GURPS Autoduel, Revised Timeline & Setting

[Gigermann]

I'm in the process of starting up a new campaign—as filler, or maybe as something more permanent. It's been an old desire of mine to run a good Autoduel game, so I'm finally getting to it. It's going to take place in my/our home town of Oklahoma City.

But, to the point:
I'm doing something a little different. Instead of using the setting as-is, I've decided to do a full-on cyberpunk + post-apocalyptic + other stuff "composite" setting. This means that elements of the composite source material will be melded into the setting as if it had actually occurred (or is occurring) as part of that setting.

Here's where the community comes in. I'm posting the revised Car Wars timeline, and some of the composite sources here, so the community can see it, and maybe give some feedback. Perhaps you can give me some ideas for elements that I've missed, or point out issues I haven't considered regarding what's there. Some of this I've already planned to adjust a bit.

And so, here goes…

[Gigermann]

TIMELINE

• ~2020: OKC Boom:
  • Around this time, Oklahoma City metropolitan area surpasses D/FW to become the largest population center in the mid-US. Growing upward, rather than outward, downtown OKC nearly triples in size as the entire city goes vertical to accommodate new industries. Oklahoma City is increasingly referred to as the "heart of the country," drawing the country's many enemies to it to stab at it.
• 2022:
  • Oklahoma City Mass Transit Project begins construction, expanding bus lines and building an extensive monorail system, to cope with population (and therefore, traffic) boom.
• 2023:
  • Construction begun on the Heartland Tower, a 100+ story office building in downtown OKC, similar to the TransAm building in San Fransisco; at the time, the Tower would become a running joke, synonymous with neverending projects, as numerous setbacks would continuously delay completion.
• 2029:
  • The Island: Merrick Biotech prosecuted for cloning violations regarding the keeping of fully-conscious clones rather than the "persistent vegetative state" required by law.
• 2030: Doomsday:
  • Jericho: In what was believed at the time to have been a terrorist attack, nuclear devices in 23 major US cities, followed [weeks] later by a non–missile-based nuclear detonation over the Pacific NW that wipes out all unshielded electronics in the western half of the country, plunging the country into total chaos. In the aftermath, the US is split into three countries; the United States of America based in Columbus, OH, the Allied States of America based in Cheyenne, WM, and the Independent Republic of Texas. Confusion and accusation revolving around the "attacks" result in a "global nuclear exchange" (referred to as the GNX, or the "60-minute war" (though it could hardly be called a "war")); much destruction is avoided due to satellite defenses. Jennings & Rall, a multinational corporation based in Cheyenne is later blamed for having orchestrated the attacks, although the accusation fails to stick over time as there is little hard evidence to support it.
• 2031: The Blight:
  • As the world reels from the GNX, a mysterious "plague" suddenly spreads across the globe, starting in Nebraska, USA and the Ukraine simultaneously, wiping out grain-production and stockpiles, and rendering oil reserves useless; vegetation at higher altitudes fared better. Severe food shortage sets in world-wide, and over time, human and animal populations would be reduced dramatically through starvation. Australia is the least affected by the Blight, due in part to an immediate and strict quarantine.
  • The scandal-weakened ASA gov't eventually collapses, and its associated states become independent; over the next decade, a number of those independent states, one by one, give in to US non-military attempts to persuade them to return to US federal control.
• 2034:
  • Dark Angel.
• 2035:
  • The Big One," earthquake of 8.2 (Richter) hits southern California, and a second Dust Bowl covers much of the US, caused by massive deforestation.
• 2036-37: Food Riots:
  • Fortress-towns and bunker-villages develop to protect citizens from gangs of "crazies" (the first such town is believed to have been Jericho, KS). Due to starvation and the inability to cope with the gangs, National gov't fails to keep order throughout much of the US, and begins to collapse entirely. Some large cities are completely abandoned. The collapse of the US gov't leaves Australia as the world's only real superpower.
• 2038-60: Dark Ages II:
  • Gangs rule most of the US outside of the fortress towns. Country real-estate becomes basically worthless. Many large cities totally abandoned.
  • Mad Max, The Postman.
• 2042:
  • Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Deseret, and Alaska are the only states that remain independent from US federal control, as Montana finally gives in to US pressure. Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana are the most stubborn, forming a loose alliance referred to as the Free Oil States. Mistakes were made, and the bad blood that resulted meant that war, on some scale, would be inevitable.
• 2060: The Recovery:
  • Earth's surface vegetation shows first weak signs of recovery from the Blight, though scientists predict it could take centuries to completely regrow; new algae farms make up lost food production.
  • Television becomes America's number two industry, next to food production; "reality-based" shows are the most common type. "Death sports" become popular in many US states, in the absence of Federal oversight.
• 2061:
  • The 6th Day: Replacement Technologies cloning facility destroyed in a terrorist attack; those responsible were never discovered, but were believed to be anti-cloning zealots.
• 2062:
  • "Shootout," a locally produced and broadcast blood-sport TV show featuring teams of shooters using "reduced-lethality" weapons, becomes nationally noticed when it is discovered by a larger network.
  • "Crazy Joe" Harshman wins Fresno destruction derby by mounting a surplus .50 cal machine gun in his Chevy.
• 2063:
  • In an effort to stave off rising unrest, the Supreme Court allows "creative" punishments for the worst criminals, allowing deadly arena games as an alternative to the death sentence; privately owned and operated Terminal Island Correctional Facility is converted to include a vehicle racing facility, and Death Race is born, becoming a media sensation.
  • Term "autoduelling" first used by sports writers.

[Gigermann]

• 2064: US Civil War II:
  • Inevitably, the gov't of the USA attempts to finally reunite the rest of the country, igniting a Second US Civil War. Due to all sides knowing each others' tactical strengths and weaknesses, casualties, as a percentage, are relatively high on both sides, although the much lower total number of people involved meant the casualty totals were relatively low. Use of precision weaponry meant that collateral damage was minimized (but not avoided).
  • OKC was heavily fought over by both sides, and "changed hands" several times, although most of the fighting was restricted to military targets such as Tinker AFB, which was bombed countless times.
• 2065:
  • Turning point in the war, when the Independents (AKA "Browncoats," the strongest of which was the Free Oil States) start to lose out against the Federalists. (=Battle of Serenity Valley/Gettysburg).
• 2066: Unification Day
  • (Jun 20) Texarcana Accords signed, "ending" the Civil War. Although the US gov't was successful in retaking the country, the Federal gov't would grant state governors increased autonomy, providing they "paid their dues." Alaska was never recovered, and remained independent.
• 2067: Bread and Circuses:
  • National gov't re-establishes its authority, but enforcement is decentralized. The economy is weak but stable, with food rationed and unemployment at 37%. The Supreme Court further decriminalizes manslaughter in arena games, and other death-sports become hugely successful.
  • "Shootout" gets a new lease on life, as the Professional Combat Hunters Association (PCHA). Armadillo Autoduel Arena opens on site of former shopping mall in Austin, Texas.
  • "Return" of international trade, with Australia as the largest exporter; first (Australian) Holden autos sold in the US.
  • Death Race: Framed race-driver escapes from Terminal Island and destroys Death Race production facilities, eliminating their monopoly on death-sports production and allowing others to flourish.
• 2068:
  • Many localities legalize vehicular weaponry of a "defensive nature"—very loosely defined—owing to their inability to effectively enforce any sort of ban. A variety of weapons become available as "factory options" on all US makes of cars and many imports. The world goes wireless: satellite-based interstate communication becomes the norm, as US Gov't officially gives up on re-establishing land-based communication networks, due to constant Creeper vandalism of the equipment.
• 2069: Birth of the AADA:
  • Autoduelling becomes most popular TV sport, edging out combat football and private wars. By this point, eight more autoduel arenas have opened up in North America (generally converted from other uses).
• 2070: Top Gun I:
  • AADA holds first sanctioned nat'l championship, dubbed TopGun, in Austin TX. AADA also begins issuing area advisories and helping duellists organize against gangs and other hazards, upsetting local police forces.
  • Utah autoduellists openly form vigilante group to combat Badlands gangs (others have done so in secret for years).
• 2071:
  • (mid) 24, Day1.
• 2072:
  • Duelling outside city limits now legal in 14 states and tolerated in most others. "Massacre at Midville" occurs. Colleges and tech-schools start offering combat driving courses.
  • (24) Palmer administration begins.
• 2073:
  • 24, Day2: Palmer assassination attempt;
  • (mid) 24, The Game(?): attempted assassination of Palmer's VP.
• 2074:
  • Statistics show "smash and grab" gangs much reduced. Rural real estate begins to rise in value. Law-enforcement officials credit vehicular weaponry of private citizens, but most point out that "The gangs that are left are now better armed than we are…" Autoduelling now legal in 39 states.
  • (late) (24) Jack Bauer goes undercover w/ Mexican drug jefe.
• 2075:
  • (Late) 24, Day3.
• 2076:
  • Interstate '76.
  • (24) Keeler/Logan administration begins.
  • (Mid) Game Time.

[Gigermann]

Firefly:

• Independents(Browncoats)=Free Oil States, Deseret (others?)
• Alliance=US(Federalists)
• Serenity=[PC Merc Co.]
• Reavers=Creepers; insane/psychotic road-gangs (as opposed to "normal" road-gangs)
• Persephone=OKC
• Whitefall=Lawton?
• Ariel=New Tulsa?
• [Companion HQ]=Denver?
• Earth-That-Was=pre-Blight conditions, when the Earth was "green"
• Chinese=City-Speak, guttertalk, a mismash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you.
• Miranda=Town in [KS?], victims of a very early gov't-sponsored Tetragrammaton experiment

Jericho:
http://www.drlverse.com/images/Autod...-JerichoUS.jpg

• Events, as described
• ASA eventually fell apart after Season Finale

24:

• Setting starts between Season 3 & 4, 6mo after 3; JBauer has been offered the security position w/ Sec Heller, Tony is in jail, Erin Driscoll is head of CTU and will fire him "soon" (1yr prior to Season4).
• As President, David Palmer was a strong states'-rights advocate, and was attempting to snap the country out of its socialist stupor.

Crimson Skies

• (Standard CW background) Zeppelins have replaced jet airliners and trains as the primary means of long-distance transport.
• Air-piracy is relatively common, enabled by lax cooperation between state gov'ts and weak Federal oversight.
• Prop aircraft far more common than jets, due to fuel consumption issues.

Interstate '76

• Events occur pretty much as depicted
• Wolf Pack, OKC vigilance group, recently taken out by gangs, one by one (from installation "newsreel" audio)

Miscellaneous Homages

• BladeRunner; City-Speak, guttertalk, a mismash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you.
• Dark Angel; EMP burst over the NW coast. "Eyes Only" & "Streaming Freedom" show still active in the NW.
• Demolition Man; San Angeles; similar merging of Vancouver and Seattle (Seacouver?)
• Equilibrium; Run-down areas just outside walled towns (or equivalent), sometimes referred to as "nethers," due to people going underground there. Growing security contractor/consulting firm with gov't connections called Tetragrammaton. Pays top-dollar for clean & unaltered video of firefights, for some mathematics study.
• Fallout; references to being paid in "bottlecaps" - coinage referred to as "caps?"
• Freejack; "Spiritual switchboard," for transferring consciousness to clones, prototyped by McCandless Corp; referred to as a McCandless (-machine)
• Judge Dredd; police bikes/cruisers special built for the force, bike model called "Lawmaster"; vigilante/killer cops referred to as "street judges"
• Mad Max; Raiders are all crazy, no one knows why
• Max Headroom; Bigtime TV channel, Network 23 (local UBN affiliate)
• Minority Report; Sick-sticks, jetpacks (high-end SWAT)
• Robocop; 6000 SUX is a popular car model (lux). OCP is a big-time korp, based in Detroit. Cobra Assault Cannon=common AV Rifle, "TJ Lazer" cop-show
• Runaway; still experimental IR-homing Gyrojet pistol, Vectrocon robotics corp, "runaways," the movie "incident"
• Running Man; ICS network, official carrier of PCHA, Climbing for Cash, and other Ob-Racing leagues
• Shadowrun; missions referred to as "runs," mercs as "runners"
• Tank Girl; gang called "Rippers," wear distinctive homemade masks/headgear (Ref:The Movie) so no one can identify them, and eschews the use of firearms (?).
• Tekwar; Microsoft TekBox (=XBox), VR console..."games" referred to as "Tek"
• Terminator; Cyberdyne Corp prominent, well-known to be working on military AI & robotics
• The Sixth Day; X-Wings, RePet (pet cloning), Replacement Technologies (clone parts)
• Various; det-collars for prisons
• VR5; the Sony VR5 (=Playstation#), VR console
• 5th Element; NarkBox (Bitchin Betty in the cab that says "You have X points left on your license," etc.)
• Battlestar Galactica (New); Pyramid is the most-popular non-combat sport (but far behind combat sports)
• Cowboy Beebop; "Big Shot: For Bounty Hunters," bounty hunters show, 2100 CST on BigtimeTV
• GTA Series; Ammu-Nation, gun store
• Escape from NY/LA; wanted posters abound for one fugitive, "Snake"Pliskin
• BabylonAD; Noelites, EEuropean SITREP, closed US borders, global cooling
• Tron; ENCOM corp

[Stoob]

Dude, you obviously have an excellent handle on all your genres. I don't have anything to say other than I'm impressed and I think this kind of amalgamation of genres is where GURPS really shines as a system.

[Jeffr0]

Nice Max Headroom reference.

...

One bit from Autoduel that is not as well known. There were Traveller style arcologies in the northeast detailed in the first Survival Guide.

I'd use this as an excuse to have extremes of outright chaos in some regions, wild wild west frontiers, moderately civilized fortress towns, and... then pockets of bleeding edge advanced tech dystopias.

Going with the Firefly themes... folks in the badlands don't necessarily envy the high tech "civilized" peoples.

Of course... you're already headed in this direction maybe, but you might like to know that John Nowak had similar notions. His GURPS adventure was Escape From Poughkeepsie.

[IrishRover]

One thing I recall from the old AADA guides: New Hampshire was a place that you could visit, and almost believe the chaos had never happened. Unarmed cars drive along highways, armed ones being illegal (Real illeagal, with teeth) and violence is not a fact of everyday life. So that might be a good thing for a campaign--a place that might sound like an urban legent, yet at the same time--perhaps not. I could imagine a new version of "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" being sung across the west.

[Gigermann]

Oops. Somehow a few items had dropped off my notes—lost in the home-to-work computer shuffle.

• Escape from NY/LA; wanted posters abound for one fugitive, "Snake"Pliskin
• BabylonAD; Noelites, EEuropean SITREP, closed US borders, global cooling
• Tron; ENCOM corp

Just realized a problem: Dark Angel takes place in Seattle, which in Jericho, has been nuked (pre-EMP)—something's gotta move, there.

Also, still planning to work in stuff from a number of ’80s TV series, among them: Highwayman, Knight Rider (especially Knight Rider 2010), Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Viper, Streethawk, etc.—haven't worked out the specifics, yet.

Originally Posted by Jeffr0

Nice Max Headroom reference.

I remember that one rather fondly. I wonder if it would still be so if I watched it today, though—tends not to be the case, these days.

Originally Posted by Jeffr0

One bit from Autoduel that is not as well known. There were Traveller style arcologies in the northeast detailed in the first Survival Guide.

I have all the Survival Guides, though I haven't read through all of them extensively. I am aware of the Poughkeepsie adventure. Been debating whether to keep the nuke site there—I'll decide if the PCs ever go that far north. Can you point me to where the "arcologies" are?—I seem to be overlooking it.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by IrishRover

One thing I recall from the old AADA guides: New Hampshire was a place that you could visit…

Hmm…maybe NH is the HQ of Tetragrammaton ;D

[charger450]

You have a lot of things on the table here, I like it. Once you have all the pieces together it would be a very cool world. I’ve been wanting to tell an Autoduel story myself, but were I always get stuck is car design and car combat.

Are you going to use 3rded VDR and Combat rules? Have your own system? Or do you (unlike me) understand how 4th wants us to pit cars against each other. And if so, do you have a system in mind to construct all the vehicles so they are consistent with one another?

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by charger450

Are you going to use 3rded VDR and Combat rules? Have your own system? Or do you (unlike me) understand how 4th wants us to pit cars against each other. And if so, do you have a system in mind to construct all the vehicles so they are consistent with one another?

ATM, I'm planning to use Car Wars for vehicle creation and "mapping" (been wanting to experiment with "squares" for GURPS), but using the basic GURPS 4e vehicle rules, with some tweaks, for handling them—haven't had any problems with it, thus far. Big question right now is whether or not to break up the GURPS rounds into Car Wars 5-Phases…haven't decided yet. I expect this will require some pre-game experimenting.