Location: Landfill

The next installment in the locations series, we'll take a look at the settlement of Landfill.

Lovingly dubbed Landfilth or simply “The Filth” by its inhabitants, the former Green Acres Waste Management and Disposal Site is now home to a tiny community of destitute squatters and NCR rejects. Far to the south-west of The Hub, the influence of the NCR here can be called liminal at best. At almost a thousand acres large, the enormous wasteyard, a testament to an era of prosperity and wasteful consumption that's long gone, can be seen and smelled from miles off. Three large mountains of refuse loom over the rest of the spreading dumping site. Now, the trash of the 21st century serves as the only source of income for the two hundred-odd souls that dwell in the shanty town called Landfill, and many more fortune seekers, coming and going, hoping to salvage functional parts or unearth forgotten treasures in the deep recesses of the mountains of garbage. For many years the yard was scavenged willy-nilly. More organized groups excavated long winding tunnels in the bigger heaps of trash in the hopes of reaching older layers with more valuable findings. The situation changed some twenty years ago however, when a small-time businessman by the name of Harlan Clint showed up with a gang of armed toughs and forcefully seized control of the yard. Restoring the outer fences and having guards patrolling the perimeter, Clint now runs a profitable business charging would-be scavengers an entrance fee to the yard, for which they can in return haul as much salvage out of it as they can carry. With caravans passing Landfill being few and far between, Clint used his newfound influence to ensure that all trade into Landfill would pass through him first, taking first pick of the trade goods and hoarding most of the drinking water.

The settlement is made up entirely of small, dilapidated shacks, improvised out of sheets of plastic, corrugated metal or wreckage dragged from the yard. One building, partially out of brick and mortar, stands out: the local watering hole called The Hill, a two storey edifice dedicated to every vice man can think of: alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitution. The proprietor is a man called Shane Donaldson, bar keeper and self proclaimed mayor of Landfill. Donaldson runs a tight ship, employing a small gang of bruisers to keep the bar and surrounding area trouble free, simultaneously providing the town with its only semblance of law and order.

Points of interest and story hooks

*Locals: the town is lousy with beggars asking for some water or caps. Drug dealers offer their wares. A woman will accost the party and beg them to look for her husband who went missing in the wasteyard tunnels. A party of three Ghouls, experienced scavengers, plan on going for a big haul and generally act rather adversarial and disdainful towards the PCs.

*Joe's Supplies: Joe sells all sorts of equipment a scavenger could need. Shovels and pickaxes, buckets, barrels or bags, Joe has it all.

*A few stalls scattered around the town sell food, mostly suckling pig rat caught in the yard, one trader buys and sells the more valuable artefacts found by more fortunate scavengers.
*The Hill: a smoky, seedy place filled with raucous drunks, addicts, gamblers and scavengers, The Hill is run by local strongman Shane Donaldson. Owning the only bar and half the townsfolk being deeply indebted to Donaldson, he’s widely regarded as the man in charge of town, a view he likes to encourage. Donaldson has his fingers in all the pies in Landfill and not much happens without his knowing or approval. Lately, Harlan Clint has become a thorn in Donaldson’s side. If the party is receptive, he’ll ask them to take Clint out, in the spirit of “free enterprise”. Not afraid of some fair, friendly competition, Donaldson believes Clint is getting too big for his boots and will soon start monopolizing all the in- and outgoing trade. He’ll offer a sizeable amount in caps for the deed. Alternatively, if the party was asked to kill Donaldson by Clint, he’ll make a higher counteroffer for the party to kill Clint instead.

*Wasteyard: for a small fee the party can enter the landfill to try their luck at scavenging. The outside consists mostly of contemporary rubbish. The tunnels leading into the mountains of trash are a three-tiered dungeon. Enemies encountered here are pig rats, mole rats and a few giant albino rats. On the deepest level in a tunnel dripping with toxic sludge awaits a centaur. Loot consists of many deposits of spare parts, equipment from died scavengers and some damaged pre-war weapons, such as a laser pistol. The trio of Ghouls encountered in Landfill will shop up and attempt to kill the party.

*Clint’s compound: the only entrance to the wasteyard opened to the public. Anyone caught trying to climb the fence around the yard will be shot on sight. A few larger shacks near the entrance serve as bunkhouses for Clint’s toughs, storage and Clint's office. The water tank, holding a few hundred gallons of drinking water, is guarded at all times by one or two of Clint's men, it being the only real water storage the settlement has. On occasion, Clint has some water distributed for free, in an effort to gain some popularity with the locals.

If the party went in the tunnels and returns, Clint’s men will ask them to come with them to Clint’s office to discuss a business proposal. Clint reveals he’s planning on turning Landfill into a respectable town and having the wasteyard exploited to its full potential, which would provide many with honest, fulltime jobs, according to him. The first step in getting the approval of the NCR however, will be in removing the blight of Shane Donaldson and his sinful establishment. Clint will offer the party a sizeable amount of caps to kill Donaldson. Alternatively, if the party was asking to kill Clint by Donaldson, he’ll make a higher counteroffer for the party to kill Donaldson instead.

 

In the spirit of the Fallout ending sequences where the impact of the player on the world is recounted, here some ideas for how Landfill could evolve (you’d have to mimic Ron Perlman’s voice yourself) ;)

Power struggle in Landfill: Endings

Clint killed: With Clint out of the way, Donaldson took control of Landfill and slowly turned it into a large, prosperous town, dedicated to gambling, drinking and prostitution. Donaldson ruled with an iron fist. To protect his business interests, the streets of Landfill are being kept clean and orderly by his force of bruisers and own frontier brand of justice. In time, the lights of Landfill would be rivalled only by those of New Vegas and New Reno themselves.

Donaldson killed: With Donaldson out of the way, no one was left standing in Clint’s way to take full control of Landfill. Banning all gambling, drug dealing and prostitution, the renamed settlement of New Green Acres would become an orderly town, in time becoming a full member of the NCR. Clint had the wasteyard exploited professionally, with many of the locals now working sixteen hour shifts at minimum wages, being reduced to slaves in all but name. Thanks to your help, New Green Acres stands as a shining example of humanity's determination to rebuild civilization in the Wasteland.