The core concepts that you need to know to understand the rest of these rules.
The Far Wastes is a D20 system, meaning that a twenty-sided dice is the default dice for most rolls. Attacks, skills, checks, etc. Unless specified otherwise, assume the dice to roll in any situation is a D20.
Other dice are used for specific rolls, such as damage dice, so you’ll probably need a full set. The lowest dice you could need is a D4, the highest is a D100 (or percentile dice).
A lot of rolls involve a D20 and then adding or subtracting, depending on the purpose of the roll. These will be clearly mentioned when required.
Dice calculations are often formatted with a number of dice to roll, and then any static modifiers to apply.
Static modifiers are always applied to the total of any rolled dice, and not individually per die.
E.g. An attack does 2d6+2 damage. Roll two d6 (six-sided dice) and then add 2 to the total rolled.
Rolling a ‘natural 1’, meaning a 1 on a d20, is considered a ‘critical fail’ and typically represents a particularly unlucky failure of whatever was attempted.
Rolling a ‘natural 20’, meaning a 20 on a d20, is similarly a ‘critical success’ (referred to as a ‘critical hit’ when making an Attack roll) and represents a particularly lucky or skilful display at whatever was attempted.
As not everyone wants the same level of realism, detail, and complexity in their TTRPGs, The Far Wastes is being designed to accommodate that.
Various rules are marked as Complex or Optional meaning they are not considered core rules. Complex Rules often add more difficulty, more details to track, or more realism. Optional Rules are simply other ways to play that might make things a bit simpler or more suitable to your group.
It is up to individual GMs and their tables to decide which (if any) Complex or Optional rules are being used.
It’s recommended that this is discussed with the players before the game begins to ensure everyone’s on the same page.
The main currency of the post-poc - or at least the area comprising of and surrounding the Far Wastes themselves - is crystalised sea water created by the apocalypse that appears as translucent black shards, often smoothed off. When gathered in any quantity, the chemicals trapped within begin to glow red, the glow getting stronger the more are gathered together. These are commonly called Blood Drops or Black Drops due to their colouration, but this is often shortened to BDs or beads.
Shortly after they became the standard currency, people tried to pass off fake beads as real. Several entered circulation before merchants noticed a very easy way to tell real ones from fakes; the glow. As beads glow red when around other beads, this serves as the perfect way to check currency for legitimacy. If it glows, it’s real. If it’s dull and grey, it’s fake.
This led to ‘The Glow’ being a term for good luck, and ‘The Grey’ being a term for bad luck. If someone says ‘you’ve got The Glow about you’, they’re wishing you a lucky day.
Certain abilities and advantageous situations can grant a dice roll The Glow. This means you roll a second dice of that kind and use whichever has the better number for what you want to achieve. Likewise bad situations, or perhaps enemy abilities, can curse a dice roll with The Grey. This means you roll a second dice of that kind and use whichever result is worst for you.