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Welcome to the Radon and Raiders thread!
Setting-building thread for a post-apocalypse British Isles where things went to shit in the 1950s. The land is littered with Zones of strange, reality-warping energy, and society has reverted to near-medieval levels as people fight off radioactive mutants and strange creatures.

Last thread: >>66458350
Archives: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html

Thread prompt: How do the zones and things within them affect people? Can any of these things be put to use?
>>
Also, we haven’t much touched on what exactly has become of the many castles across the isles, save for the restoration of many to serve their old purpose
In addition to that, we should take another look at some of the artifacts in the isles, be they zone-loot, from across the channel or valuable zone-metal smithed into something useful
>>
So what state is Edinburgh castle in?
In the hands of one of the clans to put them in considerable power, or perhaps the seat of the pope?
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>>66522146
Of say its the seat of the Pope with much of Scotland's spiritual focus being there. Though it may also be where the Clans meet to settle matters or make choices of state as a nod to its power.
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Clumps of sapient radiotrophic black mold that have a vast oral tradition, telling stories of primeval heroes and sacred kings with their many blathering lips.
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>>66522278
I wouldn’t get too close to it though, who knows if it’s hungry
>>66522273
Seat of the pope probably works best, unless there’s any famous religious sites that could do, as it might give one clan too much power if they held it
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>>66522427
Id imagine the worse they could do is just violently kiss you.
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>>66522477
This mould must be destroyed
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>>66521629
One of the more radical effects is Wight syndrome. After going red from rad burns, the skin goes pale and the afflicted becomes weak and in later stages wastes away until death. However, some people will experience a sudden increase in strength and endurance despite the apparent lack of health. Such people are called Wights. Those who are in Later stages are indistinguishable from mobile corpses despite still being alive.
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>>66523151
The Isle of Wight is plagued by these, making its entire cursed population
It is said that somewhere within the islands castle lies a legendary weapon, but no ambitious scavenger has yet returned
>>
So do gleaners have a certain stigma in the various cultures? Are they viewed as grave robbers and potentially dabbling in dangerous things or are they viewed more heroically?
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>>66523779
I don’t know what you mean by gleaner, but I’m guessing scavenger. It depends on the region and what the fruits of their labor amount to. Sometimes they are seen as thieves trespassing on holy/unholy lands, and others see them as brave souls searching the ruins that can help mankind. Most of them are a combination of both.
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>>66523779
in the USKS, they are view as poor wreches trying to get by. (is there some lore I'm missing or do you mean to say beggers?)
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>>66523382
sometimes "plague doctors," visit the island with various degrees of success, with the most recent occupants being the least likely to rip you apart, even still caution is advised even to the most skill.
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>>66524016
Gleaner is the name used for folk that go into the Zones to loot them.
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From previous thread:
>>66514901 #
Yeah, that sounds like a great idea for a quest! Vaguely remember Dunwich from somewhere, bit hadn't seen it crop up here yet.
>>66517523 #
That's the Isle of Wights. They're a little more sophisticated than most ghouls, having around tribal-level societies, so we could work in the castle somehow.
>>66519025 #
The contention between the two potential Arthur's is pretty cool, we should develop it. Spiritual Successor, with the magic and wonders if the new world, Vs Physical Successor, with the pedigree and relics of the old world.
>>66519127 #
I like this, the distinctly un-magic-ness of Stone Henge is great.
>>66519462 #
Could be a cool way of stringing it (pun intended). Makes it worth travelling there.
>>66520168 #
One of the main factors if zones is the fact that they draw forms based on the mythology of the areas, hence giants in Iceland. So it very well could be retro-causal
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>>66524090
Such weapons may also just form from the Zones not unlike certain Zone creatures and locations. Maybe they're a sort of Crystallized Zone chunk?
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>>66524090
Speaking of Giants wouldn't Ireland have them?
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>>66525016
Could do in some zones, we haven’t touched much on the Irish zones aside from that whilst they’re often not as bad as the ones across the Irish Sea, they fluctuate in size/borders rapidly
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>>66525062
Could have it so though rare Giants roam the Irish wastes maybe preying on lesser Zone creatures and living in a primitive state?
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>>66525118
For more common zone critters, maybe something to do with snakes? Saint Patrick ridding Ireland of snakes is a thing in Irish folklore, so the snakes coming back would seem like a sign that things have gone to shit.
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>>66525193
>>66525118
Yeah, sounds good
Ruins of cities filled with ghastly serpents whilst giants are said to roam in the deep wilderness zones
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>>66525488
I like it. Don't forget Dublin crawls with malformed fishmen worshipping a...thing that slumbers in the harbor.
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>>66523988
>>66524016
Gleaner is the name for a person who delves into the ruins of the old world, basically our setting's Stalkers
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>>66525193
Ooh yeah, like this. Maybe the Theocracy of Cork could have a certain thing against snakes, and a specific section of the Electric Guardians specifically dedicated to killing them.
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>>66525980
Sounds good to me
Aside from dealing with the snake issues, what are the Theocracy of Cork actually getting up to? We’ve got some details to them fleshed our but aside from the unaggressive turingists, they’re pretty much on their own and at peace
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Going to hit the hay for now, good posts so far, let’s try and keep this going
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>>66526031
I imagine the theocracy is working towards reclaiming the Wilds by bringing the electric light of God to the darkness.
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>>66526031
Basically what >>66526726 he said. I think having them as a sort of expansionist power rescuing surviving villages in Ireland and reclaiming wild land would be cool. Paints them as a benign force for good, helping the helpless in the name of God.
Would be cool to have a chain of beacon towers spread out in a web from their land as they try to fight back the wild.
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>>66527019
I can see it, they might have land based lighthouses they use as guides between towns. That way if a Zone rolls between them they at least can hope for a chance of getting out.
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>>66526726
I can’t remember what part of Europe it was from, but I remember a tale of a clever Nobel killing a Serpent-like Wyrm that had an annoying regeneration ability and penchant for crushing its victims by way of a specially built suit of armor that would damage and cut the Wyrm when touched. He used himself as bait for the beast and it cut itself to pieces without the man needing to lift a finger.
That sounds like the practical mindset needed to combat the zone beasts.
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>>66527083
Very true for all their coil guns and shock weapons they likely are skilled at hunting down beasts and route The Cursed from among them seeking out mutation from people. I bet they view gleaning as a very controlled thing.
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>>66527152
Among the people of Cork to be a Gleaner is to be unwanted, doors are barred to them and all wear the brand marking them. Fear of the Curse spreading makes them outcasts to all but a small handful and their goods subject to heavy taxation.
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>>66522427
Edinburgh Castle is an attractive seat, but the halls themselves seem to encourage paranoia.
Wouldn't it just be easier for you to invite your enemies to dinner, and then impose your laws on them?
If they resist they deserve what's coming to them, don't they?
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>>66527083
the Lambton Worm, it's in british books of fairy tales a lot so it's definitely going to be an accessible inspiration for beast hunters of a more muscular inclination than the "shoot it with a Boys" brigade.
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>>66527460
Naturally, the people still engage in the Double-think required to buy the stuff the bringers sell to merchants.
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>>66527638
It would also be interesting for the catholic leaders, since the worm appeared due to man skipping church to fish.
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>>66521629
Where does the rest of the commonwealth and specifically Canada factor into this? I mean Canada did not get full independence and even its anthem until much later.Plus there was an eagerness the enter into the world wars simply to defend Brittan, and a few decades ago British citizens essentially had the same legal rights as Canadian citizens.
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>>66527806
the setting's departure point is in the 1950s, so long after the dominions are established as independent.
As for how the setting affects canada, we have no idea, outside of the vague america got double nuked premise, we've not touched the americas at all.
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>>66528483
not that Anon but I remember that the Caribbean falling into piracy with Cuba being relatively okay and Puerto Rico being isolationist

Canada and Mexico might be like England while having to deal with the monsters coming from the wasteland between them
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>>66521629
I keep looki g at this image, but all that I can see is that the artist took a KSG and gave it an AR-15 magazine. Why?
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>>66528483
>the setting's departure point is in the 1950s, so long after the dominions are established as independent.
Both politically / legally and culturally Canada was British until relatively recently, and even then fundamental British cultural elements persist. As people have made their careers about discussing Canadian culture and political history I will keep it brief, but some important indicators of what I am getting at can be seen in the following points:

>The BNA was not independence proper as it was meant more to protect Canada from American invasion by on paper making Canada "not Brittan" thus removing a legal political basis to invade, but at the same time remaining British in practice which left Imperial intervention in case of invasion a reality.
>In 1916 Berlin Ontario renamed itself to Kitchener Ontario after the famous lord to show support for the crown despite German heritage.
>During the world wars Canada reworked its economy in order to provide grain from the parries and manufacturing in the east to support the defense of Britain.
>The Statute of Westminster occurred after WWI and at the start of the Phoney War to offer up increased independence to the colonies as a means both recognizing their growth and of protecting them in a manner similar to the BNA.
>1980 Canada gave up "God Save the Queen" and adopted "Oh Canada" as its anthem.
>Canada's second anthem until 1980 was "The Maple Leaf Forever" which had very pro-British lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uXWBR_Ht2Y
>1982 was when Canada gained its full independence.
>It was around this time (can't remember specifically) that British citizens needed passports to enter Canada, could not work without permits, and could not purchase land without permits. Yet any British citizens who already engaged in these activities were given a pass.
>The Crown is still above all in Canada's political and legal system as well as literally in Canadian symbolism / iconography.
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>>66529278
Of course I forgot the mention the second BNA act though maybe that is for the best as there are even more constitutional documents I similarly did not mention. Another notable event I forgot to mention was the 1965 adoption of the Canadian flag. I'm sure there are other notable events but like I said in my first post, to make an in depth analysis of the subject is to write a book.
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>>66527083
Sounds good for all the serpent-based nasties filling Ireland too
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bump
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Any other ideas on artifacts in the isles, be that recovered from a zone or smithed from zone-materials?
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>>66531308
The most common use of Zone Materials is in the smithing of weapons like swords. The main reason is that these can most easily cut through the protected hides of zone beasts.
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>>66532054
Yeah, most common stuff made from them is traditional swords or armour, which vary in properties with the different metal recovered and used
There are some other things that have been made with it, such as a famous case of a machine in refitted so that the gun may fire continuously without danger of damaging the gun, as long as you can afford all the bullets to fire with it
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>>66532054
Seems sensible wonder how places like Cork view such items?
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>>66532947
They’ve been pretty zealously against the unnatural, and even stuff of the old-age aside from electricity so far
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>>66533022
Wonder if they don't 'sanctify' stuff for certain uses. Saying it's blessed and all that jazz
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>>66533292
They probably could
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Aside from post-fall smithed stuff, what sort of artefacts could be found deep within dead zones, or across the channel?
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>>66533292
The most common way to sanctify something it to run a large amount of electricity through it. This is useful since many zone metals are conductive, but some of the most valuable metals are either somehow insulators or react rather spectacularly to the voltage.
Unfortunately, the latter kind is the most common metal in the area.
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>>66531071
sauce?
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>>66534939
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6gEmw
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>>66533974
It is said that if you look out at France, you can see the Eiffel Tower. No matter what part of the shore you are on.
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>>66531308
I remember Death Road to Cornwall.
Gleaners in the Kernow League have been able to retrieve an artifact of amazing value and the Isle of Man has been able to negotiate its purchase. Unfortunately, it appears to attract the beasts of the water, and is this unable to be transported by sail. The only possible way to transport would be overland through the longest stretch of irradiated Zone between the League and Caerleon. Even then it will has to make its way regular zones between the Workers Stares of Wales before finally reaching one of the Isles outposts.
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>>66536554
Now that sounds good
Travelling across a variety of lands with different folk in to carry out one hell of a valuable delivery
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>>66536554
Sounds like the basis for a good campaign.
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>>66536554
>Death Road to Cornwall
>going away from Cornwall
More like Straight Outta Kernow
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>>66536945
Fear and Loathing in Caerlon?
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>>66536945
We do need to get there first as well, potentially carrying the payment for the artefact from another site
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Just sayin lads, stay out of The Black Forest. There's a demon in there i know it.
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>>66536945
Cornwall is an area on England’s southern tip, and is claimed by the Kernow League. It is where the artifact is currently held due to a failed attempt at sea transport.
This map should make it more clear.
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>>66537040
I know where Cornwall is, if the artifact needs to be taken from the Kernow League in Cornwall to the Isle of Man, then it has to come out of and away from Cornwall. lrn2read
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So how do Kernow fight aside from lords running amok with crazy stuff from across the channel?
Seems like given their isolation, zone-beasts will be their main issue
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>>66537110
Yeah, but the adventure begins by actually getting to Cornwall.
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>>66522427
I'd say Durham Cathedral would be a strong contender. It's got more religious heritage, is a massive, fortress-level complex, and is more central to the UK in general.
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>>66537609
The church is based in Scotland, as it’s unifying factor, but if the folk around Newcastle are Scottish-aligned then it could make for a good base of power for the group
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>>66537285
Could be a lot of Kernows forces are mercenaries. They make their coin by trade and have a soft monopoly on mainland artifacts so they've got spending power. Maybe they have a contract or two for border defenses?
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>>66538368
Sounds good, and could cause some worry for them if the great wealth coming from the war of the roses is drawing mercs away
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>>66537609
Might be a great Turing Computer-Cathedral if its not the Scots that own it.
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>>66538462
This fear is one of the reasons they are so eager to sell the Artifact to the Isle. The money would allow them to stay attractive to the local mercenaries and continue to fend of the worst of the zone.
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>>66521629
The most common effect of the zones is disorientation. A one mile walk becomes 10, the sun is rising in the north, that hill changes its position daily. There are several paths that are somewhat permanent, but even those are easy to wander off.
Some of the more disastrous effects is places where the ground seems to temporarily take on the effect of water before becoming solid again. Many a Gleaner has found themselves nearly buried by this phenomenon.
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Isle of man entry is more or less done, thoughts?

Alliances: None, the Isle of Man has made a stated goal of avoiding becoming entangled in countless petty wars. Though willing to deal with even the Icelanders albeit at arms length they do make agreements with kingdoms in the event of Horned Men raiding.
State of technology: Moderate, Industrial power. The Isle of Man has mostly due to its location become incredibly reliant upon trade for its resources bringing in steel and coal for its foundries from abroad. Many members of the isle however enjoy a higher standard of living than most other kingdoms with a standardized set of laws for apprenticeships and even in some larger towns such comforts as electric lighting and modernized sewer systems. As the original post for the Keepers of Light the Isle of man is also famous for its Drydocks which service a number of vessels ranging from the agile fishing boats used to harvest the Seas bounty to the heavy Ironclads the Keepers use to do battle with leviathans and kraken.
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>>66540017
Looks good. How many battles with Kraken has the Isle been victorious in?
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>>66540046
I imagine it's less battles more irritating them enough to drive them away.
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>>66540017
Those seeking to commute their sentence in a timely matter often sign up duty aboard an iron clade. These lumbering steel clad vessels have the dreaded task of engaging Sea Beasts that get too close to shore or shipping lanes. Armed with depth charges and harpoon cannon they sail out on powerful coal boilers belching smoke and steam as they power towards their prey. Often they come back with great tears in their hulls and missing much of their crew...
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So if we go by DH in either form we've gotta have careers so what would some playable classes be for this? What ranks and focuses would they have snd where might they come from?
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>>66540612
I’d try to adapt the existing ones to positions we have here, like gleaners, soldiers, monster hunters, any others?
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>>66540612
Metal workers are familiar with zone metals and would make frequent expeditions to the zone to find the areas/traps/quarries that produce them.
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I just realized how well the old viking play of kidnapping prized illuminators and their best apprentices from monasteries and holding them for ransom translates to this setting. The fact that those experts wold actually have utility to the norsemen in this situation would only encourage it more.
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>>66540612
A zone beast Hunter would be good. Their pelts are good a resisting (or amplifying) the natural and unnatural effects of the zone. Not to mention that their meat is desirable in kingdoms where the zone impedes farming.
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>>66521629
Okay, I was going back through the treads, and found a good time frame for the setting. While the Great War happened in the 1950’s, Lancaster has been ruled by the same line since then and have peen in power for Four Generations.
Depending on how long lived people are now, a generation would last anywhere from 20 to 40 years. Therefore, the current setting has had somewhere between 80 and 160 years or radiation, beasts, and zone warping.
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>>66542619
Could mod the assassin career to be q monster hunter.
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>>66543129
I'm down for that, don't forget Zones may literally fuck with time. So some people may be left in them from decades ago.
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One of the most horrifying beasts of the zone has been named after the Nuckelavee. It appears as the flayed human fused to a skinless beast, with the human half being able to wield weapons.
Their origin, however, is one of the few that may come from Man. Many in the Clans of the Great Glen have claimed that such beasts will appear wearing the clothes of somebody who had disappeared in the zone. One tale even tells of one that continues to protect what used to be its family land.
Notably, unlike the creature of legend, this beast keeps around rivers and lakes, and can’t stand the feel of salt water.
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>>66544310
I like it, wonder how people take something like that down.
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You know thinking about it, Degensis is actually very similar in themes and tone. Maybe we could hack that up to make s pretty tight to tone style game. Kartharsys is also pretty easy to toy with but we would need to brew a magic system and there we have some stuff to go from how pshychonauts work.
>>
late-night bump
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>>66544310
Skinless zombie centaurs?
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>>66548290
and here I thought we were linking it to the caustic oil rigs of the north sea.

also I'll hammer out some ameri-derps today for you guys to carve up for lore.
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>>66548488
I don’t know about what’s going on at those old oil rigs. Some men report that they’ve seen them blazing in an unquenchable fire. Some say that Kraken have bonded with it and consume the oils. Some report that they are still manned by almost-men.
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>>66547414
While not a knight, the state-sponsored gleaners are one of the few people able to get their hands on functional respirators. The only others to do so were doctors and Nobels.
>>
onto some american info.
>recorded from pre war records, and assembled by Cullthan Cu'Canne of The Order.
"Aside from the exiles we do get the occasional american merchant or mercenary from the old super power. Just as we get the occasional russian. But reports from both, collated and filed. Are bleak to read, as both super powers were victims of one another's madness.
Partners in the end of the world. Which might go some ways to explain why they seem drawn to one another in bars across the isles. Both races of men to have a form of shared regret, and a tolerance for hard liquor.

It's how one can tell a native american or native russian from one of the island born.

Well that and the more high tech gear they are likely to carry.

Unlike Russia, America was far from the front lines of the war, and as such was cursed with a lack of non-bunker fortifications. The people of america had no castles to flee to when the horrors came.

As with all men, life thrives where it can most likely, and is wont to it's own petty squabbles.

Tis likely, nay, definite, according to visitors that remnants of the prewar government survives. it's decendents breeding in the secretive fortified bunkers. But they are kings of ash and madness.

The most well known of these is The Office of Strategic Sciences. From whose mind many of the wonderweapons that devistated the world were born.
Supposedly they've organized into some form of redemptionist faith based on an american branch of the faith known as evanglical. Their goals are not unlike our own order of turing. Focused on rebuilding the world for human habitation.

But their unethical dogma, and the distance between our organizations makes cooperation untenable.

The atlantic is indeed full of monsters that can topple all but the heaviest dreadnought. So the trip to or from The Colonies is mostly done by island hopping. Which can take years, and that's if the icelanders and canadians are in a good mood.
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>>66545154
What kind of system is it?
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>>66535739
Heh, nice. A focal point for all of France's nasties, it perhaps a beacon of France's spirit aiding the few survivors that live there?
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>>66550727
Paris is a city of ethereal lights filled with near endless spirits after it was nuked during the fall
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>>66544832
Lots of salt water?
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>>66551076
Could work both ways then. I remember Paris being host to some spectacular old world relics, so Gleaners could use the Tower as a guide for getting in and out, while obviously avoiding all the other horrible shit there.
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>>66551419
It kinda reminds me of the Red Star from Metro. Know where it is at all times but don't stare at it directly.
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>>66551395
Would just straight salt work?
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> As Warwickshire pushed the New Road to the east, set on linking up with the agricultural colonies of Lincoln, it also took the opportunity to annex southern Leicestershire and Rutland as officially as anything might be done in this era.
> England in miniature, Warwickshire empire-builds for the same reason, trade, without a power to cover the east, no trade could grow.
> So, the Midlanders shuffled eastward, repairing bridges, roads and railways as much they were able.
> However, with the acquisition of trading routes the historical problem of frontiers reared its head, the regiments were dispatched and the Earldom also rediscovered the problem of trying to ruin an imperial military without conscription.
> "Bit of a bugger really." was the current Earl's judgement, considering both the financial problem and the political cost of the only acceptable solution, hiring more men.
> New lands mean new Zones of course, the Warwicks carefully skirting any that looked particularly excitable, but it also meant the re-discovery of old things long lost.
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>>66551805
paris is very, very, very firmly a no go.
a. it's very radioactive
b. the lights are implacably hostile
and
c. they also have a hypnotic affect with a range in the tens of kilometres.
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>>66551860
> "RAF COTTESMORE" announced the sign, adding in firm language underneath that trespassers could expect to be shot, shot again and at the very least given a stern lecture about boundaries.
> The group of gleaners assembled by the gate the sign adjoined heeded it not at all, as the growth of several generations worth of plantlife swallowing the gate and fence rather removed any expectation of the warning being enforced,
> Instead, ten minutes work with some bolt-cutters, a billhook and a grapnel sufficed to gain them entry.
> Now gleaners come in many grades, ranging from feral scavs who'd cheerfully fist-fight an ogre but faint dead away at the sight of soap, to the thorough professionals of the Guild's best, who might specialise in any one of half a dozen different environments.
> The group now prowling Cottesmore, rifles at the ready and noses a-twitch with anticipation weren't so lofty as that, but they were certainly professional enough to spot the problem confronting them.
> "'Ere, boss, the buildings is all normal, but them big cement buggers is all sealed up, tight as a Scot's drum."
>"They're hangars lad. The old world used to keep machines that flew in them."
>"Wot, like a balloon or summat? They're awful big for 'at."
>"They looked more like birds back then I'm told, can't say as I'd see how flapping'd help a balloon, but that's for them as reads the old books to know."
>"Um. Boss, you know how there's that rune they put on the maps when it's a bad place, but not a zone, that's never been a good thing, right?"
>"Just so lad. Whys 'at?"
>"Cos it's painted on this door boss, look, underneath the ivy."
>"...lad I think it best if you were to come away from there now, sharpish."
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>>66551860
>>66552227
Really liking what you have so far!
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>>66551928
A balloonist once claimed they flew over the city to scout it out. He said that there were strange red masses covering several buildings and roads that were giving off lights and sound. Of course, He also said that he was saved from the lights by a Gargoyle, so it may just be bull.
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>>66540612
I'd say classes regardless of system should be:

Knight
Gleaner
Monster Hunter
Monk
Noble
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>>66521629
One of the effects of the zone is becoming a giant. People can go from 5 feet to 10 Feet y’all within a week in the zone, with strength to match their stature. The stress put upon the body and mind usually lowers the intelligence of the victim, until they act as little more than an animal defending its territory.
Not always though. Some of the most famous hero’s of Inner Iceland were of this new race. Unfortunately most of them fell trying to take back their original homeland from other giants.
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>>66555576
I mean seems a little beneficial for Zone stuff.
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>>66556360
Well, not everything zone related is instant death. It would be good to have some zone effects to do something somewhat beneficial to the player.
Though this effect did cause a race of giants to take over Iceland. So give-and-take.
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>>66556463
Valid point. I figured giants are sorta like ghouls where they've bred true over time abd fall into that 'once-men' grouping.
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>>66556526
let's have people call the giants formorians and Jotun depending on the culture.
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>>66556463
>>66556526


In the Ice and Snow no man shall go. For giants stride across Glacier and Floe. These Once-Men unlike Ghouls and Wights bear some semblance to their forebears. As big as houses Giants or jotun as Icelanders call them are immense humanoids capable of hurling a mounted knight like a child's toy. Massive pillared legs end in large splayed feet that ignore all but the most brutal terrain as they search for food. Their torsos are barrel shaped snd their arms slightly too long to be quite human and their great sloping brows are covered in wild manes of hair and on males great beards. Giants are though perhaps not cunning, thinking beings and, can be with some effort negotiated with. However, they view humans as pests and are as likely to hurl a boulder at you as talk. Capable smiths the Giants forge great spears and axes their hafts hewn from whole trees. Jotun most strangely for a race born in a land of near constant cold always are surrounded by steam clouds their great bodies like a mighty furnace to keep them warm and covering them in a thin near constant layer of rime-frost. Giants are found all across the known world though, in the Isles their sporadic appearance is a blessing and several fiefdoms have gone to great lengths to ensure at least England does not harbor their kind. Elsewhere Giants craft simple villages their homes of stone and mud thatched with brush. Here they raise their young a child still bigger than any man and raise herds of great bellowing deer,moose or cattle along with vast fields.
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>>66556737
I think Formori are already a thing. Theyre in Dublin if memory serves.
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>>66556827
Ogres and Trolls:
Though debate has ceaselessly raged over their origin none can say that these beasts are not dangerous. Ogre and Troll are Zone Beasts of great size both standing taller than a man upon a good sized horse when fully upright. Both types of beasts walk upon all fours typically however though both do have the ability of rudimentary tool use typically in the form of thrown rocks or clubs to better smash prey with. This makes the creatures favored game of knights who are perhaps foolishly seeking a dangerous foe.

Ogre are broad ranging creatures with great hunched backs and powerful arms they typically are spotted in the dense swamps surrounding Dead London. Their bodies are covered in shaggy rancid smelling fur that hides a powerful muscular body and an Ursine face. Omnivores Ogre make no qualms over what they eat and will readily feasts upon even ghoul flesh. Stories recount of trained ogres though how true these are is up for much debate.

Trolls by comparison are far more sedentary favoring a single area typically around a den site beneath a bridge, barrow or similar locale. Unlike ogre trolls lack voluminous hair and their skin is instead dotted with rough stubble which along their back and arms becomes thick barbed quills. Trolls eat mostly fish, carrion and unlucky travelers that fall for their almost human wailing. Their faces likewise hint at a perhaps human or similar origin though now far distantly removed. Great fangs fill their maws and grinding teeth make quick work of even thick bones.
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>>66557506
Great stuff anon!
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>>66557545
Thanks trying to give some vague ideas of what people might face and how they might act. Also Bear-gorillas is just a fun idea.
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>>66557574
Bear-gorillas do sound good
Any ideas on other folklorish stuff occupying the isles?
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>>66557653
Not immediately. But im just doing these as they come to mind.
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>>66557691
It’s cool
Need to get an early night in for once, great posts so far, let’s try to keep the thread alive
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>>66557653
Also if anyone has a creature idea please post it!
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>>66557984
Fractal elk. Deer with fractally branching horns, ending as monomolecular thorns.
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>>66557984
A passing thought, but the mythology of jack-o-lanterns and gargoyles could be useful. Similarly Elizabethan fairies could be useful.
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>>66551680
Didn't think if that. I guess we're drawing rather heavily from Metro!
>>66551805
Probably not, but could be used to distract or weaken the beast before laying in with bullets and swords.
>>66552227
Ha, liking this a lot so far! It's nice to put some human touches and fleshing out to the groups and factions we've developed.
>>66555104
Sounds like a good system. Perhaps s few other (or something to spec in later) could be some sort of non-combat artificer class, or old world soldier. Just a thought, as Mercs don't seem to *hugely* fit into any of those classes as far as I can figure
>>66556865
Yeah, I think so. Can't honestly remember whether they were a separate race of Giants or simply the local dialect for them though.
>>66558579
Nice, I like this. Adding mathematical aspects to Zones could be of particular interest to the Turingists.
The elk could be particularly feared by armoured foes, as the horns, despite their brittle nature, are more than lethal enough to tear though even the thickest plate harness with ease.
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>>66558582
I think we have gargoyles as Zone guardians but, I can definitely imagine even if false jack o lanterns being a thing to ward off spirits.


>>66558579
>jesuschristhowbeautiful.jpeg
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>>66558579
Said points of Elk horns are prized in the Welsh Kingdoms as their points are used for arrow heads by Welsh nobles. Such arrows are worth dozens of Holies apiece.
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>>66558734
Maybe we break monster Hunter up into mercenary and have it so it can focus on men or monsters?
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>>66542328
any thoughts on this?
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>>66559529
That sounds like a good idea. After all, one needs different weapons and armor depending on what they are fighting.
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>>66559551
I like it. Maybe they steal monks from the Order to build radio and the like?
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What is the more noble weapon, the venerable old Bren, or the artful EM-2?
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>>66559553
It also would be a great way to show off how rich you are if you've got special deer antler arrows that cost a fair amount of coin and likely are fucking dangerous to get. It's like have gilded shit only it murders people.
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>>66559529
Sounds like a plan. Mercenary can diverge into "Monster Hunter" or "Sell-sword" or something, for fighting men.
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>>66559599
I guess Bren, since it is descended from a knight of myth? I reckon the EM-2 would be a more pragmatic, modern piece of artifice
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>>66559869
I'd say Sell Sword is a good name.
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>>66559882
Isn't the EM-2 of pre war extraction? Belgion as I've heard from the Stenners bout town, and truly the best of the old world's works, novelest as they of old'd have said. Though, as I've heard, the stenners are all abuzz about the idea o' the intermedium cartridge.

Speakin of, the goodly monks of the stenners have been selling all kinds of belt gun, and canvas belts are far easier made than fancy magazines.
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>>66559599
the lighter gun can mount the heftier bayonet
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>>66559882
Bren is the weapon of a man of Tradition. A solid weapon that has likely seen the hands of your father's father. Whilst the EM-2 is all flash and no class it's likely a piece built on the Isle or a lucky fins.
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>>66559553
>one needs different weapons and armor depending on what they are fighting.
by and large, the well equipped monster hunter would focus on high caliber and long range weapons, with countermeasures to put between himself and a target (if I'm not wrong) favoring heavy guns like the Boys AT gun and others, while the man hunter would go for a balance of firepower and range with battle rifles and carbines, or even machine pistols and submachine guns for closer fighting.
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>>66560215
I can dig it. That's a pretty balanced split. Knights probably should go down a similar route. Though with a focus on,doing things like command too boot
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>>66560215
I would say that use of such guns are saved for situations of necessity and knowledge. Most hunters initially try and bait the beasts into zone traps, to both nullify the trap and kill the beast. In areas with Fractal Elk, hunters have learned how to pit the Elk against other beasts, gaining both the beast carcass and valuable horn tips.
Conventional wisdom for hunters is that the less you have to do to personally kill a beast, the better. Unfortunately, this wisdom does not make for the great stories one hears passed in taverns and towns. This has caused a few overeager youths to set out unprepared for the fight in the Zone.
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>>66560569
Id say its either a ability they get where they get bonuses to spotting Zone spots or just can unlike others,
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Successor state of the United States. The USE has a history steeped in sorrow. The descendants of those that had come to the Isle to flee the horrors of the mainland. Many had served there during the Last great war flying daring raids into the mainland or attempting to breach beachhead defenses. Stranded far home they tried to blend into the general populace but as outsiders they were only met with shuttered doors and distrusting looks over the shoulder. In time as the world became less and less sane members of those first forces or their children. They returned to where they had first landed in Dover. Even as the Zones grew the USE drew close its borders building a network of defenses to ward against its horrors.
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>>66560754
Gaining a kind of “Zone Sense” would be a good perk to have or gain. It would allow players to identify the natural traps and resist effects of disorientation.
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>>66560546
>command focused knights need inventory space for radios
>lancers have heavy guns with heavy bayonets
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>>66560569
>set mines and snares, use natural traps
>hide in a hunter's blind with an anti-material rifle
>put down whatever survives with a chopped Farquhar-hill
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>revolving canons?
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>>66563779
Sounds very much possible
Loving this stuff on zone-beasts and hunters
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>>66563779
I wonder if that isn't something used by some kingdom's maybe it's a Manish design?
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>>66562624
Nobles are focused on Social skills and maybe melee/pistol weapons?
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>>66565801
The revolving cannons are a piece that the Manish make only to special order, and are fairly expensive to boot. This is because they are one of the few guns that that require entirely new parts to be smelted instead of using the surplus’s that had been scavenged over the years.
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>>66566020
I think that Nobels can be eligible to take a level in diplomat, but I believe it would be optional since most nobels would want to oversee their wealth and estates instead of get killed wandering in the zone.
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>>66566794
That could work maybe nobles bring certain perks to a party?
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>>66567230
Yeah, with the perks mostly affecting interactions with other people. Some places will treat you much better, while other places are just a bad idea to wander into due to rivalries.
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> Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen, we daren't go a-hunting for fear of little men...
~ Pre-Ruin poetry

> The woods are deep in this day, an ocean of trees unlike England has known since the coming of iron, green and dark and with depth more than enough to drown in.
> Man treads warily, carefully, softly in the woods now, for while they remain part of his world, they are no longer under his rule; Beasts out of both Zone and history move amongst the shadowed boughs, or scrape between them in their passing, strange pelts are brought back to the towns, odd teeth and skulls, horns that resemble nothing grown in the world that was.
> No, if one goes down to the woods this day, it is best not to go alone, for every beast that e'er trod Britain might find your track, and few know enough to fear Men and his machines.
> Hunter or not, it is still safer to stay at home, because the Woods Folk also live in the forests, amongst all the creatures therein, and thrive.
> Cat-pupilled, unnerving in their stillness and terrifying in their haste, the Little Folk are seen rarely by Man, and speak with him even less, disdaining the cowardice of his towns and engines, his clumsy size and limited senses, all of his works that draw him away from the Woods.
> Yet, for all their disdain, the Woodlings recognise Man as kin, they are the children of those in whom the Zone blossomed, and their oldest, and most potent, may yet remember times when they walked streets, not trails, wearing cloth, not skins and knew a life of sluggish ease, not vital challenge.
> A Woodling looks as a Woodling looks, save for the eyes, there is no marker, they may appear merely as a short, barefoot human clad in hide, or they can be furred,and fanged as any French Wer, albeit slight and graceful compared to the misshapen bulk of the Continental monsters, and if thus they look, thus will they always, they do not shift from beast to man, but instead blend the two.
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>>66568032
Love this.
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The isles are a place of nightmares and horror now, and death is all too common. And where death is, so follows The Black Dog. It is a pitch black hound, wreathed in electrical storms, and where it goes, terrible tragedies follow. It cannot be killed, or harmed, or even disturbed, for it is the phantasmal hound of The Reaper, and thus immune to his deathly hand. Some say there are many, some say there are few, most believe there is just one. It is a zonebeast of great infamy, and travellers at crossroads near zoneblighted areas do well to move quickly, as those are The Dog’s favored grounds.
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>>66568032
This is great!
>>66568472
Lovely, good folklorish stuff mixed with zone-dangers
We haven’t really looked at electrical threats in zones so far
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>>66568802
Which is weird as there probably are a bunch, do we have just common Zone threats?
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>>66569721
We seem to have a good number of general nasty things worked out now, but zones are meant to never be exactly the same as another
Zones can have different features and threats to them
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>>66569754
True. Maybe some specific threats and resources for Zones? Like how the Liverpool Zone has weird metal plant life people use for iron.
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>>66569811
Yeah, seems good
Purple map areas give lots of room for unique zones to be made up as needed, whilst the main big ones we could do some more for
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>>66569826
I'd say that works best, places like Dublin, London and Liverpool serve as a kind of Player focused area. They're like dungeons in a sense, where loot can be had for the brave.
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>>66569861
Same with all zones in a sense, just the big ones being fleshed out whilst any smaller ones are open to be made up as needed for anything
So Dublin has giants, London has all of those swamp nasties, what could be a dragon, and other things, and the industrial zones have all those metal monstrosities
What sort of things could be done for other major zones?
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>>66560134
Seems like a good take on it.
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>>66561606
Perhaps also a Bestiary perk, that helps you identify particular weakness of Zone monsters
>>66566020
They'd probably have higher trade/negotiation skills, to allow them to get their hands on better equipment without just giving players starting as Nobles more money
>>66568472
Nice. Any ways of avoiding or distracting it, or does it just kill you on sight?>>66570930
Perhaps blink-wolves in the north, or massive Blood Kites, mutated Red Kites whose wingspan now reaches 10 meters or more, and prey on not just carrion, but living flesh.
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>>66570930
What other major Zones do we have? Is there a master list?
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>>66571385
Now that sounds scary
>>66571540
I’d go off of the ones established in thread and the ones map anon did
Also got some below hadrians wall, leading to it being needed
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>>66571599
As a non-native what cities/regions are those Zones?
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>>66572094
London of course, industrial zones below Lancashire
Looks to be one around Brighton as its core below London
One on Glasgow
Cardiff and Bristol too
Those are just map marked ones, we can do others too
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>>66572923
Maybe tackle Lancashire as that's pretty important to the whole York vs. Lancaster thing.
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>>66573208
I think at least some of those were counted as industrial zones, and we had some stuff on them being used as cover for SAS raids on Lancashire troops and supply lines, to which they have started hiring rad-wizards to go in and fight them
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>>66572094
>>66572923
The Grave of Industry (the bit above the Welsh Kingdoms) is Liverpool and Manchester and the surrounding area, in case you weren't aware.
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Birmingham got nuked, Coventry is a zone, neither are marked because map guy hates me for some reason, I've given up trying to get him to put warwickshire in the right place/shape.
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>Some dead zones are fraught with perilous electrical anomalies, difficult to predict and deadly to suffer
>These deadly phenomena can dissipate for a time, some at random, others only after a dreadful discharge
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>>66574426
I think you're taking this too personally.
Also are you the guy that keeps saying that loads of the places on the map are off? Because Warwick is fine, everything bar the capital of the WWS is in the right place.
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>>66574426
You are taking this too personally. The map just hasn’t been updated whatsoever for the last two threads.
There’s nothing stopping you from editing it yourself.
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So what has become of Harold the mad anyway?
Last seen somewhere southish lobbing nuclear waste at people
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>>66574426
Dude, Warwick Castle (and Warwick itself) is less than 15km south of Coventry. If Coventry was a zone, then Warwickshire just wouldn't be a thing, partly because it doesn't make sense that they could expand past the zone from the castle, and partly because the map is of too large a scale to represent 10km distances with any accuracy.
By the by, Birmingham was already a zone.
>>66574069
I've expanded it a little bit, people keep mentioning it, and it looked a bit naff desu.
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>>66577179
Anybody know anything about that corridor between Warwickshire and the Welsh Kingdoms? Geographically speaking it's an interesting place for a party to visit.
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>>66577216
That would be stoke on Trent-ish, could have some lightly civilised stretch between Warwickshire and the kingdoms, no big fancy domains, just some settlements along the path
Loving the map, could we add some zone to Northumberland and the areas left of it?
Also even though it’s the smallest thing ever should the Turing outpost for Yorkshire also be on their capital?
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>>66577216
I wonder if it's not a DMZ or at least contested trade route.
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So, what have the various monasteries done with the Maxim gun design? Stuff like the pom-poms and M2 are pretty close to the earlier designs, and the pom-poms in particular would be great on castles.
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>>66578794
I think making that region an unoffical DMZ trade rout would be nice, it is probably "bandit ally." you either try the WS wales line, who will charge you out the ass; a naval route , the north raiders and to the south, "France,"; or bandit ally and risk your goods lost.

that would put what ever is to the south of york as a semi-bandit nation for the bandits to retreat to and "no, sir never been a bandit in my life, just live here in (what ever that place is because I live in the US.)." but really they are privateers hired out for profiteering.
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>>66579145
mounted on the castle walls as siege gear and on timber/iron clad as a main naval gun.
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>>66577179
>please expand Warwick west so, even if thinly, they touch the eastern coast.
>please put howitzer shire to their south
>please put "the bandit nation," to their north. call it "Nottingham freehold" even though that may technically be incorrect as far as location.
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>>66579324
>weast, I mean w-east
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJNUXT2a9U
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>>66579324
Just have Warwick Freehold have a town on that east river heading out to sea. That river isn’t bordered by any other kingdoms, just the zone.
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>>66579215
I can dig that, its basically Compton.
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>>66579626
lets say food is headed west and industrial materials east. the "bandits" are hired as security as you head east, then turn on you as you are headed east.
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>>66579928
>why is the "e" key next to the "w" key
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>>66579928
Would make a great reason to set up something there.
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>>66580011
I was going for the whole robin-hood thing, except the merry men are evil and robin-hood is the ringmaster.

starts a sort of slave trade.
>merchants from Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridge bring in food.
>merchants buy industrial goods
>bandits raid
>sell merchants as levies and industrial goods to fuel York and Lancaster war
>S,N, and C don't care because it is too far from their borders and they have more.
>what does make it back is used to fortify S,N,and C
>York can then turn around and sell some of it back for food and levies.
>Lancaster gets backed by the western coast because York and Nottingham have a blockade on trade.
>there is a little room for Warwick who turn into a police state of the East-west/north-south land route trade.
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>>66580168
>I said blockade, it should really just be a high tariff to used to pay for war funds. in the case of York and Nottingham just tries to steal it from you to sell it to your costumer, then sell the goods back at a cut throat profit.
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>>66580168
>the Icelanders are attracted to the east coast naval route because of all the food going north and industrial goods south
>the Icelanders also do raids on the western coast for more of industrial going west and food coming east via the east/west naval route.
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>Some dead zones are home to giant bees
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>>66581965
I always found it interesting that even modern British military tactics and weapons are informed by centuries of military tradition.
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>>66581965
Perhaps there is some descendancy from spear formations, pike formations, musket formations, and arguably Enfield lines to PRTS formations.
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>>66583273
Stuff like the boys anti tank rifle are rare, but sometimes seen in the hands of monster hunters or lords for their capabilities against large targets
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>>66583345
I'd imagine it would also be a must for a particularly hardy target, though the spear point surely would give it versatility against smaller foes.
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>>66577179
Nice, that's a bit more like the size it was on the original, really shitty map (yours is much more professional).
>>66577216
Used to be ruled by the Marcher lords, and has Offa's Dic in it, so could bring that into play somehow?
>>66579215
This works, because it Wells Line and Carleon are doing well as they are trade arteries, so blocking the other routes in to Wales makes a lot of sense
>>66580168
This would mean going through either of the two is your best bet, despite still likely having to get through bandit territory to reach the outposts
>>66583273
With such varied levels of technology there is no reason that shouldn't be a thing
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Harold’s fiefdom somewhere below Oxfordshire slowly turning into a new dead zone?
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>>66584487
The expansion and shrinking of the zone is a problem that every kingdom faces. It’s why not every place is claimed.
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>>66584969
Yeah, Harold’s madness with radioactive waste could be making a new zone though
All of his neighbours have already been wiped out with radioactive waste, leaving Harold in his castle, filled with loot from his conquests along with far too much nuclear waste
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>>66585024
There is a rumor going around that Harold is getting less and less human. The last person who saw them said they looked like a mobile pile of butcher meat in an approximation of a human being. His arms even seemed to bubble and boil on their movement.
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>>66583650
>Offa's Dic
How have I never heard of that before?
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>>66586648
Offa’s Dyke has gotten a bit larger in the zone. It now looks like an actual earthen wall in several places.
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>>66577179
Why is it that Ireland has so few people despite having the least amount of irradiated area?
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>>66587783
nobody's really said anything concrete about what's going on in Ireland, beyond the monks of Turing, and some raiders, so as of yet there's not much to put there on the map.
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>>66587783
Looks like Ireland hasn’t been updated yet on the map, but it is full of fluctuating zones which are generally less nasty, but are still zones
Alongside the Turing monasteries there is also the theocracy of cork
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>>66586648
It's basically a big ol' ditch (Dic, or Dyke) that Offa, the famous Mercian king, started building in 757, built to separate Mercia from the Welsh kingdoms. You can go and have a look nowadays, but it's not much more than a small trench in most places.
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>>66587783
Basically what >>66587872 said, it's almost all low-tier zones and wasteland, but the only ones marked are the major zones.
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Should we try to go somewhere with those Irish coastal raiders to add a third party to Ireland?
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>>66583529
Oh yeah, bayonets are a must an nearly all post-ruin guns

>rumor is the Great Red Army beyond the Ural Mountains use PTRS rifles with halberd bayonets
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>>66590109
I've been pushing that there should be some of the old style feudal abbeys dotted across the land, and there could have been some history that unfolded there as the Zones dispersed across the land
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>>66590144
Yeah, I thought those sort of abbeys were mostly covered by the Turingists and Theocracy of Cork
All we’ve really had on the coastal raiders is attacking wales and also being important in the defence against the Icelanders
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>>66590144
I thought the abbeys were controlled by the Turing group.

>>66588436
The most problematic thing about resettling Ireland is that while its zone is one of the least severe in the known lands, it’s most widespread effect makes long term inhabitation difficult.
The Monks call it “Unease”, or “Paranoia” or “you know that feeling you get at night like there is something nearby that wants to kill you, even though there is nothing there and never is no matter how many times you check? That f**king feeling!”
There are still individuals able to tolerate this, for one reason or another, but there has never been enough to form a colony.
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the PTRD-41 seems like a particularly good candidate for pole-arm bayonets
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>>66590460
Wouldn’t the boys anti tank rifle be a bit more fitting?
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>>66590378
So many Irish around zones just inexplicably start to turn on each other in fear? Nice
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>>66592033
Or just because they are Irish?
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Any historical ideas for those Irish coastal lads?
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>>66590378
That's the feeling I get around the Irish now!
But seriously that's pretty cool. Having a blanket nerve-grating effect covering even the non "obviously fucked" areas works pretty well. It would be even more insidious, and there could be tales of groups of settlers sticking it out longer than most and eventually being driven to homicide/suicide by the certainty that their colleagues were plotting against them.
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>>66594239
>Shapeshifting monster breaks loose in Ireland
The entire population would kill each other by the end
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Just found this image, and I feel we need to use it.
Perhaps a mercenary who's been hideously mutated by the zones, but whose mind is kept intact by the presence of his former lover? A sort of tragic hero?
Feel free to ignore this, just thought it was fitting.
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>>66594401
Looks to fit some of the ideas of the monstrosities roaming lost Europe, Germany specifically
Great ghoul-giants bearing weapons too large for any mortal man
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>>66594239
Makes sense that the only people who can permanently live there are religious fanatics.
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>>66594401
the species that arose in germany is a human derivative species, they don't speak any comprehensible language, but the one they do sounds like a deep-German. they are not friendly and can be seen eating men and carion alike. there appears to be three species form observations of recon units, a smaller clocked species and these lumbering giants. they bare resilience to the giants of Iceland except they are lean where as the Iceland giants are wider.
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>>66594562
Could work I had thought it more to do with radical Turing monks
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>>66594522
I reckon that one of the main purposes of the Electric Beacons would be the that lights somehow lessen the effects of the "Twisted Nerve" effect. Not powerful enough to do anything to the proper fuck-off zones, but it would mean the Theocracy is pushing back the darkness literally, spiritually and physically. Makes their reclamation of Ireland aspect more real.
>>66594562
>>66594461
Yeah, this angle works well too! I'm chary about the idea of coherent human civilization in Europe, but tribes of ghouls and new giants works pretty well.
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>>66596101
because the smaller species is cloaked it is uncertain what the species is, they might just be humans. it could be like the enclave in fallout where the radical turing enslaved the German giants or it could be that the cloaks are their children. who knows?

I would like to separate giants into three groups
>Icelandic
much more massive but they have more girth and are akin to Icelandic trolls of ancient legends. they however will talk to humans, as slaves. they have a cow like appearance
>German
not so much a "giant," but men of impressive size, they don't like to talk much to humans and see them as cattle and food not as labor. they are closer to an ogre
>behemoth
totally feral giants who are fairly common, basally massive ghouls.

the giants have three basic classes:
>Juggernaut
very heavily armored and uses melee. normally travel in small groups of three or five. may have some smaller posse in tow.
>Jouten-Konnaner (as pictured, normally called a "Jäger" or "Jaggerd" in slang) uses repurposed old world tech and likes to snipe their pray. usually has some smaller ghouls,wights, or human slaves in tow. no slouch in melee. loot is normally a 40mm bolt action flack gun
>Berserk
uses simple weapons and has little in the way of armor. usually very feral.
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>>66596588
I thought Icelandic giants were more like Neanderthals that were very big and constantly shrouded in steam?
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>>66597754
IDK, the point is to make them a little different.
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>>66597790

I think this was the first description of Jotun.

>>66556827
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>>66597914
no there were older ones in the archive, they were like the Scandinavian trolls. or at least the ones in Scandinavia are.
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>>66598031
I get the feeling that a majority of new beasts are just regular humans and animals that have been changed by the Zones reality warping and radiation.
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>>66598407
>where have you been?
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>>66598407
Moat are others are basically balls matter and eldritch fuckery.
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>>66598453
Rereading the old threads to see if that was the case, or if they just appeared from nowhere.
I’m glad it went this way.
It started to get very “post-apocalypse magic fantasy” but grew into a similar style as Metro, STALKER, and Roadside Picnic. There is most likely a rational explanation for all this, but it so beyond us we may never find it.
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>>66598637
That reminds me. Have we decided if Radwizards are a playable class?
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>"DEUTSCHLAND, DEUTSCHLAND, UBER ALLES"
> Berlin is a city of the Dead, but that doesn't mean it's quiet.
> After the Berlin airlift of '49 the nascent Federal Germany found itself abruptly re-arming, but shorn of half its territory and still not recovered from the loss of a generation in the east, the manpower to confront Bolshevism simply was not there.
> What was there, however, was the will, embittered by the sense of having been right all along about the Soviets and stripped of the more rational end of its scientific establishment, German research took a number of increasingly paths.
> It is unknown quite how it was managed, but the first appearances of what was designated the Funkgesteuert Soldat Mark I are recorded well before the Ruin War.
> At this stage the design was simplistic, essentially an MG-34 on tracks, but, as had been the case in the previous war, a profusion of successor, sub-marks and field modifications saw a swift diversification in forms, from the hulking menace of the Lowe
Automatisiertes Gepanzertes Fahrzeug, to the futurist elegance of the Mk.III FS, known to the human landser as 'Marias', after the eponymous robot from Metropolis.
> The FS, and their AGF counterparts in the armoured divisions, allowed a swift re-balancing of the correlation of forces available to Germany and the Red Army units to its east.
> However, for all the modernist elegance of Maria, or the streamline menace of Lowe, with the commencement of the Ruin War, design would take a much cruder and darker turn, both German and Russian.
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>>66598666
>up to your DM
they are by standard lore, if you are playing DH they are the psycher.

the reason for their "magic" is the numerous objects they carry which slowly drives them insane. removing them prevents "leaching" but still leaves them mind fucked.

the magic/fairy tail explanation is based off of a magic system I dropped in an old post based on the souls of the dead and if they are good, evil, or died a horrible death.

TL;DR good souls/objects don't mind fuck you and has only positive benefits. black (common) will but slowly mind fuck you but it can be negated through ritual (DM discretion), crimson (rare, evil) will corrupt you and may over write your personality. black iron is just a bunch of black souls bound to a rock... er metal.

the scientific explanation is that it is a rock that does weird shit.
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>>66599969
I’d go with the actual source of the curse being unknown, save for occurring in some exposed to far too much radiation in zones
That sort of stuff to affect their ability to focus/control it, and stave off succumbing to the curse would be good
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>>66601609
Agreed.
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Where does this beauty have it's place in society?
Lightweight, man-usable, large magazine size, good rate of fire.
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>>66603205
Similar to other fancy automatic weapons, in the hands of the wealthy such as lords or effective mercenaries
Ones native to the isles are rare and valuable enough, but foreign sorts will cost even more for their rarity and prestige typically
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>>66599969
I remember it being rad-wizards absorbing so much radiation and zone energy that they can somewhat direct it while in the zone and spew radiation outside.
Though it could still work, with multiple objects giving off energy and rads to increase their powers. I would just leave out the good/evil idea. The zone isn’t good or evil, it’s just a new natural order, and it doesn’t care either way.
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>>66598666
personally I don't think they should be; what's the point of playing a class that's not allowed in most towns due to them poisoning the very air they exhale, dripping radiation from their fingertips?
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>>66604095
The stuff about how changed work could make them rather hard for doing as a pc, from being ousted for being a ticking timebomb, and a lot of the powers being far less of an exact science
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>>66604095
Well, they would now have an excuse as for why they wear those wizard robes. The robes material cuts any radiation and that mask they wear is for the benefit of others.
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>>66604200
I didn’t think any actual robes or similar such things were in use, but changed would likely want to cover themselves up either way in hopes of hiding their ailment
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Some ideas for rad-wizard outfits.
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>>66603643
good and evil in this respect is subjective, the point is zone objects imprint personality at the cost for power. in science is is measure by the weird stuff the rocks do and the slow psychosis of the rad wizard. the object classification just lets you know to what degree and the power.
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>>66604595
I remember this being the common outfit of the more feral rad wizards.
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Should we stick to changed being the in-setting term for them?
Rad-wizards sort of came out describing what they are in thread
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>>66604595
I'm also certain that rad wizards don't look that different from normal people except they have a general lack of weapons, and pretty much live in the zones. certain nations have a higher tolerance for them than others but in general most nations are opposed.

the USKS is very unforgiving to rad wizards as many of them have abilities that often worsen the zones and given the very Revanchist attitude there is some hostility.

Lancaster is perhaps the most open utilizing them cautiously but openly.

the monks of turing are a mixed bag and it mostly depends on the wizard and the sect.

you will find rad wizards mostly in raider bands, near the edges of zones, or in very desolate places. the more powerful and feral wizards are located in radiation wellsprings.
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>>66604595
That’s what they wear when interacting with others for things like trade.
Some are able to make their goggles flash with lights as an intimidation tactic.
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>>66605265
Is say yes. It has a nice ring to it.
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The changes can suffer from a number of physical deformities developing overtime following their miraculous survival of dire radiation exposure
Most deformities are without function, but will easily give away a changed’s condition to those who fear their unstable nature, and what damage could be done should they succumb to the curse and become engulfed in blue fire
To avoid this, large, covering clothes are often worn by those hoping to avoid conflict, though results vary
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Reminder that I gave warwickshire a monastic order of do-gooder rad-wizards who channel their power through their eyes, which melt, causing them to have black tears leak.from the sockets, which is why they all wear blindfolds.
They own the re-built Kenilworth Castle and are generally all about that UNLIMITED POWER (in the service of good) until they melt, dissolve or explode leaving nothing but a blast shadow, depending on how much juju they were channelling at the time.
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>>66606528
many repentant rad wizard turned to the cloth, while it isn't uncommon to see peaceful monks on the road. the isolated and recluse behavior provide excellent cover for the rad wizard want to trade with the common folk without raising suspicion.
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So how’s Scotland doing amidst all of these Icelandic and horned men attacks?
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>>66609606
There's a couple of factions holding out, Edinburgh and the Great Glen being the two major ones, the rest is either wasteland or Zone. Slightly south is the Republic of Newcastle, which holds much or Hadrian's wall, and keeps the beasties of the North out of the South (or potentially vice-versa).
Edinburgh is a fairly religious nation, and in the early drafts they sent out a fair few crusades south into the Zones. I don't think we've touched on Great Glen at all, as far as I'm aware-it's just another Northern faction.
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>>66609926
I think what is written about the glen was they are a Edinburgh ally. they just don't adhere to the whole pope thing, still follow the highlander way, just not as religious.
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>>66609606
I heard that the people near Loch Ness have taken to the monster roaming back into land, and have forbidden anybody from trying to kill it.
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>>66608075
Most Cursed know they are without special dispensation banned from the greater fiefdoms. Those that do often travel such lands wearing heavy lead lined robes or coats. And masks of ornate design to hide behind, such souls are permitted for a hefty fee. After all the Curse may spread...
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Any other petty fiefdoms of note around the isles?
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>>66614837
I think that all the ones on the map is enough. There may be scattered towns, but nothing more organized beyond that.
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>>66615630
Oh yeah, didn’t mean anything major, just some minor barely relevant fiefdoms that could be squeezed in wherever needed
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>>66615656
Those could be fun, freeholds and the like?
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>>66615728
maybe some examples, but we don't want to squeeze out space for DMs to add stuff in
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>>66615656
I think that they wouldn’t be fiefdoms so much as farming towns following a local mayor instead of one of the major powers.
I think there are large swaths of the zone ruled by no noble name at all.
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>>66522427
Canterbury or Lindafarne would be the best idea for the seat of the Pope, it would signal the primacy of Rome and call to mind the historical claims of unity.
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>>66618213
> think the pope would catch fire in Canterbury. there would have to be some major changes to the catholic dogma before the general US would accept hosting a pope.
> the pope probably has a summer home in Pairs Petit.
>the US has an agreement to return the parts of Kent they inhabit to the commonwealth once their objective have been met, mostly a sure fire end to the zones, and safe passage home (with a lot of guns and ammo).
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Flamethrowers would likely be incredibly rare, but bloody terrifying to anyone who meets them
Would probably look like some sort of beast spewing fire
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>>66620775
>rare
I think most people would know what a flame thrower is. their rarity is probably more of an issue of practicality, not construction. see Byzantine flamethrower.

cheaper to make a firebomb and chuck it.
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So Irish zones have been worked out, what are the welsh zones typically like?
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>>66621082

I figure the idea of a modern flamethrower would be pretty alien to the setting. It isn't easy to build a device meant to propel flaming liquid, maintain it so it doesn't randomly rupture on you mid burst, or the fuel. Most petroleum based materials will be rendered inert in a few years after the fact.

Not like you can just load it up with pine resin or some other flammable compound and expect the same results.
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>Rumours spread that within the thick fog that often chokes Ireland, folks are disappearing in the night
>Some claim to have seen hides figures scurrying in the dark, or even some hulking, yet lithe figure lurking distantly in the mist, but this just goes to show the depth of hysteria and paranoia held by the Irish
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>>66622407
I have no fucking clue why that says hides and not hooded, oh well
Weird shits happening in Ireland
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Old mines could make for some pretty spooky zones, getting more intense the further down you go
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>>66621749
Probably not the worst? Its divided between a socialist railroad state sne feudal nobility eith guns.
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>>66623506
I thought the fiefdoms in wales were very bad tech-wise, but otherwise decent
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>>66623491
There are a lot of mines.
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>>66623867
Mostly coal.
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>>66623885
Even in Scotland.
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>>66623867
>>66623885
>>66623900
Note that I am unable to find anything that says if these mines were built before 1950. These are mainly to show resource locations.
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>>66623922
Nice, we don’t absolutely need exact 50s mines, they’d still work great for any number of zone ideas
>Great tunnelling monstrosities infesting a zone-mine
>Survivors of the fall derived from miners having been twisted into feral beasts by the radiation, kidnapping folks and dragging them down into the mines for unknown purposes
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>>66624082
And on the opposite side of the coin, a neutral faction who are kept in a position of relative prosperity and security as they hold the only secure mine of Ball Clay or some other necessary mineral.
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>>66624183
Yeah, mines could make for good civilised bases too
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>>66624183
I can see such things as Clay pits being hotly contested even if they're in a zone. Speaking of, would the Zone effect things like Clay and Coal in weird ways?
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>>66625051
there is that whole zone materials to make items of power concept people have been using, so...
Superhard ceramics? charcoal that imbues things forged with it with juju?
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Haven’t tried to do much in terms of mercenary bands recently, should we try to do some more lower tech ones given many of the wealthier ones have been done?
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>>66626312
Sounds like a plan. First thought that came into my head-low tech survivalists with trained Zone-dogs. Thoughts?
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>>66627066
Sounds great
We haven’t really touched on dogs at all yet, aside from possibly some stuff on dogs reacting badly to zone stuff?
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>>66627228
Dogs are mainly used as a defense against the beasts of the zone. While it is true that like many animals they have an instinctual avoidance to some of the more dangerous effects of the zone, they are just as ignorant to the affects of radiation as every known animal.
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>The raider resurgence has gathered many treasures in their perpetual warpath
>Be it old-age weapons from zone-engulfed battlefields or the prized possessions of those who have fallen to their conquest, this return of a bandit gang of old has swollen and grown into a juggernaut led by capable veterans with fitting equipment
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>>66629003
Such men often break away from 'The Great Raid' forging their own Raider bands from followers. These splinters of marauding bandits are often a larger threat than the Bandit horde due to their small mobile nature and ability to fall bsck into the horde for safety.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySFp0w7-hE

British Jumbo Cats, anyone?
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>>66630757
I think there are some big ol kitties roaming the Roads to Cornwall
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>>66630757
British Jumbo Cats can be found in the wilderness, and should be approached with caution
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>>66629003
I think the Raider Resurgence would have an interesting tension with the northmen whenever they cross paths, with the potential for a Great Heathen Army scenario, but leadership thats at odds with each other.

Also, the Raider Resurgence would likely have to take steps to be hospitable to the Stenners, since they're their main source of weapons and mechanical repairs besides captured experts. Bandits subculture in may generally have cultivated as good a disposition with the wandering Stenners, since their good relations would be pretty necessary to keep a larger posse of raiders supplied.
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>>66631524
Yeah, they’ll need to get new gear, but a major thing for them was having the knowledge of where to find a decent amount of old-age weapons
Current stuff has had them pillaging through the south towards the USKS
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>>66630365
Smaller groups of lesser, disposable bandits have also been frequently used to draw out the armies of targets, before descending upon them with the might of the resurgence, and even a small number of tanks
Whilst many still bear swords and other such weapons, the upper echelons of the resurgence, and it’s shock troops are armed with old-age technology
Knowing how easily these valuable assets could be lost, the resurgence have made every effort to fight on their own terms, against technologically inferior targets like poor petty fiefdoms, but have grown more ambitious as more men have rallied to their cause and more old-age wonders are recovered for use
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Should we make a new thread soon?
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>>66634157
We are over the 300 mark, so I would say yes. But what would the prompt be? We’ve done rather well for worldbuilding.
Maybe some story threads for players to pull, or possible game mechanics?
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>>66594401

Reminds me of this piece of art for a 2000's Swedish post-apoc game. Just, like, roles reversed.
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>>66634268
Sounds good to me
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Really need to hit the hay, could another anon do the archive/new thread for this one?
Story ideas/mechanics sound good for a thread prompt
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>>66635067
Archived! Looking foreword to a Story Ideas and Mechanics thread!
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>>66636388
New thread's up



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