>Basic Concept Inspired by the mod for CK2 called After the End. This is my attempt to shamelessly steal-- I mean collaboratively create a setting with Veeky Forums. The setting is a "Medieval America." That is, knights and castles and all of the great shit from Europe in North America. What little remains of the Old America has come to us through a centuries-long game of Telephone and is mostly corrupted and wrong. Why? Who cares? If an apocalypse -- we're talking a pretty heavy one, probably with nukes and plagues and all manner of shit, and we're hundreds of years after the fact with most of the "ruins" you see in Fallout no longer existing. We're not just trying to recreate 'Tribals' here. Preferably, a low fantasy, Conan-style setting with the odd supernatural critter in the deep and wild places but mostly humans running around cutting each other to pieces.
An easy way to contribute is to pick your state or your area and write some shit about it (especially easy if someone's already written about one part of the state and you want to flesh it out some more). >A Neo-Norse movement coming out of the Great Lakes region: literal Minnesota Vikings >A Roman-style Imperial Cult of the Founders and the early Presidents on the Eastern Seaboard >Duke Walton V Disney of Orlan, Ruler of the Magic Kingdom. >Amish as the setting's Elves -- having survived and thrived and preserved some of their tech (isolationist, though) >A Mormon Kingdom of Deseret in Utah >California as a Promised Land (which turns out to be a wasteland of mutants, cannibalistic savages, and ritual cults which slice off your dick) >Indiana ruled by The Hoosier, using the bones of old roads >Plains Indians playing the role of nomadic raiders like Mongols/Huns >Rust Belt religion devoted to surviving, rusted artifacts, a temple in a still-surviving factory -- Henry Ford as a prophet >Cheyenne Mountain Complex as a Holy Grail.
A notice, pinned to the board of a Inn near the most southern fringe of the Viking's Territory.
>A Warning to All Northbound Men! >This land you wish to traverse is that of the heathen Norse! >Be Warned, Ye Who Enter This Accursed Winterland! >Tho' She is populated by disparate chiefs and Tribes, all hold in sacred common belief but one truth - "No soul but their own is beloved by Þor, and all souls not beloved, shall die."
Duluth = Dyewlutte
Minneapolis = Minæþulis
Milwaukee = Milwækæ
Marquette = Murkiþ
Bentley Clark
I'm just here to rep MN, but there's also massive refugee populations from Somalia and SE Asia in the twin cities too.
Andrew Kelly
Nukes from the apocalypse'll clear that out.
Basically, the United States is slowly repopulated by folks who lived out in the most rural areas.
Jace Peterson
...
Jose Edwards
That makes sense, would there be a resurgence of native americans since reservations don't have military bases or other nuke targets?
Asher Brooks
The above map is missing the great swathe of Indian Territory that makes up most of the land between the Rockies and the Christian lands around the Mississippi. Indians are nomadic hordes of horse archers.
Blackfoot crossing into Canada. Lakota Sioux in the Dakotas and southward. Comanches after that, going into Texas. Apaches going into Arizona.
Brandon Gonzalez
Sorry I can't add much, but I appreciate the consideration for individual tribes and cultures. Seeing native cultures reduced to a shaman stereotype is way too common.
Caleb Stewart
>The Papal Palace in Chicago >His Holiness ruminates over the current situation, wondering if the heirs of St. Peter felt the same way when Rome was besieged by the barbarians >Once again, Chicago is attacked by the northern heathens. All of Milwaukee has been emptied and the Norse now descend on the Holy See. >Men have flocked to its defense from Indiana, Iowa, and across Illinois. Knights have even arrived from Tenesi, bearing the holy cross. >Not for the first time the Pope considers abandoning the Central Sea and moving his residence south to safer pastures
William Reyes
I used to run a setting like this. Most of it was shit. Only a few things stand out in my memory.
1) Combination of comicbook fanboys, typical American Wild West mythology, Sikhs and community workers from bad neighbourhoods laying the foundation for a cult of CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE. They travel the lands looking for injustice to crush, kill, destroy and the only thing they ask in return is some food, water, a whet stone and a roof. Religiously and culturally agnostic, they only care for JUSTICE. They probably carry around copies of copies of copies of copies of what originally were normal criminal lawbooks.
2) Wizards in orbit/Moon/Mars colonies. Their resources are too slim to freely travel between space and the Earth, and surviving in space has turned them into post-human genetically engineered cyborgs. The information they can give to people is extremely cryptic - language changes everywhere on Earth, but not in space. Education levels on Earth have dropped dramatically since WW3, but not in space. This means, even if the sky wizards wanted to re-educate the Wastelands on the past, they wouldn't be able to communicate the history of mankind properly. Instead they scour communication channels for interested Earthlings and try to give them at least a little bit of information. Some people use that information for good, some people use it for evil.
I've got more, but I specifically started out with a post-cyberpunk setting that suffered through first WW3 and then WW4 (in the span of a few weeks), so some of the things in my old setting might be a bit too hightech for your tastes. I bet the Sky wizards are already pushing it.
Blake Wilson
Nah. I like the SkyWizards, so long as they're not common or directly influencing people all of the time. Kinda like how the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, which nobody's found/been able to crack, is probably full of old hightech shit. But it's a mythical, holy grail-type objective for the players.
>"There's a place, somewhere in the heart of the rockies, where Old America still waits. Wonders and powers beyond your wildest dreams, where the Exec of Old America and all his family would retreat in times of distress. He's just waiting for the right time to come back and to fix everything that's gone wrong.
Kind of a King Under the Mountain myth, too.
Wyatt Diaz
These cultures or countries or whatever are WAY to big for medieval societies also why would one of the most heavily Protestant parts of the country suddenly become catholic? You said the country is being repopulated from the rural regions right? Well the Catholics are all in the cities in the Midwest. I love the concept but this map needs a major overhaul.
Jonathan Howard
Read the Key. These aren't full kingdoms. These are just cultural and regional areas. I mean hell, the Kentucky/Tennessee area is literally "Border Kingdoms"
Henry Lewis
>California is a waste land full of mutants.
Also has a roaming mad max-like caravan full of people that plunder and raid.
Josiah Allen
>base the whole setting on a ridiculously over the top post apocalypse setting where everything is based on america's sports teams, now half remembered myth
let's fucking do this
Alexander Smith
Yeah I read the key even if they're cultures they are way to big. There would be ALOT more variance over shorter distance without mass transit or mass communication. Think about how long it takes to go from place to place when the fastest available transport is probably the river. Look at a map of European countries that historically had very distinct cultures and realize how little land area is involved. The map needs to be reworked. Also side note: border of what?
Nathan White
"Border" because nobody bothered coming up with anything for them. Essentially, they're separated from Dixie by the Appalachians, but these are heavily Protestant areas, differentiating them from the Catholic Areas.
And it's not just major cities where you find Catholics in the mid-west. Someone posted a make-up of religious representation across the country in the old bread. Feel free to make your own map.
They dun moved to Vegas!
That was the inspiration with the Minnesota Vikings. Norse with actual horned helmets and purple face paint. Oakland (or Vegas) Raiders is a good one, too. The idea for Texas is that it is a mess of warlike rival fiefdoms and baronies based around College and High School football teams.
Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs are the setting's Mercenaries/Condotierre.
>Hell's Angels, their horses a glittering panoply of baubles and trophies won on the field of battle. >They came from Out West many years ago, with the scars and scalps to prove they survived Indian Territories. They had no stories of the shining cities of Cali -- but they were a solitary and violent bunch a few pressed. >"The Devil's Own" will fight for whoever promises the greatest spoils. >They are famous for their brutality. Often times, a lord will learn his rival has hired Hell's Angels and surrender on the spot
Andrew Johnson
Yeah I saw that map looks like most Catholics turned into neo-Norse. Seems like your not into feedback so sorry for bothering you enjoy your day.
Ryder Jackson
>Yeah I saw that map looks like most Catholics turned into neo-Norse. That's a problem how? The Scandinavians didn't stop raiding the moment they became Christian you know.
Despite ATE's placement of them around traditional sites (such as Los Alamos) given the end of the world happened, presumably via nuclear war, there'd probably be new nuclear hotspots.
I'd suggest creating a band of Atomists centred around the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, and extending into Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Cheyenne and Laramie County would probably be the prominent nation there,
Nathan Torres
Umm you read the thing about "heathen Norse" right?
Christian Torres
Given how some of the fucking retards on /pol/ talk, just about anything that isn't a mentally braindead Evangelical counts as a heathen in the USA.
Charles Murphy
Are we...are we basing this around /pol?
Nathaniel Diaz
I was making a joke.
Anyway, the apocalypse is at least 300 years ago. 300 years means a lot of religious shifts can happen.
Aaron Edwards
I mean, hopefully. If we want it to be good.
Dominic Myers
Talking about braindead Evangelicals... what about batshit insane Evangelical preacher "zombies"? They're so batshit insane and fucking hostile to everyone, they never hold territory for long, so they just roam the lands in small groups, trying to take over weak communities and slowly morph into "zombie hordes" big enough to take over a town.
Like TV Evangelicals mixed up with that GOD HATES FAGS GOD HATES MARINES GOD HATES UR MUM church.
Andrew White
I got a map, too.
This is cool.
The Norse worship a butchered version of the pagan faith.
Christopher Brown
>>point out problem with how things are arranged on map >>OP handwaving and dismissing >>Check archive, OP has been trying to get this thread off the ground for three days now >>never had more than 23 posters >>same stuff over and over again where someone tries to point out problems and OP reacts by handwaving and being dismissive Are you wondering why very few people seem interested in your idea?
Also what is the enormous kingdom of mormons eating?
Bentley Johnson
>Also what is the enormous kingdom of mormons eating? Underwear.
Liam Anderson
>OP handwaves Literally responding as best I can. You asked why the regions are so big. I said why and told you to make your own map and told you what I was basing the map on -- large cultural regions. You think they're too big. Okay, then suggest what their size should be.
Don't be some random faggot who comes in, shits on everything, and then throws a fit when everyone doesn't suck your dick for answers.
Owen Russell
>never more than 23 posters
Check the OP? The original thread?
If you're just here to be a dick, then fuck off and never come back? lol
Leo Gomez
>one star That breastplate is two angles away from being Puerto Rico, which still works, admittedly.
Having a Puerto Rican knight present at tournaments in the continental US would be kind of interesting.
Adam White
Okay, thinking about the Neo-Norse...
Make their focus north of the Great Lakes, in Canada, with them raiding the southern provinces for resources. Their greatest settlement would be on Manitoulin Island.
Religiously, they're Neo-Catholic, although their Saints have become quite different from the ones we'd recognise today. Mainly they worship God, his wife Mary, and their child Christ the Martyr. (So yeah, they'd be heretics to modern Catholics) They may also have incorporated bits from the First Nations in the area.
Brody Thomas
>Tho' She is populated by disparate chiefs and Tribes, all hold in sacred common belief but one truth - "No soul but their own is beloved by Þor, and all souls not beloved, shall die."
Why no Þor?
>Some preacher comes through -- why do we still worship the Christian god? The end came and there was no rapture. Worshiping Him brought nothing. I have found these artifacts -- they tell of an older faith, one abandoned by our forefathers with the coming of the ChristChild, but one which is truer and better for the world today.
Hunter Ward
>Far away Cuban and Puerto Rican knights travelling leagues to the Potomac Tournament for all the Knights of Washington.
Mason Perry
100s of replies isn't hundreds of posters user how's the "project" been going since then? I'll give you a hint the attitude of "fuck off" thrown at anyone who points out issues with this has been about as successful for you guys as it was for the Democrats.
Lincoln Rivera
Holy shit this isn't the 3rd thread, it's like the 6th! OP's been lying all along
Jason Wilson
wait what huge kingdom of Mormons? Did i miss something? As for what they eat i'd point out that they managed to survive as an agrarian society in utah for quite a while, and that Idaho is decent crop land. I've got an uncle there who's a farmer. I can't believe that they can't grow crops since I know for a fact they did and still do.
Nathaniel Morris
Vegas makes an even better setting for the raiders.
Dominic Perez
I've been casually readings these threads. Fun stuff. I dig the Neo-Norse idea, but I think claiming that most of Wisconsin would be Neo-Norse is inaccurate. I would almost suggest adding a separate group that rivals the Neo-Norse that revolves around the Green Bay Packers. The football rivalry runs deep enough to survive any apocalypse in some form. Ignoring that, I think Madison should be outside of the Neo-Norse area, unless there is some story about how the Neo-Norse took Madison away from the Catholic Kingdoms.
has a point about Catholic vs. Protestant for Midwestern areas. The cities have more Catholic churches than the rural areas.
Luis Davis
A lot of these weren't directly mapped on. I assumed that something like a conquest or evangelism was responsible for the southern and western expansion of Catholicism, as well as Norse control of norther Michigan and the UP, as well as much of Canadian and Wisconsin Great Lakes territory.
For the Norse, I figured that the cultural/religious strength and ambition of the Norse revival led to lots of expansionism in the area. This could make Madison and Greenbay the site for potential crusades.
Though, honestly, I think most people in the setting will be more interested in a Founder quest to take and secure Mt. Rushmore and the cults of Washington, Jefferson, etc.
Parker Jenkins
>Though, honestly, I think most people in the setting will be more interested in a Founder quest to take and secure Mt. Rushmore and the cults of Washington, Jefferson, etc Probably, but as a Wisconsinite myself I would definitely run an adventure in the ruins of the city I'm living in.
Benjamin Fisher
The big Mormon kingdom on the map. What amount of post-medieval technology does your anecdotal family member use? The only reason agriculture is possible there (and California, hell most of the Southwest) is shit a bunch of neo-feudals would not have access too.
Gavin Rodriguez
Make it smaller if you like. I was just extending it to cover a little larger than Utah because Mormons are in Idaho and the surroundings. Probably claims Zion and Monument Valley but the southern part of Utah is too dry and hot to actually live in.
Jason Barnes
Idea. If you unleash several deadly (bioweapon) diseases on the world AFTER WW3 (like say scavengers trying to loot an US army bio/chem storage facility), you can really decimate the population, and probably delay the formation of civilization with say 500 years or more.
You can even stack more post-apocalyptic disasters on there. My own "Medieval America" homebrew had like four post-apocalyptic disasters happening after WW3, always kicking whatever civilization was trying to rebuild down, allowing me to let something like 1500-2000 years take place. That amount of timeframe REALLY allows you to fuck around with culture and religion.
