Milk Bar

We are not a collection of individuals

But a macroorganism living as an ecosystem

We are completely outside ourselves

And the world is completely inside us

–Holly Herndon
Credits
Created by Eryk Sawicki

Development by Chris Airaiu

System lineage
Chris McDowell, Into the Odd

Leo Hunt, Vaults of Vaarn

Sean McCoy, Mothership RPG

watt, Cloud Empress

Goblin Archives, Liminal Horror

David Blandy, ECOMOFOS!!

Chris Bisette, Scars

Inspirations
Disco Elysium

Stalker

Pacific Drive

Death Stranding

Control

The music of Phillip Glass

The music of Holly Herndon

The music of DakhaBrakha

The art of Simon Stålenhag

Creating your Communard

Stats
Your Communard has three Stats which represent their ability to act under pressure. Roll 3d6 for each Stat.

Strength Fight for a better world.

Dexterity Perform feats of acrobatics.
Heart Get the people on side.

Saves
Your Communard has three Saves which represent their ability to resist danger. Roll 3d6 for each Save.

Hope Don't let the bastards get you down.

Fear Keep a cool head.
Grit Resist punishment.

Health Points
Roll 1d6 to determine your Communard’s starting Health Points (HP), which reflects their ability to avoid
damage in combat.

Stress
Your Communard's Minimum and Current Stress start at 2. You gain 1 Stress whenever you fail a Stat Check or
Save, or whenever you spend a night outside of the Milk Bar.

Burnout

A Burnout Check determines whether your Communard can keep fighting for a better future despite the
overwhelming odds. To make a Burnout Check, grab your d20 and try to roll over your current Stress. If you
succeed, the Communard goes on unimpeded.
If you fail, your Communard gains a Burden. Burdens are constant psychological and physiological reminders of
their fight and as such, take up one slot in their Inventory. Each accumulated Burden reduces the total number
of items a Communard can carry on their body.

When you gain three Burdens, your Communard becomes Burnt Out. Burnt Out Communards cannot recover
HP or reduce their Stress until they’ve removed their Burdens.

d8 Burden
1 Despondent. Why even bother? Nothing’s going to change anyway.
2 Fearful. We’re sticking our necks out and we’re just gonna get hurt.
3 Selfish. Why should I share the things I earn with everyone else?
4 Liberal. Guys, have you considered the fact that they tried their best?
5 Insecure. I’m just gonna hold you back.
6 IBS. Stress isn’t good for the tummy.
7 Brain Fog. I just can’t get my thoughts in order.
8 Achy Bones. Whole body ache is your body begging for a break.

Removing Burdens is the responsibility of the Communard and the Milk Bar in equal parts: if a Communard is
feeling Despondent, it’d be a great opportunity to show them something they could never have experienced
before. If they’re Fearful, successfully repelling an attack or having a successful expedition can help.

Removing Stress

Each night spent in the Milk Bar reduces your stress by 1.

Inventory
● Communards have a total of ten inventory slots but can only carry five items comfortably without the
help of bags, backpacks, trolleys, vehicles etc.
● Each Communard starts with a Backpack that can hold up to six slots of items. Trolleys (which must
be pulled with both hands) and vehicles can make a huge difference in how much a Communard can
bring with them on an adventure. NPC Communards can also help carry equipment.

Inventory Slots

● Most items take up one slot unless otherwise indicated.

● Petty items do not take up any slots. Bulky items take up two slots.
Starting Equipment

● 3 Pierogi
● Flashlight
● Backpack
● Protective Gloves (petty)
 Background
Each Communard plays a crucial Role in the Milk Bar. Their Backgrounds give you an idea of the kind of
person they were before they established the Milk Bar, what kinds of Facilities they'll be best suited to, and what
Equipment they start with. You start with the Skills from your Background as well as one extra Skill of your
choice.

d6 d6 Background Description Items Skill

1 1 Vagabond Graduating School and going straight to working at Ciupaga. Bulletproof Vest. Scavenging
The Belt wasn’t something you fancied, so you Lockpick set. Bootleg
stayed on the outskirts. translations of Western media.

2 Aerostatic The first time you saw an Aerostatic ship hanging Aviation headset w/ walkie-talkie Aviation
Pilot in the sky you knew that the sky’s cool cradle was all built-in. Aerostatic Jacket. Pocket
you needed. compass.

3 Writer Fuck the rest of them: you have so many feelings, Portable radio. Storytelling
not enough paper, the whiskey’s running out, and Notepad.
the sun’s already rising. A bottle of aged alcohol.

4 Bluemark Any cuts you get down in the pits tend to get Overalls. Rope. Pickaxe. Industrial
clogged with coal dust, pockmarking your body Union Card. Equipment,
with blue forever-tattoos. Mining

5 Chef The hiss of the hob, the bubble of water, the smell, Cleaver. Cooking
the warmth, the cool, the pop! Good God it’s all so Toque.
intoxicating.

6 Brewer The PPR nationalised all breweries during the War Six-pack of homebrew. Brewing
and redirected all capacity to brewing the most Water purification tablets.
straightforward of lagers. Wait until you show these
louts what an IPA is.

2 1 Firefighter No matter how much time you’ve spent with other Fireproof overalls. Assure
firefighters outside, you’ve never spoken to them Fire-axe.
like you do in the engine on its way to respond.

2 Farmer Farming these days has you dealing with more Tractor. Agriculture,
fucking punch cards and robots than a CIA Crate of soft cabbage. Robotics
apparatchik during the Comintern.
d6 d6 Background Description Items Skill

3 Train There’s a rumour in the canteen you were born on Lunchbox. Motorist
Operator the maglev somewhere between the BMW factory Crowbar. Toolbelt (+1
in Munich and Watch Valley outside of Geneva. Inventory).

4 Actor Close this book. You don’t need it, sire. Change of clothes. Performance
Disguise kit.

5 Builder Putting up a building’s piss: stick the Remote Hardhat. Milk and Two Sugars. Industrial
Glove on and let the metal dogs do the ‘eavy liftin’. Canteen. Toolbox. Equipment,

6 Soldier Your honour, this one was with me on the 16th and Combat Armour. Military Training,
17th of July 1918. Yes, sir, we were having a fag Assault Rifle. Firearms
outside the social club that evening. Promise. Instant Camera.

3 1 Hacker Hacking these days has you dealing with more Cassette Deck. Computers,
fucking punch cards and robots than a CIA Punch cards. Hacking
apparatchik during the Comintern. Punched cards.
Card punch.

2 Journalist Crooked committees are the country’s cancer. You Notepad. Tape Recorder. Research, Reveal
are the precise chemo the country needs. Revolver.

3 Mechanic Everyone starts at a garage with the hope of Tank top and cargos (+1 to Industrial
working on the magnetrine haulers but nobody’s carrying capacity). Equipment,
even got electric cars yet, the old petroleum wagons Blowtorch. Jury-Rigging,
are invincible, and the metal dogs keep breaking. Vehicle Repair
It’s an honest living.

4 Teacher No amount of teacher training could have prepared More Notebooks Than Sense. Pedagogy
you for dealing with students who walk to school A bottle of cheap red wine.
armed with several books, a Geiger counter, and a
Revolver with a single round chambered.

5 Religious Many search for affirmation from outside, but Holy Symbol. Crackin' pair of Leadership, Assure
Leader you’ve made a habit of finding it within. shoes.

6 Academic When you kneel at the altar of the great knowledge, A Thesis No-one Asks About. Research + any 1
and academia shivers through your body, which Dossier of poorly photocopied skill
voice sends you on the quest for more? research.

4 1 Musician Fuck the rest of them: you have so many feelings, Musical instrument. Field Performance
not enough tape, the whiskey’s running out, and Microphone. Tape Recorder.
the sun’s already rising.
d6 d6 Background Description Items Skill

2 Engineer You’re not really sure what they have you doing at Homemade robot. Toolkit. Industrial
The Belt, but it’s what your father did, and your Wristwatch. Equipment,
father’s father, and your father’s mother too, and… Jury-Rigging,
Robotics,
Engineering

3 Scientist Your lab coat is an empty canvas: paint it with the Lab coat. Map to an abandoned Biology OR
colours of human thought. lab. Chemistry OR
Physics

4 Doctor Your lab coat is an empty canvas: paint it with the Lab coat. Medscanner. Field Medicine,
colours of human insides. Surgery,

5 Accountant Look, I’m gonna be real here because nobody’s Briefcase laptop. Mathematics
gonna be flicking through this book wondering
how to play an Accountant so here goes: the ones
who spreadsheet hold the keys. Be the Ops
Manager your Milk Bar deserves.

6 Photograph [[PHOTO]] Film Camera. Exposure Meter. Photography, Art

er Roll of Film.

5 1 Filmmaker When the hubbub of the set subsides and you stand Camcorder, Tape, Walkie-talkie Photography, Art,
in the heat of the lime lights, a member of your
crew comes to check on you.

2 Therapist Welcome to the rest of your career: the most Notepad. Recorder. A lovely Psychology
Powerful thing you can do as a Therapist is change chaise-longue in an office you no
the material conditions of your patients. longer have access to.

3 Lawyer Law won’t get you very far these days but you’ll be Bulletproof briefcase. Taser. Debate
very good at solving disputes about who ate whose
pierogi.

4 Civil You’ve been elected to a committee at your Union Card. Lunchbox. Leadership +
Servant workplace. Be their voice. Clipboard. Skill(s) from other
Choose a background of one of the other background
Communards at the table.

5 Software You connect your radiocomputer to the radionet Punch Cards. Computers,
Engineer and it releases a distorted scream of pain. Your job is Briefcase laptop. Mathematics
to twist the knife, tug on the soft ephemera inside
its core, and produce the results you need.
d6 d6 Background Description Items Skill

6 Trawler The Trawler fleet has slowly been retrofitted with The location of and keys to a Mariner
Magnetrine. Sadly for you, floating above the Fishing Trawler.
waterline is a luxury you’ve never experienced so Waders (+1 Inventory slot)
you’ve got an iron stomach and sea legs like no-one
else.

6 1 Tailor Chances are you’ve been assigned to darning duty Sewing Kit. Jury-Rigging,
at The Belt and your co-worker chose today to keep Your Babcia’s Fabric Scissors. Sewing
talking about their cybernetic hand which makes
them a lot better at darning than you. Maybe one
day.

2 EMT You never know what to expect when you get the Medscanner. First Aid Kit. Paper Motorist, Field
call; a life lived in stops and starts. map. Medicine

3 Shopkeep In your time off from running a shop, you work on Box cutter (d6). Mathematics
make believe games about doing your job on Hard Walkie-Talkie.
Mode.

4 Union In your time off from organising, you work on Megaphone. Leaflets. Union Leadership
Organiser make believe games about doing your job on Hard Card. Placards.
Mode.

5 Olympian Do you think being irradiated will make you less or Sponsored Western sportswear. Athletics
more of a hit at the Olympic Village? “Performance Enhancing” Pills
(+1 to Strength/Dexterity Stat
when making a Check. 3 uses.)

6 Stalker Tell me, what does the soft animal of your body Bag of steel bolts. Revolver. Wilderness
love? Night-vision Goggles. Gas mask. Survival, Firearms
Geiger Counter.
Names
Roll 1d20 or pick from the tables below to generate a name. Please note some Polish surnames are gendered, and
I've included the male and female versions of those. For our non-binary or transitioning comrades: it's not
unusual to take the surname of the parent of choice. In the process of naturalisation, many Polish-Americans
had to get rid of their gendered surname in favour of their father's though that doesn't need to be the case here.
Go with what you like!

Female Names
1 Alina 6 Hortensja 11 Kinga 16 Mila

2 Beata 7 Inga 12 Lila 17 Natalia

3 Ewelina 8 Jagoda 13 Liwia 18 Przybysława

4 Filomena 9 Jola 14 Magda 19 Róża

5 Gabriela 10 Karolina 15 Malina 20 Tomira

Male Names
1 Arkadiusz 6 Gniewomir 11 Kaspian 16 Pęcisław

2 Bartłomiej 7 Hugo 12 Kazimierz 17 Remigiusz

3 Bogdan 8 Jacek 13 Lech 18 Sławomir

4 Emilian 9 Jerzy 14 Leszek 19 Władysław

5 Filip 10 Jurek 15 Mateusz 20 Zdzisław

Surnames
1 Abramczyk 6 Dobrowolski -a 11 Krajewski -a 16 Piecyk

2 Borawski -a 7 Gołąb 12 Marcinkiewicz 17 Przewoźnik

3 Chlebek 8 Góralski -a 13 Mierzejewski -a 18 Sawicki -a

4 Dąbrowski -a 9 Jabłonka 14 Niezgoda 19 Stopa

5 Chmura 10 Kiełbasa 15 Ogrodziński 20 Wachowski -a

 Patches
d6 d6 Patch d6 d6 Patch

1 1 “This Milk Bar Kills Fascists” 4 1 “THEY SENT ME TO A GULAG AND ALL I GOT
WAS THIS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION”

2 “No Libs Allowed” 2 “My union rep slashed your dad’s tires” (Car on fire)

3 “Lullaby Lenin” 3 “On my way to steal your girl” (e-bike, wheelie)

4 “Gorbachev Kicked My Dog in a 4 “PIEROGI AND PUSSY”

Pizza Hut”

5 “Hasta la victoria siempre!” 5 “BYE, SON” (Bison with a handgun)

6 “Ale mi tu pierdoli” 6 “LEVERAGE” (Brick)

2 1 “Better dead than red!” (Bald Eagle, 5 1 Watermelon

Star-spangled Banner, Flames)

2 “Commie Fucker” 2 “GOD IS DEAD” (Cosmonaut waving)

3 “Great food at the roadside picnic” 3 “My other ride is a Trabant”

4 “STALKER” 4 “MILK BAR” (Fist holding a pieróg)

5 “YEAH I HAVE HAVANA 5 “WWKMD?”

SYNDROME...HAVANA COLD
GLASS OF MILK”

6 “Smile: Your Babcia is Watching” 6 “COMRADE”

3 1 “Cabbage Patch Kid” 6 1 “Honorary Member - Orwell’s List”

2 Hammer and Sickle 2 “Un jour je serai de retour près de toi”

3 “SEIZING YOUR MEANS” 3 “HAVANA RAYGUN MANUFACTURE SQUAD”

4 “ANGER. HOPE. ACTION.” 4 “THE COMMITTEE DEEMS YOU UNWASHED”

5 2-pack: 5 “Itty Bitty Titty Committee”

“My ability: martial arts”
“My need: a boot up your arse”

6 “Mass Line” 6 Union Logo

(Mao snorting coke)
Inventory

Pierogi
Pierogi are simple dumplings stuffed with a plethora of ingredients. They likely came to Poland via China,
though they're widely regarded as Poland's national dish. You might know of their cousins: gyoza, vareniki or,
even, ravioli.

Making Pierogi

You can spend a day preparing enough Pierogi to feed all residents of your Milk Bar, provided you have a
Kitchen built. They do not, however, have the ingredients required to make Pierogi. You will need to find those
yourself.

Each Communard can carry up to 3 Pierogi in their backpack.

Eating Pierogi

You can use your turn to eat 1 Pieróg and regain 1d6 Health. Eat your Favourite Pieróg to regain 1d6+2 Health
and gain Advantage on your next Check or Save.

Pierogi can be fried, boiled, or baked.

d8 Favourite Pieróg
Savoury
1 “Ruskie” - tvorog, potato, fried onions, optionally: pork rinds
2 Sauerkraut and mushroom
3 Buckwheat and cheese
4 Ground beef and sauerkraut
Sweet
5 Fruity: strawberry, cherry, plum, blackberry, blueberry
6 Tvorog
7 Apple and cinnamon
8 Cacao
Items

Name Description

Battery Rechargeable. Very heavy. Can be recharged in 12 hours when connected to a power source.
Handcrank available--will reduce remaining charging time 1:2 while cranking.

Binoculars What do your elf-eyes see?

Bungee cord Stretches up to 2 meters. Highly tensile.

Camcorder Can be damaged by high radiation levels. Requires a tape.

Camping Gear Microfilm Tent, Canteen, Stove, Bedroll.

Cassette Deck Can be used to play back standard cassettes. Requires a pair of headphones.

Crowbar Grants Advantage on Strength Checks to force doors open, lift heavy things, etc.

Electronic Map Foldable, black-and-white e-ink display. Battery-powered.

Exposure Meter Measures light levels in the area and displays recommended settings for a camera to
successfully take photos.

Film Camera Can be damaged by high radiation levels.

First Aid Kit Iodine. Bandages. Sutures.

Flare Emits a shitload of smoke and a bright red light while it burns. Lasts about 15 minutes.

Flashlight Requires a couple of small batteries to produce a focused beam of light for 2 hours.

Gas Mask Filters toxins out of the air. Can be connected to an air tank for a fully sealed environment.

Gas Mask Filter Lasts about 20 minutes once opened.

Geiger Counter Detects radiation and displays radiation levels.

Climbing Gear Contains pitons, a grappling hook, a selection of carabiners.

Instant Camera Can be damaged by high radiation levels. Holds a single cartridge of 8 sheets of film.

Life Scanner Sends out a ping in a 45° cone in the direction it is pointed in and will highlight signs of life.

Lockpick Set A set of tools designed to aid breaking into analogue locks.

Medscanner Rudimentary scanner which detects diseases, mutations, or anomalies inside the body
without the need for invasive procedures.
Name Description

Mercury Displays the temperature, doesn’t need batteries, and functions as a makeshift poison at a
Thermometer moment’s notice.

Nightvision Amplifies green wavelengths. Line of sight up to 5 meters. Last up to an hour on a single
Goggles charge.

Oxygen Tank Attaches to a mask to provide clean air for up to an hour.

Paper Map Foldable, slightly out-of-date, and never runs out of batteries.

Pocket Compass Always points north, except when it doesn’t because you’ve unwittingly stepped into an
electromagnetic anomaly.

Portable TV Tune into TV signals. Temporal and electromagnetic anomalies can produce unexpected
results.

Portable Radio Tune into radio signals. Temporal and electromagnetic anomalies can produce unexpected
results.

Radio Set Heavy. Backpack. First used by the Americans during WW2, this is the original
Walkie-Talkie. Allows transmission and receipt of a radio signal within a 5km radius. Lasts
about a week on a single Battery.

Rope 10m.

Steel Bolts Cheap way of detecting physical anomalies. Can be thrown, tied to rope or plastic bags,
screwed in, and so on.

Super8 Camera Can be damaged by high radiation levels.

Tape Recorder Record sounds to a tape and play them back at will.

Toolset Screwdriver (standard set of bits), spanner, wrench, and any other basics one might need
when broken down on the side of a road.

Walkie-talkie Unusable in Grey Space. Wrist-strap. Faux-leather.

Water Purifier Purifies a litre of water every 30 minutes.

Wristwatch Waterproof and with a timer function.

Floating Carrier Can be tied to a belt loop. Carries 1 unit of resources. Needs a Battery to operate. Up to two
Floating Carriers can be linked in a chain.

Exoskeleton Allows a Communard to carry a unit of resources unimpeded.

Artifacts from The Zone

Item Description

Localised Temporal Small metal cylinder with a heavy On/Off switch on one side. Two bangles sit around
Displacement Field an inset top section. When switched on, time stops for those wearing the bangles. One
Generator charge lasts for 15 minutes. Those not wearing bangles do not experience the temporal
displacement and continue as normal.

Witch’s Jelly A slime coats the Elephant’s Foot. Completely fireproof.

Gravity Gun Two functions: Lifting extremely heavy objects and shooting a powerful blast of kinetic
energy, dealing 1d100 damage. Requires a Battery charge for each shot of the Kinetic
Blast.

Reconstruction If an intact body is stuffed into this padded chamber, the recently dead can be revived.
Chamber Incredibly energy intensive and the target awakes amnesiac, though their memories
return over the course of 1d6 weeks.

Cognitive Allows the consumer to read the thoughts of all cognisant beings within a 10 meter
Interdictment Pills radius and, with some effort, to scramble and frazzle a target mind for the duration.

High Frequency An unassuming sword which, when powered, vibrates at high frequencies. The
Blade vibrations break molecular bonds, cutting through almost anything.

Temporal There are two settings on this rifle: “<<” and “>>”. Point the rifle at an object and see it
Convergence Rifle travel through time at a rapid pace: watch trees turn into saplings or wither and die.
 Weapons
Item Damage Range Shots Qualities
Melee Adjacent
Baton 1d2 - - Telescopic.
Bayonet 1d4 - - Can be attached to a rifle with a rail mount. Doing so
allows you to brace against the ground and deal double
damage to charging targets.
Ciupaga 1d4 - - If an attack would push you, you can drive the Ciupaga
into the ground to prevent that from happening.
Crowbar 1d4 - - Grants Advantage on Body checks to force doors open, lift
heavy things, etc.
Dagger 1d4 - - Throwable.
Knife 1d4 - -
Obuch 1d6 - - Two-sided: can be used to deal both piercing and
bludgeoning damage.
Stun Baton 1d2 - - Non-lethal.
Szabla 1d6 - -
Taser 1d4 - Non-lethal.
Ranged
Avtomat 2d10 Long 30
Assault Rifle
Militia Revolver 1d8 Close 6
Broomhandle 1d8 Close 10
Pistol
Nail Gun 1d4 Adjacent
Laser Cutter 1d100 Long Two-handed. Heavy. Requires a power source to use.
Tranquiliser 1d4 Close 1 Non-lethal.
Pistol
Flare Gun 1d4 Close 1 Fires a Flare (pg. xx).
Longbow 1d8 Long 1 Two-handed.
RPG 6d8 Long 1 Explosive. Heavy. Two-handed.
Grenade 3d8 Long 6 Explosive. Heavy.
Launcher
Item Damage Range Shots Qualities
Smart Pistol 1d6+1 Close 5 Ignores Cover.
Shotgun 3d6 Close 8 Reduced effect at range: 2d6 at Medium Range, 1d6 at Far
Range. Two-handed.
Submachine 2d6 Long 45
Gun
Sawn-off 2d6 Close 2 Reduced effect at range: 1d6 at Medium Range. Cannot
Shotgun shoot past Medium Range.
Mosin-Nagant 3d10 Far 1 Cannot target Close enemies. Also available in a variant
Sniper Rifle which uses tranquiliser rounds. Two-handed.
Magnetrine 1 Heavy. Two-handed.
Rail Gun

Shots. How many rounds are in a magazine and how many times the weapon can be fired before needing to
reload.

Explosive. Destroys nearby cover regardless of how much damage you rolled.

Silver tipped ammunition is necessary to harm unnatural creatures.

 Armour
Your Armour Condition (AC) is how much HP damage you deduct from an attack.

When you are hit, reduce your armour's condition by 1. Upon hitting 0, the armour breaks and does not provide
any benefit.

Armour can be repaired by an Armourer, provided they have access to materials, tools, and an Armoury.

You can also choose to sacrifice a piece of armour to completely reduce all damage from a hit to 0.

Armour AC Description Special

Heavy Duty 1 The favoured outfit of Beltstaff tradies and a common identifier of +1 Inventory slots.
Jumpsuit position: engineers wear a dark olive, builders mustard, computer
binoclards a crimson, and groundskeepers a dirty white.

Hazmat 1 Your standard hazmat suit. A little flimsy so it doesn’t provide Resists up to 3Sv of radiation.
Suit much in the way of protection.

Aerostatic 2 Built for high-altitude/low-temperature use, Aerostatic Pilot gear Inner lining: can conceal a single
Jacket is designed to stop moisture pooling and freezing, on top of being petty item.
wind-proof and highly breathable. The perfect all-condition jacket.

Bulletproof 3 Interlocking ceramic plates absorb and distribute the impact of

Vest bullets across the chest. Mostly effective if your assailant is good at
aiming for the center mass.

Hazard Suit 5 Only those on a need-to-know are aware of the thin lake of Self-sealing: AC does not decrease on
superconductive liquid alloy the Belt rests on. Those need-to-knows a hit. Very rare.
wear these suits when dialysing the Belt.

Radiation 5 The Liquidators weren’t allowed anywhere near the Zone without Lead-lined, Heavy. Dexterity [-] while
Suit one of these on; lead-lined and heavy, the plastic headpiece is a wearing.
nightmare to see out of when your sweat starts to condense.

Battle Dress 7 We had to make a decision: send in the Rad-proof Liquidators into Built-in walkie-talkie and GPS
the Heart and risk them getting vaporised, or send in the support.
heavy-duty troops who could weather an explosion but receive
hundreds of Sieverts a second. These suits are all that’s left of them.

Helmet 1 Stick one of these on and do. your. part. Built-in walkie-talkie. Can be
upgraded with a Night-vision filter.

Lead-lined. Resistant to radiation poisoning.

 Vehicles
God knows that roads in Poland were wrecked even before everything went to shit. Now that 20-or-so years have
passed without anyone maintaining anything, getting around is more difficult than its ever been. Even with the
help of vehicles, the state of the built-up areas and overgrown roads means getting around isn’t as fast or easy as
it once was.

Capacity is measured in Construction Materials.

Vehicle Description Capacity

Bicycle On your bike, then. 1

eTrabant For the savvy Communard. The all-new miniaturized nuclear engine frees up space 3
both in the back and the front. Double the storage, double the mileage, double the fun,
double the ration card. None of the racket.

FSO Polonez 07 zgłoś się! A classic Polish workhorse coming in models altered into pickup trucks, 3
station wagons, ambulances, and used by the Citizens’ Militia.

Buddy Bot Mostly used as assistance in small warehouses, the Buddy Bots answer a simple 2
question: what if we chopped the torso off a Robotnik? A cage sits atop their pelvis
into which you can stuff a few small boxes. They’ll follow anyone wearing a control
bangle to the best of their ability.

HZ-1 The Americans toyed with the idea of flying platforms but it wasn’t fully possible until 1
Aerocycle Magnetrine flight. These things are loud, clunky, and the charge doesn’t last but they’re
a great way to get one person 450m in the air without a solid way back down.

FSC Żuk This Soviet-produced van is another staple of Communist industry: featuring a flat face 10
with round headlights, this surprised fella came in variants used by the Fire Guard,
flatbed variants favoured by farmers, and makes a great holiday road home.

UAZ-469 All-terrain Military four-by-four. Why do they keep making these things so damn cute? 4
Look it up. Stop reading and Google this car. Available in chic colours like dark green,
olive, camo, desert brown, and urban splitter.

Construction Having one in the Milk Bar reduces Facility construction time by half. Having 0
Vehicles multiples does not stack.

Magnetrine Look up at the sky and see the Megafreighters humming and still. Stacked high with 20,000
Megafreighter shipping containers, four hundred meters long, and staffed by a crew of 25, to see a shipping
Megafreighter is to be blessed by the specters of industry. containers
Core Rules

Stat Checks
When your Communard tries to take action on the world and there’s a chance you won’t succeed, roll a d20 and
check it against the relevant Stat. If you roll under or equal to the Stat, you succeed. If your roll is over the Stat,
the situation gets worse and you gain 1 Stress.

The three Stats that make up your Communards represent their abilities when faced with high tension
situations and failure is interesting. If there is nothing at stake, there is no need for a roll.

● Strength: Lift heavy objects, grapple with enemies, use melee weapons.
● Dexterity: Leap across chasms, climb sheer walls, roll out of the way, aim and shoot firearms.
● Heart: Pull off organising conversations, inspire, sway, and convince.

Saves
When your Communard reacts to the world and wants to avoid negative effects on their person or psyche, roll a
d20 and check it against the relevant Save. If you roll under or equal to the Save, you avoid the consequences. If
you roll above the Save, your Communard succumbs to the effects and you gain 1 Stress.

The three Saves that make up your Communards represent their perseverance when faced with extreme
conditions within The Belt. Typically, Referees call for Saves, but players may also roll a Save if they feel their
Communard is at risk.

● Fear: Facing unnatural creatures, exploring impossible spaces, being plunged into darkness.
● Hope: Withstand existential dangers to the Milk Bar and your own psyche.
● Grit: Getting shot or hit, withstanding poisoning or radiation.

Advantage/Disadvantage
If you have a relevant Skill or you’ve got the upper hand thanks to equipment or circumstance, you may roll
with Advantage [+]. Roll your d20 twice and take the lower number.

Conversely, sometimes you might be caught off-guard, empty-handed, or under fire. In that case, roll with
Disadvantage [-]. Roll your d20 twice and take the higher number.
Skills
Skills represent the Communard’s formal training and experience in a specific field. Each Background confers
some Skills, and the player can choose one additional Skills during character creation. When a Skill applies to a
Stat Check or a Save, you make that roll at Advantage.

The Skills listed in Backgrounds are non-exhaustive: you are welcome to introduce new Skills to the game. Milk
Bar is about mundane people thrown into extraordinary situations; try to think of the ways your everyday skills
would come in useful when building and maintaining a community.

Stress
Stress is a combined metric of your Communard’s physical and mental exertion. You can have a maximum of 20
Stress - anything you gain over that reduces the relevant Stat or Save by the same number of points.

Gaining Stress
Trigger Value

Failing a Stat Check, a Save, or spending a night outside of the Milk Bar 1
Enveloped by darkness (Failing a Fear Save)
Surrounded by enemies (Failing a Hope Save)

Seeing unexplainable phenomena 3

Watching a Communard die 5

Rest
Communards must relieve Stress in a Milk Bar. For each night spent in the Milk Bar, 1 Stress is removed.
Communards cannot reduce their Stress below their minimum Stress value. Facilities in a Milk Bar may raise the
per night value of Stress reduced.

Communards can also lose up to a maximum of 3 more Stress during their stay in the Milk Bar by participating
in the following activities:

● Vulnerable and earnest conversation with your Communards.

● Use special ingredients to cook a favorite recipe with your fellows.
● Work amicably on Milk Bar upkeep with other laborers.
● Spend quality time with a lover (speak to your group before including sex in your game).
 ● Participate in a recreational group activity.

Survival
There are many dangers in The Zone.

Radiation Poisoning

There are five levels of Radiation exposure you could suffer from, all measured in Sieverts. A Geiger Counter
gives you a real-time measurement of your exposure.

Radiation Poisoning

Level Effect

<1 Sv - exploring The Zone, picking Increased chance of developing cancers or other unpleasant side effects
up lightly irradiated items. (like sterility, hair loss, and degenerative illnesses) later in life.

2-3 Sv - exploring test/research sites. Nausea, vomiting, headaches. Every turn, gain 1 Stress.

4-7 Sv - exploring the Inner Zone. Make all Stat Checks and Saves with [-].

7-9 Sv - exploring the Beltlands. Every round, reduce all of your Stats and Saves by 1 point.

10+ Sv - Handling nuclear cores Every round, make a Grit Save or receive a lethal dose. Death within 1d6
without shielding. days.

Choking

You can hold your breath for up to 1 minute. Each Round after this minute, the Communard makes a GRT
Save or passes out.

After passing out, in 1d6 Rounds without intervention, the Communard asphyxiates.

Light

Torches and other radial sources of light illuminate 10m ahead and beyond that only a dim outline of objects.
Torches last until they are switched off by a Communard or their environment.

Characters without a light source may gain Stress until their situation is remedied.
Doors

Doors and entryways may be locked, stuck, or blocked entirely. Communards can try to force a door open (or
wedge it shut) using available resources (spikes, glue) or through raw ability.

The party’s marching order determines who is most impacted by whatever lies beyond a door.

A Communard can detect, through careful observation (listening, smelling, etc.), signs of life and other hazards
through nearby doors and walls.

Traps

A cautious Communard should be presented with any and all information that would allow them the
opportunity to avoid springing a trap. An unwitting character will trigger a trap according to the fiction, or
otherwise will have a 2-in-6 chance.

Traps can usually be detected by carefully searching a room.

Damage from traps is taken from Stats (usually Strength or Dexterity) and not from HP. Armour can reduce
damage, but only if applicable (e.g. body armour would not reduce damage from noxious gas).

Healing
While out in the field, you can eat a Pieróg to regain HP. You can do this by spending your action during
combat, or at any point outside of combat. See Pierogi.

To regain Stats or Saves that have been reduced due to Stress, you’ll have to clock into a restorative Facility for a
longer stay.

Violence
No Communard wants to get their hands dirty: Violence is a sure-fire way of getting mangled and dying young.
Diplomacy should always be the first approach.

Violent encounters in Milk Bar are divided into ten-second chunks called Rounds. Each Round, players roll to
determine Round Order. The Referee explains what the opponents intend to do, and the players tell the Referee
what their Communards want to do. The Referee rolls for the opponents, and the players roll their character’s
actions or attacks.
Round Order
At the start of each round, all Communards roll a d6. Those who roll 1-3 go first, followed by the opposing side,
ending with the Communards who rolled 4-6.

Actions
On your turn a character can move and perform an action. An action can be anything from negotiating, to
attacking, to fleeing. Attacks are detailed below. For other actions the Referee calls for the enacting character to
make a Check. For example, an attempt to trip an opponent might force them to pass a Strength Check to force
them off their feet, while an attempt to trick an opponent into surrender may force them to pass a Heart Check
to cause them to lower their arms.

Attacks
An attacker rolls a die dictated by their weapon, and subtracts the opponent's Armour score. Their attack causes
this much Damage. Ranged weapons cannot be used in Adjacent range.

Opponents die upon hitting 0 HP.

Range
Range is split into four bands: Adjacent, Close, Long, and Far.

● Adjacent: Immediately around you: you can smell, touch, and talk to someone comfortably.
● Close: roughly a stone’s throw around you - you could run over in a few seconds.
● Long: You’d have to yell to get someone’s attention. Running over would take a round.
● Far: You might hear a shout but not know the direction it’s coming from. Only highly trained
marksmen with good equipment could make this kind of shot. It’d take you a couple of rounds to cross
this distance.

Cover
You can Take Cover behind furniture, buildings, built features, and so on to reduce the chance of you taking
damage from ranged attacks. Cover has an Armour Condition, but unlike worn Armour, Cover’s AC does not
decrease each time it's hit. Instead, Cover is fully broken and rendered useless if an attack does more damage
than its Armour Condition.
 Cover Type AC

Incidental Cover 5
(Wooden doors/barriers etc.)

Light Cover 10
(Metal Structures)

Heavy Cover 20
(Thick steel, concrete barriers).

Scars & Death

When an attack causes a Communard’s HP to go to zero, they gain a Scar, reduce their GRIT by any DMG
leftover, and must pass a GRIT Save to stay in the action.

If the Communard fails the GRIT Save, they go down and roll the Death Cup. The player takes a cup, places
2d6 inside, shakes it, and turns it upside down. The dice are not revealed until another Communard spends an
Action checking the status of the downed Communard. Once they do, compare the number rolled by the dice
in the Death Cup against the number of Scars the downed Communard currently has.

If the sum is higher than the Communard’s current Scars, they survive, remain unconscious, and gain a
new Scar. The Communard requires urgent medical attention to get on their feet and live to fight
another day. Without immediate medical care, they do not awaken until they’ve spent a night in the
Milk Bar.

If the sum is equal to or lower than the Communard’s current Scars, the Communard’s life is cut short
and their fight for a better world ends there and then. The player assumes control of one of the other
Communards currently residing at the Milk Bar.

The remaining Communards might wish to commemorate their fallen, either by hosting a Funeral or building a
Memorial of some kind.

[[SCAR TABLE IN PROGRESS]]

Running a Milk Bar
While most Communards’ tall tales center on their urban exploration exploits, their livelihood is the Milk Bar.
Communards need a place to wind down, grab a meal, and chat with their fellows about the plans for their
collective future.

To start a Milk Bar is simple. To keep it running is hard. To make it thrive is the dream.

Bare minimum to start a Milk Bar:

● Kitchen
● Generator
● Sitting Space
● A name!

Locale
Your Milk Bar can start out nearly anywhere. Milk Bar is about the hard work of creating a community from
these humble beginnings. Let’s review the components that make up your home.

Milk Bars are an idea. You might start a literal Milk Bar from the bottom up, or you might find a location out in
the wild you think would make for a great home. If you’re starting fresh, the players begin with 5 Construction
Materials they can use to build some starting facilities.

Otherwise, the Starter Sets contain some facilities to get you started.

Starter Sets
d10 Location Facilities

1 Train Station Crew Mess, Generator, Computer Mainframe, Pub, Railway Station

2 Youth Hostel Kitchen, Dormitory, Prayer Space, Herb Garden

3 Zoo Kitchen, Crew Mess, Infirmary, Aviary, Butterfly House, Animal Pens, Watch Tower

4 Restaurant Kitchen, Crew Mess, Generator

5 Cinema Entertainment Room, Stage, Kitchen

6 Militia Station Shooting Range, Crew Mess, Armoury, Generator, Computer Mainframe
 d10 Location Facilities

7 Airport Air Strip, Helipad, Crew Mess, Kitchen, Generator, Radio Tower

8 Hospital Kitchen, Crew Mess, Generator, Infirmary, Nursery, Laboratory, Gymnasium, Water
Purification Plant, Helipad

9 University Darkroom, Kitchen, Greenhouse, Pub, Classroom, Library, Laboratory, Printing

Press, Gymnasium

10 Housing Block Kitchen, Dormitory

Names for Your Milk Bar

d6 d6 Name d6 d6 Name

1 1 The Seagull (Bar Mewa) 4 1 Rose Hill (Bar “Wzgórze Różane”)

2 The Downtown (Bar Śródmiejski) 2 Secret Flatrock

3 The Jointly (Bar Społem) 3 The Video Saloon (Bar i Salon Wideo-Mleczny)

4 The Railside (Bar Przy Torze) 4 World Maker

5 The Sunny (Bar Słoneczny) 5 The Neighbourhood (Bar Sąsiedzki)

6 Culture (Bar Kultura) 6 Station Lem (Stacyjny Bar Mleczny Stanisława Lema)

2 1 Arcadia (Bar Arkadia) 5 1 The California (Bar Kalifornia)

2 The Bear (Bar Miś) 2 Rusalka (Bar Mleczny “Rusałka”)

3 Smith’s (Bar Kowalskiego) 3 The Woodside Bar (Bar Leśny)

4 The Cock-a-doodle-doo (Bar 4 The Company Canteen (Firmowy Bar Mleczny Pętli
Kukuryku) Bełchatowskiej)

5 La Taverne (Karczma Polska) 5 The Village Bar (Bar Wiejski)

6 The Montpelier 6 Highlander Bar (Bar Góralski)

3 1 Candle House (Bar Okrąglak) 6 1 The Pieróg (Bar Pieróg)

2 Milky (Bar Mleczny) 2 Copernicus’ Bar (Bar Mleczny “Kopernik”)

3 North Bar (Bar Północny) 3 Geralt’s Bar (Bar “Geralt”)

4 The Buttercup (Bar Jaskra) 4 The Sunrise (Bar “Wschód Słońca”)

 5 Sweet Summer Soma 5 The Twilight (Bar “Zmierzch”)

6 Jeanette & Her Cyclists 6 White Orchard (Bar “Biały Sad”)

Disability
Consider how your community facilitates disability: if a Communard is born with a physical disability or
becomes disabled through an accident or circumstance, will they be able to get around? Is there a stair lift or a
ramp into the building? If they wish to be reallocated responsibilities, is that possible? If they wish to go back
into combat, do you have the equipment to make that possible?

Resources
Resources are the lifeblood of your Milk Bar. Keep track of the following:

Resource Uses

Food ● Used to feed the Communards. Food is used by the Kitchen to keep the Milk Bar happy.
● The Milk Bar consumes 1 unit of Food per Communard per week.

Construction ● Used for maintenance: fixing the roof, sealing leaks, replacing lightbulbs, and for building new facilities.
Materials ● A single unit of Construction Materials is about a pallet’s worth - a party of 4 or 5 Communards could
divvy up a unit to carry between themselves. This would make them fully encumbered, however, so
they’d have to leave behind any other Heavy items they were carrying.
● Each Facility has a listed Construction Material cost.
● Some Downtime events will result in facilities breaking and needing Construction Materials to repair to
full capacity.

Medicine ● Used to keep the Communards in good shape. Antibiotics, painkillers, and other basic medicine.
● 1 unit of Medicine can be expended by a Communard to begin an expedition with a First Aid Kit in their
inventory.
● 1 unit of Medicine can be expended to resuscitate a Communard who has been knocked unconscious
during an expedition.
● Some Downtime events will result in illnesses breaking out and will need Medicine to be contained.
● A single unit of Medicine is a box or a crate - a single Communard can carry a unit of Medicine on their
own. This would make them fully encumbered, however, so they’d have to leave behind any other Heavy
items they were carrying.
Resource Uses

Fuel ● Used to keep all of your facilities running. This can be petroleum, electricity, or through connecting to a
Power Grid.
● A single unit of liquid Fuel is a barrel. Nigh impossible to transport on foot unless it was rolled.
● Fuel is turned into Power. Your Milk Bar has two stats: Maximum Power Output and Current Power
Use.

Water ● The basis for life. You can haul Water back from a suitable source, build a Well, or connect your Milk Bar
to a Water Tower or Water System.
● The Milk Bar consumes 1 unit of Water per Communard per week.
● A single unit of Water is a barrel. Nigh impossible to transport on foot unless it was rolled.

Ammunition ● The basis for taking life.

● A single unit of Ammunition is an ammo crate - a single Communard can carry a unit of Ammo on their
own. This would make them fully encumbered, however, so they’d have to leave behind any other Heavy
items they were carrying.
● The Party consumes a unit of Ammunition when departing on an expedition, allowing each
Communard to begin with a fully loaded weapon.

Specialised ● Some facilities require unique components: a Chicken Coop is nothing without Chickens, a Teleporter
Materials Gate is nothing without the Teleporter.
● The size of Specialised Materials vary.
Adding Facilities
Most facilities can be built, some can only be found. Some are both! You can build a Helipad but it’s expensive
and lengthy - it might be better to go find one.

When choosing to build a Facility, keep an eye on the following requirements:

Prerequisite Skill(s) - it’s important to have a Communard at the Milk Bar who knows how to build the
facility. Without a Communard with the required Skill, you cannot take advantage of the Facility’s benefits.

Construction Material Cost - you need to possess a certain amount of Construction Materials to be able to
build the Facility.

Specialised Materials - Some facilities require unique components: a Chicken Coop is nothing without
Chickens, a Teleporter Gate is nothing without the Teleporter.

Construction Time - measured in Milk Bar Turns. The time required to build the Facility.

Maximum Power Output - The amount of power your Milk Bar is currently producing via Generators or
other sources of power. You cannot exceed this number - if you do, Facilities will not have the required power to
function properly.

Power Usage - The amount of Power the facility will use. Add up the Power Usage of all of your built Facilities
against your Maximum Power Output to make sure you’re not using more power than you can reliably generate.
Expeditions
Leaving the comforts of the Milk Bar and heading out into The Zone is key to growing a meaningful life: the
Zone holds plentiful resources left behind, enclaves of people trying to make something for themselves, and
technology to be rediscovered.

Timekeeping
Time is measured in four main increments:

A Milk Bar Turn is 7 days, or 1 week. Construction times, rest, downtime, and Milk Bar Actions are measured
in Milk Bar Turns.

A Watch is eight hours. Three Watches–morning, afternoon, night–make up one day, and they are primarily
used when exploring (see: Travel Duration). A travelling party can perform three Zone Actions per Watch.

A Turn is roughly 10 minutes. Turns are used when exploring the wilderness and superstructures as shorthand:
travelling between rooms in a downed Magnetrine megafreighter might take a Turn, as might thoroughly
searching through the captain’s cabin.

A Round is roughly 10 seconds. Enough to take an action and move a few meters. Rounds are chiefly used in
combat: all players and enemies will call their actions during a round and they will all play out simultaneously.

Exploration

Watches

● A day is divided into three watches, called morning, afternoon, and night.
● The party may choose three Zone Actions per Watch.
● If the characters split up, each group is treated as an independent entity.

Points

● Potential destinations on a map are called points.

● One or more watches may be required to journey between two points on a map, depending on the
path difficulty, weather, and the party’s mode of transport.
● The party has a rough idea of the challenges involved to get to their destination, but rarely any specifics.
● The party may explore off-map and discover new points relevant to their goals.
Zone Actions

Communards may commit to three Zone Actions during one Watch. Examples include, but are not limited to:

● Travel.
● Scout Ahead.
● Scavenge for Food.
● Explore a Point Location.
● Rest.

Travel Duration

Travel time in Milk Bar is counted in watches, divided into three eight-hour segments per day. However, as most
parties elect to spend the third watch of the day resting, one can use “days” as a shorthand for travel time.

To determine the distance between two points, combine all penalties from the path difficulty and weather tables,
taking into account any changes to those elements along the route. For especially vast terrain, assign a penalty of
up to +2 watches to the journey.

The weather, terrain, darkness, injured party members, and other obstacles can impact travel or even make it
impossible! In some cases, the party may need to expend resources in order to sustain their pace. Vehicles, guides,
and maps can increase the party’s travel speed or even negate certain penalties.

Embarking on an Expedition
An Expedition into known points of the Belt nearby your Communard’s Milk Bar typically lasts one day.
Roughly speaking, Communards spend one Watch travelling to the site–e.g. an old hospital, a defunct soda can
factory, an unpowered military bunker–and exploring the location for Resources to scavenge, and one Watch to
return with those Resources and set them up in their Milk Bar before spending the last Watch resting.

Here is a standard Expedition Procedure:

1. Referee rolls for Weather at the start of the day.

2. Once Communards know where they’d like to go, the Referee rolls for Path Difficulty and informs the
Communards how long they should expect to arrive.
3. Communards Choose their Zone Actions.
4. Referee rolls for a Travel Event.
5. Communards Arrive at Point Location.
 Weather
1d6 Weather Description Effect

1 Sunny The sun is out. All is well. N/A

2 Cloudy Shade is nice. N/A

3 Overcast A bit threatening–the sun is hiding. N/A

4 Heavy Winds Trees are buckling. Disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity checks.

5 Chiral Rain Heavy rain. Each round spent in the rain Increase travel length by 1 watch.
without cover ages you by one year.

6 Magnetrine Storm Wind’s howling, the rain is pouring, and the Most parties don’t try travelling during a storm.
thunder is out in full force. Compasses Every turn, roll on the Hazards table.
malfunction, small metal objects can’t sit still.

Path Difficulty
1d6 Path Penalty

1-3 Roads None

4-5 Trails +2 Zone Actions

6 Wilderness +4 Zone Actions

Travel Event
2d6 Event Type

2-3 Encounter. Roll on NPCs & Creatures table.

4 Hazard. Roll on Hazards table.

5 Weather Changes. Roll on Weather table.

6-8 Uneventful.

9 Weather Changes. Roll on Weather table.

10 Hazard. Roll on Hazards table.

11-12 Encounter. Roll on NPCs & Creatures Encounter table.

Hazards
1d6 Hazard Type Description Effect if ignored

1 Trap Gravitational Anomaly. Triggering the anomaly Make a GRT check to hold onto
will create a gravitational well, pulling something stable and keep your
everything unsecured within a 5m radius into its footing. Else risk being crushed
center. The next round, the anomaly will burst by anything big, taking at least
and shoot its contents 10m into the air. 1d6 damage.

2 Environmental Spatial Anomaly. You’re turned around, Increase travel length by 1

retracing steps you’ve definitely covered before. watch.

3 Obstruction Bollard. The ground beneath you shakes and Make a DEX check to clamber
plateaus of rock rise 10m in front of you. over the bollards. Else increase
travel length by 1 watch.

4 Trap Tar. Thick black sludge seeps out of the pores of Make a GRT save to break free
the earth. Souls of those who have fallen victim from the grasp of the Tar.
invite you to join them. Otherwise, follow Choking
rules. If a Communard dies in
the Tar, they are rebuilt deep
within a Beltland laboratory
after 2d6 days, changed.

5 Environmental Pothole. The road ahead is broken, its large Make a HOPE save to rebuild
chunks floating in the air calmly. Gravity has the road.
stopped working here.

6 Obstruction Fallen Pylon. The pylon is not part of any 2-in-6 chance of finding a Power
network, yet it growls at any who approach. Cell here, though the surging
electricity kills instantly if
unprotected.
 Point Locations
d6 d6 Name d6 d6 Name

1 1 Water Purification Plant 4 1 Pub

2 Courthouse 2 Restaurant

3 Bathhouse 3 Electrical Substation

4 Post Office 4 Housing Block

5 Library 5 Cinema

6 City Hall 6 Bus Station

2 1 Fishing Cabin 5 1 Holiday Resort

2 Waterlock 2 Bison Grazeland

3 Hydroelectric Dam 3 Bunker

4 Marina 4 Belt Outstation

5 Sewage Treatment Facility 5 Irradiated Salvage Yard

6 Belt Sewage Outlet 6 Abandoned Machinery

3 1 Cooling Towers 6 1 Radar Array

2 Freight Train Station 2 Power Plant

3 Vehicle Workshop 3 Belt Control Center

4 Robotnik Workshop 4 Security Outpost

5 Office Complex 5 Office Complex

6 Laboratory 6 Laboratory
 NPC & Creature Encounter Table

NPC and Creature HP is calculated by rolling their Hit Dice (HD). The Hit Die of every monster is a d6.

2d6 Encounter

2 Company Executive and 1d4 Thralls

2HD, 1 Armor, 14 STR, 12 DEX, 16 WIL, bite (d10, regenerates d6 HP on hit)
Roll Encounters again for Thralls.
Former members of the bourgeoisie, still seeking to suck life from the Belt and its hardworking inhabitants.

3 1d6+1 Molemen.
1HD, 2 Armor, 14 STR, 8 DEX
Past employees of the Belt trapped in their underground offices and labs for 20 years, radiation sickness and darkness
keeping them alive unnaturally long while their minds decayed. Discovered and freed by recent Stalker excursions, the
Molemen yearn for dirt and muck.

4 2d6 Pustulent Rad-Rats

½HD, 8 STR, 8 GRIT, Pustules (1d4 for 3 rounds when hit)
Deformed, irradiated. With a bit of effort, they chuck pustules at unfortunate passers-by.

5 1d4 Robotniks
1HD+2, 12 STR, 10 GRIT, Crowbar (1d4).
SOMA models. Fully conscious–or are they?–and collecting materials to make their new metal-home.

6-8 1d4+1 Communards.

1HD, 10 STR, 8 GRIT, Crowbar (1d4) or Nail Gun (1d4).
From another Milk Bar.

9 1d4+1 Fat Cats

1HD, 12 STR, 8 GRIT, Szabla (1d6) or Militia Revolver (1d8).
Company scabs who raid Milk Bars, attack transports, or ambush travelers.

10 3d6 Ballistic Jelly-folk

½HD+1, 10 STR, 8 GRIT.
Jelly brought to life. Only move when no one's looking, betrayed by their jiggling. They try to be helpful, though their
translucent bodies and active camouflage leave them seldom credited.

11 Abductor
4HD, 4 AC, 15 STR, 10 GRIT.
A flying salvage drone, now only interested in harvesting metal and flesh. Will use its hydraulic snatcher arm to
kidnap vehicles and Communards alike, taking them back to its lair to be repurposed.

12 Plutocrat and 2d4 Fat Cats

1HD+2, 3 AC, 14 STR, 12 GRIT, Obuch (1d6), and a Submachine Gun (2d6) or Sawn-off Shotgun (2d6).
Investors.
Reaction

Sometimes, circumstances make it obvious how an enemy or rival party will react. Otherwise, the referee may
roll on the table below to determine how they react.

Opponent Reaction Roll

2d6 Result

2 or less Attacks

3-5 Hostile, may attack

6-8 Uncertain, confused

9-11 Indifferent, may negotiate

12 or more Eager, friendly

Morale

Groups require a Grit Save to avoid being routed when they lose half of their total numbers. Groups with a
leader may use the leader's Grit score in place of their own. Lone combatants must pass this Save when they are
reduced to half health. This applies to opponents and allies but not Communards. Fleeing to safety under
pursuit requires a Grit Save and somewhere to withdraw to.
Bełchatów
Thanks to the rapid expansion of the Soviet economy, the central planning committees built “Monotowns” to
fulfil the nation’s key infrastructural needs. These towns revolved around a singular industry; if you lived there,
you were either working in the industry or someone in your family was, and the infrastructure existed, chiefly, to
accommodate the industry and its workers. Bełchatów was home to Europe’s biggest (and most polluting,
baby!) power plant and the biggest open-air coal mine in the world, quickly becoming a young city with no
history and a bustling population. We had this hole in the ground 300m deep and 10km across full of coal to
dig, we’d wheel it 17km across a field, and burn it to produce 50TWh of energy a year. We’d power our homes
and the homes of our distant families and we’d be reyt proud of it.

Following the Polish Perestroika and liberalisation of the market, private companies started eating up key
national infrastructure and the Power Plant and the Mine were soon taken over by a chief evil: Ameripol. They
called this move Total Fucking Vertical Integration.

Ameripol, unburdened by such petty things as regulations, controls, and democracy, quickly expanded its
operations. Powering the nation was no longer a priority and their near-limitless reserves of capital went towards
building the Bełchatów Nuclear-Electric Loop, locally known as the Belt (natively: Bełchatowska pętla
jądrowo-elektryczna). The Belt became Poland’s main testing ground for nuclear physics, backed by the most
rancid libertarian cunts you could imagine and armed with a city full of workers tied to a city their
now-dwindling wages couldn’t get them away from. The Belt was an underground technological marvel.

After Ameripol pushed too hard, cut too many corners, and ignored one-too-many warning lights, The Belt was
shorn in half and their sick experiments flooded our farmland and destroyed our city. The majority of people
left. Sadly for you, the first thing you got taught in Communard school was that jumping ship and hoping for
greener grass doesn’t work: you have to stay and fight for the future you want.

Navigating The Zone

The Zone is broken up into three areas nested within one another:

The Zone is an umbrella term which envelops all of Bełchatów and its surrounding areas.

The Inner Zone encompasses the Power Plant and a rough 3km radius around it.

The Beltlands are the Power Plant and its immediate surroundings, the ground zero of the meltdown.
Appendix

Structured Organising Conversations

This is primo organising advice distilled from years of work done by a lot of organisers so listen up: the best tool
in the Communard’s arsenal is the Structured Organising Conversation. Whip this out whenever you need
someone to take action to change their material conditions or join up with the Milk Bar. There’s 6 steps to this,
all of them acting as an ideological conclusion the person you’re talking to needs to make.

First: we Identify The Issue. What’s on their mind? What’s bringing them down and what can they not stop
thinking about? Is it the safety of their family, not having the food to eat, or their boss being a real wanker?
Empathise and dig deep to understand the core of this. There’s so many of us feeling the same way.

Then: Agitate. The point of agitation isn’t to make someone upset, but it’s to get the fucking point across:
putting up and shutting up isn’t going to change anything. Making someone realise they’re angry about their
conditions is pivotal to getting them to act on it.

When they’re agitated, we Lay The Blame. Who’s responsible for their situation? Is it an oppressive force
disrupting trade routes or is it their boss acting unfairly, making decisions without considering their impacts?
There is always someone who made things the way they are. It’s our job to find them and ask: why haven’t you
made things for the better?

Once we’ve identified our target, we Make A Plan To Win. We’re going to take direct action: we’re gonna march
up to them, all of us together, and demand something better. If that doesn’t work, we’ll withdraw our labour.
We’ll keep raising the stakes until they can’t ignore us any more. Are you in?
Currently in progress:
Weapons:

● Rarity of weapons
● Alternate firefight rules
○ Simple Firearms vs. Firearms only trained personnel can use
● More Zone Artifacts

Communard Creation:

● Custom Burden for every background

● Diegetic + mechanical progression by clearing Burdens
● Scar table

Milk Bar:

● Random events
● Downtime actions
● Facility effects
● Facility upgrades

Setting:

● Zone Actions
● Bestiary
● Pointcrawl of the Bełchatów Belt and Zone
● Zone effects
● Generating dungeons

Vehicle upgrades.

Solo rules.

Phonetic pronounciation guide.

Character sheet and Milk Bar sheet.