Wow! I missed so much. Sorry for the radio silence I have been undergoing a move and we don't have internet set up at the new apartment yet so I'm forced to rely on a local coffee shop whose hours don't line up with my schedule like at all. But I'm here now and I'm going to try and get all caught up!
What is up with these guys in terms of culture and appearance? I'm imagining a kind of Greek hoplite style of look where they strap the ballistic plating of the combat armor to their chest and legs but are essentially nude underneath save for like warpaint.
I like this little detail, people don't name drop these guys enough. Though you could probably blame this on how vague the original game made their whole deal.
Also I really like the whole base-building series of quests, TTRPG parties get crazy into that shit.
Then one day, great chrome hulks arrived bearing ray-guns. Contact they believe had finally been established, until the chrome titan removed it's helmet and extended its hand to shake, revealing it's humanity.
This is fun, I also like the whole establishment of how all these independent tribes and towns engage with their neighbors. A system of basically paying a tithe or tribute to the nearest group of swole assholes with guns makes sense.
I also really like the imagery of a vibrant tribal community kind of existing in the shadow of these ruined hulking satellites, you do a really good job of establishing that with the music you picked out as well.
the tinned Old World rations they had been provided with (as standard for Brotherhood) had either been improperly manufactured or were suffering from decay, either way the rations were laden with lead poisoning. Dumping their rations and incapable of living off of the land, the expedition was effectively starving by the time they reached Mesa Bunker
I like this detail a lot too, you would think that something like survival skills would definitely be a hinderance and limitation to The Brotherhood rather than a strength.
Honestly dude all of your Lore more or less reads as something I would be accustomed to reading in the New Vegas base game.
The most crucial among them however was a Department of Defense Override Protocol Holotape, effectively a magic key that would override existing security protocols on any Old World government facility.
S-Tier MacGuffin
The Array had picked up signals. Distant ones. Ones cosmically distant and uncharacteristic of the regular signals they had learnt of from the Array's records - at several decade intervals throughout the 2100s - something out there had been trying to send a message. They ceased with the shutdown of the array.
This discovery shook all - to the tribesmen it was a reaffirmation of their faith. To the Brotherhood, it was shocking news. Brixley had once read about a tribe the BoS had fought called the Vipers that worshipped a great snake God, the archives said that this God was real but not in the way the tribe had envisioned - it did not clarify further. Brixley began to consider if this was the case here. The fantastical stories she'd heard over the past year might not be true - but perhaps they really are out there.
Also I'm a big fan of all these kind of legendary scavenging Stories that the PCs are able to get out of talking with The Brotherhood, as well as the whole "Paladin gone native" story arc that you came up with, good stuff all around.
I like Rebirth as well, Clarke is a really great kind of fiendishly evil villain. The music over the sounds of torture and experimentation is a nice touch.
Around the camp are numerous Robobrains covered in the same fashion of paintings - also all similarly clean and deactivated. Children of the tribe sit around them and touch them.
I've always felt like the Fallout-style of robots would look great covered in tribal paint, I love this detail!
All together I really enjoyed the way you have the Twin Mothers written up, in particular I was a huge fan of the Ruth character and her dirty secret.
That was until rather recently, when a band of Scorpion's Bite warriors have set up shop in the cave adjacent to that of Vault 29. They are equipped in basic leather armors, with added Radscorpion exoskeleton as additional armor and tribal flourish. Six in total equipped with spears, their leader Burk carrying a Hunting Shotgun. They located Vault 29 from a scavenged Vault-Tec broucher in ABQ, and wish to seize the technology to bring it as tribute to the Brotherhood (or as method for dominance and bargaining if the CoS have taken over).
Burk's girlfriend Fixa thinks the idea is foolish, and that instead they should report the location of the Twin Mothers to Caesar's Legion to bring great reward. She knows they don't understand the magic that will await inside, nor can they battle its machines.
These are a fun little group of characters to run into, I think.
Also I really love The Greenways, they have a real kind of Sinclair vibe to them in how they are (presumably) incredibly dead but they kind of live on as these powerful characters in their own right through their creations and how they've shaped the world.
