Fallen Stars: A Setting in a Mutant-Filled Post-Apocalyptic America

[Fossilized Rappy]

Fallen Stars

Setting Introduction
December 21, 2012, 12:21 PM Central Standard Time: an ordinary day was shattered by a far than ordinary celestial event. As shoppers chaotically rushed through the final gift purchases of the season, families spent their time together for the holidays, and various thinkers and doers kept to their daily grinds, great amber lights appeared in the heavens. Not even the most sophisticated radar or telescope heralded their coming, their forms simply appearing in the high atmosphere as if they formed there from nothingness. Over four excruciating hours of terror, the "stars" edged closer and closer to the ground, before finally undergoing a massive burst of speed around 4:30 PM and plowing straight into the earth.

There was no debris, no waves of shock and heat, no immediate annihilation to those at the epicenter of the stars' trajectories. There was, however, another immediate effect of a sort unlike that of any meteor or asteroid. A large number of people and animals the world over suddenly become violently ill moments after the stars fell, the very air of the globe seeming to vibrate briefly but perceptibly. What appeared to be a mass flu pandemic quickly became something altogether stranger, however. Flesh warped, bones reformed, bodies being altered down to the genetic level. This was not merely a disease, even one on an unprecedented level: it was a fundamental transformation of life on Earth.

Those afflicted would not have much time to process their changes, as a mere two hours later there was another great shudder. With this final aftershock came the most crippling chaos: sudden and extreme environmental changes occurred around the impact sites of the amber stars, while across the planet humanity suddenly faced rapid flooding of the world's oceans, strange mega-storms with unnatural effects coating much of northern Eurasia, Canada, Australia, and northern Africa, minor but nonetheless destructive weather patterns on more local levels, and global electromagnetic interference that crippled the once seemingly endless network of human communication.

While the great waters stopped their rapid march inland within a day, the storms continued to rage at a near-constant rate into early February of the next year. Those who survived both the weather and the chaos of known society's upheaval – not necessarily cripplingly few in number, but nonetheless in less density than was once present – were faced with the aspect of rebuilding in a world seemingly turned upside down. Not only was the global village shattered into the sum of its parts once more and the code of social conduct torn between those who favored survival by collective cohesion versus those who sought it by personal strength, there was no denying that some people were not technically even human anymore, an obstacle to acceptance that was too much for some to overcome.

That was then, of course. This is now: 2040, almost three decades after the great fall of the stars. What was once the United States of America is now a collection of smaller nations, independent territories, and scattered ungoverned settlements wedged in between: from the boat towns and cultist hideaways of swampy DC in the east to the mountain nomads of California in the west, from the reclusive swamp towns in the scattered islands that were once Louisiana to the settlements of beaver whalers of the frigid north, all face adversity from without and within. Even those in the most developed cities inside the burgeoning nations face potential danger from illness, supply deficiency, crime and corruption, and unfriendly neighbors from the less defended regions of their lands. In spite of these stumbling blocks, however, life moves on and people push forward toward the future.



Thread Introduction
Fallen Stars is a setting I've been conceptually working on for several years, and this thread will mark the first time it's been shown publicly in its GURPS incarnation. It will be the primary thread for most things related to the setting, though I plan on making separate threads for a locations guide and bestiary. All posts of material (as opposed to replies, notices, or clarifying statements) will be linked to the table of contents below as they are posted. Outside of a few key posts, most things will be posted as I feel like writing them up rather than necessarily in order, though I plan on eventually gathering it all up into a PDF that is in the correct order for convenience.



Table of Contents
EDIT: Updates of current materials, and any future materials, will be posted on my blog.

[PTTG]

Sounds good so far. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the regions and communities that are left!

[Fossilized Rappy]

Mechanics Usage, Part 1

Advantages and Perks
Absent Advantages and Perks
The following advantages and perks from the core component books listed above are completely excised from the Fallen Stars campaign setting.

Advantages: Blessed, Channeling, Clairsentience, Create, Destiny, Dominance, Extra Life, Illuminated, Jumper, Magery, Magic Resistance, Mana Damper, Mana Enhancer, Medium, Oracle, Power Investiture, Precognition, Psi Static, Psychometry, Quick Gadgeteer, Reawakened, Shadow Form, Shapeshifting, Snatcher, Speak With Animals, Speak With Plants, Special Rapport, Spirit Empathy, Super Luck, Supernatural Durability, Temporal Inertia, True Faith, Unkillable, Unusual Background, Vampiric Bite (replaced by Leech [Blood Agent] as stated on GURPS Powers pg. 96 and GURPS Horror pg. 21), Warp, Wild Talent, Xeno-Adaptability.

Perks: Charms, Chi Resistance, Clothing Shticks (High-Heeled Heroine, Masked, Sartorial Integrity, and Skintight), Covenant of Rest, Dramatic Death, Magical School Familiarity, Named Possession, Obscure True Name, Rest in Pieces, Rule of 17, Secret Knowledge, Spirit Contract, Supersuit, Trivial Destiny.

In addition, any advantage subsets or modifiers that require time/dimensional travel elements, supernatural elements, spacecraft/extraterrestrial life, or TL9+ technology (Summonable enhancement for Allies, Faith Healing enhancement for Healing, etc.) are assumed not present in the setting.



Noteworthy Advantages
The following advantages and perks are either altered in some way, given new options, or have notes on their particular value to the setting.

Allies: Characters with the Ally or Ally Group advantage can be found scattered across the new America: merchants with a myriad of hired helpers that keep the commerce machine well-oiled and running, a warlord's band of brutal raiders, and a hunter's faithful hounds are a few easy examples to draw. While supernatural limitations and enhancements such as Summonable and Sympathetic are irrelevant, it is not uncommon for villainous NPCs to have Allies with the Unwilling limitation, be they enslaved or press-ganged individuals, and the Minions enhancement is likely to see use for particularly fanatical and tight-knit groups.

Alternate Identity: A combination of records lost in the apocalypse and a general lack of widespread electronic databases and information sharing makes the Alternate Identity advantage less useful. Without a nation-wide security system, it's not exactly feasible to pull up the records of a stranger in town just to make sure they are above the board. The advantage is nonetheless retained for fringe cases such as the travels of record-keeping caravans and governments that have at least a handful of cities all with the same criminal records on file, but players should be warned of its small likelihood to come up.

Claim to Hospitality: The 10 point variation of Claim to Hospitality does not exist in Fallen Stars, as there are no international organizations to throw around the amount of power that it entails. The 5 point variation is rare but nonetheless does exist, typically in the form of the assets owned by a wide-ranging caravan companies, the waypoint houses of the widespread warrior monks known as the Knights of the Crimson Shield, or stations of a nation's military. The 1 and 2 point variations are just as feasible as ever.

Cultural Familiarity and Cultural Adaptability: Thanks to a lack of global connectivity, the capabilities of Cultural Familiarity and Cultural Adaptability as-is would be far less widespread. Rather than removing them entirely, the scope of these advantages have been altered somewhat. Rather than one type of cultural familiarity, there are now three. All cost the same as in the GURPS Basic Set (it's difficult to have a point cost below 1!).

• Old World Regions: Cultural familiarity of the pre-apocalyptic world, utilizing the ten forms defined by Sean Punch here). This type of Cultural Familiarity is almost always a familiarity those who were at least 10 years of age or older when the Change occurred, as younger individuals would not have any cultural osmosis, and those born after the Change often only have their parents' word to go on. Such pre-apocalyptic individuals must take an old world region as their cost-free native familiarity, though they can learn other familiarities as appropriate like any other character. Note to players that most pre-apocalyptic cultural familiarities beyond Anglo and Latin American are unlikely to pop up that often – for instance, a diplomat born in the days before the apocalypse may logically have Cultural Familiarity (West Asian) in his repertoire from time as a liaison between the United States and Iraq, but it is unlikely to come up unless he happens to stumble across a group of individuals who only immigrated from west Asia a short time before the starfall.
• New Nations: A major post-apocalyptic nation, E.G. “United Atlantic States”, “Republic of Texas”, or “Plains Confederacy”. Unlike old world cultural familiarities, new nations only have a -1 familiarity penalty if they are in the same cultural region as a character (Anglo or Latin American in almost every case in the former United States) and the usual -3 if they are not. This means that most characters will not need to take a new nation cultural familiarity beyond their native one (if any) unless they are explicitly in a profession that requires avoiding even minor social faux pas, such as diplomatic envoys or merchants that trade in multiple regions.
• Territories or Tribes: Minor cohesive groups found in between (or sometimes technically within, but nonetheless separate from) greater nations, E.G. “Georgia Territory”, “Mammoth Cave tribe”, or “Floridian Isles”. Familiarity penalties for territories or tribes are usually the same as new nations, though some may be deemed to be so radically divorced from their birth culture that they always count as -3.

Higher Purpose: While marked as a Supernatural advantage in the GURPS Basic Set, Higher Purpose (and its perk-level variant, Purpose) is also stated to be the result of an extreme and cinematic drive to succeed, and featured in non-magical titles such as GURPS Action. Therefore, it has been deemed here that Higher Purpose is not on the supernatural chopping block and thus remains in the Fallen Stars setting.

Mindlink: While technically marked as a Supernatural advantage, Mindlink could be stretched to be associated with hive minds or telepathic empathy in a pseudoscience context.

Talents: The following talents are allowed in Fallen Stars. If possible, a talent always utilizes its alternative benefit (first presented and listed in GURPS Power-Ups 3: Talents) rather than providing a reaction bonus. Some, such as Business Acumen and Social Scientist, are more likely to be present in surviving pre-apocalyptic characters.
Academic, Allure, Animal Friend, Antiquary, Artificer, Born Entertainer, Born Sailor, Born Soldier, Born War-Leader, Business Acumen, Clown, Craftiness, Cultural Chameleon, Devotion, Driver's Reflexes, Explorer, Gifted Artist, Green Thumb, Healer, Impersonator, Intuitive Statesman, Jack of All Trades, Master Builder, Mathematical Ability, Mr./Mrs. Smash, Musical Ability, Natural Athlete, Natural Diver, Smooth Operator, Social Scientist, Stalker, Street Smarts, Superior Equilibrioception, Survivor, Tough Guy.

Terror: While marked as a Supernatural advantage, Terror can be justified as an Exotic advantage – fear-inducing pheromones or horrifying wail that strikes at certain primal fear responses, for example.

[Andrew Hackard]

The post above this one got flagged as spam for using two words (enh*ncement and ph*remones) that frequently occur in spam messages.

I'm lowering the threshold on at least one of those words so maybe this problem won't recur.

[Fossilized Rappy]

Mechanics Usage, Part 2

Disadvantages and Quirks
Absent Disadvantages and Quirks
As with advantages and perks, the following disadvantages and quirks from the core components are absent from Fallen Stars.

Disadvantages: Compulsive Behavior (Ghostly Repetition), Cursed, Destiny, Divine Curse, Draining, Dread, Frightens Animals, Infectious Attack, Lifebane, Magic Susceptibility, Mundane Background, Nocturnal, Revulsion, Supernatural Features, Supersensitive, Timesickness, Uncontrollable Appetite, Unique, Weirdness Magnet.

Quirks: Can be Turned by True Faith, College Incompetence, Damned, Name-Bound, Nano-Fever, Residual Personality, Restricted Casting Style, Rule of 15, Spell Signature, Spell Susceptibility, Supernatural Dislike, Supernatural Features, Trivial Destiny.

In addition, any disadvantage subsets or modifiers that require time/dimensional travel elements, supernatural elements, spacecraft/extraterrestrial life, or TL9+ technology (Vampire Society's Code of Honor, the Aging modifier for Dependency, etc.) are assumed not present in the setting.



Noteworthy Disadvantages and Quirks
The following disadvantages and quirks from the core components are either altered in some way, given new options, or have notes on their particular value to the setting.

Addiction and Alcoholism: Few cities in any of the major nations put any effort into major manufacturing of 21st Century-style addictive substances, legal or otherwise, but it is not uncommon for older methods of tobacco and alcohol creation to pop up in urban and rural regions alike. Marijuana is also a fairly popular enterprise in the Floridian Isles and parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Code of Honor: Out of the Codes of Honor in the basic set, only Pirate's (Biker's/Brigand's/etc.) and certain types of Professional are common. Code of Honor (Stay Bought; from GURPS Banestorm pg. 185) is also relatively frequent. Code of Honor (Soldier's), however, is rarely seen except in the most truly dedicated and disciplined of units.

Compulsive Behavior: While compulsive behaviors such as Compulsive Generosity or Compulsive Carousing may be limited to population centers capable of sustaining such behavior, there are certain obsessive mindsets that can thrive even in the deepest wilderness. Compulsive Survivalism (GURPS Zombies, pg. 32), in particular, is a great behavioral quirk for those living on the fringe – its overzealous obsession with plans and preparations makes it a perfectly suitable flaw for hoarders, "preppers", and paramilitary warriors in lighter self-control levels, though it is rare to see it at 9 or 6. The following new form of Compulsive Behavior is also appropriate for the Fallen Stars campaign setting.

• Compulsive Wandering (AKA Wanderlust) [-5; modified by self-control roll]: You are a nomad at heart, uncomfortable setting down roots in any one place for too long. After one week of staying within the same mile radius, you must make a self-control roll or attempt to move outside of the radius for a period of time. The period of time is related to the self-control roll number: one day (a full 24 hour period) for 15, two days for 12, one week for 9, and one month for 6.

Low Tech Level: This disadvantage does not reflect accessibility to technology, but how much one understands and can utilize higher forms of technology – a community of pre-apocalyptic survivors without access to TL8 gear would not qualify for Low Tech Level, but a person who was born in a tribe with only TL4 or less technology at their disposal and has never seen or learned how anything more advanced works would. While buying off this disadvantage is allowed as it would be by default GURPS rules, members of such groups rarely do so unless they suddenly gain an advantage from learning how to operate more advanced technology (E.G., finding a large cache of TL7 munitions).

Social Stigma: Due to lack of frequent recordkeeping, Social Stigma (Criminal Record) is less common than its variant, Social Stigma (Known Criminal) from GURPS Banestorm, pg. 186. Excommunicated is also extremely uncommon due to the lack of overwhelmingly widespread religious forces. By contrast, some rather common Social Stigmas include Uneducated and Barbarian.

Wealth: Even with the lessened monetary system on a grand scale, poverty is still present as a common disadvantage. Most living outside of major and affluent cities are Struggling with smatterings of Poor or lower individuals. Reclusive tribes are often Dead Broke and entirely rely on scavenging and living off the land.



Skills and Techniques
Absent Skills and Techniques
As with the other segments, the following skills and techniques from the core components are not present.

Skills: Alchemy, Brain Hacking, Computer Hacking, Enthrallment, Esoteric Medicine, Exorcism, Free Fall, Herb Lore, Hidden Lore, Invisibility Art, Kiai, Musical Influence, Occultism, Push, Ritual Magic, Symbol Drawing, Thaumatology, Weird Science, Zen Archery.

Techniques: Double Eye Poke, Eye Pluck, Eye Poke Defense, Fighting While Seated, Flying Atomic Wedgie, Halitosis Attack, Noogie, Nose Slap, True Tarot, Wet Willy.

In addition, any skill subsets that require time/dimensional travel elements, supernatural elements, spacecraft/extraterrestrial life, or TL9+ technology (Battlesuit for Environmental Suit, Parachronic for Electronics Use, Force Sword for Melee Weapons, etc.) are not present in the setting. Fallen Stars also does not force /TL skills, as first put forth by GURPS After the End 1: Wastelanders, pg. 22. Note that a character with the Low Tech Level disadvantage still suffers as normal when trying to utilize and technology with a TL higher than they know, even with this condensed tech skill rule in place.


Noteworthy Skills and Techniques
Wildcard Skills: Characters in Fallen Stars are allowed to have a certain amount of Wildcard skills based on their skill level, representing areas of skilled generalization they have picked up thanks to their ability to survive: one Wildcard skill for a character of 100 to 149 points, two for a character of 150 to 199 points, and three for a character of 200 points. Note that these are allowed, not required, and a character can feel free to not spend the point cost on Wildcard skills if they would rather put those points into use elsewhere. The following Wildcard skills are available in Fallen Stars:
-Art!, Assassin!, Blade!, Boat!, Bow!, Businessman!, Demolition Man!, Detective!, Drive!, Encyclopedist!, Fist!, Gun!, Hunter!, Medic!, Move!, Negotiator!, Perform!, Pilot!, Scholar!, Stick!, Talker!, Thief!, Throw!, Whip!.

[Minuteman37]

Looks good I may try and run a game in this setting when more lore is released.

[Fossilized Rappy]

Nation Profile: The East American Union
Form of Government: Timocratic Representative Democracy.
Controlled Land: Western Tennessee, western Kentucky, southwest Indiana, southern Illinois, southeast Missouri, north and central Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and northern Alabama.
Control Rating: Civil Rights 3, Economic Freedom 2, Legal Restrictions 3, Punishment Severity 4, Social Control 3 (4 at the AAS border); Corruptibility -1.
Capital: Memphis, Tennessee.
Symbol: A flag, white on the right side and red on the left, with crossed blue cavalry sabers in the center.

The industrial and agricultural powerhouse of the East American Union, sometimes derisively referred to as the Western Territories by members of the Atlantic American States, shares more than a few traits with its neighbor to the east. Both began expansionist and slowly looked more and more inward as they settled into their increased growth, both have strong nationalist movements, both have a reverence for pre-apocalyptic America, and both see themselves as the greatest hope for the rebirth of what came before. From there, however, the two diverge wildly into two different Americas – one based on tradition, the other on its own interpreted ideals.


Interaction With Other Powers
The greatest and most obvious interaction with other nations the East American Union has, of course, is its long-standing feud with the Atlantic American States. The EAU has suffered less grind and fatigue than its nemesis thanks to its more haphazard method of campaigning both during and after the war. While the AAS leans heavily on traditional army structure and command, the nation to the west is more often than not augmenting its small groups of regimented soldiers with militias trained for guerrilla tactics and a variety of proxy forces. It is not uncommon for the EAU to hire mercenaries, spark local rebellions, rile up forces hostile to both nations and point them in the AAS's direction, or simply prey on the fear enemy soldiers have of a potential invasion through nighttime psychological warfare.

The only other nation that the EAU shares a direct border with is the Republic of Texas. Texan scouts first set foot on EAU soil in 2024, eventually encountering the military outpost of Fort Caddo just outside of what was once Ouachita National Forest. The Texans were genuinely surprised to find such a structure with well-outfitted guards and evidence of far-flung trade; before then, it had been assumed that the lands east of Texas had no "forty-sevens" (a term used by Texans much in the same way "barbarian" was used by the Roman Empire) with any form of organization greater than small territories. The meeting of the two nations was soon followed by the establishment of a major trade route running from Dallas in Texan lands to Little Rock in the EAU. EAU leadership is reserved when dealing with Texas, however – they know all too well that the Texan military machine doesn't sleep so much as wait, and setting off a war to the west might hamper them in ways their feud with the AAS never could manage on its own.


Major Social Views
Self-Identity: To the East American Union, what made America truly American was its people, not its laws. The spirit the EAU seeks in its own people is what its founders saw as the ideal American hard-working, iron-willed, family-oriented, and most of all patriotic. As a result, much of the legalistic hewing to the pre-apocalyptic USA that can be found in the AAS is dulled or absent in the EAU. There is still a president and regional governors, but there are no political parties that these groups claim allegiance to, no vice president, and no senators or Congress. There is also a new East American Constitution that sets forth the law, rather than a "reprint" of the original Constitution as there is in the AAS.

The EAU is timocratic in nature – that is to say, only those who have their own property have a governmental voice. Elections lie solely in the hands of those who own their own land recognized by the government. This typically restricts voting to one per household (though some couples are willing to put up with doubled taxes in order to allow both members of the relationship to maintain a say in government matters), and also puts a subtle pressure on those who live on unregistered land. Land owners can choose to pay their land taxes through labor rather than money or goods, typically through either mining or logging duties or military services. The typical exchange rate is a month's land taxes paid off per week of physical labor and one year's taxes per month of military service, though the lack of a set ruling on such matters means that specific regional governors can be more or less charitable on these matters.

Societal Traits: Like their Atlantic neighbors, most Eastern Americans don't overlook blood ties lightly, but the two take a different approach in execution. Whereas Atlantic Americans take heavy stock in old lineages and familial prestige as much as current relationships, the Eastern American view stops at the more simplistic "blood is blood" – it doesn't matter if your neighbors have been land-bearers in the hill country since the Revolutionary War or immigrated there in the 1950s, the only part that's important is whether or not they're kin. As a result, East American communities are often made up of clans of "amicable isolationists", typically interacting politely with other families but ultimately only keeping their own relatives' interests in mind. Sense of Duty (Blood Relatives) is a very common disadvantage. Another facet of East American society is a common distaste for those who seem to lack ambition. Individuals with the Laziness disadvantage will typically find themselves on the receiving end of a -1 reaction penalty if they're in the EAU.

Views on Mutants: For the most part, as long as you are a hard worker and landed member of the community, species is of little concern to EAU citizens. That isn't to say there are no prejudiced individuals in the EAU – it's arguably impossible for there to not be pockets or individualized cases of prejudice in an area as large as a nation – simply that it isn't institutionalized on the level it is in the AAS. The greatest tension is with those mutants who are disposed to not putting themselves on the nation's censuses. In the south there are isolationist bogger clans that are as stubborn as they are well-armed, and near the border with the AAS there are clans of troglodytes throughout the Appalachians' cave systems. The Mammoth Cavern Tribe in particular is known for being large, unwilling to officially join the EAU, and prone to violent nighttime raids on both sides of the Black Ribbon.

Political Leadership
After election, the presidency of the leader of the EAU is indefinite – there are no term lengths, nor are there term limits. Their term only ends when they either die or are deemed no longer fit for leadership, either through the decision of the president's council of advisers or a vote of no confidence from at least half of the nation's regional governors. The intended uses of these term-ending measures are for cases of the president becoming either too infirm to perform their duties, proving to be incompetent in office, or becoming what is seen as tyrannical or injust by the standards of the East American Union. The current holder of the position of president is Ezekiel Hanson, a formidable middle-aged magnan whose skin is coated in a myriad of scars from decades of hard living. It is said that when he was the public defender of the Arkansan community of Bald Knob in his 20s, Hanson would tear raiders apart with his bare hands and then take their fingers to wear as trophies; whether or not those stories are true, it definitely doesn't hurt his image as a tough president capable of keeping the EAU safe in times of peace and war alike.

[Fossilized Rappy]

All-American Near-Humans
Unlike the previously covered worldwide near-human mutants, the following four are widespread, but only within the confines of the North American continent.

Karkinos
Scientific Name: Homo osteodorsum
Range: Gulf Coast and Mississippi Bay

Physical Characteristics: Standing 6 ½ to 7 feet tall (though seemingly somewhat shorter due to their hunched posture), karkinoi have large dermal plates scattered across their body, under which is similarly hard pebbly skin. Their former human arms have engorged into exceedingly thick knee-length limbs ending in large foot-long pincers, secondary arms ending in still humanoid hands have sprouted a few inches below their standard shoulders, and thick legs end in padded feet with three stubby toes. Finally, a karkinos's thick head has small, deeply inset eyes, slitted nostrils, no ears, and a jagged mouth. The only external sexual dimorphism that karkinoi have is that males have circular pelvic plates and females have triangular pelvic plates.

Psychological Characteristics: Karkinoi are slightly less mentally developed than standard humans on average. While not crippling or severe enough to limit their ability to utilize and understand technology (though some clans may have Low Tech Level nonetheless), it does cause difficulties concerning innovative and creative concerns. This tends to also cause greater occurrences of stress and cases of species-based dysphoria from pre-apocalyptic changees than most near-human mutants, which typically retain their intellect.

Other Information: Like the deep ones of the Atlantic Coast, karkinoi are a semi-aquatic species that depend on moisturized bodies to avoid dehydration. Their enclaves are typically found scattered along shorelines and inside wrecked ships, submerged buildings, and oil rigs, though some groups engage in a nomadic existence. While karkinoi reach adulthood at the same time as humans, they typically reach the end of their lifespan at the time a human would be attaining middle age.

Racial Template [71 Points]
Attributes: ST +3 [30], IQ -1 [-20], HT +2 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Basic Move -1 [-5].
Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell 3 [6], Amphibious [10], Arm ST 4 (Two arms) [20], Cutting Attack 2 (Limb, -20%; link with Extra Arms, +10%) [13], Damage Resistance 3 (Can't wear armor, -40%) [9], Doesn't Breathe (Gills, -50%) [10], Extra Arms 2 (Link with Cutting Attack, +10%; temporary disadvantage, Ham-Fisted 2, -10%) [20], Immunity to Disease [10], Injury Tolerance (No neck) [5], Nictitating Membrane 1 [1], Rapid Healing [5], Reduced Consumption 5 (Cast-iron stomach, -50%) [5], Regrowth (Minor, -50%) [20], Terrain Adaptation (Sand) [5], Terrain Adaptation (Water) [5], Vibration Sense (Water) [10].
Perks: Burrower [1], Injury Tolerance (No Nose) [1], Limited Camouflage (Sand) [1], Striking Surface [1].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20], Bad Sight (Nearsighted) [-25], Dependency (Brackish of saltwater, hourly) [-20], Disturbing Voice (Alternates between raspy and gurgling) [-10], Hard of Hearing [-10], Hidebound [-5], Hunchback [-10], Short Lifespan 1 [-10].
Quirks: Bulky Frame [-1], Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].
Features: Early Maturation (reaches maturity at human age rather than Short Lifespan age) [0].


Pugwis
Scientific Name: -
Range: Northern United States and southern Canada

Physical Characteristics: Pugwis have thick, stocky bodies with a layer of blubber beneath rugose skin. Their hands have thick and hard nails with a short layer of webbing in between the fingers, not enough to endow a fully amphibious lifestyle but enough to aid in swimming beyond the average human level. Other defining characteristics of pugwis are their large and pointed ears, thick brow ridges above large and glossy black eyes, long and thick incisors sharpened into a vicious point, and a back covered in porcupine-like spines.

Psychological Characteristics: Pugwis are ill-tempered but socially active mutants, gathering in groups that often shun outsiders to keep in-community cohesion and avoid tension rather than out of isolationism.

Other Information: The largest groups of pugwis are found in the Pacific Northwest and around the Great Lakes. While not truly amphibious as previously noted, they tend to stay near water due to a taste for fish and mollusks, as well as feeling more comfortable with their bulk submerged in its cold liquid embrace.

Racial Template [29 Points]
Attributes: HT +1 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Basic Move -2 [-10], Water Move +3 [15], HP +2 [4].
Advantages: Acute Hearing 3 [6], Acute Taste and Smell 2 [4], Claws (Blunt) [3], Damage Resistance 1 (Tough skin, -40%) [3], Long Spines [3], Nictitating Membrane 1 [1], Racial Skill Bonus (+2 to Swimming) [4], Teeth (Fangs) [2], Terrain Adaptation (Ice) [5], Thick Blubber [18].
Perks: Sure-Footed (Snow) [1].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Ugly) [-8], Bad Temper (9 or less) [-15], Chummy [-5], Restricted Diet (Carnivore) [-10].
Quirks: Bulky Frame [-1], Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].


Stone Giant
Scientific Name: Homo giganteus pachydermus
Range: Major highland regions across temperate North America

Physical Characteristics: These muscular 10 foot tall humanoid figures gain their name from their extremely thick and pebbly gray skin (they are not truly made of stone like some Advanced Humanoid Aberrations). Other notable features include large hands with sharp claws, short legs, squashed faces, and chisel-like shearing teeth akin to those of piranhas.

Psychological Characteristics: Stubborn, vicious, and disturbingly violence-prone, stone giants are the terror of other near-human species that have communities near their dwellings. Their technological knowledge has also collectively regressed to around the Renaissance, with some tribes having even lower prowess in such matters.

Other Information: Stone giants are the bane of those who live or travel in the mountains, from the Appalachians and Ozarks to the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. Dwelling in tribes of between five and forty depending on the availability of resources in a region, stone giants spend most of the day asleep before waking to stalk the night, hunting for food to keep in their larders and tools they can use to craft more traps and weapons. Perhaps the most terrifying facet of these raids is that stone giants can and will kill entire groups of humans to keep stowed away as prime meat. While stone giants typically love weapons that rip and tear, some have been known to use makeshift sledges of rebar with an end encased in a chunk of concrete (GURPS After the End 1: Wastelanders, pg. 31) or TL 4 hand cannons. Tales from those lucky few who have crossed the Atlantic and returned alive claim that there are even larger man-eating giants in Europe, a truly terrifying concept if they are anything as ruthless and ravenous as the great gray giants of the American wilderness.

Racial Template [80 Points]
Attributes: ST +10 [90]; DX -1 [-20]; IQ -1 [-20]; HT +3 [30].
Secondary Characteristics: SM +1; HP -; Per +2 [10].
Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell 3 [6], Acute Vision 1 [2], Claws (Sharp) [5], Damage Resistance 3 (Tough skin, -40%) [9], Discriminatory Smell [15], Reduced Consumption 5 (Cast-iron stomach, -50%) [5], Resistant to Metabolic Hazards (+8) [15], Teeth (Sharp) [1], Terrain Adaptation (Uneven) [5].
Perks: Limited Camouflage (Stone) [1], Sure-Footed (Snow) [1].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Ugly) [-8], Bloodlust (12 or less) [-10], Callous [-5], Low Tech Level (TL 4) [-20], Odious Racial Habit (Eats other sapients) [-15], Stubbornness [-5].
Quirks: Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].


Wampus
Scientific Name: Homo feliformus americanum
Range: United States, Canada, and northern Mexico

Physical Characteristics: Wampuses are lithe 5 foot tall mutants that have distinctive feline features – heads that are almost fully like that of a mountain lion, clawed hands, digitigrade legs, sinuous tails, and short coats of fur that can come in varying shades of gray and brown. While they do not have human hair, male wampuses have lower head fur that grows in a pattern not unlike a human beard, to the point that some even groom and trim it into traditional beard and goatee shapes.

Psychological Characteristics: Claustrophobia tends to keep wampuses away from any non-spacious human habitation and leads them to prefer open caves or large huts akin to the yurts of Mongolia for their lodging.

Other Information: Most wampuses live nomadic lifestyles, tending to keep to wooded areas or rocky highlands where animals to hunt are easily found. Those that set down roots typically live in isolated enclaves in the same wilderness regions rather than in more settled areas.

Racial Template [40 Points]
Attributes: DX +1 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Per +2 [10].
Advantages: Acute Hearing 3 [6], Acute Taste and Smell 4 [8], Catfall [10], Claws (Sharp) [5], Flexibility [5], Night Vision 5 [5], Super Jump 1 [10], Teeth (Sharp) [1].
Perks: Penetrating Voice [1].
Disadvantages: Phobia (Claustrophobia, 9 or less) [-30], Restricted Diet (Carnivore) [-10].
Quirks: Slightly Unusual Biochemistry [-1].

[fchase8]

Have you heard of The Morrow Project, a post-apocalyptic RPG from the 1980s that was recently revived? I only discovered it recently, and was fascinated by this website with detailed descriptions of all of the post-war 50 states: http://thesupplybunker.net/Travel_Guide/tg_index.htm

Your very detailed descriptions of the AAS and EAU made me think of these detailed descriptions.

[Fossilized Rappy]

I hadn't heard of it before, and it's definitely interesting! They've done a lot of work, to say the least, and I feel a bit bad that my intended plans for the gazetteer thread for Fallen Stars feels a bit derivative in format in spite of it just being a case of convergent evolution.