I'm going to be running a fantasy post apocalyptic game set in the Northeastern US in the next week or so. Right now I'm trying to flesh out some world building and I'm trying to get an idea of factions, cities, landmarks, contested areas, things of that nature. Unfortunately I am not incredibly familiar with the region. I have a few ideas for New York but I'd like to get some ideas for the region around it.
The basic idea is a "In late 1990 another plane collides with earth, swapping over people, items, stuff and a few laws of physics. Now earth has elves and orcs and dragons, but fewer humans. Things adapt well enough mostly because the alternative has everybody losing. Fast forward to about 2030 and you have massive overpopulation. Lots of wars. Four Horsemen appear, go on a rampage, only a sliver of the world population is left. Fast forward to about 2180. Society has calmed down a bit, things are rebuilding, but safety and a good nights sleep are pretty much punch lines to bad jokes. Farmland is only starting to recover, bandits roam the roads, nasty monsters as well. Magic, guns, swords.
If nothing else I'm looking for landmarks and potential factions. What places, factories, monuments, natural resources, etc would be hotly contested? Any ideas of who would be contesting them?
Why don't you use your own local region for this? As things stand now, you potentially have the problem of some of your players being more familiar with the area than you are. The best help we could offer might be if you tell us what region you are from, then people familiar with your region and the Northeastern US could highlight the major differences.
In general, the big cities would have to be abandoned, since at a minimum the technological infrastructure can be assumed to have broken down. Even the suburbs would be in bad shape, as the region is rather thickly populated. The natural resources that people would be competing over would be the basics -- food, fresh water, and shelter. Factories would be basically useless, but in a world where magic has started working, some monuments might have developed magical properties. Big cities would be sparsely inhabited "dungeon" settings inhabited by creatures that do not need to eat along with a few scavengers who can make do with the small amount of food that can still be found there. After 40 years any canned food would be used up, so nearly all remaining humans would have died or moved on.
Why don't you use your own local region for this? As things stand now, you potentially have the problem of some of your players being more familiar with the area than you are. The best help we could offer might be if you tell us what region you are from, then people familiar with your region and the Northeastern US could highlight the major differences.
In general, the big cities would have to be abandoned, since at a minimum the technological infrastructure can be assumed to have broken down. Even the suburbs would be in bad shape, as the region is rather thickly populated. The natural resources that people would be competing over would be the basics -- food, fresh water, and shelter. Factories would be basically useless, but in a world where magic has started working, some monuments might have developed magical properties. Big cities would be sparsely inhabited "dungeon" settings inhabited by creatures that do not need to eat along with a few scavengers who can make do with the small amount of food that can still be found there. After 40 years any canned food would be used up, so nearly all remaining humans would have died or moved on.
Actually I am not certain the big cities, new york in particular would be abandoned. Depopulated sure, but probably not abandoned. In fact if I was going to put one location to survive in a post apocalyptic world, it might be New York City. Its a collection of islands with only bridges and tunnels as land access (easier to defend) and despite the urban nature of the city staten island, and long island have significant land that could be quickly restored to farmland. And depending on the dm, the new york water system could very well still be functional since it pretty much doesnt use power with 95% of the water being gravity fed, and is basically an aqueduct. Add to that the fact that the major tunnels area already over 100 years old.
Personally I'd have new york as one of the few remaining fortified kingdoms.
As for the surrounding areas, I think areas of note might include west point, though now a military academy, is still a prominent military instilation at a strategic point on one of the most important rivers in the regions.
Why don't you use your own local region for this? As things stand now, you potentially have the problem of some of your players being more familiar with the area than you are. ---- Big cities would be sparsely inhabited "dungeon" settings inhabited by creatures that do not need to eat along with a few scavengers who can make do with the small amount of food that can still be found there. After 40 years any canned food would be used up, so nearly all remaining humans would have died or moved on.
Actually I am not certain the big cities, new york in particular would be abandoned. Depopulated sure, but probably not abandoned. In fact if I was going to put one location to survive in a post apocalyptic world, it might be New York City. ---- Add to that the fact that the major tunnels area already over 100 years old.
Personally I'd have new york as one of the few remaining fortified kingdoms.
As for the surrounding areas, I think areas of note might include west point, though now a military academy, is still a prominent military instilation at a strategic point on one of the most important rivers in the regions.
Seconded.
Most of the cities in the Northeastern U.S. were founded during the early days of European colonization, and were located where they were because those were the best places to settle, with access to some combination of fresh water, decent farmland, protected harbor, fishing, etc....
Unless you've nuked the cities or filled them with undead it would be more than likely that they'd still be population centers even during the post-apocalypse.
That depends... million dollar question, you mentioned some laws of physics changing... Does Electricity Work? Do Cars/Trucks Work? If the answer to either of these questions is No, then most of the East Coast became a ghost town filled with people killing anything they can find to eat in the first few years. All the major east coast cities depend on food being trucked into them... without those trucks, we starve.
We also paved over all that farm land (ok, not all of it, but most) for strip malls. East coast cities can not feed themselves without the mid-west trucking in food. Of course, if you're time line is that far forward, then yea, many of the ruined cities may have settlements again.
Also, remember that interstate bridges are built with an average life span of 50 years. Most highway bridges in the Northeast were built between 1962-1970 (at least in Ma.). New England winters are harsh on roads, I wouldn't count on those bridge's being around. Replacing/Repairing those bridges over the major rivers (Hudson in NY, Ct River in Ma and CT) will likely be difficult, so Ferries (sp?) will likely be needed.
That Said, here are a few local areas to look into. I cant help too much with New York, but any questions on CT, MA, RI, NH or VT I would be happy to answer.
This is a huge reservoir in the middle of Mass. Surrounded by lots of woodland and small towns. Great place for you're Elven Nation to have taken over.
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/quabbin.htm
Major river that starts in NH, empties into Long island sound. The river is navigable by small boat from the mouth, up too Holyoke Ma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_River
Nice Island off the coast with a good Harbor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Island
Edit: You asked about Factories... If guns still work, I can't think of a better Factory to control then the Smith And Wesson plant in Springfield Ma. While most of the machinery is compterized CNC, there are still a lot of older style machines that could be converted to work off belt drives, you have paper blueprints dating back hundreds of years... and a forage. Again, this all depends what tech still works.
Also, remember that interstate bridges are built with an average life span of 50 years. Most highway bridges in the Northeast were built between 1962-1970 (at least in Ma.). New England winters are harsh on roads, I wouldn't count on those bridge's being around. Replacing/Repairing those bridges over the major rivers (Hudson in NY, Ct River in Ma and CT) will likely be difficult, so Ferries (sp?) will likely be needed.
True, but many of these areas will also have older bridges kept around because of their historical value, and these can be repaired at a lower tech level. Also, old ferrying equipment may have been maintained for the same reason, and good locations to ford will likely be remembered.
Modern roads in the Northeast will have likely been built over older roads that were place where they were because it was the best place for a road. In The War as I knew it Patton recommends commanders get a hold of older maps of a region to compare with modern ones, because if an pre-twentieth century map shows a road in an area it's a good bet you can get an army through there irregardless of the actual condition of the road.
Railroads are also an option to consider. With much of the East Coast linked by rail and many older steam engines being maintained in museums.
Yea, I didn't mean to say all bridges would be in trouble just that most would.
Even without steam engines, railroads are key. Railroads have very little slope, and horses can pull a lot more weight on metal wheel's and rail then over old worn roads.
Major cities can serve as both large above ground dungeon environments in unsettled areas, or as huge mines near settled areas. Gold, Silver, Copper, Steel, Lead and Aluminum can all be found in the ruins. Bronze can be made by combining Copper and Aluminum, and its much easier to machine bronze then steal. In fact, most "Mining" would actually be stripping the old cities, as most of the easy to get at ores in New England have been mined out.
Oh, and don't forget about canals.
The Northeastern U.S. has a HUGE canal system built before (and after) the railroads were laid down, much either preserved by historical societies or still in use for shipping today.
Which part? We don't have any that are still in good shape in my neck of the woods. One city (Holyoke, Ma) has some, but they are not for shipping, they were for Water-Power (water driven belt drives) generation.
I know it's a bit short on time to recommend, but the Deathlands Series from James Axler is a post apoc series running over 100 novels atm. It's tends towards pure cheese, but maintains a strong theme and cohesive storyline.
Thematically, civilization has been reduced to a near medieval existence, with rulers called Barons controlling a city state style, usually by brutal fist and terror. accurate information is impossible, so things like accurate locations of ICBM strikes are mostly impossible until you're on top of them.
As far as new york, the city is crumbled, with most of the skyscrapers showing evidence of a ground strike (devastation at the center, but a line of sheering angling up further away from ground zero.) Gangs mark out territory and there's a central baron controlling a part of central park, the reservoir, and the city.
mutants of all sorts abound, like the scaly's who inhabit some of the tunnelworks and take slaves, Giant albino alligators, etc. It's a grab bag of fun.