The harsh hand of justice

LAW is one of the most powerful organizations in the Wastes. Thus it was about time to add something about the judges and their ways to the scorched earth materials.

In the rusted trunk of the wreck you find...

This list of tables can be used to find out what kind of scav the characters pull from the ruins in a post-apocalyptic campaign. It was designed with GURPS in mind and with regard to a group where a member with a level of 14 or lower in scrounging was seen as a half-blind no-good lackadaisical waste of skin. Players may want to skip this list, as reading it might spoil some surprises. Or you may inform yourself to keep your game master honest. This list also is part of the scorched earth materials post.

The White Zones

No one goes there, therefore it is logical that there would be lots of tales and opinions about them. An addition to the scorched earth materials post.

Drop

Drop - a settlement in the middle of the Great White - has been added to the scorched earth: materials post.

Tanktown

Where do you get your fuel-fix? That's right: in glorious Tanktown! In German.

Compassion

Compassion - another settlement in the Corridor - a House on the Rock. In German, with a map.

Scorched Earth: Some Material

This post will be updated now and then with background information concerning my GURPS: Scorched Earth campaign. Mostly, this is stuff which someone living in the wastes could know if he lived in or close to the settlement depicted, or had a high merchant, armoury or area knowledge skill pertaining to the stuff described - and it may appear quite detailed. Nonetheless, this is surface information: Things a kindly stranger could find out in a few hours. The true secrets of these places and people will stay just that - secrets.

Mostly, this stuff is in German, but I will upload English versions when I have the time to translate. All files are on google docs, in pdf.-format. I make no profit from these things - apart from the joy of bashing things together and watching where the parts land - and neither should you.

Basics

How the world came to pass: Two voices tell the legend of the Fall.

A map of the world

Ein Glossar der Einoede: A few choice selections from the many sociolects, cants and tounges of the wastes. Also explains the "normal" take on some things after the Fall, like slavery, analphabetism, money and the like. The English version is up-to-date, and will be updated in the future.

Weiße Zonen: Do not go there. Because if you do, all your guardian angels can't follow you. The cursed places of the waste. In German.

A shopping list: This list puts a price to lots of things an explorer of the wastes might find useful, services rendered and artifacts pulled from the ruins. The law of supply and demand applies with a vengeance, prices will vary wildly from settlement to settlement, and the stocks of most traders deplete really fast.

Ruestungen der Oede: A chart and description of common ways to keep a person's body from harm, be it fists, blades or bullets as well as some opinions of notorious wasters, explorators and innocent bystanders on certain kinds of armor. Intended for use with GURPS, but with slightly changed values. In German.

Guns: A range of firearms suitable for use in the wastes. The stats are for GURPS, although I have tweaked them in favor of a higher accuracy - now it is possible to hit someone from across the room with a rifle. The stats are for guns in mint condition; the weapons the characters will come across normally have a higher malf and a lower acc.

Hinkommen: A treatise on vehicles in the wasteland, what to drive and why, how to trick it out and to pimp it and GURPS-stats so that you can take it out if the situation demands it. In German.

Plündern wie die Profis: A list of tables detailing valuable and not-so valuable finds in the ruins. Can be used as described, or just as an inspiration. In German.

Some new GURPS disadvantages: If your character ain't broken, he should be fixed. Here are some brand new dysfunctions to make your character's life interesting. The list will be updated when I think of new ways to limit a figure's usefulness and likability.

The powers that (want to) be

LAW: Headquartered in the shining city of Memphis, the judges expand their power year after year. In German.

Benefactors: An order of traveling doctors. In German.

Magnum Opus: The righteous will prevail. They must prevail, before the Almighty judges them. In German.

Deathdealers: Wherever their stripped-down dirtbikes go, death and mayhem are sure to follow. In German.

Yaddaheads: They'll sell you all the drugs you need for those freakish t-shirts you found in the ruins. The next day, they'll do their damnedest to shoot you because a butterfly told them to. The batshit crazy, barking mad doctor feelgoods of the wastes, in German.

Gorgons: While no one is quite sure whether they qualify as ferales or as gangers, everybody knows a story about the Gorgons' daring attacks and their ability to melt into the wastes and to move unseen among their foes. In German, some spoilers.

Going places

Blessing: A nice town just down the Vever from Holy Flame City. Enjoy all the amenities of the big city without the usual hassle, even if you are a wanted man. In German.

Chalice: The wastes have their share of desperate places - but here, this desperation is married to a great hope. In German, with a map.

Compassion: The second settlement in the Corridor and competitor to Mercy. In German, with a map.

Drop: In the middle of the howling Great White lies a small settlement, keeping the road between East and West open. In German, with a map.

Edjera: The pious are picking clean the bones of the old world, in the name of Allah, the All Merciful. In German.

Elene: A small camp of scavengers, close to the great necropolis of Chicago. It might not have a future, but some people will make sure that it's fun while it lasts. In German, with a map.

Five Rules: If you need a new gun, or new guns, or ammo to feed you guns, Five Rules is a good place to be. It might be a bit out of the way, though. In German.

Goats: Hope you like goats, there's not much else. Unless you start to turn some stones and use your eyes. In German.

Holy Flame City: They say that there are only three cities that matter, three cities that count. Holy Flame is one of them, and arguably the richest. In German.

Huron Beach: A small community close to Detroit. Expect low tech and rampant religious mania. In German, with a map.

Little Rock: A settlement of scavvies deep in the ruins of Little Rock. In German.

Mercy: An important settlement in the Corridor, home to 1200 souls and frequently used as a base by groups of explorers. In German, with a map.

Perfect: A very fitting name for the headquarters of the Yaddaheads, the wasteland's prime suppliers of fun-drugs and not-so-fun-drugs. Some people say it is in the middle of nowhere, which prompts many people to go nowhere fast. In German, with a map.

Pike City: The hub of trade in the far North, ruled by a hereditary dynasty even before the Fall. In German, with a map.

Point Transit: This is the gateway to the Far West, or to the Desert Heart, a bastion of LAW or a hot spot of Deathdealer activity east of the Great White - depending on your perspective.  In German, with a map.

Refugium: An isolated community of knowledge-seekers, a "monastery", some say. In German, with a map.

Tanktown: A place in the ruins of Detroit where they exchange your plastic trash for high-grade fuel! In German.

Tirespires: A place you don't want to be...but sometimes, one does not have a choice. In German, with a map.

White Tower: A community in the shadow of a large broadcasting tower, at one of the most important points of the Vever. In German, with a map.