Deck the Brawl - Part 1 - Sunday Night Thaw!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/356628841
and now professional wrestling to discover the true spirit of Christmas.

Winter is here.

RockerBoys and Vending Machine - part 2 - Hey it's Norm and he brought Zombies

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/353463425
and now our exciting conclusion where we see why Ais and pooh bears don't mix.

Who Jacked the newsman?

The Eschaton · Viral Art for Sale - Part 1 - The Black Box

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/350151182
We begin our adventure as all good campaigns should: with loot boxes containing horrors beyond time and space.

Fallout Canada: A Thousand Fragments

Fallout Canada: A Thousand Fragments 

(after the Thousand Island Region in Ontario)

compiled work thanks to ideas, comments and material from GodKalZul, Zax_Courier, Tex Arcana, TheGriffonCrimson, The G Man (Not that One), Ithillid, Zor, QuantumPuppy, vIsitor, Typo from Spacebattles.com

as well as  Boneguard and shesheyan  from The Piazza.

Reducing Location to mainly Ontario, and adjoining locations to reduce scope creep.

Premise

It is a well-known fact that in 2072, as part of a strategic control, that the U.S. ended up annexing Canada as part of the War Effort in Anchorage (As shown quite brutally in the opening scene in Fallout 01).  What wasn't known was that the "occupation" was resisted.  A series of Cells and freedom fighting societies were organized including, but not limited to Front de la Liberté Nationale, the Kingston Vanguard and Manning's Marauders, engaged in many noteworthy terrorist actions across Canada, and were noteworthy for their use of explosives and snipers to hinder the war effort.  They were able to blend into the American population relatively effortlessly.

The truth was the U.S. was sucking the resources dry and as things got more and more desperate, so did the actions of these organizations.

and then the bombs fell and the world went to hell.

The Nuclear winter was not kind to the survivors.

Overview

Resources were stripped from the land quite harshly since the occupation and the portable nuclear fusion cores were few and far between.  As a result, the majority of transportation is by either bikes or rollerblades.  This has created a paradox that despite the lower technology, the survivors weren't as hamstrung in transportation by the use of nuclear vehicles.  There are even a few powered vehicles (mostly trucks, vans and snowmobiles) have been converted to wood gas as trees are fairly plentiful.

Canoes and small powered vehicles are also common for traversing the territory, often acting as trade missions, not unlike the voyageurs of history.

Northern Ontario was a testing ground for the first G.E.C.K. experiments and the results are what is known as "The Green Creep", an area of bizarre plant life that is slowly, but surely progressing southwards, and bringing its bizarre fauna in the process.

This is a bullet future, we're using a single shot is more important (I really like the flintlocks from Fallout 76 so they make the cut) and a land where a bucket of water when the temperature is right can be a lethal weapon.

Because bullets are relatively rare, most Wastelanders rely on traps and ambushes.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Deadfalls and Snares by A. R. Harding

Fishing is also a very common way to feed oneself with the many rivers and lakes.  However, many monstrosities are just below the surface so it's not for the faint of heart.

Hockey sticks are viable weapons.  They can be used as bludgeons, are often bladed, and are essentially muscle powered grenade launchers.  This latter part is used in conjunction with a Drop Bracer (stores grenades that drop so you can shoot and score.)

Another weapon added is powered lawn darts.  They are used not unlike mortar as you throw them up in the air and then they use gravity and small thrusters to strike their target from above.

Factions

Vault 54 (French/Canadian influence):  Found Just North of  Gatineau (the former Ottawa-Hull Region), this Vault was subsidized by the government of Quebec as a place to save their best and brightest.  What wasn't known was that Vault-tech was using this for an attempt to create a sociological experiment where all the documentation was in English. :p

Vault 63 (British/American influence):  Found near Hamilton, this was the Ontario Vault.  This was used American collaborators during the occupation.  Vault-tech, never one to waste a chance of psychological trauma, decided to experiment by only allowing public television from the '50s. :p

The Tribes of the North:  Believed to originally represented many of the indigenous tribes of the area that were spared the worst of the bombs due to their isolation, they have mixed with some of the survivors that moved up north.  They know the land very well indeed.

Cro-Zetans:  An Alien ship crashed somewhere in Northern Ontario and the bombs fell at exactly the wrong time to cripple their ship.  As a result, this alien species has increased their numbers and "gone native" and has adapted by trading and raiding their local neighbors.  They are more or less responsible for any energy weapons in this region.

(hey buddy, wanna buy a plasma gun.  discount 1 day only)

Dominion Patrol: This organization of surprisingly well-pressed militiamen claim to be the descendants of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police but were most likely reformed after the bombs.
They stress Peace, Order and Good Government, but it's a high bar to clear and when a "Dominionist" goes bad, it gets seriously nasty as they are as relentless as a terminator in their oaths.
Their main location is just west of the Ontario border in a rebuilt fort called "Fort Dedication" on the ruins of Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba, but are slowly expanding east. They rarely assume roles of leadership, but they have this tendency to smash raiders and tyrants and then leave, leaving the hapless survivors to fend for themselves, unless they are officially invited. It has these invites that allow for expansion beyond the original settlement.

They won't ask you to defend their settlements every five minutes, but they might deputize your hero to pick up bounties.

They can be found anywhere in the former reaches and when they show up, it usually means something is about to go down: something big.

They use a rudimentary exoskeleton on both themselves and their horses. Some rumors abound it's more than that.

The Pack: Descending from the North, these canine-human hybrids go on raids that are best avoided and have an insatiable hunger.  They are led by a legendary leader known simply as Yvon.

The C.A.V.-1 (Chimera Amalgamation Virus) and it is essentially is a virus that facilitates gene jumping with bizarre and odd effects.

the most stable and prominent strain is the one that is found in both Canis and Homo genus that allows intermixing due to close proximity.

It's fairly stable now, but it gives an opening for future hybridization viruses (where we simply change the number on the end to denote another hybridization).

But it also explains "Shaggy's" human/dog hybrids that are the main source of werewolf tales and the Pack (and gives a chance for some serious variety based on dog breeds).  They get more primal over time until the beast takes over.

Alphas are Shaggy's that return some of their previous life, and this makes them masters at traps and ambushes, as well as coordinating their packs.

Vault Vikings:  Rumored to be from a mythical vault 9 in Minnesota, these raiders come north in the spring to make everybody's lives miserable.  Their sacred color is purple.

Cult of Iggy:  This is one of the few non-feral glowing ones in Fallout and he uses his energy to enthrall his rocking raider clan.  After all, Rock is life and everybody else is for merch.  He dips his followers in radiation so they will "live forever."

Locations of Note:

Autoroute Dufferin A-440:  Located in Quebec city, a failed  raised bridge tunnel drilling as part of an interchange has become a settlement of Vagrants, travellers and never do wells.  They have expanded the original tunnels causing this to be a raised grotto where just about anything can be purchased for a price.

Ark Two: Consisting of a survivalist that buried 42 buses underground just outside of Toronto to act as a bunker for when the bombs fell.  They are now a generational compound based around a survivalist's interpretation of navy command.

The Bruce Power Site: On the shores of Lake Huron in Tiverton, Ontario, making it one of the largest nuclear power facilities in the world.

The CBC Film Archive:  This near-mythical place is one of the greatest barred encampments of the fallout universe.  Led by Johnny and Frank, two ghouls that have kept the radio going for hundreds of years. Nobody is quite sure where it is.

Custom House:  Long considered one of the most haunted houses in Hamilton, it still stands.  A children's horror show once was shot here, where the classic horror movie monsters were replaced by automatons.  They still patrol the halls.

The Diefenbunker: A former Canadian military bunker located in the rural farming community of Carp, Ontario, that was turned into a museum, it was turned into a gargantuan time capsule with robot curators.  About 5 years before the bombs fell, it was retrofitted with new vault tech (for a pretty penny), and filled with mostly bureaucrats, whose pettiness between the factions often becomes lethal.

Everygreen Estates: This logging town is controlled by Simon Snark, a mutant whose sole desire is to get as rich as possible.  He has a psychic power that allows him to command Yao guai which he often has dressed in business suits.

The Falls:  These irradiated falls are used for navigation as they glow.  It is rumored that its waters are haunted.  The caves underneath are rumored to contain Deathclaws, treasure or most likely both.

Inverness Brewery:
Located in Owen Sounds, Ontario, this local beer company entered deals with HalluciGen, Inc during the occupation.  Michael and Mary Duncan co-conspired to control the beer industry in the territory and world using a light chemical that made people more susceptible to mind control.   Then the bombs fell.  Brewmaster Buddy is a Mr. Handy that insists on creating and selling this brew even in the fallout universe "for the family business."

Library and Archives Canada (LAC):

These remains of a once mighty archive are now located in Ottawa and are patrolled by robots based on footwear (it used to entertain the children).

(Beware the Boot, it bites and it hates the term "no doot aboot it")

Mounted Animal Nature Trail:  Created by a Ghoul named Gary to display amazing specimens for tourists, it also doubles as provisions.  It is located on Manitoulin Island.

 (so we can singalong) :D

Ronto: The big town in the area.  It consists of a territory that stretches from Hamilton to Oshawa that has fortified itself something fierce.  People from all over Fallout Canada and even the states come here to make a living.  This doesn't mean they like each other.  The entire area is separated into gated communities and slums.

FALLOUT UNIVERSE  - Google My Maps

Sudbury Neutrino Observatory: This underground experimental was responsible for a lot of the experiments that led to the nuclear revolution.  It is horribly irradiated, but it might be worth your while if you dive deep enough.  It is rumored that a commune of sentient roaches now uses this place as their home.

Synthtown:  This is where many of the Synths from down south show up.  While they are generally left alone, they make most folk nervous as heck.

(yes you can get her as a companion...quit running).

Syrup Woods: This irradiated Maple Tree forest is guarded by the remains of the Canadian military as it mutates those that embed its sweet syrup.

The Tower:  At one time, the tallest free-standing structure, while damaged, it still stands.  It is believed is the new home of the Cro-Zetans who have rebuilt many of the internal mechanisms.

Vault 14:  The legendary cat vault, where cats were herded in and experimented on to increase their intelligence and tactile sense.  They can manipulate objects and everything is designed with them in mind.   They have been perpetuating the Deathclaw myth up north as cover for their actions.
(putting this is Michigan to reduce vaults in Canada).

Vault 25:  This was a social experiment they put at the north pole (the magnetic because Santa Claus is Canadian :p) where they put a toy company's merchandise and enough Mr. handy's to produce goods for generations.  It is completely automated and often drones leave the site to look for beings that are either "Naughty or Nice."

Ville Ferroviaire: On the ruins of the railyards of Montreal is a settlement based on the survivors of the Long-Pointe military base.  The trains are often used on the switchyard to move them at act as barriers and to provide transport of troops locally giving them an inordinate amount of power over the area.

Wapoosinator Lodge:  postquam haesitabant aedificare
This secretive order dates back to weekend warriors back in the day whom hid out there when the bombs fell.  Consists of one main building and several outbuildings and surrounded by junk. It is a mixture of humans, ghouls and at least one super mutant (named Bear Gordon).  Led by Ned Brown, they have mastered the use of Duct tape and are currently debating whether to use the locals as "emergency provisions."

Warland:  This old Military base in Kingston has become a warrior cult that believes in the sanctity of paperwork.  It was a focal point of the occupation so who knows what dark secrets can be found there.

Win-Troit:  Imagine the Hatfield and McCoys, but fought with nuclear cars.  That's the best way to describe the fighting between these two tribes separated by a bridge.

Monsters

Ameri-Eel: This mutated Eel is responsible for many of the sea serpent myths of old and once they mutated, they picked up some new tricks.  This includes an ink injection, a savage bite and some of the larger variety seem to have an electrical charge.

Bubblefolk:  These sentient blobs are natural shapeshifters and don't take kindly to those that get in their way.

Coyotes:  Because darn it, if there is one critter that would survive the apocalypse intact, it's this @#$ @#.

Crows:  These birds were smart before the bombs fell, now most of the ones in the region not only are human level intelligence, they won't shut up.  Available as a companion.

Deathstalkers:  The humble barn owl has developed slight telepathy and the ability to coordinate as a group.  Being about the size of a chicken, they coordinate night attacks on prey.  Worse they seem to be learning rudimentary tool use.

Frisbee:  This red mutant dog and rogue Pack member is best described as a tank with jaws.  While somewhat temperamental, it is a loyal companion if befriended.

RadMoose:  Let's be honest folks.  Moose aren't normal.  They were the largest ungulate before the bombs fell, but were aquatic, doubled back before resting to make difficult to track and had prehensile noses.  The Radmoose is much worse.  Its double heads make it very aggressive and it often ambushes like Jason Voorhees around bodies of water.

RadMuskie: In other areas, Giant Carp are the dominant fish.  In Ontario, it's the RadMuskie.  A truly horrendously oversized fish that has this tendency to leap out of the water to swallow prey.  It even has a set of specialized fins to allow it to "hop on land" for short periods of time.

TrashBands:  Irradiated Racoons, they are the thieves of the wastelands.  They will plunder anything that isn't pinned down.  They also are surprisingly manic.

Wapoosinators:  You know how Beavers can change entire ecologies.  Now imagine a species that is both gargantuan and knows how to use concrete.  They get irritated enough, they will flood your community and are tough enough to take a shot or two.

Zebra Muscle Abomination:   Besides their fairly large size, they especially have been given a frog-like tongue/lure to eat prey, and have some have grown enough for human-size.  They are chocked full of pollutants and radiation and when they die, they detonate like a small dirty bomb, making them difficult to control the species.  However, the smaller versions can be used as grenades.

Creatures from Previous Fallouts

Bloatfly
Bloodbug
Bloodworm
Boom Bugs
Brahmin
Cave Crickets
Ghoul Whales (in the Hudson Bay and in the Great Lakes)
Giant Ants
Mongrels
Rad Rabbits
Radstag
Wolf
Yao guai

Pop Culture References

The Arrogant Worms
Barbapapa
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
The Red Green Show
The Raccoons
Readalong
Reboot
Rock and Rule
Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves
Strange Brew
Solar Babies
Turbo Kid
Wayne and Shuster

Posting this here if anybody can pull anything from it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Retrontario

The Eschaton · New Game - Viral Art for Sale - Character Generation

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/347065526

We return to The Eschaton to build another set of characters.

We went places when building that involved Loot Boxes, Viruses, Artists and Clippy.

RockerBoys and Vending Machine - part 1 - Deux San Pneumatic

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/343912073
We try out a new game, with an old world and it involves a setting up of a memory from 20 minutes into the future and unfortunately no honey.

My Version of Fallout

Been on a serious fallout kick, so decided to do a tabletop world that incorporates some of the better parts to make an independent environment that's a serious sandbox.

Stipulations

1. I'm not tied to canon.  It's not like I can get it published so grabbing ideas I like and leaving the rest.
2. Some people that are dead in previous games might be alive mainly so they can be used as a bigger stage.
3. Anything not mentioned will be default by the status quo.

Maps

I'm including some of my favorite maps made by fans so it can be interpreted as a map of the whole.

This was a fan map of Fallout West done for another game but it works

here's the link
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1303741106

Here is a compiled map in comparison (sans fallout 76).

original link
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3e7tve/fallout_us_map_wip_opinions/

For Fallout 76 , using this map and link to original speculation.

It' from this critique which will be my default for the area.

Base Changes

1. I would keep the midwest brotherhood right in the middle of the continent (from fallout tactics).  Now you have a progressive brotherhood that's still incredibly dangerous to east and west and it also limits their power.  However, they have separated enough from brotherhood tenets so they need to be renamed.  I'm calling them the Mid-West Feds.

2. The Brotherhood sent out a radio signal back in the day so it's possible to find them anywhere, but with a particular emphasis on military bases.  It's more a loose fellowship with minimal connectivity, but their bases can be anywhere.

3. Scorchers are a great addition and there are more than a few cave complexes in the west to have them like a sleeping giant.

4. Robert House should survive.  He's such a fun wildcard that would only expand his influence playing off the various factions.  Heck if anything, more players mean more wiggle room.

5.  Caesar's legion needs to be more like Rome.  With the death of Caesar, have an Augustus analog make them a serious threat by doing some serious development and reform, but with an edge.

MSZ from Spacebattles.com did a great breakdown here.

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/how-would-you-have-done-caesars-legion.364499/#post-19741104

6. The institute should be beaten but established elsewhere to provide yet another shadow organization as civilization returns.  Heck, they were established as far back as f02 as a ruined establishment that was cut out and then put back by fans.

7. You need caravans in this world.  Deadlands: hell on earth did a fantastic job of building a group called the convoy which was a mobile armed force that had a continent-wide trading route that would be seriously awesome plug and play anywhere in fallout.

8.  The Cryptozoology aspects of Fallout76 is awesome and it's easy enough to expand throughout the continent and putting twists on them.  Perhaps Bigfoot is real, but they are a civilization of Ghoulrillas?

9. The Gunners have to be somewhere as the main location, abet outside the beaten path.  Ohio mainly because then they are between two factions.

10. Reclamation day was not a complete failure.  By the time you get to the Fallout nv/03 era in West Virginia, you have "the special civilization".  This is an entire civilization of Vault dwellers descendants that believe they are special and will return the United States to their former glory, which really rubs their neighbors the wrong way.  Their capital is a redone Vaultech U.  It would be in the Free States of West Virginia.

11. I'd have the Desert rangers splinter off, and be more like a semi-autonomous state within the NCR.

12. The Beastlords of the midwest still exist.  A psychic tribe that uses their powers to enthrall creatures of the waste.  They are most prominent there, but because it's a mutation, these beast lords can be found anywhere on the continent (and a viable pc).

13.  Florida was originally tabled as a failed Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) for the sequel of tactics and see no reason to not use this as a basis. A rapidly spreading mutant garden amuses me terribly.

14. The order of mysteries is now an ancient order not unlike the Freemasons. Think of it as a cult of Batman.  While started out in West Virginia, they have had enough recruits over time to start spreading over the east coast.

15. The Master has long since died, but there is a sample of his genetic sample stored somewhere in the west. If a mad scientist picks it up bad things happen.

16.  A couple of posters on Spacebattles.com had some great ideas of Fallout on the seas.   Rather than repeat it, it's better to provide links

https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/52936954/

https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/52974211/

Some fleshed out ideas

Intelligent Deathclaws

I think that between FO2 and tactics, there should be deathclaws that are becoming smart enough to be a real threat to humanity (and worse are able to breed, unlike super mutants or ghouls).

I'd have these super-deathclaws inhabit places like the Carlsbad Caverns or Mammoth Caves, as a parody of the vault dwellers. They have expanded such caves and created "pop up holes" so they can pop up, grab an unsuspecting ransom/food and drag to the depths.

Their tool use is still fairly minimal, but they have learned fire, fungus farming, ceramics, metal tools and kidnap people with tech skills to build tools they can use (ex. a keyboard for deathclaw hands).

They also draft their dumb cousins as shock troops (mainly because they need heat while their eggs are incubating so they are smart and it doesn't always work).

by making them communal creatures, they could set off the survivor's commie sense :p.

and they just figured out the industrial system of interchangeable parts...sleep well. ;)

(because I'm imagining a platted up deathclaw with super mutant like armor and a shoulder mounted autocannon with jump jets for the big bad in fallout Kentucky :p).

Vault Vikings

Ever since NCR mod came up with this term, I've been stewing on it and came up with the following.

You can have them essentially replace longhouses with vaults, berserkers that use chems,  raven's filled with cameras released into the wild for monitoring purposes, a master computer known as  O.D.I.N. (Organism Designed for Intelligence and Nullification), and an armored/fallout version of the following boat for traveling throughout the north and it's many rivers:

Then throw in a little MSt3k and give them heavy use of robots as companions (small, but sarcastic, maybe even guns with AI) and bingo, you have Vault Vikings. :D

They would throw their chem addled berserkers at their opponents while the rest of them lay down suppressive fire.

Mutant Texas Kingdom

I recently tried watching fallout brotherhood of steel (for ps2) to see if anything is salvageable.

Other then Tony Jay stealing the show as the villain, not much really.

which kinda sucks because, for all of Texas' faults, it should not be boring.

So here is an attempt to salvage the one good idea in it.

(special kudos to MSZ again for the help)

**********************

The name of this "1st mutant general" Phobetor" ("bringer of fear"), or "Pho", "Fo", "General Fo" for short (Her real name was Florence before the dip).  She was just some gal from Attis' army but managed to take most of the research and drag it to  Wichita Falls.

I'm going to pick the ruins of Wichita falls, mainly because the idea of radioactive falls could be disturbingly beautiful. They have set up walls, obstacles, toll roads and essentially a "castle" at the Red, Canadian and Brazos rivers to control Northern Texas. 

She has her people setting up walls, obstacles, toll roads and essentially a "castle" at the river to control Northern Texas.  There was a research breakthrough in FEV, which greatly increased the ratio of successful dippings of Wastelanders.  About 50% of all those dipped emerging without their mental faculties damaged. Thus letting them create a system/religion, where getting 'dipped' is treated as a reward for good service.

She has setup a Caste System, where intelligent Super Mutants are leaders, dumb Super Mutants are soldiers/shock troops.  The humans followed suit.  The human clans controlled by the supermutants are named after fictional sports teams with a fallout twist (mainly because it helps the dumb mutants identify whos who):

• The Mustangs are the Brahmin herders.
• The Rockets are the Traders human clan that bring in resources trading with his neighbors and double as a spy network.
• The Rockhounds are essentially the miner clan. They did and use their materials as a bargaining chip.
• The Spurs are the scientist caste and specialize in the F.E.V. Virus.  They have figured out how to do "blobs" as shock troops, regenerate organs, and am searching like mad to see if there is a way to cause super mutants to reproduce.
• The Wings are a scouting clan, that has developed that helicopter thingy from road warrior.

However, it's relative stability is causing new social issues. A new generation of Super Mutants that don't hate humanity and have differing opinions on how they should be treated, ranging from co-existence, either in a caste system, or a fully free society.  Genocide is a fringe idea mainly because it's the only way super mutants reproduce is by dipping humans, but there's a real worry that will change once super mutants figure out otherwise.