Wasted Years

In the year 2061, global tensions had reached the point where a Third World War became unavoidable.  Rather than being the clash of superpowers that had been prophesied in the late 20^th century, the war began small as a series of brush fires in the developing world.  Gradually, more and more nations became embroiled in these small disputes until some of the larger nations found themselves on opposite sides of these regional conflicts.  A few dramatic acts of terrorism prompted the use of atomic weapons.  Once this option was broached the theory of mutually assured destruction was put to the ultimate test.  Most people called this "The Last War" but it had many names: the Great Conflagration, Tianhuo, the True Rapture, Ragnarok, the list goes on. 

There are those that had seen this event coming and made preparations to survive the day after.  Governments were broken, armies scattered, cities leveled.  For about a month after the war barely a cricket stirred on the surface of the planet.  Those who managed to make it to shelter bided their time, watching their Geiger counters and parceling out their rations.  Others, not so fortunate, who managed to survive the blast fought tooth and nail to eke out a meager existence from the bones of civilization.  In the years that followed, shelter dwellers began emerging from their bolt holes and, like mushrooms after a rain, started to blossom into small communities on the ravaged surface.  Some of these communities took on the task of trying to restore America; others sought only to stay alive and hoard as much power as possible. 

It is now the year 2136.  No one remains alive who remembers what the world was like before.  At least two generations of shelter-born survivors have come into this new frontier; many more generations have bloomed on the surface, where life spans are much more tenuous.  The more prominent post-war groups conflict with each other as agendas clash and the competition for scarce resources intensifies.  The players find themselves as products of this New Dark Age, this America made savage.  Can they survive?  And if so, can they live long enough to change the world?

This is a fan-created work was written for the Savage Worlds role-playing system in 2007.