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  Atomic HigHwAy
  The homebrewer’s Guide
  Creating your own material for a game is one of the 
  great joys of rpgs, so here are some useful guidelines 
  for anyone who wants to create new Rearings, Pursuits, 
  Mutations/Flaws, Vehicles, Beasts and Mutant Horrors, 
  Humanoid Animals, and Psychic Powers
  Rearings
  Skills: Each Pursuit has 6 skill points, with no 
  individual skill having a rating higher than 1 except 
  Lore, Notice, Tech, and Stealth, any of which can be 
  rated up to 2. You can provide choices using the “or” 
  designation.
  Weapons/Gear: In most cases 1-2 basic weapons 
  can be assigned, the knife being the most common for 
  its all-round utility. Gear-wise, most provide a single 
  roll on any one of the Scavenging tables (pages 54-60) 
  except Military, if appropriate, and possible 1-2 knick-
  knacks or minor items appropriate to the Rearing 
  concept.
  Pursuits
  Skills: Pursuits provide 10 skill points. Because of 
  Natural Skills and the skill levels provided by Rearings, 
  placing more than 1-2 points in any single skill in a 
  new Pursuit only results in wasted skill points. 
  Because of this, no more than 1 point can be placed 
  in a Pursuit for Notice or Stealth, but up to 2 points 
  can be placed in any of the others. As before you can 
  provide choices including offering a small selection of 
  skills from which to make limited picks.
  Armor: Only provide this if it really fits the concept; 
  most Rearings do not possess armor, and what armor 
  there is tends to be light and incidental, to protect as 
  much from accident.
  Weapons: Most Pursuits should provide 1-2 weapons, 
  typically choices of one ranged and/or one melee 
  depending on whether the Pursuit concept is likely to 
  really see much conflict. Heavy Weapons should not 
  be part of a Pursuit’s starting weaponry.
  Clothing: Basic garments should be listed as 
  appropriate.
  Gear: This should provide the Pursuit with the 
  basic tools and materials necessary to perform the 
  concept’s basic functions, and no more. Don’t overdo 
  it or be too generous. If a Pursuit is likely to have 
  multiple items of a single type, have the number be 
  rolled on a die.
  Transport: No more than a single means of transport 
  should be offered, but a choice can be provided. 
  Be careful that you don’t give more vehicle points 
  to your new Pursuit than the existing vehicle-based 
  Pursuits (Airman, Hauler, Outrider, Raider, Road 
  Warrior) already possess, as you run the very real 
  risk of making your new Pursuit more attractive than 
  the others then. In each case, the basic vehicle type 
  the Rearing commonly used was taken as a base 
  cost, then enough points were added to make some 
  thematically-appropriate modifications.
  Pets: If a Pursuit possesses a pet, it should be limited 
  to a single one.
  
  2
  Mutations/Flaws
  All of the Mutations presented in Atomic Highway are 
  based squarely on natural abilities found in various 
  mammalian species. This is important, in part, to 
  keep the overall feel of the game more grounded than 
  in many post-apocalyptic roleplaying games, and give 
  things a slightly evolutionary bent. If a new Mutation 
  profoundly benefits a skill, it should instead provide 
  that skill at 6. If it only provides a small but significant 
  enhancement to a skill it should provide a bonus die 
  for the appropriate Attribute/Skill rolls. Try to keep 
  new Mutations and Flaws short and simple, and try 
  to avoid producing anything that renders an existing 
  Mutation or Flaw redundant.
  Vehicles
  Use the table on page 43 as guidance in assigning 
  a new vehicle it Attributes. Vehicles beyond those 
  boundaries of size, power, and speed are subjects 
  for later expansion. Any appropriate Customiza-
  tions and Flaws should be assigned as suits the basic 
  vehicle. The total cost of the vehicle is the cost of its 
  Attributes, Customizations, and Flaws, plus an extra 
  cost based on its numbers of possible passengers 
  (beyond its operator):
  0-1 passenger: 0 vehicle points. 
  2-3 passengers: 1 vehicle point
  4-7 passengers: 2 vehicle  points.
  8-11 passengers: 3 vehicle points.
  12-30 passengers: 4 vehicle points.
  31-60 passengers: 5 vehicle points.
  Beasts and Mutant Horrors
  Nearly every animal has Understanding 0, Appeal 0, 
  and Senses 2 (modified for appropriate Mutations/
  Abilities). Senses values are listed in the order they 
  appear in the Mutations/Abilities/Flaws so a creature 
  with Enhanced Sense (Smell), Dull Sense (Hearing), 
  would have Senses 2/6/1 (its general Senses, its Smell, 
  its Hearing). Other Attributes as well as Skills should 
  be assigned to fit the concept, using the existing 
  entries as guidelines. Mutations/Abilities/Flaws are 
  also assigned as is appropriate.
  Humanoid Animals
  Creating these is an involved step-by-step process:
  1) Do your research. Heavily research the animal, its 
  natural abilities and weaknesses (especially senses), 
  and its diet.
  2) Assign all appropriate Mutations and Flaws. All 
  Humanoid Animals have the Mutie Flaw. Those with 
  flippers, hooves, and most ungulates, have Crude 
  Hands. Most Humanoid Animals are Color-Blind. Many 
  have Selective Diet in some form or another. Only 
  assign Swift if the animal is known to routinely exceed 
  40mph. Assign Fragile to any animals with hollow 
  bones or an average natural weight of under 15lbs. 
  Assign Enduring to any animal with an average weight 
  of 400lbs. or higher.
  3) Calculate the cost. Count the number of Mutations/
  Abilities and Flaws the new entry has and compare 
  them. 
  4) Balance the costs:
  4a) If the animal has more Mutations/Abilities than 
  Flaws, firstly reduce the number of Attribute Points 
  available by 1 down to 17; this negates one of the 
  excess Mutations/Abilities. If a balance has not been 
  reached, then reduce the number of customization 
  Skill points to 2; this negates another excess Mutation/
  Ability. If the numbers are still not balanced, reduce 
  the customization Skill points to 0, negating a third 
  excess Mutation/Ability. If the two are still not 
  balanced, reduce the number of Attribute points 
  again on a one-for-one basis.
  4b) If the animal has more Flaws than Mutations/
  Abilities, increase the number of Attribute Points 
  available by 1 up to 19; this negates one of the excess 
  Flaws. If a balance has not been reached, then do the 
  same again, increasing the Attribute Points available 
  to 20, negating another excess Flaw. If there are still 
  excess Flaws, increase the number of customization 
  Skill points by 2 for each excess Flaw left.
  Psychic Powers
  The optional psychic powers in Atomic Highway are 
  pretty low-key and while useful are not anything like 
  as powerful as you might find in say, a comic book. 
  If you create new psychic powers, keep them also 
  relatively low-powered. Use the existing powers as 
  guidelines.
  HomeBrewer’s Guide
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Atomic Highway/Atomic Highway The Homebrewers Guide.pdf