T2000: After The War

[M-Type]

I know I posted an 'Interest Check' a few weeks ago, but the interest wasn't good enough on RPOL to make it a long-term thing. That brought up my next PBP project however, which actually hits the Twilight: 2000 nail on the head.

After the War is a 'setting' I thought up a few months ago when I started writing a 'novel' about a duo surviving in a world twenty years after the v1 history. Here's my 'official' pitch:

"It is 2017, twenty years after the Twilight War plunged the planet into chaos and turmoil. The fuel ran out. The troops mutinied. The cities, silenced by nuclear weapons, lay silent. There were those that survived, and they bided their time. The Earth would re-grow eventually, but the scars of the war cut deep.

Two decades have passed since the day of the nuclear holocaust, and a new generation has been born. One that only knows the pain and harsh realities of this changing world. With no vehicles, horses and foot are the common modes of travels. With no electricity, labor and wood are the easiest power sources. Farming has allowed for a stable production of crops, though limited. Cantonments and small bands of survivors have grown into enclaves boasting hundreds of souls. Children play on the wrecks of M1 Abrams tanks, while the adults hunt the dangerous urban ruins for needed supplies. Diseases long forgotten still claim lives like an assassin in the night. Trade with other communities might bring a prosperous union, or the malevolent hand of nomadic marauder bands, quenching their thirst for violence.

Whether you are a grizzled old soldier of the Third World War, or a plucky teenager that has adapted to this hostile landscape, or something in-between, we all must work together if we wish to survive...after the war."

This would be using the 1st edition of Twilight: 2000 (My first experience with T2k, and I got the box set), and the characters would be created using the civilian guidelines (even ex-soldiers. It has been 17 years after all, people get rusty). I do have the Twilight Encounters supplement, and would be willing to add the combat rules from that, especially since things like ammo counting are a bit easier when I can have them set in a specific thread or character sheet. The PCs would be based in an enclave, I haven't chosen a location yet, though I may go with Buffalo NY like in my writings, and would focus on them coping with the challenges of life in the post-WWIII America. Things have changed, and depending on the age the character is, they may still hold painful memories of the past, or hope for the future.

Vehicles and heavy weaponry are almost non-existent now, unless they've been taken cared of for the past 20 years. Most people move about with horses and use other forms of animal labor for basic needs. The larger cities of the US have been reduced to rubble by the events of TDM, and though the radiation has fallen off, it is still a tangible threat to those who dare to enter the ruins. Most buildings are in the same shape as vehicles, forgotten and dilapidated.

This is heavily motivated by Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which I'm sure many are familiar with, and the recent video game The Last of Us, though there will certainly be no zombies in this campaign. It will not be as depressing as The Road, at least initially, but who knows what could happen. I will be sticking pretty closely with the v1 chronology, though it'll be moved beyond it. I know GDW made the after-war timeline so it meshed with Traveller, but that was technically the 2.X edition, so I figure I'm in the clear designing this as I see fit. I also call shenanigans on the whole drought thing they talk about in Howling Wilderness, so while it is certainly a challenge to make sure you can feed your enclave, it's hardly the problem they were making it out to be.

The way I envision the campaign is a split between Planning/Adventure. Planning puts the PCs in the position to deal with problems and be administrators for the enclave, and this is more long term things. Adventure is pretty self explanatory, and will focus on the PCs going out and doing something, whether it be raiding a city or ambushing the local marauder convoy to prevent them from stealing their crops. The Adventure phase would certainly be influenced by things that happened in the Planning phase.

There are 2-3 people interested on RPOL itself, but I was wondering if there were any 'veterans' of T2k that wanted to play in a world after the one we're all used to. Feel free to chime in, even with ideas for things twenty years after the end.

[simonmark6]

T2K + 17 is a nice idea. I started a novel based on True Grit but based in Krakow, I think there's lots of tropes that could be mined fruitfully in the setting. Good luck.

[kalos72]

Myself, I think something more middle ground.

Utilizing the tech as able but on a smaller scale while keep food production local and keeping populations down to whats manageable in that area.

I see walled towns with local militias supporting a farmer base.

But I also see oil and iron and coal mined on smaller scales to support industry. High tech, low quantities.

Gone are the days of cell phones and trips to Europe for vacation, but live is slower more family focused.

Kinda like a Frontier House meets the Jetsons on a very small scale. :P

[M-Type]

Originally Posted by kalos72

Kinda like a Frontier House meets the Jetsons on a very small scale. :P

You have just set the bar for this campaign.

I've gotten some more people, so it'll start running soon. I'll try to keep the forum updated on the going-ons of the 'New Generation' and all those old soldiers who grumble about places with a bunch of consonants, vowels, and accents that most people think are a myth.

[Tombot]

Originally Posted by M-Type

This is heavily motivated by Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which I'm sure many are familiar with, and the recent video game The Last of Us, .

Nice set of paragons. I just saw a lets play of "last of us" and found it pretty impressing in terms of characters, story and action. Especially the last third.
And "the road" is anyhow a piece of PA-work which deserves to be mentioned everytime someone discusses downright gritty drama.

Western-tropes do combine well with postapocalyptic adventures.
I repeat myself; have a look at the early belgian "Jeremiah"-Comics (the TV-series has just the name, but not much in common storywise).

I did a western-inspired adventure myself; i used the plot of Ang Lee´s "Ride with the devil" (good film; recommandation)
The PC´s were dutch/german anti-FBU-Renegades in the Dead-Zone, near Arnhem.

M-Type; its sounds like a new time of gunslingers like "Roland went for the Dark Tower" (minus the muties). Cool!

[Targan]

Originally Posted by M-Type

This is heavily motivated by Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which I'm sure many are familiar with, and the recent video game The Last of Us, though there will certainly be no zombies in this campaign. It will not be as depressing as The Road, at least initially, but who knows what could happen. I will be sticking pretty closely with the v1 chronology, though it'll be moved beyond it. I know GDW made the after-war timeline so it meshed with Traveller, but that was technically the 2.X edition, so I figure I'm in the clear designing this as I see fit. I also call shenanigans on the whole drought thing they talk about in Howling Wilderness, so while it is certainly a challenge to make sure you can feed your enclave, it's hardly the problem they were making it out to be.

I loved The Road but it definitely was a depressing read (the movie was suitably depressing too). The after-war timeline written by GDW was included in the first edition of Traveller: 2300 which was published in 1987, which makes it T2K v.1 canon, not 2.x. Also, there is no suggestion in Howling Wilderness that the drought affecting much of the US in 2000-2001 continues after that time. The rains may have been plentiful from 2002 onwards, that's pretty much up to each individual GM to decide. Having said that, I completely understand your motivation to have a future timeline where the drought never happened and you ignore the T:2300 back-history. If you're trying to create a specific 'feel' more akin to The Road and charting a long, slow, hard road to recovery for the CONUS, writing your own timeline from 2000 onwards is probably the best way to do it.

[M-Type]

Originally Posted by Targan

I loved The Road but it definitely was a depressing read (the movie was suitably depressing too). The after-war timeline written by GDW was included in the first edition of Traveller: 2300 which was published in 1987, which makes it T2K v.1 canon, not 2.x. Also, there is no suggestion in Howling Wilderness that the drought affecting much of the US in 2000-2001 continues after that time. The rains may have been plentiful from 2002 onwards, that's pretty much up to each individual GM to decide. Having said that, I completely understand your motivation to have a future timeline where the drought never happened and you ignore the T:2300 back-history. If you're trying to create a specific 'feel' more akin to The Road and charting a long, slow, hard road to recovery for the CONUS, writing your own timeline from 2000 onwards is probably the best way to do it.

Ah, I was under the impression they did the after-the-war timeline when they tried to match up v2.X and Traveller. Having never read either very deeply, I can see where I would err. Same with Howling Wilderness when I think about it...I just flipped to New England and left it from there, call it bias.

I basically had cantonments of survivors outside of the urban areas that didn't get hit by nukes (In my writings I placed that enclave in the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport) slowly become enclaves that grow in size as the years go past. They started growing crops, fishing through the ruins for needed supplies, and trying not to anger neighbors or marauder bands.

I'm also thinking about throwing the French in there somehow, with helicopters and tanks. They've been expanding since 2000, and they're moving down from the Quebec area...mostly because I find the idea of the 'super-power' France fun and I often throw those tidbits in with other T2k things I've done.

[Olefin]

You probably would have pockets here and there that would have higher tech still operating. Perhaps a town that was hooked up to hydroelectric power and thus never lost its lights combined with a local medium size machine shop that could make spare parts for vehicles and machines and thus keep a tech level of the 1950's or so going. Keep in mind that most of the big cities werent hit by nukes - Boston for instance was untouched.

And at least some of the army divisions, from statements made in various modules would have surivived to be post war powers - i.e. like the 49th Armored Division down in Texas. They might be vastly smaller but given your scenario think how powerful a remnant Roman Legion would have been in Europe after the Roman Empire fell - here you would have a hard core of middle aged vets who fought in the war training their 12-16 year old kids in the art of war - and most likely they would be very well armed by 2017 civilian standards even if only a few of their vehicles, mortars and artillery pieces were still working.

If everyone else is down to rifles and pistols even a single operable artillery piece with a limited supply of amount of ammo can be a game changer as to who has the power and who doesnt.

[M-Type]

Funny you mention Boston, as I'm envisoning that as a kind of 'end game' or a 'light at the end of the tunnel' for this campaign. I've decided to set the starting enclave in the 'town' of Shelburne Falls. I live in Mass, but south of Boston, and don't really know too much about anything past Worcester, but I basically said 'what is almost in the middle of this state' and then I zoomed in on the Google map. Funny how those things work.

I also think it's a good setup because they have the Deerfield River which they could (cautiously) travel on, and they are close to Greenfield and the urban sprawl that carries all the way down to Connecticut and that coast. There is also a large amount of dams on the Deerfield River, so I imagine small groups have gathered along its banks to tap in to even 50% of the original output, which could set you up real nice.

I've also been pondering how the MilGov/CivGov '2nd American Civil War' might've evolved or de-evolved in the past 17 years. I guess it depends on if you follow the modules relating to their actions, and I guess you could say that someone got around to kidnapping the New America leader and investigating the Airlords, so New America probably isn't a threat. Unless some eager jump-start found a few booklets...

I can see small pockets of 'Pro-Military' and 'Pro-Civilian' enclaves in some states, but probably not as much in New England. Could be an interesting choice for the PCs and their enclave. Produce facts showing both sides aren't so hot, and they have to choose the lesser of two evils!

[raketenjagdpanzer]

In the game I'm running, assuming the PCs make it back home and go through whatever campaigns I have there I definitely want a "light at the end of the tunnel". While I'm not gonna go all over the top and say "Oh well a heretofore never discussed or discovered cache of 1.2 trillion barrels of refined oil has been found in a secret warehouse somewhere, and also a solar-powered city-rebuilding machine parked next to it", I'm opposed to misery tourism in my games. Otherwise what's the point?

[Targan]

LOL @ "Misery Tourism"

[M-Type]

Yeah, I'm certainly not going for a 'Boston is the untouched remnant of pre-War society, ruled by a just democratic council, the people no longer fear the night and the streets are paved with gold, etc etc'

If the characters make any effort to reach Boston, it'll probably be more like 'You can finally see the sky scrapers (or what's left of them) in the fog. You can smell the salty sea air. You notice multiple gardens springing from old parks. People are tilling fields and getting ready to plant the next crop. Children play in a makeshift playground made of wood, like in the past. A group of guards, armed with hunting rifles and pistols, halt you a mile out and question you. After discussing your predicament, and showing that you mean no harm, they let you in. Congrats.'

Then the French attack

Boston would most likely boast a bigger population, access to better trade (hopping along the coast) and the loot would certainly be better. It's no end-all-be-all, but they characters and their people might live a bit more comfortably.

[Olefin]

In my original campaign the capturing of the New American leader and his files and computers actually led to the MilGov/CivGov "civil war " coming to an end as both recognized that New America was a threat to both of them - it wasnt a marriage made in heaven but it did bring them back as one unit - to fight both NA and the remaining Mexican/Russian forces in the Southwest.

My GM's notes had that fight going on for several years with it finally ending around 2005 and then the country slowly beginning to heal again - but with so much damage and repairs needed that the US didnt get fully back on its feet again over the length and breadth of the country till the 2050's and in some places even later (i.e. similar to what the South went thru from 1866 till the beginning of WWII)

There were places that were almost undamaged by the war by the way in his campaign - but they were mostly rural in nature. The biggest cities that were still in good shape were Denver due to MilGov forces in the state keeping things under control and Rochester and Buffalo because Niagara Falls kept generating power (no nukes nearby enough to EMP damage it) and the agricultural lands in Western NY were so rich that food supplies were good throughout the period (and there were a lot of military veterans and retirees in the area who defended it from all comers).

[M-Type]

Yeah, I chose Buffalo in my scribblings because looking at the map of nuclear targets (made by one of the fine fellows in the forum here), I realized that the city was pretty well off, and had Niagara to help power things if you had the brains to put it together.

I never got far enough in the writings (my inspiration seems to come and go) but I did have a 'warlord' who pretended to be on-call with MilGov forces, thus warranting his marauder force to 'tax' the population and collect 'their dues' (read: guns, ammo, women). Turns out he was just insane, and he actually got ventilated by the young ward of the main character, with a very lucky roll on her behalf.

A bit of a tangent, but writing a story based on what the dice tell me was actually a lot funner than I thought. The young ward also got shot at a very inappropriate moment, making the event that more shocking, for her and for me!

[WallShadow]

Best of all, to take advantage of your access to the ocean and the coastal routes for trade and transport, you have a 1:1 scale model of the USS Constitution docked in Boston to use as a pattern for your future wind-powered fleet of conquest!

[M-Type]

Originally Posted by WallShadow

Best of all, to take advantage of your access to the ocean and the coastal routes for trade and transport, you have a 1:1 scale model of the USS Constitution docked in Boston to use as a pattern for your future wind-powered fleet of conquest!

As long as I let the PCs call themselves pirates I'm sure they'll go for it! And on a RL note, I've actually visited the USS Constitution. Old Ironsides is quite impressive in person.