To help the GM start the campaign, here’s an example of a ruined area for the PCs to live near and/or explore. Flin (as the locals call the area) was once a prosperous, mid-sized pre-Blast city with over three quarters of a million people in the greater met- ropolitan area. It escaped the initial effects of Blast warfare, but as the war dragged on was seen as a viable target. Two small nuclear devices struck it, creating enormous blast craters and leaving most of the city in ruins. The survivors retreated to the wilderness, but in succeeding centuries have returned to the area as radiation zones have shrunken. Many ruins exist to be explored, though the ones outside irradiated areas have mostly been picked clean. Flin is also the site of a power struggle between three leaders, each of whom is determined to rule the entire area.
THE BLAST ZONES
Despite centuries of weathering, two areas in Flin are obviously the result of Blast explosions, and both craters and their surroundings remain highly radioactive. The very centers of each crater, where everything is pulverized and no ruins remain, expose characters to 2 rads per day; the larger, rubble-filled, areas surrounding the centers, where one can see a few collapsed buildings, expose char- acters to 1 rad per day. Beyond the rims of the cra- ters are buildings in various stages of decay (from Minor to Severe, as discussed in Chapter Three); radiation still lingers in spots, usually strong enough to expose characters to anywhere from .5 rad per day to 1 rad per week. The locals know which areas are radioactive and which aren’t, and they avoid the rad zones as much as they can.
The Shatters And The Fortress
North of the smaller, southern, Blast crater is an area with several large, still mostly intact, ruined buildings that locals call “the Shatters.” It’s been a fertile area for scavenging in the past, productive enough that people were willing to venture into it despite the radioactivity. Most Flinans don’t go there much anymore, partly because they think the area’s been played out and
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partly because it’s become infested with danger- ous mutated animals such as korbas.
On the northeastern edge of the Shatters proper stands a five-story building known as “the Fortress.” It’s remarkably well-preserved, and the locals superstitiously believe that it’s the dwelling- place of some spirit or god and rarely go anywhere near it. It might be a good place for adventurers to search for salvage — though it might also contain hidden dangers that have lain dormant since the Blast, and it’s hard to predict how the Flinans might react to anyone who goes there and returns....
Lake Threa
Lake Threa, a large body of water in the middle of one of the rad zones, remains highly radioactive and is filled with rippers, mutated fish large and fierce enough to be dangerous to humans (should any choose to enter the radioactive waters). The rivers and streams feeding the lake (including a rocky, fast- moving river that emerges from underground a few miles north of the lake) are not radioactive outside of the rad zones, but sometimes rippers swim up them to attack unwary bathers. (See the Mutant Creatures sec- tion, below, for a Ripper character sheet.)
THE VILLAGES
Humans both True and Mutie live in the Flin area, mostly on isolated farmsteads or clusters of two to four farms typically run by the members of an extended family. But several villages have formed where farmers can take produce and live- stock on market day, travelers may be able to find lodging and food, and services such as blacksmiths are available. None of the villages have “city guards”
per se, but the residents are quick to take up farm
implements, the occasional sword or crossbow, and
perhaps even a scavenged pre-Blast weapon or two in defense of their homes and livelihoods.
Clio
Clio is a small farming village on the south- ern end of a narrow, shallow lake that feeds into Lake Threa via a stream that leads into the river. Several of its inhabitants are fishermen who help support the village by venturing out onto the lake every day despite the threat of rippers; they (and to a certain extent the other Clians) dislike the Marlunes, whom they regard as competitors and rivals. Clio is firmly in the camp of Three- Handed Harry, one of the region’s would-be rulers, and several of his men live in the village as its de facto “deputies.”
Jensy
Jensy is the heart of a small farming region on a stream that flows westward into Lake Threa. The vil- lage itself grew up around a small, sturdy brick build- ing with a heavily-weathered statue of an unrecogniz- able man out front (the main building of a former National Guard armory). It’s part of Torash’s claimed territory; his headquarters is in a ruined building about a kilometer north and west of Jensy.
Karslee
The easternmost and northernmost village of the Flin area, Karslee is a relatively peace- ful place that isn’t affected much by the conflict between the area’s three would-be warlords — and that’s just how the Karsleens like it. They’ll be happy to welcome travelers with trade-goods at first, but if those travelers start to stir up trou- ble the odds are the Karsleens will drive them out... or even capture them and turn them over to the warlords as a sort of peace offering.
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The “mayor” of Karslee is Dhom Terras, a big bull of a farmer who’s usually pleasant-tempered but quick to anger at times. He has the Brawny Mutation (see below) but not to the extent that he’s obviously abnormal; most people just think he’s one of those people blessed with both muscles and brains. He’s very protective of his home and won’t let outsiders cause any problems if he can help it. He doesn’t like the Three-Hand, Bronac, Torash, or the problems they’ve brought to the valley, but for now at least he sees more value in laying low and hoping they go away than trying to fight them.
Marlu
Marlu occupies a broad meadow on the east- ern shore of the shallow lake. During the spring rains it often floods a little, so the buildings are built on small “pillars” of rock that elevate them about a foot off the ground. Like their rivals the Clians, the Marlunes make their living through both fishing and farming; their women even has a special fish pie they can make from rippers!
Selbrin
The largest village in Flin, Selbrin is almost big enough to qualify as a small town. It even has an “inn” — a tavern with a few squalid rooms to rent (for exorbitant prices) to passers-through who seem reasonably trustworthy.
Three-Hand Harry has laid claim to Selbrin, but most of the people in town don’t much care for him or his two adversaries — they want to be free to live their lives as they see fit, not beholden to some petty tyrant. Their leaders, including the tavernkeeper Vetts Par and a prosperous pigherder named Ober Naff, often try to play one “warlord” off against another, diverting their attentions from Selbrin to each other or some other village. If the Selbrins encounter some adventurers they thought could get rid of Bronac, Harry, and Torash, they’ll try to find a way to get the adventurers to take care of the problem (preferably through some sort of trickery or manipulation, but if necessary they’ll hire them).
THE WOODS
Extensive forests cover much of Flin and the surrounding region, including one large forest in the south (that’s split by an irradiated strip of land) and one in the north. Small tribes of cervine live in several of the forests; they permit the humans to hunt there, provided they don’t overhunt the area or set foot in certain sacred groves. Recently there have been some reports of urzogs migrating into the area, so Flin hunters are being extra cautious. (See the Mutant Creatures section, below, for Cer- vine and Urzog character sheets.)
THE MEN OF POWER
In recent years three men have been com- peting with one another to take control of the Flin area. Most of the time their struggle stays fairly peaceful (though there’s always tension). But more and more frequently violence has broken out: groups of men working for the rivals get into fights; the homes and shops of people who won’t “be friendly” with one warlord or another are vandalized; women are harrassed; and the like. It won’t be long before matters come to a head, and the odds are when that happens the real losers will be the Flinans.
See the Example Characters section, below, for character sheets for Three-Hand Harry, Bronac, and Gronk.
Three-Hand Harry
The leading contender among the three war- lords at this time is Three-Hand Harry, a mutant with two right arms and one left. He and his men live in an old ruin south and west of Clio; he claims authority over the three central villages (though only Clio directly acknowledges this claim). He’s a slender, slightly anemic-looking fellow that most people wouldn’t think anything about — but he’s got a mind that’s as sharp as a razor and a heart as cruel as a serpent. His favored weapons are the pistol crossbow and the knife, and he doesn’t hesitate to use either if someone upsets him. He’s accompanied everywhere he goes by his lover and lieutenant Marlee, a tattered-haired, plain-looking blonde with the Premonitions Mutation.
Torash
Harry’s chief rival is Torash, a True who lives in a ruin several kilometers to the south near Jensy. Torash is a handsome, soft-spoken man who prefers to get what he wants through negotiation, dealmak- ing, trickery, and deceit... but who has no objections to violence if that’s what’s called for. He usually del- egates such unpleasant tasks to his brother Gronk, who’s his polar opposite: a big, strong, stupid, ugly Mutie who’s barely able to talk at all. If he has to fight himself, Torash uses two pre-Blast weapon, a steel knife and a laser pistol (for which he has four more power discs, one with only two shots’ worth of energy left and the other three fully-charged with 16 shots’ worth).
Bronac
The least powerful of the three would-be kings is Bronac, who lives with his men in a ruin several kilometers to the west of the three central villages. He’s a powerful mutant who can project deadly blasts of radiation from his eyes; he actually glows with radioactivity that can be seen in dim light or darkness. Several of his men also have strong Muta- tions. For now Bronac seems to be content with keeping an eye on his two rivals and occasionally disrupting their operations; he seems to be wait- ing for one of them to weaken the other enough for him to swoop in and pick up the pieces. In the meantime, he and his men often scavenge through the Flin ruins in search of valuables.
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MUTATIONS
Here are some example mutations that charac- ters might possess in an After The Blast campaign (or any similar High Post-Apocalyptic game). They’re divided into seven categories: Offensive; Mental; Defensive; Movement; Sensory; Miscel- laneous; and Disadvantageous. See below for sug- gestions about how characters can choose which mutations they have.