Fudge Points...................................................................................................................21

UNSC Equipment, Vehicles, and NPCs............................................................................ 22 UNSC Weapons............................................................................................................. 22 UNSC Vehicles..............................................................................................................24 Stock UNSC NPCs........................................................................................................ 25

The Covenant..................................................................................................................... 29 Covenant NPCs..............................................................................................................29 Covenant Weapons........................................................................................................ 35 Other Covenant Equipment............................................................................................38 Covenant Vehicles......................................................................................................... 39

Running The Game............................................................................................................ 43 Setting Things Up.......................................................................................................... 43 Freeform Character Creation......................................................................................... 44 Video Game Physics...................................................................................................... 44

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INTRODUCTION

Halo: The Covenant War is a tabletop RPG based on Bungie's Halo series of FPS games. It uses a variant of Fudge, a free system created by Steffan O'Sullivan. The complete rules are included here, but if you're interested in finding out more about the system and its endless options you can get it online, or there's a print version published by Grey Ghost Games. I went with Fudge basically because I'm intimately familiar with it and know how to make it do what I want. Character creation is radically changed from any existing Fudge variant, and the default wounding rules are replaced with health points. For more on Fudge, check out ; there are zillions of different variant rules that could be plugged into this game if you're so inclined, especially in the hardcover Fudge 10th Anniversary Edition.

The design philosophy of this game is that the goal is to create a fun RPG that captures the feel of the Halo games. I've put a lot of detail into things that matter in the video games; the rest you can hand-wave, make up as you go along, or reduce to simple dice rolls. Also, while it can handle other things, H:tCW is geared primarily towards games about UNSC marines fighting the Covenant. Fudge Points are your friend.

Setting Information

Having the fan following that it does, there are plenty of places to find reference material on Halo more detailed than I could ever hope to put together. This game includes some basic setting information, but if you really want the full skinny you should check out some of the following:

? halo.: This is the main fan site for all things Halo. Of particular interest is the Story Page, which has in-depth analyses of all different aspects of the Halo universe.

? The Library: The Library is probably the single largest and most extensive collection of information on Halo, with articles covering just about everything.

? Wikipedia: The free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit is at its best when dealing with pop culture stuff, and Halo is no exception. Through numerous articles it has a wealth of information about Halo. The main article on Halo (with many links to secondary articles) can be found at: (video_game_series)

Tools of the Trade

There are a few things you'll want to have in order to play this game: ? Paperwork: For some reason they sometimes call these "pen-and-paper" RPGs,

when you really want to be using pencil and paper. Players are going to need sheets for their characters, and everyone is probably going to want scratch paper to scribble random stuff on, especially the GM. ? Randomizer Thingies: Since this is Fudge, there are a couple of different ways to handle what happens when a character wants to try stuff and could succeed or fail. Like a typical RPG you can use dice--six-sided, special Fudge Dice, or tensided--or you can be weird and use playing cards.

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? Map Stuff: Especially for a game that emphasizes tactical combat, having some kind of map and movable figures helps a lot. I use one of those dry-erase "battle mat" things and goofy paper miniatures, but if you want to go crazy with action figures or cool wargame type miniatures and actual 3-D terrain, more power to you.

Canon Cannon

As with any other fan activity, how close you hew to the canon continuity when playing this game is totally up to you. In the canon, Spartans are very much an endangered species, and having an entire squad of them as player characters isn't exactly plausible. That doesn't necessarily mean it should stop you though. Your game is by definition not part of the official Halo continuity, so it pays to remember you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want with it. Do you want there to be more surviving Spartan-IIs? Or a new generation of Spartan-IIIs? Or do you think it would be neat if humans and Elites teamed up against a common foe? Go for it.

Fudge Basics

Before we jump into the game, we need to introduce some of the basic elements of the Fudge system that powers H:tCW.

Characters are defined by traits, things that describe them. There are three main types of traits: Attributes, Skills, and Gifts. Attributes and Skills are both rated in Levels; for normal humans these range from ?3 to +3, where +0 is average1. Exceptional characters can have levels of +4 or more. Gifts are other beneficial traits that don't have levels; a character either has it or doesn't.

Level ?3 ?2 ?1 +0 +1 +2 +3 +4

Description Terrible Poor Mediocre Fair Good Great Superb Legendary

When a character wants to do something where the outcome is in doubt (or just where

randomness could make the game more interesting), the Action Resolution rules come

into play. The GM names a relevant Attribute or Skill for the action and the player uses

some kind of randomizer (usually dice; see p. 14) to produce a result between ?4 and +4,

which is added to the level of the relevant trait. The sum of the two is called the Rolled

Degree. If the character is acting directly against another character (an Opposed Action),

the character with the higher Rolled Degree is the winner, and a tie is (usually) a tie. If

there is no opponent and something is just difficult (an Unopposed Action), the GM sets

a Difficulty Level (a number rated in Levels, depending on how hard the action is) that

must be matched or exceeded in order to succeed.

So, supposing there are two characters, A and B, who have Close Combat at +2 and

+1 respectively. A swings at B and B tries to parry; the GM has them roll dice. A rolls

+1, so his Rolled Degree is +3. B rolls +0, so his Rolled Degree is +1. A beat B by 2

whole points (his Relative Degree), so he wins and slugs B.

On the other hand if A is just climbing a tree, the GM might decide to have him make

a Body roll against a Difficulty Level of +1. Any Rolled Degree of +1 or better will let

him climb the tree.

1 H:tCW uses a variant of the standard Fudge rules; normally the descriptions listed in the table to the right are the trait levels. Personally I think it's much easier to just use the numbers.

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Not Done Yet

I'm intending to add more stuff to this game to make it more complete. At the moment it mostly lets you do games dealing with fighting the Covenant, but hopefully it'll eventually include:

? Proper character sheets, and reference sheet/GM screen type stuff. ? Stats for the stuff pertaining to the various Halo ringworlds--stats for the Flood,

Sentinels, etc. ? Stats for some of the other stuff that's not quite official, like the flamethrower,

ATV, etc., as well as getting more thorough in including all the different variants of the Covenant NPCs. ? Incorporating some more rules options, including more freeform character creation. ? Rules for running a game more in the style of Red vs. Blue. It'll be weird. ? Possibly something to deal with fighters and ship-to-ship combat. It'd be annoying to do, since there's so little to go off of from the games. Also, I'll be putting together an adventure scenario for this game, called Halo: Weathering the Storm. I'm open to contributions by the way.

Standard Disclaimers

Halo: The Covenant War is, as they say on RvB, based on Halo?, ?1985-2001 Microsoft Corporation, All rights reserved. Microsoft, Bungie, and Halo are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

The following materials based on FUDGE, entitled Halo: The Covenant War, are created by Ewen Cluney, and are not authorized or endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE material is in any way responsible for the content of these materials. Original FUDGE materials ?1992-1995 Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.

If you wish to distribute copies of all or portions of FUDGE or derivative works based on FUDGE for a fee or charge, other than in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain written permission from:

Steffan O'Sullivan P.O. Box 465 Plymouth, NH 03264

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