The following is the background briefing of events in the area we will be playing in. It will also give you a few obvious intentions for the future. I do this because I would prefer others to run sessions now and then so I can play. If anyone has a particular requirement they want to insert then between now and start-up would be a good idea. It would be preferable however if such events could occur outside this area of play, the party being required to travel away for a time.
The region being played in is historically fairly bare of major urban centres, this is probably due to terrain as I expect the middle of the rockies to be a bit rough. After the apocalypse however such unused areas became very attractive to many survivors, being untouched by the bombs and reasonably clean. Accordingly many have drifted in this direction.
Prairie was discovered some ?? years ago as a vacant shell. The circle rampart was just there one day. Many people believe it to be the remains of an alien landing site, or a bomb crater etc. However most of these are probably wrong as the rampart stops at the river naturally (its only weakness for defence purposes). The natural benefits of such a position were quickly exploited by travellers and a small town grew. When muties started arriving there was a natural demarcation between them and the "cleans". This was eventually formalised via a series of agreements and the modern town emerged.
Some ?? years back the engineer John Hyde appeared and offered to build a power plant for the town in exchange for protection and a chance to develop local industries. This became known as Westside or Hyde Park. The power-plant and associated industries is the premier achievement of Prairie, and its reason for dominance in the area. Only Grand Junctions population base presently makes it a challenge to dominance.
The emergence of Prairie and Grand Junction eventually attracted the attention of the American Combine based in Denver. They had concentrated their expansion to the east until now, but with such bases to work from they are now paying more attention to the possibility of capturing Salt Lake and the production facilities there. Their first step in this regard has been the foundation of Fort Samuels in the north. From here they can threaten Rock Springs and drive south into the "Valley". At the same time they seem to be moving carefully against Montrose.
Salt Lake has turned very isolationist since the bombs fell, mainly due to a lack of Mormon survivors. Presently non-Mormons outnumber the Mormons 2 to 1. This has caused several power struggles. The result of this has been a perimeter guard set about 10 kms outside the city proper. No one is allowed within. This will remain in effect until the internal struggles resolve themselves. In the mean time two open market areas have been established at the perimeter to allow for trading in and out. Dark and mysterious things are going on within (damn scary what!).
New Reno expanded suddenly from a small fishing village to a major gangster centre almost overnight. No one is sure what happened (dirt has to settle ot the bottom, so this must be the bottom, but dont forget Las Vegas (New Vegas) is not far away), but a fair proportion of the population came from outside. Initially the new construction effort was thought to be good, but things turned sour. The invention of the highly addictive drug called "Jet" and subsequent near enslavement of a large portion of the population is now viewed with fear. Strong rumours suggest the bosses in New Reno now have plans to move elsewhere and expand their base. Jet pushers are now beginning to appear around the whole region, and addicts are becoming a problem due to the psychotic after effects of withdrawal.
The Doomsayers (bad guys) of New Vegas have mostly extended their efforts west toward the coast (Virginia City is west of Salt Lake), but small number sof evangelistic Doomsayers can be expected in the future, especially with the establishment of the entirely mutant town of Mutie (no "cleans" allowed).
Penn is an old high security Federal Prison, now taken over by the inmates. It has attracted the scum of the earth and now has an economy based on slavery (selling and buying). Slavers tend to cover the northern areas but increased population in the south is now attracting groups.
Lawtown is a right wing madness gone insane. A bunch of anarchistic right wing fascists hoped to establish a new utopia but only ended up with chaos. The place is often called "Bunkerville", enter at your own risk.
Durango is home to a large concentration of Ravenite Indians, but also has a mixed population of whites, Mexicans and Indians. It is a very frontier style of place, in the old west style.
Eerie is the "old ways" Indians, secluding themselves from the perversions of the white man by hiding high up in the mountains. They have adopted some interesting natural technologies however, such as advanced hang gliders! Think of 'old ways' Indians with 'new age' ideas.
Rock Springs is a trade centre for the north routes, more like a large market than a town, but this is slowly changing.
Hidden in the mountains are a number of survivalist groups, some better equipped and prepared than others. The most notable to date is the centre called "Vault" (think Fallout). This group has recently emerged and are looking to trade for the things they need. They have a formidable base from which to operate.