War. War never changes.

Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything. From God to justice to ideology to simple, psychotic rage.

In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation. The earth was nearly wiped clean of life. A great cleansing, an atomic spark struck by human hands, quickly raged out of control. Spears of nuclear fire rained from the skies. Continents were swallowed in flames and fell beneath the boiling oceans. Humanity was almost extinguished, their spirits becoming part of the background radiation that blanketed the earth.

But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes.

In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as vaults. As they emerged though, only the great desolation of the wastes greeted them. But this to human kind was not a deterrence, nor an anemic crawl to the end. Stepping out of the great vaults human-kind scattered across the once desolate North American wasteland, surviving where they could and rebuilding society where they can. As during the time of the first nations in the far away and now forgotten Mesopotamia, the first roots of civilization are being laid.

Born from the city-states that emerged in the wasteland the growing influence of old-world powers sulked outwards. Spreading. Some turning into nations, petty kingdoms of reflections of the philosophies of the old world, bent on repairing them. Some went even further, looking upon the scattered and broken references to eras they could not at all hope to comprehend, and seeing virtue where in. And some looked ahead, with no foundation in the past, but like all arms held out to grab the future.

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It is the year 2290. Nine years after the fateful battle of Hoover Dam and thirteen after the purification of the water of the Capital Wasteland. But in the East and the West, the hope that was such a flicker was not nearly as bright a spark as was hoped.

Seemingly unrecognized by the scientists of Rivet City and the Brotherhood of Steel the purification of the waters of the Capital Wasteland through industrialized water purification was not, as they hoped the restoration of the Wasteland. Despite chasing off the Enclave and scattering their east-coast units the efforts of the Lone Wanderer are perhaps a new complex issue. Though the ship-bound Rivet City and the Brotherhood of Steel grows influential from the supply of clean water they have failed in bringing the life they had wished back. Despite the wishes of the people of Oasis the capital wasteland has not turned green. For it was overlooked by these parties that the soil had just become too barren.

With plenty of fresh water to drink the societies of the Capitol look outwards to find them in a desert. Windblown, and rain washed anything that would be called lush was whisked away by the ravages of time and of the damages of nuclear disaster. Agriculture – that important key – is ineffective in the east where the soil remains washed out and barren, only little more life-giving than ground glass. And to feed their communities they rely on just as tenuous relationship with merchants as they always had, but now with the vulnerable supply of water and the scattered and questionable efforts to return to the capitol the color green.

And the Vault Dweller, whose efforts and sacrifices to bring purity back to the Wasteland has disappeared into the extensive wastes, having long lost their father in the capitol and with no anchor to bind the hero to where he was raised.

In the west, despite the wholehearted efforts of the NCR, and the determined zealotry of the Legion to Caesar there rose no victor. During the midst of the NCR defense of the dam from the Legion fire from an unknown source crashed down on the vital logistics of the Republic and of the Legion. Smashing the ground and raising the Earth in a way that had not been seen in two hundred years. In the first time since the Great War nuclear plumes soared. Shady Sands found to great distress that their access to the Mojave was lost. The power they so tentatively churned from the Dam went dark and the Senate was in disarray.

Cut off, the NCR in the Mojave found itself alone as the desert swelled with hostile factions. House – slain at the hands of The Courier – was lost. His army of Securitrons died without a commander. And the Courier himself? Never to be heard of. Rumors suggest he stepped into the Divide, never to return from the hallowed caverns and desolate valleys. His fate uncertain, his name forgotten to the annals of legend.

And the Legion who lost by margins to the NCR for their second push on the dam collapsed into disarray. The destruction of their supply lines west to California destroyed by the same fire. And more importantly: their leader dead. Caesar, who had organized and built them, lead them on the warpath and thousands of victories died in his bed. No autopsy was had on their god-king's body and he was cremated silently in Two Suns. The process of succession in the Legion was not kind, or peaceful. With their philosophy dead the legates and generals of the Caesar's impressive army turned on each other. Without the keystone of Caesar's charisma and intelligence the once proud legion faltered and fell apart, transforming into as many kingdoms as the Legion had tribes. But none no longer bearing tribal identity anymore, and all claiming to be the next Legion.

The Mojave itself turned to uncertain leadership.

And the Midwest is a intertwined network of rogue Brotherhood of Steel factions, small enclave holdouts, super-mutants, and robots. Little is certain.

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So I seem to have adopted this from the old Interest Check. So let me welcome anyone and all to Fallout Factions: A NRP. It's generic, I know. But to Hell with that!

For anyone looking to join in on this then let me say: this is a narrative driven, character focused RP. Stats will not be enforced; though you can certainly take note of them. Progress of time will not be determined by the taking of turns and everything will be written from the idea to make a good story and not having to make good rolls. There will be no spreadsheet and no forty-page rule book with equations. This will function as if we are writing a good cooperative story.

That is the gist.

Should for any reason something obviously over powered happen then feel free to point it out in the thread and let us discuss it. If someone is being a poor sport and not recognizing situations where he should probably consider writing as if he's loosing then say something so we all can throw in our opinion. We're going to approach issues democratically and civilized. Alternatively, you can plan out encounters when they seem probable with the other party and sort out to figure out how these moments should roll so that both you and the other guy are happy with how these sorts of things will play. There is no need to play the superiority game.

As well, given the nature of Fallout as a adventure role-playing game I am allowed for nation-independent characters being present for those who do not wish to otherwise play the roll as a nation or some political faction. These figures being those that can be considered the tie breaker in instances that any competing political faction can use to force conflict in their favor. This is if no one side can reach a civilized agreement and they must write under the presumption that they won't be able to make significant gains ever, or they do agree this would be the most interesting course of action. Which ever makes interesting stories.

I don't really have much more to explain. Other than expecting other people to be good little boys and girls versed in what passes as good RP characters there is no more story. This is to be decided by everyone else here. The functions of the RP are simple. Though I could go in depth as to why, this is deeply ideological and unrelated to how THIS RP rolls.

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Special Statuses of the Wasteland

As a note before we move onto the application process I should probably point out a special status in the North American wasteland, and that is in the hands of the NCR. Though a unified entity in the sense it's still a nation the failure of the NCR military at Hoover Dam has greatly shaken the institution of their politics and their army. They do not see themselves as being as full of pride and the inherent weaknesses of their nation, built on old-world values and systems has received a black eye.

No longer capable of pushing east for resources the Republic is shaken to its core and now actively seeks out how to address these short falls. It has in its borders a expanding population, much of it restless. But since loosing the Dam it no longer has the resources to properly manage to address this. From Baja California to Klamath in the North, the NCR has become to factionalize internally as debate and argument erupts as to the best course of action or even independence from a weakened Republic. As such, the NCR shall not be treated a a single centralized entity and everyone seeking to be a part of it will have to take on the role of one of its institutions, parties, factions, or cities.

In the grand scheme of this RP that means steering the NCR will be a more cooperative affair than not. Factions may range from powerful rancher families, caravan networks like the Crimson Caravan or Gun Runners, to its cities or political parties in the senate. Or even the army itself. The NCR is in uncertain times, and has not recovered from the Pyrrhic victory at Hoover Dam and the destruction of their logistical routes into the Mojave.

When ruling the NCR then I will safely allow people to assume they have at least one representative in the NCR senate or House of Representatives. Whether directly or in old-fashion political corruption. But in no way is anyone supposed to claim too many; it's just unfair. I will be making the judgment on whether or not you have “too much” or not.

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Time

A passing note to make before we continue is the measure of time, since I feel this will be ultimately important on some mechanical level and one of the few “statistical” functions of the RP I'll enforce (the other being a map). For that purpose, one month of time will be three pages of IC posting. If this feels too short then say so, or if this feels too long than do the same. But I feel this will encourage a organic flow of time to take us progressively into the future with minimal unequal advancement on any of our parts.

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Applications

“Nation” Apps

Nation:
Location:
Icon: (I will use this on the map to put together a Fallout-esque icon to mark your location)
History: (Includes leadership)

Faction Apps (non-national, multi-person entities. Includes anyone applying as a faction in the NCR)

Name:
Location:
History:

Single-Character Apps (for those who want to sign up as a non-organization. If this is mixed with faction or nation apps I will ignore this as your sign-up.)

Name:
Physical Description: (Includes age and race. Written description only.)
Bio:

INDEPENDENT NATIONS

The Zealots


NCR FACTIONS





Individual Characters

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Question: Why can't we make people for the organizations we plan on running. For instance I plan on running a construction company in the NCR, but that person will be entering the senate or presidential race, so how will that work?

FireBringer said
Question: Why can't we make people for the organizations we plan on running. For instance I plan on running a construction company in the NCR, but that person will be entering the senate or presidential race, so how will that work?

Given this is a narrative, character-oriented NRP it's redundant to write up a character sheet for people within a faction already. The efforts of your nation, company, party, whatever, should be explored by the people within it. Assuming control of a nation or any organization gives you by default anywhere from ten to a hundred, or several thousand or more individuals under your wing.

If a company this defaults to you however many "employees" you have. A city, nation, or state defaults all "citizens" to you. All of them potential individual characters.

You could certainly use the individual app, but I'll regard it mostly as character notes over an earnest application. Of course if I look at it though and find your leader is a five-hundred pound, never-dying, jet-pack super mutant I'm likely to tell you to amend that. No Frank Horrigans please. Or Sierra Madre Ghosts for that matter.

Anyway, what NCR faction should I pick? The Army, or a Reformist Political Party?

Letter Bee said
Anyway, what NCR faction should I pick? The Army, or a Reformist Political Party?

As a note on the army I got a concerned message about you controlling the entire military. So if you could not take the entire military that'd be great. For all purposes I'd say it would be best to take only a regiment or some smaller unit within the greater military and now the whole thing.

That works; what about the Rangers?

For the record, I was the concerned citizen. I think allowing someone control of something as broad of as "the army" is dangerous. I think a general or something with a group of loyal soldiers would be safer. That way we're not surrendering full control of such a big and important organization to one person, who may or may not do a good job with it. Not to mention it allows other people to control parts of the army and compete for control, which would be good.

That's all right, and I can accept that.

In any case, I'mma be first to dump their app.

Nation: The Zealots
Location: New York City
Icon:
History: The history of what would be considered that of the Zealots is itself intertwined with the identity of the Jewish community that survived the Great War and the factors to its survival. Primary of most are the communities that gained access to the Vault nuclear shelters. Seeking refuge in these, thousands of Americanized Jews obtained refuge on the fringes of New York or outside, waiting out the effects of the fallout for several generations before their shelters opened.

The other factors are those who were caught in the middle of New York's hot summer. Although the effects of ghoulification had not been realized during the Hot Summer and New York City's reactor melt downs it seeded the factors which ultimately created the big Apple's future, oldest-living Jews.

The Zealots as they would become did not come to fruition immediately after the Jewish vaults open, but became a slow evolution, spawned from self-defense from the Judaic communities.

On leaving the Vaults in the year 2175 the Vault-born Jews stumbled into New York, innocent to the threats posed by the war-ravaged and polluted city. Though armed, the scattered survivors found it difficult to survive in the fierce jungle. But by providence often afforded to the Hebrew people they were reunited with the old-world Jewish Community.

The ghoulified Jews were led by a man going by the name of Leonard Rothman. Claiming himself to be a Kohen – a descendant of the first High Priest Aaron, brother of Moses – he lead a community of roughly two-hundred old-world ghouls in the heart of Queens. Recognizing their brothers, they invited them into their community, offering protection in numbers and an ultimate means of survival, even if for the Queens Ghouls life was hardly kind to them.

Over the next several decades many of Leonard Rothman's followers died or succumbed to the ultimate rabid nature of being a ghoul. Reducing their numbers over time from two hundred to just short of thirty-five. The humans continued to persist.

Between 2175 and 2273 the Jewish population of Queens did manage to grow, either in from raider bands surrendering to the defenders of the Jewish community or simply by slow – if anemic – population growth. The expansion of the community afforded them to spread out, occupying the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and The Bronx.

These early communities kept close relationships, relying on each other for mutual self defense against the hostile elements of greater New York, all the while trading in scrap and chems with coastal merchants who sailed up and down the East Coast in old pre-war ships or boats cobbled together from scrap. The extensive urban debris of New York provided a wealth of not only supplies and weapons left behind by the National Guard and crews who were deployed to contain and lessen the effects of the Hot Summer, but the knowledge of the surviving old-world Jews in professional fields allowed for the production of higher-end manufactured goods. In a sense the community propped itself on the production of home-made pharmaceuticals and chems sold to the merchants at a good profit. Often times the interests of self defense called for raiding, which brought in additional supplies, as well as slaves traded abroad. But even their efforts were strained, and parts of their communities fell into mismanagement as the Jewish community began to fall back into centralized areas.

In the defense of their communities however the Jews of Queens came into contact with one raider who simply referred to himself as “Dogballs”.

Taken in as a casualty of a failed raid against them, Dogballs was shot through the head with a rifle. However by unfortunate luck the raider was not dropped for dead and slipped into a coma from his injuries. Retrieving his corpse the defenders found the body still retained vitals and urgently dressed his wounds. Surrendering him to the ghouls they presided over his unconscious corpse, pensively waiting for him to come to as they debated his fate. It was a year before Dogballs came around.

In the year 2275 he came to. His recovery came as a shock, forcing many to hail his return from death as a miracle. So much so the ghoulish kohen Leonard Rothman came to visit him. Sitting down with him, Rothman discussed the raider's life. And offered him salvation as God saw fit to keep him alive, for whatever grand humor that would serve. Dogballs apprehensively accepted.

Though outcasted as per his lack of faith Dogballs tried his best – if at the insistence of Rothman – to do so. He was offered and given much, food, shelter, an education by the Rabbis; as per the mounted pressure by the descendants of the Jewish vault community on Kohen Leonard. And it was Dogballs he turned to to address many of the problems the communities faced. It is often wondered if his missions were a means to kill the raider, or to force him to prove himself. But the kohenim has remained silent on the matter.

Dogballs was the one to set foot into the sewers of New York, to slay the great ghoul alligator The Leviathan who had set up a nest there and who had eaten many a traveler or scavenger. And it was Dogballs who had met the super mutant named “Goliath” that promised to lead an army on the Jews. For all the monsters and threats that faced the community it was Dogballs who was chosen to act. And it was Dogballs who began to volunteer.

In 2277, Dogballs accepted conversion to Judaism.

To his followers this was a monumental decision, and in their eyes legitimatized him as a great man. To those that had followed him distantly this made him approachable. His renown exploded at his conversion as he was now not just an outsider, he was a brother. As part of his conversion he renounced his old raider name of Dogballs and adopted the name Solomon.

Solomon's followers flocked to him, in effect forming a fourth tribe in the three-borough territory of the Jews. Renowned for an almost fanatical devotion to Solomon as an almost messiah figure they adopted the name of Zealots. They echoed his statements to forge a unified kingdom for their people. The ending of all threats. Construction of a great temple. And most grandest of all: a return – an aliyah – to the promised land across the mysterious dark sea.

Many of the old-world ghouls treated this decree with cynicism. But were helpless to do anything but watched as the three communities of Queens, The Bronx, and Brooklyn folded into the Zealot's flag.

Over the next several years Solomon lead a borough-by-borough campaign on the wild boroughs of New York. In doing so he forced out the communities who lived within, enslaved the others, or forced the conversion of the gentile populations. His acts of forced conversion came under heavy fire from the old-world ghouls who contended that their faith was simply not a ideology, but a way of life and an identity. They demanded Solomon should respect that.

It is a argument that Solomon responded with, “we must install a fear of Jews in defense, and in effect encourage mityahed.” Relationships between Solomon and the old-world Jews has remained stressed ever sense.

The occupation of New York by the Zealots became final by 2283. Solomon encouraged the process of mityahed, which increased his number of supporters. To rest many of the tensions between him and the old-breed of Jews, Solomon met with Kohen Leonard and prepared to law more defined and reformed “legal” rights to this first-convert Jews he brought in, and under which circumstances they could convert under. The most pressing of this new legal frame-work that new converts may only be taken in if they marry a formal, religious Jew.

Edited Faction Sheet, as I have little to do this Christmas anyway:

Edited further.

Name: The NCR Rangers

Location: Core Region, Baja, and the Mojave (formerly)

History: The NCR Rangers have a long and storied history of being the best of the best, but now, this history includes a terrible mark; the mark of destruction, shame, and betrayal, both from within and without, although the betrayals from within are, yet, unknown, although the betrayals from without are. First, we shall start with the betrayals from without, for without them, the betrayals from within wouldn't make sense.

During the Mojave Campaign, General Lee Oliver, in order to attain glory for himself, favored his own troops, the NCR Heavy Infantry, over the Rangers, to the point of putting the latter in harm's way a lot of times, while President Aaron Kimball, leader of the NCR, pursued an expansionist policy that, although it scored short-term gains for the NCR, overextended the army greatly, stretching lines of supply and communication.

This caused Chief Hanlon, victor of the First Battle for Hoover Dam, and leader of the NCR Rangers, to grow weary and frustrated at the leadership, knowing that said leadership was as short-sighted as their gains were brief. New Vegas, due to 'Kimball's War', was bleeding dry the men of the NCR, as well as the nation's remaining resources. So, the Chief decided to betray the NCR command, falsifying field reports and distorting information sent by the Mojave outposts; the intention was to create discontent against the NCR heirarchy, which would eventually lead to resistance, which would in turn lead to a withdrawal from the Mojave. It was unknown whether this plan succeeded, or if the NCR suspected anything and was investigating. All that was known was that the Core Regions didn't catch wind of it.

In time, the point became moot as during the Second Battle for Hoover Dam, nuclear missiles blew up the supply lines that carried vital goods and equipment for the NCR Forces in the region. Chief Hanlon and the Mojave Wasteland were cut off from all means of support, except for the occasional Ghoul courier, and the Chief himself died of stress soon after, with the remaining Rangers organizing themselves as an independent power bloc in the now-isolated Mojave. Not merely that, but before Hanlon's death, all evidence of his misdeeds was erased, lost in the chaos following the Second Battle. This segues to our second topic, the story of the Rangers left behind.

In Baja California, the Rangers won a victory against the mysterious forces they had encountered, a victory such that, if Chief Hanlon's treachery was revealed, it would have been wiped away. This was one of the lone sources of joy in the upheaval following the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.

However, the fact was that there was still upheaval, as the poltiicians and soldiers of the NCR began backbiting and accusing each other of being behind the failures, and the Military was tarnished most of all, as it had been their influence, entwined with that of Kimball and Lee Oliver's, that created the Defeat/Phyrric Victory in the Mojave in the first place. The Military was corrupt, people said; it had led the nation to defeat and humiliation. All except the Rangers, whose treachery was unknown to all except a few, and furthermore eclipsed by the greater, preceeding sins of their superiors. And so, the current leader of the Rangers, Teresa Hangman, decided on a new plan, a plan that played to the Ranger's strengths and the opposition's weaknesses.

Basically, the plan was this: Reconnect with the Mojave, and build up strength in Baja and the southernmost parts of Oregeon. Outwardly commit to having the NCR expand again, with the Rangers blazing the trail. However, in this expansion, they would slowly, and, furthermore, legally, build an independent power base to rival that of the Brahmin Barons and the rest of the Army, which would be used to trade political horses for support, support for reforms in the state structure and the economy. This power base would be mostly composed of a series of militarized smallholdings, plots of land large enough to support a family, including two soldiers, but still too small to qualify as an estate. Not merely that, but these smallholdings can, and will, provide a military frontier that would defend the NCR from future threats...

It's short and I know you said you can write a lot and I'd like to see you prove this. I'll bring you in on the assumption I'll see more though. But at some point I would like to see the app expanded on later when you get the chance.

And I guess since we got our first NCR faction in play I'll update the map.



I toned down the colors. I'll probably have to cut NCR territory a bit more to the west around Arizona... but that'll be next update chance.

Nothing to do this Christmas Eve, so I'll edit it.

Edit: Before anyone says anything, no, I haven't played New Vegas, so didn't know that Chief Hanlon was a traitor after all.

Edit: Will edit more.

Right.

Anyways, I don't want to leave one person in the NCR so I'mma hold off from letting the RP go ahead until we have someone else in there. And do remember: even the states within the NCR like to fight each other. It's pretty common for them to try and exert more influence than the other. Especially between the trading cities.

Understood; honestly, I expected more criticism.

If I remember correctly, Chief Hanlon's betrayal was more about getting the army, specifically the Rangers, out of the Mojave. He wanted them out because he disapproved of the whole war and how much the NCR was exhausting (especially in terms of lives) for a foreign land and ungrateful people. So he falsified reports and messed with logistics (like sending outposts asking for water ammunition instead) to make the whole war seem worse than it is in order to gain support for a military withdrawal. It was never about him wanting to form a new republic.

Thanks for that; what edits should I further make?

The rest depends on how much Aaron wants to involve the Courier. I am under the impression that Courier involvement is being kept to a minimum (pretty much limited to chasing Ulysses) so as to avoid contradictions and prevent people from making claims involving the Courier that don't really make sense or fit with what has been decided for the plot. Like, it'd be weird if one player claims the Courier helped the NCR, and then another player says the Courier helped the Legion. To avoid that, I figured we'd be limiting Courier involvement to following Ulysses. But again, it's up to Aaron. We'll see what he says when he's back.