Atomic Highway

Civilization came crashing down. Billions died.

A new Dark Age has begun. The descendants of the apocalypse's survivors scavenge the remnants of the Before Times, struggling to build a new life amidst the ruins of the old. In a savage world where the strong ravage and exploit the weak, the survivors' settlements are oases, connected only by convoys of armed and armored vehicles that run the gauntlet of raiders... and worse.

Though the threats of chemical and biological agents and radiation have all but faded, their taint lingers on in every mutant born man and beast.

This is the world of Atomic Highway.

Players

• Mr Nay - Church (Telepathic Feral Bounty Hunter)
• The LazyBlank - Rozalyn "Roz" Wright (Hauler)
• Xhaosdaemon - Tenebrous (Mutant Skulk)
• Cultist of Sooty - Little Stick (Tribal Hunter)

The Story so Far...

pending

Characters

Rozalyn "Roz" Wright (PC)

A Hauler who's following in her father's footsteps, Rozalyn "Roz" Wright took to driving as soon as she could get her feet to the pedals. She got shifted to being the main driver at the age of 18, her dad realizing that she could handle the car as well as he could. A year or so after Roz started driving, her dad decided to expand his hauling. He could afford a few more trucks and some more crews. While Roz didn't like this much, she was definitely happy when she got her own truck out of the deal. Now, she's looking to haul whatever she wants, however she wants.

Tenebrous (PC)

Tenebrous abandoned his given name years ago when he abandoned the trog warrens he had been raised in after everyone was slaughtered by morlocks that burrowed up from tunnels deeper below. He survived by hiding himself beneath some rubble and remaining very still until they had gathered the dead for their feast. Gathering what meager possessions he could Tenebrous made his way out to the surface from the warrens and into the wasteland. Moving around as much as possible during the night and dimmer lit times he eventually found his way to a settlement. Darkening his skin with ash and dirt and keeping himself cloaked he was able to slip into the seedier section where people ignored each other unless they had good reason not to. Tenebrous was able to survive by stealing little bits of food and water away, aided by his natural gifts. Eventually he did get caught by some rogues when he was chased and they found him stuffed into a narrow crate. Instead of killing him they decided they could put his mutant talents to good use. He learned to move around more quietly in the shadows and his abilities to see in almost darkness and twist his body into a pretzel helped him with the thefts required by the rogues. He found it ironic that even though most of the humans spat in his direction once he was found out to be a mutie, some others had no problems with using his mutations for their own profit. Tenebrous got tired of wearing himself out for someone else's profit and one night slipped unseen into a caravan's goods and was carried to the next settlement. Now he plans on using his gifts to enrich himself, no more will he do all the dirty work and receive none of the reward. The whole world is before him and he has only to decide where to go first.

Church (PC)

Named after the place the scavengers found him. Church had been living in the ruins of the city using his wits and telepathy to keep out of reach. Warily, he took a liking to a band of scavengers and followed them back to their 'stead. Though tolerated, he knew he was never completely welcome at the 'stead. Only a few of the original scavengers, particularly an old sentinel named Skeve had any time for Church. Skeve had few ways to connect with others, so he took Church under his wing and passed on all he knew of warfare. When Skeve died of a lung mite infection, Church knew it was time to go. Now he travels from place to place chasing bounties and fighting on the walls as a merc. I can see Church travelling around with a vehicle orientated partner in crime. If anyone with that a driver type of character wants an ally on board, I am keen as.

Little Stick (PC)

Little Stick grew up with the Yellow Dog clan, a rough crew of tribal raiders. In summer months, they raided homesteads and travellers on the edge of the Great Sandy Waste. In the winter, they retreated into the hills and holed up in sheltered canyons and caves. Life was pretty good for them till about 3 years ago, when they had the bad luck to hit Crippled Cow Creek at the same time as a well-armed Highway Patrol came through. Most of their warriors were wiped out that day and the rest of the clan was easy prey for the many enemies they had made. The survivors have scattered - some to other tribes, some to what passes for civilisation and some making their own way. Little Stick hit the road, keeping on the move in case anyone with long memories catches her up. She moves from settlement to settlement, scratching a living from doctoring. There ain't a town in this land that doesn't mind seeing another doctor and just maybe it's a kind of payback for the bad things that the Yellow Dog did and for what she herself did in her youth. She's grown up to be reasonably personable, good at talking to people and with an ironic sense of humour. Underneath that ironic distance she is genuinely compassionate, though it comes as much from guilt as it does from alruism. She never has much that's good to say about raiders and she's wary of staying in the same place for too long. She clams up tight when anyone brings up the Crippled Cow Creek massacre. Little Stick is in her mid-20s, tanned and weather-beaten from life on the road. She dresses in hard-wearing travel , with a poncho fashioned from an old canvas tent to protect her against inclement weather. She still has her Yellow Dog tribal tattoos and scars and a necklace of human teeth, but she doesn't show them off with the pride she once did. She rides a grey horse and goes well-armed with an automatic pistol, a baseball bat with some nails through it and a very sharp knife.

The Warden (NPC)

Inmate or Guard, few really understand how the Warden came to control Fort Penance, but few dare to question his authority either.

Rollo Hutt (NPC)

Grossly overweight, this lumbering oaf manages the day to day operation of the Skin Market, but delegates any brute work to his enforcers.

The Wasteland - Points of Interest

Badside

A walled enclosure on the eastern side of the polluted river crawling through the wreckage of a vast and ruined city, Badside serves as a staging area for groups of scavengers heading deeper into the urban sprawl in search of salvage. It is considered a sanctuary from the cannibal ghouls (and other - unspeakable - creatures) that roam the dead metropolis, but scavengers pay for this protection through extortionate taxes on anything of value that they might recover from the rubble.
Few would willingly choose to live beyond the wall, but there are small, isolated pockets of civilization across the city. The sewers are overrun with ravenous morlocks, and their is always work for those brave or desperate enough to descend into the foetid tunnels to purge the darkness of these mutated wretches.

Fort Penance

Once a fortified prison facility, now a crumbling bastion of corruption and brutality, this grim and isolated bartertown is governed by the remorseless Warden, a terrible man whom even the local raider bands fear to cross. The Fort maintains a functional generator, powering (amongst other, more mundane appliances) the electric chair frequently used to execute those who have fallen out of the Warden's favour. Such spectacles often draw large crowds of enthusiastic spectators.

Skin Market

Never settling in one location for more than a couple of days at a time, the Skin Market travels around the Wasteland, peddling its wares to those rich and wicked enough to indulge in the slavery of their fellow man. The Skin Market buys prisoners from bands of raiders, brands them as slaves and then sells them on for a profit. Men, women and children - even animals - can be haggled over and bought, for a price.
The guiding hand behind the Skin Market is an obscenely fat man called Rollo Hutt. He dwells within an enormous tent sewn from the flesh of over 100 slaves, killed and skinned for this singular purpose. He is always surrounded by a harem of hollow eyed women upon whom he often exercises his sick, sexual deprivations.

Rockpool Sands

A dilapidated resort town along the grey coastline, plagued by pirates and the clakkers lairing in the neighbouring sea-caves. A complicated communications array has been set up atop the crumbling lighthouse, and this development has disturbed a murder of dire gulls nesting in the ruined tower.

External Links

Atomic Highway IC Thread - the IC thread for Atomic Highway

Atomic Highway OOC Thread - the OOC thread for Atomic Highway

RPG.net Recruitment Thread - the recruitment thread for Atomic Highway

Invisible Castle - the online dice roller

Radioactive Ape Design - the website for the developer of the V6 system used in Atomic Highway (This link doesn't work)