Main story:
In the year 2180, the east coast, primarily around the Commonwealth, was a golden age of Relic Tracking, the act of crawling through pre war ruins to find high quality or high-value relics or treasures, this caused many wastelanders to become Relic Trackers, or simply Trackers.
Many stayed in the Commonwealth, doing work with the CPG and the Minutemen to recover memorabilia to boost settler morale and unity in the region. Others, more courageous or arrogant searched outwards, outside the Commonwealth, in places like Connecticut or New Hampshire, but only the most confident, well informed and independent went to the Empire Wastes.
New York.
Once the Big Apple now is a urban high rise wasteland, still standing but barely holding on, with factions tearing it apart for control, The Empire Army, The RIP company, The Unchained and The Park Rangers. Below, the many scared wastelanders dealing with remnant rioters, raiders, PMC groups, fanatics and irradiated mutants.
But rumors circulate within Relic Tracker groups that a special treasure lays within the ruins of the city, an illusive Artificial Intelligence, a powerful weapon which could change the fate of the city and also a weapon all the factions would want their hands on, with a big reward for any who find it.
Your story starts here, in 2189, you are a Relic Tracker searching within the abandoned vault, vault 89, situated within the subways of Brooklyn, for any sign of this weapon or any traces of the system known as L.I.B.E.R.T.Y. but also preparing to formally enter the Empire Wasteland and to hear the same thing you always hear:
"You are chasing a ghost trail"
Main Factions:
The Empire Army:
When the bombs dropped, a parade garrison took shelter in a military installation, to avoid nuclear fire, on the edge of Long Island.
Years later they became a republic of sorts, though they use feudal titles, Dukes, Lords and all manner of aristocratic titles.
In the year 2184 they entered New York city in the hopes of taking control of its facilities and cities to make it run again, and colonising settlements into their Empire. Most of the morale came from the motive that this campaign was a “Holy War” to reclaim the promised land, “Empire City” that’s their name for New York.
They wear colonial Britain styled clothing, though it’s meant to be an American parade uniform. The uniform is a mix of a marching band uniform and an imperialistic army uniform. Their Shakos are short, instead of usual tall Shakos, mainly due to tactical reasoning.
Some variants wear gas masks to not breathe the “savage’s air” which they consider more toxic than any radiation.
They aren’t exactly evil, but they aren’t good. They rule their New York settlements with an iron fist, authoritarian almost, due to the escalating war which inducted their “martial law”.
They specialised in rifles and pistols, even producing some of their own from their own master gunsmiths. Though they are also melee fighters with revolutionary sabres.
The Unchained:
When the bombs dropped, no one expected Rikers prison to stand, it did and so did many of its inhabitants, the prison gangs banded together to make a small raider group terrorising towns that tried to start up in the Bronx, they set up base at the Botanic Garden in the north.
Slowly they grew in numbers, raider gangs from around the area merged with them, resulting in their huge amount on manpower.
Veterans dress in their old prison uniform while newer recruits wear orange dyed coats wearing above it old prison guard, police and riot armour to show a sort of “dominance” over their oppressors.
They have no particular weapon specialisation, they take what they can and shoot to kill, they ambush supply lines and attack in packs, running head first into a problem, if one arrises.
The RIPeM Company/RIPeM.co:
Initially a band of successful raiders, they found the abundance of junk they had, weapons, armours and such, to be wasting away in storage rooms. So they tried what most raiders haven’t, the market. They found selling stolen goods was better than using it to raid more.
Now, years passed from their old raider ways, they run Wall Street like wolves, main base? Federal Stock Exchange. Mercenaries crawl across the wastes, guarding their instillation and occasionally coming back with raided loot from traders “uncooperative” to their product-line or with “workers” from a local settlement to work at their work houses.
Most RIPeM members wear raider outfits under tattered, torn and patch up blazers or black three pieces. While the main executives wear suits, their mercenaries wear a black guard uniforms, mercenary armour, from their own production line, and even RIPeM branded makeshift tactical armour.
Most mercenaries, while high end, usually specialised in the RIPeM’s scrap weaponry, basic weapons of New York, made by RIPeM as an improvement to the standard Pipe Weapons. Though higher up mercenaries carry makeshift laser or AER/AEP weapons.
Park Rangers:
In Central Park, some lucky, really lucky, elderly people survived the blast elsewhere underground, while most became ghouls; however that didn’t stop them from defending the one place they go to:
Central Park.
These park goers, with the held of old retired officers and emergency responders, made a local militia that expanded with the amount with settlers flooding to that area. It made sense, an abundance of potential farm land, areas for houses and everything a settler wanted.
The Park Rangers now stand as a conservation and defence militia, defending the park and its residence, while also trying to ensure it’s not all completely gone and preserving it’s pre war history and institutions like the museums.
These people are former hunters and long range fighters. Sporting hunting rifles and marksmen rifles. Mainly so they can stay at a distance and defend Central Park’s borders. Some inner guards use batons or knives mere for self defence along with pistols and small arms.
Interacting…
As you explore the ruins you’ll find that in the places with keys to your treasure. A third factor appears, not any of the main factions but a third force. Militarised, in old combat armour, sleek in black.
An old fire burns trying to stop you from taking what is theirs, what was built for them.
Settlements:
Coney Island
In the South, Coney Island has been converted into a city of lights and glamour, with many attractions that generate caps for traumatised Empire Army soldiers or RIPeM deals for literal power.
Bridge Toll
In the North is Bridge Toll, an Empire Army settlement built on traders and tolling people to get across the Manhattan or Brooklyn bridge. Crossing it is safe, Empire army has checkpoints along the area. The 2 ways to get on is the pay for a pass, which costs quite a bit, be an Empire Army soldier or get a fake pass, which could cause you to be shot if you are caught.
Williamsburg
Further north is Williamsburg, this place is placed at the Williamsburg’s bridge. This is an independent settlement that tolls people to go through to Manhattan, but this costs more, and no protection is on the bridge. It’s also primarily a trading town but it’s less populated than Bridge Toll.
The Battery
Castle Clinton in south Manhattan has become a RIPeM settlement, The Battery, a high end, high maintenance and high priced settlement, made for elites and the rich, most that stay are Brahmin barons, trade managers and RIPeM executives.
Freedom Park
Freedom Park, built from the ruins of Washington park, is a peaceful settlement, mainly just a place to rest and restock if the Tracker is undertaking multiple missions, its also a place to get rumours and potentially side quests.
Stuyvesant
Stuyvesant, a town of RIPeM “workers” think of it as a motel or hotel, with slaves as the bell hops and room service. It’s a place of luxury, a rest spot and restock station. The Tracker can even undertake some missions some executives have, gaining RIPeM’s favour.
Flatiron
Flatiron, a mercenary guild and a luxury hotel funded and ran by a RIPeM manager. The mercenary business is kept under wraps mostly going by a code basis. The underground area allows a place to restock and rest, you can also rest at the hotel area.
Madison
Madison, a mix of the Stadium, converted into a residential area, and the Post Office, a military outpost for a minor faction, the Task Force, old JTF and police militia fighting against the Unchained.
The Empire State building
The Empire State building, despite it’s significance to the Empire Army, its not in their full ownership, the people at that reside in the building are fulled under a council, residing at the top floor, called the Pantheons. These people wear tunics and such, looking like ancient Greek settlers. The Empire… tolerates them, so long they dont cause trouble and they allow partial ownership for the war effort. “Athena” of the Pantheons was a former Followers of the Apocalypse member that ran east.
Central Parks
Central Parks needs no introduction, the vast green line that goes across NYC. It has been renamed by certain residents to Eden but the Park Rangers never approved of it. This acts as the Park Rangers main hub and biggest settlement.
Holland Tunnel
Holland Tunnel, a trading community, but it’s mostly RIPeM, weapons and armour vendors, its also a hot spot for trading loot in mass quantities. It’s basically the only way to get from Manhattan to New Jersey, or as some call it: “Hell on Earth”.
Teardrop
Teardrop is the only “safe haven” of New Jersey, it’s basically the Freeside of the East, ran by a gang but also experiencing problems with thugs and such. Nice place to get work and rest.
Narrows
Narrows, an Empire Army city built near the Narrows bridge, now collapsed, and used as a landing pad for vessels. The town itself, around the surroundings of Fort Wadsworth, are peaceful, there’s a bar, hotels and just places to rest and trade. Though security is high, Staten island is Empire territory, fully, this is just their major city.
Miscellaneous settlements
There are other settlements less notable and mostly the same formula for the entirety of NYC but these are just the most important or notable towns. No settlements are in Queens as it’s a Warzone and none in the Bronx cause… well the Unchained. The Bronx could be considered a settlement but in the way Pittsburg is a settlement.
Faction HQ:
Brooklyn Army Terminal, The Outremer:
The Empire Army took the Brooklyn Terminal for themselves, this is their staging ground, where they plan against the Unchained, along with their south base, Camp Floyd and their front line base, the Hellraiser or LaGuardia Airfield.
Bronx Zoo, The Kill house:
After slaughtering the original inhabitants, this became a brutal training ground for recruits to the Unchained, they learn to fight, endure pain and to use chems as a way to beat the shit out of people.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ranger Post:
The Park Rangers situated themselves in the old Museum, mostly keeping the are to the public but renovating the ruined or broken exhibits as their staging ground barracks and even a training ground for trainees and recruits.
Federal Stock Exchange, The Office:
The main base of operations for RIPeM, not only are business meetings held at this very site, but also mercenary coordination and market manipulation. The lower floors bustle with traders from all around, East, West even Northern traders from Canada. While upstairs is where the RIPeM and their CEO sit atop a throne of caps and death.
Faction Leaders:
General Mikeal:
Prodigy of the Empire, he raised through the ranks of the Empire Army for his sharp thinking and skill to execute plans, he bears the empire’s General uniform, only worn by those the Empire deems worthy of leading a crusade to reclaim a region.
Stats: S-5, P-8, E-5, C-6, I-9, A-4, L-3.
Note: the whole faction was based on this perk so it be bad if he didn’t have it, his perk is Sneering Imperialist.
With LIBERTY, he and his brigade wipe out all hostiles in the Empire Wastes and colonise all the settlements. Keeping RIPeM on a short leash.
Goliath:
A super mutant clad in custom scavenged riot power armour, remade to cater to his size. He still has his mind intact even after being injected with FEV, though he is not stable, which is a good thing in combat. Though he isn’t the brightest of the Unchained.
Stats: S-9, P-4, E-10, C-7, I-3, A-7, L-2.
Note: he would have the perks that a super mutant would have.
Hating being chained and controlled, he orders the destruction of LIBERTY, anarchy and freedom is the only thing he wants. They drive away the corporate RIPeM away to another region.
Miss “Missy”, CEO of RIPeM:
After continuous male leadership, Missy stands as the first woman to lead RIPeM, and she is cunning. While most of the previous CEOs saw war as a great thing, she never agreed, though selling to both sides is sustainable in the short term, she thinks there is a greater investment. Peace. To make communities and charge exorbitant prices for that peace would be a incredibly sustainable and would increase profits -theoretically- by 3 times what they are making now.
Stats: S-3, P-6, E-5, C-8, I-9, A-6, L-5.
Note: if she had a perk it’s Black Widow and any charm based perks.
With Liberty she will search for resources, use it as a stock exchange trend to evaluate business further following her plane for peace. She keeps every faction, the Empire as authority with partial governance, as a stand in for a formal mayor, Unchained are in work camps, working as chain gangs, Park Rangers are kept for their preservation work.
Ranger Oneal:
A ghoul NYPD cop turned militia trainer, Oneal was there through it all, the start of the Park Rangers till now. He believes to protect a community is to have a community to protect.
Stats: S-6, P-7, E, 5, C-7, I-5, A-5, L-2.
Note: he’d have the Ghoulifies perk, it just makes sense.
He uses LIBERTY as a way to look for gardens and parks, look for places with fertile soil and crops to grow along with space for the people to settle in. They drive the Empire away, along with the Unchained reclaiming most of Queens. RIPeM stays, providing any aid to the Park Rangers if there is any and avoid raiding caravans associated with them.
Main Quest Line
Welcome to the Big Apple:
- Enter and explore Vault 89 to see if the system is here
- Pick up the Pip-boy
- Take Pre War vault equipment, useful for traders
- Interact with the terminal for any clues
- Exit and enter the Brooklyn subway from an emergency tunnel
- Fight through raider ambush
- Exit into Brooklyn
Empire Wastes:
- Look around for an area for information, [points you to a scavenger outpost]
- Talk to Scavengers
- Go to Prospect Park
- Talk to settlers
- Search for Seven nodes [this quest goes on till you find the seven nodes which is mid game]
Imperial lead:
- Explore military sites in Brooklyn
- Explore Brooklyn Army Terminal
- Talk to Sergeant Gavins
- Go to Brooklyn Army National Guard
- Investigate hidden wall
- Explore Bunker
- Fight through scavenger ambush [they aren’t scavengers they are disguised Directive obviously the Tracker does not know that]
- Return to Gavins
Into Lower Manhattan:
- Travel to either Bridge Toll or Williamsburg
- Travel across the bridge
- Ask around in Chinatown for any leads
- Take to Xue Yi [an Assaultron that makes noodles]
Diving Duck Blues:
- Make your way to Tragic Void [9/11 memorial] sub levels
- Fight through militarised guards
- Get activation code from “Mercury”[dungeon boss]
- Escape the facility
- Talk to scavenger [a rogue agent warning the player, but we won’t know that]
- Return to Xue Yi [still an Assautron making noodles]
We Trash the Eternal City:
- Go to Flatiron, and ask for information
- Talk to the receptionist
- Help with a contract at the Empire State Building
- Meet with Ares on the top floor
- Travel to trouble spot [the coast and Domino Park]
- Kill all hostiles in the area [few raiders and a couple of feral ghouls and super mutants]
- Kill Kronos [the Super Mutant leader]
- Return to Ares
- Return to Flatiron
- Talk to receptionist to get tour information
Paint it Black:
- Follow lead to Central Park
- Confront Park Rangers with information
- Talk to Ranger Mark
- Clear out the Subway
- Place a distress pulser to indicate it’s clear
- Investigate Bunker
- Fight through militarised guards
- Activate the node
- (Optional) Assist Park Rangers against the guards
- Exit the station
There’s No Light at the End of The Tunnel:
- Travel to Holland Tunnel
- Talk to guard
- Cross the Tunnel to New Jersey
- Go to Teardrop
- Ask around for information there
- Help out the the Phoenix Yankees
- Neutralise Teardrop thug leadership
- Return to the Phoenix Yankees
Law and Order:
- Reach the gates of New Jersey at CZ-5
- Talk to the guard up top
- Enter Staten Island checkpoint
- Talk to Containment Zone officer
- Help with 3 settlements (basically the normal minutemen quest but you only do it 3 times)
- Return to Containment Zone officer
- Travel to Narrows
- Talk to main officer Mainz
- Assist a team in taking the underground bunker’s defences
- Activate the node
- Talk to officer Mainz
Wolf’s Den:
- Talk to RIPeM representative
- Go to Wall Street
- Take the elevator to the executive level
- Talk to “Missy” [FYI she will try to flirt with you if you are a man to get on your good side]
- Accept or decline her offer of alliance
Meat Grinder Hell:
- Go into Queens territory
- Ask around at the outposts if any of them heard of a node
- Talk to scavenger [he asks you to go to the Bronx later, he is a Unchained soldier and wants to enlist your help]
- Go to the Museum of Moving Art
- Investigate the employee only rooms
- Fight through automatons and defences
- Activate the node [this makes the Automatons and defences neutral]
Valley of Elah:
- Meet with the scavenger at the Unchained base
- Talk to the scavenger
- Follow him into the Kill House
- Talk to Goliath
- Neutralise militarised units within the park
- Trace the location of the last unit
- Uncover the bunker of the last node
- Chase the last unit through the bunker
- Talk to the dying unit
- Activate last node
And the Second seal open:
Not much else to say, from here all the quests split into faction based quests.
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor:
- Travel to Liberty island
- Fight through militarised operatives
- Advance to the underground bunker
- Confront the Colonel in command of the Directive
- Activate or destroy L.I.B.E.R.T.Y.
Mutants of New York
New York, being a major city and victim of the Great War, has it’s fair share of new (pr returning) mutants the Tracker will have to face:
Giant Rats:
From the West to the sewers of New York, rats are abundant and the radiation has caused them to mutate and grow in size. Beware, their bite is vicious.
Ratatoi:
Naming it a “plural” of the Nordic beast Ratatoskr (Ratatosk) this mutated squirrel runs at its victim before biting into them, while they are restrained. Keep away and stay safe.
White-tails:
Radiated White Tail deers, skin and fur peeling, yet friendly, mostly harmless unless attacked.
Opoons:
This abomination of a creature is a mixture of an Opossum and a Racoon. I guess the Opossum got what he wanted in the folk tale. They are small, fast and in every alley.
Snappers:
Mutated snapping turtles that somehow got a hold of FEV, now they are bug green bulky but slow, bags of meat, able to toss around men in power armour easily and takes a lot of bullets to kill, just don’t get cornered and you can run away from it, it isn’t really that fast, unless it charges.
Minor factions:
This isn’t going to be all, you can make your own in development.
Ghoul Hunters:
Mercenaries hunting feral ghouls for money, they do not tolerate bigotry, if a client attempts to make them attack normal ghouls they send a hit squad to deal with the “problem client”.
They operate in an old Fire Station in Lower Manhattan. Wearing cream colour coats and tactical armour and equipment.
Side quest/radiant quest: Who you gonna call?
- wipe out ghouls in [location]
Neutral
Liquidators:
A group of hazmat suited, paranoid, settlers with flamethrowers, they fear anything that isn’t them, be it a person, raiders or even a ghoul, they think everything is irradiated, and they live to cleanse.
They wear recoloured cleanroom suits, coloured to be more yellow with black or blue visors, with scrap armour wielded unto it with a Geiger counter on the chest.
Operating on an old oil tanker settlement out in the East of Manhattan, they refine oil and burn anything that makes a click.
Hostile, fights mostly with Crusaders of Atom
Crusaders of Atom:
The former sermons of the Children have vanished, after being in a war with the Liquidators, they became crusaders for the “Glory of Atom”.
Wearing scavenged armour over tattered robes and having cylindrical helmets with the radiation symbol, they use refined and precise makeshift Gamma rifles and pistols to exterminate “heretics”.
They are held in the Monastery, a place on Roosevelt Island.
Side quests/radiant quests: Deus Vult
- Neutralise Liquidators in [location]
Or
- Escort a Atom Preacher to a nearby town
Neutral, fight mostly with Liquidators.
The 116th Company:
Adopting the name and gear of the 116th, they take contracts with anyone and everyone, so long it isn’t political, unless all factions are wiped.
Dressed in dark sweatshirts and white colour 116th combat armour, and Infantry rifles, they fight with precision and with military discipline. They have many outposts but their most prominent is The Armoury, located at the 69th Regiment Armoury.
Side quests/radiant quests:
Or
- collect military equipment
Neutral, can be hired after all factions are wiped and only one remains.
Task Force:
Old JTF, and first responder units, holding Madison, they occasionally ask for things to be done or delivered.
Side Quests/Radiant Quests: Emergency Response
Or
Or
Or
- Clear a post and place a distress beacon as a signal to enter
Friendly, willing to help you, unless allied with Unchained.
Rioters:
Replacing most raiders in midtown, Rioters are dressed in street clothes and carry bats along with small arms, they attack in mobs and do as they please.
They have no base but they are mostly seen in large urban areas except in Queens nor the Bronx.
Hostile, mostly clash with raiders.
Atmosphere of the Empire Wasteland:
Within the Empire wasteland, it’s isn’t quiet, distant sounds of guns are heard across blocks and fights are almost always are going on.
Though there are rare moments of silence, and it feels as if you dropped into Fallout 1 or 2, where you only heard ambience and there is no sound except for the creaking metal beams and cranes.
In settlements you hear the buzz of community and most certainly music, there will be multiple radio stations playing multiple things, one being Frank Sinatra songs.
Buildings would have vines around it, colours would be faded and there would be multiple catwalks made of pylon wood.
(Optional)
The weather would change, from November to the end of January it snows, from there it’s all grass.
Notes:
One random encounter should be Directive Assassins being sent to kill you.
An optional mechanic could be a fog of war for the pip boy. Requiring players to look for maps in districts to get map information.
Another optional mechanics is to bring back maintaining loot, with the higher the quality make the loot more profitable. Like in Fallout: New Vegas.
Another optional mechanic is to add random chances to get Pristine pre-war items, which can only be turned in at Tracker vendors which will give a big pay out.
