Fallout: Colorado

[ElloinmorninJ]

Anybody is allowed to make suggestions and whatnot. This is just a hypothetical idea for a new game in the series. Please review my ideas! Thanks. Major thanks to Hardboiled Android, Atomic Postman, and Dayglow Drifter!


FALLOUT COLORADO

“War. War never changes. When the fires of war struck the US state of Colorado, the region was irrevocably changed. Much of the knowledge and technology humanity had invented was lost, and the state regressed into a primitive backwater for generations. As the ages went on, new nations rose, and would see the state...as their key to success. Caesar’s Legion, and the people of Boulder Dome would each place their stakes in the region. War is imminent. And war never changes.”


Colorado in my setting is a wild and untamed region. The final great frontier of the Southwestern Wasteland. During the war, it was heavily bombed due to all the NORAD bases present within the state. Much of the region is made barren, with only a few dozen miles of “green spots” mostly in the central regions of the Wasteland. While Colorado remained a tribal backwater for nearly a century and a half, new factions are now beginning to encroach on the mountainous wasteland.


Caesar’s Legion

Caesar’s Legion would still be in the beginning phases of their expansion into the region. The Legion’s foothold in Colorado is limited to the small slave-catching outpost of Cortex, led by Centurion Cassius of Lukachukai. Caesar back in Flagstaff sees Colorado as his Legion’s next big conquest, and is beginning to send more and more legionnaires to Cortex.


The Technocracy

Based in Boulder Dome, the Technocracy is a faction led by the scientists in the settlement. They are extremely advanced and technologically sophisticated, especially when compared to the tribes and survivalist communities that surround them. They have surrounding communities of farmers provide them food in exchange for the protection of their combatron security forces. They’ve mostly been spreading to the eastern slopes, but recently have been trying to spread west to the mountain tribes.


The Twin Mothers, V29 and Diana

The Twin Mothers are similar to how they were going to be portrayed in Fallout Van Buren. They are a small, highly-cultured and primitive tribe descended from the inhabitants of Vault 29. They worship Diana, their computer goddess, but she has recently gone offline for some unknown reason. The Twin Mothers are pacifistic, and as such have been preyed upon by Raiders and Slavers, mostly the Legion.


The Twin Lakes Tribe

This is an original faction idea I had. They’d be a primitive tribe descended from a bunch of families of survivalists (5 to be exact- The Aguilars, Collins, Donners, Smiths, and Troys) They were originally from Denver; but migrated decades ago after the raider, slaver and especially dog attacks got to fierce. They’d be a small faction, but you the player would start out somewhere near them. They aren’t pacifists, but they are getting preyed upon by Legion Slavers.


The Uncompahgre Tribe

This Tribe would be an extremely violent, and war-like tribe, similar to that of the White Legs of Utah. Inhabiting a space near the Legion outpost of Cortex, the Uncompahgre’s Chief, a man named Otan, would be extremely interested in joining the Legion and would be tasked by the Centurion to help them collect slaves and whatnot.


Cheyenne Temple

Cheyenne Mountain Complex in this game would be a bombed out crater (either due to the battle of Vault 0 from Tactics, or the Great War itself, depending on whether or not that's canon). While most of the tribes near it see it as “taboo”, it is inhabited by Ghouls. About 30 or 40 of them, in the deepest levels of the destroyed base. They worship some sociopathic manipulative ghoul, who calls himself Leviticus. He has a cult, who plan on turning the entire region of people into ghouls, and exterminating the humans, as well as trying to find a way to create “born ghouls”.


Buchanan’s Brigade

There wouldn’t be any Enclave, but there would be a faction descended from them- Buchanan’s Guard. Led by Commander Adam Buchanan, they’re former Enclave members who have in the 20 or so years since its fall taken to an abandoned NORAD base. They’re small, only about 80 of them, but they’d be important- They’d relinquish the old ways of the Enclave and simply want to rebuild something. Anything civilized. They’d be mostly men though, so they’d be buying female slaves to try and grow their population, or capturing them themselves- No tribal being able to match their power.


^ Some of the users from before have suggested I replace these guys with a non-Enclave group. Perhaps just some sort of paramilitary faction or a community of survivalists that were particularly well-armed. If you agree, tell me and I’ll start brainstorming new ideas. Maybe Enclave is played out.


Iron Lines

The Iron Lines inhabit Circle Junction, and are one of the most advanced survivalist communities in the Colorado.


Super Mutants

Super Mutants would be limited in Colorado. Only migrants from the Mariposa batch back in Colorado (ie, former Unity members) would be present. I’d say there’d be no more than 10 Super mutants in the entirety of the region. They could be similar to the Enclave Remnants! Maybe there’s a quest to reunite them?


-

Creatures of Colorado


Bighorners- Bighorner sheep would be the main livestock of the people of Colorado. Brahmin would be mainly limited to the Legion’s outpost of Cortex and environs, as well as a small herd of them owned by the Twin Lakes Tribe.


Three Horners- These would be mutated goats with three horns. These would be the Coloradoans' answer to the Brahmin; they’d be useful as pack animals, unlike the Bighorners, as well as producing leather, meat, and milk. The Legion looks down upon these strange creatures.


Denver Hounds- Having spread out from the city of Denver into neighboring regions, Denver hounds are a serious threat to human populations in the area. Packs of these feral dogs act almost like a hive mind, with great cohesion and deadly force.


Deathclaws- Classic, good-ol’ Deathclaws. They’d like to inhabit the many mountain caves and canyons of Colorado, and would be like the apex predators of the region.


Gars- Mutated Cougars, strengthened by the wild FEV. Except unlike humans, they are still fertile. And they’re mean.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

This is a brainstorming session. Tell me anything you’d like to add, and anything you don’t like about my ideas. Thanks

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Fallout: Colorado - Siena Supermax Penitentiary

Pre-War, Siena Supermax Penetentiary was America's toughest prison. It was called the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," and with good reason: perched as it is on a steep rocky plateau, accessible only by cable car or helicopter from the ground, the only way out of here for an enterprising prisoner would be to take quite the leap of faith. It was here at Siena that some of the worst criminals in the country were kept - serial killers, gang leaders and mafiosos, notorious bank robbers and jail breakers, the highest profile drug dealers. In addition, it housed prisoners of a different character - those terrorists (both foreign and domestic) and political dissidents that for whatever reason it would be too messy to just execute or disappear to one of the many government blacksites. In addition to this facility, there were no less then a dozen other facilities adjacent to the Super-Max for less notable felons. Together, these facilities made up just about the only employment for the citizens of the town of Siena and the communities surrounding it.

Acme Algorithmics

Boulder, Colorado

Acme Algorithmics, a Boulder-based computer firm, was struggling throughout the mid-21st century. Though it had been living large off of its contract with Cheyenne Mountain to build, maintain, and update that facility's massive Super-Computer AI, years of shoddy work and malfunctions (once resulting in the accidental carpet bombing of a sleepy North Dakota town, that was quickly covered up as a reactor melt down), there was serious talk in the military about phasing out the AI that was mockingly called the "Calculator" on account of its outdated capabilities in favor of one of WestTek's ZAX models, or one of those newfangled RobCo Distributed Network Intelligences.

While the War ensured that this would never come to pass, Acme realized that it could no longer rest on its laurels. In addition to a massive overhaul of the Calculator, Acme bid to be a contractor on the countless defense/futurist make-work programs that the government was rolling out in the latter half of the 21st century. The first of these was the Boulder Dome. It was a natural fit - after all, the Boulder Dome's research was to be done in close cooperation with the University of Boulder, which much of Acme's staff was hired from. And plus, it was, you know, right there. After going on a massive hiring spree and expanding its capacity beyond its limited Super Computers to all sorts of high scientific pursuits, it was outbid by RobCo.

Beaten but not defeated, Acme attempted to gain a spot in developing some computing systems for Project: Safehouse. As part of its campaign to court the government and RobCo, it developed the friendly little Pep-Boy, designed to be Vault Boy's best pal and the humble Vault Dweller's guide to the confusing world of amateur-oriented computers. As part of the campaign, the character was plastered on restaurants across the region, in addition to Acme products. Vault-Tec was initially excited about the character, seeing the possibility of expanding its characters to sell comics, cereal, and perhaps even a Saturday morning cartoon. But RobCo just couldn't let them have that - in addition to outbidding Acme on the computer contract (alongside a number of smaller firms), they came up with their own suspiciously similar PIP-Boy character, who Vault-Tec loved even more - this was helped by the fact that he came along with RobCo's revolutionary PIP-Boy devices. A years-long legal battle ensued where (thanks to corruption) Acme lost all rights to the character. To add insult to injury, Vault-Tec and RobCo dispensed with the character entirely when the 3000 line rolled out. The character survived only in the surplus 2000 line that was used in the California region, and in those remnants that remained as roadside curios across eastern Colorado.

Siena Supermax was Acme's last hail-mary. After a gumshoe from a notoriously lefty newspaper published a story on the inhumane conditions in Siena, even America's most conservative citizens were left somewhat unsettled. Hoping to put a good spin on the PR disaster, the government unrolled another futurist program to reform America's prisons, to create the "Prison of the Future" - a veritable panopticon to prevent any sort of agitation or riots (the US was having a lot of problems with those), but combined with a more humane approach that centered the possibility of rehabilitation. After all, the 22nd century was just around the corner!

The Prison of the Future

Acme leaped at the opportunity and, after a merger with the similarly benighted Greenway Hydroponics, called in every single favor and piece of blackmail it had to secure the rights to the prison. They won the contract along with Greenway Hydroponics of all companies. They were to compete with Poseidon's model prison at Tibbets Maximum Security Penitentiary for a contract to reform prisons across the nation.

Acme expanded security using a number of robots (mostly RobCo models, unfortunately, though a few of its own as well), automated turrets, explosive collars, and 24/7 surveillance through its dedicated AI master. However, this system was different to most of the Super Computers built by Acme - it used its own version of RobCo's Distributed Network Intelligence in the form of the Zenith Neural Network By collating all data collected across all camera, microphones, and terminals (including the shoddy and malfunction-prone terminals that Acme sold at bargain rates to the citizens of Siena township) in a remarkably advanced cybernetic "brain", the system was able to maximize its efficiency and even able to some limited extent to learn in a manner analogous to human beings. They had to dig out titanic catacombs beneath the prison to fit it all, but it was worth it in the end. For this wouldn't just be the world's greatest prison warden - the data collected from its innovative structure could allow Acme's tech to leapfrog over the competition, and provide valuable insights for Derek Greenway's numerous pet projects.

In addition to standard data collection methods, the prison's not rehabilitative facilities provided valuable observation points. Group therapy and individual computer moderated psychotherapy, community farms, even top of the line imperishable food to keep the prisoners reasonably happy. All of these combined to make America's toughest prison and its sister facilities rather nice places.
However, there was another data collection method. The most dangerous and infamous of prisoners, cold blooded killers and unrepentant political terrorists, are hooked up to the cybernetic brain, and pumped for information: a thick metal needle is pierced into the temple. Along with strong X-Rays and magnetic fields, the brain of the criminal was scanned. The process let the prisoners essentially as lobotomites, devoid of anger and open to suggestion, such as "Obey the Law" - model inmates, and model rehabilitated prisoners. Occasionally, the brain would be removed entirely to allow for a more thorough analysis. The use of this was two-pronged: first, it provided more data then observing a prisoner play a Solitaire holotape ever could for Zenith. Second, it was demanded by the government as a secret condition of allowing Greenway in on the contract as a part of the ongoing mind control experiments and efforts to understand the brain of the criminal, the brain of the dissident, the brain of the communist. Acme's executives managed to keep this aspect of the project secret from Greenway himself, though he would end up using some of the data inadvertandly in the construction of DIANA.

Despite the tremendous success of the project, it was not to last. When a newspaper ran a story on the lxuuries prisoners received during a time when many Americans were on ration cards, the senator in charge of the Unamerican Activities Force called a hearing. Acme's accusations that both the senator and the newspaper were bought-and-paid for by RobCo and Poseidon were, of course, wholly conjectural. Much hay was made of the luxuries enjoyed by the prisoners, in addition to the fact that the executives of Acme may have engaged in marihuana smoking during there time at the notoriously lefty University of Boulder. In the end, it was decided that Siena Supermax would be taken over by Poseidon, and that Acme would be liquidated, its properties and technologies divided between RobCo and the government.

A team of UAF thugs alongside RobCo combat robots managed to seize Acme's headquarters in Boulder (albeit with several unfortunate murders of Acme employees by confused RobCo robots). The handover of Siena was scheduled for January 1st, 2078, giving time for Acme to remove itslef and phase in Poseidon. That opportunity would never come, of course.

After the War

For the first ten years, Siena and the surrounding prisons rode out the early days of the war relatively well. The Guards fled from their homes and into the deep catacombs beneath Siena and the surrounding prisons. Where there was space, the best-behaved prisoners were allowed to inhabit the catacombs as well. The thick concrete and lead lined walls of the main facility (it was designed to withstand a blast from a nuclear bomb in the worst-case-scenario jail break) proving surprisingly adept at keeping the prisoners safe, albeit imperfectly compared to the guards who lived below. Plus, the prisoners had to make the dangerous trip out to the hydroponics greenhouses on the prison grounds to feed themselves and the guards. Worst of all, the worst punishment for the prisoners was death ollowed by cannibalization in re-processed form by the guards. There were just too many prisoners in the several facilities to feed everyone, population was called for. Less serious crimes were met by a stint in the brain-pump, leaving the prisoner perfectly compliant and with no complaints about the extra limbs and chronic illnesses their outdoor labor demanded.

The final straw for the prisoners was when in 2089 it was decided that radiation levels had gone down enough that the prisoners would be made to work full-scale outdoor farms. This was combined with the denial of a long-promised "meeting" between Siena's felons and the female inmates of one of its sister penitentiaries. Organized by a cabal of crime bosses, communists, and assorted domestic terrorists, the aid of some sympathetic guards and Acme-Greenway technicians was taken on to launch a revolution. Zenith had several subroutines simulating the amalgamated minds of its victims. The "Socialist" (which to be fair had a good number of total innocents in the mix) subroutine was allowed to escape from its containment and after a brief (by humans standards) war, it conquered much of system. Gates were open, robots deactivated, and guards (or "Pigs" as the prisoners called them) were caught with their pants down. A brutal frenzy of slaughter ensued, with those guards that were not killed, enslaved, or worse able to flee into the wilderness surrounding the facility.

For a time, the facility was governed by the cabal alright, though with many compromises - the prisoners may have gotten to "meet" the female inmates (in addition to some less-then-willing wives that were taken from the guards), though it was still mandated that they would have to work outside. Still, things chugged along for five years, before an attempted coup by the crime bosses to unseat the pinkos resulted in a socialist victory, and the eviction of as much as half of the population, who would go on to form the motor-gangs of Pueblo.

Today, the settlement is divided between "Siena", the upper citadel, and "Supermax", the lower prisons which have linked there thick walls. Siena-Supermax sees itself not as the prison of the future, but rather as the city of the future. Its automated robot servants provide for the every need of its residence, Zenith keeps things in perfect working order. There is no class or hierarchy in Siena, only brothers and sisters who wish to expand their enlightened way of life to the rest of the wastes, and show them the folly of the Boulder Dome which claims to be the city of the future. All Sienans wear snazzy futuristic jumpsuits, derived from their old prison jumpsuits. It even has the Wasteland's only licensed psychotherapist, Doctor Cuckoo.

Of course, all is not as it seems - most of the inhabitants of Siena lack any technical ability whatsoever to maintain the system upon which their lifestyle depends. Though they know enough not to give Boulder Dome technicians full access to their system, they often rely on them for computer parts and minor trouble shooting from Boulderite technicians to keep the bare minimum running - and "bare minimum" is the operative phrase here. The system is only truly operative in the indomitable citadel of Siena itself. The lower prisons are largely agrarian, the few robots they have been rarely employed plow-bots that are prone to breakdown. Even in Siena itself, the systems often malfunction. Dress up the robots in as many fancy suits as you can scavenge, they're still guards, not butlers. Plus, Doc Cuckoo may not be giving the best advice.

The only consistent means to keep the computer from breaking down entirely is by supplying it with a steady stream of victims to brain drain, both from Siena's many political dissidents and slaves sold by the Motor Gangs of Pueblo. Once drained, the victims are then cast out of the prison, creating the large population of so-called "Deadheads" that are found across Southern Colorado.
It seems inevitable that the inhabitants of Supermax will have to turn to Boulder for help eventually, and at that point the Boulder Dome may finally have the solution to its perennial ZAX problems. But there are several groups who won't let the Boulderites have it without a fight...

Adventure Hooks
-Main story. The data stored at Siena is invaluable to several factions, for numerous reasons - Boulderites, the Legion, the Motor Gangs, the Paradise Pigs (descendants of exiled guards - "kicked out of Paradise"), Robot City.
-Acme Algorithmics. Tantalizing connection ebtween the facility and Acme Headquarters (patrolled as it is by Sentry-Bots and Repo-Bots waiting for the new owners to move in) will be essential to completing some sidequests there, which may in turn be essential to some of Boulder's quest to repair its computer systems. IN addition, Acme products are a perennial appearance in Eastern colorado, and if you collect enough of these there are interesting interactions to be had both at Acme Headquarters and Siena.
-Greenway Hydroponics. Connection to DIANA, the Nursery, and the Twin Mothers - and of course, Derek Greenway himself.
-Cheyenne Mountain. Connected by Acme, who I'm positing as the creators of the Calculator.
-A lot of potential quests with the Pep-Boy.
-Robot City. Most people from beyond Colorado believe that Supermax is the fabled Robot City, including the Legion. Coloradans know better - to most of the survivalist communities, RObot City is something far more sinister then the hilariously mismanaged and isolated Supermax. Robot City is said to be located far beneath the earth, occasionaly sending out its mechanical feelers in the form of robotic killing machines and automated drones for unknown purposes. To the Sienans, it is considered nothing more then tribal superstition - after all, there are no societies more advanced then Supermax.
-Poseidon. Related to above. As far as the remaining Poseidon AIs are concerned, the handover of Siena-Supermax is long past due. Link to Tibbets, ODYSSEUS/ULYSSES, and of course Greenway.
-Labor disputes between Supermax and Siena, and the general political troubles that benight the Englightened City on the Hill.
-Multiple Personality Disorder - there are several different subroutine personalities within Siena, all wishing to seize control, and the may be helped or hindered by the player in concert with the various faction interests. There's Zenith, the current socialist AI which needs major repairs and updates - after all, its designed to run a prison, not a centrally planned economy, who takes on the personality of an eccentric Continental philosopher. There's also Warden, the remannts of the original prison AI combined with the guards that were brain drained during the uprising, who seems like a mostly good natured middle american who wants to see justice done, if a little fascistic. Then there's Martini, the ammalgamation of various crime lords. Last of all, there's Norman Lee Gallagher - based largely off of one man, America's most notorious serial killer prior to the War, along with assorted psychos.
-Though it takes the player to bring it to their attention, the Deadheads may make the ideal slaves, if they can be tamed and their dependency on their cyber-hives and techno-gangs are broken.
-Doc Cuckooo really doesn't give good advice. Engage him in conversation about his more famous patients...

 

[Hardboiled Android]

The Paradise Pigs

Meet just about the friendliest gang of tribals you could. Sure they love to raid just as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day there is seemingly a fundamental kindness to the Paradise Pigs, who seemed to have held onto a old-time perception of Middle America. Of course, just conveniently forget that they are descendant of the brutal regime that once ruled over Siena Supermax, and occasionally engage in a teensy amount of ritualized cannibalism.

The Pigs live in a decently sized village in the Wet mountains to the south of Siena. For the most part, they make their living mainly off of Big Horner herding and farming mutant potatoes. They live in simple dwellings of wood and a little adobe like most tribal villages across post-apocalyptic America. High technology is fairly lacking here - guns, of course, remain fairly common for warriors, but the local gunsmith verges closer to a blacksmith then anything else. Occasional caravan raids will provide trinkets of high technology, but these are often shunned, associated with the hated Dead-Heads, who it is said will be drawn to high technology like wasps to an old soda.

The origins of the Paradise Pigs are to be found, as they'll tell you, in Siena Supermax. Here, they say, they were the guardians of law & order, before a rebellion by the demons that today inhabit Siena and the nearby town of Pueblo rose up against them. This, they will tell you, was the paradise before the Great War that all people know about. The Paradise Pigs were overcome by the forces of evil. As a result, the entire world came to an end, and the Pigs themselves were forced out into the harsh wilderness of the new world. They're largely correct, if a little fuzzy on the details/exact timeline.

The Pigs see it as their divinely ordained duty to take back Siena - only by doing this, they say, can the paradise of the pre-War be restored. In the meantime, they must build their strength and do their best to maintain law & order, both within their community and beyond it. It is with this in mind that they engage in the practice of "ticketing" the roads nearby to the Wet Mountains - which means, effectively, raiding. Taboos govern when it is appropriate to raid, going off of the speed and look of the caravan, but luckily these taboos are fairly flexible. For the most part the Pigs like to operate as highwaymen, intimidating instead of killing where they can, but they really are no push overs.

The Pigs are led by a Chief, as in a Chief-of-Police, though in addition to his big star pin, he does wear a feather head dress. The Chief is elected upon the death of the old Chief by every member of the tribe, though in extraordinary circumstances the Chief may be challenged by combat for his position.

They worship a being known as Warden, the former master of Siena who, like themselves, was cast out of paradise. In order to restore the world to its rightful place, Warden's power must be restored. Legend has it that a fop (Fraternal Order of Policeman) who will be known by the blue he wears will come to the tribe to deliver them.

The most curious practice of the tribe is cannibalism. The practice is only used ~1 time every year, and under fairly extraordinary circumstances, when an enemy (usually a particularly prolific raider), usually a great warrior, is either invited or captured by the Pigs. A feast is thrown in their honor to celebrate their martial prowess - shockingly, as it turns out, the honoree is the main course. This practice is only known to the rulers of Siena-Supermax, and most Wastelanders its nothing more then another piece of absurd propaganda from the dysfunctional regime. The practice is largely harmless, more like the pre-War South Seas Islanders then the gangs of psychotic cannibals that stalk the waste - though the prophecy of the retaking of Siena does call for a rather large feast. Maybe you can find some way to take them out of it?

Adventure Hooks
-Siena-Supermax. The Pigs want to retake the facility, whether by hook or by crook, and install Warden in charge. Well, you just so happen to be wearing a blue jumpsuit (which may be revealed when they strip you for a grand feast...), and the prophecy calls for a blue-clad hero.
-The Legion. The Legion either wants the Paradise Pigs to join up, or to be totally enslaved. How you do it is up to you - empower and convince the Chief, become Chief yourself, install a new weaker Chief and then roll in with a slaving party, or just go in guns-a-blazing.
-Pueblo. The leading Motor-Gangs of Pueblo want to enslave or destroy the Pigs, a little because of the bad memories from Siena, but mostly because the Pigs love to stop tthe Motor Gangers for speeding. Though they will not be inconsolable, the Motor-Gangers will be rather annoyed if you rally the Pigs to join the Legion.
-Boulder. Boulder has been unable to exercise any sort of control over the Pigs due to their dislike for technology. Talk them round, clear out the dead-heads, and help establish contact with Boulder - this will lead to better outcomes if you help the Pigs gain control of Siena, and they could potebntially be mroe amenable allies than the Sienans themselves.
-Dead-Heads. They hate these guys, they want to be rid of them. Luckily, this happens to run parallel to certain Legion interests.
-The Breakfast of Champions. You may or may not want to talk the Pigs out of cannibalism, especially if you don't want things to go real dark when you help them take over Siena. Luckily, one tribal (a candidate for chief) has heard of a delectable food enjoyed by their people, that may be found in a place called "Slocum Joe's" out in the irradiated dustbowl. Be wary, though this is the land of mile-wide twisters and Motor-Gangers.
-The Thin Blue Line. The Paradise Pigs fetishize all police icons from the pre-War. If you're willing to make the dangerous trip into Denver PD, you can get some invaluable worship items. As part of getting them accustomed to technology, you can get them a K-9 Cyberdog, and the final stage is helping them to rebuild a rocket powered Colorado Highway Patrol to compete with the Motor-Gangers.
-Ultimate reward for idolized status - the unique Siena Maximum Security Penitentiary Riot Armor.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

The Paradise Pigs

Meet just about the friendliest gang of tribals you could. Sure they love to raid just as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day there is seemingly a fundamental kindness to the Paradise Pigs, who seemed to have held onto a old-time perception of Middle America. Of course, just conveniently forget that they are descendant of the brutal regime that once ruled over Siena Supermax, and occasionally engage in a teensy amount of ritualized cannibalism.

The Pigs live in a decently sized village in the Wet mountains to the south of Siena. For the most part, they make their living mainly off of Big Horner herding and farming mutant potatoes. They live in simple dwellings of wood and a little adobe like most tribal villages across post-apocalyptic America. High technology is fairly lacking here - guns, of course, remain fairly common for warriors, but the local gunsmith verges closer to a blacksmith then anything else. Occasional caravan raids will provide trinkets of high technology, but these are often shunned, associated with the hated Dead-Heads, who it is said will be drawn to high technology like wasps to an old soda.

The origins of the Paradise Pigs are to be found, as they'll tell you, in Siena Supermax. Here, they say, they were the guardians of law & order, before a rebellion by the demons that today inhabit Siena and the nearby town of Pueblo rose up against them. This, they will tell you, was the paradise before the Great War that all people know about. The Paradise Pigs were overcome by the forces of evil. As a result, the entire world came to an end, and the Pigs themselves were forced out into the harsh wilderness of the new world. They're largely correct, if a little fuzzy on the details/exact timeline.

The Pigs see it as their divinely ordained duty to take back Siena - only by doing this, they say, can the paradise of the pre-War be restored. In the meantime, they must build their strength and do their best to maintain law & order, both within their community and beyond it. It is with this in mind that they engage in the practice of "ticketing" the roads nearby to the Wet Mountains - which means, effectively, raiding. Taboos govern when it is appropriate to raid, going off of the speed and look of the caravan, but luckily these taboos are fairly flexible. For the most part the Pigs like to operate as highwaymen, intimidating instead of killing where they can, but they really are no push overs.

The Pigs are led by a Chief, as in a Chief-of-Police, though in addition to his big star pin, he does wear a feather head dress. The Chief is elected upon the death of the old Chief by every member of the tribe, though in extraordinary circumstances the Chief may be challenged by combat for his position.

They worship a being known as Warden, the former master of Siena who, like themselves, was cast out of paradise. In order to restore the world to its rightful place, Warden's power must be restored. Legend has it that a fop (Fraternal Order of Policeman) who will be known by the blue he wears will come to the tribe to deliver them.

The most curious practice of the tribe is cannibalism. The practice is only used ~1 time every year, and under fairly extraordinary circumstances, when an enemy (usually a particularly prolific raider), usually a great warrior, is either invited or captured by the Pigs. A feast is thrown in their honor to celebrate their martial prowess - shockingly, as it turns out, the honoree is the main course. This practice is only known to the rulers of Siena-Supermax, and most Wastelanders its nothing more then another piece of absurd propaganda from the dysfunctional regime. The practice is largely harmless, more like the pre-War South Seas Islanders then the gangs of psychotic cannibals that stalk the waste - though the prophecy of the retaking of Siena does call for a rather large feast. Maybe you can find some way to take them out of it?

Adventure Hooks
-Siena-Supermax. The Pigs want to retake the facility, whether by hook or by crook, and install Warden in charge. Well, you just so happen to be wearing a blue jumpsuit (which may be revealed when they strip you for a grand feast...), and the prophecy calls for a blue-clad hero.
-The Legion. The Legion either wants the Paradise Pigs to join up, or to be totally enslaved. How you do it is up to you - empower and convince the Chief, become Chief yourself, install a new weaker Chief and then roll in with a slaving party, or just go in guns-a-blazing.
-Pueblo. The leading Motor-Gangs of Pueblo want to enslave or destroy the Pigs, a little because of the bad memories from Siena, but mostly because the Pigs love to stop tthe Motor Gangers for speeding. Though they will not be inconsolable, the Motor-Gangers will be rather annoyed if you rally the Pigs to join the Legion.
-Boulder. Boulder has been unable to exercise any sort of control over the Pigs due to their dislike for technology. Talk them round, clear out the dead-heads, and help establish contact with Boulder - this will lead to better outcomes if you help the Pigs gain control of Siena, and they could potebntially be mroe amenable allies than the Sienans themselves.
-Dead-Heads. They hate these guys, they want to be rid of them. Luckily, this happens to run parallel to certain Legion interests.
-The Breakfast of Champions. You may or may not want to talk the Pigs out of cannibalism, especially if you don't want things to go real dark when you help them take over Siena. Luckily, one tribal (a candidate for chief) has heard of a delectable food enjoyed by their people, that may be found in a place called "Slocum Joe's" out in the irradiated dustbowl. Be wary, though this is the land of mile-wide twisters and Motor-Gangers.
-The Thin Blue Line. The Paradise Pigs fetishize all police icons from the pre-War. If you're willing to make the dangerous trip into Denver PD, you can get some invaluable worship items. As part of getting them accustomed to technology, you can get them a K-9 Cyberdog, and the final stage is helping them to rebuild a rocket powered Colorado Highway Patrol to compete with the Motor-Gangers.
-Ultimate reward for idolized status - the unique Siena Maximum Security Penitentiary Riot Armor.

Oh wow, these are some great ideas!

I’ve been trying to get my own. Mainly, I’ve been trying to come up with an idea for some type of Vault in Colorado (besides V29)

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Oh wow, these are some great ideas!

I’ve been trying to get my own. Mainly, I’ve been trying to come up with an idea for some type of Vault in Colorado (besides V29)

Well I know for Pueblo (which I'm currently writing a post on), I plan on there having been a Vault whose residents were killed/enslaved by the gangs exiled from Siena, though I'm not sure whether/what it's experiment would be. Potentially you could tuck another vault further out into the Plains as one of the only settlements able to endure the harsh conditions of the irradiated Dustbowl.

Should definitely be at least one or two Vaults that are heavily centered on computers - potentially Vault 0 and the !Calculator (distinct from Cheyenne Mountain) being one of them. Probably one in Aspen for the rich.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Well I know for Pueblo (which I'm currently writing a post on), I plan on there having been a Vault whose residents were killed/enslaved by the gangs exiled from Siena, though I'm not sure whether/what it's experiment would be. Potentially you could tuck another vault further out into the Plains as one of the only settlements able to endure the harsh conditions of the irradiated Dustbowl.

Should definitely be at least one or two Vaults that are heavily centered on computers - potentially Vault 0 and the !Calculator (distinct from Cheyenne Mountain) being one of them. Probably one in Aspen for the rich.

I like that idea. What if you made it an ironic twist? Ie, the dwellers were forced into a caste system where the bottom caste were slaves to the upper class or something?

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Raiders of the Great Dustbowl: The Motor-Gangs of Pueblo

The city of Pueblo lays at the edge of the Dustbowl[1], the name for the irradiated hellscape that was once known as the Great Plains. Pueblo is the nearest known settlement of significance to the Great Plains, with most others in the eastern half of the state clinging to the mountains. Not Pueblo, which sits significantly lower and nearer to the Plains then Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, or Siena. Approaching the city, one is greeted with a grisly sight - a mass of twisted steel beams, the remnants of skyscrapers and new beams forged at the city's steel plant, mixed with the hanging corpses of those killed in the city. What less would you expect from a city of raiders?

Settlement

Prior to the War, Pueblo was a bustling industrial towns with several factories producing vehicles and materiel for the war effort, often called the only steel town west of the Mississippi. The town was even home to a Vault, Vault 26. For unknown reasons [2] the residents emerged a little early - not so early that they were exposed to the full breadth of the Post-Atomic Horror but not far off. Nevertheless, the industrious people of Pueblo set about the hard work of rebuilding civilization - only to have it all destroyed by barbarians a few years later.

Those prisoners exiled by the ruling cabal of Siena were in a grim situation, exposed and with no means to procure food in the hash wasteland. Matters were only made worse by the radiation that billowed in from the smoking crater that was once Cheyenne Mountain. Most died, many turned to cannibalism and formed the basis for Colorado's future tribes. However, one gang leader somehow got wind of what was happening in Pueblo. Gathering several gangs together and several armored prison buses, they stormed the lightly armed settlement, killing or enslaving its residents, and took the Vault for themselves.

Word got around to the other gangs about this new excon paradise, and they congregated around Pueblo. Though the Vault itself was too well guarded for these upstarts to get in, the leader of the original gangs was only too happy to allow them to start a shanty town in the remnants of the city and farm for him alongside his Vault-Dweller slaves. While some took well to the honest work of tilling the nearly infertile soil, for many it proved unsatisfying. So they decided: maybe crime will pay this time around. And they were right! Raiders struck all across eastern Colorado, scavenging from ruins and putting survivor communities to the sword. However, their need to range further and further, and their need to brave the radioactive twisters of the Dustbowl, turned their eyes to the old factories...

The Motor-Gangs of Pueblo

The Dustbowl proved very difficult for the Pueblo raiders to navigate. The duststorms were a perennial problem, carrying in lightly radioactive dust and making travel all but impossible. Worse, however, were the tornadoes. These miles-wide radioactive twisters often struck without warning, and would utterly scour the earth where they struck. Those few survivors who clung to a desperate existence in the plains of Colorado either did so huddled in the ancient ruins of roadside attractions, or beneath the ground in makeshift fallout shelters. However, the storms were a blessing in disguise - they saved the survivors from having to deal with the perennial raids faced by the residents of the Eastern Slope.

The gangs of Pueblo devised an innovative solution: automobiles. Ruined cars were everywhere in the wasteland, as were potential fuel sources in energy cells, fusion cells, and fission batteries. As soon as the first cars were jury rigged to work, an arms race grew between the gangs to build the most so as not to miss out on the sweet, sweet loot. Soon, the Pueblo Raiders were the most mobile group in the Colorado Wasteland, able to move rapidly before the storms hit, and even outrun them if need be.

Initially, the vehicles of the motor gangs were fairly simple - largely they were just normal cars, perhaps with a few scary accents here and there. As time went on, however, the vehicles got larger and more elaborate. Fixed guns, mounted skulls, makeshift armor, even tank armor, fission engines, even fusion engines. Old cars just kept getting built upon until what had been a modest Corvega sedan became a hulking monster. Some gangs' had projects so ambitious that the cars would just fall apart the moment they were turned on. And then, when one re-purposed souped up truck swallowed up by a twister managed to pass through the outer edge with most of its crew alive, the age of the Big-Rigs began.

Big-Rigs were those vehicles so strong, so fast, and so elaborate that they could not only outpace twisters or survive the occasional freakishly strong dust storm, but had a fair chance of surviving if they ended up inside a twister. Not only that, they were mobile fortresses, irresistible to the majority of Wastelanders. For most gangs, the cost required to build a true Big Rig was prohibitively expensive, forcing them to stick with their older models, while for those who could afford them it virtually secured their place in the world.

Empowered by Big Rigs, the Motor-Gangs felt emboldened to range out further and further into the Dustbowl, a feat that had once been impossible due to the alternating extremely high or low temperatures and massive storms. hen they reached the other side, they found... someone. Or something. Whoever it is, the Bosses have kept pretty tight lipped about it. All most Wastelanders know is that increasingly, instead of being used for raiding, rigs were going across the Dustbowl laden with cargo, and coming back with riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Pueblo Today
Today, Pueblo is a neutral city for all those who consider themselves raiders. No organized gang violence is allowed in the city, an order enforced by the Capos of the Big Boss. Of course, that doesn't mean there's no violence - it's an incredibly tough town, and if someone thinks you don't look like a "raider," you're liable to be killed.

The city is ruled by the Big Boss, who is selected by the leaders of Pueblo's most powerful gangs when the previous Boss dies. It's implicitly understood that the Big Boss is going to be a little biased towards his own gang. This problem is controlled for by the diverse make up of the Capos, the official enforcers of the informal codes that govern Pueblo, and by the fact that the Bigg Boss is almost always selected from the weakest of the gangs, and failing that the friendliest and most level headed. It's a narrow tightrope to walk, and several wars have broken out, but things generally work out OK - after all, too much blood shed in the city itself is bad for business.

Outside the city is a whole different question. Turf wars range, gangs fighting over the right to raid or extract protection from a given patch. This is one of the factors that have kept the whole of Eastern Colorado from falling under a Puebloan empire - the constant infighting keeps them from ever getting anything done, giving wastelanders repreives to fight back and rebuild.

The other things keeping the Motor-Gangs from realizing their full potential are their congenital mutations. Being descended from people who spent a fairly long period of time in the first few decades after the war outside, coupled with their proximity to Cheyenne Mountain and the radioactive dust storms that rack the city, mutations (both benign and mundane) run rampant. While the occasionaly extra eye, extra limb or even extra head can be flashy and potentially even enviable, just as often do horribly deformed children die kill themselves and their mothers in childbirth, or face an early death from cancer. The medical knowledge to treat these defects, to protect from radiation exposure, or perhaps to even cure the Motor-Ganger's genes are far beyond their means. [3]

Speaking of technical knowledge - its a desperately sought after commodity. Many vehichles, and indeed the means to produce them, are well beyond the skill set of most Motor-Gangers. While most have some basic understanding of engineering allowing them to solve minor problems on the fly, many vehicles (and especially the Big-Rigs) are so deeply complex that it goes far past the talents of an individual mechanic. Often, the secrets of individual cars or factories are passed down from generation to generation in highly ritualized fashion that often obscures how the monstrously complex engines truly function, and that may die with their owner should he not have passed on the secret. To make matters worse, many Big-Rigs require extremely complex computer (and strange) systems to function that are well beyond the means of even those fairly well versed in programming, nevermind Motor-Gangers. These factors have required the employment of Dead-Head technicals, who are able to repair both the vehicles themselves and their bizarre computer systems. However, due to the nature of their chittering, nearly indecipherable language, its almost impossible to glean any information from them.

The future is uncertain for Pueblo - some say that they need to go legit, turning to the increasingly lucrative cross-Dustbowl trade rather then the less and less profitable raiding. They even suggest that they shoulder turn to Boulder for more medical and technical aid. Most reject this out of hand, however - instead, they argue, Pueblo needs to turn to its old ways and destroy the Boulderites who have stolen the prosperity raiding once granted them. This faction sees a promising ally in the upstart Caesar's Legion.

Adventure Hooks

-Pimp My Ride. You, too, can become a Motor-Ganger! At first, you'll get a real junker powered by the ever rare and expensive gasoline/flamer fuel, limiting your time goes on. However, you can upgrade your vehicle to take energy cells, fusion cells, fission batteries, and finally to have its very own fission reactor. This comes along with a number of gameplay-related and aesthetic upgrade. Unfortunately you can't get a big rig, they're worth their weight in gold - and even if you managed to steal one, the odds of figuring out how it works are next to impossible.
-Guzzoline. Gas is incredibly rare and expensive, but the poorest gangers have to use the stuff if upgrading is beyond their immediate means. Their are only proven wells in Colorado - one outside of Boulder which they jealously guard, and one outside of Siena which the Sienans (and most Wastelanders) are clueless to. If you could get the Raiders more gas, they could shift away from their more complicated and difficult to run vehichles and towards simpler to understand classic cars.
-Poseidon Energy, related to above. What do those two wells have to do with Poseidon's interest in the region? And now that you think about it, there's a strange resemblance between some of the strange computers running the Big-Rigs and the factories to some Poseidon-tech you've seen...
-Gang Wars. There are umerous gangs both big and small to be interacted with, with complex and competing interests - the All Americans, the Red Dragons, the Grease Monkeys, the Lot Lizards, the (descriptively named) Dwarves - these are but a few.
-A New Sodom. If you want to drink, gamble, whore, or buy a slave, you've come to the right place - who knows what sort of back-alley shenanigans you'll get to in this city of twisted metal?.
-Fuck the Police. The Puebloans want the Paradise Pigs dead or enslaved - owing both to a centuries-old grudge and their annoyance at this competing gang.
-Siena. The Puebloans want to conquer Siena, a perpetual thorn in their side and their old turg
-Dead-Head companion. Purchase (or save) a Dead-Head technical as a companion.
-Meteorology. The people Pueblo use an extremely complex system that verges on astrology to predict the dust storms and the twisters. Perhaps there's a better way?
-The secret of Vault 26.
-Boudler Dome. The Boulderites both want to put an end to the raids, and to get their hands on the city's fleet - not to mention gain a monopoly on the trans-Dustbowl trade. This can be accomplished either by diplomacy, deception, or force.
-While the Legion wil llikely have to liquidate most of the population of Pueblo, there is no doubt that there are some valuable warriors to be found there - and the vehichles would be a game changer.
-Or maybe you just want to destroy this den of vice. Well in that case, there is a big old dam just upriver. Sure, it provides irrigation to the farmsteads of those who are enslaved to Pueblo, but that's a small price to pay for freedom.
[1] Could call it the "Ashwbowl," though that may be too cheesy.
[2] Unsure of what experiment, if any, Vault 26 ought to be home to. Potentially the early opening could be linked to a counterfeit "All Clear" signal given by nefarious AIs
[3] Potentially the radiation exposure could be swapped for a strain of New Plague, or maybe both.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Raiders of the Great Dustbowl: The Motor-Gangs of Pueblo

The city of Pueblo lays at the edge of the Dustbowl[1], the name for the irradiated hellscape that was once known as the Great Plains. Pueblo is the nearest known settlement of significance to the Great Plains, with most others in the eastern half of the state clinging to the mountains. Not Pueblo, which sits significantly lower and nearer to the Plains then Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, or Siena. Approaching the city, one is greeted with a grisly sight - a mass of twisted steel beams, the remnants of skyscrapers and new beams forged at the city's steel plant, mixed with the hanging corpses of those killed in the city. What less would you expect from a city of raiders?

Settlement

Prior to the War, Pueblo was a bustling industrial towns with several factories producing vehicles and materiel for the war effort, often called the only steel town west of the Mississippi. The town was even home to a Vault, Vault 26. For unknown reasons [2] the residents emerged a little early - not so early that they were exposed to the full breadth of the Post-Atomic Horror but not far off. Nevertheless, the industrious people of Pueblo set about the hard work of rebuilding civilization - only to have it all destroyed by barbarians a few years later.

Those prisoners exiled by the ruling cabal of Siena were in a grim situation, exposed and with no means to procure food in the hash wasteland. Matters were only made worse by the radiation that billowed in from the smoking crater that was once Cheyenne Mountain. Most died, many turned to cannibalism and formed the basis for Colorado's future tribes. However, one gang leader somehow got wind of what was happening in Pueblo. Gathering several gangs together and several armored prison buses, they stormed the lightly armed settlement, killing or enslaving its residents, and took the Vault for themselves.

Word got around to the other gangs about this new excon paradise, and they congregated around Pueblo. Though the Vault itself was too well guarded for these upstarts to get in, the leader of the original gangs was only too happy to allow them to start a shanty town in the remnants of the city and farm for him alongside his Vault-Dweller slaves. While some took well to the honest work of tilling the nearly infertile soil, for many it proved unsatisfying. So they decided: maybe crime will pay this time around. And they were right! Raiders struck all across eastern Colorado, scavenging from ruins and putting survivor communities to the sword. However, their need to range further and further, and their need to brave the radioactive twisters of the Dustbowl, turned their eyes to the old factories...

The Motor-Gangs of Pueblo

The Dustbowl proved very difficult for the Pueblo raiders to navigate. The duststorms were a perennial problem, carrying in lightly radioactive dust and making travel all but impossible. Worse, however, were the tornadoes. These miles-wide radioactive twisters often struck without warning, and would utterly scour the earth where they struck. Those few survivors who clung to a desperate existence in the plains of Colorado either did so huddled in the ancient ruins of roadside attractions, or beneath the ground in makeshift fallout shelters. However, the storms were a blessing in disguise - they saved the survivors from having to deal with the perennial raids faced by the residents of the Eastern Slope.

The gangs of Pueblo devised an innovative solution: automobiles. Ruined cars were everywhere in the wasteland, as were potential fuel sources in energy cells, fusion cells, and fission batteries. As soon as the first cars were jury rigged to work, an arms race grew between the gangs to build the most so as not to miss out on the sweet, sweet loot. Soon, the Pueblo Raiders were the most mobile group in the Colorado Wasteland, able to move rapidly before the storms hit, and even outrun them if need be.

Initially, the vehicles of the motor gangs were fairly simple - largely they were just normal cars, perhaps with a few scary accents here and there. As time went on, however, the vehicles got larger and more elaborate. Fixed guns, mounted skulls, makeshift armor, even tank armor, fission engines, even fusion engines. Old cars just kept getting built upon until what had been a modest Corvega sedan became a hulking monster. Some gangs' had projects so ambitious that the cars would just fall apart the moment they were turned on. And then, when one re-purposed souped up truck swallowed up by a twister managed to pass through the outer edge with most of its crew alive, the age of the Big-Rigs began.

Big-Rigs were those vehicles so strong, so fast, and so elaborate that they could not only outpace twisters or survive the occasional freakishly strong dust storm, but had a fair chance of surviving if they ended up inside a twister. Not only that, they were mobile fortresses, irresistible to the majority of Wastelanders. For most gangs, the cost required to build a true Big Rig was prohibitively expensive, forcing them to stick with their older models, while for those who could afford them it virtually secured their place in the world.

Empowered by Big Rigs, the Motor-Gangs felt emboldened to range out further and further into the Dustbowl, a feat that had once been impossible due to the alternating extremely high or low temperatures and massive storms. hen they reached the other side, they found... someone. Or something. Whoever it is, the Bosses have kept pretty tight lipped about it. All most Wastelanders know is that increasingly, instead of being used for raiding, rigs were going across the Dustbowl laden with cargo, and coming back with riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Pueblo Today
Today, Pueblo is a neutral city for all those who consider themselves raiders. No organized gang violence is allowed in the city, an order enforced by the Capos of the Big Boss. Of course, that doesn't mean there's no violence - it's an incredibly tough town, and if someone thinks you don't look like a "raider," you're liable to be killed.

The city is ruled by the Big Boss, who is selected by the leaders of Pueblo's most powerful gangs when the previous Boss dies. It's implicitly understood that the Big Boss is going to be a little biased towards his own gang. This problem is controlled for by the diverse make up of the Capos, the official enforcers of the informal codes that govern Pueblo, and by the fact that the Bigg Boss is almost always selected from the weakest of the gangs, and failing that the friendliest and most level headed. It's a narrow tightrope to walk, and several wars have broken out, but things generally work out OK - after all, too much blood shed in the city itself is bad for business.

Outside the city is a whole different question. Turf wars range, gangs fighting over the right to raid or extract protection from a given patch. This is one of the factors that have kept the whole of Eastern Colorado from falling under a Puebloan empire - the constant infighting keeps them from ever getting anything done, giving wastelanders repreives to fight back and rebuild.

The other things keeping the Motor-Gangs from realizing their full potential are their congenital mutations. Being descended from people who spent a fairly long period of time in the first few decades after the war outside, coupled with their proximity to Cheyenne Mountain and the radioactive dust storms that rack the city, mutations (both benign and mundane) run rampant. While the occasionaly extra eye, extra limb or even extra head can be flashy and potentially even enviable, just as often do horribly deformed children die kill themselves and their mothers in childbirth, or face an early death from cancer. The medical knowledge to treat these defects, to protect from radiation exposure, or perhaps to even cure the Motor-Ganger's genes are far beyond their means. [3]

Speaking of technical knowledge - its a desperately sought after commodity. Many vehichles, and indeed the means to produce them, are well beyond the skill set of most Motor-Gangers. While most have some basic understanding of engineering allowing them to solve minor problems on the fly, many vehicles (and especially the Big-Rigs) are so deeply complex that it goes far past the talents of an individual mechanic. Often, the secrets of individual cars or factories are passed down from generation to generation in highly ritualized fashion that often obscures how the monstrously complex engines truly function, and that may die with their owner should he not have passed on the secret. To make matters worse, many Big-Rigs require extremely complex computer (and strange) systems to function that are well beyond the means of even those fairly well versed in programming, nevermind Motor-Gangers. These factors have required the employment of Dead-Head technicals, who are able to repair both the vehicles themselves and their bizarre computer systems. However, due to the nature of their chittering, nearly indecipherable language, its almost impossible to glean any information from them.

The future is uncertain for Pueblo - some say that they need to go legit, turning to the increasingly lucrative cross-Dustbowl trade rather then the less and less profitable raiding. They even suggest that they shoulder turn to Boulder for more medical and technical aid. Most reject this out of hand, however - instead, they argue, Pueblo needs to turn to its old ways and destroy the Boulderites who have stolen the prosperity raiding once granted them. This faction sees a promising ally in the upstart Caesar's Legion.

Adventure Hooks

-Pimp My Ride. You, too, can become a Motor-Ganger! At first, you'll get a real junker powered by the ever rare and expensive gasoline/flamer fuel, limiting your time goes on. However, you can upgrade your vehicle to take energy cells, fusion cells, fission batteries, and finally to have its very own fission reactor. This comes along with a number of gameplay-related and aesthetic upgrade. Unfortunately you can't get a big rig, they're worth their weight in gold - and even if you managed to steal one, the odds of figuring out how it works are next to impossible.
-Guzzoline. Gas is incredibly rare and expensive, but the poorest gangers have to use the stuff if upgrading is beyond their immediate means. Their are only proven wells in Colorado - one outside of Boulder which they jealously guard, and one outside of Siena which the Sienans (and most Wastelanders) are clueless to. If you could get the Raiders more gas, they could shift away from their more complicated and difficult to run vehichles and towards simpler to understand classic cars.
-Poseidon Energy, related to above. What do those two wells have to do with Poseidon's interest in the region? And now that you think about it, there's a strange resemblance between some of the strange computers running the Big-Rigs and the factories to some Poseidon-tech you've seen...
-Gang Wars. There are umerous gangs both big and small to be interacted with, with complex and competing interests - the All Americans, the Red Dragons, the Grease Monkeys, the Lot Lizards, the (descriptively named) Dwarves - these are but a few.
-A New Sodom. If you want to drink, gamble, whore, or buy a slave, you've come to the right place - who knows what sort of back-alley shenanigans you'll get to in this city of twisted metal?.
-Fuck the Police. The Puebloans want the Paradise Pigs dead or enslaved - owing both to a centuries-old grudge and their annoyance at this competing gang.
-Siena. The Puebloans want to conquer Siena, a perpetual thorn in their side and their old turg
-Dead-Head companion. Purchase (or save) a Dead-Head technical as a companion.
-Meteorology. The people Pueblo use an extremely complex system that verges on astrology to predict the dust storms and the twisters. Perhaps there's a better way?
-The secret of Vault 26.
-Boulder Dome. The Boulderites both want to put an end to the raids, and to get their hands on the city's fleet - not to mention gain a monopoly on the trans-Dustbowl trade. This can be accomplished either by diplomacy, deception, or force.
-While the Legion wil llikely have to liquidate most of the population of Pueblo, there is no doubt that there are some valuable warriors to be found there - and the vehichles would be a game changer.
-Or maybe you just want to destroy this den of vice. Well in that case, there is a big old dam just upriver. Sure, it provides irrigation to the farmsteads of those who are enslaved to Pueblo, but that's a small price to pay for freedom.
[1] Could call it the "Ashwbowl," though that may be too cheesy.
[2] Unsure of what experiment, if any, Vault 26 ought to be home to. Potentially the early opening could be linked to a counterfeit "All Clear" signal given by nefarious AIs
[3] Potentially the radiation exposure could be swapped for a strain of New Plague, or maybe both.

Very cool. I need to step my own game up. Maybe by creating an actual story. Hmmm. You have any ideas, Android?

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Here's my idea.

-

You play as a character (in the year 2260) known as the Traveler or Pathfinder who's only known backstory was that they ended up in the trading post city of Gateway, in the Great Colorado. Before that is a brief cutscene of you being flashed with a blinding light, then ending up in a dimly-lit room before you wake up in Gateway. After creating your character, you must strike out into the wastes, with your only clue of evidence as to who kidnapped you being the one thing your captors left on you- A pipboy seemingly placed on your arm (possibly to track you)

Here in Gateway, if you ask the right people you can be given three locations to head too- Cortex, the Caesar's Legion outpost and slaver camp (which has currently been shipping in more legionnaires for a possible military attack), Circle Junction, the "HUB" of Colorado, and Palisade, a Mormon colony from Utah.

If you travel to Cortex, however, you're likely to encounter the tribal village of "Dolores" along the way, which had just been completely destroyed and enslaved by the Legion. If you stick around you'll likely encounter Tonitrius Montem (Whose name means "Thunderous Mountain"). He is one of two of Caesar's Frumentarii in the state, and is a much more feared and respected then almost any other legionnaires in the state. He will ask you to spread word of the Dolores tribals fate, and show the fate of those who disrespect the Caesar. You can kill him here, but be warned, this will cause many Legion assassins to travel to hunt you down, causing random encounters from time to time. If you choose, you can free the slaves of Dolores secretly, either secretly or by force.

In Cortex outpost proper, you'll meet many characters, such as Decanus Viri Fortis, Slave Overseer Jonas Augustus, and most importantly, Centurion Cassius of Lukachukai. Centurion Cassius is requesting more Legion soldiers from Arizona and New Mexico in order to spread their operations deeper into Colorado. As one of Caesar's most trusted and skilled Centurions, he is highly respected, and feared. He is not unlike Caesar; A skilled Tactician, he is the best man for the job of invading Colorado.

-

If you travel to Palisade, you will encounter the Mormon colony. After New Jerusalem in Salt Lake City was destroyed, 50 New Jerusalemites migrated to build the city of Palisade, building a peaceful and (somewhat) safe community. But, they're having problems. With their motor-cars, the Paradise Pigs have a far reach in Colorado, and have seen the city of Palisade as easy prey. Sheriff Mordecai and Mayor Richards, the leaders of the community, will ask you to help them fight against the Paradise Pig gang leader in the area, a man named Jammael. Jammael can be persuaded or intimidated to leave, but he can also be fought. Killing Jammael will make you disliked by the Paradise Pigs, but well liked by the people of Palisade. Conversely, if you side with the Paradise Pigs, you can help rob the city of almost everything it's worth, and in the endgame cut-scene you're decision will be reflected (If you help Jammael, the Mormons will be forced to attempt and migrate, and either be annexed and consumed by the Boulderites, or enslaved and assimilated by the Legion, depending on your choices.

(Don't have many ideas for Circle Junction, help me out)

-

Eventually, while playing the game, you'll find out the people responsible for your kidnapping. The Siena leader known as "Warden". Warden sent his men so far to kidnap you to implant you with a modified version of Limit-115, stolen from the Boulderites in order to attempt and kill off the majority of population of CO in order to kill them off. The thing is, the version of Limit-115 lies dormant in the human body, and most be activated by an airborne contagion created by the people of Siena called Limit-116. Limit-116 can be programmed to specially target specific groups of individuals though- if you place the virus modifer Version 1 into the tank, it will target those highly effected by radiation (killing off the Legion in Cortex, as well as most of the tribals east of the Rocky mountains, and the Paradise Pigs), or you could release Version 2, which would kill off those with low levels of radiation exposure, destroying Boulder, the tribes East of the mountains and...the people of Siena. These mechanisms were created before the war, as it turns out Siena Supermax was created to test the Blue Flu.

Of course, if you sided with either of the two main factions of F:CO, you can have Boulderite, or Legion, soldiers storm the Supermax and take the vial for themselves. The Boulder people will spread out east all across the eastern slopes if they win, relegating Caesar's Legion to the far west if you helped them. Centurion Cassius will be crucified, and etc.

If you sided with the Legion, Boulder would be wiped out, and all (or most) of the communities and people you met in the Wasteland will be enslaved. The occasional few survivalist towns will be allowed to continue to exist, under Legion occupation. So, thats my idea. Whatddya think?

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Very cool. I need to step my own game up. Maybe by creating an actual story. Hmmm. You have any ideas, Android?

Well with the stuff I've been alluding to, I'm envisioning that the plot is centered pretty heavily around AI, Super-Computers and a primitive form of internet that was in the works in the tech firms of Colorado prior to the War, with "Robot City" being the main antagonist. Though at the same time, I understand the desire to make the game centered around the New Plague considering Boulder - not sure though.

As to your proposed main story, a couple of criticisms:

1, in the lore I laid out it doesn't really make sense for the Paradise Pigs to be attacking Palisade: one, it's way too far even with motor-cars, and two the Paradise Pigs aren't the ones with access to Motor-Cars - that's the Pueblo Raiders, you can help the Paradise Pigs gain access to refurbished Colorado Highway Patrol vehicles to contest the Puebloans, but the Pigs are an essentially tribal and primitive people, and for that matter are essentially good. The Pigs would only appear in a fairly narrow band south of Colorado Springs, east of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, and west of the Great Plains (or "Dustbowl.") Two, the distance is far too great and the terrain far too difficult even for the Puebloans to reach that far.

As to Sienans as the main bad guy... not so sure about this. I envisioned Siena as fulfilling a role that would be most comparable I suppose to the Boomers in New Vegas, perhaps a bit more important. It's strategically vital to the interests of all factions (not just the Legion - the Puebloans and the Pigs as well), and while it has diverse interests itself (that could be manifested in an "Independent" ending) its not really a main faction as such.

It contains important clues and connections to the main plot through corporate intrigue and data hidden by Zenith, but ultimately its leaders are moreso hilariously incompetent then they are actively malicious. Still, the concept that Blue Flu was being tested at Siena is an interesting one, though it would have to have happened without the knowledge of Acme or Greenway within my framework.

And this is more of a minor point, but within my framework Warden is not the leader of Siena - rather, it's one of the four potential personalities that can be activated at the prison to replace Zenith. It's the god of the Paradise Pigs, the devil of the Puebloans, and is the most preferred AI of both the Legion and the Boulderites as it would rule on their behalf with an iron fist (though they can be talked round to any of the four personalities with enough elbow grease - yes, even the serial killer persona of Norman Lee Gallagher)

These criticisms aside, I like the concept of Palisade - while not explicitly so, perhaps it represents the potential of the "Independent" ending.

Not sure about Circle Junction - even where it is.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Well with the stuff I've been alluding to, I'm envisioning that the plot is centered pretty heavily around AI, Super-Computers and a primitive form of internet that was in the works in the tech firms of Colorado prior to the War, with "Robot City" being the main antagonist. Though at the same time, I understand the desire to make the game centered around the New Plague considering Boulder - not sure though.

As to your proposed main story, a couple of criticisms:

1, in the lore I laid out it doesn't really make sense for the Paradise Pigs to be attacking Palisade: one, it's way too far even with motor-cars, and two the Paradise Pigs aren't the ones with access to Motor-Cars - that's the Pueblo Raiders, you can help the Paradise Pigs gain access to refurbished Colorado Highway Patrol vehicles to contest the Puebloans, but the Pigs are an essentially tribal and primitive people, and for that matter are essentially good. The Pigs would only appear in a fairly narrow band south of Colorado Springs, east of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, and west of the Great Plains (or "Dustbowl.") Two, the distance is far too great and the terrain far too difficult even for the Puebloans to reach that far.

As to Sienans as the main bad guy... not so sure about this. I envisioned Siena as fulfilling a role that would be most comparable I suppose to the Boomers in New Vegas, perhaps a bit more important. It's strategically vital to the interests of all factions (not just the Legion - the Puebloans and the Pigs as well), and while it has diverse interests itself (that could be manifested in an "Independent" ending) its not really a main faction as such.

It contains important clues and connections to the main plot through corporate intrigue and data hidden by Zenith, but ultimately its leaders are moreso hilariously incompetent then they are actively malicious. Still, the concept that Blue Flu was being tested at Siena is an interesting one, though it would have to have happened without the knowledge of Acme or Greenway within my framework.

And this is more of a minor point, but within my framework Warden is not the leader of Siena - rather, it's one of the four potential personalities that can be activated at the prison to replace Zenith. It's the god of the Paradise Pigs, the devil of the Puebloans, and is the most preferred AI of both the Legion and the Boulderites as it would rule on their behalf with an iron fist (though they can be talked round to any of the four personalities with enough elbow grease - yes, even the serial killer persona of Norman Lee Gallagher)

These criticisms aside, I like the concept of Palisade - while not explicitly so, perhaps it represents the potential of the "Independent" ending.

Not sure about Circle Junction - even where it is.

thanks for the criticism I was just throwing stuff together tbh the plot can be changed. Also, Circke Junction is what Grand Junction is called in Fallouts world IIRC

 

[Hardboiled Android]

thanks for the criticism I was just throwing stuff together tbh the plot can be changed. Also, Circke Junction is what Grand Junction is called in Fallouts world IIRC

Ah. For some reason, I was always under the impression that Circle Junction was somewhere in Denver.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Ah. For some reason, I was always under the impression that Circle Junction was somewhere in Denver.

Oh lol

 

[Hardboiled Android]

Dead-Heads

Dead-Heads are the "signature mutants" of the Colorado Wasteland: compare the Tunnelers of the Divide, the Ghost People of the Sierra Madre, or the Lobotomites of Big MT. Like the Lobotomites of Big MT, however, it is perhaps not entirely correct to call the Dead-Heads 'mutants': rather, they are the victims of pre-War Super Science, whose detrimental effects continue to be repeated to this day.

Origins

Most Dead-Heads come from Siena Supermax. The first of these were literally so - as a means of control over their slave-prisoners, the guards of Siena Supermax would use the brain-draining capabilities of the Zenith supercomputer that controlled the facility. Indeed, Siena Supermax had been constructed by Acme and the Government (with only limited knowledge for the ever squeamish Greenway) with four experimental purposes in mind beyond its public claims of being the prison of the future: one, to use death row inmates and the Zenith Supercomputer. Two, to give Acme and the government an attempt to advance the field of computer science - rather than ripping out the brains of dogs and humans and using them as central processors, they wanted to build off of some of the innovative discoveries by RobCo and Poseidon and discover how the human mind itself worked. Third, (and closely linked to the second), as a semi-phrenelogical endeavor to understand the mind of the criminal, the psychopath, and the communist.

Fourthly (and EXTREMELY closely linked to the third), as a part of the US government's ongoing research into brainwashing, its brain-draining would use some of the CODE research being developed in the Boulder Dome. After having their mind pumped and their brain permanently scarred from the large needle shoved through their temple, the inmates subjected to brain-drain were left dazed, but largely pleasant and compliant. Pre-War, this made them the perfect inmates to be subjected to the Blue Flu. Post-War, it made them the perfect servants for the ruling guards.

This is not to say that the brain-drain was a full proof lobotomy: in addition to the obvious effects (loss of self and loss of memories), inmates would suffer from some stranger effects. Seizures, accompanied by the babbling of inhuman sounds and alphanumeric sequences, would occur from time to time. Inmates seemed to possess knowledge (especially about computers) that they should have no way of knowing. And at least on one occasion, one brain-drained inmate ran amok, killing all in his path with the single minded purpose of gaining access to Zenith before being shot dead.

When the socialists took control of Siena Supermax, they found the brain-drain to be quite delightful. Like the guillotine of the French revolutionaries, the leaders of Siena hailed the brain-drain as a humane form of execution - those that did wrong by the body politic could have their asocial tendencies wiped out, and have their bodies repurposed to serve the people and act as the model of the New Sienan Man. It also helped that the intellectuals and thugs that made up Siena's ruling cabal had no idea how to keep Zenith running without supplying it with constant brain-drains.

However, as Zenith's performance began to break down, so too did the well being of those whose brains it drained. What had once been rare occurrences became the norm: victims lost nearly all grasp on the human language, instead descending into a bizarre mixture of ticks, clicks, and RobCo termlink that was decipherable only to those who had been brain-drained. Further, they became even more single mindedly obsessed with computers, becoming almost totally incapable of functioning in the real world. Worst of all, the number of violent incidents by them increased.

Unable to stop conducting brain-drains lest the prison's automated systems begin to collapse, the Sienans devised a simple solution: simply dump the victims outside of the walls of the prison once they were done pumping them, leting them fend for themselves. The Sienans figured that they would starve to death in a matter of weeks, unable to fend for themselves in the harsh wasteland. How far they were from the truth.

Behavior & Characteristics

Dead-Heads spend most of their time below ground in their cyber-hives. Generally, they can only stand to be above ground during the night on account of their extremely pale skin and sensitive eyes. Most of this time is spent scavenging any technology they can get their hands on, in addition to Mentats. Occasionally, they will kidnap humans (often but not always children) to be converted into new Dead-Heads.

One of the most prominent features of Dead-Heads are their goggles. The RobCo Virtuoso was their attempt to beat Virtual Strategic Solutions to the civilian virtual reality market. Connected to wiring by a wrist-mounted PIP-Boy, the device boasted realistic wire-frame graphics, full sound integration, and even intra-cranial magnetics to stimulate the brain and make the user feel as if they really are in delightful worlds of fancy. The product was slated for a limited release in Colorado where it was manufactured before nation wide release.

Unfortunately, the Virtuoso was a massive failure. Users reported nausea, blurred vision, memory loss, and hallucinations both during and after their use of the Virtuoso. Even those that didn't have such poor side effects complained about the limited games and capabilities of the Virtuoso. After a particularly unfortunate incident where a young boy walked straight off a cliff while using his Virtuoso. The product was scrapped, only a few remaining in circulation while the rest sat unused in warehouses. Meanwhile, VSS released the Hypno-Rama virtual reality cabinet in the Colorado market, to greater (albeit still limited) success. The "VR Wars" would be nullified, as so many things were, by the Great War.

One of the first things the Dead-Heads did when they were released from Siena, without hesitation, was beeline for the nearest Virtuoso warehouse they could find and, alongside their PIP-Boys, put them on. Afterwards, they dispersed across the Rocky Mountain Wasteland and set about the work of digging their hives and scavenging every scrap of technology they could get their hands on. It seems that the Dead-Heads require the mediation of the Virtuoso in order to handle and be competent in the real world. Whatever they're looking at is incomprehensible to the normal viewer, however, a mess of green and red vectors accompanied by occasional white flashes that leave the user dazed.

The only clothing that the Dead-Heads wear are circuit boards, circuit boards and scattered consumer electronics. All of this is hooked up to their PIP-Boy and their Virtuoso, and aids not only in enhancing their virtual reality but running constant inscrutable calculations. The layers of circuit boards and seemingly random household electronics and appliances act as a makeshift armor.

In addition to the loose electronics, Dead-Heads will often make use of body augmentation. The most common of these is a set of retractable rabbit ears, drilled directly into the skull, likely for communicating with each other and whatever alien intelligence(s) govern them. They will also often wire their computers directly into their central nervous systems, both to heighten their perception and reaction times in addition to hooking their brain directly up to whatever strange calculations are being made.

The eyes of the Dead-Head are beady. The skin is pallid, nearly transluscent. The genitalia have atrophied to almost nothing, making conventional reproduction impossible. Physically they tend to be quite weak, many using makeshift or scavenged power-armor parts to augment their limb strength.

The Dead-Heads seem to communicate with themselves in a strange computer language that Boulderite scientists have dubbed "Tic Xenotation." Consisting of ticks and clicks that bear a strong resemblance to the non-ordinal non-cardinal numeracies that dominate their computers, along with a smattering of RobCo termlink. The language is completely and totally untranslateable, it would take a purpose built Super-Computer to decode it. Even if you did, it's not clear how much good you'd get out of it - through their rabbit ears, they seem to be capable of communing with one another silently.

Beyond their hives, Dead-Heads can be found almost only in the wee hours of the night scavenging technology and kidnapping children, occasionally squatting in sufficiently dark ruined buildings if their ranging takes them too far from a hive. There are two main variants one is likely to encounter in the wild: Slave Minds and Master Minds. Slave Minds are the more feeble, usually poorly equipped with power tools (especially nail guns), power fists, and occasionally arc welders. They have few if any augments. Master Minds are the real threat - a thick layer of technology, heavily augmented, and often equipped with ad-hoc power armor. In terms of weaponry, they will use the arc welders, thermic lances, and modified energy weapons. However, all of the Slave Minds are linked directly to their respective Master Mind (assuming one is present), operating as external memory drives and processors in addition to human (?) shields. As you kill the Slave Minds the Master Mind is softened up, but still poses a formidable threat.

Dead-Heads possess a super human (?) acument for electronics, being able to hack or reprogram equipment without a thought. For devices with voice recognition software - especially consumer grade robots - Dead-Heads are capable of reprogramming them simply by speaking in tic xenotation, making robots a common sight among Dead-Head scavenging parties - and a dicey prospect for would-be Wasteand adventurers to take along with them. Also extremely coon are Cyber-Dogs, captured and reprogrammed from the Denver ruins.

Cyber-Hives

Dead-Heads spend most of their time inside of their Cyber Hives. Cyber hives are usually found in caves, in basements, or in radio stations or make-shift bunkers dug below radio towers. From the ground, one of the key signs of a Dead-Head is wires leading into the ground, strange towers made up of scavenged electronics, and inscrutable signs carved into the earth.

The interior of cyber hives are encrusted with machinery wherever it can be fit, and often stretch much deeper into the earth then previously thought. Aside from the flashing lights of the electronics, the caverns are totally dark. Even when a cyber hive is cleared out, it is impossible to determine what these computers are doing - they seem to be operating on an entirely unknown language, that itself is based on a largely inscrutable numeric system. Even when scraps of decipherable RobCo term-link can be found amid the chaos, their translations come out as nonsensical, if vaguely forboding.

The Dead-Heads spend most of their time within the hive plugged into computers - specifically, they like to utilize cobbled together VSS Hypno-Rama pods. What they do when in these pods remains a mystery: according to brain scans conducted by the Boulderites on captured Dead-Heads, they appear to be totally brain-dead while hooked up to their pods, hence the name. We can only assume that they are wandering through cyber space in a strange state that can only be allowed by undeath.

When not plugged into their pods, Dead-Heads conduct perfunctory repairs and reprogramming of the vast arrays that make up their hives. Each hive has a dedicated space for food processing. The diet of the Dead-Head is rather unappetizing to noral humans, consisting of Salient Green (how they worked out Big MT's secret recipe remains unknown), Bio-Med gel (invented in Boulder and plentiful in the Rocky Mountain Wasteland), and a whole heck of a lot of crushed up mentats. If a human can get past the taste (imagine the smell!), it is a perfectly nutritious food source and is in fact quite beneficial for the mind - though prolonged use can lead to exhibiting certain symptoms not dissimilar from the Dead-Heads. Nevertheless, despite its poor protein content (accounting for their weak physique), it seems to contribute to the extremely long lifespan enjoyed by Dead-Heads.

All hives also have a set up to create new dead heads, consisting of a needle, make-shifting brain scanner and magnetics, all hooked up to the vast computing power of the Hive and, presumably, the Dead-Head hive mind writ large.

At the center of Dead-Head hives are the so called Mother Minds. Fed on a modified form of the normal Dead-Head sustenance, and augmented to a godly amount, one could scarcely imagine they're human when looking upon them, all metal and flashing screens and tubes of biogel. They seem to act as the mother board and governing intelligence behind each individual hive. They also possess a wicked electrical discharge, making them a real challenge for anyone trying to take out a hive with minimal casualties.

Dead-Head Technicals

When the Boulderites emerged, they found the Dead-Heads to be a fascinating nuisance. They were a constant hazard to Boulderite tech scavenging efforts, and on several occasions have assaulted or attempted to hack the Boulder Dome itself.

Often coming into conflict with them, it was inevitable that a few would be taken back alive. Realizing their dangerous capacity, the Boulderites made sure to keep them totally isolated from any machine that could possible operate the Boulder Dome. After years of study, the Boulderites discovered that while tic xenotation was indecipherable, both it and the white flashes bore some of the tell tale signs of the CODE brainwashing technique developed in the Boulder Dome pre-War.

After a lot of trial and error, the Boulderites found a way to successfully re-program the Dead-Heads. About half the time, it results in the violent death of the Dead-Head due to brain hemorraging. However, when it does work, the results are fantastic - tic xenotation is wiped from their mind, and they speak a patois consisting of RobCo termlink and English. Generally, they closely resemble the earliest iterations of the Dead-Heads, being only too happy to help their masters.

Still possessing their superhuman technical skill, "Deprogrammed" Dead-Heads became essential as tecnicals. Though they could not explain how they did it, they were able to repair or alter just about any technical system. Reasoning that they were not human, the Boulderites were willing to sell or lease the less talented of the Dead-Head technicals - for the right price.

Adventure Hooks
-The Grateful Dead-Head: At some point, the player is presented with the opportunity to either buy, steal, or free a Dead-Head technical. An immensely useful companion that unlocks a lot of main story plot points and gives access to otherwise unaccessible computer interactions, this Dead-Head's quest consists of figuring out who he originally was. The ultimate reward (in addition to lots of fascinating information) is access to the only useable suit of Dead-Head power armor in the game, the rest being tied to tic xenotation and thus unuseable by a normal human.
-Radio Free Wasteland: Dead-Heads occupy many of the Rocky Mountain Wasteland's radio towers. Clear them out to help different factions, or to gain access to new radio stations. Alternatively, you could listen to the Dead-Head radio station - an original, eerie synthwave soundtrack, permeated by a robotic voice saying cryptic things as well as hidden messages.
-Dead-Head Gruel: If you can figure out how to make this stuff, you could become the smartest guy in the Wasteland, and a long-lived one at that - just don't be surprised when it makes you socially retarded.
-Siena Origins: Why did the Sienan Deadheads change? Only the records of Zenith holds the answer.
-Slave Race: Caesar's Legion wants to udnerstand the principle behind the Dead-Heads, as they could make the perfect slaves if you could just get them more interested in carrying heavy packs and less interested in high level neural networking.
-Mistaken Identity: That PIP-Boy on your wrist is going to make an awful lot of Wastelanders mighty uncomftorable around you, but will also open up new opportunities. And say, didn't that white flash at the beginning of the game look a bit like CODE?
-Pest Control: Dead-Heads are a perpetual nuisance, and settlers pay those who wipe out their hives handsomely. But keep in mind that though Dead-Heads are almost universally hostile, you do possess a faction reputation with them that may come in handy down the line.
-Deprogramming: Can Dead-Heads be saved in a more humane way?
-Robot City: Dead-Heads are integral to the main plot, linked deeply to whatever Robot City is planning.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Dead-Heads

Dead-Heads are the "signature mutants" of the Colorado Wasteland: compare the Tunnelers of the Divide, the Ghost People of the Sierra Madre, or the Lobotomites of Big MT. Like the Lobotomites of Big MT, however, it is perhaps not entirely correct to call the Dead-Heads 'mutants': rather, they are the victims of pre-War Super Science, whose detrimental effects continue to be repeated to this day.

Origins

Most Dead-Heads come from Siena Supermax. The first of these were literally so - as a means of control over their slave-prisoners, the guards of Siena Supermax would use the brain-draining capabilities of the Zenith supercomputer that controlled the facility. Indeed, Siena Supermax had been constructed by Acme and the Government (with only limited knowledge for the ever squeamish Greenway) with four experimental purposes in mind beyond its public claims of being the prison of the future: one, to use death row inmates and the Zenith Supercomputer. Two, to give Acme and the government an attempt to advance the field of computer science - rather than ripping out the brains of dogs and humans and using them as central processors, they wanted to build off of some of the innovative discoveries by RobCo and Poseidon and discover how the human mind itself worked. Third, (and closely linked to the second), as a semi-phrenelogical endeavor to understand the mind of the criminal, the psychopath, and the communist.

Fourthly (and EXTREMELY closely linked to the third), as a part of the US government's ongoing research into brainwashing, its brain-draining would use some of the CODE research being developed in the Boulder Dome. After having their mind pumped and their brain permanently scarred from the large needle shoved through their temple, the inmates subjected to brain-drain were left dazed, but largely pleasant and compliant. Pre-War, this made them the perfect inmates to be subjected to the Blue Flu. Post-War, it made them the perfect servants for the ruling guards.

This is not to say that the brain-drain was a full proof lobotomy: in addition to the obvious effects (loss of self and loss of memories), inmates would suffer from some stranger effects. Seizures, accompanied by the babbling of inhuman sounds and alphanumeric sequences, would occur from time to time. Inmates seemed to possess knowledge (especially about computers) that they should have no way of knowing. And at least on one occasion, one brain-drained inmate ran amok, killing all in his path with the single minded purpose of gaining access to Zenith before being shot dead.

When the socialists took control of Siena Supermax, they found the brain-drain to be quite delightful. Like the guillotine of the French revolutionaries, the leaders of Siena hailed the brain-drain as a humane form of execution - those that did wrong by the body politic could have their asocial tendencies wiped out, and have their bodies repurposed to serve the people and act as the model of the New Sienan Man. It also helped that the intellectuals and thugs that made up Siena's ruling cabal had no idea how to keep Zenith running without supplying it with constant brain-drains.

However, as Zenith's performance began to break down, so too did the well being of those whose brains it drained. What had once been rare occurrences became the norm: victims lost nearly all grasp on the human language, instead descending into a bizarre mixture of ticks, clicks, and RobCo termlink that was decipherable only to those who had been brain-drained. Further, they became even more single mindedly obsessed with computers, becoming almost totally incapable of functioning in the real world. Worst of all, the number of violent incidents by them increased.

Unable to stop conducting brain-drains lest the prison's automated systems begin to collapse, the Sienans devised a simple solution: simply dump the victims outside of the walls of the prison once they were done pumping them, leting them fend for themselves. The Sienans figured that they would starve to death in a matter of weeks, unable to fend for themselves in the harsh wasteland. How far they were from the truth.

Behavior & Characteristics

Dead-Heads spend most of their time below ground in their cyber-hives. Generally, they can only stand to be above ground during the night on account of their extremely pale skin and sensitive eyes. Most of this time is spent scavenging any technology they can get their hands on, in addition to Mentats. Occasionally, they will kidnap humans (often but not always children) to be converted into new Dead-Heads.

One of the most prominent features of Dead-Heads are their goggles. The RobCo Virtuoso was their attempt to beat Virtual Strategic Solutions to the civilian virtual reality market. Connected to wiring by a wrist-mounted PIP-Boy, the device boasted realistic wire-frame graphics, full sound integration, and even intra-cranial magnetics to stimulate the brain and make the user feel as if they really are in delightful worlds of fancy. The product was slated for a limited release in Colorado where it was manufactured before nation wide release.

Unfortunately, the Virtuoso was a massive failure. Users reported nausea, blurred vision, memory loss, and hallucinations both during and after their use of the Virtuoso. Even those that didn't have such poor side effects complained about the limited games and capabilities of the Virtuoso. After a particularly unfortunate incident where a young boy walked straight off a cliff while using his Virtuoso. The product was scrapped, only a few remaining in circulation while the rest sat unused in warehouses. Meanwhile, VSS released the Hypno-Rama virtual reality cabinet in the Colorado market, to greater (albeit still limited) success. The "VR Wars" would be nullified, as so many things were, by the Great War.

One of the first things the Dead-Heads did when they were released from Siena, without hesitation, was beeline for the nearest Virtuoso warehouse they could find and, alongside their PIP-Boys, put them on. Afterwards, they dispersed across the Rocky Mountain Wasteland and set about the work of digging their hives and scavenging every scrap of technology they could get their hands on. It seems that the Dead-Heads require the mediation of the Virtuoso in order to handle and be competent in the real world. Whatever they're looking at is incomprehensible to the normal viewer, however, a mess of green and red vectors accompanied by occasional white flashes that leave the user dazed.

The only clothing that the Dead-Heads wear are circuit boards, circuit boards and scattered consumer electronics. All of this is hooked up to their PIP-Boy and their Virtuoso, and aids not only in enhancing their virtual reality but running constant inscrutable calculations. The layers of circuit boards and seemingly random household electronics and appliances act as a makeshift armor.

In addition to the loose electronics, Dead-Heads will often make use of body augmentation. The most common of these is a set of retractable rabbit ears, drilled directly into the skull, likely for communicating with each other and whatever alien intelligence(s) govern them. They will also often wire their computers directly into their central nervous systems, both to heighten their perception and reaction times in addition to hooking their brain directly up to whatever strange calculations are being made.

The eyes of the Dead-Head are beady. The skin is pallid, nearly transluscent. The genitalia have atrophied to almost nothing, making conventional reproduction impossible. Physically they tend to be quite weak, many using makeshift or scavenged power-armor parts to augment their limb strength.

The Dead-Heads seem to communicate with themselves in a strange computer language that Boulderite scientists have dubbed "Tic Xenotation." Consisting of ticks and clicks that bear a strong resemblance to the non-ordinal non-cardinal numeracies that dominate their computers, along with a smattering of RobCo termlink. The language is completely and totally untranslateable, it would take a purpose built Super-Computer to decode it. Even if you did, it's not clear how much good you'd get out of it - through their rabbit ears, they seem to be capable of communing with one another silently.

Beyond their hives, Dead-Heads can be found almost only in the wee hours of the night scavenging technology and kidnapping children, occasionally squatting in sufficiently dark ruined buildings if their ranging takes them too far from a hive. There are two main variants one is likely to encounter in the wild: Slave Minds and Master Minds. Slave Minds are the more feeble, usually poorly equipped with power tools (especially nail guns), power fists, and occasionally arc welders. They have few if any augments. Master Minds are the real threat - a thick layer of technology, heavily augmented, and often equipped with ad-hoc power armor. In terms of weaponry, they will use the arc welders, thermic lances, and modified energy weapons. However, all of the Slave Minds are linked directly to their respective Master Mind (assuming one is present), operating as external memory drives and processors in addition to human (?) shields. As you kill the Slave Minds the Master Mind is softened up, but still poses a formidable threat.

Dead-Heads possess a super human (?) acument for electronics, being able to hack or reprogram equipment without a thought. For devices with voice recognition software - especially consumer grade robots - Dead-Heads are capable of reprogramming them simply by speaking in tic xenotation, making robots a common sight among Dead-Head scavenging parties - and a dicey prospect for would-be Wasteand adventurers to take along with them. Also extremely coon are Cyber-Dogs, captured and reprogrammed from the Denver ruins.

Cyber-Hives

Dead-Heads spend most of their time inside of their Cyber Hives. Cyber hives are usually found in caves, in basements, or in radio stations or make-shift bunkers dug below radio towers. From the ground, one of the key signs of a Dead-Head is wires leading into the ground, strange towers made up of scavenged electronics, and inscrutable signs carved into the earth.

The interior of cyber hives are encrusted with machinery wherever it can be fit, and often stretch much deeper into the earth then previously thought. Aside from the flashing lights of the electronics, the caverns are totally dark. Even when a cyber hive is cleared out, it is impossible to determine what these computers are doing - they seem to be operating on an entirely unknown language, that itself is based on a largely inscrutable numeric system. Even when scraps of decipherable RobCo term-link can be found amid the chaos, their translations come out as nonsensical, if vaguely forboding.

The Dead-Heads spend most of their time within the hive plugged into computers - specifically, they like to utilize cobbled together VSS Hypno-Rama pods. What they do when in these pods remains a mystery: according to brain scans conducted by the Boulderites on captured Dead-Heads, they appear to be totally brain-dead while hooked up to their pods, hence the name. We can only assume that they are wandering through cyber space in a strange state that can only be allowed by undeath.

When not plugged into their pods, Dead-Heads conduct perfunctory repairs and reprogramming of the vast arrays that make up their hives. Each hive has a dedicated space for food processing. The diet of the Dead-Head is rather unappetizing to noral humans, consisting of Salient Green (how they worked out Big MT's secret recipe remains unknown), Bio-Med gel (invented in Boulder and plentiful in the Rocky Mountain Wasteland), and a whole heck of a lot of crushed up mentats. If a human can get past the taste (imagine the smell!), it is a perfectly nutritious food source and is in fact quite beneficial for the mind - though prolonged use can lead to exhibiting certain symptoms not dissimilar from the Dead-Heads. Nevertheless, despite its poor protein content (accounting for their weak physique), it seems to contribute to the extremely long lifespan enjoyed by Dead-Heads.

All hives also have a set up to create new dead heads, consisting of a needle, make-shifting brain scanner and magnetics, all hooked up to the vast computing power of the Hive and, presumably, the Dead-Head hive mind writ large.

At the center of Dead-Head hives are the so called Mother Minds. Fed on a modified form of the normal Dead-Head sustenance, and augmented to a godly amount, one could scarcely imagine they're human when looking upon them, all metal and flashing screens and tubes of biogel. They seem to act as the mother board and governing intelligence behind each individual hive. They also possess a wicked electrical discharge, making them a real challenge for anyone trying to take out a hive with minimal casualties.

Dead-Head Technicals

When the Boulderites emerged, they found the Dead-Heads to be a fascinating nuisance. They were a constant hazard to Boulderite tech scavenging efforts, and on several occasions have assaulted or attempted to hack the Boulder Dome itself.

Often coming into conflict with them, it was inevitable that a few would be taken back alive. Realizing their dangerous capacity, the Boulderites made sure to keep them totally isolated from any machine that could possible operate the Boulder Dome. After years of study, the Boulderites discovered that while tic xenotation was indecipherable, both it and the white flashes bore some of the tell tale signs of the CODE brainwashing technique developed in the Boulder Dome pre-War.

After a lot of trial and error, the Boulderites found a way to successfully re-program the Dead-Heads. About half the time, it results in the violent death of the Dead-Head due to brain hemorraging. However, when it does work, the results are fantastic - tic xenotation is wiped from their mind, and they speak a patois consisting of RobCo termlink and English. Generally, they closely resemble the earliest iterations of the Dead-Heads, being only too happy to help their masters.

Still possessing their superhuman technical skill, "Deprogrammed" Dead-Heads became essential as tecnicals. Though they could not explain how they did it, they were able to repair or alter just about any technical system. Reasoning that they were not human, the Boulderites were willing to sell or lease the less talented of the Dead-Head technicals - for the right price.

Adventure Hooks
-The Grateful Dead-Head: At some point, the player is presented with the opportunity to either buy, steal, or free a Dead-Head technical. An immensely useful companion that unlocks a lot of main story plot points and gives access to otherwise unaccessible computer interactions, this Dead-Head's quest consists of figuring out who he originally was. The ultimate reward (in addition to lots of fascinating information) is access to the only useable suit of Dead-Head power armor in the game, the rest being tied to tic xenotation and thus unuseable by a normal human.
-Radio Free Wasteland: Dead-Heads occupy many of the Rocky Mountain Wasteland's radio towers. Clear them out to help different factions, or to gain access to new radio stations. Alternatively, you could listen to the Dead-Head radio station - an original, eerie synthwave soundtrack, permeated by a robotic voice saying cryptic things as well as hidden messages.
-Dead-Head Gruel: If you can figure out how to make this stuff, you could become the smartest guy in the Wasteland, and a long-lived one at that - just don't be surprised when it makes you socially retarded.
-Siena Origins: Why did the Sienan Deadheads change? Only the records of Zenith holds the answer.
-Slave Race: Caesar's Legion wants to udnerstand the principle behind the Dead-Heads, as they could make the perfect slaves if you could just get them more interested in carrying heavy packs and less interested in high level neural networking.
-Mistaken Identity: That PIP-Boy on your wrist is going to make an awful lot of Wastelanders mighty uncomftorable around you, but will also open up new opportunities. And say, didn't that white flash at the beginning of the game look a bit like CODE?
-Pest Control: Dead-Heads are a perpetual nuisance, and settlers pay those who wipe out their hives handsomely. But keep in mind that though Dead-Heads are almost universally hostile, you do possess a faction reputation with them that may come in handy down the line.
-Deprogramming: Can Dead-Heads be saved in a more humane way?
-Robot City: Dead-Heads are integral to the main plot, linked deeply to whatever Robot City is planning.

So you want Dead Heads to be the new creatures of this world?

 

[Hardboiled Android]

What do you mean by "the new creatures of this world" exactly?

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

What do you mean by "the new creatures of this world" exactly?

Like how uhm, FNV has the Tunnelers and spore carriers. They new unique creature of Colorado

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

Colorado Creatures /Mutants


Bighorner- Mutated Bighorn sheep, Bighorners are a useful animal in Colorado, used as livestock for their meat, milk, and wool. They are not the most useful draft animals, though.


Brahmin- A relatively new introduction to the mountainous region of Colorado are the Brahmin. Two-headed bovines, they can mostly be found in a few key locations (The Mormons in Palisade, Legion Outpost of Cortex, and a few of the inland tribes).


Dead Head- Humans implanted with cybernetic parts and controlled by a super computer, Deadheads are similar to the lobotomites of Big Empty fame. They all reside near Siena-Supermax, and a feared.

Deathclaw- Mainly limited to a location in the northwest of Colorado called Dinosaur National Monument (fittingly) these Deathclaws are few in number but legendary in intimidation.

Ghouls- Most of the Ghouls in CO were created from the many NORAD bases of Colorado Springs, who were trapped underground and slowly exposed to radiation as it seeped to the underground. Many of them inhabit the crater known as Cheyenne in modern times.

Three Horner- Mutated, extra-bulky goats with three distinctive horns, Three Horners are, along with Bighorners, the most pervasive livestock in Colorado. They can climb up steep mountainsides and rocky hills easily, and are useful as draft animals, although not as strong as Brahmin.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

What do you mean by "the new creatures of this world" exactly?

What do you think of my creature load out for CO?