The wasteland’s changed, darlin’. New words, new sights, pages updated and stories stirred. Thought you knew it? Look again.
The stickers covering the Bounty Machines are more than mere decoration—they are a vital part of the wasteland’s social fabric. While the machines provide essential resources, the stickers turn them into tools of reputation, control, and survival.
Identity and Recognition: Survivors and factions use stickers to mark their presence, turning each machine into a living record of those who have conquered its challenges. Unique symbols, logos, or phrases declare a claim—whether as a personal triumph or a faction’s dominance. Over time, layers of stickers accumulate, telling a silent story of past victories, failures, and rivalries. It becomes an unspoken contest: who has the most stickers? Who leaves the biggest mark?
Factions and Alliances: Factions—raiders, traders, mercenaries, and even cults—use stickers as a badge of allegiance. Colour schemes, cryptic symbols, and distinct designs define their identity, marking machines as claimed victories. A sticker-covered machine may serve as a rallying point, a resource hub, or a silent warning: this place belongs to us—outsiders beware.
Pride and Prestige: For individual survivors, placing a sticker on a machine is a declaration of skill and resilience. It signifies that they’ve overcome the dangers surrounding the machine and lived to tell the tale. The more difficult the challenge, the greater the prestige. Those with stickers on the deadliest machines become legends—feared, respected, or envied by all who follow.
The rules around placing stickers on the Bounty Machines are strictly adhered to, and any violation of these rules brings dire consequences. The Baron, with their chaotic yet calculated philosophy, ensures that these rules are universally known, but they are only ever spoken in hushed whispers. Breaking them is often a fatal mistake.
Never Over the Logos, Writing, or Insignia of the Baron: This is the most sacred rule. The Baron’s machines are a product of their design, and to deface or ignore the official logos or markings of The Baron is seen as an unforgivable sin. It’s considered a blatant disrespect to the very entity that controls the machines, and violators who place their stickers over these official marks disappear without a trace. Their belongings are added to the machine’s inventory. This rule can also be enforced through the machine’s own security measures. If someone attempts to break it or deface it, the machine itself may react violently—locking its doors, triggering alarms, or releasing additional deadly traps.
Sticker Placement: Stickers are placed around the machine but never on the glass, keypad, or flap, as doing so can interfere with the machine’s function. This ensures that those who place their mark are careful, respectful, and aware of the challenge they are engaging in. Stickers must always be visible and recognizable, and survivors are expected to make their mark in a way that doesn’t obscure the machine's primary functions. This prevents machines from becoming too cluttered or difficult to use, ensuring that other survivors can still engage with the machine without confusion
Sticker Removal: There’s a rumour that removing a sticker could trigger the machine to self-destruct or that the person who removes a sticker will be haunted by The Baron’s vengeance. Whether this is true or not is unclear, but removing a sticker is a very risky endeavour. Only the most daring, or the most desperate, would attempt to remove another faction's mark, as it often leads to retaliation.