Interesting places, people and plot hooks from your area.
Oct 12, 2015 12:13:10 GMT
Oliver R Shead likes this
Post by vonpenguin on Oct 12, 2015 12:13:10 GMT
So obviously most people their own city/state/country/whatever a lot better than they know other places. So just to keep things interesting what makes your area an interesting spot for an infected game. I'll get the ball rolling, I'm not going to use hard numbers since in a fictional world the exact number are really "whatever works best". Also as a disclaimer, a lot of this is tinted by my own personal experiences so some things might be biased or just flat out wrong. So anyway...
New Jersey, the Garden State, home of four major league sports teams, only one of which doesn't try to say it's from New York, where "what exit" isn't a joke but a serious question, and where we never have to pump our own gas. Oh where to begin...
Let's start with regions, New Jersey is a small state, but also one of the most densely populated, for such a tiny area we draw some pretty distinct lines about where you are from. Jersey can mostly be broken down into three parts, North Jersey, a bunch of cramped, industrial areas with many communities blow the poverty line, way too many oil refineries and ship yards. Culturally and Accent wise most people from North Jersey can be closely tied to the residents of New York city, no matter what the New Yorkers try to say to the contrary. Originally settled heavily by Italian, Dutch, and German immigrants there are actually pre-1930s builds in some areas with Swastikas worked into the architecture because back then it was just a good luck sign fro the dutch. Newark airport is a big deal. Newark the town has some neighborhoods where it really earns it's hellhole reputation. Jersey city isn't much better.
South Jersey. This is the most rural part of the state, a lot of farms, a lot people who's accents make people from other parts of the state have to pause for a second and translate it, closely tied to Philly, Delaware, and Atlantic City. This is also home to the Pine Barrens. New Jersey has a surprising number of nature reserves for what can pretty much be imagined as a single massive urban area and this is the biggest and most well known, think of it as the Florida Everglades without the Gators and poisonous snakes and you have a decent picture. Also home to the "Jersey Devil" the winged demonic horse thing that makes up the state's most popular urban legend.
Central Jersey is the most suburban part of the state, mostly built be commuters and supported by the tourism draw of the Shore and ic Flags Great adventure (side note, it is just Great Adventure, include the six flags, or even worse drop the Great Adventure part and prepare for bemused looks and silent judgment. Also fond of calling people coming down from New York or North Jersey as "bennys" based on the name of an old passenger rail line. It's not quiet a slur, but only just.
Now, population in general, New Jersey has a pretty diverse population ethnically and religiously, and while some might clump themselves into isolated communities for the most part the state is mixed pretty evenly. Home of the fastest growing Asian American population, a fair number of middle eastern and Indian families, a good number of legally immigrated Hispanics, one of the highest populations of illegals outside of a border state, and about 1 out of four Jersey natives being African American, all added to the Italian and German Americans that have been arounds since the early 1900s the state is pretty diverse even if, like most of the USA, there are more whites total. Religion is pretty evenly spread as well, with a slight numbers advantage for Roman Catholics and members of the Jewish Faith (Mostly normal ones, but also a few dense clusters of ultra orthodox ones). This all means that there aren't really any ethnic or religious backgrounds that will have to worry about any but the most idiotic bigots. In New Jersey it usually matters much more what part of state you were raised in, and if you're from out of state, which one. It doesn't get violent, but being the butt of all the jokes and the default prank target will probably get old fast. For game purposes it mostly means you're more likely going to piss someone of with actions or knowing the wrong guy than any instant dislike. Suspicion though, is par for the course in Infected.
Food! As stated before, South Jersey is much more Rural than people think, and central has a few decent cow and horse ranches and fields of things like cranberries as well. The Northwestern part of the state is cold as balls and pretty much a little cluster of mountains but not as urban as the eastern half so growing things is a possibility, though the soil might not be the best for it. Fishing is certainly an option and there are plenty of deer, as many a late night driver can attest. Survivors that are smart about it should have little trouble feeding at least smallish groups.
Crime and corruption: First, the big one, Camden, highest per capita murder rate at least three years running, and never under top five, when people talk about places first responders don't want to go this is one of them. The poorer areas have some gang issues, but not as bad as LA or New York. Biggest issue is the mafia. A corrupt politician in New Jersey isn't one that breaks campaign promises and is in bed with companies, no Jersey will occasionally get a mayor or other elected official that's either "retired" or "knows a guy". On the bright side in the zombie apocalypse they will probably slap down any gangs that try to form their own petty kingdoms in the face while the revise their business model.
Weaponry: New Jersey gun laws are extremely strict, out of state licenses are worthless, permits are a royal pain to get, and even things a simple as slingshots and bb guns are restricted by weapon laws. the easiest permits to get are for hunting weapons, shotguns, hunting rifles, bows, crossbows. Handguns can be purchased but the process is long and painful. Carry permits outside of hunting permits are right out. All this means finding ranged weaponry and ammo is going to be harder than most parts of the country. That said, Jersey has crime, so once things go to hell an infected with a Saturday night special in his pocket isn't out of the question.
Resources: I mentioned before that New Jersey has a lot of nature preserves scattered around, so a logging operation would be fairly easy to set up if you aren't in a city, even the townships that fall just short of a city tend to have fair sized stands of trees. We also have oil refineries clustered in the Northeast coast to an almost scary degree, as long as the safety valves don't break while something is on fire supply is going to be high. There's a reason Gas prices here are low enough I've had people curse me out when I mentioned them. Jersey has a few other nice sources of energy as well, three nuclear power plants (One of which is the oldest still active in the country, at least 40 years old I believe, and thus possibly about to break horribly at any moment.), the third largest Solar farm in the country and a few smaller hydroelectric and wind farms means the smart, careful, or industrious could probably get themselves some fairly consistent power if they found a way to keep the lines up. And you know great adventure? Those roller coasters have a lot of steel in them. It would only be a matter of time before wars over salvage rights started...
Travel, "What exit" is not a joke, New Jersey has more highways, turnpikes, and parkways than should ever be needed, That means either easy means of getting from a to b, or a lot of cars to scrap for parts, either way it's a good deal. Subways and public transportation is nearly non-existent however. So at least that's one less place for the infected to hide right?
Now what the epidemic phase of the disease would have done to the state, densely populated, with one of the busiest airports in the US and one of the most traveled roads means the state would have been hit hard. It was almost certainly one of the first states the government wrote off as a lost cause, possibly even before the sick started waking up and trying to eat people. I can't imagine it escaped without at least a few carpet bombings and daisy cutters being set off. Now, is it still a mess or have things died down a bit? That's for you GMs to decide and for players to find out via scouting parties...
In short, a group that starts or goes to New Jersey can potentially gain a lot in terms of practical supplies, but the infected are probably thick in the area, weapons will be hard to maintain and find ammo for, and there are things that can go very, very bad without you, the infected, or an antagonistic human doing anything to cause it. Very, very high risk, but high reward.
I hope this was useful, or at least interesting, and I hope others are willing to think of and share similar things for their own areas.
New Jersey, the Garden State, home of four major league sports teams, only one of which doesn't try to say it's from New York, where "what exit" isn't a joke but a serious question, and where we never have to pump our own gas. Oh where to begin...
Let's start with regions, New Jersey is a small state, but also one of the most densely populated, for such a tiny area we draw some pretty distinct lines about where you are from. Jersey can mostly be broken down into three parts, North Jersey, a bunch of cramped, industrial areas with many communities blow the poverty line, way too many oil refineries and ship yards. Culturally and Accent wise most people from North Jersey can be closely tied to the residents of New York city, no matter what the New Yorkers try to say to the contrary. Originally settled heavily by Italian, Dutch, and German immigrants there are actually pre-1930s builds in some areas with Swastikas worked into the architecture because back then it was just a good luck sign fro the dutch. Newark airport is a big deal. Newark the town has some neighborhoods where it really earns it's hellhole reputation. Jersey city isn't much better.
South Jersey. This is the most rural part of the state, a lot of farms, a lot people who's accents make people from other parts of the state have to pause for a second and translate it, closely tied to Philly, Delaware, and Atlantic City. This is also home to the Pine Barrens. New Jersey has a surprising number of nature reserves for what can pretty much be imagined as a single massive urban area and this is the biggest and most well known, think of it as the Florida Everglades without the Gators and poisonous snakes and you have a decent picture. Also home to the "Jersey Devil" the winged demonic horse thing that makes up the state's most popular urban legend.
Central Jersey is the most suburban part of the state, mostly built be commuters and supported by the tourism draw of the Shore and ic Flags Great adventure (side note, it is just Great Adventure, include the six flags, or even worse drop the Great Adventure part and prepare for bemused looks and silent judgment. Also fond of calling people coming down from New York or North Jersey as "bennys" based on the name of an old passenger rail line. It's not quiet a slur, but only just.
Now, population in general, New Jersey has a pretty diverse population ethnically and religiously, and while some might clump themselves into isolated communities for the most part the state is mixed pretty evenly. Home of the fastest growing Asian American population, a fair number of middle eastern and Indian families, a good number of legally immigrated Hispanics, one of the highest populations of illegals outside of a border state, and about 1 out of four Jersey natives being African American, all added to the Italian and German Americans that have been arounds since the early 1900s the state is pretty diverse even if, like most of the USA, there are more whites total. Religion is pretty evenly spread as well, with a slight numbers advantage for Roman Catholics and members of the Jewish Faith (Mostly normal ones, but also a few dense clusters of ultra orthodox ones). This all means that there aren't really any ethnic or religious backgrounds that will have to worry about any but the most idiotic bigots. In New Jersey it usually matters much more what part of state you were raised in, and if you're from out of state, which one. It doesn't get violent, but being the butt of all the jokes and the default prank target will probably get old fast. For game purposes it mostly means you're more likely going to piss someone of with actions or knowing the wrong guy than any instant dislike. Suspicion though, is par for the course in Infected.
Food! As stated before, South Jersey is much more Rural than people think, and central has a few decent cow and horse ranches and fields of things like cranberries as well. The Northwestern part of the state is cold as balls and pretty much a little cluster of mountains but not as urban as the eastern half so growing things is a possibility, though the soil might not be the best for it. Fishing is certainly an option and there are plenty of deer, as many a late night driver can attest. Survivors that are smart about it should have little trouble feeding at least smallish groups.
Crime and corruption: First, the big one, Camden, highest per capita murder rate at least three years running, and never under top five, when people talk about places first responders don't want to go this is one of them. The poorer areas have some gang issues, but not as bad as LA or New York. Biggest issue is the mafia. A corrupt politician in New Jersey isn't one that breaks campaign promises and is in bed with companies, no Jersey will occasionally get a mayor or other elected official that's either "retired" or "knows a guy". On the bright side in the zombie apocalypse they will probably slap down any gangs that try to form their own petty kingdoms in the face while the revise their business model.
Weaponry: New Jersey gun laws are extremely strict, out of state licenses are worthless, permits are a royal pain to get, and even things a simple as slingshots and bb guns are restricted by weapon laws. the easiest permits to get are for hunting weapons, shotguns, hunting rifles, bows, crossbows. Handguns can be purchased but the process is long and painful. Carry permits outside of hunting permits are right out. All this means finding ranged weaponry and ammo is going to be harder than most parts of the country. That said, Jersey has crime, so once things go to hell an infected with a Saturday night special in his pocket isn't out of the question.
Resources: I mentioned before that New Jersey has a lot of nature preserves scattered around, so a logging operation would be fairly easy to set up if you aren't in a city, even the townships that fall just short of a city tend to have fair sized stands of trees. We also have oil refineries clustered in the Northeast coast to an almost scary degree, as long as the safety valves don't break while something is on fire supply is going to be high. There's a reason Gas prices here are low enough I've had people curse me out when I mentioned them. Jersey has a few other nice sources of energy as well, three nuclear power plants (One of which is the oldest still active in the country, at least 40 years old I believe, and thus possibly about to break horribly at any moment.), the third largest Solar farm in the country and a few smaller hydroelectric and wind farms means the smart, careful, or industrious could probably get themselves some fairly consistent power if they found a way to keep the lines up. And you know great adventure? Those roller coasters have a lot of steel in them. It would only be a matter of time before wars over salvage rights started...
Travel, "What exit" is not a joke, New Jersey has more highways, turnpikes, and parkways than should ever be needed, That means either easy means of getting from a to b, or a lot of cars to scrap for parts, either way it's a good deal. Subways and public transportation is nearly non-existent however. So at least that's one less place for the infected to hide right?
Now what the epidemic phase of the disease would have done to the state, densely populated, with one of the busiest airports in the US and one of the most traveled roads means the state would have been hit hard. It was almost certainly one of the first states the government wrote off as a lost cause, possibly even before the sick started waking up and trying to eat people. I can't imagine it escaped without at least a few carpet bombings and daisy cutters being set off. Now, is it still a mess or have things died down a bit? That's for you GMs to decide and for players to find out via scouting parties...
In short, a group that starts or goes to New Jersey can potentially gain a lot in terms of practical supplies, but the infected are probably thick in the area, weapons will be hard to maintain and find ammo for, and there are things that can go very, very bad without you, the infected, or an antagonistic human doing anything to cause it. Very, very high risk, but high reward.
I hope this was useful, or at least interesting, and I hope others are willing to think of and share similar things for their own areas.