The Campaign

Having spent a good deal of Our life in Michigan, the GAMMA WORLD campaign setting as presented in the 4th edition rules has always fascinated Us. However, while We believe that the authors of the 4th edition GAMMA WORLD game couldn't have picked a better locale, what they did with it left a lot to be desired. Here then is Our interpretation of the Gray Lakes region for the 4th edition GAMMA WORLD game.

Enjoy!

Bort Yuron (Bort YER-on)
Tech Level IV Plutocratic Oligarchy

• Population: 6,400 (PSH: 15%, AH: 20%, MA: 60%, MP: 05%) + 2d4 x 100 transients
• Favored Cryptic Alliances: Healers, Peace Brigade*, Restorationists
• Tolerated (Known) Cryptic Alliances: Brotherhood of Thought, Ranks of the Fit, Seekers
• Banned Cryptic Alliances: Archivists, Created, Followers of the Voice, Iron Society, Knights of Genetic Purity, Radioactivists, Zoopremists

Overview

Officially the Maritime Dominion of Bort Yuron, this territory consists of the island of the same name and its mainland holdings in Mitchigloom and Untaro. In pre-Apocalyptic days the island was part of the mainland; now it is roughly 28 square miles of patchwork rice paddies, ruins, and neo-urban sprawl surrounded on all sides by the tepid waters of Lake Yuron.

Bort Yuron occupies a strategic location dead-center in the Straits of Sate Care, which separate not only the old United States and Canada, but Lake Heron and Lake Ire as well. The island's location makes it a natural commercial and cultural hub for the region, and a tempting target for would-be empire-builders on the mainland. Bort Yuron maintains its independence by keeping a military chokehold on the straights and engaging in "gunboat diplomacy" with its seafaring neighbors on the mainland when the need arises.

Bort Yuron is the birthplace of the Peace Brigade, a militant offshoot of the Restorationists. It is also a hotbed of Zoopremist activity, given that 60% of its population is composed of Mutated Animals and most of the island's recently-accumulated power and wealth is in the hands of Pure Strain and Altered Humans. To be fair, much of this power and wealth didn't exist before the humans came into power, however.

History

The secret of Bort Yuron's success lies in its relative abundance of functioning artifacts, its own considerable Progress Level (early Tech Level IV), and the treachery and leadership of Admiral Keefas Jagor, the titular head of the Bort Yuron Mercantile Maritime Militia and de facto ruler of the island and its mainland holdings. Jagor was once a feared pirate chieftain and part-time mercenary. In 2566, Packrats on the mainland hired Jagor and his cutthroats to assassinate the leaders of Bort Yuron's ruling oligarchy as prelude to an invasion.

The Packrats overstated the importance and potential benefits of seizing control of the island, however. After landing on Bort Yuron, Jagor betrayed them by warning the ruling oligarchy of the Packrat assault and leading the defense of the island. Once the invaders were repelled, Jagor then betrayed the oligarchy and seized the island for himself and his henchmen. That was fifteen years ago, and while the specifics of Jagor's rise to power aren't common knowledge in Bort Yuron, it is a poorly-kept secret that he is ultimately in charge.

Pre-Apocalypse

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Post-Apoclypse

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Today

Admiral Jagor has allowed the government he was originally contracted to eliminate remain in power, functioning as his mouthpiece and maintaining the illusion of business-as-usual. In fact, the oligarchy actually does wield a considerable amount of power with a fair amount of independence, so long as they don't cross their conqueror-turned-benefactor. Under this arrangement, Bort Yuron has transformed itself from a strategically important pawn into a viable power in its own right.

Demography

Twenty years ago, Mutated Animals reigned supreme on the isle of Bort Yuron. Humans, both pure strain and mutated, knew their place and kept it. Due to its strategic location and large caches of functioning Tech Level IV and V artifacts, the island was constantly threatened and attacked from without, but always managed to rally sufficient forces within to defend itself. The rich remained rich and the poor remained poor, but the animals ran the show.

Today, Mutated Animals still make up the overwhelming majority of the population of Bort Yuron, but they are no longer supreme. Keefas Jagor is a shrewd politician: the old oligarchy retains its power over the masses while a combination of humans loyal to Jagor and Mutated Animals opposed to the old order occupy strategic posts in the military and government. These same sentients tend to be the backbone of the Peace Brigade, as well.

About ten years ago, Keefas Jagor allowed a colony of Seekers to take up residency on Bort Yuron to escape extermination on the mainland at the hands of the Packrats of Troyt. Now there are almost 700 of them living in two farming communes. Together, these two communities work to reclaim dry land from the Gray Lakes with dikes and windmills, and supply 1/4 of all the food consumed on the island.

In short, most of Bort Yuron's inhabitants are no worse off under the rule of Jagor and the Peace Brigade than they were before, and a select few are substantially better off. While the animal masses live under the rule of a human overlord and a figurehead animal parliament, an entire community of Pure Strain Humans labor under the same government to feed them. With the exception of a small (but militant!) Zoopremist cell, everyone is pretty much content with their lot.

Government

Cryptic Alliances

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Taxes

Any vessel passing through the straits of Sate Care must pay a tax of 5 domars per person and 5 domars per 100 kilograms of cargo (or 1 domar per 100 kilograms of food - Bort Yuron imports most of what it eats). Of course, this is only the law; reality dictates that the actual amount of money and/or goods demanded in the name of taxation varies with the tax collector!

Armed Forces

Aeroforces

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Army

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Militia

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Navy

Bort Yuron's Mercantile Maritime Militia is well-manned, well-equipped, and well-paid. Technically, the Mercantile Maritime Militia is just that - a floating militia of privateers owned, outfitted, and operated by Bort Yuron's powerful merchant class. Of course, the bulk of these merchants are either members of the ruling oligarchy or members of Jagor's inner-circle, so they tend to be very loyal to Bort Yuron's government and responsive to its requests of them.

Most of the ships in the militia are Tech Level III vessels, though there are both more advanced and more primitive exceptions to this rule. They are typically outfit with 1d4 cannons, and their sailors are usually armed with flintlocks and cutlasses (treat as longswords). There is a 20% chance that any Bort Yuron ship encountered will also be armed with one of the following mounted weapons (roll 1d8 to determine):

• 1-4: Gatling Gun w 20d6 shells (Gamma World 4th ed., p. 100)
• 5: Lightning Gun (Treasures of the Ancients, pp.16-17)
• 6-7: Machine Gun w/3d10 rounds of ammunition (Gamma World 4th ed., p. 102)
• 8: Micromissile Launcher w/ 2d4 Chemex Warheads (Gamma World 4th ed., pp. 107-108)

There are approximately 90 privateers in the fleet. In times of crisis, less well equipped fishing boats and cargo carriers can raise the number to 200+.

Typical Privateer

• Crew/Passengers: 20/200
• Cargo: 40,000 kg
• Max. Speed: 35/70
• Maneuvering Class: D
• Hit Points: 120
• AC: 12
• Avg. Cost: 5,000 domars
• Tech Level/Complexity: III/11-15

Most of the trading vessels on the Gray Lakes are low-tech wooden vessels that most closely resemble the ancient caravel. They are usually double or triple-masted, and rigged with triangular sails set at an angle to their masts (lateen rigging). Square rigged sails are more common on smaller, double and single-masted ships. The more complicated the rigging, the higher the ship's complexity rating.

While treacherous, none of the Gray Lakes take an especially long time to transverse. For this reason, many transport ships carry people in lieu of cargo (ferries, in other words). The typical Gray Lakes ferry can safely carry up to 200 passengers and a limited amount of their personal belongings.

Police Forces

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Bort Yuron PCs and NPCs

Skill Bonuses/Penalties

All sentients from Bort Yuron begin play with the following skill bonuses. These skills count against the character's Starting Skills. If for some reason the player doesn't want to take a bonus skill, he or she is free not to, thereby freeing-up a skill "slot."

This page last updated on 06/09/2000.
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