The gangs of SD: The Ship Rats

As discussed last week I've written down most of the background info I came up with for my Fallout living dungeon/city experiment. I'll post the stuff and stats for the characters in small installments over the coming week, most of it can be reworked to a different context for those so inclined! I'll kick off with the first gang: the Ship Rats.
On an unrelated note, I've bundled the posts about exotic dungeon loot in one PDF which you can get here.

In 2249, ruined San Diego, south of the civilized lands of the New California Republic, is a hellhole, run by dozens of brutal gangs constantly vying for dominance over the city's ragged remains. Recently however in an ambitious move, Barbatus, the leader of the Chain Gang, SD's most powerful gang, united the other six major gangs, cutting down all opposition against him in one fell swoop. His proposition: for the gangs to stop fighting among themselves over scraps, when together they could mount an assault on a much more worthwhile target: the cities of Dayglow and Boneyard. Now NCR and the Brotherhood of Steel are at each other's throats, the south is ripe for the taking...

A) The Ship Rats

-          The gang: Least of the seven major gangs, the Ship Rats number less than a hundred men and women. The gang calls itself the Crew, but everyone else in SD calls them the Ship Rats, after the derelict aircraft carrier in which the gang made their hideout.

 The Ship Rats have no weapons arsenal to speak of, so most of its members can be seen using knives, lead pipes and other melee weapons, while a few have pistols, shotguns and rifles. A group of lowlifes, scavs and addicts, few of them are skilled fighters. The vast majority of its members suffer from chem addiction and alcohol abuse, more oft than not to be found on board shooting up and partying through the night.

 Unable to pose any real threat to the more organized gangs, the Ship Rats content themselves with raiding the smaller street gangs and rabble living in the area surrounding the dockside, when they run low on supplies and sober up.

 The Ship Rats are led in name by the Captain, but the disorganized, ragtag group receives and demands little in the way of actual leadership. The Captain ends up being whichever gang members feels like taking up the title, and the position frequently switches around. The current Captain is a little respected sallow man called Hassan, often derisively referred to as the Skipper, who likes to parade around in a pre-War naval uniform.

-          Turf: The Ship Rats control the partially submerged aircraft carrier USS Midway and the surrounding dockside. The ship is a filthy, rusted death trap from long before the War. While its guns haven’t worked in ages, it boasts a few equally antique aircraft, though the Ship Rats lack the know-how to get these potential assets in working condition.

-          Influence: the Ship Rats are disdained by all the major gangs, considering them only just above the common street gangs and other rabble in SD. The only reason why the gang has not been wiped out yet, seems to be that the risk of a frontal assault on their ship would be a more costly affair than the potential reward merits. Few in number and lightly armed, they are at the bottom of the SD food chain. Since Barbatus came to power, the Ship Rats pay homage to the Chain Gang.

Ship Rat

St d6, Ag d6, Vi d6, Sm d6, Sp d6

Fighting d6, Small Guns d6, Taunt d4, Intimidate d4, Notice d6, Stealth d4

Pace 6, Run d6, Toughness 6/7(1), Parry 5, Uses Jet, Psycho

-Combat Leather Jacket (+1 vs Fighting, 0 vs Bullets), Leather Armor (+1)

-Throwing Knives 3/6/12 St+d4 RoF 1

-Brass/Spiked Knuckles St+d4

-Crowbar St+d4+1

-Shiv St+d4

-10mm Pistol 12/24/48 2d6 RoF1

-Hunting Rifle 24/48/96 2d8 RoF1

-Double Barrel 12/24/48 1-3d6 RoF1, 1 action to reload

Hassan (Wild Card)

St d6, Ag d4, Vi d6, Sm d8, Sp d8

Fighting d4, Small Guns d4, Notice d8, Persuasion d6, Barter d8

Pace 6, Run d6, Toughness 5, Parry 4

-Naval Uniform

-US Naval Officer Saber: St+d6

-Flare Gun 10/20/40 2d6 RoF1, 1 action to reload, Can start fires, Frightens animals

Some Ghouls and some Super Mutants

Inspired by my friend Gavin's excellent tables of random background characteristics for some of the non-human races in his LL campaign, I made something similar for the non-human races in the Fallout universe, for those who like some randomness in their character creation or something to get the inspiration going, with the roll of a d20.

Some Ghouls:

1)       Hate humans with a passion, secretly resenting them for being reminders of their old, normal looking selves.

2)       Take on new names after becoming a Ghoul, often of mythological persons/beings connected to ‘death’ and the ‘afterlife’ as a way of embracing their new existence.

3)       Still retain some measure of facial hair.

4)       Have a normal sounding voice instead of the deep, gravely voice of most Ghouls.

5)       Can sense radiation, feeling it as a warm, comforting glow.

6)       Are known to live more than two centuries with their minds intact.

7)       Have heightened senses, making them more perceptive than regular humans.

8)       Can remember nothing of their previous lives as humans.

9)       Want nothing to do with or even hate Glowing Ones and feral Ghouls.

10)   Are predominantly to exclusively attracted to humans.

11)   Are gravely offended by slurs as shuffler, zombie or Ghoul, wishing to be called necrotic post-humans instead.

12)   Were transformed from humans into Ghouls nearly instantly by an extremely large dosis of radiation, while for most the ghoulification process took many months or years.

13)   Have a fairly intact, cracked skin, unlike the raw, discoloured rotting appearance of most Ghouls, sometimes even having a complete nose.

14)   Are abhorred by their condition, clinging to what remains of their humanity as much as possible, in extreme cases even denying their ghoulishness.

15)   Are as much affected by regular alcohol as humans.

16)   Can only walk in a shambling gait.

17)   Have absorbed so much radiation that their scars emit puffs of greenish smoke, and their flesh seems to melt and bubble in some places.

18)   Only associate with other Ghouls.

19)   Believe they are the next stage in human evolution.

20)   Are heavily emaciated and hunched over.

Some Super Mutants:

1)       Have a pale blue skin instead of the shades of green of other Super Mutants through the extended use of stealth devices.

2)       Excessively stress their gender through clothing or accessories.

3)       Remember snippets of their former lives.

4)       Use leather straps to hold their upper lip in place and constantly bare their teeth.

5)       Have a fondness for human flesh.

6)       Are generous to the point of their own detriment.

7)       Have fitful dreams or vague recollections of a cold, dark, metal place.

8)       Are convinced that Super Mutants are in every way vastly superior to humans.

9)       Adhere to strict philosophies of their own devising.

10)   Use monikers bestowed by others as their proper name.

11)   Would do anything to avoid capture or enslavement.

12)   Are deeply distrustful of humans.

13)   Hate being seen or stared at.

14)   Don’t get along with Super Mutants of a different generation.

15)   Are prone to senility when reaching old age.

16)   Strongly hold to the vision of a harmonious, united wasteland.

17)   Have a sexual interest in humans.

18)   Can drink copious amounts of alcohol with little to no effect.

19)   Have large warts on their face and body.

20)   Establish family ties with other Super Mutants.

Living dungeons

Something I wanted to try (and still hoping to get to some time soon!) in my Fallout campaign was work out a "living dungeon" for the players to explore and influence. Now two of my all time favourite PA SF films are Escape from NY and Escape from LA, so I was intrigued by the idea of making the dungeon and actual city. My eye eventually turned to San Diego, as I think it would make a great setting for a similar adventure. Now my question: does anyone have any experience with running living dungeons in a Fallout setting/other SW?
Also I've started writing down the stuff I'd worked out, for those interested. More updates to follow in the coming weeks, but I'll leave you with the map I made, depicting all the gangs of SD and their respective turfs.

A) The Ship Rats
B) The Lawmen
C) The Gassers
D) The Pit Lords
E) The Angels of Mercy
F) The Jetheads
G) The Puñetazo
H) The Chain Gang
I) The Friars
J) The Convent

Wasteland adventures

As my campaign was set in 2250, 4 year after Fallout 2 and some 30 years before Fallout: New Vegas, one of the ideas I was toying around with was starting a little story arc revolving around Caesar and his rise to power in the east. I've made a one sheet out of the adventure hook that was to kick off said arc. Maybe I'll get back to working out the entire thing in more detail. As it is now you can use it as a little filler one session adventure or perhaps to kick off something bigger if it catches your fancy!

Showdown at Scrapheap

Another one sheet adventure for your consideration! Longtime Fallout fans may remember the little town of Scrapheap. :)

The demise of the campaign & one sheet adventures

Some bad news unfortunately, as could be guessed from the silence that has been hanging over this blog for the past weeks *watches tumbleweeds drift by*. My Fallout campaign has ground to a halt, perhaps to be resumed some time in the future, but for now it looks like it will be limited to infrequent gaming afternoons. So I won't be posting much new stuff anymore, though I'm not giving up entirely. ;)
I'll be writing down some adventures I had in mind for my campaign in the form of one sheets, which you might find useful to fill a session or two in your own campaign when you're running low on inspiritation. I'll kick off with The Mines of Spindle Point, which you can download here. Enjoy!

Session 15 summary

Things in the wasteland are about to change, as war breaks out between the two most powerful factions in New California... which role will our heroes play in the conflict to come?

Featuring:

- Dexx: Young thief, trying to leave behind his former life in the street gangs of the Boneyard to make a living scavenging out in the wasteland;

- Rhiannon: Vault 21 outcast, skilled engineer and adventurous spirit adjusting to life on the outside, with a mission to retake her vault;

Our heroes left behind the biosphere and began the journey home, making their way down the mountains and back south towards the Hub. Among the possessions retrieved from the Keepers they found a mysterious note from a man named Siggurd and something called the New Order.

After four days of travel the group reached Junktown, where they discovered that in their absence some major events had began to take form. As they learned from a paperboy pushing special edition copies on a street corner, some days earlier a baggage train of the NCR army was raided, leaving no survivors. Evidence seemed to indicate that the Brotherhood of Steel was involved somehow. Before continuing further south the next day, Dexx paid a visit to the local doctor to have his nasty wound looked after.

Three days of uneventful hiking later, they entered the sprawling trade town that is the Hub once more. Drinks were had to celebrate their safe return, and a preliminary division of the spoils made in respect to their helpful guides. The five of them would meet again the next day at the Far Go Traders headquarters, to present their evidence and claim the promised reward.

The Traders’ foreman Butch, wasn’t unambiguously convinced by the personal belongings and crate they had dragged all the way back to the Hub, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Half the reward money was paid out, and at Butch’s request they went down to the central police station and made their statements. As soon as the official investigation would yield conclusive results, Butch promised to make good on the other half.

Whatever hopes they had of enjoying a few days of quiet, were dashed quite suddenly as a crowd began to gather in the town square. From passers-by rushing toward the center they learned what had happened; the president had declared war on the Brotherhood of Steel. Rhiannon, Dexx and Craig slunk away from the disquieted mass of people as small groups broke out in nationalistic songs and spirited flag waving. As patriotic citizens began to march through the streets on their way to enlist, the three of them settled for a quiet bar, planning to take it easy for a couple of days, and already starting to think up plans how they could make a profit on this war.