We finished our intermediary enclave/character creation session last night, and the next time we meet the Takers will choose their first job of the campaign! They decided to set the game in Nevada, partly because they wanted something with a bit of Mad Max flavor and mostly because of their choice of location for their enclave:
HOOVERVILLE
Five years after the Crash turned out the lights all across America, Nevada still shines in the darkness thanks to the ever-enduring Hoover Dam and the electricity it generates for any enclave in the region willing to pay...which is most of them. It is maintained and operated by technicians and engineers who realized the severity of the crisis facing America and brought their families into the Dam to try and weather the storm. Over time they were joined by a military diaspora and a small flood of refugee survivors, and together they formed the technocratic community of Hooverville.
LocationHoover Dam. Duh.
DefensesHoover Dam. Duh.The dam's architecture and placement make it a veritable fortress against both Casualties and raiders, especially when augmented with additional fortifications like scrap metal gates and watchtowers. These defenses are manned by a mixed group of soldiers and private security contractors who were abandoned by their chains of command in the Crash; they are led by Marshall Amanda Cho. Finally, the Dam's isolated location provides another barrier against attack due to the distance one must travel to reach it.
HistoryHooverville's original occupants included the technicians who operated the Dam and kept her running, plus whatever surviving family they could bring with them. The next group to seek refuge in the monument was a mixed platoon of Army infantry and PMC contractors who had been left to die in the mass exodus east; these would become the enclave's defenders and law enforcement officers. And, over time, more survivors began to flock to the Dam when they heard by Ubiq and radio and word of mouth that there was shelter to be found. As conditions in the Loss continued to deteriorate and people realized rescue simply wasn't coming, they settled in and built Hooverville.
Top ExportsElectricity—Hoover Dam supplies electricity to just about anyone in Nevada or California who can pay and keep the cables maintained. This makes them a powerful economic force in the region despite their average population and isolated location.
Water—Nevada hasn't gotten any less dry and inhospitable since civilization collapsed. Fresh water is sold to anyone looking to keep their crops from drying up or their cattle from dying of dehydration.
Engineering Expertise—One of the engineers who fled to the Dam had the foresight to raid a manufacturing center on the way, bringing a number of 3D printers Hooverville now uses to make replacement parts and equipment. Although raw materials are in short supply, the ability to repair delicate equipment with machined parts instead of junking them more than pays for itself. On top of this, the techs and engineers are more than willing to sell their knowledge over Ubiq as consultants and designers.
Top ImportsFood—Space is at a premium in Hooverville, and although there are more than a few small hydroponic gardens set up on top of the wall they don't produce even a fraction of what the population needs to survive.
Scrap Metal—You can't build with raw materials, and quality scrap metal is one of the most cost-effective construction materials available in the carrion economy of the Loss.
Medicine—Although it means less government interference, being so far from the Recession also means less easy access to manufactured goods like modern medicine. Suppliers out in the Loss can make money hand over fist selling pharmaceuticals to enclaves, and with so many people packed into a relatively small space Hooverville can't afford to let its medicine cabinets go unstocked.
CompetitionThe House—A network of former gamblers, insider traders, and mafia members who have their fingers in enclaves throughout Nevada. They use their influence to game the economy, driving the prices for goods up or down, and employ teams of unwitting Takers for jobs that take advantage of their manipulations. The House is a money-making machine and isn't above endangering people to make a profit--they might arrange for an enclave's water supply to be contaminated, then charge them to send Takers to scout out a new well site. They operate in secret and jealously guard their investments--stumbling across a House operation is often the last mistake a curious Taker makes.
The 51st State—Some saw the Crash as the end of the world, but others saw it as the chance to uncover the
truth. When the military pulled out of Nevada every redneck conspiracy nut in the Southwest headed straight for Area 51 to finally see the alien corpses and UFO wreckage and lizardmen cryo tubes at long last. When they arrived they found none of these things, surprising nobody but themselves. Consoling themselves by looting the hastily-abandoned site of weapons, ammunition, and military vehicles, the conspiracy theorists took to the road and over time became a nomadic band of desert raiders. The absence of any proof for their theories in Area 51 has only fueled their distrust of the government--they obviously cleaned up anything of value before pulling out and leaving their own citizens to die at the hands of their sinister experiments (Probably).
Mojave Nation—A loose confederacy of surviving Native American tribes in Nevada that congregated at Fort Mojave for mutual protection. Over time they established a system allowing for cooperation in trade and defense while retaining their independent governments and cultural identities, effectively becoming a small nation with member states. Due to their proximity to the Colorado River they are the largest producer of crops in Nevada, which makes them a strong trading partner with Hooverville to the north.
Shadow Hills—A megachurch in the Vegas suburbs converted into a fortress by a somewhat mild offshoot of the Meek. Although they believe that the Crash was God's Rapture and that the Blight was his way of calling man into Heaven, they are not as driven to enforce their beliefs on others and are content merely to live and let die. Although many enclaves find it distasteful to interact with them many do not have a choice, as they are the second-largest exporter of crops in Nevada behind the Mojave Nation.
Free Rangers—A traveling hodgepodge of truckers, ranchers, and highway patrol officers who raise the largest surviving herds of livestock in Nevada. They migrate from grazing spot to grazing spot in convoys of cattle-carrier big rigs and supercharged police cruisers to stay ahead of any roving herds or bandits, and they make regular stops at enclaves along the way to sell their juiciest animals.
Social StructureOn the surface Hooverville is a technocracy with flimsy pretensions of being a meritocracy, but peel back the layers and one will see that it is actually a cleverly-disguised aristocracy in the guise of a technocracy. In Hooverville decisions that affect the community are put to a vote, but not every vote is equal: the Engineers who maintain and operate the Dam which provides for them all have more say than the men and women of the Garrison, who have more say than the diverse population of skilled laborers and other non-technical Specialists who serve important roles in the community, who have even more say than the refugees living on top of the Dam and the Latents exiled outside the walls (Who have none).
In theory all one needs to graduate from Tourist to Specialist, Garrison, or even Engineer is to take and pass a test which gauges one’s useful knowledge and skills. This is much easier said than done in the post-Crash world, where education has yet to be re-established even in the Recession and many children haven’t seen a classroom or textbook in years. Further stacking the deck is the fact that the Engineers closely guard their knowledge, teaching only their children and family members so that they may preserve it, thus making it extremely difficult for anyone to actually climb the theoretical ladder to power.
This system, while somewhat stable, does result in more than a little social unrest. Protests and demonstrations on the archway are not uncommon, and a growing civil rights movement led by self-styled activist Neal Dalton is demanding that the Tourists be granted the right to vote. Despite Marshall Cho’s moderating influence Chief Engineer Greeley is pushing the Board towards increasingly authoritarian measures to contain and suppress these protests, and within the Garrison itself there is a small but vocal movement of anonymous guards calling themselves the Strike Breakers who demand the mass deportation of the Tourists and call for the Latent “gravediggers” outside the walls be driven away.
NeighborhoodsThe Dammed—Latent ghetto/squatter's camp erected outside the enclave, moves from one end to the other by way of the Bypass, as they aren't permitted within the walls.
Tourist Trap—The tent city and shanty town decorating the top of the Dam, where the bulk of the non-military and engineering citizens live.
Barracks—Formerly the observation deck and museum, now converted into the military quarters.
Powerhouse—The seat of government and where the engineers and their families live.
VIPsChief Engineer Michael Greeley—A man ill-suited to leading a city-state, Greeley is slight in stature and spine. His courage is bolstered by his position on the Board, secured solely due to the fact that nobody knows the Dam like he does, as well as the control over the Garrison which it affords him. When Greeley is afraid he tends to lash out, or order others to lash out, and Greeley is afraid very often. He likes when things work the way they’re supposed to and everyone just does their job.
Marshall Amanda Cho—Cho was just two short weeks from turning in her papers and leaving the military life altogether when the Crash began and the whole damn world lost its mind. She kept 2nd Platoon together by sheer force of will when the Blackhawks abandoned them on the tarmac, and she managed to keep those trigger-happy White Forest goons from shooting anyone after they started tagging along. Greeley might outrank her, but she’ll be damned if she lets him use her soldiers like a switch on those poor people up on the archway. Even if some of them
are asking for it.
Neal Dalton, "The Guide"—At first glance Dalton may seem like an earnest and charismatic civil rights figure in the making, but in reality he just loves the attention. He organizes rallies, delivers speeches, and rants against the oppressive tyranny of the Board of Engineers to anyone on the archway who will listen. Marshall Cho makes a point of having at least a squad of her men present at each event to keep things from getting out of control, but their presence only serves as a convenient hook on which Dalton can hang some of his nastiest Nazi allusions. Many people among the Tourists and even some of the Specialists are swept up by the quasi-religious fervor of Dalton's apparent convictions, convinced that the revolution is only a matter of time, but in truth Dalton has no plan for reform and is merely riding off the high of adulation.
Janet Quinn, host of 93.5 "The Spill"—Something of a black sheep among the Engineers, Janet Quinn is a communications technology major from LA who was granted admittance into Hooverville on the promise that she could establish communications with other survivors and even contact the government for evacuation. When the military pulled back east and Ubiq went online both of these contributions became redundant, but what kept her from being booted into the Specialists was her increasingly-popular talk news radio, "The Spill". In addition to covering local news and politics Quinn also provides a Daily Show-esque comical release for the Hooverville listeners, taking savage jabs at the Board and their decisions (All for a laugh, of course). Her "dissent" is tolerated by the Board because they feel that shutting her show down or demoting her to Specialist would anger far more people than it would placate.
Eric McLaughlin, owner/bartender of the "Hole in the Wall"—The Crash changed a lot of things, but at the end of the day honest working folks need a place where they can kick back with some shitty distilled booze and forget their problems for a few hours. That's the beginning, middle, and end of McLaughlin's sale pitch, and considering he owns the only bar for a few hundred miles around he doesn't need to work that hard at it. McLaughlin tries to stay out of politics, opening his bar to any Engineers or Garrison members who need a drink, but as a Tourist himself he empathizes with the frustrated masses and prays the Lord will soften the Board of Engineers' hearts to their plight.
Pharmacist Clarence Clayton, "CC"—Five years ago Clarence was a Berkeley hippie who dropped out of his chemistry degree to grow weed in Humboldt, but now with skilled doctors and sources of medicine thousands of miles to the east he is the closest thing Hooverville has to a medical supplier. On behalf of the Board of Engineers Clarence hires Takers to retrieve unspoiled medical and chemical supplies in the Loss that he can use to make various street drugs in lieu of FDA-approved medicinals. "CC" might claim to have gone straight, but there are plenty of rumors about how the Tourists have been getting their hands on that shitty weed proving to be popular up on the archway.
Romero, leader of the Gravediggers—Nobody gives the Latents a break, nor should they ever expect one; this is the advice Romero gives to newcomers. The de facto leader of Hooverville's small infected community is recognized as such for his relentless determination in keeping them together and alive outside the walls, where they work to keep the perimeter clear of Casualties in exchange for food and water from the enclave. The presence of so many potential Vectors is a hot button political issue in Hooverville, especially between the Board and the Strike Breakers, but Romero has kept tensions from boiling by keeping his people from approaching the walls and keeping them in line with a combination of fear and respect. Nobody knows who he was before the Crash, and to be frank not many want to know.
And here is the Taker Outfit they came up with:
Casualty Clearing Crew (CCC)Göts - A German-American mercenary and veteran Taker who lost his last team in a disastrous mission that saw most of them die horribly, took his one surviving friend's legs, and robbed him of a perfectly good arm. Having spent years in the Loss as a "Lifer" chasing money and thrills for the hell of it he has come to the conclusion that he needs to get out before his luck runs out again. He spent what Bounty he had to get himself and his dependants to Hooverville, get a new arm from the 3D printers, and get a couple of Takers together to found CCC.
Weak Spot - I've Had Enough
Soft Spot - Freedom to choose one's destiny
Tough Spot - Old Hand (+1 Sway once per session for Negotiations, but already Cracked in Trauma)
DependantsAdam, disabled comrade
Joey, younger brother
Rachel, adopted daughter
Cabbie - A first-generation immigrant cab driver from San Diego who smuggled people over the border before the dead began to walk and the border moved a few thousand miles east. Now he's still a driver and still hopes to smuggle himself and his sister over the Quarantine Wall someday, but before that happens he's going to need a lot of cash to set them both up in the Recession. He's not going to be driving cabs for the rest of his life.
Weak Spot - Fuck the Police
Soft Spot - Hard work can get you anywhere
Tough Spot - Coyote (+2 Criminality, but already Cracked in Detachment)
DependantsRoxanne, sister
Plato - A former athlete and self-styled warrior-philosopher of the wasteland who would have celebrated the collapse of society's oppressive and constricting scaffholdings had they not resulted in the deaths of millions. For a time Plato traveled the Loss on his own, with nothing but his wits, his parkour, his bow and the Immune gene keeping him from joining all the poor souls taken before their time. He might have been content to continue that way until the end of time had he not encountered and adopted a little orphaned boy named Danny, who had survived the collapse of an enclave and the deaths of his entire family (Again).
Weak Spot - Prefers Freedom to Security
Soft Spot - Protect the Weak
Tough Spot - Immune Exile (Can't be infected, but will be hunted for medical experiments if his secret gets out)
Dependants-Danny, lost little boy
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