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Episode 2 - War in the Ruins

Page history last edited by Adrian 13 years, 6 months ago

The World of the Future

North America is still in the throes of civil war, but it is only the vestiges of armies still left.
Atomic, biological and chemical weapons were used extensively, and fallout is high.
Population is low, with small, isolated settlements the norm.
Mutations are a feature, as is the existence of strange, alienesque high tech devices here and there.
Corporations use the battle zones as an opportunity to test new and experimental weapons.
Civil War is North versus South predominantly
A severe earthquake levelled much of the western seaboard.
Mexico has closed the border and erected walls where they can. They represent a bastion of civilisation amongst the toxic ruin north of them.

Locations

Area 51 - empty and ransacked, hangers and barracks sitting open to the desert wind.
The Rat Trap - a last resort community of mutants and refugees in earthen tunnels beneath the desert. Slavers come by when they need to top up their quota.
The Quarry - a natural Coliseum where warbands and others resolve disputes through the battles of their champions.
Hoover Dam - one of the last sources of (fairly) uncontaminated water and currently held by the Northern Army.
B2 bomber crash site.
The Last Whorehouse in Vegas - a god forsaken hell ran by a toothless madam and rumoured to be cannibals. The last of the Vegas bright lights.
Highway flyover barricaded and defensible.

Situation as at end of Session 1

Player Characters

Nelson Rivers (JM), wasteland dealer and road warrior. Goal: Rescue his wife and child.

Status: Armed with a homemade rifle; Equipped with a fusion cell Ford 4x4; RWA = 6/5/4, Able Goal ticked.

Michael 'Greaser' Gomez (MM), wasteland treasure hunter. Goal: Find something worthwhile in the Wastes.

Status: Destitute; RWA = 3/4/6, 1 Edge die.

SA36, The Last Tank (AP), a Confederate Army tank and her crew. Goal: Regroup with the rest of the Platoon.

Status: Equipped with an Otomo Main Battle Tank; Dangerous with itchy trigger fingers; Burned Out by the War; Crew Trapped in the Sherrif's Cells; RWA = 3/2/7; 1 Edge die.

Cain (TS), hidden alien operative, an Outsider. Goal: To uncover and retrieve alien technology.

Status: Equipped with alien tech; Coerced by a Northern General; RWA = 5/3/7.

Sgt. Jack Simons (DH), lost soldier. Goal: Find out if the War is over.

Status: Armed with a rifle; Impaired by flashbacks of memories he didn't know he had; RWA = 4/5/5

Factions

The Town Civic, council of town leaders somewhere in the former USA. Goal: Secure the safety of the town.

Status: Armed with small mobs; Supported by the Northern Army; Hesitant due to a divided Council; INF 5.

Utah Raiders, wasteland gang. Goal: Cause havoc and mayhem.

Status: Dangerous crazies; Equipped with a 'found' Ford 4x4; Dying. INF 5.

GenTech, major corporation (returned from Episode 1). Goal: Secure alien technology.

Status: Equipped with choppers; Financed with billions; Hardened and willing to go to any lengths; Impaired by their conflict with Plessey Corp; INF 3.

De Shrize, unknown alienesque corporation. Goal: Get the alien artifact.

Status: Equipped with alien tech; Confused; Injured by being shot; INF 5.

32nd Tank Division of the Northern Army. Goal: To gain more territory(??)

Status: Hardened and ruthless; Armed with tanks; Dangerous tanks!; Impaired by lost chain of command; INF 4.

Current Deals

None

Current NPCs

De Shrize operative, dressed in Predator-like armour and seemingly able to teleport.
The Scar, leader of the Utah Raiders
Billy-Joe, troublemaker and annoyance to the Town Civic.
Nathanial, respected elder at the Town Civic
The Sherrif of the Town Civic
Commander Kirsten Makinen, tank commander of SA36
Danny Walker, legless and plugged-in Driver of SA36
Maxim Kovac, SA36's gunner
MAC, the VI of SA36, slightly erratic and over-zealous.
Jessie and Vanessa, Nelson River's wife and child.

Recap - Session 1

Intro (JM): A man lies unconscious in wasteland scrub next to a Ford 4x4 with a fusion engine about to explode. His dog wakes him, he looks around startled, calls 'Jessie' then quickly disables the car from reaching a critical point. He is Nelson Rivers, Angry, realising he has lost his wife and child.
Intro (MM): A shabby man, Greaser, enters an empty bar in late afternoon, sunlight slanting through the slats, and orders water from the bartender. He pays, and tells the man he's headed North, to Utah. He leaves the bar, Hardened.
Intro (AP): SA36 is driving through the ruins of a light industrial area, now levelled. A woman and child step out of the rubble, pleading for water. The tank stops, the hatch opens and a head wearing cybernetic helmet appears. The commander takes off her helmet and warns the woman away, the driver wanting to run them over and MAC, the VI, identifying them as a threat. Ignoring the VI, Kirsten Makinen gets K Rations and water from Kovacs and the tank's
ERMA survival kit and throws them to the woman and child before moving on. They are Dangerous, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.
Intro (TS): In a dark room a well-muscled afro-american man, Cain, grabs an M16 and leaves. Later, a conference between a Confederate General, traders and an unknown businessman seeking to hire them to find a special artifact. Cain speaks to the General and tells him he knows where to find it, it's about to be shipped but they can intercept it. A deal is agreed between the businessman, the trader and the General: first to bring it gets the fee.
Intro (DH): Sgt Simons, dusty soldier arrives at a ruined city, the sign saying Salt Lake City. At a pile of cars with a gate on it he convinces them to let him inside, no longer Lost.
Intro (JM): In a shabby room a group of Town Civic elders, Sheriff, etc. meet to discuss their alliance with the Northern Army and rumours of Confederate troops approaching. Billy Joe is a problem, stealing corn, and is sent to investigate the rumours as punishment.
Intro (MM): The Utah Raiders, Mad Max-style thugs are being rallied by The Scar, who announces they're heading for Salt Lake City to much chanting.
Intro (AP): GenTech chopper full of paramilitary guys and a tortured man with broken fingers and missing teeth. 'He doesn't know where the tech is. We need to find the guy from the meeting (meaning Cain?). This guy's useless.' At a nod, they kick the tortured man out of the chopper to freefall to the ground below.
Intro (TS): Huge battle between two forces, F15 and tanks involved, and into the middle a figure dressed in Predator-like armour appears, seemingly from thin air. De Shrize's man grabs a strange weapon from one of the soldiers, breaks it open and removes a component, then blinks out of existence/sight again, taking the component with him.
Intro (DH): Northern Army Tank Division is holed up at the Hoover Dam. There's no senior officers left, the division is at 25% strength and there are no new orders. Debate over the next move, decide a new chain of command by promoting the most senior man left. Decide to send out a recon group to the radioactive Area 51 to scavenge for supplies, deciding that Hoover dam is a valuable asset worth holding onto.
FaceOff (JM): Greaser is walking through a shanty town late at night after a game of cards when 4 figures (GenTech) accost him, mistaking him for the trader at the meeting Cain and the Confederate General were at. Greaser runs, firing behind him, and gets clean away. GenTech are on the wrong track and lose 1 INF.
FaceOff (MM): SA36 has been met and welcomed into the settlement by the Town Civic. They hide their alliegance to the Northern Army and try to convince the crew to rest and relax. They succeed, drugging the crew, disarming them and locking them in the Sheriff's cells. The Tank is sealed, with MAC paranoid and keeping it closed, but the Trapped crew are pressured to give the town control of their tank. The Town Civic plan to use it to take care of their own security without relying on the Northern Army.
FaceOff (AP): Nelson watching the Utah Raider's camp through binoculars, having tracked them as likely culprits in abducting his wife and daughter. A sentry appears, taking a piss and shouldering a homemade rifle. Nelson sneaks up behind him and basjes his brains out with a rock before taking his clothes and weapon. As he finishes his disguise a trio of Raiders find the 4x4 (joint Win), so they take it and the disguised Nelson back to camp. It is clear that the Raiders do have Nelson's family somewhere in their caravan of motley vehicles.
FaceOff (TS): Sgt. Simon is on a highway flyover about to pay the toll to the farmers who have fortified it. No one is around and the barricade unmanned. De Shrize appears in Predator gear and asks him to help - has he seen this device in this travels? showing Simons a hologram. Simons says no and De Shrize uses a strange mind power and him to probe his memories directly. Simons is Impaired as a result, memories unfamiliar to him of finding such a device recurring as flashbacks, but he manages to shoot at De Shrize, Injuring him and driving him off.
FaceOff (DH): Cain is at Area 51, searching for alien tech when a GenTech helicopter lands and men begin searching the area. They do not find Cain, but he gets more Ready, learning a little more about who else is searching for the alien artifact.