Fallout: Kansas City (Worldbuilding, Mechanics Building)

[The Laurent]

Warning! Very rough. Will take time to fill in. Might be slightly AU. Fallout: Tactics never happened because stuff. It begins, I suppose, with the rough draft of the intro speech. This would be a Quest, mind. But one that I won't be doing, if at all, for a long while.

******

*In a voice with a mild Cantonese accent.*

War, war never changes.

From the moment man could think, they thought of war. They wrote of war, they perfected war. Sun Tzu wrote that warfare was deception, that in the end, cunning strategy could do much, but that numbers told. That war had a logic, that war could be waged, and that any state that wished to survive needed to know the Art. Eventually man declared it a science, and studied it in great halls.

But it is people that make war, not war that makes people. The violence inherent in our species continued, and grew and grew. Communism, capitalism, democracy, none of these truly offered an end to war.

Dwindling resources and a desperate need to strengthen their own people led China to challenge the great American Empire at its height, and the world paid the price, as it was bathed in nuclear fire. Some say that America died long before the first bomb hit, but it was not one bomb, but many. For a while all was dark.

Perhaps this would have been the end of war at last, but humanity survived, inside great Vaults, and in the corners of the world that had not been hit quite so hard. And each person who survived tried to struggle with the death of the old ideologies, tried to survive as best they could. Most failed, many others were mutated by radiation, or reduced to savagery.

But humanity survived, it recovered, it grew. It changed, it adapted. It fought against nonexistence with a tenacity greater than even Mao would have thought possible.

A hundred flowers bloomed, a hundred schools of thought contended, and the way they contended was not peaceful debate, but war and repression.

It was a world in conflict, a world that struggled forward, ever forward. Far to the South, robots sacrificed men on stone tables in New Aztecha, to the West, an overextended democratic Empire prepared at once to fight against a legion calling back to the ancient past. And in the east? Peace had at last begun to reign, in some small regions, and the waters of the Potomac River ran clean. And far to the north, the Mountie Lords of Toronto fought against an invasion of mutated bears with the help of the Twelve Nations.

But where this story begins is in the heartland of what was once America, and is now a wasteland. Where a people are divided against themselves, where chaos has crystallized as might once have seemed impossible, into real governments, with real principles. And bloody ones that brook no other flowers to share in their sun.

The old world has ended, but humanity lingers onward.

And war?

War never changes.


******

More worldbuilding to come.

 

[The Laurent]

Major Faction: The Arrowheads

Overview: A raider society for whom scavenging is a sideline, and agriculture for slaves, they are based in eastern Kansas City, but raid, in packs of a dozen or more, all the way to and even past state lines. Fully 1/4th of their free population consists of full-time raiders, with the rest being technicians, overseers, breeders, retired raiders, etc--and even all of these have some combat training. In some minor ways, it's surprisingly egalitarian if you aren't a slave, ruled by the leaders of the raiding bands, known as "Coaches" who reach their position by something roughly like merit. They report to and participate in a council that advises everyone.

The head of this council is called the "Chief King" and is as much a mascot as a leader, at least in past times, though recently some have said this is changing.

Culturally, they are best known for making slaves fight to the death for their amusement and for promises of food or freedom or status. They are also known for their restrictions towards their women. Those who are not useful as technicians or raiders are treated as breeders, as are the mass of slaves, at times. Slaves have three purposes: breeding both more slaves and citizens, with a citizen taking such a slave until they had the child, at which point they'd be cast back with the rest, entertainment, and menial labor, such as the few crops they have managed to raise. These slaves and their work and exploitation allow the 'citizens' to train for war, which they call "Game Day."

Economically they are cruel shepherds to many small wasteland communities, raiding them every so often for choice loot and a hand-picking of slaves, but preferring to allow them to survive to rob another day after a few atrocities, as long as they cooperate.

Their largest actual trading partner is River Market, which buys their slaves, sells them slaves, and is always happy to extend a *little* bit of technology here and there for the right price. Even this is limited, but it certainly helps the Arrowheads survive.

Powerful enough to be dangerous, but not yet strong enough to take over compared to other major factions, they've been bribed as shock troops before. Seven years before, at the Ambush of the LIne, they helped drive a major Jayhawk raid back with the help of their 'employers' the HOusing Authority, in exchange for a number of energy weapons and some other technology.

Two years ago, they extensively raided the southern part of their former allies, the Housing Authority, in exchange for some technicians to help maintain the energy weapons and a small shipment of Securitrons. It is 'common knowledge' that it was the River Market that backed such an action.

Now they suddenly have access to large quantities of Jet, Psycho, Slash, and Bash, and they're using extensively to pump themselves up. There are dozens of rumors about who might be providing all of this, but nobody knows yet.

A brutal culture, they are also a mutated one, from the high radiation from the lack of a lot of technology, such as Rad-X and other methods, that could have helped. They prize those mutations that are helpful in battle (even at the cost of trouble while alive) and they breed for them in slaves in their grotesque breeding pits, and a slave with the right mutations might rise to be a citizen if they exhibit what the Arrowheads want.

Brutal cunning, cunning brutality, viciousness and a disregard for your life and the life of others, and a notable skill at surviving against horrible odds. They enjoy watching blood sports, they enjoy making the world into them, and you should never underestimate just what they can do, especially their painted Coaches and their viciously strong Chief King.

In addition to their raiders, both the regular ones and various elites or mutants, Securitrons and the "Home Team guard", they are also known for their heavily mutated rabid attack dogs.

Travelers beware!

 

[The Laurent]

Major Faction: Vault 42

Overview: The newest big players in the Wasteland, according to some, they have a small population, but are highly advanced, especially in energy weapons technology. They're so advanced that the explanations they give for how many of their technologies works contradicts how wastelanders understand their technology works. Speculation is that, like the theory of relativity turned Newton into an exception, so too does whatever they are doing. Either way, with several suits of power armor, and surprisingly complicated energy technology in general, they are certainly doing something right.

They are located in the southern part of Kansas City, Missouri, and they are so far beyond the wasteland as to be startling. But so far they have been content to fort up over the past decade since the vault opened up, allowing a small community to form outside their Vault doors, but keeping primarily to their original space.

Their social structure seems scientific, with their post respected scientists being their most respected leaders. Insular and secretive, they are somewhat disdainful of the wasteland, but willing to trade. It is as much ofr their potential as their actual power that they are a force ot be reckoned for.

Seven years ago they were raided by the Jayhawks, in prelude to the Ambush of the LIne.

They call their army, which seems to be very small, "Security personnel" whatever that is.

*****
A/N: Yes, this is intentionally sorta secretive on what it tells the players!

 

[The Laurent]

Major Faction: River Market

Overview: The River Market, where everything can be bought and sold, and wealth is the only measure that matters. With a permanent population of almost five-hundred but a floating population rather more sizeable, they make a living on trade, specifically their bi-monthly Mega-River Markets, and their daily smaller markets, though they also eke out extra calories fishing and taking cuts from farmers.

They are run, vaguely, by a loose coalition of the richest merchants and public figures, who all agree to contribute to the defense of the market and maintain a united political front. They live lives, by and large, of largesse and power, the movers and shakers that are the face of the River Market to the world.

The average member of the Market, however, works loading and unloading at the docks, primarily. For there are many river craft, pirates and traders, that work the Missouri River, even if it is not as used as the Mississippi. On top of that, they can sometimes work various menial positions, cleaning up storefronts, or other matters. There is a relatively small middle-class that serve as doctors, technicians, guards, managers for their betters, independent traders and merchants, and in other necessary functions.

Life for the average person of River Market is monotonous but not terrible. There are pretty good opportunities, in a place that buys and sells everything, to blow your bottlecaps on entertainment and luxuries, from pornography to choice food to fancy clothing...the list doesn't end, though their Bottlecaps tend to.

Only the very poorest residents starve to death in the streets, and they're usually at least buried somewhere when they do, and there is less risk of dying of violence in the River Market than if they were stuck scavenging the wasteland. There is greater access to medicine and even doctors, as well, even if they charge horrific rates. It's better than dying, and plenty of the rich of the River Market are willing to offer loans to be worked off.

Plus, there is always the River Market Dream. If you work hard, and you impress the powerful, you can make your way to the middle-class, as a manager or technician, and then from there, it is at least possible, and has happened in living memory, to make the leap up to the highest level. It's difficult, but so is anything worth doing, and so despite grumbling, most of the population of the River Market accepts the status quo, at least for the moment.

The foreign policy of the River Market is bottlecaps. They want to trade with everyone for everything, and resist any limits placed on this other than political expediency, as the Housing Authority learned two years before to their dismay.

Militarily, they are even more of a mish-mash than the Northern Confederacy. Each person provides what they wish, as long as it'd judged good enough, and so one businessman might provide a legion of Securitrons while another sends out gangs of menials armed with axes but hopped up on Psycho, while a third offers up professional, trained mercenaries. Somehow, more or less, it's worked so far, in part because of the economic power and policy. They've never fought a 'war' just actions of deterrence and defense of their traders.

Last warning: there are no refunds and few regulations of the market, so let the buyer beware!

 

[The Laurent]

Major Faction: The Northern Confederacy

Overview: The only group even approaching a democracy in the Kansas City wasteland, they have a long history for a confederacy less than a decade old, born of an Alliance not much older. When the bombs fell, some places were hit harder than others. State capitals were reduced twice over, while small towns across America weren't hit at all, and died of the fallout and starving times that followed. North Kansas City, with its townships and suburbs and industry, was hit less hard than others.

For the most part this just meant slow deaths over months, years, and then decades as pre-packaged food stores ran out and the ground and water were still too irradiated to easily support even subsistence agriculture. The bombs that had been sent were enough for most of North Kansas city. But the few that survived combined with later vault-escapees, noamds, and tribals to eventually make the agricultural hot-spot that is Northern Kansas City.

First, a basic run-down of some of the obvious issues with agriculture. Radiation and mutations mean that many staple crops are more dangerous, less nutritious, or in dire need of being bred back into compliance, plus the fact that in order to survive in the mildly irradiated soil, they need to be even tougher. Water is hard to get, and fresh water even worse, so you often have to rely on slightly irradiated water if you want to grow more than a small subsistence crop. And that's water you can't drink yourself.

So all in all, you're eating something less healthy, and it'll probably irradiate you some, even if you try as hard as you can. So why bother? Because if you don't eat, you die in a month. If you do eat, then maybe you'll last a little longer than that.

And North Kansas City had answers for all of that. If you didn't care about radiation, there was the river, of course, and up north was smithville lake, which wasn't hit that hard, relatively speaking, by the nuclear fallout. Which is to say it was irradiated, but wasn't as badly nuked, and thus could be used for anyone in the area. And this on top of the larger population and earlier start. But there was something even more important: the lawns and backyards. The dead and then overgrown lawns made perfect fields for the first shaky subsistence crops, deliberately linked to a home structure, and small enough for even a person or two to be able to maintain.

And the small size also meant that if one owned a whole block, they could experiment and cross-fertilize, trying to improve the breed to more easily resist the dangers of the wastes.

But this small-crop, many crops style also encouraged independence, and dozens and dozens of wildly varying communities were formed, and squabbled. They traded their sizeable (by Wasteland standards) surplus south--it was said that the first major product of the pre-River-Market was food--and it would have continued like that until the Housing Authority attempted first to subvert, and then to conquer them.

But they did, and eventually after several defeats, an Alliance and then a loose Confederacy was formed, and official war declared. After years of conflict, and with the help of the River Market, two years ago they finally won.

The Government of the Confederacy is very weak, asking for barely anything economically from each community, which, by whatever means, selects its representative for Parliament, which votes on a Prime Minister. Other than on Military and foreign policy, this body has little to say, at least in the constitution as written, and there are no common rules, even for selecting MPs.

For the first election, just a few months ago, was only sorta democratic. Some communities did not allow women to vote, some owned slaves who couldn't vote, some hippie communes allowed babies to vote 'with their souls' and others were ruled by a tyrant who believed in one man, one vote--and was the man. Each community was diverse but clearly interdependent, and without the Housing Authority as an enemy, they might fall back into bickering. So their leaders must navigate between the need for unity… and its risk of causing a fracture.

Their military, despite the heterogeneity of their people, has benefitted from common standards and used their unpredictability to their advantage in several battles. Technologically, they are pretty close, militarily, to the Housing Authority, but have a definite advantage when it comes to chemical weapons. Thanks to the experience of the war, the military is very loyal to the Confederacy and its system. Which is a bright spot, really, amid the problems and potentially missed opportunities.

 

[NemoMarx]

I'm waiting for jayhawks so I can compare them to the arrowheads.

I like the sport team raider thing though? Seems like a neat way to show changing cultural remnants.

 

[The Laurent]

I'm waiting for jayhawks so I can compare them to the arrowheads.

I like the sport team raider thing though? Seems like a neat way to show changing cultural remnants.

Click to shrink...

Though you won't be getting full knowledge of them. The people of the Kansas City Wasteland don't live near them, so...

What do you think of the factions so far?

 

[The Laurent]

Other: Ghouls

Ever since the collapse of the Rad Ghoul Commune, over a hundred ghouls going back to the fall of the first bombs, who had gathered together the local ghouls and given them what seemed to be their own purpose, ghouls in the Kansas City wasteland have been on their own. Not accepted by the Housing Authority, distrusted by the Archbishopric, but allowed among the Arrowheads if they are as vicious and cruel as them, and of course allowed in the River Market as long as they have money (the Confederacy, as always, has a mixed policy), they mostly find themselves drifting from small community to small community, finding causes and lives to live.

There are signs that this is changing, after decades cast to the winds. The Dead Poets Society and their meetings encourage ghouls to write about their experience, and there is a small newsletter and everything. But this organization is not for all intelligent ghouls, and ultimately, in the Kansas City wasteland, one lives your unlife as best you can.

Feral ghouls are somewhat rare in the Kansas City wasteland, having mostly been dealt with over the decades and centuries, but in some less reconquered or looted areas, and in a number of still sealed quasi-Vaults created by private individuals, you can still find plenty of feral ghouls, including a number of strange, glowing ones.

 

[The Stormbringer]

I like them! Plenty of diversity in there. I find myself open to the ghouls, and potentially fond of them. Especially if there's a lot of writers, poets, and artists.

 

[Ulster's Hound]

You'll definitely have to include a faction for the Mid-West Brotherhood of Steel. They are based just north west in Chicago and play a pivot-able role across the Wasteland.
They are the fathers of the east-coast BOS chapter and embrace the 'True' values of the BOS.
Namely we are the best, we are the only ones who can use technology and if you have something more technological than a toaster we will shoot you for it.

Even if you ignore their involvement in Fallout Tactics, they would be a great faction, as the represent both a major threat and major boon, depending on character choice. Particularly in regards to Ghoul characters, which the Mid-West BOS are NOT fond of.

P.S.

Major Faction: Vault 42

Click to shrink...

Out of curiosity, are you going to keep the canon experiment Vault-Tec did on Vault 42? Because a vault of people wearing sunglasses at all times due to light sensitivity is funny to me for some reason

 

[The Laurent]

You'll definitely have to include a faction for the Mid-West Brotherhood of Steel. They are based just north west in Chicago and play a pivot-able role across the Wasteland.
They are the fathers of the east-coast BOS chapter and embrace the 'True' values of the BOS.
Namely we are the best, we are the only ones who can use technology and if you have something more technological than a toaster we will shoot you for it.

Even if you ignore their involvement in Fallout Tactics, they would be a great faction, as the represent both a major threat and major boon, depending on character choice.

P.S.


Out of curiosity, are you going to keep the canon experiment Vault-Tec did on Vault 42? Because a vault of people wearing sunglasses at all times due to light sensitivity is funny to me for some reason

Click to shrink...

Oh, there was a canonical Vault 42? I legitimately didn't see one when I wiki-walked.

And, I considered having the Brotherhood of Steel be a faction, but at the same time, while it's not apparent yet, there are actually a lot of factions involved, including two that are 'off-screen' at the start of the game but could play a major antagonistic (or not) role in the wasteland.

So I'm not sure if there is really room for more than, say, a few hints of their existence or rumors about them.

Okay, to name some other factions I haven't shown yet, but have written. The Jayhawks, as were mentioned, a tribal faction with laser weapons and (where did they get them?!) Vertibirds. The Archbishopric, a drug-fueled matriarchial religion that has top of the line medical tech. And the Housing Authority, an authoritarian and dystopian society that controls people from cradle to grave and seeks domination of the wasteland. And there are stories of great powers to the east and west, dangerous powers indeed.

So some of it is a fear that I'll overload the setting with major factions (as opposed to minor ones, where it's 'the more the merrier.')

******

If that all makes sense?

 

[The Laurent]

Basic Timeline

2160: Saintism (the religion of the Archbishopric) founded.
2174: First "River Market" agreement signed.
2182: Housing Authority formed.
2185: The New-Wasteland Society falls into civil war, breaking into splinter factions that are eventually absorbed or destroyed, leading to a power vacuum that the various factions, most notably the Authority, try to fill.
2188: Second "River Market agreement" signed.
2195: The Rad Ghoul Commune collapses, and ghouls are forced to make their own way in the wasteland.
2198-2208: The rise of General Redfield, a mercenary who unites various communities, seemingly as part of a scheme to resist the Housing Authority and other threats that were viewed as pressing. Over time he seems to grow into a tyrant, declaring that he would create an "Empire From the Ashes."
2206-2212: Sporadic conflict eventually flares up into a series of skirmishes and eventually full-on sabotage and warfare that is later known as the "Housing Authority-Redfield war." The ultimate results are disputed, as both sides are greatly weakened, but in the end the General was forced to flee, vowing he would one day return. The Housing Authority eventually recovers and, with few rivals for central Kansas City, it begins to expand again.
2223: A large group of super-mutants arrive in Kansas City, and fort up among the small group that had been terrorizing the area around the so-called "Vault Z." Over time this group would grow to be a large threat, but at the time, some even thought they might be allies against the HA.
2225: The Arrowheads are founded, and began ravaging the eastern Kansas City wasteland, smashing several once-powerful communities in the process.
2236: Third and final "River Market" Accord signed.
2245: Housing Authority Civil War. Victor...hard to tell, especially considering they deny the war ever happened.
2249-59: The Housing Authority turns its attention north, beginning to trade more with the River Market and the area of the future Confederacy. They are at first welcomed partners, but they begin to grow overbearing and controlling as time passes.
2251: Jayhawks raids begin.
2263: In response to a trade disagreement, the Housing Authority attacks and razes the city of Liberty. The battle is remarkably one-sided, and begins a pattern of aggression and threats that are tantamount to actual war.
2265: Battle of North Oaks. Another community among North KC falls to Housing Authority influence, turned into a colony that exports almost all of its food south.
2269: After a long meeting, a "North Kansas City Self-Defense Alliance is formed."
2271: In the first real battle of the slow-boil war, North Lakes, the Alliance manages a tactical and strategic draw with the Housing Authority.
2272: Northern Declaration of Independence signed. Vault 42 opens.
2273: Amid increasing pressure and as the war begins to really ramp up, the Northern Confederacy proper is founded, with an interim government that swears that it will become democratic upon the conclusion of the war.
2274: Jayhawk raid on Vault 42 ends in the Ambush of the Line. HA and Arrowhead victory that encourages the Authority, now seemingly freed up from many of its troubles, to take a more aggressive stance.
2275-9: HA-Confederacy war heats up, becoming a full-on confrontation, with hundreds of combatants on each side.
2278: Housing Authority severs trade ties and tries to sabotage the River Market, claiming that they were trading with their enemy. The River Market doesn't get what the big deal is, and retaliates, it is believed, by sponsoring a large Arrowhead raid into the Housing Authority which does crippling damage.
2279: The Housing Authority signs peace with the Confederacy. They can fight no more.
2280: The Housing Authority turns its attention south, to trying to 'save' the wasteland from the growing Super-Mutant threat, which had indeed exploded over the past few years into what seemed like an attempt at conquest. Late in the year, campaigning and debate for the Confederacy's first election begins.
2281: Confederacy holds first election. Arrowhead raids intensify. River Market seen meeting with Vault 42 officials. Game begins.

 

[Ulster's Hound]

Oh, there was a canonical Vault 42? I legitimately didn't see one when I wiki-walked.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it was only mentioned once in the Fallout Bible. The experiment was to replace all light bulbs in the vault with 40 Watt or less versions only. Possible to check the effects of long term light deprivation on the Vault Dwellers.

If you feel like you can't squeeze in factions like the Mid-West BOS, perhaps have them as special/random events.
As the events of Tactics didn't really happen, you could instead have the BOS be traveling across the area in land convoys or in their airships, traveling between the the East Coast BOS, West Coast BOS and Texas BOS.

 

[The Laurent]

Yeah, it was only mentioned once in the Fallout Bible. The experiment was to replace all light bulbs in the vault with 40 Watt or less versions only. Possible to check the effects of long term light deprivation on the Vault Dwellers.

If you feel like you can't squeeze in factions like the Mid-West BOS, perhaps have them as special/random events.
As the events of Tactics didn't really happen, you could instead have the BOS be traveling across the area in land convoys or in their airships, traveling between the the East Coast BOS, West Coast BOS and Texas BOS.

Click to shrink...

That could always work, yes.

As far as it goes, I don't want to spoil anything, but Vault 42 is NOT a control group.

 

[The Laurent]

Other: Super-Mutants

Only recently a large problem, Super Mutants have been a minor threat for living memory. Coming entirely from an area known as Vault Z, beneath the sewers, they were characterized and seemed to act as very dumb, but startlingly well-armed monsters, employing surprising teamwork and yet having few goals other than violence.

It was when a traveling pack of them forced their way into the Kansas City Wasteland and took over the other Super Mutants that they became a problem. Bigger, with different skin colors and definitely far smarter, they have kept to themselves socially, with very little known other than their intelligence and that they answer to a "War Master" of some description. They don't seem to age, and they are very difficult to kill.

Over the past decade, they have begun to raid en masse, stealing humans away to propagate their species by means that they always seemed to have, but have now done far more in the past decade than in their entire time here. A new breakthrough? New leadership? Nobody in the wasteland knows, but what they do know is that Super Mutants are a species that can afford and does put far more of their effort into war than any community can manage, and combined with their technological and natural advantages, they have been a scourge on the small independent communities of the wasteland.

Recently the Housing Authority has declared that it will wipe them out, slaughtering all of them and saving the wasteland from their evils. But it seems to many as if what they actually intend is to integrate and conquer the entire center of Kansas City using them as an excuse and an enemy to rally against.

For those living in the war zone, it seems a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea.

*****

A/N: I'm actually stealing and altering a point of Tactics, sorta-kinda. With the Super-Mutant travelers. Obviously, there's a lot more to them than this, but since the average Wastelander just knows that they're hostile and need to die, well.

 

[The Laurent]

Other: Creatures of the Kansas City Wasteland

Kansas City is home to a number of dangerous animals, as well as more than a few useful ones. The mutated and radiation changed creatures are both a help and a hindrance in the Kansas City Wasteland. These are the most common such creatures.

Bobcatfish: So named for their predatory nature, these giant fish make incredibly good eating, if you can catch them, and are most commonly found in the Missouri river, highly mutated, with skin like steel and dozens and dozens of eyes. They can top in at over three-hundred pounds, and they eat flesh. The flesh of other mutated (but less dangerous) fish, and the flesh of those who try to catch them. They are mostly a danger to fishermen and any fool who tries to retrieve anything in the water.

Brahmin: Large, mutated cows, Brahmin are as common in this wasteland as they are in many, though they serve a slightly less prominent role as transportation pullers than in the west or east, owing to Mumules. Still, their milk and meat are both prized products, and the River Market sells cured Brahmin meat from both the Confederacy, the Archbishopric, and further up river in great job lots. Made into jerky, it can last quite a while. Brahmin, even Brahmin bulls, are not that large of a threat, as things go, though in the old stockyards, there are sometimes stories of mad Brahmin, infected with some terrible disease.

Deathclaw: There are few Deathclaws in the Kansas City Wastelands, and most of them are the result of a tactic General Redfield 'perfected'. He captured large numbers of them and unleashed them on his enemies, and of course they got loose, spreading rather more than anyone could have hoped. Deathclaws, for those unaware, are huge, reptilian monsters with twelve-inch claws that can go through anything short of power armor with distressing ease.

Mumules: Mutated horse-donkey hybrids that are, somehow, now fertile, they are as stubborn as pre-war donkeys, and stronger and tougher than pre-war horses. They have only one head, startlingly, but they are larger, with cancerous growths here and there on their body by the time they reach their full age, and their teeth are far sharper, having transitioned at some point from being a herbivore to being an omnivore. They are incredibly common in the Kansas City wastes, and are the primary form of transportation not on foot, hauling goods for the River Market and others.

Mutated Dogs: Oddly the most common real threat to wanderers in the wasteland are rabid and feral dogs. Man's best friend, and sometimes domesticated and controlled by people, there are varieties that are far too mutated and far too dangerous for anyone but a madman (of which the wasteland has plenty, mind) to want to keep for a pet. Creatures with spines on their back, with venomous bites, dogs almost the size of a man, or with a bony, hard skin that can deal with most small arms fire. These creatures breed, sometimes even with wolves, and so a regular and distressing danger are roaming packs of such creatures, hungry and ready to kill. This also means that they are usually dealt with by any competent military or government...but in the wasteland, that, unfortunately, is less common than it should be.

Radroach: A tough and vicious creature, and common in the sewers, the desperate sometimes lock them up and breed them to be slaughtered and eaten, though the strong radiation of such beings, the foul taste, and the occasional side-effects of some varieties of these oversized roaches makes it not anyone's favorite action.

Rad-Scorpion: Much rare than out west, there are still some here and there, and while not a major threat compared to many of the other dangers of the wastes, they are enough of one that if possible, local residents will avoid them, which has certainly helped keep them common, as they fall (with the exception of the largest and most dangerous of them) in a sort of middle-ground that makes them not worth spending resources to exterminate...but too dangerous to simply brush aside.

Redstag: Two-headed mutated deer, they are startlingly common not only in the eastern portion of the Kansas City Wastelands, but all the way up into Confederacy area. They are often hunted, for their meat is quite tasty and there are plenty of them to go around, though in recent years their numbers have begun to decline, at least around the Confederacy and thanks to the Arrowhead actions. Still, the hunting continues. Their stags can be very dangerous if provoked, with very sharp antlers that are twisted enough that a single stab will usually do the kind of damage that even the best doc would struggle with.

Terror Spider: The Brown Terror Spider, as it is called, is about two-thirds the size of a human being, and highly, disgustingly venomous and poisonous. They possess the ability to shoot web that is nigh-indestructible, and they are startlingly fast and stealthy, and take a lot of bullets to kill. There are only three good things that can be said about these carnivorous monsters. First, that they are highly territorial, and thus do not hunt in packs, at least not the normal variety. Second, that they aren't the giant variety of them which has been rumored but never seen. Third, that they aren't the Black Terror Spiders, which are said to be a hundred times more dangerous. But no reports have ever surfaced from anyone who has said they've met them. This usually reassures people until they think about it for a few moments.

Yao Guai: Mutated brown bears, exposed to high doses of radiation until they are very dangerous indeed, they are usually called by other names in the Kansas City Wasteland, and yet share much with their east and west coast siblings. Huge, strong, and surprisingly intelligent, they are somewhat territorial, and though they appear something like ghouls, they at least seem to mimic the lifecycle of an ordinary bear, and can and do have offspring.

 

[NemoMarx]

Bobcatfish: So named for their predatory nature, these giant fish make incredibly good eating, if you can catch them, and are most commonly found in the Missouri river, highly mutated, with skin like steel and dozens and dozens of eyes. They can top in at over three-hundred pounds, and they eat flesh. The flesh of other mutated (but less dangerous) fish, and the flesh of those who try to catch them. They are mostly a danger to fishermen and any fool who tries to retrieve anything in the water.

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This sounds amazingly good eating. Fried catfish are already awesome, I want fried bobcatfish now.

I think maybe it'd be a bit hard to get them, though.

 

[The Laurent]

This sounds amazingly good eating. Fried catfish are already awesome, I want fried bobcatfish now.

I think maybe it'd be a bit hard to get them, though.

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They were actually a last moment thought. I was like, "Wait, shouldn't the river have its share of stuff?"

 

[Shadow]

As a Kansas City Native, I wholeheartedly approve of this project. I just hope we see more of the KCK side of things, mostly because that's where I'm from and the age-old rivalry is too great to pass up.

 

[The Laurent]

As a Kansas City Native, I wholeheartedly approve of this project. I just hope we see more of the KCK side of things, mostly because that's where I'm from and the age-old rivalry is too great to pass up.

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There are two major factions there, though it might be slightly out of focus. Or could be, depending on the choices made if this was a game.

 

[The Laurent]

Major Faction: The Jayhawks

Overview: Few know much about them in KC, MO, and fewer still listen to the apologism of their neighbors, the Archbishopric, not when they are listening with terror for the feared war cry of these people: "Rukchak!" Around thirty years ago, the raids began. Strange tribals, dressed in armor and often wearing blue or bird feathers prominently, began staging organized and often very careful raids using the fast speed and power of Vertibirds to strike anywhere in a matter of hours, giving them a massive advantage that, when combined with the skill of their warriors, was hard to beat.

It is true that, unlike the Arrowheads, they respect surrender, will rarely kill unarmed men, and almost never engage in the kind of rape, destruction and torture that the Arrowheads are infamous for, but in a wasteland where being robbed of everything can still mean a death sentence, this wins few kudos. They usually raid not for food, but for technology, valuable trade goods, and of course bottlecaps. Unlike the Arrowheads, they don't need food from raiding to survive, that much anyone can guess.

Seven years before, at the Ambush of the Line, they lost two of their six Vertibirds, and since they they have luckily been far more cautious with their raiding, and have even traded a little bit, now and then, with River Market.

But the Archbishopric knows far more. The Jayhawks and their predecessor tribes go way back, and they have expanded almost entirely peacefully, through trade and cultural assimilation, absorbing other tribes and creating a society that, startlingly, cares for all of its members and tries to prevent schism and division or the excess accumulation of power. They even care for the old and they spend a good deal of time using their method of 'Teaching Circles' in which a rotating group of adult experts teaches small groups of children, taking some as apprentices, but making sure that the education is both broad and personal enough that finding apprentices is easy. This caring for kin and village loyalty is said to be central to how they live. Despite their raiding, they make almost all of their living off of agriculture and trade, and have declared that they are unwilling to raid their friends and trading partners.

They have a rich cultural life, their own language, and a religion that observers from the Archbisohpric describe as "heretical, but interesting" revolving around birds as the messengers of the Gods, and a cycle of reincarnation.

But, under circumstances the Archies claim not to know, they suddenly gained access to Vertibirds and technology beyond the guns that they had had before. This side-stepped any reluctance to raid neighbors by allowing them to raid distant enemies, and their education system was easily turned to training up people capable of flying Vertibirds and maintaining both the birds and the energy technology they also seem to have discovered in some numbers. The raids have supercharged the local economy.

Contrary to fears, not all of the warriors of the Jayhawks are as terrifying, well-armed, and skillful as the warriors that go on raids. Instead, only the best and smartest are allowed to go raiding rather than hunting for food. They test who deserves to go through games, competitions, puzzles, challenges and examinations, designed to hone the mind and the body, and also encourage a spirit of comradeship. If the group does not gain victory, what does it matter that one person excelled, and yet if the person does not excel, then the group cannot win. This mindset means that each raider is an incredibly good team player, but also dangerous on their own, though it also means they cannot be easily replaced in the case of a massacre such as the Ambush of the Line.

Finally, what about "Rukchak"? The answer is not all that comforting. In their religion, the Ruk is a bird-spirit that carries away dead souls into the sky. Chak, in their language roughly translate to "glory." So 'Glory to the Ruk.' This is not just a religious cry, it is also a declaration that…

The Ruk will soon have new souls to carry away.

 

[NemoMarx]

feared war cry of these people: "Rukchak!"

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Yesss! Best raiders.

 

[butchock]

hmmm... followed... new tech and vehicles would also be nice plus war-bikes, a combat bus and the highwayman!

 

[The Laurent]

I'm working on more, but I was wondering! I was wondering about the soundtrack. Not that this is an actual game, but it's fun to have silly thoughts like, "What would the soundtrack be like?"

I think that there should be a lot more Jazz and Blues in this than in most. And maybe hit on some counter-culture themes more? I'm not sure. But Kansas City was the center of a hell of a lot of Jazz. Hrm! It's just a side-thought. I promise I'm working on more updates for the worldbuilding.

 

[NemoMarx]

Standard Fallout music is old pre war stuff, which is fine and all, but what about modern music?

Shouldn't the Saintists have made some things? Or war hymns for the Jayhawks, or something?