AADA Road Atlas 5 Midwest 1988 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

GURPS®Autoduel® and

CAR INARS®

The AADA Road Atlas and Survival Guide

VOLUME FIVE: THE MIDWEST A Supplement for Car Wars® and GURPS Autoduel® By Craig Sheeley Edited by David Ladyman, Melinda Spray and Stephen Beeman Cover art by Guy Burchak; Interior art by Gary Washington with Dan Carroll, Phil Morrissey and "Speed" Webber Maps and graphics by Carl Manz, Czeslaw Somat and David Ladyman Production by Melinda Spray, Carl Manz, Czeslaw Somat and C . Mara Lee System design by Steve Jackson; GURPS development by David Ladyman; and Cor Wan development by Stephen Beeman Playtesters: Tim Bauer (NOVA), Scott Berkley, James Cromo, Flaming Lakers (Steven Koehler, David LaMothe, Phil Morrissey, Stuart Wagner, Wallace Greer, Marvin Lowe and Jeff Sheeley) Cicsco Lopez Fresquet, Dennis Grey, Ben Kloepper, Mark Orchard (Land of Lincoln AADA) Rob Rapplean and GROSS, Mark Soderberg, George Thorstad, The Bozeman Game Association, The Wrecking Crew (Ray Carter, Eric Jerome, Dean Kenady, Dan Ormiston, Larry Stohr, Bill Williams and Michael Vragel), Stephanie Wardwell and her gang (froy O'Brien, John Doyle, Allen and Susan Poynter Shock, John Monahan and Mary Zawacki). Extremely Special Mention: David Piatt, M .A.D .D Archivist.

Cor Wan, Autod.ul, GURPS, and MDA are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Copyright© 1988 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S .A. For a current GURPS errata sheet, and a free catalog of our products, send a legal-sized self-addressed stamped envelope to: Steve Jackson Games, P.O. Box 18957, Austin, Texas

TilE :MI.DWEST • . . • • • . . . • • • . . . • . . . . . . . . • . . • . 2 Before Tho Blight . ... .. ... .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . The Second Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Brief Peace ........ ... . . . . . . . . . . ..... . ... . . ..... The Dakotas .. ....... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . .. .. . ..... The Grain Blight ... ........ .... ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Central Midwest . . . . . . . • • • • . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . • • . . The Midwest Plains . ...............•••...••••...•••• After The Blight ...... ........ .. ... . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Russo-American War .. ... . ..... . ....... ... ....... The Food Riots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Upper Midwest .........••...•••.•......•.....•• The lnduslrlal Midwest •... .... . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autoduelling and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Today and Tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nuckar Hazard Areas of the Midwest ...........•. .. ...•..

2 2 2 2 3

3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5

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CAMPAIGNING IN TilE MIDWEST •••••••••••••• 6 Modifications for Midwest Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Western .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gt!nt!ral Reaction Modifiers from Midweslt!mers . . . • . • . . . . • . . . Clubhouse Blues .... . .... .. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Lone Wolf .. ...... ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .... Campaign Suggestions and Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dlinois . ...... ........ ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lakes and Rivers in the Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6 6

6 7 7 7 7 7 8

DEDSFL .................••....••.•....••........ 8

Minnesota and Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 North Dakota, South Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

TilE CHURCH OF AMERICA .............•••.• 10 The Origins of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . ... A New Leader ..... ....... .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald LaMothe: Religious Leader or Demagogue .. ......... The Olurch Leader: Donald LaMothe . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Church of America Today ........ .... .. ... . . .. ...... Tenets of the Olurch of America ..... .. .... . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 10 10 11 12 12

FORTRESS TOWNS •••••••••••••••••••..•••• 13 Theory and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Anatomy of a Fortress Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Busting Fortress Towns and The Art of Raiding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tho Defenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map ofWichita (1988) ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Building a Fortress Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map of Wichita (2038) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ........

13 14 14 16 16 17 19

TilE AADA ROAD ATLAS AND SURVIVAL GUIDE: TIIE:MI.DWEST • • ••••••••••.•••••...••. . ••• 21 Dlinois . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. ..... . . ... ...... .. . . ... . . .. 21 Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... .... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Decatur, Rockford, Springfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Brickyard (formerly Indianapolis), Floral Gulch ... . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Fort Wayne., Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... ... .... ...... 25 Des Moines . . . ... ... ....... ... .... .. ... .... ...... 25 Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 KC-1 (formerly Kansas City) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Topeka ........ ... ... . .. .. ..... ...... ... .... .... 27 Wichita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 28 Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Ann Arbor ... . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .......... 28 Detroit .. .... .... .... .... . . . . . . . . . . ... . . ....... . 29 Grand Rapids, Lansing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Minnesota ...... . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Duluth, Minneapolis-St. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 KC-1, St. Louis, Springfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ..... 34 Nebraska ....... . .. ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . .. . ....... 35 New Omaha - Council Bluffs, Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 36 North Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Bismark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Dickenson PSSF, Fargo, Grand Forks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Ohio .... ... ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dayton, Midville ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 South Dakota ... . . .. ..... .. . ....... .... .. ........... 40 Pierre, Rapid City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Sioux Falls . ....... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ...... .. .... 41 Wisconsin ...... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Green Bay . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . ..... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Madison, Milwaukee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

MINI-SCENARIOS ••••••••••••••••..•••..••• 43 Midville, Ohio; Nebraska; South Dakota .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 43 Dodge City, Kansas; Floral Gulch, Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 North Dakota; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota .. .. ....... . .... 45 Iowa; Chicago, Dlinois . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . .. . .. .... .... 46 Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... ...... 47

N.n]RPHYS'LAVV ..•••........•....•••..•• •• 48

STEVE .JACKSON GAMES 109876

5432

ISBN l-55634-lll-3

TBI IIIDWIST Before the Blight The Dakotas The pre-Blight economy of the Dakotas, supported mainly by cattle and grain, was quite stable, as was the populace. Even the oil depletion didn't bother or affect the Dakotas much, as the drivers of the states switched over to alcohol fuel that was produced from the ever-present grain. Far removed from the fighting, the only consequences of the Second Civil War were that the two Dakota National Guard and Reserve units saw some action in Oklahoma. However, the Blight had horrid effects, in one stroke devastating the economies of both states. People streamed out of North and South Dakota in search of more prosperous places to live. The food distribution to the remaining population held out a little longer than it did in other, more heavily populated states. However, refugees from other states came to the Dakotas, brought the expected wave of destruction with them, and totally depleted the food supplies. Fortunately, as soon as there was no food left, the vandals left for more southerly climes. The severe Dakota winters and the short summer growing season did not allow enough time for the cultivation of the soybean and potato crops adopted by other midwestern states. Until the greenery reconquered the plains, cattle ranching on any scale but miniscule was impossible. The human race seemed to pull out, leaving the Dakotas practically deserted. Practically. There were those who stayed on in the few husks of cities left that could provide shelter. Some were bandits, but most were just stubborn Dakotans who wouldn't be budged. Once the algae food technology assured a good food supply, the Dakotans could afford the wait for cattle-feeding plant life to return. When the cattle fodder came back, the cattle moved in shortly thereafter. Both Dakotas have now become an ironic parody of three hundred years ago: huge herds of hoofed beasts roam vast expanses of prairie. There are a few differences, though. The beasts are now cattle, not buffalo, and the men who tend them ride in trucks and on motorcycles as well as on horses.

The Midwest

In the Golden Age of America, the Midwest states formed the western edge of the eastern manufacturing complex, served as a transport district from one coast to the other, and were the most productive "breadbasket" in the world. Though foreign products dimmed the importance of most American industry production, and domestic competition nearly killed the "family farm," the Midwest continued to produce more food than the entire country could eat, and exported grain and produce to other countries. Rail yards and river ports shipped edibles to other parts of the nation, to be consumed or stored by the federal government, when there were no other buyers for the oversupply.

The Second Civil War After a decade of increasing unemployment, lowered industrial employment and heavy loss of family farms to corporate farming interests, the Free Oil States' Declaration of Independence and the ensuing war brought frantic, if short-lived, prosperity back to the Midwest. Since they were so close to the warfront, manufacturing in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio became valuable. Grainproducers like Kansas, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa plunged into the alcohol business, since the military switched to alcohol fuel. The resources of Minnesota, Missouri and Illinois - all were used for the war effort. Men and material moved south along the rails, rivers and roads. To prevent the Free Oiler attacks, forts were built in states close to the battlegrounds of Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas, while arms were stockpiled in other Midwestern states. Midwesterners readied themselves for war; some of them saw action, as National Guard units and reserve corps were committed to the conflict.

A Brief Peace The Texarkana Accords of 2004 ended the war abruptly, catching everybody by surprise. Virtually no one anticipated that the federal government would conclude that war to reunite the country was more expensive than letting the country remain split. A mini-depression followed for the country as a whole, and for the Midwest in particular. Grain-to-alcohol was still a strong industry, as many of the country's internal combustion cars changed to alcohol-fueled. However, other concerns struggled to re-adapt to civilian products instead of military supplies. Once again, unemployment bred unrest throughout the Midwest, both in rural and urban areas.

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The Grain Blight The grain-destroying virus of 2012 hit the Midwest harder than any other part of America. Not only did it jeopardize future food supplies, but it also devastated the major cash crop and all the industry associated with it, causing almost instant economic collapse. The great plains of the central Midwest became one huge dust bowl. Only gradual inroads made by thistles and wild grasses restored this once fruitful farmland. No one knows just who engineered the Blight, or who released it, or where, or when. It could have been the act of a Third World country, attempting to wipe out a rival. It could have been a scientific accident- the release of an experimental virus. It could have been the test of a bio-weapon that escaped control. It may even have been a terrorist act. If so, it achieved more terror than its perpetrators could have ever thought possible: the downfall of modern civilization, and the end of a Golden Age of plenty.

Whoever was responsible for the Blight, the virus soon went its own way, with devastating results. Any grain that was exposed blackened and died, consumed by the cancer-like virus . Once the virus infected the plant, it would feed on the plant's nutrients and multiply, literally starving the plant to death! If there was seed on the plant, the nutrients in the seed would be devoured in short order as well. Indeed, if the airborne virus even landed on a seed, it commenced to devour the seed's substance. This caused the deterioration of already harvested and stockpiled grains, and there was no way to stop the Blight unless the grain in question had already been treated with preservatives. No grain storage could be made airtight; dust explosion was far too likely if circulation were restricted. Not only were wheat and rye affected, but rice, corn, and other high-nutrient grasses died in the Blight too. All the cultivated grains, bred for thousands of years to provide an efficient food source, were quickly consumed by the voracious organism. There were two notable exceptions to the mass extinction: Australia, through quarantining and luck, has so far avoided the Blight; and barley, for some unknown reason, is immune to the virus. Elsewhere, only laboratory specimens kept in carefully maintained, totally Blight-free atmospheres still live. The effects were catastrophic. All over the world, nations and people were suddenly deprived of major food sources. They call that period the "Food

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The Central Midwest Iowa, Illinois and Missouri shared much the same fates as the rest of the nation. The Second Civil War brought a small repite to unemployment woes . However, the Grain Blight descimated the "Com Belt." Com crops, a food staple for both man and beast, withered on the stalk. Refugees flocked to these states, since more than a third of the planted fields were soybean and clover. Farmers barricaded themselves and formed co-ops to help neighbors defend their crops. These crops also helped the soil so that the dust bowl conditions of the plains didn't develop.

The Midwest Plains When the line "amber waves of grain" was written into America the Beautiful, the writer surely had the western plains of Kansas and Nebraska in mind. Once these two states were truly golden; they raised a large portion of the grain of America, as well as cattle. Though lacking any great amount of industry, the states did quite well both economically and culturally. The Second Civil War brought some changes, as both states were very close to the area of conflict. Most of the changes were minor: An influx of troops and material, the fortification of cities near the border, occasional attacks across the border and so forth . One change had a major but subtle effect on the inhabitants of the western plains: paranoia toward out-ofstaters. The troops brought in from the east made trouble in the quiet and rather sleepy midwestern towns and cities, engendering bad will; the "Oilies" attacking across the border into Kansas didn't improve public relations as far as the Free Oil States were concerned. This impression widened to include almost everybody who wasn't from the immediate areas . This attitude became very deeply founded during the Food Riot years, when marauders swept across the plains in search of food, fuel and anything else of value. When the Blight withere4 grains and grasses, a specter from nearly a century before surfaced: The Dust Bowl. Massive dust storms swept over the plains, carrying over two inches of rich topsoil as far east as the Mississippi river. The Dust Bowl subsided only gradually, as weather patterns stabilized and creeping plants reclaimed the prairie. Once vegetation had repossessed the soil and civilization had repossessed the land, cattle ranching reappeared as a major industry. Vast expanses of unfenced land are now used for grazing, and armed vehicles keep the herds in line and handle occasional rustlers . Both states are still, for the most part, open plains with little to relieve the monotony of driving except a rare fortress city or landscape-covering herd of cattle.

The Midwest

The Upper Midwest Minnesota and Wisconsin have had the good fortune of being connected to the Great Lakes, encouraging settlers and facilitating transportation. When the prairies were resettled, these states filled swiftly. The Blight hit these states less drastically than their Midwestern neighbors. Since they didn't depend on wheat and other grains to the extent of the other agri-business states, they weathered the loss in better shape - such good shape, in fact, that they attracted more than their share of looters when the Food Riot years came. But these states' agricultural strength could not be destroyed by the looters and migrants who rampaged for two long years. As soon as there were no more easy targets, most of the looters left, and the rural farmers moved out of their barricaded farms to begin sowing their soybeans and raising cattle once again.

Riots." It conjures images of only a fraction of the chaos and death that followed. Whole populations died in order to bring the total number of mouths down to the level where the remaining food supplies could feed them.

After The Blight The Russo-American War The Russo-American War followed within weeks of the Blight's first major strikes. In less than an hour, the world's most heralded destructive forces encountered each other in space. The satellite defense systems stopped most of the missiles. Unfortunately, n