Location: Camptown

In these sections I'll give an overview of the locales that pop up in the course of the campaign. Some of it might be canon, others are just the product of my addled imagination. ;) I'll kick of with the setting of the last session: Camptown.

Camptown is a small settlement of some three hundred permanent inhabitants and about as many caravaneers temporarily camped on the outskirts of town at any given moment. Advantageously located on a spot where caravans out of The Hub and NCR Capital meet on the way east, Camptown grew spontaneously fifty-odd years ago around the small tent camps that the passing caravans put up. As trade with New Vegas increased, so did the number of caravans passing through the area and the temporary tent camps became almost constantly occupied, with new arrivals stopping and others leaving again on a weekly basis. Entrepreneuring traders and craftsmen smelled opportunity: catering to the caravans, with the increasing traffic and the absence of any other major settlement, guaranteed profitable business. The first permanent structures were erected, first out of wood or corrugated iron plates, which later became the downtown area and replaced with sturdier clay brick buildings. Over the years more and more simple folk, down and out of luck or looking for new opportunities, came and took up residence in Camptown. A town council of the foremost townsmen and women was formed to govern the little community, with an appointed sheriff to hold up the law, fashioned after NCR example.

  Without any natural resources to speak of, namely the absence of a fresh water supply and soil too poor to cultivate, the caravans are Camptown’s lifeblood. If the caravans would cease stopping at Camptown for some reason or take an alternate route, Camptown would not be able to sustain itself and most likely empty in a matter of months. Afraid of such a scenario, the town council has a strict policy of neutrality in the affairs of the caravan groups and seeks to avoid any hint of favouritism. Camptown is actively soliciting to be recognized as a NCR town in its own right, the promise of NCR rule of law protecting the town from the political manoeuvres of the merchant guilds outweighing the downside of trade taxation that comes with membership. Lately, the Water Merchants have launched an aggressive campaign in a bid to make the council accept a resolution to turn Camptown into a company town. Voices in favour say protection from the Merchants will help keep Camptown safe of possible threats and assure the future patronage of the caravan groups; opponents fear the Merchants will pester the other caravan groups away with unreasonably high taxation, bar private enterprise and only allow Merchant run stores, with a restrictive rule of law by a Merchant officiary and high taxation.

Points of interest and story hooks

*At the camp sites of the three major guilds the PC’s can sign up for a job on the caravans or pay to be travel along with them. The Water Merchants offer the worst pay, but are well equipped and well guarded. The Far Go Traders offer decent pay for generally low to medium risk runs. The Crimson Caravan specializes in the dangerous New Vegas route, they pay the best wages but their caravans come under frequent attack. They are always on the look out for more guards. Players can also travel along doing odd jobs, looking after the animals, hauling equipment etc, this pays a minimal wage. The Traders currently have a small caravan returning to The Hub. The Caravan is heading to New Vegas.

  -Vance McPherson, the foreman of the Water Merchants site, will ask the players, if they’re from out of town, to gauge the atmosphere in town about the upcoming vote. If the foreman deems the party trustworthy, he’ll ask them to pressure some prominent townsfolk to see things his way. Members of the council include: Doc Thompson, pastor Alesius, sheriff Bill Rhames, store owner Hank McCreedy, store owner Rafe Smith, grocer Mabel Miller, tradesman Benjamin Hull and tradeswoman Sarah Philips. If successful, he’ll ask the party to “deliver a final warning” and start a fire among the tents of the independent caravans.

 -Over at the camping grounds of the independent groups, a few thugs from the Merchants are threatening some of the caravaneers. The party can learn that this has been going on for quite a while already and seems to be increasing.

*The bazaar is the place for the characters to stock up. A lively hubbub of traders from many different parts, it is filled with merchants selling all kinds of wares and food and townsfolk or passing caravaneers looking for a bargain. The bazaar is a set of narrow pathways and alleys with most stalls being simple tents or temporary constructions of out corrugated iron and wood. Prices are generally about 10 to 20% higher than in major towns, but price and quality of the sold wares varies.

*The downtown area has some sixty-odd houses, stores and other buildings out of brown clay brick, with the more important ones having white plastered facades. The outskirts of town have smaller houses, with some being erected out scrap iron or wood. The center of town features some stores, a bar, a library/school building belonging to the Followers of the Apocalypse, town hall and the sheriff’s office. The doctor is located on the east side of town. On the town square stands a statue with the inscription: The hero of Camptown, the man they call Blaine, Blaine being a sort of local hero who once held up a large Merchants caravan returning from New Vegas, and dumping the money on the square before mysteriously disappearing.

 -In The Last Stop bar the party can meet up with Jacob, who will offer them the Jefferson job. Local rancher Obediah T. Jefferson needs to fulfil on a contract and his ranch foreman has fallen ill. He needs capable hands to deliver six Brahmin bulls to the Longhorn Ranch, about six days travel to the south east, near the settlement of Landfill.

 -When asked, pastor Alesius will express his fears for the future of Camptown and bring the characters up to speed on the situation with the Merchants.

In the spirit of the ending sequences of the Fallout games, here some possible scenario's for Camptown, though many different outcomes are possible depending on what the PCs precisely did.

Power struggle in Camptown: Endings

Party sided with the Water Merchants: Having been given a mandate by the council of Camptown, the Water Merchants turned Camptown in a company town, run solely by them. Imposing ever increasing taxes, they drove away all their competitors and impoverished the local populace. Under the harsh, bureaucratic rule of Merchant officiaries, Camptown dwindled, its former potential a distant memory.

Party sided with the townsfolk: Camptown stayed its course of strict neutrality. A tense peace between the different trade guilds and the townsfolk continued to exist. With the routes east becoming more and more important as the NCR expanded eastwards, Camptown soon became a thriving trade center for the entire region.

Session 1 summary

The transcript for the first session with the whole group (three players). We had a lot of fun as the players got a feel for the world and the strange characters that populate it. None of them have ever played a Fallout game before, which both has benefits and drawbacks. It does present you with lots of interesting possibilities as a GM and the players view of the world is often quite refreshing. The characters they came up with pleasantly surprised me, as I had expected them to all roll some sort of Mad Max clone. I'm looking forward to slowly introducing them to the tried and true factions of Fallout, such as the Brotherhood, Enclave, Slaver's Guild etc. After a brief introduction to the Followers of the Apocalypse they're already quite convinced that they can't be as altruistic and decent as they seem. ;) The first session focused on getting the characters together, meeting in the town of Camptown. Camptown is a town grown out of a camping site from caravans heading east, that eventually became a fixed stopping point and more permanent building were erected. It is situated a ways east of Junktown and north east of The Hub, not too far from Necropolis.

Session 1

Featuring:

- Craig the Spirit Hunter: good natured Super Mutant shaman with a profound dislike for violence, on a spirit quest to find his true life's purpose;
- Dexx: streeth youth from the Boneyard who likes to indulge in less savoury endeavours, legally speaking, and fancies he can communicate with animals;
- Rhiannon Adare: computer and mechanical whiz, only just out into the Wasteland after fleeing her home, Vault 21, after a failed uprising;

After spending some time recuperating back at the Tribal village and attending the ritual immolation of Ticlop's body, which was retrieved by a few of the other tribesmen, Rhiannon felt strong enough to try setting out again the next day. Later that day a feeling of liveliness came over the mourning village as a few of the children ran through the village, announcing that Craig had returned. The Super Mutant, clad in his thick cloak made of all different sorts of pelts, made for a very astounding sight for Rhiannon, having lived her whole life in the mutant-free environment of the Vault. She was soon put at ease however, as the Tribals welcomed Craig as their friend and esteemed guest and prepared a little celebration in his honour. A long trestle table was improvised, song and dance performed and a rich table laid out, Craig and Rhiannon being given places of honour next to the village elder and medicine man. With some reservation about imposing on their guest, the elder soon solicited Craig's help in a matter of some concern to the tribe. One of their hunters, a man named Pyal, had left a fortnight ago to the settlement of Camptown, a few days to the south, to try and sell some pelts and barter some medical supplies. He still hadn't returned however, though he was expected back some days ago. Seeing as none of their tribe was very familiar with the town, she asked Craig to travel to Camptown and investigate Pyal's disappearance. Craig readily agreed to look into the matter and Rhiannon decided to make the journey south along with her strange new acquaintance, clearly one who knows the wastes and can take care of himself. Before turning in for the night, the medicine man Reyli invited Craig to his tent to discuss his vision quest. Wandering about the wilderness for some time, Craig said to have seen and talked to various spirits, looking for their guidance and council. The medicine man remarked that he felt Craig's future would soon take an unexpected turn, and that his fate was being decided this moment. Reyli then prepared a dried datura leaf with an unidentified white paste, and bid Craig ingest it before going to sleep. Craig, having returned to his own tent, followed the medicine man's instructions and soon fell into a deep sleep. In his dream he was visited by a ghostly coyote, who told him he saw Rhiannon playing an important role in Craig's future, and also to be on the lookout for a yet unknown third companion, who would guide him on the path to his destiny. The next morning Craig and Rhiannon set out for Camptown, the gathered Tribals seeing them off.

Meanwhile, a hundred odd miles away, a lanky young man by the name of Dexx travelled east along with a Water Merchants caravan heading for New Vegas. After staying in The Hub for the last few months, Dexx started to feel the breath of the local law enforcement down his neck and deemed it more wise to lay low for a while, out of town. After about a week's journey the caravan arrived at Camptown, one of the principal stopping points on the trade route east. Stopping for two days to resupply and rest up, the caravan set up camp outside of town on the site allotted to the Water Merchants. Free to wander the town at leisure, Dexx decided to head over to the bazaar, a maze-like warren of tents, wooden shacks and stalls made out of corrugated iron plates. Less interested in all the colourful wares the vendors went about hawking than finding an easy mark, he wandered the little paths and alleyways. Eventually he made his move on a thickset man with a coin purse dangling rather conspicuously from his belt, engrossed in conversation with a trader. Waiting for an opportune moment, with the ease of many years of having honed his skills, he cut the purse clean of the man's belt and vanished in the crowd in a matter of seconds. The purse revealed to contain a sizeable amount of money, more than enough to enable him to buy some water and iguana-on-a-stick from an Iguana Bob's concession stand. Leisurely strolling through the town proper he noticed some of the townsfolk hurrying towards the same direction, speaking in excited voices. Rumour had it a Super Mutant was spotted near town. Curious, Dexx followed the locals along to the outskirts of town, where a small crowd had gathered as the sheriff had gone to meet the Mutant and his companion. After some conversation the sheriff deemed Craig and Rhiannon trustworthy enough to be allowed into town, warning the Super Mutant not to cause any trouble. Inquiring after the missing tribesman Pyal, the sheriff informed them that he was locked up in the town jail, after getting in a bar fight with some of the locals and hitting one of them a bit too hard, which left the man in a coma, teetering on the brink of life and death at doc Thompson's medical practice. Craig and Rhiannon, with Dexx tailing them from a distance, subsequently paid the unfortunate Tribal a visit. Pyal, only being used to a life outdoors, urged his friend Craig to find a way to get him out of his tiny barred cell, the twosome reassuring him that they would do their utmost best to get him out of his predicament. The bail for Pyal stood at a hefty $150, together with the guarantee that the Tribal would return for trial if the comatose local died, and face charges of manslaughter. Taking their leave of Pyal and the sheriff, Craig and Rhiannon went over to doc Thompson, in the hope of learning a bit more of his patient's condition, once again being followed by a curious Dexx. The doctor proved accommodating enough. Rhiannon's peculiar outfit and arm-mounted Pip-Boy were of great interest to the good doctor, leading him to the conclusion that she was some sort of doctor out of Vault City; Rhiannon deciding it more prudent to leave him to his assumptions. Craig mostly possessing knowledge of natural medicine and herbal lore, the doctor's scientific explanation of the patient's condition proved not very enlightening. He then proceeded to invoke the spirits to shed some light on the fate of the comatose man. Soon enough an ethereal little bird appeared to him, whispering in his ear that the man's future looked very bleak indeed. Unsure on how to proceed, Craig and Rhiannon left the doctor's and were once again out on the street. They noticed Dexx sitting across the road a bit down the street, nonchalantly whittling away. A discussion sprung up between the two on how they would get Pyal out of custody, with plans ranging from earning some quick money, setting up an impromptu freakshow starring Craig with a $5 admission, to springing the tribesman from jail. Undecided they walked through the streets, hoping to find some inspiration along the way. Reaching the center, they came upon a long, low building with a white plastered facade, easily the largest building in Camptown. The symbol of a cross in a circle was familiar to Craig, who identified it as belonging to the Followers of the Apocalypse. Unsure what to expect, the two of them entered the building. The building was revealed to house a modest library, along with a room with some desks and a large, run down printing machine. There they were greeted by a robed figure, introducing himself as Father Alesius, the pastor of this community. Though the pastor could not provide any material aid, he did give them a valuable tip in mentioning that a man by the name of Jacob had been going around town earlier, looking for some capable hands for a lucrative job. They were told they could find this Jacob in the bar a bit further down the street called The Last Stop. Upon leaving the library they once again noticed Dexx, now sitting around the town square seemingly minding his own business, much as before. Rhiannon resolutely stepped towards him, demanding to know what he was up to, with Craig joining them after a short while. An animated conversation sprung up between the three of them, with some minor arguing back and forth. In the end Dexx convinced Craig and Rhiannon of him meaning no harm, and the mention of a lucrative job also tickled the man's interest. Dexx led his newfound companions to the local watering hole. After gruffly being greeted by the barman, who didn’t particularly care for Super Mutants, the party spotted Jacob and decided to see what he had to offer. Throwing himself up as the spokesperson for the threesome while Craig and Rhiannon sat down in the next boot, Dexx discussed the job offer with Jacob. He quickly learned that the latter worked for a big local rancher by the name of Obediah T. Jefferson, who urgently needed to fulfil on an important contract. His ranch foreman having fallen ill a few days earlier, Jefferson was looking for a few capable hands to transport half a dozen Brahmin bulls to the Longhorn Ranch, about a week’s travel away; agreed upon delivery date in six days time. The proposed payment sounding more than satisfactory, Dexx called Craig and Rhiannon over. Jacob at first reacted a bit hesitant, but after assuring him that Craig was a capable guard with great animal affinity and Rhiannon some sort of doctor/veterinarian - “animals and people are the same anyway” - and Dexx having some caravanning experience, the party convinced him of their merits and made the trip with him to the Jefferson Ranch, a few miles out of town.

The Jefferson Ranch proved quite impressive. Sturdy looking barns, stables, a beautiful wooden ranch building and pastures with threescore Brahmin made clear that Jefferson’s cattle farm ran well. Jacob showed them the pen with the bulls they’d be escorting. The appearance of a ghostly Brahmin seemed to be a good omen to Craig, while Dexx already seemed to be on speaking terms with one of them. The party was then summoned to Jefferson’s office to see if they could broker an agreement. Jefferson, a sweaty, corpulent man in immaculate white suit and ditto cowboy hat, seemed pleased enough with the ragtag band and after some haggling over their salary, he hired the threesome, to leave at the break of dawn the next morning, with Jacob as their guide. After taking their leave of Jefferson and receiving the friendly reminder they’d better not try to swindle him, the party returned to Camptown to shop for some last minute supplies at the bazaar and paid the bail money for the incarcerated Tribal Pyal. They then repaired for the night, with Dexx sleeping out at the Water Merchants tent camp and Craig, Rhiannon and Pyal spending the night under the stars, with only a few furs and a sleeping bag to keep them warm.

Session 0 summary

The first two sessions were sort of trial runs to try out some of the new aspects and combat with just one player. I'll give a quick summary of the plot events here:

Session 0

Featuring:

- Rhiannon Adare: inhabitant of Vault 21, skilled technician and science enthusiast;

Vault 21 was designed so the external sensors would unchangingly register lethal doses of radiation outside, basically confining its population to the Vault for all eternity. Special care was taken in choosing the original Overseer: a family history of mental instability, delusion, paranoid schizophrenic and aggressive tendencies, which were passed on to the next generations of Overseers. Over the years people would occasionally mysteriously disappear, after being deemed a (real of perceived) threat by the Overseer. By 2245 the population had dwindled to about eighty inhabitants, infertility and inbreeding becoming an increasingly real problem. In a desperate attempt to overthrow the Overseer, a handful of people revolted, among them Rhiannon's father. The rebellion quickly went south however. Her father, dying from a gunshot, revealed to her a very similar situation had occurred twenty years earlier and that her mother, being one of the ringleaders, had been banished from the Vault, sent out to die in the irradiated Wasteland and had not died giving birth as he had always told her. Rhiannon, having lost her last remaining family, fearing for her life because of her involvement, saw no choice but to try and escape, even if it would mean a slow death in the wastes. With the help of some of the other inhabitants she managed to elude security and open the great Vault door, leaving behind everything she had ever known for an uncertain future.
Outside, which turned out to be somewhere in Death Valley, she encountered a friendly scout of the Timbisha tribe, who invited her to his village. Spending some time there and learning that her mother had passed through there twenty years earlier also, she set out southwards. At dusk however, she and her Tribal guide Ticlop were ambushed by a raiding party of four from the neighbouring Macave tribe. Despite being a seasoned hunter and warrior, Ticlop soon found himself outmatched as the leader of the hostile Tribals ended his life with a forceful swing of his tomahawk. Rhiannon, not being accustomed to fighting, nevertheless fought with all the ferocity of a cornered animal, managing to brutally slash open two of her adversaries before being wrestled to the ground and bound. Planning to sell her to slavers, they started to lead her back to their own village. By now night had fallen however, and in their turn the tribals were ambushed by a snarling beast jumping out of the darkness. Being skilled hunters they quickly managed to dispatch the creature, but Rhiannon took full advantage of the confusion to make her escape. Hiding from her pursuers, she managed to throw them off and eventually made her way back to the Tribal village of Shoshünümü, hurt and shocked, but alive.

Handbook and Survival Guide

The first editions of the Overseer's Handbook for the GM and the players' Wasteland Survival Guide should now be up and available for download (fingers crossed). The first session of Savaged Fallout was everything considered a success. Everyone was already familiar with SW (but not with the Fallout universe) so we could start very quickly and we had a lot of fun getting to know the outlandish characters the players had come up with! A summary of the session to follow...