With Torg Eternity's release, Tharkold is my favorite cosm. This mash-up of Terminator, Dark City, and Hellraiser is even more interesting because the savage frontier of the Blasted Land is on its doorstep. I want it to be more Stalker/Roadside Picnic than Mad Max.
Here's my first step towards making that happen. Because everyone needs a cool home base.
With the Federation allied with the Reality Raiders, everyday Russian life adopts levels of scrutiny and suspicion rivaling the Cold War. The cities close off as the military seizes transit ways while fleets of surveillance drones scour the countryside. Outside the Wolf's piercing gaze, the Blasted Land is an
Ostern dream. The rugged mix of taiga and arid waste awash in nano-weirdness makes surviving here a rough proposition. Even if insurgency is the best/only way to oppose Tharkold without sparking World War 3. To operate in the Blasted Land, you need an outpost.
First you pick 3-5 features, followed by 2 internal conflicts, and 2 external threats.
Features (pick 3-5)- an abandoned prison, shanties, crude farming, all these pigeons, tunnels into underground vaults, moldy tarps and re-purposed plastics collecting rainwater, feral kids, trailer park chemistry lab, wrecked automobiles or airplanes, rail yard with a working yard goat, Orthodox church sanctuary, heavy industrial remains, eerie totems and graffiti, glowing algae, bustling marketplace, motor pool worth bragging, a fine coating of rust, a well-stocked infirmary, a rickety still made from a radiator, alien flora in bloom, sophisticated armory, an autofactory running on fumes, a library with mixed knowledge, a high frequency radio antennae, exercise bike generator, at a crossroads, so much barbed wire, watch towers with good sightlines
Conflicts (choose 2)- squalid conditions breed sickness, you owe protection tribute, there isn't enough work to go around, scant weaponry, you're a bunch of jackals, too many mouths to feed, potable water is scarce, there aren't very many of you, you provide protection to other outposts, plans of action, faith traditions or lack thereof, psychic privacy, people come and go as they please, your technology is finicky and fragile, the desperate escape with a needle
Threats (choose 2)- two Tharkoldu prides fighting over territory, a labour of bear-sized moles, "Krokodil" a predatory trader, psychic raiders threatening your food and secrets, man-eating anomalies triggered by iron, packs of pangolin scaled wolves, deniable military personnel, gray goo breaking down organic matter, a borganism calling themselves "Zmei", Koschie necrotechnicians were drawn by a recent battle, a recently seeded gospog farm, cenobites worshiping the Blast, weird weather like skyquakes and acid rain, a squad of "Laika" Retrievers stalk the area, cracks in Reality's sidewalk
