Veeky Forums gets its shit together and makes a badass setting thread

OH HELL YEAH, POST APOCALYPTIC WILD WEST IT IS!

Here's what we've got so far.

> Motorcycles are the primary method of transportation, because cars and horses rarely survived the end of the world for some reason.

> There's a pseudo-christian mutant hating faction of some kind.

Do people know how the world ended? Or is it mysterious and ambiguous, which gives us a lot more leeway?

I think it should be mysterious and ambiguous, and have taken place almost one hundred years ago, because that allows for a decent amount of scavenged equipment, but not too much.

Magic the gathering cards are used as an ironic currency. Without the internet working, no one knows how to play the game. Instead they just throw the cards at each other and make up random rules.

That timeline sounds good.

Scavenged Cybernetics are common enough that 1/5 people has at least one, and most of the deadliest killers are more machine than man.

All trading cards are used as currency, the more rare a card is, the more valuable it is. The rules to the card games have been forgotten, so post apocalyptic wastelanders created their own rules-lite game called "Deck 'Em", which is like a bastardized combination of poker, magic the gathering, and many other card games.

Old world currency has lost all real value and most of it has been burnt for fuel (paper money) or repurposed for scrap (coinage) but well-traveled individuals make a habit of hammering coins flat and displaying them on their person. Since coins have been almost entirely scavenged from settled areas this serves as a way of showing how much you get around and the amount of danger you've survived.

It's become somewhat popular for travelers to collect license plates from the ruins of vehicles, with the goal of finding 1 for each of the 50 states.

Doctors are among some of the most well respected in "socitiy"
A doctor capable of doing a simple task like putting a bandaid on a cut will often be rewarded with a warm bed, free high end prostitutes, a full belly, and a months worth a water

Warfare has descended back to tribal, head-hunting warfare. The heads are then displayed on the victor's motorcycle.

One of the biggest players of the waste lands, the iron sons, have the highist concentration of cybernetics in the wasteland

Because of this they are generally feared, how ever, they are lacking in members and are relient on doctors for implants

Alright. A recap thus far.
>Motorcycles are the most common mode of transportation
>Pseudo-christianity survives and teaches hatred of mutants
>Deck 'Em, a strange card game which incorporates rules from almost every game in existence and uses cards from all different games, including standard playing cards and MtG cards
>Cards are also used as currency. This also deals with counterfeiting as nobody can recreate them with ease
>Old world currency is mostly melted down or burned but seasoned adventurers use flattened coins as medals of honor and rank
>License plates are a vanity item collected in sets of 50, 1 per U.S. state.
>Doctors are widely respected as medical science has drastically fallen behind and been forgotten en masse
>Most groups are tribal and warfare reflects that. Large scale armed forces with command structure is a rare find

The mutants bear a vague resemblance to animals and sometimes even humans but nobody is sure where they actually come from.
Some cultures refer to them in their folklore as the harbingers of the apocalypse.

Mutants are the result of failed cybernetic implementation, which leads to the body's rejection of cybernetics and terrible disfigurement

Even in the apocolyptic wastland of texas USA, the greed of humanity shines
The suits of the waste, the buisness men, the 1%, those who can find profit in the toughest of situations are still climbing the ladder to the top

Whether it's owning doctors,slaves, or mass producing new cards for deck'Em, or just plane old guns and motorcycles

One of the big corps, walmart, has set up a confedracy among the small towns, from the simple acid cow farmer, to the humble mutant hermit

This has given them free muscle to fight off the raiders and even more trade partners

Oh shit I really like this, I really don't mean to go against the mysterious and ambiguous nature of the apocalypse too much, but perhaps it could have been a mass failure of the cybernetics where all people with implants (which could have either been the vast majority or the vast minority but they were all the world leaders) had exactly this happen to them in a short window of time.

Of course basically nobody in recent times knows this, the exact reasons for why it happened or why it isn't happening with the implants the people now are using also remain a mystery.

Eh
Probably has something to do with 12 year old russian hackers and possibly nuke codes

>or why it isn't happening with the implants the people now are using
Meant to add "or why it isn't happening with the implants the people now are using [all that often]"

A hipstery foodtruck caravan group

decent consumables and unique items at the cost of dealing with pretentious wastelanders and exuberant prices

Old-world advanced drilling methods have led to the discovery of deep oil (or comparable fuel resource) wells that provide the fuel source for transport. It still remains an extremely valuable commodity and gas-guzzling vehicles are seen as either a necessary expense (caravaneers) or a symbol of status and wealth.

OP here, this thread is a testament to Veeky Forums's ability to get shit done. I didn't think you bastards had it in you, but you've proven me wrong and then some.

Most common vehicles have been jury-rigged to run on biofuel, as biofuel's relatively easy to produce compared to oil, but biofuel isn't nearly as powerful or as energy efficient as oil, and given a choice, most bikers would rather use oil.

>mass producing new cards for deck'Em
Those new cards are, just like the rules of the game, a bastard combination of all kinds of old cards like the queen of diamonds which has 800 atk and 2000 def and gives you blue mana.
They are generally accepted in the community but old school cards are still seen as better and more prestigious.

think that's a safe confirmation

A faction of people that call themselves "The Naked" and reject implants of any sort, they hate not only implant users but also those who fraternize with them.

Since there are a lot of people with implants and a lot of people without implants that don't mind people with implants, The Naked are disliked by basically everyone.

The mostly live in secluded communities with some rare contact with other fringe groups that probably only get away with it because they are that small that they just by chance don't have anyone with implants and are desperate for allies.

Due to the inefficient nature of biofuel, small camps have popped up all over the place as refueling stations. They produce fast-growing but otherwise worthless crops to be churned into biofuel.

Much of the landscape is cratered and irradiated wasteland, only mutants live there, and only idiots and madmen go there if they've got a choice, if they aren't torn to pieces and eaten, there's a chance they'll mutate themselves.

Radiation mutations and cybernetic mutations are almost indistinguishable, and mutants are treated the same regardless of their origin.

Mutations come in many varieties, there are mutations for every animal and plant trait imaginable, and some besides, but most intelligent mutants have only a few mutations and could still be considered human if you were willing to stretch the definition. Very few mutants go over the line and become a new species in their own right and retain their sanity, let alone their intelligence, those that do are some of the most dangerous predators in the wastes.

This is something I thought might come up. How do we feel about radiation and radiation based mutations? I feel like we might be straying too close to Fallout territory. On along that vein. Third part is great though

They take cards as payment though it isn't unheard of that some stations allow you to play for the fuel at the risk of losing even more cards.

Legendary deck'Em players are known to rarely have to pay for fuel to the point where they are getting refused the option to play or straight up blacklisted from stations though rumors say some go around this with disguises and every once in a while throwing away a sure win to seem less threatening.

Right behind actual card houses, those refueling stations have become the second most favored spot for gatherings to play or just watch others deck it out.

Lots of those legendary deck'Em players come to become owners of such bio refueling stations themselves once they had enough of tournament play.
Beware that old fox that offers free refuels if you can beat him, his mind is still sharp like in his peak days.

Apart from card games, motorcycle jousting has also become an ever popular sport.
Every region has their own rules and regulations.
Some are lethal and others are mostly harmless.
For some they are allowed to use pointed spears while others only can use small hammers.
Others are strictly 1v1 while others are big brawls or team matches.

The way deck'Em is actually played is exceptionally strange. Basically it consists of the players using their cards and taking what is represented on them to a new level in what is essentially a competition to outdo each others' improv. Whoever is on the canonical back foot when both players run out of cards is declared the loser.

"My Blue Eyes White Dragon travels via the Swamp (MtG land) to attack your Queen of Spades"

"I counter. A thunderstorm begins in the swamp as my Magister Sphinx moves out to meet the dragon"

Additional rule suggestion, if at any point your entire "team" is cleared from play you also lose. This means that not being able to answer enemy attacks quickly enough results in a loss as well.

By these rules the object of deck'Em is to, with as few cards as possible, clear your opponent's presence while he attempts to do the same. I recognize that this is not necessary for making a setting to run a game in. But I like the deck'Em fluff. So, fuck it.

>How do we feel about radiation and radiation based mutations?
Radiation is classic for a post apocalyptic setting so I say fuck it why not.
If it gives some more variety to the wildlife why not also accept radiation based mutants.

said that they are "almost indistinguishable", I think a simple difference would be that cybernetic mutants are usually missing limbs where the implant was supposed to go and have additional mutations right where the implant connected.
For example a monster without a hand and pores that ooze a strange yellow liquid at the stump probably had an artifical arm or a monster that misses the top of its skull and has the brain pulsing and squeezing out the top had some brain implant.

Those that come from radiation on the other hand are probably just evenly mutated.

Yo bitchs
Check out my sick spades plain deru aggro deck
You see run'in plains so my minions travel faster
If i play a hast minion and have attack through the plains my opponent can't attack
Ain't nothin compared to buffin up a goblin wit a ace of spades and killin your opponents dark magician

Sure but what do you do against flying Blackjack swamp control decks? Black mana synergy with spades. Flying minions to kick your ass out.

21 to win muthafucka

21 to win muthafucka

Radiation is a result of a failure in widespread nuclear power generation rather than a nuclear war. As land became more and more uninhabitable and nuclear power continued to fail the deep wells were drilled in a desperate attempt to save humanity.

It didn't work

Buncha city-slickers t'ink they ass-wipe kiddy decks 's worth shit, ge's me e'ery time, e'ery time. Lemme tell ya somethin', PLATINUM DRAGON-CIVIL WAR FUSION BLITZ DECK! Counter tha' sum'bitches! I tol' ya so, tol' ya so, ge's me e'rey time, e'ery time...

This is only one theory, there are many others, and each has concrete evidence supporting them. Wasteland philosophers, archeologists, and scholars spend years puzzling over what might've caused the end, but they never seem to find anything certain.

...

>A doctor capable of doing a simple task like putting a bandaid on a cut will often be rewarded with a warm bed, free high end prostitutes, a full belly, and a months worth a water
So everyone's become retarded.

>some stations allow you to play for the fuel at the risk of losing even more cards
Ante rule's finally back then.

Huh, I've got to admit, that's pretty awesome but we've already got an awesome setting started up.

It's entirely optional, but many Deck 'Em players use random chance to spice up the game and add a new level of depth. There are almost as many random chance methods as there are Deck 'Em cards, everything from 1d20s, 1d100s, six-side die, coin flips, and even guessing the card in an opponent's hand are all used and popular.

Nomadic khanates on motorcycles ruled by various khans and khatums roam the wastelands raiding and pillaging settlements and tribes, despite being behind in equipment and technology they make up for it by sheer manpower and viciousness making them a danger even to well armed other groups.

The only thing stopping those Motorcyclelords from taking over the entire land is their inability to work with one another, khanates share a bitter rivalry and attack each other on sight.
According to them only one can rise to greatness and become the Great Khan or Khatum that can claim ownership over any place a motorcycle can reach but for that to happen they have to be the one that defeats all other khanates and unites all motorcycle warriors.

Potential plot hook:
One khan seems to be particular effective and defeating the others and is steadily taking over every other khanate, letting that happen would be catastrophic for the rest of the land.
Investigate and stop it from happening.

So, for those of you just getting here,
Basics:
>Western + Post apocalypse
>Neo-Texas
>The exact cause of the apocalypse is a complete mystery to the people, though many speculate and hunt the wastes for clues
>Radiation all over the place
>Also cybernetics
>Motorcycles are the main mode of transportation, other vehicle also exist but are more rare
>Main currency is cards from a variety of games.
>These cards are also used in the popular game deck'Em in which players battle with improvisation and a combination of rules from every card game known to man
>Old world currency is mostly destroyed or repurposed though old-world coins are used as badges of honor
>License plates are collected in sets of 50 as vanity items
>Doctors are some of the most widely respected as medical science has fallen by the wayside
>Groups that survey are mostly tribal, very few organized fighting forces.
>Chief among these groups are a series of nomadic khanates.
>None of these khanates get along and all of them are savage forces. Though less advanced tech-wise they are brutal fighters to make up for it.
>Mutants exist, resulting from both cybernetic rejection and radiation
>These mutants range from human-like in intelligence to completely savage
>Corporations have formed. They provide goods to the wastes as well as conduct the most lucrative slaving operations
>Hipster food truck caravan?
>Old world advanced drilling has led to a new oil supply for Texas however most vehicles also (and mainly) run on biofuel.
>"The Naked" Are a widely disliked faction with a philosophy of strong opposition to cybernetics
>Small refueling camps dot the wastes to supply travelers with biofuel from fast growing but otherwise valueless crops
>Some refueling stations will let you play deck'Em for your fuel, but blacklist high profile consistent winners
>Some stations are run by these winners
>Moto-jousting is a sport

The Khanate hordes are coming from beyond the blasted southlands, and they speak a strange tongue and have no respect for God, Man, or the Past. Almost all of them have some form of mutation, and the Khans and Khatums are almost inhuman themselves. The hordes rarely stop warring with themselves long enough to actually do anything but raid the civilised lands, but when they do, the factions let bygones be bygones and unite to fight back the hordes. The Khanate last rose up little over twenty years ago, and some southern towns still feel the sting.

Speaking of no respect for god, which religions have survived and in what form? Which new religions have formed?

I wonder how some classic religious stories have been modified to include motorcycles.

>"And then Jesus rode into the temple on a motorcycle and flipped the table of the two priests who were playing deck'Em. He proclaimed, cybernetic hand pointed to the heavens, "You shall not sit there and play petty games as the Khanate masses forces for an attack" Then Jesus rode bravely out of the temple to fight the hordes alongside the Buddha.

On a serious note: Right now all we have is the note about New Christianity and how it hates mutants

>Groups that survey are mostly tribal, very few organized fighting forces.
>Chief among these groups are a series of nomadic khanates.
I was more thinking that khanates would only be like one third of the new civilisation (or however much would be appropriately large but not the majority) and the rest would be more established settlements and almost actual villages and small towns but I like how has modified them to be more of a strange and alien invading force.

Though this did make me think, I kind of pulled the proportion of how many established settlements and how many tribes there are out of my ass.

Between refueling stations, corporate communities and oil drilling plattforms,
How many of people still only live in small tribes and how many communities unite into something you could almost consider a town or even a city?

An anti-mutant form of Christianity has survived, and I'm guessing cargo cults are a dime a dozen.

There are two variants of Christianity that are widely practiced in the wastes.

Neo-Catholicism, worshiping the Saints of old and the holy Pope of the papal vault, God's living authority on earth. They have much more in common with ancient, medieval Catholicism than they do with modern Catholicism, and the Church's crusaders fight to purge the heretic and mutant with fire and blade.

Backwoods Gospel, bible-thumping, snake-handling, faith healing, howling in tongues, baptizing, fire and brimstone, fanatical preachers shout the holy Gospel of our Lord to any and all who'll hear them. They place an extreme emphasis on the supernatural, believe that mutants are demon possessed and need to be killed at any cost to bring God's holy kingdom to this earth.

The Neo-Catholics are far more numerous, far more organized, and have far more resources at their disposal, but the followers of the Backwoods Gospel are absolutely die-hard fanatical to a man, and there's just something you can't quite explain about them. The Churches both preach that the other Church is heretical and blasphempus, and there's no small degree of competition between them.

It could be that everyone is dumb and lost basic medical knowledge

It could be that no one trust anyone

You don't know what jim fungo put on your bandaid. It could be rat poison! Luckily i can always trust a doc

So, civilizations currently in play

The Khanates--Roaming bands from the south out for blood but too busy with civil war most of the time. Major Faction

The Corporation--Basically Neo-Walmart + slave trading. Control little land but have access to a lot of the more advanced means of production. Major Faction

Independent Towns--Groups of people trying to make their way. As they are usually separated by large stretches of barren desert there is little communication during peacetime. Major Faction

The Iron Sons--A small group of mercenaries with the highest cybernetics to actual flesh ratios of anyone in the wastes. Minor Faction

The Naked--A mostly despised faction of vocal opponents of cybernetics users and all who associate with them. They have little influence however. Minor Faction

The old-world oil wells are dangerous to operate and in states of disrepair. Very few exist that still produce and they are generally controlled by independents and The Corporation. Scouting for new wells is a favorite hobby of those in search of income, even if it means dealing with some of the most untamed areas of the wastes.

Deck 'Em is by no means a two player game, it's entirely possible for one to play by themselves in a solo game similar to Solitaire, and several players can compete against one another.

There are free for all, and team games are common, sometimes played with a set objective or simple battle royale, as many as a dozen can play at a table with little issue.

If we hit the bump limit I'm counting on you to make a thread called "Veeky Forums gets its shit together and makes a setting part 2: deck'Em Edition"

I kinda want to try playing deck'Em now.

The Iron Sons style themselves as the lawbringers of the wasteland, and they travel the road hunting down marauders, mutants, and slavers as Judge, Jury, and Executioner. There are very few Iron Sons, but they are extremely heavily armed, well trained, and cybernetically enhanced to the point they're almost more machine than man.

There are very few Iron Sons, and they are capable enough they don't need backup, so they usually work alone or in small groups if the situation requires a bit more firepower. The Iron Sons train their members from birth, and they're all orphans or were donated by parents who couldn't take care of them. They're almost a monastic order, and they all follow a set of chivalrous rules called "The Code".

Nobody knows were their Headquarters is, but it's rumored to be somewhere in the irradiated wastes of Nevada. But surely no one could survive there, and surely there's no way they could get all of their cybernetics from empty desert, right? The evidence says otherwise.

Their base is actually in the extremely well preserved ruins of Area 51. It turns out, there are no Aliens, but the government had an enormous stockpile of futuristic experimental technology stored there. The complex was built to survive the apocalypse, which it did. It's no more than a myth among the wastelanders, and even if discovered, the vault is nearly impregnable.

> tl;dr: Iron Sons are vigilante Judge Dredd/Paladin orphans raised from birth to BE THE LAW AND SPREAD JUSTICE ACROSS THE LAND! Their base is in the ruins of Area 51 and they've got access to all sorts of high-tech goodies. There's only a few Iron Sons so they work alone, or in small groups if the situation requires it.

I had an idea for a character name a while back which might fit this perfectly:

Arizona Kurosawa, Cowgirl Samurai.

If we ever expand on the rules of deck'Em (I love how it's spelled like that now despite probably just being a typo by the first person) it should probably remain mostly improvisational with only blanket rules that can apply to basically any kind of playing card.

Like how higher value cards from one kind of deck like the ace of hearts are considered stronger than lower value cards from another kind of deck like pic related.

They probably only know about the relative strength of cards by having seen a lot of other cards in their live and cross referencing.
Like they came to the conclusion that pic related is a weak card by having seen another card with a big bad ass dragon on it which had more stars on top and higher numbers at the bottom and surely a dragon is better than some fuzzy hair ball.

Other rules would probably be inspired by the culture, a card that shows something that could in at least some way be interpretated to be a cyberkinetic implant (like a Magic the gathering card that shows a person with a weird arm) it is considered to have extra strength besides the stats it shows, something similar could be for cards that have monsters on it which could be interpretated to be mutants.

>The knight is obviously a member of the Iron Sons and uses his might to protect the defenseless woman from the mutant, he throws himself between them and takes the attack in her stead.

I'll do what I can.

Pure genius.

That makes sense, and I like the idea of Deck 'Em players interpreting cards. I kind of like the way it's spell deck'Em too, but my inner grammar Nazi refuses to let me use it with a clear conscience.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

So why aren't you guys using dice?

Using dice for what? Nice dubs by the way.

Your using double digits to decide things about the setting. I'm wondering why your using the last two post numbers instead of dice.

We used dubs for the type of setting. Everything else is going through by group consensus. It's a slow thread, so it's worked so far.

Oh no, if we used dubs or rolled to determine the details of the setting we'd never be able to get anything done. We just used dubs to determine the type of setting. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

Old roads and infrastructure are deemed as public space and are not owned by any one group. Those who try to claim stretches of road for themselves are usually shunned and their claim not respected. One of the few times independent fueling towns work together is when someone oversteps their bounds and tries to lay claim to the roads. When this happens a typical response is those people the stretch of road is important to band together and kick them out, or pool their resources to hire mercenaries to do the job for them.

The roads are public owned, but that doesn't stop The Corporation and Marauder gangs from forcing people to pay a Toll to cross them. The Corporation is somewhat justified, since its Toll is reasonable and it used the Toll funds to maintain the roads in its territory but many people resent them for it anyway. The Marauder gangs are simply extorting people, plain and simple, and they're careful not to stay in the same place for too long, lest they incur the wrath of the refueling towns.

In Neo-Texas guns are plentiful. Handguns, shotguns and a variety of rifles ranging from bolt action to semi-automatic (Some of which have been modified to fire full auto) are a staple of every homestead. The problem isn't finding a gun, it's finding the ammo as the corporation is currently the only group with technology to mass produce bullets. The Corporation knows this and bullets are one of the most expensive commodities. When people fight they almost always bring guns but not very often are they fired. On top of this, a resurgence in archaic firearms has swept the wasteland. Muzzle-loading rifles and blunderbuss scatterguns are back in style for the relative cheapness of ammo.

alright

> Ancient Rome but gods are real and use mortals to fight there conflicts

Little late to the party.

There are some maurader gang leaders mad enough to try and become warlords by claiming territory for themselves but mostly only those succeed that claim their turf in between the rare spaces which are neither occupied by roads nor infested with mutants.

If a warlord that not only claims a road with the intention of keeping it but also actually manages to survive the onslaught of attacks and mercenaries raids done by the surrounding communities then you can bet that the local communities will have to adapt.

Towns that used to be popular traiding hubs decay and what were once key refueling stations close down due to the road connecting them to the nearby communities falling out of favor.
Tiny refueling stations and small villages prosper and grow due to their proximity to the detour roads that now get used instead of the taken over road.

In any case as much as detour roads become more popular, having an entire road blocked off and only being accessible by being part of the gang or paying the heavy toll is still very inconvenient.
The only thing to hope for is that the Iron Sons arrive and free the people once more.

Fort Kickass, founded buy some random neckbeard and his followers, whose teachings strongly prohibit any close contact with the other gender.
They live in a secluded part of the wasteland in a secured and heavily fortified position and substain there population by taking in orphans
and buying slaves from caravans. They are relatively harmless, although understimating them can quickly lead to losing most of your valuable cards.
They are said to hold the biggest card collection in the entire wasteland behind there walls and there Deck'Em players are among the best of the entire
wasteland.

The only other way to get inside their circle without either having been there from the beginning, being a donated orphan or a bought slave, is to impress them during on of their legendary deck'Em tournaments which is about the only occasion where they open their walls to the outside world.

They become extremely defensive whenever someone accuses them of being gay or childish, and while the residents of Fort Kickass are peaceful as long as others mind their own business, they can become extremely dangerous if someone sets them off, considering that Fort Kickass is also a monaestary where obscure and lethal martial arts known to mankind are taught.

Agriculture is still possible in the wastelands and most are able to subsist on a combination of wheat products and hunted game.

>When civilization began it's descent one man among them looked around him and said "hold my beer, watch this." Black rubber met the burning road and Reverend Bud traveled far and wide spreading the holy Light to the masses, opposed by the Miller's Sons at every turn he nonetheless spread the word through the consumption of the holy beverages.

TL:DR some guy had two sets of keys. One to a bud light bottling plant, the other to a sweet ass big-rig. When his co-workers died and his bosses stopped calling he decided that if the world was gonna end he was gonna make damn sure everyone got drunk and laid so he traveled around handing out free bud light by the gallon.
Some asshole that worked for the Milwaukee brewing company had a similar idea.
As time went on people started to get sick from drinking stale beer and conflated the fever dreams with religious experiences while the newly emerging "Church of Light" and "Reverend Bud" took on mythological proportions. His rivals the "Miller's Sons" didn't take off and instead became the boogeymen of the story.

Even though people can brew decent beer they'll go to ridiculous lengths to get their hands on stale, hundred year old cans of bud light so they can drink it, get sick as fuck and as a result have a religious experience.
Survival of this religious experience is far from guaranteed since they're literally drinking a cocktail of poison. Has a lot of the same connotations as a native-American vision quest.

I actually really want to run a game in this setting now.

Over the years, the Church of Light has folded into the Catholic Church and many Neo-Catholics worship Reverend Bud as the patron Saint of Alcohol and Parties. Very few monotheist Bud worshipers remain, and they're widely regarded as slightly heretical and misguided eccentric drunkards by the Neo-Catholics, plenty of agnostics and atheists with a taste for alcohol ironically worship Reverend Bud as a joke.

The followers of the Backwoods Gospel believe Reverend Bud was either an angel sent by God or a Prophet who spoke to God, that God tasked with spreading joy and faith to the hopeless in the dark times.

The Bud Light manufacturing plant has become a Shrine to Reverend Bud, and a scrap metal buddha-like statue of him stands outside the factory in the ruins of the parking lot. Buddites, Neo-Catholics, followers of the Backwoods Gospel, and Party-goers alike make pilgrimages to the Shrine and put aside their differences to have a party there on "Bud Day", March the 17th, Reverend Bud's birthday, recognized by wastelanders as a holiday to let loose, get drunk, and enjoy the world God made.

Old world high-rise architecture has mostly fallen apart and been summarily scrapped by survivors, meaning large cities like Dallas and Austin are made up of simpler structures with a few remaining skyscrapers. As a side note, The Corporation is based in the ruins of Austin

Alongside some old classics like deer also several new species that came from mutation are hunted though they generally don't get counted to be in the same categorie as other mutants.

One example would be the so called "Station Badger" which is actually a mutation of the old field mouse, they are commonly found in the fields along the bio refueling stations where you can usually buy a few diced pieces of their roasted flesh.

Me to, it's turning out extremely well so far. I figure it could use an organized army of slavers.

The Red Silk is one of the last trading cartels in the world, and they deal in one necessity abundant in the wastes: humanity.

The slavers are mounted upon vicious warbikes and trucks. They garb in red silk and black leather, and wrap their heads in bloodstained shawls. They utilize clubs and bats, and are armed with non-lethal firearms. Harming their merchandise is a great crime.

They have a circular network of settlements, who agree to offer the Red Silk sanctuary, while the slavers offer their catch in the marketplaces. Their Princes rule with iron fists, dressed delicately in silk. Soft to the touch, cold and hard beneath.

The Red Silk is also a plague upon the unworthy and unwary, snatching them from their makeshift yurts, shipping them across the wastes and even beyond the mountains.

When you see the dust rise in the wastes, and silk fluttering in the wind: run fast. They'll value you more if they know you've got good legs.

That's actually way better than where I was going to take the concept.

+1

>badass setting
> Lovecraftian Masquerade
well so much for that

Almost too cute to eat, if they weren't as big as cats and wouldn't like gnawing into motorcycle wheels at stops.

Though kids do like catching and taming them, you can even teach them some tricks if you are patient enough.

I liked the initial idea in the OP too but oh well, maybe in another thread another time.

I'm a little bit curious now, could you tell us what you had in mind?

I like the idea to, and there's nothing stopping anyone from making a new thread based on that premise. I would myself, but I'm away from my PC and file of lovecraftian art.

That was me.

> Lore

The Corporation doesn't practice out and out slavery, but only because it's not as profitable as wage slavery and enslaving those in debt to the Corporation.

>Could you tell us what you had in mind?

I had a vague idea of giving them some sort of splinter sect that was opposed to consumption of any alcohol other than beer because "whiskey dick" prevents the faithful from acting on the Reverend's second commandmant of "getting laid."
I was also going to provide them with some kind of direct opposition in the form of some teetotalers and expand on some sacremental practices like maybe a form of beer pong or other drinking game standing in for the christian practice of communion.
I stopped because the specifics I kept typing out sounded way more retarded than even what I just wrote.

Like I said, for reference

This is way better.

Not sure of the exact locations of most things, we know the Khanates are from the south and that the Iron Sons have access to Area 51 which is in Nevada. Feel free to input where you think The Corporation, Fort Kickass, and any other major players are.

Post-apocalyptic Europe caused by a near endless WWI where people still fight each other on basis of nation but don't remember why.

you start in 1970 as the Great War continues, trying with a small band of runaway soldiers from both sides trying to find "Ambrose" an island that the war never touched so you and your brothers can finally live in peace.

>Khanates come from the southlands and are basically savages. Infighting is constant and when they do stop warring to attack, the civilizations of the Wild Wastes come together to fight the common enemy
>Christianity survives in two forms, Backwoods Gospel and Neo-Catholicism
>Neo-Catholicism is basically modern Catholicism with a splash of the old crusading variety.
>Backwoods Gospel is full of fanatical believers and supernatural legends
>Mutants are the scourge of both
>The Iron Sons are self appointed lawbringers.
>The follow a set of rules called "The Code"
>Their HQ is unknown by the masses, but in reality it is at Area 51
>Most roads are deemed public access and not controlled by any one faction, however, The Corporation does upkeep those important to their operations and charges modest tolls to pay for it
>When Marauders try to muscle in towns or sometimes the Iron Sons push them out in a hurry unless they keep moving
>Guns are plentiful, ammo is not. The blunderbuss and muzzle loading rifle are back in style due to relative cheapness of ammo
>The corporation is the only source of advanced ammo (excluding the stockpiles held by the Iron Sons)
>The flow of trade changes if bandit groups can hold onto stretches of road, detours become popular and more small towns spring up
>Fort Kickass is a bastion of neckbeards with a strict "No Women" policy
>Mostly harmless they are sustained by taking in orphans
>They also collect deck'Em cards and hold an annual deck'Em tournament, the only time they open up to the outside world.
>They are rumored to have at least some martial arts training
>Agriculture is still strong and wheat is a staple crop
>Mutated animals are favored hunting game, including the humble "Station Badger" A mutated field mouse and another staple food

The Grand Canyon is a thriving settlement, with mazes of tunnels cut into the walls and long bridges strung across the canyon. It's one of the few places that accepts anyone, so long as they have something to trade. Most caravan routes begin and end in Canyon City, and clearing them of bandits is a constant chore.

>At the start of the apocalypse two men from beer brewing companies distributed shitloads of beer.
>As a result the "Church of Light" to "Reverend Bud" was formed, telling stories of the evil rival "Miller's Sons"
>Decent beer can be brewed in the wastes but there is a premium on stale old cans of Bud Light
>Drinkers report religious experiences in the style of Native-American vision quests
>Neo-Catholicism has excepted Bud as the patron saint of Alcohol and Parties
>Backwoods Gospel believes him to be an angle or prophet
>monotheistic bud worshipers are rare and many do it out of irony and a love of alcohol
>March 17th is Bud Day, a religious holiday where all three branches celebrate in harmony
>Many pilgrimage to the shrine to Rev. Bud in Milwaukee, the old Bud Light manufacturing plant
>High rise architecture has been mostly dismanted
>The Red Silk is an organized army of slavers named so for the red silk and black leather they wear.
>They are ruled by a monarchy or oligarchy by a prince or princes
>They travel far an wide, including North into the mountains
>The Grand Canyon is a thriving settlement
>The canyon is a system of tunnels and bridges
>It is the trade hub of the Wild Wastes
>Bandits house here commonly as well

After the event that fucked the world the Mexican government collapsed and in its power vacuum stepped various drug cartels who all wanted complete power over the country.

The Mexican military was out of work and the drug cartels started buying them out paying the soldiers to wage civil war against the other cartels and teach their expertise to normal citizens for more manpower, most played along to support their families.

Soldiers that died got replaced by their sons and daughters who continued the fighting to in turn continue supporting their families, it became a perverse tradition to teach the firstborn to fight and kill passing down military knowledge down the line which over time fused with the brutal nature and viciousness of the cartels.

After countless years of the war among themselves the earth was scorched and the people could no longer live of it, they turned to nomadism and old stories of their ancestors that wandered north in search of a holy land resurfaced, mixing up rags to riches stories of relatives that immigrated into the US with the biblical Exodus story of the Jews leaving Egypt in search of Israel.

The Khanates to this day continue fighting because their ancestors did while moving up the land, striving to become a masterful fighter became a tradition.

Their gods are a mixture of old patron saints and legendary drug lords like Pablo Escobar.

To be honest, that sounds hilarious, but it's probably a better idea to go with the other user's suggestion.

A map? That's great and you should feel great for making it. I think Fort Kickass would be up in Southeastern Utah, because if I was a mentally challenged neckbeard with a horde of manchildren following me and I wanted to build a fortress to keep out women, I would put it in Utah.

That's a brilliant idea user, but,

it's a little late for that.