Chapter 40 — Adversaries

The enemies a Wanderer faces — a back-alley thug, a corporate sniper, a tunnel predator, a boarding party — need fiction, not stat blocks. Wanderstar asks the GM to think hard about who an adversary is and what they want, and almost nothing about their numbers. There is no NPC to build: no characteristics, no skill ranks, no trauma track to keep. The dice at the table belong to the players.

Index§

• Players roll; the world doesn't
• When a threat acts against you
• The two dials
  • How hard it hits — the damage die
  • How hard to put down — toughness
• Rolling up an adversary
  • Who they are (D66)
  • What they want (D66)
  • Their edge (D66)
• Pre-rolled adversaries (D66)

Players roll; the world doesn't§

The single rule this chapter rests on: NPCs don't roll dice — players do. When the action turns on an adversary, the resolution is still a player's test against the standard target of 8. An adversary is defined, mechanically, by at most two dials — how hard it hits and how hard it is to put down — and neither has to exist before the moment it matters.

This keeps the GM's hands free for the fiction and keeps every roll a player's stake in it.

When a threat acts against you§

An adversary never rolls to hit a Wanderer. Instead, the GM frames what it's doing, and the player rolls the skill that would meet it, against 8:

• A sniper settles on you → Recon to catch the glint, or Athletics to break line of sight.
• A blade comes out of the dark → Close Quarters to turn it aside.
• A grenade lands at your feet → Athletics to dive for cover.
• A patrol sweeps the alley → Sneaking to flow from cover to cover.
• A collapsing tunnel, a gas leak → Survival, or whatever the hazard calls for (Chapter 13).

Succeed and you avoid, blunt, or beat the threat. Fail and it lands — the GM rolls the threat's damage against your armor for trauma, exactly as any hit is resolved (Chapter 10). The right skill comes from the fiction (the GM names it), and how dangerous the adversary is rides on Advantage and Disadvantage — a master killer means you roll to avoid at Disadvantage — never on a moved target number (Chapter 5).

This is simply the reaction system (Chapter 11) seen from the player's side of the table. Rather than the GM rolling an attack you then dodge, your one roll is the whole exchange.

The two dials§

How hard it hits — the damage die§

The only number a threat really needs. When a character fails to avoid it, roll this against their armor: ≥ armor is 1 trauma, ≥ twice armor is 2 (Chapter 10).

When you want precision, just borrow the weapon profile (Chapter 24) the adversary is actually using. Armor is what stands between a failed roll and a real wound: 3D against a bare body (armor 3) almost always means 2 trauma, while the same 3D against a flak jacket (armor 6) is usually just 1 — so a well-protected Wanderer can weather threats that would drop an unarmored one. Pick the die with that in mind; 3D is a deadly standard, and 2D is plenty for an ordinary brawler.

How hard to put down — toughness§

Narrate it. An adversary keeps no trauma track; the GM decides when a hit ends them, reading the table and the drama:

• A mook drops on one solid hit.
• A hardened foe shrugs the first off and needs a couple.
• A boss is a scene with a shape — not a number — and may turn, flee, or change tactics partway through.
• A crowd is a group fought as one threat (see Crowds, below) — not tougher than a single foe so much as many. It presses with numbers — a nastier die or Disadvantage on the players' avoid rolls — and is worn down by clearing a few "down" boxes rather than dropped on one hit.

If a long, important fight wants a little bookkeeping, give a tough adversary two or three "down" boxes and tick them as the players land hits. That's a convenience for your own tracking, never a stat the rules require.

The exception: vehicles and ships. A crewed vehicle or starship (Chapter 25) — friend or foe — does carry its own damage track, the four-node Hull/Systems model. The player-facing principle still holds (your crew rolls; the GM rolls only the enemy's damage), but an enemy craft is ground down node by node rather than dropped on GM judgment.

Rolling up an adversary§

When you need a foe and have no idea in your pocket, roll three D66 — who they are, what they want, and their edge — and read the three together into one threat. A dockside thug (who) collecting a debt (want) with the gang at his back (edge: numbers) is a different scene from a dockside thug hunting a bounty with a sniper's patience, and the dice will hand you that contrast faster than you can invent it. Don't force a literal reading; let the three rolls argue, and resolve the argument into a person with a reason to be in the way.

The generator stops where the chapter began: fiction, not a stat block. Once you know who they are and what they're after, set the two dials — a damage die from the table above (2D for an ordinary brawler, 3D for an armed killer, 4D–5D for something that overmatches a person) and a toughness tier (mook, hardened, boss). The edge roll is your steer for both: it tells you whether the danger rides on a bigger die, on Disadvantage to the players' avoid rolls (Chapter 6), or on how many hits the thing soaks before it falls. That's the entire adversary — three lines of fiction and two dials.

For a foe sent by a faction, roll the faction first (Chapter 34) and let its agenda and methods feed the want and the edge; for the bystanders and minor faces around the fight, the instant-NPC tables (Chapter 39) finish the scene.

Who they are (D66)§

What they want (D66)§

Why they're in the way — the reason that decides whether they can be bought, talked down, or only fought through.

Their edge (D66)§

What makes them dangerous — your steer for the two dials. Most edges say roll to avoid at Disadvantage (Chapter 6), use a bigger damage die, or let them soak more hits; a few hand the threat a hazard or a clock instead.

Pre-rolled adversaries (D66)§

When you need a foe now and don't want to set the dials yourself, roll D66 for a ready threat with both dials already chosen — a damage die (Chapter 10) and a toughness tier (mook, hardened, boss, or crowd). Adjust either on the fly to fit the scene; a note in parentheses points to the rule that makes the foe dangerous. Pair any of these with a want (above) and you have a whole encounter.