Geckos

This is one of the animal species. An overview over the other animals can be found here. The town can be found here.

Geckos:

Geckos are mutated lizards that can be found in many areas in and around California. Most of them are relatively peaceful, unless one attacks them or gets to close to them, but it’s quite possible to evade them if one spots them early enough.
When they attack they usually do so in groups. Geckos are mutated by radiation and FEV and their skin makes great leather for clothing and armor, which is why their population is kept in check by trappers. Geckos are mostly carnivorous animals that eat smaller animals.
Silver geckos are the smaller version. Maybe just the younger ones – there are numerous theories between the many trappers and the first, nascent biologists. They are at most 60 cm high and walk, like all gecko species, usually on their hind legs. They are fast and they have a mean bite. Their leather is not quite as beautiful as that of golden geckos – and not quite as hard when cured. As their name suggests, their skin is colored silver.

Golden geckos are the larger geckos – maybe just the older, formerly silver geckos. They grow up to be 110 cm tall. While they are bigger than silver geckos and have therefore a larger set of teeth with much larger teeth, they are somewhat slower than silver geckos. Golden geckos have gold colored skin.

Fire geckos are the rarest kind of geckos – luckily. Their name is – unlike with their smaller cousins – not a reference to their coloring but, as many a trapper or hunter had to discover, but rather based on their special ability: they are actually able to spit fire over a short range. However this biological mechanism works is still unknown (as mentioned before, biology as a science is still getting started again) but all experienced trappers and hunters know, that one should be really sure a fire geckos is dead, before one approaches them.

The statistics of geckos:

As with all characters no statistic may lie below the minimal value or above the maximal value. For silver geckos 30 points may be added, with golden geckos 35 points and with fire geckos 38.

The statistics of silver geckos:

	STrength	PErception	ENdurance	CHarisma	INtelligence	AGility	LUck	COurage
MIN	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
MAX	4	5	5	4	5	6	10	6

The statistics of golden geckos:

	STrength	PErception	ENdurance	CHarisma	INtelligence	AGility	LUck	COurage
MIN	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
MAX	7	7	8	6	6	8	10	8

The statistics of fire geckos:

	STrength	PErception	ENdurance	CHarisma	INtelligence	AGility	LUck	COurage
MIN	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
MAX	8	8	9	6	6	8	10	10

The statistics explained:

STRENGTH: Strength decides how much damage a gecko does in combat and also decides on extraordinary feats of strength that the animal might have to perform.
PERCEPTION: Perception works for geckos the same way as it does for humans: it decides on how well the animal notices a threat or an escape route or an impediment on their way or something else like that.
ENDURANCE: Endurance decides the hit points of the animal:
Silver geckos have 12 + EN * 2 hit points.
Golden geckos have 15 + EN * 3 hit points.
Fire geckos have 25 + EN * 4 hit points.
Furthermore endurance also decides if certain great efforts of the animal succeed.
CHARISMA: Animals can suck up, too. This value shows how docile the geckos is. Geckos, even docile ones, are however rather dangerous animals and one should only try to tame one when really knows what one does. INTELLIGENCE: Each point on intelligence of the animal gives a plus 5 bonus to training. AGILITY: For each point of agility a silver gecko can move 5 cm in a combat round,a golden gecko for 4 cm and a fire gecko for 3,5 cm.
AG = action points
LUCK: As with humans, luck decides on everything and nothing as well as the critical hit rate. COURAGE: Courage decides on the urgency with which the animal tries to stand up to danger. Over simplified, the smaller a gecko is, the more probable it is, that it will run away.

Feed:

Geckos are carnivores. They often hunt larger animals, even brahmin, in packs and eat those. They do not mind eating carrion either. Not even other, dead geckos are spared. As a much mutated life form they are well adapted to the wasteland and have no problem with radioactive water or with the digestion of other, heavily mutated life form. A gecko can live on one large meal a week, but prefers some food each day: about 1 to 4 kilos of meat a day (depending on the size of the gecko) and about half a liter to two liters of water.

Training:

Geckos are difficult to train. In fact, it’s impossible to catch a wild gecko and train him. If one however finds gecko eggs and if a human (or ghoul or super mutant) manages to incubate them until they hatch, it may happen that the freshly hatched gecko imprints on the character.
If a character has that lucky event happen to them, a gecko can be trained by a very good trainer similar to a dog and for similar uses: as a guard gecko for example.

Movement and combat:

Silver geckos can move for 4.5 cm per action point in combat, a golden gecko for 4 cm and a fire gecko for 3 cm.
As pertains armor rating silver geckos have: 5 against normal, laser, explosive and electrical damage as well as 3 against fire and plasma.
Golden geckos are a bit tougher: 6 against normal damage, laser, explosives and electrical as well as 4 against fire and plasma.
Fire geckos are a lot tougher than their smaller cousins: 8 against normal damage, laser and explosives, 7 against electrical damage as well as 5 against fire and plasma.


Geckos bite – and do so hard and often. Geckos need 2 AP per bite and do 3 D3 + Strength damage.
Fire geckos have, true to their name, a further, alternate attack: their fire attack has 10 cm range and does 1 D10 + 5 damage. They can ‘shoot’ once every 3 rounds. To check whether or not the gecko hits with their fire attack one tests on perception. 1 would be a critical hit, that as usual does double damage and ignores armor rating and 8 (or the gecko’s value on perception) would be a critical fail, meaning the gecko does not just miss, he can’t ‘fire’ again for the next 3 rounds.
If a throw is above the max value of perception it get’s repeated. If three throws in a row miss this way, it counts as a critical fail.


If a gecko is hitcritically and unaimed, the roll to determine where it was hit is done with a D6:

1 - 2 = Hit to the head.
3 - 4 = Hit to the body.
5 = Hit to an arm.
6 = Hit to an hind leg.

If a character attacks a gecko, no matter its kind, with an aimed attack, they have the following difficulties:

To the head: 15 points.
To the body: 5 points.
To the arms: 15 points.
To the hind legs: 15 points.

As with all humans, super-mutants and ghouls, critical hits to geckos do double damage and ignore all armor stats! Furthermore, the DM decides what kind of wound is created!