Ruins of Atlanta 1.00 Download

Writing and Design:
Jason Tondro
Editing:
Brandon Blackmoor
Art:
Brandon Blackmoor (cover, chapter titles)
Stephanie McAlea (map of Atlanta)
James Shields (character art)
With special thanks to our Kickstarter backers.
Ruins Of Atlanta 2014 Jason Tondro. Reference to other copyrighted material in no way constitutes
a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. Refer to Art Credits (p.54) for
copyright statements for the art covered by a CC By-SA license.
The text and images of this work are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ or send a
letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.
Kalos Comics Manufactured in the United States Of America

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Introduction............................................2 Rejects...................................................30
A Brief History Of Atlanta...............3 Thrasher Jim, Clan Boss.................31
Map Of Atlanta..........................4 Description................................31
Life In The Ruins....................................6 Personality.................................31
The Secret Of The CDC.................8 History......................................33
Existential Dread.........................8 The Hawks............................................34
Ex-Terminated............................8 Jaeger...............................................35
I Couldnt Save Her!...............8 Description................................35
Jailbreak Gone Bad.....................9 Personality.................................35
The Last Straw............................9 History......................................37
The Posthuman Plague...............9 Powers And Abilities.................37
MOD................................................9 The Monster Factory............................38
Description................................11 Doctor Athanor...............................39
Personality.................................11 Description................................39
History......................................11 Personality.................................39
Powers And Abilities.................13 History......................................41
Terminus...............................................14 Powers And Abilities.................41
Koan The Unknowable..................15 Yellowjackets.........................................42
Description................................16 Yellow Jacket Jane...........................43
History......................................16 History......................................45
Powers And Abilities.................16 Powers And Abilities.................45
Mayor Martha Johnston.................18 Para-Goners..........................................46
Description................................18 The Shade.......................................47
History......................................18 History......................................49
The Atlanta Regional Commission Powers And Abilities.................49
(ARC)....................................................20 Stories....................................................50
Attorney General Clifford Bounty Hunters...............................50
Montgomery................................22 Escape From Atlanta.......................50
Description................................22 Turn The Lights Back On..............51
Personality.................................22 Waiting For The Man.....................52
History......................................24 The Water War...............................52
The Pyramid.........................................25 Art Credits.............................................54
CEO Stephanie Hatsu....................26 Creative Commons Attribution-
Description................................26 ShareAlike 4.0 International........55
History......................................28
Pyramid Salvage Drone..................29
Ruins Of Atlanta
Ruins of Atlanta adds setting information to the Kalos Universe, focusing in detail on
the people who have chosen to live in the aftermath of the Fall of Paragon, when that
hero single-handedly destroyed the city of Atlanta.
This book presumes a few years have passed since Paragons Fall. The original
Bulletproof Blues was written in 2010 and was soon after the Fall of Paragon. This
book presumes that time has continued to move forward, and it is now 2015; people
have been living in the ruins long enough to create settlements, grow, and come
into conflict with one another. Over five years, resources inside the ruins have been
consumed, making life more difficult. But factions within the ruins have also been able
to build.
The ruins of Atlanta offer an unusual opportunity to combine superhero roleplay
with the post-apocalypse genre. Many of the tropes of the post-apocalypse genre
are present here: lawless gangs of scavengers, young idealists trying to build a better
world, jaded cynics who will do anything to survive, power-hungry warlords, religious
fanatics, high-tech enclaves, and even the occasional mutant. Superheroes will
contrast vividly with this world.
Game masters and players have choices when it comes to incorporating the ruins into
their games. If youre looking for a short one-session story, heroes can easily be sent
into the ruins chasing a villain, or they can be asked to recover something from inside
Atlanta. On the other hand, if youre looking for something bigger and more epic in
scale, the heroes can stay in the ruins, align themselves with factions there, and get
caught up in the long-term goals of the Pyramid, Terminus, the ARC, or any of the
smaller groups which eke out a living in the ruins of Atlanta.
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A Brief History Of Atlanta

The land occupied by the ruined city of Atlanta was, in the 18th century, inhabited
by the Native American Creek and Cherokee tribes. As was true in so much of North
America, the tribes were driven out by the expanding United States government, and
a white settlement existed here as early as 1822. The effort to connect the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans made the spot a railway hub; the prospective name Atlantica-Pacifica
was shortened to Atlanta and adopted in 1847.
By the Civil War, Atlanta was a critical manufacturing and transportation hub, part
of the cotton distribution system and home to a rolling mill that produced cannon,
iron rail, and the 2-inch-thick iron plates which coated the hull of the CSS Virginia.
Roughly a fifth of the citys population of 15,000 were black slaves. General Sherman
invaded with the combined Armies of the Cumberland, Ohio and the Tennessee
over 100,000 troops and the city was burned on November 11, 1864, after an
occupation lasting about a month. The destruction of Atlanta would leave a scar on
the psyches of Georgians and residents of the South for almost a hundred and fifty
years, until it was supplanted by something even worse.
Reconstruction saw a tremendous influx of refugees and newly-freed blacks to
Atlanta, who found work in the construction industry. Newly founded black colleges
in Atlanta contributed to the rise of one of Americas oldest African-American
elite, despite the existence of poll taxes and other Jim Crow laws which completely
disenfranchised the black vote. Electric streetcars and Coca-Cola were introduced,
and the Georgia School of Technology opened. Atlanta became the state capital,
Georgias largest city, while the wealthiest families moved to the suburbs of the West
End and Inman Park.
Race riots in 1906 were a sign of continuing tension, and black businesses moved to
areas in town they considered safe, especially Sweet Auburn Avenue. The entire
city was segregated, separate but by no means equal; parks were for whites only,
black Atlantans had to sit in the back of street cars or give their seats up to whites,
and in their daily life blacks were expected to defer to whites at every opportunity,
acknowledging white superiority and reinforcing black inferiority. A fire in 1917
destroyed 10,000 homes, only the latest in a series of tragedies which Atlanta would
continue to suffer in the century to come.
The Great Depression dealt so much ruin to Atlantas economy that the Coca-Cola
Company had to bail out the citys deficit. Gone With The Wind won Academy
Awards and refreshed the trauma of Atlantas destruction at Shermans hands, but
none of the black cast were allowed to attend the 1939 premiere in the city, during
which 300,000 people filled the streets to glorify an idealized Old South. The
population and economy boomed during the war; Delta Airlines settled here in 1941,
and in 1946 the Centers for Disease Control was established.
Atlanta was central to the Civil Rights Movement; Martin Luther King, Jr was
arrested here along with black college students during an early sit-in in 1960. The
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Map Of Atlanta
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desegregation of trolleys, restaurants, and schools began soon after but would take
a decade to complete. By the 1970s, blacks were a majority in Atlanta; white flight
and the construction of shopping malls around Atlanta knocked a hole in the bottom
of what had been a historic and bustling downtown which then remade itself as
convention facilities, office space, and governmental buildings. Atlantas first black
mayor was elected in 1973, the new MARTA rail system began operation in 1979,
and in 1986 the city became home to the Southern Cross, the most prominent team
of posthuman heroes in the region. The Southern Crosss most notable case was
the so-called Criminal Olympics, during which virtually every costumed posthuman
criminal in the world converged on Atlanta over a single month in 1996.
In 2010, when Paragon attacked Atlanta, the city was in the middle of
transformations which have become common in many American cities. Downtown
was being gentrified, a process by which affluent and well educated whites move
in, housing costs rise, and the black population leaves the city for distant suburbs.
Paragon ended all that, going on a day-long rampage of destruction that proved
unstoppable. National Guard and the Southern Cross were utterly incapable of
restraining the greatest of Earths posthumans, and most died for their efforts.
Virtually all of Atlantas great landmarks were damaged or shattered, killing
thousands, and Paragon slaughtered thousands more when, using a MARTA train in
a perverse game of crack the whip, he knocked passenger jets out of the sky as they
entered Atlanta airspace, crashing them into the crowded streets below. Paragon left
only after he had proven to the world that no one could dislodge him.
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As soon as the dust settled, the infamous supervillain Master of Destruction, or simply
MOD, was inside the ruins working to save the trapped and injured and bring water
and food to the refugees. Paragon was still out there and still a threat; the nation and
the world had more disasters to handle, more fires to put out, and everyones resources
were stretched to the breaking point. Civilians from Georgia and surrounding states,
financed by wealthy entrepreneurs and celebrities, came to Atlanta to help the rescue
efforts while MOD did the heavy lifting, and hundreds of thousands were evacuated.
It took FEMA days to organize a response, and by the time they did, MOD refused
them entry. Everyone who wants out of Atlanta, he said, has gotten out. The
people that are still in there, they choose to be in there. And I dont see as how
bringing the government in is going to make their lives any easier.
This was the origin of the Atlanta Compromise, MODs blockade of state and
federal agencies from the ruins. Private individuals can enter, and over the last few
years many have, but there has been no orchestrated reconstruction or salvage of
Atlantas bones. The vast majority of the city has been abandoned, but small pockets
of civilization have arisen or hung on and small bands of roving survivors walk
the roads, like the inhabitants of some post-apocalyptic film.
The three largest and most well-known factions in the ruins are the Atlanta Regional
Commission, the town of Terminus, and the Pyramid. The Commission, or ARC,
claims to be the official government of the city and is led by the former Attorney
General of Georgia, who survived Paragons attack. ARC controls Downtown and
includes many of Atlantas former police, fire, and other emergency workers, as well
as those who used to staff governmental buildings. Attorney General Montgomery
has turned his police force into an army (something which, in the 21st century, isnt
actually very hard) and is slowly expanding his influence and control in the ruins,
citing the authority of his office when the cruelty of his tactics come to light. His
critics argue hes more interested in building a little kingdom inside the ruins than
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rebuilding the city, and Montgomerys only quibble with this accusation might be the
word little.
The Pyramid is the headquarters for a mysterious corporation which moved into the
ruins soon after the Fall. Its employees dwell entirely within the Pyramid itself, which
has been constructed on the former site of the Georgia Dome, and use remote-piloted
drones to gather salvage from the ruins. The Pyramid is a self-contained civilization,
a high-tech world which caters to its highly stratified personnel and its enigmatic
CEO, Stephanie Hatsu. Pyramid has access to the most advanced engineering
and construction facilities in the ruins, and it has been stockpiling resources and
conducting R&D for years, but to what end? No one seems to know.
But the real city inside the city is Terminus, which began as a refugee camp but slowly
expanded as more survivors decided to stay in the ruins and forge a new life free of
governmental interference. Terminus is well known in the United States at large,
though there are many misconceptions about it, and it is portrayed in the media as
a kind of libertarian utopia where guns are every mans right and recreational drugs
are cheap, where there are no taxes, no governmental regulations, and no laws. This
has even drawn immigrants to Terminus, American citizens who decry the state of
the nation and pursue an idealized free society. The truth is a lot harder, and life is
brutal in Terminus, where resources are few and nothing is guaranteed except want.
Nevertheless, thousands choose to live here, under the nominal leadership of Mayor
Martha Johnston, a former school teacher and writer.
Electricity and water are scarce and unreliable inside the ruins. Established factions
like the ARC and Terminus have regained access to city water (which is supplied from
Lake Lanier) and partially restored their power grids, but only the Pyramid has secure
cellular reception and wireless access. Other survivors in the ruins live off of supplies
looted from stores and gas stations. While bottled water, batteries, and gasoline cannot
be replaced, the number of survivors inside Atlanta is so small that groups are able to
live by staying on the move. A single grocery store can keep a refugee group fed for
months or until a larger and better-armed group kicks them out.
After all, not everyone can make it in Terminus or the other settlements, and not
everyone wants to. Groups of refugees, called Reject clans, eke out a life day to day as
nomads in the ruins. Teams of scientists comb the rubble looking for lost secrets and
collecting data. Religious fanatics have proclaimed Paragon to be the Scourge of God
and Atlanta to be his Chosen City. Young people have rejected the flawed society that
has caused such destruction and built a new law for themselves. And, deep below the
Centers for Disease Control, a mad genius breeds a race of monsters.
Welcome to the ruins.
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The Secret Of The CDC

When Paragon attacked the city of Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention were his first target. Although the state and federal government, as well as
a few other organizations and individuals, have figured this out, its not entirely clear
why the CDC earned this distinction. Moreover, because Paragons attack on Atlanta
was the beginning of the nihilistic rampage that ended in his death, its possible that
the CDC was somehow connected to Paragons fall in the first place.
Bulletproof Blues does not offer an official explanation for Paragons fall and his
decision to target the CDC in Atlanta. Instead, we offer a half dozen potential
reasons. As a GM, you can decide which, if any, of these is accurate, and you can use
it to inform other aspects of the Kalos Comics setting. Investigating this secret might
be a major plotline for players to pursue, or it might be irrelevant to current events, as
you choose.
Existential Dread
Paragon learned that he, and possibly many other posthumans, are actually artificial
beings grown in tanks housed deep in the CDC. His memories, and the memories
of other posthumans who believe they have had normal lives, were constructed by
powerful AI and then implanted into the clones. The realization that everything
he thought he knew about himself was a lie drove Paragon into a fury, and once he
began to massacre people he denied any remorse by insisting, Im not a real person,
so how can I feel guilty?
Ex-Terminated
Paragon had a vision of the future in which he saw a psychic alien life form arise out
of the CDC and quickly absorb the minds of all it encountered. Atlantas million
residents were consumed in minutes, and most of the rest of the world followed within
days. Convinced that this future was inevitable and that 95% of humanity was certain
to die, he went to drastic steps in an effort to destroy the creature and save what
remained. Apparently, he was misled and that future wasnt certain after all, because
no trace of the psychic alien has (yet) been found.
I Couldnt Save Her!

While investigating the breakout of a rare virus in central Africa, Paragons girlfriend,
an investigative journalist, contracted the fever and died in the arms of CDC doctors.
Paragon arrived moments later, but it was too late, and he snapped. The CDC was
just the first victim of his uncontrollable grief and self-loathing.
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Jailbreak Gone Bad

Paragon fell under the mental domination of Professor Petrie, a parasitic worm
imbued with vast intelligence and psychic powers, but little common sense or
experience in the world. Petrie summoned Paragon from across the country and
commanded him to use your powers to destroy this facility! Destroy! Destroy!
Which Paragon promptly did, obliterating the CDC where Petrie was housed, the rest
of Atlanta, and (presumably) Petrie himself. With the mental command still bouncing
around his head and no way to turn it off, Paragon continued his rampage until the
Justifiers were forced to kill him.
The Last Straw

For decades Paragon had come to hold humanity in contempt, resenting both the
pressure of being a hero and the constant criticism that comes with it. In an effort
to bribe one of these critics, a scientist, into silence, he gave the man a sample of
Isopteran technology. But with this, the scientist accidentally released the Burroughs
Plague, a macabre linguistic virus which killed hundreds. CDC researchers called
Paragon in to ask him some questions which he interpreted as accusations. He finally
snapped, murdering all of them, ruining the city, and beginning his destructive
rampage.
The Posthuman Plague

Paragon discovered that the federal government had developed a potential counter-
measure to posthumanity, a deadly plague that can be carried and transmitted by, but
which has no effect upon, ordinary people. This virus was stored at the CDC against
the inevitable day that Paragon, or others like him, turned against mundane authority
and decided to rule the world.
MOD
Master Of Destruction
Ive seen things you people wouldnt believe.
Real Name: Unknown Team Affiliation: Solo
Identity: Public ID Base Of Operations: Atlanta, GA, USA
Origin: Altered Range Of Operations: Local
Archetype: Tank First Appearance: Kalos Cavalcade #1, 1945
MOD (emm oh dee), as he is now almost always known, is an aging black

supervillain who, after Paragons destruction of Atlanta, moved to the city and
apparently changed his ways, becoming an altruistic servant of those who remain
within the ruins. He also enforces a blockade called the Atlanta Compromise which
keeps state and federal authorities out of the city while allowing individuals to come
and go.
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MOD
Brawn Agility Reason Perception Willpower Prowess Accuracy
9 2 3 3 4 6 3
Endurance 13 Plot Points 0
Powers
Immunity: 7
(Asphyxia, Exposure (Cold),
Exposure (Heat), Pathogens,
Pressure, Radiation, Sleep
Deprivation)
Invulnerability: 8
Super-jumping: 3
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Culture
Deception
Distracting +3
Social
Stealth
Survival
Advantages
Famous
Equipment
Binoculars
Flashlight
Radio
Movement
Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Run 20 feet 40 feet 120 feet (14 mph)
Swim 4 feet 8 feet 24 feet (3 mph)
Jump 400 feet 800 feet 2,400 feet (300 mph)
Summary
Attributes 30 + Skills 1 + Advantages 1 + Powers 18 = 50
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Description
Age: 120 Nationality: American
Height: 6' 2" Hair: Mixed grey and black
Weight: 245 lbs. Eyes: Brown
Gender: Cis Male Sexuality: Heterosexual
MOD is a tall black man with a powerful build and greying hair. He looks to be in his
sixties, but hes actually older even than that, having been born in rural Alabama in
the late 1890s.
Personality
MOD is a quiet man, preferring to let his actions speak for him. He has a temper, and
he knows it: he sometimes struggles to restrain his impulses and keep a cool head. He
is much smarter than anyone gives him credit for, which has often worked in his favor
even though it rankles his pride. As a result of his many years of experience as a black
man in the United States, and his long criminal career, MOD distrusts the authorities
and is skeptical of other peoples motivations.
Motivations
Protection: The character wants to protect others, particularly the innocent and the
helpless.
Rebellion: The character doesnt fit into the larger society.
History
There was never a time that MOD wasnt aware of race and the social divisions it
causes, though it was decades before he thought of it in those terms. All he knew
was that there were white folks and there were black folks, and everything was easier
if you stayed with your own people. By the time he became a young man, he began
to understand that no amount of equality under the law would bring true fairness
to black Americans until they got an equal chance at the dough. In other words,
economic opportunity was a requirement for racial equality.
MOD believes that he gained his powers as the result of a medical experiment
conducted by doctors from the United States Public Health Service in 1915. The
subjects, poor sharecroppers (both black and white), were told that they were being
given a new preventative treatment for influenza. Of the nearly 200 test subjects,
only two survived. MOD was delirious or sedated during most of this time: all he
remembers of that time is pain, and then fire, and then awaking in a ditch months
later, many miles away. His powers surfaced slowly in the following years, so that for
a long while he thought he was just strong, tough, and fast, rather than superhuman.
It was not until 1918, when a quarrel with a group of white soldiers returning home
from the Great War resulted in an unintended death, that MOD realized that he
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was something more than human. MOD fled Alabama, shedding his old name and
identity. He never saw his family again.
For years, he tried to avoid attention and trouble, traveling from one small town to
another, changing his name every month, surviving on odd jobs and the charity of the
kindhearted. But this was the 1950s and it proved impossible for a black posthuman
to lie low. He was placed on a list of domestic threats and a military task force was
assigned to capture him, under the command of an Army captain. Every time they
caught up to him, a shootout would erupt, innocents would get hurt, and MOD
would lose his temper. Some soldiers died in these encounters, and governmental
resolve hardened.
Finally, in the 1960s, he decided he could run no longer; the nation would not leave
him alone, and so he would beat it at its own game. He would become the super
villain they made him out to be, but he would win where others lost. He adopted the
nickname Master Of Destruction from sensationalist newspaper stories which had
tracked his 1950s odyssey, and devised a criminal strategy that capitalized on his own
powers: he himself would act as a distraction, causing as much property destruction
as he could while keeping police and other bystanders focused on him. While he was
putting on the show, reliable accomplices would burgle carefully-selected safes
nearby. It took several of the Masters rampages for law enforcement officials to
realize what was really going on, and in that time MOD acquired a large financial
stash. Once his routine was discovered, he adapted, continuously using misdirection
to complete his crimes while relying on his personal invulnerability to avoid capture.
One memorable case occurred in 2004 when, in a brawl with Paragon, MOD was
hurled through an 80-story residential tower. It was only after the fight was over that
authorities discovered MOD had, when thrown through the building at nearly the
speed of sound, broken through an otherwise-inaccessible safe room within the
tower. The room contained a fortune in stolen masterpieces of classical art, pieces
which earned MOD millions when sold to private collectors.
With the destruction of Atlanta, MOD changed his ways again, entering the fourth
and final Act of his life. He had already been in near-retirement, since he no longer
needed money and found his career as a human punching bag to be increasingly
unfulfilling. Moreover, he was getting slow and, most remarkably, his invulnerability
showed signs of fading. He left for Atlanta the evening of Paragons attack and, even
before the Justifiers had tracked the former hero down, MOD was rescuing civilians
from the Ruins. While other posthumans have occasionally come to Atlanta, MOD
has been by far the most visible. He lives north of the city, above the Deadline,
but patrols the Ruins daily and has a good relationship with the inhabitants and
leadership of Terminus. He is not blind to the irony that, in his youth, he was fleeing
The Man, but now he has become The Man, at least in Atlanta.
MODs uneasy agreement with the remnants of Atlanta to the north, with the
governor of Georgia, and with the federal government, permits humanitarian aid
to enter the ruins as well as scientific research teams. The military is, however, not
permitted, nor is anyone acting in an official capacity as a representative of the federal
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or state government. While the Army and National Guard could certainly overwhelm
MOD and force their way into the Ruins if ordered to do so, political considerations
have made the so-called Atlanta Compromise into an indefinite reality. The
American public supports reconstruction of the city in the wake of Paragons Fall, but
the federal government has been unable to summon the political will to finance such
an enormous undertaking. So long as MODs blockade of the city is respected, this
decision is successfully put off; because MOD has also captured public sympathy, the
governor of Georgia and the President can use ongoing negotiations as a cover for
their own inaction.
Powers And Abilities

Although he is no longer in his prime, MOD is still immensely powerful: strong
enough to lift a jumbo jet, and tough enough to shrug off light artillery fire without
a scratch. His powerful legs can propel him over a half-mile: far enough to leap over
the tallest building in a single bound. While extremes of temperature or lack of sleep
make him uncomfortable, they do not significantly impair his ability to function. He
can hold his breath indefinitely, and while he does need to eat, his endurance is such
that it would take months of deprivation before he was in any danger of dying from
starvation. MOD could walk across the ocean floor from Asia to North America, if he
had a flashlight and a GPS.
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Terminus is the largest settlement inside the ruins. In the hours after Paragons attack,
the homeless, injured, and confused wandered, struggling for simple food and shelter.
Martha Johnston, an idealistic writer and social studies teacher, arose as a natural
leader and found herself in charge of a refugee camp which attracted more and more
people as the days went by. Herself deeply suspicious of governmental authority,
Johnston decided to stay in the ruins and ordered the gathering of resources and
the repair of serviceable housing. Within a few months, Marthasville, as it is still
sometimes known, was a busy if ramshackle and imperiled town existing inside
the ruins of the former city.
Marthasville didnt just attract refugees from inside Atlanta; it became famous as a
libertarian haven, a place without taxation or governmental regulations. Thousands
of Americans were willing to walk away from their jobs and homes in order to
make a new life in the ruins, off the grid. Most of these immigrants didnt really
understand the risks they were accepting, but idealism ran high. The lack of federal
law enforcement in Marthasville also makes it an attractive destination for those who
wish to avoid the police; petty criminals arent generally desperate enough to flee to
the ruins, but anyone who has committed a major crime, or who faces a long prison
term, is a potential resident of the town.
It was this influx of desperate Americans that gave Marthasville its new name,
Terminus, the last stop for so many former citizens of the United States. (The name
was embraced by former residents of Atlanta, who remembered that the city was
first founded as a railway hub and was even briefly named Terminus in the 19th
century.) The office of the mayor actually encouraged the name change, as a way of
de-emphasizing Martha Johnstons role in the city. Now, years after Paragons attack,
about two-thirds of Terminuss ten thousand residents are former Atlantans. The
remainder are immigrants who chose to enter the ruins in order to participate in the
libertarian experiment. A great many more have been exiled from the city for its one
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crime: violence against others. These exiles become part of a Reject community, try to
join the Pyramid or the ARC, or become victims to one of the ruins many factions.
Terminus has no real laws or regulations, and it has no taxes. Citizens are allowed
to do whatever they wish, as long as they dont intentionally hurt another person.
This rule against violence is the only law, and proportional self-defense is the only
exception to it. Those who break the law are exiled from town.
The office of the mayor is primarily responsible for supervising the towns Service
Network, a system of contracts and agreements by which certain inhabitants of the
town agree to provide specific services in exchange for other services. For example,
a carpenter who signs up with the Service Network will be kept busy every day on
construction projects around town; in exchange, he is provided with a loaf of bread
baked by another member of the Network, and if his water goes out, a plumber in
the Network may eventually arrive to help. The Service Network is stretched too
thin; there is too much demand and not enough supply. Individuals who get sick and
are unable to contribute to the Network stop receiving supplies from it, resulting in a
death spiral from which few recover. This encourages self-sufficiency; most residents
of Terminus try to grow their own food, maintain their own shelter, and do without
anything they cant build, grow, or repair themselves. Even those using the Service
Network are constantly busy trying to negotiate for their needs with other citizens.
Residents of Terminus need to have a set of useful skills if they hope to survive.
Not only is this is all incredibly inefficient, it is also very hard on the body and psyche.
After a few years, the people of Terminus are lean, hardened, and cynical. The only
thing they certainly possess is their freedom a freedom to starve, toil, and quarrel.
Nevertheless, they guard this freedom jealously. Despite the towns rule against
violence, nearly every citizen of Terminus is armed. There are shootings every day,
and the mayors office determines if these shootings are accidental or intentional.
Although proportional self-defense is permitted by the law, when everyone has a gun,
that justifies lethality in almost any circumstance.
The citizens of Terminus consider their town to be the true city of Atlanta; they have
adopted the symbol of the phoenix and the motto, A Town Too Busy To Hate, from
the original city, though both of these icons carry new ironic value when used by the
struggling Terminus, which seems perpetually on the verge of collapse.
Koan The Unknowable

Guardian Of Terminus
Never compromise. Not even in the shadow of the apocalypse.
Real Name: Unknown Team Affiliation: Solo
Identity: Secret ID Base Of Operations: Atlanta, GA, USA
Origin: Zenith Range Of Operations: Local
Archetype: Sword First Appearance: Unknowable #1, 2012
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Description
Age: Unknown Nationality: American
Height: 5' 6" Hair: Unknown
Weight: 145 lbs. Eyes: Unknown
Gender: Cis Male Sexuality: Asexual
The self-appointed guardian of Terminus, Koan The Unknowable is a two-fisted

vigilante who wears a black suit with white pinstripes, white tie and fedora with a
black band, white gloves and shoes, and a long coat. His head is entirely obscured by a
white mask boldly imprinted with a maze.
Personality
Koan protects the good people of Terminus from those who seek to take advantage
and exploit them. Unfortunately, almost no one is good enough for Koan, who
sees everything as black and white. For Koan, there is no moral gray; there is only
right and wrong. He never compromises on anything. A person who lies, cheats, or
performs violence on another is guilty for the rest of his life. For when a man chooses
to do evil, why should he ever be forgiven? Needless to say, Koan does not consider
the many, often brutal, punishments he hands down to be unjust, let alone evil.
Most of the residents of Terminus fear Koan, and he in turn considers almost
everyone in Terminus to be either a helpless victim or morally bankrupt. Nevertheless,
he patrols the town nightly, investigating traditional crimes such as kidnapping and
murder and saving citizens from immediate peril. Periodically he communicates with
the mayor by breaking into her home without invitation.
Motivations
Idealism: The character would die to protect or uphold some cause or ideology.
Justice: The character seeks to ensure that misdeeds are met with appropriate
punishment.
History
Koans background is unknown; it is widely assumed that he was a resident of Atlanta
who went mad after the death of friends and family, but in fact he was living in New
York before he came to Terminus to participate in its Objectivist experiment. He left
his name and identity behind upon entering the ruins and now answers only to Koan.

Although born merely human, Koans obsession and dedication to his cause has
driven him to push his body to superhuman levels. When not on patrol, his every
waking moment is spent on training. His combat style is a result of what he has seen
in movies and read in books: he is entirely self-taught.
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Koan The Unknowable

3 5 3 5 6 6 3
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Dodging +3
Deception
Investigation
Searching +3
Manipulation
Interrogation +3
Stealth
Shadowing +3
Survival
Advantages
Unsettling
Equipment
Light Tactical Vest
Invulnerability 1
Knife
Strike 1
Crowbar
Strike 2 (two handed)
Nausea-inducing Pistol
Agility Drain 2, Ranged (radio
frequencies)
Pepper Spray
Blast 1 + Blindness 2 (poison)
Taser
Blast 2, Stunning
Binoculars Movement
Lockpick Gun Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Mini-flashlight Run 50 feet 100 feet 300 feet (34 mph)
Jump 9 feet 9 feet 9 feet
Summary
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Mayor Martha Johnston

Mayor of Terminus
Everyone builds their world in their own image.
Real Name: Martha Johnston Team Affiliation: Terminus
Origin: Natural Range Of Operations: Local
Archetype: Hammer First Appearance: Unknowable # 1, 2012
Description
Height: 5' 5" Hair: Brown
Gender: Cis Female Sexuality: Heterosexual
Personality
Mayor Johnston is an unassuming middle aged black woman. The years since the
collapse of Atlanta have transformed Martha from an opinionated outcast to a
hardened and introverted leader. Although outwardly modest, she enjoys being
(nominally) in charge and considers the minor perks of her office to be the only reason
anyone would ever do it. After all, shes not getting paid.
Motivations
Mentoring: The characters true calling is the education and enlightenment of others.
History
Before Paragon attacked the city, she taught social studies at a middle class high school
and wrote books on libertarian and objectivist philosophy which she self-published
on Amazon. She was very popular among her students because of her outspoken
criticism of government, and in the first hours of the emergency these students
remained with her, helping to rescue other students as well as faculty and staff. This
school became the center of the refugee community that would eventually grow into
Marthasville.
After all, shes not getting paid. She has married twice since the fall of Atlanta; her
first husband killed another man in a fight and was exiled. Her second husband,
Daniel, is young, handsome, and quite obviously providing companionship to
Martha as a way of securing his own life in Terminus. This seems to be an equitable
relationship for both parties.
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Mayor Martha Johnston

2 2 3 3 4 3 3
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Culture
Deception
Manipulation
Social
Stealth
Survival
Advantages
Connected
Famous (in the ruins)
Headquarters
Equipment
Light Tactical Vest
Invulnerability 1
Knife
Strike 1
Target Pistol
Blast 2, +1 Accuracy
Movement
Summary
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The Atlanta Regional Commission, or ARC, is the official remnant of city and state
authority inside the ruins. Led by the man who was Attorney General for the state
of Georgia at the time of Paragons attack, the ARC works to rebuild authority
over Atlanta by consolidating survivors, salvaging vital resources, and rebuilding the
citys infrastructure. The Attorney General sees other factions in the ruins, especially
Terminus and the Pyramid, as obstacles to this goal.
Georgia is organized into more counties than any other state in the nation besides
Texas, and the city of Atlanta alone included ten counties before the Fall. This created
headaches for city planning, and the Atlanta Regional Commission was originally an
organization which helped to coordinate municipal planning over the citys multiple
counties. Paragon destroyed many of the citys official buildings, including the state
capitol, and in the process most of the citys upper administration perished. Attorney
General Clifford Montgomery, however, survived, and found himself the highest
ranking member of the city and state government inside the ruins. With no way to get
official support from outside the city thanks to MODs blockade, Montgomery was
forced to work with what he had, and he took the ARC name as a form of branding,
to show that he considered his authority to include the entire city. ARC served as a
rallying point not just for governmental workers, but for anyone who lived or worked
downtown, who wanted to restore the former city as it once was, or who was willing to
serve in the ARCs well-armed and well-supplied military police force. Thousands of
people now call the ARC home, though only one in ten are women and they are often
fought over.
The ARC is based in what remains of Atlantas downtown; many government
buildings have been all but destroyed, but ARC has partially restored some of them
and cleaned up what it cannot reconstruct. The heart of the Commission is its police
force, which is essentially a small army equipped with vehicles, firearms, body armor,
communication gear and other equipment salvaged from the city police and National
Guard stockpiles. Most of the ARCs police were in uniform before the Fall; others
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were military veterans who find that serving the ARC gives them a way to use their
skills. A slow trickle of recruits comes in from outside the ruins, mostly proud but
down-on-their-luck Georgians who have a lifelong facility with guns, a sentimental
affection for the Confederacy, and nothing to lose. The Attorney General capitalizes
on Southern pride to keep his coalition together, and the ARC headquarters flies both
the state and Confederate flags.
The ARC is, in essence, a military dictatorship which rewards obedience, efficiency,
and the performance of the citys former way of life. By day, its soldiers engage in
well-organized salvage and repair operations, slowly expanding the Commissions
reach and resources. When refugees are discovered in the ruins, the officer on the
spot decides whether they are peaceful and useful, peaceful and useless, or dangerous,
in which case they are escorted back to the ARC, driven off, or shot, respectively.
Women are always considered useful. After sunset, reclamation operations cease
and the ARC engages in an idealized recreation of life before the Fall, gathering for
communal suppers, watching television, and making music. General Montgomery
hears legal cases and dispenses justice. Its all quite forced and a little bizarre.
ARC Soldier
3 2 2 2 2 3 3
Skills Movement
Athletics Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Combat Run 20 feet 40 feet 120 feet (14 mph)
Investigaton
Stealth Swim 4 feet 8 feet 24 feet (3 mph)
Survival Jump 6 feet 6 feet 6 feet
Equipment
Tactical Vest
Summary
Invulnerability 2
Military Rifle Attributes 16 + Skills 0 + Advantages 0 + Powers 9 = 25
Blast 4
Flashlight
Radio
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Attorney General Clifford Montgomery

Attorney General of Atlanta
In Here, I am the government.
Real Name: Clifford Montgomery Team Affiliation: ARC
Archetype: Cannon First Appearance: Unknowable #2, 2012
Description
Height: 5' 11" Hair: Grey
Weight: 227 lbs. Eyes: Blue
As part of his strategy of capitalizing on Southern pride and idealized notions of the
Confederacy, Montgomery now wears a uniform inspired by the Confederate army
but with more modern stylings, hand sewn by his female servants. He carries his sabre
when in public, and it is his first tool when it comes to disciplining the men.
Personality
Few people who knew Montgomery before the Fall would have called him a bad
person; he was friendly, intellectual, and compassionate, a loving husband and father,
sympathetic to the plight of those less fortunate than himself. But he is now a living
example of the corruption that occurs when civil restraints are removed. Clifford
Montgomery is now in a position to do whatever he wants without fear of reprisal or
the condemnation of his social peers. With no one to shame or punish him, he has
chosen to give full reign to his all-too-human indulgence. He wears the mantle of his
authority as if it entitled him to anything in the world, he rewards men who are loyal
and efficient by giving them license to indulge themselves as he does (though to a
lesser degree), and he keeps a household of young and pretty female servants who live
in abject terror of his anger. In short, hes a thoroughly despicable character who also
happens to have a few thousand very well armed and equipped fanatical followers.
Motivations
Control: The character detests the chaos of human society, and seeks to impose order.
Glory: The character wants fame and acknowledgment of their greatness.
Materialism: The character wants to amass great wealth.
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Attorney General Clifford Montgomery

3 2 3 3 4 4 3
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Blocking
Culture
Law
Deception
Investigation
Analyzing Evidence
Manipulation
Social
Advantages
Famous (in the ruins)
Headquarters
Master Plan
Minions
Equipment
Heavy Tactical Vest
Invulnerability 3
Sword
Strike 2
Heavy Pistol
Blast 3
Flashlight
Radio
Movement
Summary
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History
Clifford Montgomery grew up in South Carolina but came to the University of
Georgia for a law degree. In college he was an expert fencer, and in 1975 at the age of
23 he won the Atlantic Coast Conference individual sabre championship. He married
a teacher and, after practicing law for about a decade, successfully ran for the Georgia
House of Representatives, where he served for eight years until 1997. In that year, the
governor appointed him Attorney General of Georgia and he was re-elected twice
before Paragon attacked the city. In 2010, shortly after the Fall of Paragon, there was
a state-wide election for Attorney General and Montgomery was officially replaced,
but he continues to operate with the title in the ruins, arguing, There is the world
Out There, and the world In Here... and In Here, I am the government.
Montgomery maintains a facade of recreating the old city of Atlanta, but he actually
has no desire to rejoin the official state government. If that were to happen, his
authority would be undermined and he would no longer be able to wield complete
executive power.
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Ruins Of Atlanta
In the days after Paragons attack, humanitarian aid for the residents of Atlanta was
hard to come by. Paragon was still on the loose, no one knew how long his murder
spree would continue or who would be next, and the devastation in Atlanta was so
severe that the state and federal government were seriously considering just writing
the whole city off as a loss, flattening it, and evacuating the refugees.
Into this vacuum came the Pyramid, a corporation which no one seemed to have
heard of but which was pledging sustained relief and reconstruction in the city. They
werent the government, and so MOD let their trucks, personnel, and helicopters
enter. They moved immediately to the Georgia Dome, which had been wrecked when
Atlantas local posthuman team, the Southern Cross, attempted to stop Paragon and
were dismembered on live television. Construction began by pulling down the remains
of the Dome and, over three months, an enormous steel and glass pyramid replaced it
to became headquarters for the corporation.
The Pyramid has become a major faction within the ruins, rivaling Terminus
and the ARC in its size and resources. It is organized in a very strict and complex
hierarchy, stratified into workers, supervisors, managers, vice presidents, and a board
of directors, with a host of intermediary ranks that read like Kafkaesque satire:
the Associate District Manager of Infrastructure Reclamation, the Executive Vice
President of Internal Justice, and so on. The most important seats on the board
are the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Financial Officer. Only the
lowest ranks ever leave the Pyramid building itself and, indeed, the population of the
Pyramid is actually shockingly low, numbering only about a thousand. Instead, the
Pyramid relies on automation and robotics for much work which would otherwise be
performed by people. Its repair shops, waste treatment, agricultural systems and more
are all sustained through automation supervised by a skeleton crew of specialized
workers. Its daily expeditions into the ruins are made up mostly of drones, controlled
by skilled pilots safe in the Pyramid.
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The inside of the Pyramid is a high-tech enclave with everything its employees could
desire save freedom. Apartments, sport and exercise facilities, bars and restaurants,
shopping and more can all be found here, segregated by professional status. Workers
occupy the largest, bottom-most floors, with supervisors resting above them,
managers a level up, and so on. Officers from upper floors are allowed to descend,
but employees from the lower floors cannot go up unless invited. Promotion within
the Pyramid includes perks like cosmetic nano-surgery and metabolic implants, so the
higher you go in the Pyramid, the prettier everyone looks and the healthier they are.
Education is highly prized within the Pyramid; even workers have at least a four year
degree. Everything used and consumed inside the Pyramid is made in the Pyramid,
from the recycled food to the skintight smartsuits worn by everyone of supervisor rank
and above. Of course, because it operates in a lawless no-mans-land, the Pyramid is
free from all safety, employment, and environmental regulations. Nevertheless, no one
tries to leave.
Despite its initial claims, the Pyramid has done little in the way of reconstruction
within the ruins. Instead, the Pyramid uses Atlantas bones as raw materials to be
reshaped and used for new purposes, including R&D which would be illegal in the
US. Pyramid planners identify lucrative resources in the ruins using the global satellite
network and send out teams of drones to recover these resources, engaging in a 24/7
strip-mining of the city. The products of this construction and research are kept in
subterranean vaults that spread out beneath the Pyramid. No one from outside the
Pyramid has ever seen the contents of these vaults.
CEO Stephanie Hatsu

Chief Executive Officer of Pyramid, Inc.
The future belongs to those who prepare for it.
Real Name: Stephanie Hatsu Team Affiliation: Pyramid
Archetype: Calculator First Appearance: Unknowable #3, 2012
Description
Age: 35 (appears younger) Nationality: American
Height: 5' 7" Hair: Blonde
Gender: Cis Female Sexuality: Bisexual
The CEO of Pyramid corporation is an enigmatic figure. Slightly built and pale, with
blonde hair in a page-boy haircut and wearing a pair of smart glasses with a modern
business suit, Hatsu keeps a courteous smile even when terminating an employee, a
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CEO Stephanie Hatsu

3 4 5 6 5 3 3
Skills Movement
Athletics Investigation Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Combat Manipulation Run 40 feet 80 feet 240 feet (27 mph)
Culture Conversation
Deception Science Swim 8 feet 16 feet 48 feet (5 mph)
Engineering Social Jump 9 feet 9 feet 9 feet
Advantages
Connected
Summary
Exceptional Beauty
Headquarters Attributes 29 + Skills 1 + Advantages 6 + Powers 0 = 36
Master Plan
Vehicles
Wealthy
Equipment
Smartphone
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process which occasionally involves hurling the individual out Hatsus office window
to slide down the Pyramids outer wall. She has an affectation for ancient Egypt, and
her penthouse at the top of the Pyramid is a strange combination of science fiction,
hieroglyphs, and statuary. She freely admits that her real name is not Steph Hatsu,
which is an anagram for the greatest female ruler of the ancient world, Hatshepsut.
Her body has been sculpted and her biology optimized by Pyramids chief scientists.
Motivations
Immortality: The character seeks to live forever, by any means necessary.
History
Hatsu believes that the world as we know it is about to collapse. The irreversible
effects of climate change, the rise of violent posthumans, increased nationalism,
and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant super plagues are the writing on the
wall. Its really just a matter of time, and Hatsu resolved years ago to be one of the
survivors. She decided to create a new human civilization, one designed to weather
the oncoming storm, however long it lasts. The Pyramid is her mechanism for this,
a self-contained society which she manages with the help of limited AI and a highly
structured workforce who meet her exacting standards for the next generation of
human beings. Pyramid projections suggest it may take centuries for the Earth to
return to habitable conditions after the apocalypse, but Hatsu intends to be there, and
she intends to stand atop the Pyramid.
In order to outlive humanitys self-destruction, Hatsu is pursuing a number of
programs intended to extend her lifespan. The most promising of these is the Anubis
Protocol, by which a human beings mind is digitally copied into a self-sustaining
online simulation. That is, Hatsu intends to upload her mind into a computer, from
which it could then be downloaded into a succession of young and healthy clones.
To ensure that she doesnt lose any memories, periodic updates of the digital mind
would be required, but the science is (mostly) figured out and now its just a matter of
assembling the infrastructure, doing the programming, and conducting some tests on
a human subject. Needless to say, theres no way Hatsu is going to try this on herself
unless she knows it works, but shes unwilling to test it on another employee in case
word gets out. She needs someone no one will miss.
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Pyramid Salvage Drone

The Pyramid has a host of modifiable drones used to perform every task imaginable,
from aerial scouting to sewage and waste management, but the most visible are so-
called Salvage Drones which secure sites in the ruins, gather resources, and bring
them back to headquarters, all under remote control from pilots in the Pyramid.
Salvage Drones are about the size of a pick-up truck and are multi-modal, flying
to their destination on jet-assisted rotors, converting to a bipedal skeleton for urban
combat, and finally shifting to a low four-wheeled platform for cargo transport.
The statistics provided here represent a typical Drone piloted by a remote operator
back at the Pyramid. Drones have no Willpower score and cannot be attacked with
mental powers such as Telepathy or Mind Blast, though their operators could. The
attributes and skills included below are a combination of the Drones automated
systems (Brawn, Agility, Athletics, Combat) and operator training (Reason, Perception,
Investigation, Stealth).
Pyramid Salvage Drone

6 3 3 3 4 6
Powers Movement
Blast 6 Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Communication Run 100 feet 200 feet 600 feet (70 mph)
Radio
Flight 3 Swim
Immunity Jump 18 feet 18 feet 18 feet
(Asphyxia, Exposure (Cold), Exposure
Flight 400 feet 800 feet 2,400 feet (300 mph)
(Heat), Pathogens, Poisons, Sleep
Deprivation, Starvation)
Invulnerability 3
Summary
Super-running 2
Super Senses Attributes 25 + Skills 0 + Advantages 1 + Powers 28 = 54
(Blindsight, Infrared Vision, Ultraviolet
Vision)
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Investigaton
Stealth
Advantages
Quick Change
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Ruins Of Atlanta
America is filled with many discontented people, and some of those people would
gladly forsake whatever benefits the US government provides in exchange for a
different kind of freedom. For those people, the ruins of Atlanta offer a chance to be
self-sufficient and free from governmental intrusion. They reject the force of law, and
embrace the law of force. On average, a dozen people choose to emigrate to the ruins
every day. A smaller number manage to survive here. These American ex-patriots
might begin their new lives in Terminus, but the rule against violence leads most of
them to be quickly exiled. Inhabitants of the ruins, who have abandoned the United
States and been thrown out of Terminus, who make their slow daily crawl through
the rubble looking for food, water, and bullets, are known as Rejects.
Rejects organize themselves into semi-nomadic clans, the core of which might be two
or three extended families supplemented by specialists who provide expert firepower
or rare skill sets. There is no shortage of potential homes in the ruins, but preserved
food and bottled water salvaged from kitchens and basements doesnt last long.
Some clans find it easier to prey on others than to farm or raise livestock, leading
both predator and prey to stay on the move, alert for potential ambush. Clans which
have put down stakes in the ruins typically try to hold a combination of fortified
building and adjoining parkland, raising chicken or pigs, growing vegetables, and
shooting anyone who comes near. They trust no one, and for good reason, because
they know that if roles were reversed, theyd take everything from you at the point
of a gun. Most clans are led by a single personality, but a few have written their own
Constitutions to detail daily operations.
Most Rejects were once citizens of Terminus, even if only for a short while after
they entered the ruins. But the one rule of that town chafed; Rejects typically believe
in survival of the fittest, and violence is a tool of the fit. Swiftly exiled, they took
their guns and resentment with them. Slowly, over time, the number of exiles from
Terminus has grown, until it now threatens the very existence of the town itself. Clan
bosses now communicate with each other and debate the proper way to raid, or even
30
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completely sack, the town that spurned them. This newfound cooperation has not
gone undetected by Koan, who condemns all Rejects out of hand as Takers who
seek only to mooch off what others have made. Koan has, in turn, alerted the Mayor,
but Johnston has not been able to formulate a response beyond stockpiling weapons
and reinforcing the outer walls. Koan now infiltrates Reject compounds and camps,
beating or killing soldiers, interrogating leaders for information, and teaching the
clans to fear him.
Thrasher Jim, Clan Boss

Clan Boss
Theres no problem on Earth that cant be solved with violence.
Real Name: James Thrasher Team Affiliation: Rejects
Description
Height: 6' 1" Hair: Brown
One of the loudest voices among the Clan Bosses is the man called Thrasher Jim,
who claims to have been a resident of Atlanta at the time of the Fall and who traces
his family lineage back to the early days of the city. Jims clan was based for a time
at a police station, but he was driven out by the ARC and for the last year he has
supervised the construction of Thrasherville, a new compound at a former high
school. Thrasherville is home to a dozen families and about three hundred people,
including twenty children born in the ruins.
Personality
Jim is a former Marine and a born-again Christian; he laments the sad state of his
nation, which he claims to no longer recognize, and is honestly surprised that the
American people have not risen up to throw out the government. But, he consoles
himself, most people are lazy and are happy to sit on their couch and consume
whatever the state-controlled media gives them. Jim runs a tight and family-knit Clan,
with prayer every morning and evening, regular marksmanship drills, and a ban on
television. While he is widely feared in Terminus and among the clans, in person he is
actually a pretty jovial guy. His hair has grown out, he smokes a lot of weed, he wears
shades and a flannel shirt, and he loves his wifes cooking.
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Thrasher Jim
3 2 2 3 3 4 4
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Sniper
Deception
Manipulation
Stealth
Survival
Advantages
Minions
Vehicles
Equipment
Heavy Tactical Vest
Invulnerability 3
Knife
Strike 1
Pistol
Blast 3
Sniper Rifle
Blast 4, +1 Accuracy, Penetrating
(single shot)
Multi-tool
Nightvision Binoculars
Radio
Movement
Summary
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Motivations
Faith: The character believes in something which is not supported by empirical
evidence.
History
Because of his impressive military record, large clan, and charisma, Jim is one
of the organizers of the movement to attack Terminus. This is a very dangerous
game and he knows it, because no raid can succeed without serious casualties. Jims
priority is therefore to convince other clans to take the brunt of the damage, so that
the Thrashers can swoop quickly in, take the most valuable plunder, and get out
with minimal losses. To affect this and convince his rival clans to attack, Jim has
concealed some of his intel about Terminus, making it look softer than it appears.
In other words, Terminus is not the only victim here; the other clans are also targets.
Jims overall strategy is to make Thrasherville so much better armed, protected, and
supplied after the Battle of Terminus that it will take years for any other clan to catch
up.
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The destruction of Atlanta forced millions of people to re-evaluate the way they live
their lives. Many responded by embracing the violent, survival-of-the-fittest mentality
that the ruins seem to require. They abandoned morality and ethics in favor of
violence and survival. Many did this, but not all. Some stared the Fall in the face and
decided to rise above it.
The Hawks are a large gang of adolescents and young adults which traces its origin
to a skateboarding park near Philips Arena, home to the Atlanta Hawks. While
the Arena had its roof torn off when Paragon used it to destroy the 159th Fighter
Squadron out of Jacksonville, the park itself was only lightly damaged and it became
a gathering point for survivors. Even after most of the population left the ruins,
young people lingered here; some had lost their family in the disaster, but others
simply chose to stay with their friends. Unlike other factions in the ruins, the Hawks
are almost entirely composed of former citizens of Atlanta; no one comes to the
ruins in order to join the Hawks. They are entirely unknown to the outside world
and generally dismissed even by those groups in Atlanta which have heard of them.
Numbering about a hundred, they are led by a core group of half a dozen individuals
whose deeds have earned them the most respect.
The Hawks live their lives according to a code based on what they call Degree Of
Difficulty. Things that are difficult to do are respected, while actions that are easy
earn no credit. Lying, cheating, stealing, and other selfish behavior is easier than
charity, selflessness, and sympathy for others. Killing a man with a gun is easy; an
hours practice and you can do it. But being good is hard, and the very fact that it is
hard gives it value. The Hawks are the most heroic inhabitants of the ruins, and they
have high standards, but they are not fools. Many of the members are armed and
may have shot and even killed other inhabitants of the ruins, but this is nothing to be
proud of and earns them no Degree of Difficulty. Instead, solving problems without
bloodshed, in a way which is beneficial to everyone, is seen as superior. Hawks are
willing to compromise, but they wont be played for patsies.
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The area around Philips Arena continues to be home base for the Hawks, who have
subtly transformed the neighborhood to their advantage. Every Hawk knows how to
skate quickly and under cover through these streets and shattered buildings. Ramps
and grades have been added in ways the casual observer will never notice until they
are used. The Hawks drill rigorously in parkour as well as skateboarding, constantly
pushing themselves to reach greater Degree of Difficulty, and their ability to move
through, over, and around the ruins astonishes others. However, their lifestyle means
that injuries are common and sometimes a Hawk becomes hurt enough that he can
no longer keep up with the gang. The Hawks use hidden safehouses in the ruins as
places to recuperate from these injuries but, when Reject clans were near and the
injured were sure to be discovered, some Hawks have found refuge in Terminus,
where they reveal nothing of their past.
Jaeger
Prince Of Wheels
Theres nothing more amazing than helping people every day.
Real Name: Oskar Jaeger Team Affiliation: Hawks
Origin: Gifted Range Of Operations: Local
Archetype: Rocket First Appearance: Unknowable #6, 2012
Description
Age: 23 Nationality: German
Height: 6' 7" Hair: Brown (shaved)
Gender: Cis Male Sexuality: Homosexual
Oskar is a tall and gangly black man with a shaved head. He wears his jersey number,
17, on all his clothes.
Personality
Oskar is a rare young man. He is confident without being arrogant, and serious
without being humourless. He appreciates his role as a leader among the Hawks, and
he does his best to live up to the responsibility.
Motivations
Honor: The character believes that their worth is tied to their adherence to a code of
conduct.
Responsibility: The character is burdened by the responsibility of their powers.
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Jaeger
5 6 2 5 3 5 4
Powers
Extra Attacks 3
Regeneration 4
Super-Running 2
Super Senses 1
(Night Vision)
Skills
Athletics
Basketball
Combat
Stealth
Survival
Advantages
Team Player
Equipment
Multi-tool
Club
Skateboard
Movement
Summary
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History
Oskar Jaeger was only 19 when he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, but he had
already played two seasons of professional basketball in his native Germany and
expectations were high. Unfortunately, his rookie year was terrible, and he was about
to be sent down to the D-leagues when Paragon attacked the city.
What no one knew is that, shortly after being drafted, Oskar was forced to admit he
was posthuman. His speed, agility, and visual perception were no longer within the
bounds of human ability. He was devastated, because he knew that as soon as he
revealed his powers he would be forced out of the league. He sandbagged, playing
below his talent, which got noticed by the coaches, and he was quickly benched.
Oskar was sinking into deep depression, but found new purpose after the Fall.
Jaegar, now 23, is one of the leaders of the Hawks. He was a skateboarder even
before he began to play basketball, and his status as a player on the team (even if he
was a rookie) earned him instant reverence. He no longer had to keep his posthuman
powers a secret, and in fact could use them to help others. Oskar has had many
opportunities to leave the ruins, but he thinks back to what his family would want him
to do, and everything in his soul tells him to stay, that this is where he can do the most
good.

Jaegers strength, speed, and agility are well above human limits. He also has
preternatural night vision, and he heals from injuries much more quickly than his
fellow Hawks.
Skateboard
Like the rest of the Hawks, Jaeger rides a skateboard. Riding a skateboard doesnt
permit the rider to go any faster than their normal running speed, but it does allow
them to move all-out without needing to slow down to their base speed after one
minute (Bulletproof Blues, Movement, p. 134).
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Ruins Of Atlanta
To this day, few people realize that Paragons attack on Atlanta began at the Centers
for Disease Control. The CDC had become, in addition to its other work, a stockpile
for biological weapons and plagues which might be used against mankind and
against which vaccines were being developed. When Paragon focused his anger on
the building, these storage facilities broke open, releasing waves of pestilence across
Atlanta, the aftershocks of which still arise occasionally when a band of Rejects,
scientists, or Hawks uncover a long buried salvage site.
It was into this mutated and disease-ridden hole that Doctor Athanor descended, a
few months after the Fall of Paragon. Patiently and methodically, Athanor identified
the bacterial strains raging through the ruins of the CDC and made itself immune
to each and every one. Refugees who wandered into the area were abducted and
used as experimental subjects, some of whom stayed on as slaves performing manual
labor. Within a year, the Doctor had settled into its new home, constructed a roof over
the shattered facility, and explored deep into its underground storage vaults, where
Athanor built a new lab. As smoke and steam saturated with biological refuse
began to pour into the air from tall exhaust stacks, and fantastic, mutated humanoids
began to be sighted prowling its borders, the old CDC earned its new name: The
Monster Factory.
Rebuilt and redesigned by Doctor Athanor, the Monster Factory is a bioengineering
complex devoted to the creation of posthumans. Its upper levels, where the daily work
of the CDC once took place, remain largely ruined and abandoned, though they
are now inhabited by a number of experimental subjects as well as wild animals and
plants which have been accidentally mutated by Athanors research. Broken fences
surround the entire complex. Smokestacks rise from the Factory and pour an acidic
red smoke into the air. Broken water mains have created a lake that encircles about
half the Factory and which admits water into some of the underground levels. Those
brave enough to descend into the basements (usually by shattered staircase, though
the Doctor does maintain one elevator for private use) are exposed to hundreds of
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virulent strains once contained in the CDC vaults, from smallpox to the infamous
Bulletproof Flu.
Athanors personal chambers, lab, and the domain of the mutant slaves are all about
ten stories down. The Doctor is always conducting a few research projects down here,
which usually means slowly mutating captured human beings into posthuman terrors.
Each of Athanors creations are unique, so that the Doctor can learn from them
and expand its knowledge of superhuman powers. About once a month, one of the
research projects reaches successful fruition and is released into the wild. What it does
then is beyond Athanors interest.
Doctor Athanor
Lord Of Abominations
Life is an art, you know, and art is always a form of sacrifice.
Real Name: Basil/Phillipa Roteo Team Affiliation: Solo
Archetype: Clay First Appearance: Captain Victory #208, 1977
Description
Height: 7' Hair: Varies
Weight: 245 lbs. Eyes: Varies
Gender: Varies Sexuality: Varies
Doctor Athanor is both male and female, singly or in any combination, having
complete control over its organs, appearance, and sexual characteristics. Athanor can
alter its genetic structure and physical body with concentration, but making changes
to bones and cartilage takes much more time and effort than soft tissue like skin or
organs, and this function of the Shapeshifting power can only be used between scenes.
Its brain is quadruple lobed and highly folded, occupying no more physical space than
an ordinary brain, and it retains all the memories of Basil and Phillipa, though its
perception of those memories has been tainted by its long madness.
Personality
Athanor is an insane genius and post-humanist who believes that the posthuman
condition is the next stage of evolution, a stage which can be enabled only by
technology. (The ability to alter your own genetic code is, as Athanor explains to
some unlucky victims, itself an evolutionary step.) The Doctors ultimate goal is
nothing less than complete transformation of all human life, but for now it seems
content to create as many posthumans as possible. The Doctor does not much care
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Doctor Athanor
5 6 10 9 6 3 4
Powers
Attribute Invulnerability 5
Immortality 9
Immunity 7
(Asphyxia, Exposure Cold,
Exposure Heat, Pathogens,
Poisons, Sleep Deprivation,
Starvation)
Power Invulnerability 5
Regeneration 5
Shapeshifting 6 (non-cosmetic
changes must occur between
scenes, -1 point)
Super Senses 2
(Hyperacuity, Night Vision)
Ultra-Power: Posthuman Biology 7
(see Powers And Abilities)
Skills
Combat
Computing
Engineering
Investigation
Medicine
Science
Biology
Genetics
Advantages
Headquarters
Mental Calculator Movement
Perfect Recall Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Unsettling Run 60 feet 120 feet 360 feet (41 mph)
Summary
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what happens to these creations afterwards. For years the Doctor was constantly on
the move, conducting experiments to better understand posthuman biology. The
man now known as Crocolisk was only one of several experimental subjects during
this early research phase. By 2013, however, Athanor was ready to settle down in a
permanent laboratory and expand its work to a larger scale. The Monster Factory is
now the Doctors home.
Motivations
Curiosity: The character lives and breathes to solve the worlds mysteries.
History
Basil and Phillipa Roteo were biogeneticists working to understand the secret of
superhuman powers. In late 2000, their experiments involved genetic samples the two
scientists thought to be human but which were, in fact, alien. When subjected to tests,
the samples reacted explosively, escaping their containers and infecting the couple.
The results were horrific. The Roteos were biologically combined into a single being,
mad in shape and purpose: Doctor Athanor.

The Doctors body, originally altered by the alien organism, has been the subject
of years of self-improvement after experimentation on innocent victims, and is
extraordinarily resilient, strong, and fast. Through its use of Shapeshifting, Doctor
Athanor can shift ranks between Brawn and Agility with a free action. Its total of
Brawn + Agility is always 11.
Although the Doctor avoids combat, it carries biological weapons represented as an
Ultra-Power; use this power for Attribute Drain, Power Drain, Power Suppression,
and Transformation Ray.
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Atlanta is the former site of Georgia Tech (formally the Georgia Institute of
Technology), a large research and engineering-focused university which had satellite
campuses around the state. Paragons attack buried the main campus beneath
thousands of tons of rubble, but Georgia Tech survived as an institution, and has
been busily engaged in efforts to recover assets trapped in the ruins. The science teams
tasked with this effort are known as Yellowjackets, thanks to their distinctive yellow
and black uniforms.
Yellowjacket teams include at least three scientists or researchers known as Team
Leaders, typically professors associated with the university. They will be assisted by
graduate students and research assistants, usually two for every Team Leader. This
core group is protected by a security detail, mercenaries hired by the university for
the duration of the current mission. A security detail is traditionally equal in size
to the combined science team, led by a sergeant with one or two corporals. Its not
unusual for a Yellowjacket team to have one or two additional civilians attached to
it, individuals with specialized knowledge who are not faculty or even associated
with Georgia Tech. Such specialists might include someone with specific knowledge
of a particular part of the city, a researcher from a rival university or technology
corporation, or even a wealthy donor who has used his influence to get an escort back
into the ruins for personal reasons.
Standard procedure is for Yellowjacket teams to enter the city by helicopter, then
disembark and construct Base Camp near a target zone somewhere in Midtown,
the former site of the Georgia Tech campus. Missions last up to two weeks but can
end much sooner if reconnaissance indicates that Reject clans or other natives of
the ruins are closing in. On very rare occasions, teams close to their objective have
been able to call in additional supplies and stay a few extra days, but the cost of the
mercenary escort quadruples during this time and quickly becomes too expensive
to bear. The amount of recoverable scientific treasures in the ruins of Atlanta is
difficult to overstate; enormous amounts of data was stored on computers housed
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Ruins Of Atlanta
on the Georgia Tech campus alone, and the many colleges and research institutes
within the university were working on thousands of projects from nanotechnology
and bioscience to clean energy and material engineering. One of a kind experimental
prototypes lie buried in the wreckage, and not all these technological marvels are
entirely legal, nor do they exist in official records.
Teams of Yellowjackets come under threat from a number of sources, especially
Reject clans who want their food, bottled water, generators, and fuel. Soldiers from
the ARC have skirmished with Yellowjacket mercenaries on a few occasions, but
Attorney General Montgomery has maintained plausible deniability that he has
anything to do with these attacks, which he blames on rogue elements. The ARC
and the Pyramid both keep a very close eye on Yellowjacket missions, however, and
when one of those missions ends prematurely, Pyramid drones gather immediately in
an effort to find whatever the science teams were after. This has been the source of a
handful of shoot-outs between Pyramid drones and ARC forces, with the loss of both
men and material.
Yellow Jacket Jane

Bulletproof Bomber
Any soldier worth her salt wants peace. Still, there are things
worth fighting for.
Real Name: Jane Pattersol Team Affiliation: Yellowjackets
Origin: Equipped Range Of Operations: Local
Description
Height: 5' 2" Hair: Blonde
Gender: Cis Female Sexuality: Heterosexual
Motivations
Honor: The character believes that their worth is tied to their adherence to a code of
conduct.
Pride: The character seeks to personify the ideal of something.
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Yellow Jacket Jane

6 7 3 6 4 6 7
Powers
Communication 1
(Radio)
Extra Attacks 2
Flight 4
Immunity 4
(Asphyxia, Exposure (Cold),
Exposure (Heat), Pathogens)
Invulnerability 4
Mind Shield 4
Super Senses 3
(Blindsight, Infrared Vision,
Ultraviolet Vision)
Skills
Athletics
Combat
Dodging
Engineering
Investigation
Social
Stealth
Survival
Advantages
Connected
Team Player
Equipment
Movement
Pistol
Blast 3 Base Move Double Move All-out Move
Fly 1,600 feet 3,200 feet 2 miles (1,000 mph)
Summary
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History
Lieutenant Jane Pattersol is the posthuman guardian of the Yellowjacket missions;
she is a USAF veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan now working as a mercenary for
Georgia Tech. Jane accompanies most missions into the ruins, flying alongside the
insertion and retrieval helicopters, providing aerial reconnaissance during the mission,
and acting as air support in the event of a firefight. Jane herself has no superhuman
powers, but she wears a sophisticated suit of battle armor with an insect theme,
referred to as the Yellow Jacket.
The international celebrity and crime-fighter known as Manticore earned one of her
PhDs at Georgia Tech, and much of the work that went into her armor and flying
platform was done in Atlanta. After her doctoral program was complete, professors
and grad students continued to refine her work and, from this, a new system of
battle armor was designed. The first person to don the Yellow Jacket was Judy
Westmoreland, a grad student who used the Jacket to help rescue innocent victims of
Paragons attack. Judy was incinerated by the heros Para-Vision and the Jacket was
severely damaged.
Six months later, however, one of the first science teams into the ruins located the lab
in which the Jacket had been designed and retrieved its schematics and metallurgical
samples. The Jacket was rebuilt at a remote Georgia Tech facility and used to secure
the mercenary teams which made sustained investigation of the ruins possible. Jane
Pattersol outperformed a number of other candidates and become Yellow Jacket Jane.
Jane has become something of a celebrity among the USAF; her figure adorns a
number of aircraft in the WWII bombshell style and she is featured in Air Force
recruiting materials.

The Yellow Jacket is a form-fitting suit of battle armor in gold, black, and silver. It
has insect-like wings which allow Jane to fly hundreds of miles per hour. The helmet
includes a potent sensor array, and her strength and speed are both enhanced, and
the system can seal against various toxic environments. The Jacket has no integral
weapons; however, Jane carries a pistol as a sidearm, and when on a mission, she
has access to firearms and portable heavy weapons such as assault rifles, grenade
launchers, anti-tank rockets, and light machine guns, all of which she is highly
proficient with. Janes attributes are all rank 3 without her armor.
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For some, the trauma inflicted by Paragon upon the people of Atlanta and, indeed,
upon the entire world, was just too much to rationally bear. For others, it seemed the
end times were here at last. Paragon was a force of nature, like the power of God
himself, come down to punish humanity for all of our innumerable sins. And how
could Paragon be evil, after all the good he had done? Perhaps... perhaps Paragon was
never evil. He must have known something, something about Atlanta in specific and
about the world at large, that compelled him to do what he did. Surely he wouldnt
have killed so many people without a reason.
The ruins of Atlanta are now home to a cult-like group of people who choose to
believe that Paragon had a good reason to destroy the city, that he was a righteous
instrument of justice and not an insane mass-murderer. These people call themselves
the Redeemed Church of Christ Paragon, but everyone else calls them Para-Goners.
The Para-Goners believe that Paragon was a Scourge of God, a tool in Gods arsenal
sent to punish mankind for its many sins. The idea of a Scourge Of God is not a
new one; the devastation caused by Attila the Hun earned him the title, and various
natural disasters have also been considered Scourges by medieval and Renaissance
historians. In the modern age, AIDS has been called a Scourge of God. After all,
theres no debating that people are basically wicked. There is no shortage of evil
in the world, perpetuated by human beings upon each other and upon innocent
creatures or the planet itself. To the Redeemed, Paragon was just the latest and most
spectacular in a long series of Gods instruments. To them, he is the last such Scourge.
Those who survive his wrath are purified of their sins and bound for Heaven. Those
who die are sentenced to Hell.
Atlanta, as the first target of Paragons wrath, has special status for the Para-Goners.
They consider it to be the Chosen City of both God and Paragon, whom they
believe is not really dead and who will soon return to Atlanta. In this, they are
supported by considerable empirical evidence, since posthumans are notoriously
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difficult to kill and are known for returning from certain death. The Redeemed gather
in the ruins and await Paragons return.
Because they have survived the Scourge and repented, Para-Goners believe that
all the evil in their souls has been burnt away. It is literally impossible for them to
sin; they have been purified by the Scourge and are guaranteed to go to Heaven
no matter what they do. Further, performing acts of cruelty and violence upon
the non-Redeemed is not evil, it is a furthering of Paragons mission and a way for
ordinary people to participate in the Scourging. This combination of belief allows the
Redeemed to excuse almost anything they do.
To qualify for the cult, an individual must have been personally harmed in Paragons
rampage or by the cult itself. It is not necessary for the harm to have been inflicted in
Atlanta; the Redeemed include many members who have made the long journey from
other cities and nations where Paragon exercised his wrath. Individuals who want to
join the Redeemed but who had no personal contact with Paragons destruction often
invent such a moment for themselves and, over the course of weeks or months of
repetition, come to believe it as true.
So far, the Redeemed have contented themselves with living in the ruins, traveling
on Pilgrimage to the various sites in the city associated with Paragon, proselytizing
their beliefs, salvaging from the wreckage, and protecting themselves against other
factions. Occasionally mercenaries hired by families outside Atlanta enter, attempting
to recover sons or daughters who have joined the cult. These individuals are ruthlessly
slaughtered by the Redeemed and their posthuman guardian, the Shade.
The Shade
Spirit Of Vengeance
O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red...
Real Name: Shade Team Affiliation: Para-Goners
Archetype: Elemental First Appearance: Unknowable #10, 2013
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The Shade
2 2 2 3 10 2 2
Powers
Intangibility 14
(Permanent, Cannot be used on
others, -2 points)
Invisibility 7
Flight 2
Mind Blast 6
(Can only be used when
possessing someone, -1 point)
Mind Shield 3
Possession 6
(Inhabit, +1 point)
Skills
Stealth
Advantages
Minions
Unsettling
Movement
Fly 100 feet 200 feet 600 feet (70 mph)
Summary
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Description
Age: N/A Nationality: None
Height: 5' 10" (approx.) Hair: None
Weight: N/A Eyes: White
Gender: Androgynous Sexuality: None
The Redeemed are protected by a mysterious entity which calls itself the Shade. It
appears as a lean and muscular humanoid, often in a physically distorted pose, but the
Shade itself has no physical substance. Incorporeal, it can only interact with the world
and other people by possessing a willing human being. All the Redeemed are eager to
be possessed by the Shade, which they consider to be the Holy Spirit.
Motivations
Serenity: The character seeks freedom from the mistakes or tragedies of their past.
Vengeance: The character seeks revenge for some past wrong done to them or their
loved ones.
History
In fact, the Shade is a psychic gestalt made up of the combined minds of the first
106 victims of Paragons rampage years ago. No one has ever studied the Shade, but
scientists researching psychic powers in the posthuman age theorize that psyches can
combine to form gestalts according to certain patterns which create stability. These
theoretical stable gestalts are numbered in a way similar to the periodic table, assigned
a Psychic Number equal to the number of minds in the gestalt, and referred to
by the atomic element which corresponds to their number. Thus, a single persons
mind is a Hydrogestalt, two minds working together is a Heliogestalt, and so on. If a
researcher were able to count the Shades 106 combined psyches (a Seaborgestalt, far
higher than any other gestalt ever recorded or theorized), this complex theory would
be vindicated. It is hard to say why the Shade stabilized at this unusual number; its
possible that larger gestalts could be formed by even greater and faster trauma than
Paragon was able to inflict.

The Shade can speak even outside of a host, but its confusing utterances evoke only
death, destruction, loss, and fear. Members of the Redeemed interpret the Shades
words to provide guidance for the community, and interpretations which are later
vindicated by events elevate the individual in the eyes of the cult. When the Para-
Goners run afoul of one of the other factions in the ruins, or whenever someone tries
to leave the cult, the Shade enters a host and uses its prodigious psychic powers to
protect the Redeemers and their interests. Specifically, the Shade can contact other
minds, overwhelming them with the memories of its constituent psyches as they died
at Paragons hand. This mental contact causes debilitation, paralysis, and death.
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Bounty Hunters
GMs who want to introduce the ruins of Atlanta without lingering there too long can
easily fill a single session with the pursuit of a supervillain who flees to the ruins to
escape justice. MOD keeps such people out when he can, but he cant be everywhere
at once and has no special way to detect trespassers who are invisible, shifted into
another form, or even just especially sneaky. By the time the player characters arrive,
of course, MOD will be back on duty, and they will need to convince him of their
bona fides before being permitted entry. If the PCs provoke him, MOD can respond
to force with force, but hes basically a rational guy. He just mistrusts governmental
authority.
Once inside the ruins, the player characters will need to track their prey. While
crossing the city they might run afoul of Reject clans, ARC personnel, or Pyramid
drones. Heroes with a government affiliation might make contact with the Attorney
General, as a figure of authority within the ruins, but Montgomery will try to use
them for his own ends, perhaps tricking the PCs into an attack on a rival faction, such
as Terminus.
The expected path for a story like this is for the fleeing villain to be found hiding in
some deep hole, but thats precisely why a different and more unexpected ending
should be devised. Perhaps the man the heroes are after has himself been abducted
by Doctor Athanor, who wants to dissect him and use him as a research project, or by
Steph Hatsu, who has decided to test the Anubis Protocol on him. If the heroes get
caught up in fighting between the various factions, the criminal theyre after might
show up to help them, asking only to be left alone in the ruins.
Escape From Atlanta

As an alternative to a supervillain chase, the GM can set the players up on a rescue
mission. In this scenario, there is a MacGuffin that has been lost inside the city and
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Ruins Of Atlanta
the player characters have to find it, protect it, and get out with it. The nature of the
MacGuffin is such that any faction will want it, even if just to keep it away from rivals
or sell it. The MacGuffin could be a person (the President, for example) or it could
be a thing (corporate secrets, an as-yet-unidentified alien, or the old reliable nuclear
warhead).
This story is more explicitly that of a hot potato, with the object of quest being
tracked to the lair of one faction, from which it has already been stolen by a second
faction, before a third faction ambushes the heroes and they are forced to retreat
into the arms of a fourth faction. Player characters are more likely to spend time
recovering inside the ruins, allowing for more opportunity to roleplay with the
residents and form personal connections.
Turn The Lights Back On

GMs willing to use the ruins of Atlanta in a more sustained narrative will inevitably
engage with the big question of reconstruction and repair. The ruin is essentially a
post-apocalyptic setting, but because it is only a destroyed city, and not a nation
or the entire world, recovery from this desolated state is much more feasible. Stories
of rebuilding after the end of the world are usually so grand in scale that they are
essentially infinite; society will never be successfully rebuilt within the bounds of the
RPG gaming table. The problems in Atlanta, while still enormous, are such that real
progress can be seen and measured, especially with superhuman assistance. In this
way, its actually much more hopeful and optimistic than traditional post-apocalyptic
play.
Which isnt to say that the problems will be easy. Most of the factions within the ruins
prefer the status quo, and the player characters will need to be agents of change.
They will need to decide if theyre going to work with the ARC, or reject its authority.
The Pyramid has enormous resources that would make reconstruction easier (or
perhaps even possible at all), but its also a closed society with its own priorities. The
factions most likely to want to work with the player characters Terminus and the
Hawks are also among the most powerless. And unless the player characters commit
to staying in the ruins for the long haul, living and working among the inhabitants,
theyre going to be dismissed as weekend warriors who dont really understand the
realities of life there.
This is a sandbox style campaign, in which the heroes have to take the initiative.
They can go anywhere they like, and do anything they choose, but the GM has to be
prepared. Its especially important to know the factions and a few NPCs in each for
the players to interact with. The GM will also need to decide how much of Atlantas
infrastructure remains intact, and where the work of the heroes might begin. This
might be tailored to their individual powers. For example, a hero with lightning
powers would be a natural to restart the citys power grid. An aquatic hero will focus
on the citys water supply, and so on. Strongmen will be able to clear ground and help
with construction projects. Scientists will be required to clean up toxic pollution and
rebuild communications systems like cellular towers and wireless access.
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Ruins Of Atlanta
For a campaign of this sort, each session focuses on solving a specific problem or
impediment to reconstruction while, in the background, personal subplots create
physical and emotional conflict. Keep an eye out for NPCs who elicit strong responses
from the players and then incorporate these individuals as recurring characters. A
reconstruction campaign is an ideal setting for hard decisions (Your friend is gravely
injured, Blueshift, but I, Doctor Athanor, can save her. But what do you want in
return...), betrayal (God damn you, Hatsu! Ill get you for this! Yes, I have no
doubt. In your next life, perhaps!), and even romance (well leave that one to your
imagination).
Waiting For The Man

Whatever the players want to do in the ruins from chasing down fleeing villains
to reconstructing the city would probably be easier if MOD wasnt keeping state
and federal agencies out. The end of the Atlanta Compromise would allow FEMA
and other groups to provide relief aid on a massive scale. Of course, it would also
empower the government to take charge of the relief and reconstruction efforts, and
thats something MOD thanks to his lifelong mistrust of the government simply
doesnt want to happen.
If the players are to convince MOD to end the blockade, theyre going to have to
change his mind, force his compliance, or get rid of him. Of these three tactics, the
last is actually the most certain, because MOD isnt getting any younger. Its true, he
can probably keep the blockade up for a few more years, but hes already slower and
weaker than he used to be. If, as a GM, you simply want to get rid of MOD and start
the recovery process in Atlanta without impediment, its perfectly reasonable to have
him killed in a dust-up with ARC, the Pyramid, or even Doctor Athanor.
Player characters are going to have to work to change MODs mind. Its probably
impossible to convince him the government isnt a massive self-serving tool meant to
gratify the desires of the few at the top (after all, in the Kalos Universe, it is!), but it
would be possible to convince him that individual members of the government can
be trusted. A super-patriot hero or a battle-hardened veteran could, either over a
long campaign or in a single intense confrontation, prove their personal honor and
integrity to MOD, probably by either refusing to do the expedient thing in favor of
what is right, or by self-sacrifice. This would allow MOD to provisionally lower the
blockade by placing responsibility on a PC. The result would be something like this:
MOD agrees to let governmental forces into the ruins, but if they do anything he
doesnt approve of, the PC hero gets the blame.
The Water War

Finally, GMs who want to make the ruins of Atlanta into the site of a summer
blockbuster can pit all the factions against each other, with the heroes caught in the
middle. All you need is some kind of threat which triggers armed conflict, conflict
which escalates as each of the factions tries to further its goals, protect its resources, or
simply survive. An easy way to launch a story arc of this sort is to make the fight over
water.
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Ruins Of Atlanta
Atlantas primary water supply is Lake Lanier, but Florida and Alabama also draw
water from Lanier and, since the Fall, Atlanta has lost all authority over the lakes
water. In other words, Florida and Alabama can take all the water they want from
this lake, leaving none for Atlanta because, officially, Atlanta does not exist. Now, the
population inside the ruins is small, only a fraction of what it was before the Fall. And
such a small population can survive on other water sources, at least for a time. But
drought conditions have plagued this area on and off for years, and if drought was to
return and rainfall to fail, or if Atlantas access to the Lake should simply be turned
off by state agencies, groups like Terminus and the ARC will start to get very, very
thirsty.
The Pyramid, however, is relatively secure and self-contained. They may even have
a source of fresh water in there, something large enough to relieve the thirst of the
Attorney General and his thousands of soldiers. Montgomery would never engage in
a simple head-on assault on the Pyramid, however. He would need intelligence, and
that can only be gained by reconnaissance inside the complex. He needs to know how
many drones Hatsu can send against him, how they are commanded and controlled,
and any weaknesses of the Pyramid structure. Getting a spy into the Pyramid would
be difficult, but not impossible.
Other factions, like the Hawks and the Rejects, will also be under increased pressure
as they try to salvage bottled water from around the city. Science teams from Georgia
Tech or Terminus might try to restore the citys water supply, but that will require
dangerous travel through the ruins, men and material to conduct the work, and time.
A crafty leader might allow such a repair to occur, only to come in afterwards, scatter
the workers, and take the water for himself.
Small factions like the Para-Goners and Doctor Athanor become spoilers in a
campaign like this, unexpected arrivals who provide a twist ending or which raise the
stakes. Perhaps the Redeemed have decided that Atlanta should die of thirst, that this
is part of Paragons wrath. They could sabotage any repair plan even at the moment
it goes into effect, even if it means their own destruction. Athanor could use the new
water supply for his own ends: as a breeding tank for some new menace... or a horde
of them.
The Water War is also a good opportunity to make major changes in the setting. The
death of a major NPC like MOD, Koan, or Mayor Johnston will have consequences
for a long time to come, and the GM can use this to do a little house cleaning. If there
are NPCs which you dont like, which your players find boring, or which you just want
to replace with characters of your own invention, were not offended. Kill them off in
the Water War; perhaps the player characters will have to take their place, settling into
new, permanent roles in the ruins.
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Cover: Ruins Of Atlanta Cover 2014 Brandon Blackmoor
Page 4: Ruins Of Atlanta Map 2014 Stephanie McAlea
Page 10: MOD 2014 James Shields
Page 17: Koan The Unknowable 2014 James Shields
Page 19: Martha 2014 James Shields
Page 23: Atty Gen Clifford Montgomery 2014 James Shields
Page 27: Stephanie Hatsu 2014 James Shields
Page 32: Thrasher Jim 2014 James Shields
Page 36: Oskar Jaeger 2014 James Shields
Page 40: Doctor Athanor 2014 James Shields
Page 44: Yellow Jacket Jane 2014 James Shields
Page 48: Shade 2014 James Shields
54
Ruins Of Atlanta
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With special thanks to our Kickstarter backers.

Kalos Comics Manufactured in the United States Of America

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Mayor Martha Johnston

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Attorney General Clifford Montgomery

Attorney General Clifford Montgomery

CEO Stephanie Hatsu

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Pyramid Salvage Drone

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Thrasher Jim, Clan Boss

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Yellow Jacket Jane

Yellow Jacket Jane

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Turn The Lights Back On

Waiting For The Man

The Water War

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0

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