VAULT-13 - Located in the mountains, Vault-13 remains hidden from all outsiders. No one outside the Vault knows where it is located, and even those inside are kept 'protected' from the outside by the Overseer. Denizens of the Vault live in a climate-controlled environment, with pre-War medicines. Recently, there has been a movement among some of the denizens to move outside the Vault, a movement the Overseer attempts to suppress.
Vault-13 sits hidden in a mountain three day's hike west of Shady Sands.
Native Culture: Vault
Native Language: American English
CR: 5
Government: Socialist Dictatorship
SHADY SANDS - A small farming community in a fertile valley, Shady Sands is a relatively self-sustaining settlement on the edge of what could be called 'civilization'. The populace here are wary of strangers, but don't go out of their way to make trouble. The village is surrounded by large earthen walls which provide some protection against gangs of raiders and packs of rad-scorpions.
Not far away outside the town sits a cave which is known to be home to a rad-scorpion hive.
Notable figures include Aradesh, the town's leader and priest of Dharma; Seth, the captain of the town guard; Tandi, Aradesh's daughter and Seth's girlfriend; Razlo, the local doctor; and Duc, the trader who makes the circuit between Shady Sands and Junktown.
Shady Sands sits 5 days' hike due northeast of Junktown.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 2
Government: Theocracy
VAULT-15 - Two days' hike east of Shady Sands lays the ruins of a Vault. The place is infested with rats. A few people in Shady Sands who claim to come from the Vault tell that one day the Vault was attacked by unknown forces.
KHANS' STRONGHOLD - About one day's hike southeast of Shady Sands is the hideout of the raider clan known as the Khans. The base itself is essentially a surviving pre-War brick building surrounded by a number of large tents. The Khans roam the wastes, hitting Shady Sands, Junktown, and other settlements for food, booze, and slaves.
Notable Khans include Garl, the current Khan leader; Petrox and Tolya, two of Garl's raider lieutenants; Diana, the Khan's armorer; and Gwen, Garl's "advisor", which is to say his tough-as-nails girlfriend and effective second-in-command.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 0
Government: Anarchy
JUNKTOWN - A town which has sprung up along a brahmin-drive route, effectively the last outpost of 'civilization' before heading north. The town gets its name from the fact that it is built almost entirely out of salvaged pre-War materials, giving the town a 'shanty-town' appearance.
Junktown's most notable landmarks are the general store in the center of town, the Crash House hotel across the street, Gizmo's Casino, and the Skum Pitt Bar.
Junktown sits 2 days hike north of the Hub.
At present, there is a kind of 'Cold War' brewing between the two most influential people in Junktown: Killian Darkwater, owner of the general store and mayor of the town, and Gizmo, a corpulent man who runs the casino and the resident gang, the Skulz. Gizmo keeps trying to find someone who will be able to take out Darkwater, while Darkwater keeps looking for proof that Gizmo is behind the attempts.
Other than Killian Darkwater and Gizmo, the notable Junktown residents include Lars, head of the militia; Doc Morbid, the town's main doctor; Flash and Cougar, Doc Morbid's "orderlies"; Marcelles, the owner of the Crash House; Vinnie, the leader of the Skulz; Izo, Gizmo's bodyguard; Neal, the owner of the Skum Pitt; Gustofer, who arranges bare-knuckle boxing matches behind the casino; and Saul, the current boxing champion.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 2
Government: Athenian Democracy
THE HUB - The Hub is *the* center of Post-War 'civilization'. It's a major trading hub laying along a number of brahmin routes and possessing a source of clean, uncontaminated water. Life in the Hub is centered around the three trading caravan companies: the Crimson Caravan, Far-Go Traders, and the Water Merchants.
Of the three, the Crimson Caravan has a reputation for being slightly crazy, as their routes take them through areas known to be home to raiders. The Crimson Caravan also hires only the strongest and some would say most insane caravan guards, guards who are more than capable of dealing with the undesirables they encounter.
Far-Go Traders, rumored have ties to the pre-War Wells Fargo Company, is the Crimson Caravan's primary competitor. Most communities prefer to deal with Far-Go Traders, viewing them as the more 'respectable' of the merchant caravan companies.
The Water Merchants are a group that has laid claim to the Hub's source of uncontaminated water and engages in selling it. At first, the Water Merchants also engaged in other trade goods, an agreement laid down thirty years ago by a committee of representatives from all three merchant companies gave the Water Merchants a monopoly on the very profitable water trade in exchange for not trading anything else.
The Hub also has a thriving criminal underground, split into two rival factions. The first faction is the Thieves Circle, run by the charismatic Loxley, a man who speaks with a faux British accent. The Circle take pride in stealing from others without being seen; they do not kill if they can help it.
The second and more dangerous faction is known simply as the Underground, and is run by a man called Decker. The local police force of the Hub, run by Sheriff Justin Greene, tolerates the Circle's presense while trying to put a permanent end to the Underground's operations. Decker owns and operates the Maltese Falcon, the Hub's largest combination bar, casino, and brothel.
Other notable figures in the Hub include Dan the Brahmin Man; Deputy Fry, the police officer in charge of maintaining order in the part of town where the caravans house their brahmin; Demetre and his daughter Keri, who run the Crimson Caravan; Butch, the man behind the operations of Far-Go Traders; Rutger, who handles teh day-to-day operations for Butch; Mitch, owner and operator of the All-In-One General Store; Mrs. Stapleton, who runs the city's only library of pre-War books; Lorenzo, proprietor of the Friendly Lending Company; Bob, proprietor of Bob's Iguana Bits, a small stand in the market square that sells iguana-on-a-stick and "Bob's Choice Bits" for a reasonable price; Beth, owner of the weapon shop in the merchant square, specializing in the more common weapons most people own for self-defense; Jain, the priestess from the Church of the Holy Flame; Thorndyke, the doctor at the Holy Flame's hospital, a converted pre-War church; Kane, Decker's primary enforcer; Darren Hightower, an independent merchant who lives in the nicest part of town; Harold, a ghoul with a wry sense of humor living in the slums who claims to have been born during the War; Jacob, an arms dealer living in the slums who specializes in rare and powerful weapons; and Vance, the local drug magnate.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 3
Government: Representative Democracy with a ruling Oligarchy
NECROPOLIS - A run-down city which was built on the ruins of Bakersfield, Necropolis gets its name from the number of ghouls inhabiting it. According to the rumors, the ghouls of Necropolis are descended from the first people to leave Vault-12 which lays underneath them, a Vault which opened its doors prematurely before the radiation levels from the War had dropped significantly.
Necropolis is the only settlement which does not need to trade with the Water Merchants of the Hub, as the water purification system of the Vault is still operational.
Necropolis is run by a cunning and foul-tempered ghoul by the name of Set. No other notable ghoul is known by name, although there is a faction which lives in the sewers underneath the city which tries to stay out of Set's way. Recently, a number of mutants have taken control of Necropolis's water shed, but haven't prevented the ghouls from accessing the water.
Necropolis sits two days' hike east and slightly north of the Hub.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 0
Government: Anarchy, with Set trying to make it a Dictatorship
ADYTUM - Adytum is a section of the Los Angeles ruins collectively called the Boneyard. Perporting itself to be the successor of Los Angeles, Adytum is built on the ruins of an old movie studio lot. While officially run by a man named Jon Zimmerman, Adytum is in all practicality run by Caleb, the leader of the town guards, who are collectively known as Regulators.
According to Zimmerman and Caleb, Adytum's problems stem from their neighbors, a gang to the north called the Blades. The Blades are run by a woman named Razor, and have - according to Caleb - kidnapped and killed Zimmerman's son. To that end, Adytum's become something akin to a work camp as the Regulators have enacted more and more security measures, to the point of disarming the populace to prevent uprisings.
Other notable Adytowners include Miles, the town chemist; Smitty, the local blacksmith; Sammael, leader of the Scavs, a group of scavengers who scour the area around the Boneyard looking for anything useful; and Chuck, the local fortune teller.
Outside of Adytum in the Boneyard proper, the four most prominant areas are the library run by the Followers of the Apocalypse, the Blades' headquarters, the Deathclaw Breeding Ground, and the fortress-like headquarters of the Gun Runners.
The Followers were founded by a mohawk-haired woman named Nicole, who preaches peace, tolerance, and the preservation of pre-War knowledge. The Followers dislike the same message they hear coming from the Cathedral, however, believing the Cathedral to be lying.
The Gun Runners are a group of gun makers dealing with the rare, high-tech, and powerful conventional weapons and armor. The leader of the Gun Runners is a man named Gabriel; however, a dwarf named Zach handles most of the sales.
The Boneyard sits two days' hike due southwest of the Hub.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 5
Government: Subjugated Dictatorship
THE CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY FLAME - Situated on the coastline about half a day's hike directly south of Adytum, the Cathedral is the main headquarters of the Church of the Holy Flame; its followers are generally called Children of the Cathedral. The Cathedral employs a number of mutants, and the high priest, Morbius, has contact somehow with the Church's enigmatic Master, who is an object of worship among the Children.
The Church's dogma states that the holy flames of the past nuclear war have cleansed the world, paving the way for humanity and mutantkind to join in Unity. To spread this message, the Church has begun a program of creating "hospitals" to treat the sick and wounded. So far, the only known hospital is in the Hub, although Adytum, Necropolis, and Junktown are likely the next places to see them.
Rumors from Adytum indicate that the Cathedral sits on top of a Vault, although the number assigned to this Vault is unknown.
Native Culture: Wasteland
Native Language: American English
CR: 5
Government: Theocracy
THE BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL - The Brotherhood is an enigma to all outsiders. Known to exist in an underground bunker, the Brotherhood sells personal weapons and armor to the Hub in exchange for food. It is known that the Brotherhood keeps its most powerful weapons and armor to itself, including the rare powered armor its Paladins are known to wear.
The Brotherhood worships technology. No, they really worship Technology. Rumors abound about what goes on inside the bunker; the ritual sacrifice of puppies and children are perhaps the most extreme rumors, although few actually believe them.
The Brotherhood's bunker sits 4 days' hike northwest of the Hub, and three day's hike due west of Junktown.
Native Culture: Brotherhood
Native Language: American English
CR: 4
Government: Military Dictatorship
THE GLOW - Located eight day's hike due southeast of the rest of the Hub, the Glow is a giant crater which still maintains an extremely high radiation level. Local rumors from the Followers and the Brotherhood of Steel indicate that the Glow was once a military base, hit heavily when the bombs dropped. The Brotherhood of Steel calls the place the Ancient Order, and has been known to send people hoping to join down to it to retrieve some advanced technology; no one who goes down there ever returns.