Fallout: The Savage Wasteland

Game Master thegreenteagamer

Located and based in the Canaveral area in the former Kennedy Space Center. A relatively new branch of the BoS, this faction regularly patrols the area around KSS. They send caravans to the Kingdom for food and supplies, performing occasional maintenance on the Kingdom’s machinery in exchange for resources the smaller faction cannot self-produce.

The BoS also offers caps in exchange for technology, especially war related. They have a presence in the Island of Nations, although they do not sell high tech to non-members or those who have not earned their trust, they will pay higher price than any other group when buying.

The Brotherhood has established themselves as a premier trade organization. All caravans and freelancers who trade with them are given different classes that represent both their merchant status and their official regard in the eyes of the Brotherhood. Class C is introductory, and allows purchase of non-military or police grade pre-war weaponry and armor, and allows a free meal and night's stay in the tents outside of Kennedy once per month as long as you bring in 200 caps worth of tech. Class B is more trusted, and allows you to join the caravans that move between Kennedy and Kingdom, and allows purchasing of low-military and high-police grade weaponry...combat armor and equivalent level weaponry. Class A is an official ally of the Brotherhood, and it allows all the benefits of the previous classes, plus access to Kennedy itself, although not any of the high class areas. Class As can petition for Brotherhood membership, but it takes an act of great use to the Brotherhood to actually join (such as wiping out all of the Van Graffs in FO:NV).

Average Attitude for Humans: Indifferent
Average Attitude for Ghouls or Mutants with Humans: Disliked/Hated
Average Attitude for Unaccompanied Mutants or Ghouls: Attacked on Sight

Most of Daytona has been abandoned, but the remains of the Daytona 500 Speedway course has been converted into a Colosseum, "The Dome", now used to entertain Wastelanders who can afford it's prices. Slaves are forced to battle each other or captured creatures to the death on some days; on others, heavily modded Mad Max style vehicles are raced around the former speedway (now with many chunks of road noticeably broken or missing). Some particularly brave free men and women actually complete on purpose for the fame and fortune that can be made in it's walls.

I still need to flesh this one out, but I'm thinking that Gainesville has become a nest of Deathclaws. Something about jocks and college football teams that makes me think this is appropriate.

(Note - in game improvised that a Vault was found in Gainesville and taken over by the Horde as an advance base)

Jacksonville is absolutely overrun with Super Mutants who have headquartered themselves in the NAS Jax base. The Brotherhood of Steel has maintained an outpost in the Mayport base. Due to the sheer overwhelming numbers of the Super Mutant population, however, they spend more of their time defending their resources than exploring the area. Occasional patrols are sent out, but it is usually more Knights in Recon Armor sneaking around than Paladins in Power Armor bringing the pain. The background radiation for the area is pretty moderate.

When the nukes fell on Miami, the bridge to the Keys was utterly ruined. Most of the Keys have become overrun with Mirelurks (or Lakelurks, or whatever - sealurks?), forming enigmatic colonies that harass and attack boat goers that attempt to reach any of the islands.

Key West, however, has oddly enough formed a small, isolated community that continues to live on as if the bombs never dropped...sort of. They're running off a desalinization and fusion plant that has been powering the rest of the keys in automation in Key Largo for hundreds of years. Debris from the explosions has left an artificial barrier reef rising twenty feet above sea level separating Key West from the rest of the keys Nobody on the island knows where or how the fresh water and power are coming, and nobody dares leave the island due to the, you know, deadly creatures on the other side of the barrier. The barrier only blocks the north and eastern sides of the island, protecting them from the Lurks, and nobody dares to sail out west or south into the deep ocean. The last time anyone tried, the islanders saw some...thing...come out of the sea and swallow the craft whole at the edge of the horizon.
(note - jokingly stated everyone here is descended from Rufus after one crazy party a couple hundred years ago)

Located in the ruins of Disney World, “The Kingdom” is a human supremacist city-state similar in attitude to Vault City of Fallout 2.

The inner sanctum, “The Kingdom” itself, is centered in the former Magic Kingdom theme park. Only human citizens of the kingdom are allowed in this area, within which a custom-build vault-like escape center was created by none other than Disney himself (little do the heroes know, ol’ Walt himself has been thawed out to run things here).

The former Epcot center has been revamped into the “Island of Nations”, where other factions, cities, etc, have been permitted to set up shop. Non-citizens my purchase day-passes, or be issued merchants’ passes to this premier resort area, where water is clean and potable, Mouse-eared guards walk the streets regularly, and a wastelander can get the closest thing to safety in the former Sunshine State.

The water parks have been sealed off from the public, converted through hardcore research into suppliers of potable, radiation free water, which has given the Kingdom their wealth.

The Animal Kingdom has been turned into a prison of sorts. Those who commit crimes against the kingdom are stripped naked and thrown in there with some of the worst creatures in the waste. Should they survive a week, any offenders are offered pardon. So far, none have survived. It is rumored there is a passage to the Kingdom itself somewhere within…

The remnants of Pleasure Island have been turned into a land of debauchery that would give New Vegas a run for its money. Like the Island of Nations, Pleasure Island has a day-pass cost, but it’s negligible. One can also find equipment for sale here from some of the less desirable factions, such as various raiders. It’s rumored the Enclave remnants occasionally fence black market energy weapons through this area. Ghouls and the like are officially not allowed, but most merchants in this area turn a blind eye, replying “I thought he/she was just really ugly” when officials bother to ask.

The parking lot of the area has turned into a mass shanty-town of tents, lean-tos, and other temporary structures. Though guards patrol the area, they are less vigilant, paying more attention to outside threats than those within short of murder. Ghouls and other “less desirables” are permitted in this area, though they are charged an entry fee and made to unarm. Even Super Mutants are occasionally permitted, though not without hassling.

Average Attitude:
Human Non-Citizens: Indifferent
Human Citizens: Liked
Ghouls in company of Humans: Disliked
Ghouls without Humans: Hated
Mutants in company of Humans: Hated
Mutants without Humans: Attacked on Sight

A militaristic society formed from mostly remnants of the Enclave and Caesar’s legion.

Octavius, a heretofore unknown nephew of Caesar, was the catalyst that caused this creation. At the young age of 14, he was considered the “heir” to the legion, and was moved to the empire’s easternmost point to keep his safety in the event the invasion of the dam failed. Octavius was raised to believe in strength, power, and the other tenants of the Legion’s philosophy.

Meanwhile, with the downfall of the Enclave at the hands of the Vault 101 escapee, the surviving remnant of the Enclave, (previously known as the United States government) scattered to various states. The destruction of President John Henry Eden did leave a power vacuum, whereupon the military leadership took over, but many people forgot about the Enclave’s Vice President, Mark Hammer. Kept in a secluded location (a military base outside of Jackson, Mississippi) powered down, Vice President Hammer was a subsequent AI designed by the Eden program as a form of backup (with occasional changes in programming; Eden assumed his failure would mean a necessity for redesign). Hammer’s AI was inactive at the time of Eden’s disabling, and thus not active at the fall of the main Enclave to the Brotherhood.

Octavius and his guards, some fifty strong, had realized by this point the failure of Caesar’s invasion at the hands of the Courier, and had come across the military base holding Hammer. At sight of its Sentry-bot guards and advanced turret defenses, Octavius’s men assumed it was a cache pile of Pre-War technology. In a way, he was right, but when his men broke into the base, they discovered more than they expected. They cut power to the facility in an attempt to avoid the majority of the defenses, such as turrets and laser traps. However, when the backup generators activated, the Hammer program was rebooted in a safe mode, a sort of proto read-only mode (this being because Eden did not want a rival AI in his network; he designed the Hammer program to be more ruthless to come for his own programmed shortcomings, but did not want a hostile takeover from his own creation). Hammer’s systems could access the Enclave’s data files, and in the minutes it took Octavius’s men to invade his complex, Hammer had learned the fate of the Enclave, and much more of what was going on in the waste by hacking the NCR’s and Brotherhood’s networks.

Unable to alter, take over, or influence these rival organizations’ networks, Hammer was left crippled in taking revenge and reestablishing the Enclave to the power force it once was. However, by analyzing the visual scans of Octavius before he cut the base’s power and comparing his features with those on record of the one known as Caesar, he was able to deduce this was a man related to one who had great influence. It was then he used his limited manipulation to activate the base’s comm link and communicate with Octavius.

Hours later Octavius and Hammer had an agreement, a new vision for America. Using the Enclave’s data and the leftover remnants of the legion’s manpower and discipline, they forged a plan. Octavius would use his uncle’s ruthless tactics for establishing loyalty among those they could gather from the legion and enclave’s men still loyal to either leader. They would then use Caesar’s “join or die” movement among tribals they conquer. Hammer did not have Eden’s same understanding of humanity; he considered that since a sentient computer program could be a President, anything capable of sentience was a viable citizen.

With the Enclave’s knowledge of the FEV, newly named Vice President Octavius was able to see just how powerful Super Mutants could be, and decided that the apex of his people would be such. He idolized the Super Mutants before the people, and showed in single combat just how they were the ideal of Neo-Roman society. Their sterility was a problem, however. Thus, only those who had both proven themselves in battle as well as having fathered both a male and female child would be permitted the honor of the vats. The base where Hammer’s programming was stored contained a few base vats of FEV to work with, but the raw materials were low, and only allowed for a few limited creations to begin with…

…but the Mongrel Horde, as they’ve taken to calling themselves, has begun the search. Octavius believes Super Mutants are the key to this Neo-Legion’s taking back the West, and through them Hammer believes the Enclave.

The Mongrel Horde has taken to basing itself out of Niceville, between Panama City and Tallahassee, having found the hard drive for Hammer's programming and a set of FEV Vats there.

Neo-Seminoles

The Neo-Seminoles are Tribals living within the Everglades. Claiming to be descended from the legendary tribe that defied a nation, they are proud, fiercely territorial, and moderately xenophobic. Neo-Seminoles have a place in the island of nations, sending caravans to the Kingdom for supplies, usually offering food, drink, and excellent condition equipment, if primitive in design, for a fair price. Neo-Sems, as they’re like to be called, do not give quarter to raiders, and even protect travelers on the outskirts of their lands when patrolling, but are quick to exile foreigners. The first time a traveler enters their land, if the crazed beasts of the everglades don’t kill them, they are kindly asked to surrender weaponry and escorted swiftly out. Should the travelers resist, or be foolhardy enough to return, the NeoSems attack swiftly, stealthily, and without mercy.

Average Attitude (any species): Disliked

The former middle-of-nowhere town has become a haven for ghouls, due to its medium background radiation and inconvenient access, making it a less desirable location for raiders. Broken hovels and remains of burned down houses have been taken up by equally broken and burned out residents, and the little community has managed to survive. Occasionally Palatka has a presence in the Island of Nations, but they are more apt to trade with NeoSems than the Mouse Ears due to the latters’ distrust of ghouls. Most of their equipment is “country” in nature, such as shotguns, moonshine, or the engine for a trans am.

Average Attitude for Humans and Super Mutants: Indifferent
Average Attitude for Ghouls: Liked

The explosions and radiation in Jacksonville to the north completely wiped out all of the population of Saint Augustine, and seawater has since flooded the city to one to two feet deep. The city remains a ghost town, without even ghouls to inhabit it, but otherwise seems in eerily pristine condition...the massive gators that escaped the gator farm the day the bombs dropped, and have since mutated into Leatherbacks. The Leatherbacks are the most common occupants of the former city, and tend to congregate former lakes and rivers now invisible beneath the flooded surface.

A din of inequity, vice, and filth, Tampa has turned into a barely stable hub of raiders, slavers, and other players of villainy. There is no official law, no official ruler, and the streets are anything but safe. Various gangs constantly vie for power, and visitors have their limits tested by residents constantly. There is an uneasy truce between the major families, but covert operations between them trying to take out heads occurs constantly. The only thing that has prevented an outside force from taking over is the gangs have agreed to ally at the sign of any outside threat in a meeting known as the Five Families' Function. These functions occur once per year, and new agreements are rarely agreed to and passed, as a unanimous decision is required for a deal to be binding.

Average Attitude (any species): Disliked

A vault based somewhere in the former region of Miami (a center of rubble, desolation, and more than a little radiation), Vault 2 was not supplied with any means of birth control in it's systems, nor is there any education regarding prevention of reproduction provided in its vids - the designers went through painstaking efforts to prevent the knowledge of it as part of the social experiment to see how long the society could survive on increasingly limited resources. The citizens were crafty, however, and when the radiation levels lowered sufficiently to risk occasional opening to the world (once a year, to be precise, with a mass cleansing afterward), they devised a method to maintain a zero population growth once capacity was close. As a result, every year the Vault exiles a number of people equal to those born minus those who die, chosen entirely via lottery. Should their number in the lottery come up, the exiles are driven to a different location each time, so that they cannot return and previous “deliverers” are equally perplexed if chosen the next year. Exiles are clothed in a radiation suit as they pass through the high background radiation area of Miami, but it is taken back afterward, and they are left with little to no equipment; after all, their gear is precious to those who remain. Fortunate exiles may be given information by their escorts as to nearby settlements, or even in rare cases equipment from the escort's personal inventory (as the exiles are searched and audited before exiting the vault), but this generosity is not always the case.