Editing PAW (section)

=META-Campaign Setting=
===Assumptions about the setting===
*Humans are basically evil.  When the global economy collapses, many people are willing to kill others to obtain food and other valuables.
*Transport is reliant on horses and bicycles, while river transportation is just making a comeback at the beginning of the campaign.  Transport on known arteries such as train tracks and interstates (which are fallen into terrible repair), are subject to heavy "taxation" by local gangs, while travel in poor-infrastructure areas means potentially not seeing a soul for a very long time.  Because of this, trade is almost non-existent (except on very local levels).
*Many in farming communities survive by continuing to farm.  Their farmsteads are frequently raided by city-dwellers.  Cities have become heavily depopulated and every structure ransacked for non-perishable food items.
*A lot of day-to-day items such as clothing and furniture is simply harvested from abandoned buildings - from the society of the past.  People are walking around wearing ratty Nike shirts and Levis Jeans manufactured over a century ago but that hadn't been worn due to the severe depopulation.  Human capital works in farming, animal husbandry, martial training to protect what you've built, and scavenging "things".
*Steam still works, having ramifications I'm sure others can ponder better than I!
*Sooo ... a bit Steampunk.  But with touches of "Western Steampunk" since it's the US and not-so-Victorian.  But it's on the cusp of re-development and by no means universal.


===Themes===
*Exploration by the PCs to try and learn more about humanity's predicament.  Presumably they will be the type of characters driven to learn more about their surroundings and how they can improve things.
*Humans will have [d]evolved into different groups and insular societies with strongly diverging opinions, fostered by varying opinions on the cataclysm and how to manage society.  There will be communist collectives, religious cults, scientific sects, local dictators, etc.
*The PCs may feel obliged to find other humans that they can trust to help maintain their "safe area(s)" that cultivate crops and protect shelter and safe drinking water during their travels.  Eventually they will take on henchmen-types and then become community leaders.  Unless they simply decide to take the more dangerous route of traveling to regions unknown.
*Communication is relegated to the speed of travel.
*Humans are imperfect.  Characters will have to deal with mental, as well as physical challenges in the harshness of this setting.
*Exploring real modern communities like Chicago, Rockford and East Troy post-cataclysm to solve mysteries, scavenge for non-perishable foods and valuables and trade for goods and news of the world.

===Challenges to overcome===
*Finding food, shelter and safe drinking water when away from "safe areas" (ie when exploring).
*Surviving contact with other bands of humans fighting for survival in an age where society has broken down.
*Learning how to defend and protect yourselves and others in an age where medieval warfare might be logical, but no one is equipped with the tools needed to do so.
*See others in Player's Options, below.

===Mysteries to solve===
*Is the cataclysm solvable by humans?
*What is the nature of the cataclysm, and which interpretation(s) do the PCs abide by?
*From when you and I were alive in the early 21st Century, what technological developments occurred prior to the collapse of the late 21st Century that might be discovered and aid or harm the PCs' chances for survival?  Eg did man establish a community on Mars that was not affected by the cataclysm?
*Who are the local polities and what motivates them?  Eg the communist collectives, religious cults, scientific sects, local dictators I mentioned earlier.
*What news of beyond the local area.  Eg what happened to New York, Europe, Asia, etc.?
*What post-medieval technology is available without electricity or explosives to aid the PCs?  Can Jake's mechanical engineering-mind cook something up for his character to metagame-exploit?
*Local exploration of dangers, "finds", etc.
*How long has it been since the cataclysm?  What happened to [insert anyone] post-cataclysm?  Eg the US government and its successors, the US military and its successors, corporate headquarters, college towns, etc.

===Player's Options===
Game Elements voted on by the Players, as they affect the world.
*Did geomagnetic reversal that stopped electronics and explosives - did it allow for magic?  Note that Ringmail magic is low fantasy, like Tolkien, so it would be low-magic. -> Players answer NO.
*Between 2017 and the late 21st century, did GMOs cause medieval fantasy-like monsters (orcs, owlbears and such)?  If so, does that imply transhumanism and furthermore that the PCs could "play with their DNA"?  Or only transhumanism, none of the monsters?  -> Players answer NO, but very limited transhumanism/zombies.
*If yes to both of the above, does that allow for zombies and other forms of undead? -> Players answer YES, in small quantities.
*A more troupe style play where each Player controls multiple Characters.  As the campaign proceeds, mortality is allowable to individual characters since each Player has multiple backup Characters.  New Characters are acquired as henchmen when exploring, etc., and the players discuss which they want to control once the Character is satisfactorily aligned with the PCs' goals. -> Players answer YES.
===Terminology===
*Raiders - Individuals who generally live in urban areas who, especially during the harvest, "raid" rural areas for food.  They are often well-equipped with weapons and weapon-like tools scavenged from the urban centers.  "Rurals" must defend themselves, pay off the raiding parties, or flee their homesteads until the Raiders have taken what they wish and leave.  Raiders are usually looking for food of all types.
*Scavengers - Individuals traveling through the underpopulated urban centers looking for the manufactured goods of the pre-cataclysm era including warm clothing, medicines, manufactured tools and other goods.