49 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE COALITION COLONIES Friends WILD PSI-STALKER TRIBES Tribes of wild Psi-Stalkers inhabit the Frontier as well. These communities are mainly nomadic, though at least one group has attempted to create a small “trap town” near a ley line, hoping to lure in psychic or magically active travelers they can feed upon. Being near a ley line also draws supernatural creatures to these natural monster hunters. The region’s largest and most successful Psi-Stalker tribe is the Nighthowlers, led by a charismatic and ambitious Psi-Stalker named Null. This tribe is infamous for raiding communities in the Frontier, hunting both the Comanche and the Coalition settlers to steal their valuables and feed on the arcane energy of any psychics or magicusers amongst their community. Enemies Bands of outlaws, raiders, undesireables, and smugglers round out the usual suspects troubling the region. RAIDERS Juicer gangs out of Newtown occasionally make daredevil expeditions into the Frontier, seeking violence, entertainment, and money (not always in that order). Outlaws hiding from the Coalition and refugees from the war on Tolkeen also travel through the Frontier, and more than a few tend to settle down if given the opportunity. THE BLACK MARKET The Black Market runs caravans through the Frontier to reach the more lucrative markets of the New West or heading east to get into the rest of the Coalition States. One of the favored tactics of the Black Market is to hide their illicit goods in robot animals—including dinosaurs!—and mix them in amongst a herd that is already moving in the desired direction. THE TOMORROW LEGION IN THE COALITION COLONIES The Coalition Colonies have potential for the Tomorrow Legion. It presents numerous opportunities for the Legion to make a difference in the lives of struggling farmsteads and towns. BROKERING PEACE The Coalition Settlers and the Comanche need someone to help broker some kind of peace between them, and there are no doubt several scholars and magic-users who would be eager to make contact with the Great Little Ones. Naturally, there are also many evils to fight on the Frontier. The Worm Wraiths are probably the most dangerous and most pervasive threat facing the region, but there are also numerous wild animals, monsters, bandits, gangs, demons, and worse that roam around the Frontier. The Hunger that afflicts the region is the more subtle problem but possibly the one that would be hardest to deal with. It would take truly dedicated heroes to come to the Frontier, analyze where the Hunger comes from, and devise an effective plan to eradicate it, and then survive to make it happen.
50 Encounters for The Coalition Colonies The following tables are for generating encounters, see Travel in Savage Worlds. * See The Game Master's Handbook. § See Savage Foes of North America. † Roll on the Opposition Leader table in The Game Master's Handbook. ‡ Roll on the Other Authority Figure table in The Game Master's Handbook. CLUBS | OBSTACLES D6 RESULT 1 Enclosure: A solid wall of Mega Damage alloys topped with razor wire wraps around 1d6+3 × 100 acres. Trespassing starts a Chase with 2 Coalition Sky Cycles and their pilots§ per Wild Card. 2 Coalition Checkpoint: A small outpost staffed by 12 Coalition Grunts§, 6 Technical Soldiers (equal mix of Gunner and Technician MOS)§, and a Coalition Junior Officer§†, in a Mark V APC§. They spotted the heroes first. Run a Social Encounter for the players to dissuade them from calling in air support. 3 Bridge Washed Out: Recent rains swell the rivers and the raging current tears down a bridge as the heroes cross. Getting ashore is a Difficult Dramatic Task. Each hero loses a piece of gear for each missed token, and critical failures run the risk of someone Drowning — see Hazards in Savage Worlds. 4 Tornado: A tornado tears through, shredding trees into deadly flechettes. Run a Dangerous Quick Encounter as the heroes struggle against nature's wrath. 5 Earthquake: The earth bucks beneath the heroes' feet. Everyone is knocked prone, and must make a Fear –2 check. Additionally, anyone with a vehicle or mount must make a relevant skill check at –4 to avoid taking a Wound. 6 Torrential Downpour: The sky's swollen belly breaks and no one can see further than 5 feet ahead. Ground washes out from under the heroes' feet and whole hillsides threaten to sweep them away. Run a Dangerous Quick Encounter as the heroes seek higher ground. HEARTS | STRANGERS D6 RESULT 1 Settler Militia: 3 Militia§ per Wild Card patrolling the edge of their settlement on foot. A retired Coalition Military Specialist§† leads them. 2 Coalition Scouting Party: Same results as The Game Master’s Handbook but at half strength. They're hauling their dead and wounded back to base after fighting a large contingent of Worm Wraiths. 3 Fox Hunt: 5 Militia on horseback, led by an AWOL Coalition Grunt§†, comb the area on the hunt for 3 Simvan§‡ laying low (Notice –2). If the "hunters" spot their quarry, they run them to exhaustion. 4 SAMAS Patrol: A small patrol of 3 Coalition SAMAS§ and their leaders roars overhead. The commander, a Coalition Junior Officer§†, will probably want to fight but his second, a Military Specialist§‡, may not. 5 Pop-Up Enclave: Roll on the Pop-Up Enclave generator on page 62. 6 Homesteaders: A small wagon train of 30 Civilians§ and 8 CS Grunts§ led through the wilds by a retired CS Ranger turned Wilderness Scout§‡ and their Headhunter Techno-Warrior§‡ wife.
51 DIAMONDS | TREASURE D6 RESULT 1 Gutted Coalition APC: This Mark V APC§ idles on the hillside, its front door torn off and the interior repainted with its infantry payload. There are no signs of what did this. A flashing light indicates a retrieval team is on the way; run a Dramatic Task to loot the vehicle before they show up. 2 Dataslate Cache: A cache of hacked Coalition vocational dataslates. They teach basic literacy in American with 2 weeks of study. 3 Concealed Workshed: Camouflaged with the woodlands, this enormous metal crate contains: machine lathes, L-20 laser pulse rifle schematics, the raw materials to produce 50 rifles, an E-clip charger, and a small nuclear reactor. 4 Space Junk: Debris and flames streak across the sky as a satellite module survives re-entry and impacts the Earth 1d6 miles away. Roll on the Enemies table twice to determine who else is investigating. 5 Abandoned Farmhouse: A log cabin with all the accoutrements of common life. A CS military radio is hidden in the rafters alongside a C-18 laser pistol§. 6 Skelebot Graveyard: A robotic mass grave full of valuable electronic parts and power sources. Conduct a Relic Salvage Operation, if any cards drawn are Clubs, run a Quick encounter as Skelebots§ awaken and attack the heroes. SPADES | ENEMIES D20 RESULT 1 If Things Weren’t Bad Enough: Roll once on that table*, and again here. 2–3 The Plot Thickens: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 4–5 Risks and Rewards: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 6–7 Witchling War Party: One Witchling§ per hero, all under invisibility, track the heroes and attack with Surprise when they are either making camp or resting. 8–9 Coalition Settlers: A band of settlers traveling with two wagons full of supplies head into the Frontier to start a new home. The lot have been spooked by something and seem a might touchy. There are 3d6 settlers, use Militia§, led by a retired Coalition Junior Officer† with an itchy trigger finger. 10 –11 Comanche Preserve Patrol: One shaman† and 1d6 Spirit Warriors (see Arcana and Mysticism) on horseback. 12–13 Traditionalist Comanche Camp: A group of d12 local Comanche (see Creature Manual) work to set up a small hunting camp. They’re eager to trade information about the area in return for food. 14 –15 Worm Wraiths: 5 Worm Wraiths (see Arcana & Mysticism) hunting for fresh victims during a thunderstorm. 16 –17 Great Little Ones: Watching and helping a small group of Comanche. There’s one of each type: Hunter, Nurturer, and Stone Thrower (see Creature Manual). 18 Coalition Scouting Party: Same results as The Game Master’s Handbook. 19 Neuron Beast: One Neuron Beast§, hungry and attacking from ambush. 20 Creatures from the Rifts: The heroes face rift-spawned opposition. Use the It Came From a Rift tables to generate the encounter. If appropriate, roll once on the Opposition Leader table and once on the Other Authority Figure table.
52
53 CHAPTER FOUR THE HIGH PLAINS F or most people, Kansas’s High Plains are synonymous with the only reason to come out to that miserable place: looting the entombed ruins of a pre-Cataclysm city called the Labyrinth. BACKGROUND Shortly after the War on Tolkeen ended, scavengers discovered the area's sunken buildings. The silt-smothered structures stayed whole, with the ancient constructions retaining their integrity. The stories, fissures, and cavernous galleries bleed together into a maze earning the name "the Labyrinth". Its warrens run deep, wide, and artificial, unlike anywhere else found on the continent. No one is sure how deep the metropolis goes though some records suggest at least 600 feet. Once inside the subterranean skyscrapers, eager salvagers breach walls, windows, and floors searching for the next cache of technological relics, pick the floorplan clean, and tunnel in another direction for the next lode. Initially every dig yielded a secret bounty but the situation changed when the Labyrinth’s existence went from a quiet rumor to a thunderous stampede. Now, the Plains crawl with prospectors like a dog with fleas. Though the region was once a sparsely populated No Man’s Land between CS Lone Star’s northern border and the Comanche Preserve’s heartland, the High Plains now boasts a diverse cast of troublemakers and specialists from all over North America: Lazlo archaeologists, Pecos bandits, Ishpeming carpetbaggers, Coalition spies, Tolkeen refugees, Kingsdale mercenaries, and Arzno prospectors to name a few. All are looking to get rich on the relic salvage "gold" strike or take advantage of the region’s lack of centralized law. The highest concentration of newcomers clusters around the boomtown of New Dodge City in its surrounding tent encampments. Outside the boomtown’s bright lights and chaos, popup enclaves provide food and shelter on the open range. The Labyrinth itself provides a ready source of building materials while the most desperate huddle in the honeycomb of hollows and hideaways underground.
54 The Black Market maintains a loose semblance of ‘order’ in the region, and Bandito Arms specifically, from New Dodge City. Leery of continued Coalition encroachment, Bandito relies on the region’s lawless nature to facilitate their transit of restricted technologies and other contraband from their manufacturing facilities further west to the various smuggling conduits crisscrossing Coalition territory. While the Preserve primarily collects taxes from trade and transit, the Black Market provides a range of civic services for a price—whether a caravan requires protection crossing the plains, a prospector registers a claim, or a young girl seeks revenge for the murder of her parents. There’s a fee for it. Especially since the Comanche favor material barter over immaterial credits, everything costs more, and Bandito puts a high price on justice. Anyone unable or unwilling to pay such cutthroat prices can seek help from local Tomorrow Legionnaires or the Vigilance Committee. Bandito takes such a mercenary attitude because they know the High Plains operation balances on a knife’s edge. Any further participation in local affairs will require a soft touch since the continued cold war between the Comanche and the Coalition provides the gray space for the entire lawless operation’s persistence. On the one hand, New Dodge City seems blessed with the grace of Comanche indifference. While bands pass through the region following game animals on their migratory routes, the Comanche seem more concerned with the quiet edge of Coalition colonization efforts and especially Vendetta Squads. Small-time prospectors digging up the past are beneath their notice as long as ongoing trade with Bandito remains timely. Anyone with greater ambitions, such as extensive homesteading or large-scale mining, will find their efforts frustrated as Comanche bands descend upon the trespassers. The Preserve only gives special dispensation to the Prairie Rose Pit, owned by the Pahnaixte. On the other hand, the Coalition has taken note of Bandito’s larger enterprises, and does not approve. From this angle, the New Dodge City junction poses a risk to the Black Market and Bandito, especially considering the smuggling network links out west to El Diablo. In many ways, hopes for New Dodge City’s continued independence rests on the Coalition’s expansion being bogged down by ongoing conflicts. The flatlands surely won’t stop the skull-faced war machine once it starts rolling westward in earnest. In the face of imminent Coalition aggression, Bandito is at a crossroads. They can abandon everything they have built in the area, sell out to the Coalition, form a regional alliance with the Preserve and the Tomorrow Legion, or further legitimize the Comanche Preserve’s preeminent position in the region. Getting There Formally entering the High Plains is a matter of contention. The grasslands stretch beyond the flimsy borders set down by humanity, and travelers easily wander across the arbitrary boundaries between Coalition Frontier and Comanche territory. Who controls a particular range frequently comes down to who has the most guns and a willingness to use them. Approaching from Castle Refuge requires negotiating Coalition hill country and the Comanche Preserve’s open range. A northward trek from the Pecos Badlands or CS Lonestar prefaces a similar experience with the fraught Red River fording. Travelers from further west, like Bisbee or Arzno, have their world hemmed in as the Western Wall (the Rockies) breaks down into flinty foothills and ten-foot-tall prairie grasses stifle sightlines.
55 The well-to-do might spring for a train ride on a TW Ironhorse from the Baronies to Junction. This luxury voyage includes some brief, unannounced stops in the middle of nowhere. These “coyote stations” act as linkages between economies, loading and unloading cargo, contraband, and passengers as needed by interested parties. Many would-be prospectors rendezvous with guides and disembark with goods and vehicles in the tallgrass, heading straight for their final destination: New Dodge City. Entering the Labyrinth demands more deliberate action. Most prospectors plumb the ground with specialized equipment and start digging wherever they find a promising spot. Some might get “lucky” when the ground collapses beneath their feet and they plummet into the tangled tunnels bored by miners long departed or subterranean predators looking for a quick snack. While laborers and adventurers take a job with Prairie Rose or an independent prospector, both need security and eager hands down below. History Well before the Golden Age, Dodge City faced the grave. The city slumped into socioeconomic irrelevance as all the industries and opportunities once supporting it dried up. However, its demise abated when the Old American Empire pivoted its geopolitical focus inward and capitalized on Dodge City’s continentally central location. Infrastructure investment spurred rapid expansion, and it soon became the convergence point among multiple hyperloops and transport networks, spurring its rapid growth and transforming the dying metropolis into "the Detroit of the West.” At the Cataclysm’s onset, other megacities fell victim to destructive forces, leaving Dodge City relatively untouched. Reeling from the initial onslaught, NEMA routed refugees and emergency supplies to Dodge City. It was a poor decision in hindsight when the sky tore itself apart with magic’s violent return to the region. Spindly cyclones PECOS RAIDER WITH L-20 PULSE LASER RILE
56 reached down from above, set to the task of absolute destruction. They clawed deep into the earth in search of something. It’s a credit to Golden Age construction that so much survived. When the wind finally stilled, Dodge City was good and buried—over two million souls sentenced to suffocate in the Plains’ dusty bosom. Since the Great Cataclysm, the High Plains have hosted a panoply of violence. The Simvan swarmed across the flats on thundering beasts, clashing with Comanche warbands while would-be settlers echoed their forebearers with brazen attempts at scraping a living from the grit. Eventually, the wind knocked down their homesteads as the tallgrass choked out their crops and entwined unmarked graves with roots, leaving a sea of bones beneath the swaying grass. Beyond the Labyrinth's discovery, not has much changed for this region. Geography Two features dominate the High Plains’ topography: the prairie and its howling winds. Once known as the Great American Desert, an endless horizon bisects the world into a cold, blue void above and vast grasslands below. The tallgrass shrouds the terrain, only broken up by the occasional tupelo stand, sparse prairie flower bloom, sinkhole’s shadow, or tower of smoke rising from mining rigs. The stark monotony obscures a lethal paradise with the constant dynamism of incursion and conflict, life and death, playing out in slow motion. The grass’s constant companion is the wind sweeping down from the icy highs of Rocky Mountain peaks and whipping through the range’s flinty foothills—picking up a murderous echo along the way. With a long cry, the wind stirs ten-foot blades into a rustling frenzy for miles and gives way to other, stranger sounds like the hum of a distant gong or disembodied voices. The ever-present keening reinforces human insignificance against the soul-shrinking vastness. Nowhere else is the wild blue yonder this hostile to the human spirit. Mind your trigger discipline out here. Stray shots'll touch off wildfires. —Doli Paxton, Merc
57 LIFE IN THE HIGH PLAINS The Labyrinth draws the desperate and the opportunistic for their cracks at making fortunes. The number of jobs outnumbers the hands to do them while fear of Lone Star’s border marching northward fans the rush for treasure while it can still be had. Seasoned prospectors feel the window of opportunity slowly closing. Until then, a canny entrepreneur will find countless ways to secure a future in this insecure frontier: plying a trade, operating a registered claim, working security for New Dodge City’s mayor, bushwhacking folks with salvage, tunneling into another’s storage, or killing a prospector for their spot. Where will you be when the Fever strikes? Races & People The people living on the High Plains share one commonality: unless someone is born on the High Plains, no one comes from the High Plains. Without local culture to assimilate into, folks fall back on familiar patterns echoing lives of a distant home. People from Kingsdale settle in New Dodge City or build up lonely steadings into proper settlements. Pecos bandits never stray too far from their horses. Ishpemingers pitch tents and sell excess meat they just harvested. Though the region draws mostly humans, the High Plains attracts a sizable number of Grackletooths. Something about the highrisk, high-reward lifestyle speaks to them. Society & Government Though the scofflaws of High Plains come from all over, with few common traits, a patchwork culture has knit itself together in recent years. Now life in the tallgrass revolves around the virtues of resourcefulness and respect. Guiding lights are sure to get someone home and keep their body whole. The High Plains are a lonely place, and folks out in the flats may only be able to count on themselves. When the high-tech engines of industry meet the Kansas grit day after day, technical difficulties will arise. Everything breaks sometimes, and the world won’t wait for the trip back to town for proper repairs. This constant demand fuels the brisk trade in secondhand equipment and parts in New Dodge City as prospectors make their fortunes and sell their equipment for a ticket out of town. Good prospecting equipment shares a ramshackle appearance held together with baling wire and spit. Anything shiny and new is intrinsically untrustworthy. Who knows how it might fail? If a secondhand auger’s mounting bracket breaks, a prepared prospector will bind it back together with a bit of wire and get back to work. Folks don’t know who they might encounter out on the Plains, but no one is unarmed, so folks treat each other with care and high regard. At first glance, the adage “an armed society is a polite one” runs counter to New Doge City’s reputation as a rough and tumble town, but keeping a conflict to fisticuffs shows respect for an opponent’s murderous expertise. This is an especially prudent policy given the Fever’s corrosive effect on already low trust and general goodwill. Similarly, tenderfoots might get the side-eye and a half-measure of trust, but they are still worthy of respect unless they prove otherwise. After all, they packed it all up to risk their fortunes in the weeds and the grit, just like everyone else. The High Plains’ third, unspoken virtue is greed. Or maybe hope. At its core is a desire for a brighter tomorrow and the willingness, or ruthlessness, to make it happen. This tunnel vision doesn’t seize everyone in the High Plains, but the Fever curdles it
58 into malignant selfishness and paranoia for many unfortunate souls, who become afraid unknown others will take what little they have. Their Fever-stoked paranoia casts others as thieves and scoundrels, and they only trust thieves to covet what they don’t own. When you can only trust yourself, you are only safe by yourself. This extreme isolation sows the seeds for a local malady called “prairie madness,” a condition rife with feelings of dejection, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. Factions Unlike the Comanche's citizens or the Coalition’s settlers, the High Plains rakehells lack a single origin point or culture. Instead, they fragment into a potpourri of in-groups with overlapping interests. Whether worksites, politics, hometowns, or hobbies, they all have something pulling them together. Only a few factions in town demand exclusive membership, and even then, the lines might get blurry. The Vigilance Committee, Bandito Arms, and the Pahnaixte wield the most local influence and draw the other factions to their poles of power Bandito Arms: Traditionally the Black Market’s gunrunning division, Bandito developed a unique identity within the larger syndicate during the War on Tolkeen. Now their legitimate arms dealing business dwarfs their illicit trade. Combined with New Dodge’s economic and geopolitical explosion, Bandito has heavy choices to make. Do they sell out and put the Black Market behind them? Do they escalate hostilities towards the Coalition or the Comanche? Or do they give up direct control over New Dodge? If they emulate Northern Gun, becoming a recognized polity in their own right, the Coalition will not let Bandito’s brazen misdeeds go, to say nothing for any hurt feelings the Black Market cartels will nurse. The Pahnaixte: (‘Those Who Live Upstream’ in Comanche) Since the Labyrinth’s discovery, some Comanche asked a pertinent question: “why shouldn’t we benefit from the resources on our land?” Enter the Pahnaixte, an extended family related to the Sarii band with interest in the outside world. Leveraging their Preserve connections, the Pahnaixte dowsed an exceedingly rich and deep lode in the Labyrinth. This claim expanded into the Prairie Rose Pit, the largest mining operation in the region and the region’s single largest employer besides Bandito. Additionally, they’ve bought several general and specialist goods stores in town, offering special discounts to their employees, recouping those labor costs. While the Pahnaixte generally stand apart from the other peoples of New Dodge, they maintain a small compound, so their presence is felt and noticed. They’re entangled as deep as anybody. Jayhawks: A crude citizen’s militia with a desire to protect New Dodge City. While good intentions fueled their early actions, since then the Vigilance Committee seized their reins. The Jayhawks now blithely defend Vigilance Committee interests in New Dodge City with little thanks. Tin Stars: A loose network of mercenaries in Lucinda Kent’s employ dedicated to peacekeeping and mutual aid. If a fight escalates beyond a brawl, the Tin Stars end it. If someone needs help, the Tin Stars give it. However, intermediation is proving increasingly difficult with the Fever running rampant. Tolkeen Refugees: Possibly the newest arrivals in the region, the displaced Tolkeenites swiftly set down roots and began a brisk trade with anyone interested in the Labyrinth. They loathe Coalition encroachment and its manifestation in
59 the guise of CS citizenry, prospective or card-carrying. Vigilance Committee: An organization of “concerned citizens” determined to force “law and order” upon the unruly streets of New Dodge, the Vigilance Committee is mainly a cabal of business owners from the Coalition States who bought the Jayhawks’ loyalty to pursue their larger goal: CS annexation. Though formal conciliation with the Coalition is some time off, the Vigilance Committee sees no problem with establishing a piece of home right where they are. Despite being outnumbered on all sides, the Vigilance Committee’s greatest strength is a lack of uncertainty and the unity of purpose eluding their opponents. Wicked Witches: These air elementalists run a protection racket across the High Plains. They charge a weekly fee from prospectors, homesteaders, and anyone else they feel they can prey upon. If anyone resists paying, t he Witc hes s h e p h e r d a cyclone or two through their site. They will happily nudge the windstorms southward into Lone Star for a higher fee. The Fever (THE INFESTATION) A nagging soul-sickness haunts the High Plains, and no one is immune, wherever one man covets another man’s windfall: winning a month’s worth of credits in a single hand of cards, a reputation for kindness drawing an unrequited love’s eye, or dragging an incredible bounty free from the Labyrinth’s dusty grasp. Whatever inspires a green-eyed hunger swiftly blossoms from an itch to a frenzied willingness to kill and take: Tempers flare. Guns clear holsters. SNAP, hisssssssss and the wind snatches up what remains of the soul. Call it envy. Call it greed. Call it jealousy. Call it whatever you want.
60 The locals call it "the Fever,” a malady characterized by a fierce willingness to murder others spurred on by envy for another's good fortune. Initial panic blamed the prospectors delving down into the Labyrinth. Folks considered it a “prospector’s disease” and avoided the Golden Age salvage for fear of a taint. But their aversion didn’t stop the murders and bodies from piling up. It seems only a matter of time before someone uses the Fever as an excuse to seize their heart’s desire with a path paved by innumerable unfortunate corpses. HOW TO USE THE FEVER IN YOUR GAME The Infestation’s symptoms in the High Plains are known as the Fever. This disorder gives weight to the ruthless greed stirred by the region’s gold rush and the selfish attitude endemic to the High Plains. Here are some ideas for implementing the Fever: Big Man Plans: Once the heroes get to the High Plains, discuss how the region makes them think about their future. Describe the landscape as a blank canvas. As they travel across, ask them what desires they would impose upon the Plains they tread. Make notes of their grand ambitions. Bone Deep Resentment: The Haves reject the Have Nots. New Dodge is full of meager palaces for small men’s big ambitions. Describe the New Dodge establishments in ways that echo the players’ Big Man Plans. When they attempt entrance, rebuff them. Give them a hard time. Tarnished Values: After a few days on the Plains, mention that all heroes feel unfulfilled. All their heroic acts seem stripped of meaning. Their goodly natures stand in the way of getting what they want or changing things for the better. While down in the Labyrinth, ask the heroes what they hope to find. They substitute their Hindrances per the chart below. If they don’t have applicable Hindrances, they may choose one of the below Hindrances. They do not gain anything from this Hindrance. Fever Dreams: The heroes dream about attaining their wildest dreams before being betrayed by a friend, a companion. After waking up, some may discover they are missing key or valuable equipment. If they search, then they find it in someone else’s pack. A World Built on Spite: After a week or more on the High Plains, the heroes feel Mammon burrow his grip deeper into their souls. Every hero starts each session with one less Benny, and they can only gain more Bennies by indulging their Tarnished Values, progressing their Big Man Plans, or acting out Fever Dreams. Heroic Greedy Loyal Jealous Code of Honor Suspicious Overconfident Ruthless Pacifist Vengeful Vow Driven
61 Technology Compared to neighboring regions, the High Plains are an oasis of high technology. While Fort Comanche lacks the facilities for producing high-tech equipment and the CS Settlers must make do with what they can carry, New Dodge occupies an intersection of trade routes. Every week caravans laden with contraband and the latest Bandito hardware roll in, eager for the High Plains’ bounty. Mining Gold Age relics from the Labyrinth demands specialized technologies, especially cybernetic augmentations like mining drills that can turn one man into an entire, lucrative operation. PLACES IN THE HIGH PLAINS Horror Factor: −2 The High Plains share the Comanche Preserve's unenviable geographic position but just a bit more on the fringe. The proliferation of dig sites and man-made landmarks make it easier to navigate than expected by experienced travelers. Fields of Fire Horror Factor: −3 Bandito has an arrangement with the local Simvan. In exchange for transit assistance, Bandito eliminates any burgeoning or prospective rivals to the established chieftains’ power. Whenever Bandito receives a ping and coordinates, they test prototype weapons, power armor, and fighting vehicles almost ready for production against whatever they find in the area. With exterior appearances approximating Coalition equipment, most notably SAMAS power armor, the blame easily slips onto the framed nation state's forces. These field tests have happened often enough, the area thrums with an eerie disquiet and the tallgrass never quite recovers. Monument Rocks Horror Factor: −4 These limestone arches and buttes jut high from the soil where the grass grows thin, choked out by the chalky grit; antediluvian remains trapped in spire flanks. The rocks mark the tenuous border between Labyrinth and Prospect. Under the cold moonlight, fossilized memories come to life as ghosts of prehistoric life fill the air with a passion play of predation. One particular formation called the Eye of the Needle draws the Two-Faced Star People’s interest. They believe it is a doorway to their lost homeland. Maybe they could push it open if they release enough PPE in the area. The easiest way would be a mass human sacrifice. THE HIGH PRICE OF LIVING The High Plains region is an expensive place to live and hang around. The constant stream of gold and mercenaries combined with the Comanche Preserve’s divorce from the credit economy means nearly everything is more expensive. Increase all prices by half their base costs. For example: a vibrosword costs 11,000 credits elsewhere, but in New Dodge City it costs 16,500 credits. All rewards and bounties are similarly inflated.
62 Pop-up Enclaves Horror Factor: −2 One part work camp, one part general store, one part travelling show and one part armed caravan. While the pop-ups can’t compete with New Dodge in goods or comfort offered, they are incredibly convenient. The enclaves traverse the Plains as wagon trains of flatpack buildings bolted onto large, allterrain wheel assemblies until they settle down by a work site or homesteads. Then they transform into an impromptu town square, erecting concertina fortifications and striking up the tunes. Prospectors drag up the materials needed for maintenance and expansion so the various enclaves maintain close working relationships wherever possible. Sample Pop-Up Enclave Names: Brodie, Catspit, Glenrio, Lost Knob, Pontiac, Two Witnesses, Carver's Caravan Tornado Alley Horror Factor: −3 When the Great Cataclysm occurred, ley lines swelled with power, and magic exploded. Like everywhere, they overran their banks and tore the dimensional veil to shreds in Kansas. Unlike everywhere else, the crackling energy diffused into the empty sky before cyclones came crashing down. Since then, local Ley Line Walkers identified a dimensional anomaly in the sky above western Kansas unleashing air elementals into the region. These interdimensional trespassers swell to cyclonic stature before carving their mark across the flatlands. Smaller entities frequently find themselves ensnared by human or animal bodies. Overwhelmed by alien senses, they will do anything to free themselves from the mortal coil. PLACES IN THE LABYRINTH Horror Factor: −4 The Labyrinth is an ancient, sprawling city entombed during the Great Cataclysm. Filled with miracles from a bygone Golden Age, this smothered necropolis now has a magnetic pull on treasure hunters from across the continent, and has become shot through with a tangle of adhoc mining tunnels. Any who descend into the maze's maw do so at great peril. Cave-ins, deadfalls, disorientation, poisonous gas, and supernatural predators are just a few of the dangers facing erstwhile scavengers. Even so, the riches attract so many newcomers the greed has manifested physically in the form of the boom town, New Dodge City, and various profitable mining operations like the Prairie Rose Pit—see below. THE OCTOPUS The pop-ups offer an intoxicating blend of town life and the open road. All the freedom to go where you please but more comfortable than living life on the hoof. Unfortunately, this life is costly, so the pop-ups need patrons. Enter the Black Market. Nearly all traveling caravans in North America are involved in the Market, and the High Plains’ are no different. Whether it’s smuggling, selling drugs, trafficking, gathering information, testing border security, or exfiltrating an assassin, everybody gets their hands dirty somehow.
63 WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON HERE? D8 RESULT 1 Doctor Monarch: Even among hucksters, there are kings. This guy keeps the whole caravan going with potent methamphetamines and leverages this power over them. 2 Expert Forger: Not everyone who crosses into CS territory has travel papers as a contingency. Those who do? Seek out this professional. 3 Smugglers: 1D6+2 experts in the fine art of concealing contraband. They don’t have anything to sell since everything is in transit but if you want them to courier anything for you they’ll do it for cheap. 4 Expert Worms: A small crew (3 – 4) of espionage specialists on the run from the Coalition after stealing sensitive information. They want 2 things: 1) to sell off the information and 2) to disappear into the west. 5 Clinic on Wheels: A cyber-doc with shaky hands and their assistant offer augmentation at bargain prices (¾ normal installation costs). 6 Artful Dodgers: A pair of pickpockets lift valuables from folks wherever the pop-up stops. 7 Robbers in Disguise: A group of bandits mingle with folks and case the area. A few nights afterwards, they disguise themselves and tear through the isolated communities. 8 A Woman With A Particular Set of Skills: Though she’s seen enough killing, the business always catches up. A highly skilled assassin, her past deeds haunt her: children seeking revenge, spurned lovers looking for one last job, or desperate townspeople needing a defender. POP-UP ENCLAVE GENERATOR D6 RESULT 1 Magic Wagon: Despite magic’s environmental ubiquity, the demand for skilled practitioners runs high. This caravan offers magical goods and services for anyone who can meet their high price. 2 Tinkers: Everything breaks out on the Plains but sometimes people lack the parts or tools for a long lasting repair. This caravan offers such services for reasonable prices. 3 Traders: If people had everything they needed, they wouldn’t be in High Plains. This caravan specializes in sundry dry goods and eschews credits, choosing instead to barter. 4 Entertainers: While every pop-up has a few musicians and storytellers in their number, this one specializes in helping folks forget their worries for a night or two. It might even be a small circus. 5 Hucksters: A veritable hive of charlatans and flimflam. Over a hundred potions, salves, unguents, tinctures, herbs, charms, extracts, and tonics for sale! But buyer beware, these are overwhelmingly bunk. 6 A Cover Identity: The Pop-Up is a cover for some other group. Maybe Coalition. Maybe Tolkeen Revengers. Maybe something else. Roll again to see what they’re posing as.
64 Goblintown Horror Factor: −2 When Tolkeen tumbled down, long trains of refugees snaked across the land. Harried by human supremacists and supernatural predators, some settled around Castle Refuge while others braved the hilly passes to the Plains, searching for an empty place to rest. These pilgrims eventually stumbled upon a pristine wing of the Labyrinth and settled there, providing a safe harbor in an increasingly hostile underground. Goblintown has the highest concentration of magic users in the region. If someone needs magic on the down-low, they can do worse than Goblintown. Prairie Rose Pit Horror Factor: −2 Layer by layer, the Prairie Rose Pit opens to the sky. An open sore in the earth, this strip mine is owned by the Pahnaixte and overseen by the McDonoughs, a clan of Coalition citizens with extensive management experience in this kind of thing. Convict miners descend into the darkness, harvesting the relics before the larger excavation descends another few stories. Demolition teams scale any buildings exposed to the open air and pull them apart for the Golden Age building materials. The miners erect small shrines to underworld gods throughout the tunnel works, leaving small offerings as they walk past. The delvers fear they’ve dug too far and too deep, their drills likely to shake the Golden Age dead awake with a vengeance. Right on the heels of these laborers’ strike escalating to a one-sided gunfight, Bandito Arms assigned Lucinda Kent to New Dodge. The peace is not yet won, as the fight for it has only just begun. THE MCDONOUGHS AND THE PAHNAIXTE The Prairie Rose Pit runs on a peculiar arrangement: the Pahnaixte own the strip mine and run the business side while the McDonoughs manage the day to day operations. This division of duties stems from staffing issues the Pahnaixte faced when they opened the mine. They found miners willing to work the day shift, but no one wanted to work the dark shifts. A family of Coalition settlers, The McDonoughs, offered human capital in return for a small stake. The Comanche do not trust the McDonoughs, but they get results. Still, how many people in Pahnaixte leadership understand and accept the price paid for their profits remains in question, to say nothing of the Fever running through the McDonoughs like wildfire. Extended members of the McDonough clan run prisons throughout CS Lone Star. Once every few months, they funnel prisoners up north to work the Pit. Every day the guards bus in the prison labor and walk them into the depths under armed guard. Previously, the McDonoughs forced the imprisoned to work through the night, but since the miners' strike, their drudges cover the day shift.
66 New Dodge City Horror Factor: −1 New Dodge rambles across the Plains south of the Labyrinth proper, hugging the Cimarron River banks. Traffic’s constant churn through wide byways and along the riverfront reflects the restless community’s simmering turmoil. A critical node in the Black Market’s smuggling network, anyone looking to convert relics to credits or deal in contraband must head into town. While mercantile interests accompany pop-up enclaves, very few brokers will offer such conveniences given the heightened risks. Additionally, whenever anyone has legal disputes to resolve, supplies to restock, vehicles to repair, possessions to gather, or steam to blow off, New Dodge is the confluence for all those things. Calling New Dodge “a city” would be a stretch. Since the transient percentage of the population outnumbers the settled, nailing down a hard population count is easier said than done. Most folks passing through are mercenaries, hunters, or adventurers of one stripe or another, unwinding or looking for work. The rest are prospectors, drifters, and those looking to make money off everybody else while the gold flows. When it dries up, or they’re chased off, then they’ll all press on to the next one. Dubbed “the wickedest town in the West,” New Dodge earned its reputation for sinfulness. Visitors must move with purpose JUST PASSING THROUGH Just like it says on the can. Abraxas is a peaceful scholar at heart but pledged his magical talents to his king when the Coalition invaded the Kingdom. Since then, the ley line walker traversed the New Frontier before reconnecting with colleagues in Goblintown. Now the Labyrinth and its multitudinous nature occupies his curiosity. The Pahnaixte have him on retainer for when supernatural problems arise in the Prairie Rose Pit. Anyone needing a trustworthy guide in the tunnels would do well to hire him (see Twisted Labyrinth in the Campaign Book). Ulysa, a Grackletooth prospector gone bust, drifts across the High Plains for a quick payday. Sometimes she’s stalking a bounty. Sometimes she’s doing the heavy lifting. Unlike most vagabonds, Ulysa avoids the mind-addling temptations of drink and drugs. An obvious D-Bee, Ulysa actively avoids Coalition settlements in favor of the High Plains since folks seem less inclined to ask probing questions or attack her for her origins. Ulysa bounces around and could be encountered anywhere, especially among the pop-ups (for more see Dead Dead Boys in the Campaign Book). Octavian Cross leads the Grim Buzzards, a bandit gang known for daring high speed heists on Ironhorses and Coalition supply convoys. When he isn’t out on the wing, Octavian calls New Dodge his home off the range. His second-in-command recently died. The vacancy, combined with the Fever, does a number on the Buzzards’ morale as other members squabble for promotion (see The Knackers in the Campaign Book).
67 or risk being carried away by the town’s buffet of devilry. The heady mix of swagger, booze, and testosterone stirs up a volatile cocktail. The various dens of iniquity find their customers often spilling out into the sun-baked streets. In the past, any obligation to keep the peace fell on the establishment and not the public. The Black Market’s hands-off approach makes instituting any sort of civil order an uphill battle. HISTORY OF NEW DODGE CITY While the cataclysm’s initial salvo left the Kansas/Oklahoma region untouched by mass destruction, no region emerged fully unscathed. The monstrous hordes found the dust devils’ leftovers scant pickings indeed. Gnawing on wind-scoured bones briefly held their attention before the lure of a greater harvest drew them to the survivors huddling in the Topeka ruins. Smack dab in the heart of Tornado Alley, and nature unleashed her fury on a scale unseen since. While big magic saved lives upstate and secured the future for humanity on the Plains, the tallgrass knew only the wind’s touch. THE BIG QUIET As things settled down, the Comanche bands ranged as they wanted while wouldbe settlers scraped a living from the dirt and passed away. One such frontiersman erected a sturdy edifice on a riverbank, raised a family, and died as all men do. Shortly after that, his widow followed him, and the children fled the homestead trying to escape the damned wind. Decades passed, and the shelter stood empty save for the elements and wildlife, looking for brief relief from the sun’s glare. Weeds wove the windows shut. The carpet grew and grew ‘til the insides looked like the outsides. And so the house’s gentle repose continued unabated, ending when a Black Market Rift Runner took shelter in its walls and thatched facade from Simvan raiders sniffing after her contraband. The Runner marked the shelter’s location and spread knowledge of its location to others. In time, various Black Market interests refurbished the building into a proper way station. Offering food and water for stricken travelers and conveying correspondence from one stretch of the wilderness to another, aside from other clandestine purposes. Bandito started managing the station to strengthen trade relations with the Preserves and penetrate the Heartland markets of Kingsdale and Serenity. Everything fell into a familiar rhythm in a few years, and the way station grew into a proper trading post. THE IMMATERIAL HAND Though the Church of the Salamander has its share of true believers, it mostly acts as a front for the Immaterial Hand’s magical drug trade; the Church’s sacraments create a captive market. It’s also the western terminus for the Immaterial Hand’s underground railroad out of Atlantis. Many heartfelt reunions occur in the Church’s shadow. THE CHICAGO NETWORK Anyone who gets into the human augmentation business deals with the Chicago Network. They undercut the competition and set the lowest prices for combat drugs and implants, as long as you don’t ask where they came from.
LAW IN A LAWLESS TOWN` 68 Two key events disrupted this nondescript situation, 1) prospectors discovered the Labyrinth, and 2) Tolkeen fell. Tolkeen’s defeat cast thousands of refugees in the wind with no future. The Labyrinth is the mother lode where fortunes are made and futures secured. One begs for the other. THE TINDERBOX Now Bandito’s little stash house on the prairie has exploded into a proper boomtown with the Labyrinth’s growing notoriety, and the company finds itself in a position of unintentional governance. The other Black Market powers, in defiance of their typical laissez-faire policy, hobbled Bandito’s regulatory powers over New Dodge business from the onset, especially given how far the boomtown lay outside BA’s territory and how important the town had become to so many facets of their collective business. Watching over the town’s development, Bandito representatives stayed inside the lines: taking registration fees, collecting tax, and enforcing claims; occasionally tackling a bounty job when someone really needed killing, but reluctant to do more. With New Dodge’s well-earned reputation as an anarchic paradise where roughness rules and the law is blind to all but the worst excesses, the history of reluctant governance created space for the Vigilance Committee, a group of Coalition sympathizers, to dictate “the law” however they choose. The Vigilance Committee enforces their law through the Jayhawks, a citizen’s militia— without any accountability, without any checks or balances. Of course, D-Bees and other “undesirables” suffer beneath this ad-hoc regime more than others so they are organizing in opposition to the Committee and their lackeys the Jayhawks. The Jayhawks quickly escalated a labor strike at the Prairie Rose Pit into a fullfledged battle, touching off a cascade of wider demonstrations. Because the Pahnaixte Since the Tin Stars formed, Lucinda took the rough code of courtesy endemic to Black Market dealing and the Code of the New West, mashed them together, then boiled them both down to three simple rules: Give respect and there won’t be any disrespect. Everyone in New Dodge is capable of killing. Don’t give anyone a reason to exercise their skills… Holster the guns and don't pull knives. Scuffles are fine, but pull a knife or a gun and it’ll go badly for ya, real bad. Be worthy of trust and never sell out. This specifically means New Dodge City. Never sell out New Dodge. Anyone found violating these guidelines will be punished for their transgression swiftly. First-time perpetrators spend a little time in lock-up. Repeat offenders are implanted with a tracker and exiled from town. Violate your exile and the Tin Stars put you down. Bother anyone out on the Plains and the Tin Stars put you down. If the Tin Stars catch someone perpetuating larger, more serious, crimes against the New Dodge Code and posing a threat to the town and her people… Well, they get the rope. It ain't complicated, but it works real nice to keep simple folk in line. With the Fever runnin' rampant, that's what counts most.
THE TIN STARS 69 relented to the miners’ demands, the Vigilance Committee began a campaign of intimidation. The burgeoning civil unrest posed such a threat to the boomtown that Bandito—afraid one too many Coalition citizens might die and give the CS an excuse for military occupation—formally appointed a mayor, Lucinda Kent, and vested her with authority beyond the Black Market’s limits. Needless to say, her arrival put everyone on edge. BRINGING THE LAW The new mayor decided they needed lawmen but couldn’t get too flashy. So, like the Texas Rangers of old, Lucinda issued a call-to-arms. Out of the responders, she eschewed a distinguished mercenary company like Braddock’s Bad Boys in favor of several, smaller mercenary groups. Lucinda organized the various squads into a loose platoon jokingly called the Tin Stars. With a remit similar to Bandito’s Emergency Response Team, they operate in the field under an overarching tactical rubric with a high degree of freedom, so they might adapt to the changing battlefield. In town, the Lone Star Raiders work as municipal security and Anika Taherri, their leader, acts as town marshall and Lucinda’s second in command while the other groups have their own specialized tasks in the field. In the months since the Tin Stars’ instatement, New Dodge has not shaken its rough reputation but tension has relaxed. Or at least the violence got more subtle. The Fever prevents proper de-escalation, people still kill each other for petty, jealous reasons, so the Tin Stars still have a job to do. STRAIGHT OUTTA NEW DODGE The heart of New Dodge resembles the backlot of an Old Earth western film with rows of buildings, shared awnings, and raised porches giving folks a brief respite from the sun and the dangers of the open Though they're all under contract to Lucinda, the Tin Stars aren’t a monolith. Here are some of the dogs of war on her leash: Lone Star Raiders: They recently stole a large data cache and lit out of Lone Star. Now laying low collecting regular paychecks for a bit, the Raiders are a frequent sight in town. Suicide Jockeys: No job too dangerous. No reward too small. The Jockeys owe substantial debt to Bandito and are working it off. They provide rapid armored response but get distracted helping underdogs. Exiles: These True Atlantean reclaimers seek the 12 lost talismans of Atlantis. Rumors and portents point to one residing in the Labyrinth. The Exiles patrol the Labyrinth and pacify as needed. When they find it, they’re gone. Prairie Dawgs: Led by a pious Mystic, this company-sized unit boasts the firepower of a Glitter Boy and an Enforcer-sized robot vehicle of D-Bee manufacture. The Dawgs and their hatchling dragon mascot are quick to antagonize any Jayhawks, hence their frequent assignments on the western fringe. These goodhearted renegades are too honest to stick around New Dodge forever. MARS: The largest group on contract, Merctown Armored Recon Services spend most of their time patrolling the High Plains given their high investment in armored fighting vehicles of all stripes.
70 street. The raised platforms and walls provide ample avenues for defense and detection. Outside the walls, things get more chaotic. Clusters of tents lie in the shadows cast by armored shipping containers. Saloons resemble drive through garages with a bar on each side. Stores sell goods from converted APCs and exploration vehicles, some still mobile and some on ferrocrete blocks. A skeletal edifice of new shelters built from reclaimed Labyrinth materials is on the furthest fringe, before the town dissolves into a loosely armed camp resembling a flea market. NEW DODGE ESTABLISHMENTS BUCK WILD’S BANDITO DEALERSHIP All around town shoppers will find arms dealers selling new and used merchandise from a host of brands but the Buck Wild Bandito Dealership is the preeminent place to buy and demo Bandito Arms. Just outside “downtown” New Dodge, a swathe of open field surrounded by a tall fence, topped with razor wire, serves as a showspace and firing range for prospective clients. In addition to all the latest Bandito designs for sale, Buck also organizes big game hunts out on the High Plains. Prospective big game hunters are free to use their own gear or rent some sweet equipment from Buck—there isn't a better place someone can try out the latest BigBore armaments. The Jayhawks frequently hang around the dealership since Buck is a Vigilance Committee member. Buck lets them shoot guns and drink on his premises. But never at the same time… not usually, that is. OK, sometimes he joins in. PAYDIRT LOANS One of the first freestanding buildings a traveler entering New Dodge City encounters, Paydirt Loans offers an initial cash infusion for the budding entrepreneur for a bit of collateral and a recurring payment with low interest rates. Paydirt will even cash out gold hauls for a small service fee! Can’t pay? Paydirt will work something out! Luckily, for Paydirt, most would-be prospectors lack the financial literacy to understand the Faustian bargain they just signed. Paydirt Loans is a loan shark and, like most independent businesses, pays Bandito 20% of earnings as protection money. Wouldbe borrowers must possess collateral such as a vehicle, power armor, robot, weapons, cybernetics, etc. to secure a loan. Paydirt has a uniform interest rate of 10% and it compounds daily. Failure to pay comes with consequences. Paydirt contracts some Bandito guys to track down the recalcitrant buyer and make an impression. Starting with bruises and escalating to broken bones. If a prospector is too injured then they can’t work. If they can’t work then the payments are liable to stop coming entirely. Then things get really ugly. Momma always said don't ask where the meat came from! —Jumbo Gumbo, Mining Cyborg
71 THE CRAZY DIAMOND A rough and tumble casino owned by William Cutter, the 3 story building offers every opportunity for a lonely prospector to squander away their hard-earned credits from gambling to harlotry. This roadhouse with delusions of grandeur is the black beating heart of New Dodge City’s sinful economy. More credits change hands at the Crazy Diamond in one night than a whole week at the Chi-Town ‘Burbs Bazaar. Open 24/7, one of the Lone Star Raiders surveys the premises at all times given the locale’s propensity for Fever-driven violence. THE MEAT MARKET Not a literal slave market but a patch of trampled grass where anyone looking for work or workers congregates, the Meat Market is also the site where folks go to settle affairs of honor, assuming things made it far enough. In the months of intensifying unrest, the Vigilance Committee had the Jayhawks erect a gallows. They swiftly put the structure to use against the Pitmen leaders baselessly accused of escalating the violence at the Pit. Setting the tone of her mayoral tenure, Lucinda had Liam Cutter hanged within a week of her arrival for running riot through a D-Bee encampment and causing a wildfire. The gallows’ boughs have hung barren since then but placards bearing the Vigilance Committee’s names instill a sense of doom. CHURCH OF THE SALAMANDER A prefabricated building of corrugated steel with a facade echoing Old Earth missions, like the Alamo, the edifice once housed the Custodians of the Sacred Heart but the townsfolk exiled them once their more unsavory practices came to light. Now a Cult of Dragon Dawn congregation worships here on Sundays and Wednesdays. A 20 ft. tall draconic idol made from scrap metal looms over the central worship space and its fiery belly fills the space in flickering shadows. Since the Tin Stars’ formation, the Cult has attempted to cajole Ashcore, the Prairie Dawgs’ dragon hatchling, to a service so they can worship him. They haven’t been successful. LITTLE KINGSDALE If anyone needs to be more than they can be, Little Kingsdale is the place to go. A fortified bullpen of body chop-shops, enhancement clinics, Techno-Wizard workshops, and Cyber-Docs offering all the transhuman services a heart could desire. Most of the academics and specialists hail from the namesake city-state. They bring a professional acumen unknown to the Plains. Before Little Kingsdale got started, it was not uncommon for gangs to ambush the freshly augmented and sell the “liberated” implants back to the clinic while the former customer bled out in the grit. THE LOCK-UP Crime is to New Dodge what water is to fish, a ubiquitous and necessary element for the town’s survival. A town full of strangers desperate for opportunity and the Fever running rampant is a volatile mix and the mayor gave Anika the pick of buildings for a jailhouse. She picked a squat building of reinforced ferrocrete and flexsteel just outside New Dodge’s heart. The Lock-Up only has 3 cells so the Tin Stars quickly process folk. NEW DODGE MOVER & SHAKERS LUCINDA “KILLER QUEEN” KENT Is an exceptional Robot Vehicle Ace and former head of Bandito’s Emergency Response Team. Back in El Diablo, Lucinda always kept her nose down and followed orders. Now she’s the one giving the orders and heavy is the head wearing the crown.
72 Inspired by the resourceful people making a living on the High Plains, she has ambitions beyond “keeping the peace.” Lucida will make New Dodge City a "Kingsdale in the West" however she can. With a target on her back, her garishly painted Triax Ultimax casts a long shadow, reminding her opponents they better not miss. BUCK WILD Buck was a Pecos Raider, until he got old and his knees stopped supporting a life on the run. These days he always has a tall tale to tell customers from his past. Like the time this gun won him a gunfight or this armor saved his life, each one a bigger whopper than the one before. He’s had a pretty good time since getting out of the run and gun life. Unfortunately for Buck, the gang he ripped off to buy his Bandito franchise is coming for him. For Buck’s stats use the Wilderness Scout in Savage Foes of North America and add the Slow (Major) Hindrance. WESLEY CUTTER The leading, and most visible, member of the Vigilance Committee. Wesley owns and operates The New Dodge Pioneer, a rag newspaper rife with baseless accusations and unfound conclusions. He frequents the upper stories of The Crazy Diamond m o s t n i g h t s with a Jayhawk entourage while his wife and children stay home. Since Lucinda’s law dogs executed his brother, he’s been nursing a grudge against her. ANIKA TAHERRI Town Marshall Leader of the Lone Star Raiders Tough, smart, and capable, Lucinda appointed Anika as Town Marshall within a week of applying. Now she is responsible for maintaining the peace on the street and rallying the town’s defenses. A headhunter with a professional reputation and an eye for conspiracy, she couldn’t be happier than a pig in slop. The stats for Anika and her allies are listed on page 72. DOROTHY GALE An upbeat entrepreneur, Dorothy acts as New Dodge’s unofficial welcoming committee. With a cache of brochures in hand, she points newcomers in the direction they need. ESAU TAYLOR A spiteful little man looking for every angle. Esau wields his Tin Star like a weapon. This tendency for coercing some and intimidating others has isolated him to the relative fringe. He isn’t popular but he still has friends. ANIKA TAHERRI TOWN MARSHALL
73 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE HIGH PLAINS BLACK MARKET The Black Market as a whole has tolerated Bandito’s corporatization as long as they continue to pay them their cut. New Dodge’s growing prominence tests their patience and their risk aversion. Yes, they make credits hand over fist, but New Dodge lies at the intersection of the Texas Corridor and the Missouri Corridor—a strategic crossroads too close for comfort to the Coalition’s expansionist plans. PSI-STALKER BANDS Though the Psi-Stalkers’ range lies on the other side of the Comanche Preserve, their bands frequently ride far from their home territories to win prestige against the Simvan with daring raids. Though smaller than the Stalking Horse or Nighthowler tribes, the Redlegs compensate with ruthless aggression. Afterward, they swing by New Dodge and slake their other thirsts. Folks know them by the trail of dead in their wake. The Redlegs currently claim the plains surrounding New Dodge City as their turf, needling local Simvan, much to El Oculta’s chagrin. The band’s leader, Warface, takes personal umbrage to slavery in his territory and will abolish any instances of the practice he discovers. SIMVAN SEPTS Though the Labyrinth lies deep in Simvan territory, long-standing relationships with the Black Market keep their Septs—smaller sub-clans—on vaguely genial terms (they rarely eat the locals). In return, the Labyrinth continues to serve as a way station for Simvan mule trains coming north through the Texas Corridor. THE TOMORROW LEGION IN THE HIGH PLAINS First glance would tell you the High Plains is where heroism goes to die. While it seems like fertile soil for the Tomorrow Legion to change things, only twisted things seem to thrive. Coalition sympathizers fan flames of hatred and distrust. The Comanche presence seems overly piratical. The Black Market digs its fingers in wherever it can find purchase. Brother kills brother down below over a toaster’s circuitry. Muuc’gek’s Infestation smothers everyone’s better angels. But all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to stand down. Evil lurks in the tallgrass and behind shining smiles. Though the Worm Wraiths play a lesser role in the region, their malignant presence is felt. Excising the Fever can feel like a sisyphean task because it enables people’s worst natures, but it’s a necessary first step to resolving the High Plains' tensions. An Old Earth philosopher once said political power sprouts from the barrel of a gun. By this measure, if Bandito does not take control of the High Plains for themselves, then they can play kingmaker between the various sides. The New Dodge City dilemma is a fresh problem for the cartel. Bandito has many good reasons for avoiding a Northern Gun style treaty with the Coalition. Perhaps the Tomorrow Legion can offer the open hand of friendship and cooperation. In parallel, the plight faced by Tolkeen refugees is the Tomorrow Legion's entire reason for being. Long-term prospects in the region are becoming increasingly fraught, considering CS settlers agitating for precautionary annexation while Comanche bands consider everyone else on the plains to be just visiting. If the Legion fails to act, are they really fighting for a better tomorrow? Or just the more convenient one?
74 CLUBS | OBSTACLES D6 RESULT 1 A Tornado: Tornado Alley’s defining feature reaches down from the sky and scoops up everything it can grab. The winds carry everything for 7–10 minutes before throwing them clear. Everything hitting the ground takes 8d6 damage. 2 Alien Flora: Enormous, metallic tumbleweeds bounce in the wind. Harpoonlike tongues lash out at anything living and draw them into the central craw. Evade –2 or suffer a wound. 3 Monster Nest: A small herd of adult Rhino-Buffalos§ (1 per 2 Wild Cards) made a wallow here before wandering off on the hunt. Their calfs and 2 elderly herd members (Extras) stay behind. Evading detection is a Dramatic Task. 4 Dust Storm: The wind whips and brings chalky grit with it. The fine dust hangs in the air, ruining visibility and gumming up electronics. Test for Technical Difficulties on all electronics. 5 Wildfire: Heat and the Kansas winds make a deadly combination. Suppressing the fire is a Quick Encounter, any failed rolls result in Fatigue rather than wounds. 6 Dimensional Fissure: The ground falls away into something else, roll on the Dimensional Instability table onpage 26 to determine what lies in the cracks. DIAMONDS | TREASURE D6 RESULT 1 Lone Wanderers: A pair of robots wander aimlessly. Roll 1d6: 1– 4 A Coalition Skelebot § † 5 – 6 A gravely damaged Shemarrian ‡ far from home, see Empires of Humanity. 2 Weapons Cache: This shipment of Coalition surplus headed to the Comanche Preserve fell off the back of the truck. 3 Trade Goods: Sanitation chemicals, machine parts, and liquor, fair or foul, all maintain a high demand in New Dodge. 4 Salvage: Whoever killed this prospector couldn’t take her whole haul with them. 1d6+2 × 1000 Credits in trade goods, mostly electronics. 5 Chop Shop: A box truck sits abandoned in the tallgrass; its owners killed each other in a poorly considered gunfight, leaving 1d6 × 10k credits in components. 6 People: An envoy from the Colorado Baronies heading to Castle Refuge under the guise of selling TW devices will reveal his identity to Legionairres. Encounters for The High Plains The following tables are for generating encounters, see Travel in Savage Worlds. * See The Game Master's Handbook. § See Savage Foes of North America. † Roll on the Opposition Leader table in The Game Master's Handbook. ‡ Roll on the Other Authority Figure table in The Game Master's Handbook.
75 HEARTS | STRANGERS D6 RESULT 1 Prospectors: 8 retired Soldiers§†. and 1 Vagabond§‡ hiking to a new claim. 2 Black Market Mercantile: As the Black Market Smuggling Operation in the Game Master's Handbook but predisposed to barter. 3 Tolkeen Retribution Firebrand: A Ley Line Walker § † and his 2 Juicer companions §‡ keep the dream of the Magic Kingdom alive. A brand marks the walker as exiled from Dweomer. 4 Escaped Prisoners: 3 escaped Civilians § flee the 3 Simvan Monster Riders § † on Fury Beetles § who seized them 2 nights ago. 5 Old Hand: Ulysa, a Grackletooth Vagabond§‡, tunes her banjo before striking up a haunting tune. Anyone friendly is more than welcome to swap stories. 6 The Wicked Witches: A band of 6 Elemental Fusionists‡ entreat the hungry sky to leave a small collection of homesteads alone for the season. SPADES | ENEMIES D20 RESULT 1 If Things Weren’t Bad Enough: Roll once on that table*, and again on this one. 2–3 The Plot Thickens: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 4–5 Risks and Rewards: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 6–7 Simvan Marauders: 5 Simvan Monster Riders§†, mounted on Ostrosauruses§† burst from a low crouch in the tallgrass. A Rift Runner § ‡ under their protection is muling cargo for the Black Market. 8–9 Comanche Preserve Patrol: One Shaman and 5 Comanche Warriors (see Arcana and Mysticism) on hover bikes or horses stalk their territory. 10 –11 Prospectors: A Headhunter Techno Warrior§†, a Mining Borg‡. and 7 Commandos guarding a wagonload of supplies. Or treasure. 12–13 A Bandit Ambush: Bandits bushwhack the heroes and melt away when the heroes put up a fight. One Burster§† and 5 Commandos § attack from an abandoned building. The Burster sets a wildfire as a screen before retreating on hover bikes. 14 –15 Pop-Up Enclave: 10 Bandits† set up an impromptu trading post replete with walls and 5 Militia guards. They’re eager to barter information and common goods for credits and food. One is a Rift Runner§‡ concealing contraband. 14 –15 A Malicious Storm: The sky breaks, 3 Minor Air Elementals and 1 Major Air Elemental † (Tomorrow Legion Field Manual) tear through at speed. They spend 1d3 rounds antagonizing the heroes before moving on from boredom. 16 –17 Coalition Vendetta Squad: Same results as the Coalition Scouting Party in The Game Master’s Handbook but they’re all in Bushman armor to reduce suspicions. Reduce the soldiers’ Toughness by 2. 18 –19 Rhino Buffalo: The tallgrass obscures their mass until it’s almost too late! 2 Rhino Buffalos § charge through the heroes with a monstrous roar. 20 Creatures from the Rifts: The heroes face rift-spawned opposition. Use the It Came From a Rift tables to generate the encounter. If appropriate, roll once on the Opposition Leader table and once on the Other Authority Figure table.
76 Encounters for The Labyrinth The following tables are for generating encounters, see Travel in Savage Worlds. * See The Game Master's Handbook. § See Savage Foes of North America. † Roll on the Opposition Leader table in The Game Master's Handbook. ‡ Roll on the Other Authority Figure table in The Game Master's Handbook. CLUBS | OBSTACLES D6 RESULT 1 Tunnel Collapse: The ceiling comes down on the heroes. Run a Chase against the collapsing tunnel, missed rolls cause Fatigue per Bumps and Bruises. 2 Alien Flora: Golden glowing ivy chokes the tunnel. Contact transmits a mystic transmutation. Roll Vigor or gain Weakness (Sunlight) like a Wild Vampire§ for a week. 3 Monster Nest: 3 Death Weaver Spiders unhappily sharing space with their Mindless Minions (2 per Wild Card)§†. 11 humanoid forms bound up in spidersilk hang from the walls and ceiling, massive puncture wounds indicate exsanguination. See Blood and Banes. 4 Chokedamp: The heroes enter a tunnel where local oxygen drops below the amount necessary to sustain human life. They start drowning on air halfway through and remain conscious for a number of rounds equal to 1 plus half their Vigor die before passing out. Unconscious characters die in Vigor rounds and can be resuscitated with a Healing roll at –2. 5 Precarious Pitfall: Treacherous ground betrays the heroes—they fall 40' before hitting an underground lake. 3d6+3 on impact, Athletics to halve. 6 Sudden Downpour: Somewhere above, someone pierced a reservoir of chemical waste. The viscous stream fills the tunnel. Athletics to avoid being swept away. Vigor (-4) to avoid poisoning. DIAMONDS | TREASURE D6 RESULT 1 Flatpacks: Equipment in pieces packed flat for easy transport and assembly. They vary in size from waist height to taller than a person, and might contain a couch, a shed, or a fabricator. 2 Weapons Cache: Might be Golden Age. Might be a Revenger stockpile. Might be a Black Market dead drop. Either way, people need guns. 3 Trade Goods: Depleted E-clips, Meals Ready to Eat, or vacuum sealed intoxicants trade readily with the Comanche. 4 Salvage: New Dodge’s incessant growth demands Golden Age building materials. Ferrocrete blocks, industrial sheeting, sovereign epoxy, and transparent aluminum all have ready buyers. 5 Contraband: Magic drugs, Golden Age media, or the collected writings of Erin Tarn hidden away. Whether someone’s personal stash or for sale, someone would get in hot water if they took these into Coalition territory. 6 People: Could be a Golden Age Cyborg buried alive §†, children separated from their parents, or runaway slaves.
77 HEARTS | STRANGERS D6 RESULT 1 Prospectors: 5 Soldiers§† turned prospectors look for a fabled museum full of lost treasures. They are eager to swap gossip hoping for clues to their search. 2 Black Market Sit-down: Rival Black Market Expediters§† negotiate future terms of local traffic. Roll 1d6: 1–3 they adjourn and slip away, leaving clues of their business and presence. 4 – 6 2d6 Enforcers open fire in an ambush! 3 Refugee Encampment: A small group of 5 Tolkeenite Civilians and a Rogue Scholar§ ‡, squat in Golden Age ruins. 4 Escaped Prisoners: A starving mob of 8 escaped convicts from the Pit wander the tunnels and galleries. Seeking a way out, they will gladly do nearly anything for an exit. 5 Crazy Out Of Time: April Cleaver§†, a Crazy in heels and pearls, plays house with carrion and 3 Civilians§. A Posessing Entity‡ feeds their delusions. 6 Elemental Fusionist: Joey Sirocco (Air/Earth), an Elemental Fusionist‡, stabilizes tunnels, pacifies earth elementals, and maintains air circulation. SPADES | ENEMIES D20 RESULT 1 If Things Weren’t Bad Enough: Roll once on that table*, and again on this one. 2–3 The Plot Thickens: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 4–5 Risks and Rewards: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 6–7 Wild Vampires: 6 Wild Vampires § feasting on hapless salvagers. If the characters have completed the Root of All Evil adventure, add 1 Master Vampire §† in conquistador armor to this encounter. 8–9 Goblintown Patrol: One Mystic §† and 5 Commandos§ check the wards and sigils keeping key passages safe. 10 –11 Snake Nest: 2 Orborus Slitherers +1 per Wild Card spring an ambush on the heroes as they attempt to squeeze through a narrow gap. 12–13 A Bandit Ambush: 9 Bandits§† return to their hideout after a successful raid. They don’t notice the characters as they push a wheelbarrow full of Golden Age relics worth 4d4 × 1000 credits. 14 –15 Grig Leaper Nest: 20 Grig Leapers nest at the top of a critical shaft in the Labyrinth, endangering everyone. 16 –17 Vultures: An Elemental Fusionist†, 4 Minor Earth Elementals, and 6 Militia§ with respirators led would-be employers into a patch of chokedamp. Now they pick over 10 dead bodies, some shot and some suffocated. See the Chokedamp entry. 18 Worm Wraiths: 10 Worm Wraiths silently demolish Golden Age structures via erosion, setting off a chain reaction of cave-ins and sinkholes further up. 19 Neuron Beast: Carving a territory out of the Labyrinth with its powers, a Neuron Beast§ and 2 Mindless Minions per Wild Card stalk the heroes. 20 Creatures from the Rifts: The heroes face rift-spawned opposition. Use the It Came From a Rift tables to generate the encounter. If appropriate, roll once on the Opposition Leader table and once on the Other Authority Figure table.
78
79 CHAPTER FIVE PROSPECT L ocated in the north-western corner of the Frontier, Prospect takes its name from its one major settlement—Fort Prospect, home of the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry. Prospect is an untamed wilderness on the very fringes of the Frontier. BACKGROUND What passes for civilized life out here is often unfriendly and downright inhospitable— especially if you look different than them. Only tiny pockets of people populate the region. Humans in the area cling to protection from General Sprite and his human supremacist cavalry, while D-Bees and others live in fear of them. Small Native American and Psi-Stalker bands roam through the area, following herds of buffalo and other supernatural prey. The region has recently seen a massive upswing in new arrivals as Tolkeen refugees flee westward away from the Coalition. The Void (THE INFESTATION) The infestation has magnified feelings of isolation, loneliness, and scarcity in the region. Most people talk about emptiness, a void in the pit of their stomachs. The void manifests itself in two opposite extremes. Some people, staring into a nihilistic void, delve into recklessness: affairs, gluttony, and other excesses that virtually ensure not making it to the following season. Others have an overwhelming urge for more. They hoard, steal, lie, and cheat to ensure they get enough to last them, but it never seems to be enough. Of course, these two extremes do not mix well together, often spilling out into violence. LIFE IN PROSPECT The far edges of the Frontier bear little resemblance to the more populous Domain of Man. People eke out lives in small towns or homesteads, coming together for trade and mutual protection. However, amenities
80 like electricity, running water, weapons, and high technology are in minimal supply. Roads, trails, and anything but the most hardy of all-terrain vehicles are virtually unheard of; most people cross the plains on foot or ride domesticated animals. A typical Tomorrow Legion team or wellarmed 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry posse is a powerful force. Folks are wary when guntoting strangers come to town. Sadly, most people and towns are one monster attack or bandit raid away from complete ruin. As a result, the people in this region are tough, independent, and strong-willed individuals who try to live life on the edge. Factions THE 1ST APOCALYPTIC CAVALRY The 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry was founded nearly 30 years ago by a young, distraught man named Kenneth Sprite. One of only seven survivors of the D-Bee raid that left Connelly, Missouri razed, Sprite began a quest for vengeance that day. Over the years it evolved into a movement, then an army with a series of forts, and then a crusade. USING THE VOID IN YOUR CAMPAIGNS What’s the Point of It All? Existential dread can creep in before you know it. When drawing a Club on an Interlude in this region, the hero can describe their most wanton desire or how far they would go to survive on. A Benny for Your Thoughts: Anyone with the Minor Greedy or Ruthless Hindrances can earn an extra Benny when role-playing these Hindrances, but they must upgrade to the Major version for the remainder of the session. 1ST APOCALYPTIC CAVALRY SOLDIER
81 These days, there’s at least a couple thousand dedicated soldiers who ride with and support the Cavalry, all loyally serving under "General" Sprite. Kenneth’s heart is virtually without mercy when it comes to the “inhuman monsters” who killed his family and any who try to destroy the lives of good people throughout the Midwest. Still, there are Native Americans who call him “Crying Death,” for he often sheds tears after administering his harsh justice. Most of the Cavalry sincerely believe they're doing good work, ending the threat of monsters and D-Bee marauders against humanity. General Sprite does all he can to discourage banditry, thievery, and greed among his soldiers, but once they're far away from his critical eye some simply enjoy the opportunity to ride wild, pick fights, kill non-humans with impunity, and collect the spoils in the name of "justice." Hundreds of communities and throngs of people—humans all—throughout Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa consider the soldiers of the Cavalry heroes and saviors, holding the General in nearly deific regard. Many thousands more know them as violent, murderous, thieving human supremacists, at least when dealing with communities or travelers where suspected D-Bee fugitives are found. See the Game Master’s Handbook and Savage Foes of North America for more information on General Sprite and the 1st Cav. SIMVAN TRIBES War follows these D-Bees wherever they go. Drafted into service of Tolkeen as cavalry and shock troopers, many Simvan tribes returned to Nebraska and Wyoming after the war to find Psi-Stalkers and Native Americans had occupied their lands. Now an all-out war is waging between the Stalkers, Simvan, and Natives pushing the Simvan further south into Nebraska and Kansas to feed their herds and prey on the people there. The feud of the tribes has also caused Tolkeen refugees to divert southward, flooding the High Plains as they try to avoid fleeing one war and tragically running headlong into another. The main Simvan band is led by the Warlord Cheevix (see Terror on the Dark Frontier Campaign Book) and has recently begun a murdering and pillaging spree in Prospect and the Borderlands. Rumor has it that Cheevix has a powerful new witch working with him, giving the tribe increasing boldness and bloodlust! Of course, this means the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry has also stepped up their efforts to fight the Simvan, creating a state of near-total war. CYBER-KNIGHTS In addition to a handful of Justice Rangers, a goodly number of Cyber-Knight heroes range the region from place to place to protect and aid endangered villages. The Simvan, Psi-Stalkers, and 1st Cavalry all respect these psychic heroes, with many helping to negotiate peaceful solutions to tough disagreements. Additionally, the Cyber-Knights do their best to protect the towns from violence and supernatural creatures, often recruiting other heroes to help against more difficult threats. The knights are especially well known among the D-Bee communities as they are often the only people who will stand up for them against monsters and vigilantes. The most famous Knight in the region is Lady Charis’a Talaton (see page 16), who fought for Tolkeen during the war, defying Lord Coake’s policy of non-involvement. As the war raged on and Tolkeen’s true nature was revealed Lady Talaton joined the other Cyber-Knights in protecting refugees. Her reputation for fairness, and combat prowess, give even the most hardened bandit pause.
82 PLACES IN PROSPECT Horror Factor: −4 Propsect is the very edge of the Frontier. There is very little out here, and what is out here is unknown to most folks. Fort Prospect Horror Factor: −2 Fort Prospect, the home base of the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry, is a military fortification surrounded by a large human supremacist town. A network of satellite forts, villages, and farmsteads dot the Nebraska region, and they all see the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry as heroes and protectors. The ranchers and farmers in the area supply the cavalry with food and horses so the main force can range Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas to dispense their particular brand of justice. Cavalry "companies" roll into Fort Prospect when they need to rest and resupply or visit their families. The fort has excellent defenses and is a wellordered military community. Several nearby settlements have grown over time, safe in the fort's shadow. These large surrounding villages, ranches, and homesteads provide food and material. As a major military outpost, Fort Prospect is one of the only places in the lightly populated region trading high-tech weapons and goods. Unfortunately, most people are human supremacists, and D-Bees find themselves the target of unfair pricing. While most people don’t mind taking advantage of non-humans, outright violence against D-Bees is rare. However, nonhumans are often the first to get blamed and unfairly tried for any thefts or disturbances. As a result, most D-Bees work through intermediaries, selling their goods to friendly parties who then go to town to get fair pricing, though some of these folks rip off unsuspecting D-Bee farmers or ranchers. Great Burial Grounds Horror Factor: −4 The Great Burial Grounds are the final resting place of the most outstanding leaders, healers, and warriors of many Native American tribes. The grounds exist in another dimension, only re-appearing on Earth every one hundred years and remaining for only a few years before disappearing again. During this window, many tribes make a pilgrimage to the grounds to honor their ancestors and bring their heroes’ remains, or symbols of remembrance, to a final safe resting place. 1ST APOCALYPTIC CAVALRY OUTPOSTS In addition to Fort Prospect, the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry maintains smaller outposts throughout the region. These forts are positioned near concentrations of human communities to provide protection. FORT NAME PRE-RIFTS LOCATION Fort Tanner Jackson, Wyoming Fort Defiance Stockton, Kansas Fort Charles Sidney, Iowa Fort Jericho Norfolk, South Dakota
83 This hallowed ground can appear anywhere in North America. This time it has appeared in Nebraska right on the edges of Prospect territory. The location is revealed to shamans in dreams and visions and kept a closely guarded secret among the Native peoples. Unscrupulous relic hunters and thieves who learn of the Great Burial Grounds try to dig up the mounds to recover valuable magical weapons or even hold the remains of famous ancestors for ransom. Protecting the grounds is the responsibility of the local tribes. Right now, the Comanche are responsible and have sent a detachment of Spirit Warriors and armed braves to defend the location. Theft or desecration of the grounds is considered a great dishonor to the entire tribe tasked to protect it, meaning they will go to war, or worse, to recover anything taken and dispense retribution. Ragin’ Rock Horror Factor: −4 A colossal stone sits on the Plains as if dropped haphazardly from the sky. Rocky, broken terrain extends for a mile around the rock, replacing the tallgrass. Nothing seems to grow there. Anyone who treads on the rocks experiences tremors that increase in intensity as one moves closer to the Ragin’ Rock itself. The skating ground makes it impossible to know for sure, but some travelers report the ground even shifts to trip you up and otherwise make travel impossible. Locals know to give the rock its berth. However, rumors exist that the rock is from space and contains valuable mineral deposits or alien technology. Many would-be relic hunters and prospectors have tried to get to the center and not returned to tell the tale. The rock is a prison! It serves as a tether for a Major Earth Elemental (see The Tomorrow Legion Field Manual) summoned and constrained back in the Dark Ages. The summoner has long since died, but the cage remains intact. The elemental lies dormant in the rock but lashes out blindly at anyone who comes close with earthquakes, rockslides, or pulling travelers into the Earth to suffocate. Years of captivity have driven it mad, and even an Elemental Fusionist would struggle to communicate with the creature. Freeing the beast requires a ritual dispel to break the cage, but the creature makes any effort nearly impossible. What’s worse, without a plan to send it back to its home dimension once released, it rages across the Plains leaving destruction in its wake. THE TOMORROW LEGION IN PROSPECT The Simvan and 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry prey on the many Tolkeen refugees who enter this region. Sadly, these refugees tend to be D-Bees and others who could not flee eastward toward the Coalition States for fear of persecution—only to face the same issues in the west! Special Exploratory Teams are often sent into the area to find refugees and help relocate them to Refuge. At the same time, Community Outreach Teams try to work with local communities to build ties with the legion and offset the influence of the 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry. For the most part, the area is unexplored, and the Tomorrow Legion is still trying to learn the lay of the land.
84 CLUBS | OBSTACLE D4 RESULT 1 Alien Flora: One part siren, one part angler fish, one hundred percent pitcher plant. Beautiful singing, enchanting laughter, intoxicating scent, and a lithe form moving in the grass all draw hapless travelers to their doom: a slick 20 foot drop into an acidic cauldron. Escaping is a Dramatic Task (see Savage Worlds) requiring 12 tokens and taking as many rounds as needed but also take 3d6 damage at the end of each round. 2 Lightning Storm: Who knew a thunderstorm could be vindictive? The scudding clouds chase the characters for 1d4+1 days; battering them with hail, freezing rain, and howling winds. All piloting and navigation skills are rolled at –4. 3 Toxic Ground: A watering hole offers a promise of relief from the dry monotony of the tallgrass. The bones wreathing the water’s banks tell a different story. A Major Water Elemental, tainted by toxic minerals, lies in wait for anyone to draw close, see the Tomorrow Legion Field Manual. 4 Haunted Ruin: A sinkhole opens up beneath the characters, their weight too great a burden to bear, and they fall into a long lost roadside attraction. Roll 1d4: 1. A massive ball of twine 2. Vast salt galleries 3. 10 Italian marble statues akimbo 4. A deep, deep well; roll on the Labyrinth Encounters table on page 76 for what lurks in this distant corner of the Labyrinth. DIAMONDS | TREASURE D4 RESULT 1 Pre-Rifts Ruin: A hardened bunker built by Golden Age survivalists lays uncovered by a recent windstorm. Roll as a Relic Salvage Operation, see Empires of Humanity. 2 Haunted Ground: No telling what happened here in the past. Now it’s just filled with preternatural unease. All Spirit tests are made at a –2. A successful Notice check reveals buried pottery painted with warning signs; they could be worth hefty credits to the right Rogue Scholar or magic-user. 3 Derelict Caravan: They didn’t make it but their stuff is still in good shape. 2d6 × 100 credits and 1d4 × 1000 in Trade Goods and Salvage. 4 Salvage: A ruined aircraft of unknown origin is planted in the dirt like a lawn dart. Roll as a Relic Salvage Operation; any valuables found are Naruni. Encounters for Prospect The following tables are for generating encounters, see Travel in Savage Worlds. * See The Game Master's Handbook. § See Savage Foes of North America. † Roll on the Opposition Leader table in The Game Master's Handbook. ‡ Roll on the Other Authority Figure table in The Game Master's Handbook.
85 HEARTS | STRANGERS D4 RESULT 1 Lady Talaton (page 16): Is heading to a nearby town to check in on the locals. 2 Convoy: A group employed by Silas Green (see page 17) to deliver high tech weapons and goods to Fort Prospect. 3 Refugees: 30 refugees displaced by the Tolkeen war look for a new home. They are led by a miscreant Ley Line Walker† , a fugitive war criminal‡. 4 D-Bee Traders: An extended family of Cactus People wander the plains with a variety of agricultural supplies, especially food, water, and fertilizers. SPADES | ENEMIES D20 RESULT 1 If Things Weren’t Bad Enough: Roll once on that table*, and again on this one. 2–3 The Plot Thickens: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 4–5 Risks and Rewards: Roll once on that table*, and again on this table. 6–7 Dinosaurs: A pack of aggressive predators swarms the group. Use 5 Ostrosauruses§ or other fierce Dinosaurs from Blood and Banes. 8–9 Village in Trouble: A small village in Prospect is under threat. Roll 1d6: 1–3 Simvan§, 4 – 6 Pecos Raiders§; they're extorting the locals under threat of violence. The Simvan† chief wants livestock, the Pecos Raider† leaders wants provisions. 10 –11 Wandering Monsters: One or more (roll 1d4) large and dangerous RhinoBuffalos§ and Fury Beetles§ hunt in the area. 12–13 Simvan Monster Riders: Barbaric and cannibalistic, the nomadic Simvan are always a potential threat to travelers in the wild. This raiding party is astride dangerous mounts, though offers of trade might subvert outright violence (unless other complications come into play). 10 Simvan§ are encountered; one is riding a Fury Beetle†§, the rest are each astride an Ostrosaurus§. 14 –15 Black-Winged Monster-Men: The sky briefly goes dark as 2 Black-Winged Monster-Men (see Creature Manual) divebomb the heroes. Both the MonsterMen and the heroes suffer falling damage from the high speed collision. 16 –17 Black Faeries: Muffled screams reveal a nest of 4d6 Black Faeries (see Creature Manual) cuddle in the tail section of a downed airplane. They’ve tightly wedged a hapless Coalition Grunt into the steel skeleton and take bites out of him in turn as their leader† goads them on. 18 –19 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry Heavy Troop: A D-Bee caravan finds itself in trouble. It is chased by two 1st Apocalyptic Cavalrymen§ per hero led by a Headhunter Techno Warrior† and a Juicer‡, all mounted on a Cavalry Horse§. Roll a d6: 1–2 the D-Bees harbor a guilty murderer, 3 – 4 a case of mistaken identity, 5 – 6 the Juicer lied to the company's leader; he just wants to loot and murder D-Bees. 20 Creatures from the Rifts: The heroes face rift-spawned opposition. Use the It Came From a Rift tables to generate the encounter. If appropriate, roll once on the Opposition Leader table and once on the Other Authority Figure table.
86 INDEX 1st Apocalyptic Cavalry ... 28, 80 Amnesty ..............................21 Anika Taherri ..................... 72 Bandito Arms .................... 58 Black Market ...................... 49 The Blood Wood .................31 The Borderlands ................ 25 The Anomaly ................... 26 Background ..................... 25 Factions ............................ 28 Geography ....................... 25 Technology....................... 28 Buck Wild ........................... 72 Buck Wild’s Bandito Dealership ...................... 70 Burnett's Mound .................31 The “Can” ........................... 43 Carnevale ............................41 Chicago Network ...............67 Church of the Salamander71 The Clock Tower ................ 42 The Coalition ......................21 Coalition Colonies ............. 35 Background ..................... 35 Geographic Features .......37 Government ..................... 40 History ............................. 36 Races & People .................37 Society .............................. 40 Technology....................... 40 Coalition Settlers ............... 40 Comanche Preserve ............ 9 Factions ............................ 12 Foreign Relations .............21 Geography ........................11 Government ..................... 12 History ............................. 10 Law Enforcement .............14 Military Divisions ...........14 Races and People ............ 12 Society .............................. 12 Technology....................... 13 Comanche Renegades ...... 13 Comanche Traditionalists 12 The Crazy Diamond ..........71 Crystal Bluffs ..................... 19 Darden Family ................... 44 Darden Mine ...................... 44 Dark Visitors ...................... 45 Dark Wind ...........................11 Dorothy Gale ..................... 72 Emporia .............................. 30 Esau Taylor ......................... 72 Fade Outs.............................27 The Fever ............................ 59 Fields of Fire ........................61 Fort Comanche .................. 15 Fort Prospect ...................... 82 Frontier Justice ................... 40 Gift Economy ..................... 12 Goblintown ........................ 64 Great Burial Grounds ....... 82 Great Little Ones ............... 38 Harvest Festival ................. 44 The High Plains ................. 53 Background ..................... 53 Factions ............................ 58 Foreign Relations ............ 73 Geography ....................... 56 History ............................. 55 Races & People .................57 Society & Government ...57 Technology........................61 The Hunger ........................ 38 Immaterial Hand................67 Javier Darden ..................... 45 Jayhawks ............................. 58 J.D. General Store and Hostel .............................. 44 Junction ............................... 30 Kansas ................................... 6 Ley Lines .............................. 6 Little Kingsdale ..................71 The Lock-Up ........................71 Lucinda “Killer Queen” Kent ..................................71 Magic .................................... 6 Malecito .............................. 42 The Marauders ................... 40 Mayor Caleb Ramirez ....... 44 The Meat Market ................71 Montana ............................... 6 Monument Rocks ...............61 Napwat Tu .......................... 13 New Dodge City ................ 66 Nightmares .........................27 Nodox ................................. 13 Numunuu Sookobitu .......... 9 The Octopus ....................... 62 Old Man Byers ................... 44 The Pahnaixte .................... 58 Paydirt Loans ..................... 70 Pop-up Enclaves ................ 62 Prairie Rose Pit .................. 64 Prospect .............................. 79 Background ..................... 79 Factions ............................ 80 Psi-Stalker Clans ................21 Psychic Static ......................27 Ragin’ Rock ........................ 83 The Roost .............................47 Ruins of Oklahoma City .. 20 Ruins of Topeka ................. 30 Sarii ..................................... 13 Simvan Tribes .....................21 The Slaughterhouse .......... 42 Station Thirteen Alpha ..... 29 Tin Stars .........................58, 69 Tolkeen Refugees............... 58 Tornado Alley .................... 62 The Town Square .............. 43 Tribal Council .................... 12 Vigilance Committee ........ 59 The Void .............................. 79 Wahkoh ............................... 13 The Warrens ........................31 Wasápe ................................ 13 Wayne’s Hollow ..................47 Wellstone ............................ 48 Wesley Cutter ..................... 72 Wicked Witches ................. 59 Wrythe ................................ 46 Wyoming .............................. 6