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Here's a "what-if" scenario I'm working on.


- Gen. Sawyer evacuates NEMA forces from Atlanta/northern Georgia, along with volunteer local law enforcement, rescue/emergency personnel and military personnel pullef from Forts Benning and Stewart. Also a number of doctors from local hospitals and scientists from the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta are included. Nearly 5000 total NEMA/military personnel escorting close to 8000 civilians.

- Moving along Interstate Route 20 westward from Atlanta, Gen. Sawyer sends teams north and south of Rt. 20 looking for survivors and salvage. The trek westward takes nearly three weeks to reach the Dallas Texas area.

- Arriving in Texas, Gen. Sawyer finds that the Texas governor had declared martial law and already mobilized NEMA and military forces within the state. Civilian leadership is mostly intact for the Texas government.

- Stability in Texas mostly centers from Houston/San Antonio in the south, to Amarillo in the north. Other pockets of stability exist outside this area, most notable is El Paso. This center area also includes the Lone Star Complex.

- The Texans had already begun D-3R operations when Sawyer arives from the East. These additional forces are put to immediate use.



Thoughts? Comments?

Everyone knows that Texas would survive an Apocalypse without missing a beat!

Jason Richards wrote:Everyone knows that Texas would survive an Apocalypse without missing a beat!

Yeah! Let's show those monsters what a bunch of real hardcases can do.

If things started in Texas. I think N.e.m.a will make ther H.Q at Austin.

After some time they discover Lone Star, that they turn into a Base.

With few ley lines and Nexus points they face Fewer Demons and Morsters.

N.e.m.a will have a Better chance to see the End of first 100 years since the eruption of the ley lines.

The Not So Amazing Nate wrote:If NEMA based themselves in Texas..even though there are fewer lines/rifts..wouldn't the proximity to Mexico and the Vampire Kingdom "wipe" them away faster than you can say Charmin Extra Quilted?

I may be talking out my backside here, but after reading the post I just had to ask

see vampire kingdom for answer to this question.

The Not So Amazing Nate wrote:If NEMA based themselves in Texas..even though there are fewer lines/rifts..wouldn't the proximity to Mexico and the Vampire Kingdom "wipe" them away faster than you can say Charmin Extra Quilted?

I may be talking out my backside here, but after reading the post I just had to ask

I guess you are talking about my post?

At anyrate, the vampire's are going to be a problem, but the question is also when were they established in the canon works, and how long that took. Also need to ask why they have not overrun Lone Star in the books now. (Rio Grande River)

At any rate I do plan on including the vampire's, though slighty altered of course.

The bigger question I think would be in the north, with the Xiticix.

Texas is one of the logical centers for humanity to survive. Good natural resources, educational/reserach centers(Texas A&M, UT, Rice, UTD just for starters), good heavy industry(refineries/petrochem, airplane manufacturing, car manufacturing, microchip/microelectronics manufacturing), a large military infustructure from the biggest army reserves to very large active bases, fairly self sufficient agriculture wise, plus we all have guns.

RockJock wrote:plus we all have guns.

Yea but you need MDC ones to be of any use.



Daniel Stoker

We can at least get ramjets. Besides, by the coming of the rifts we will have access to at least DU rounds, and explosive bullets. We have to be able to hunt whatever animals we want along with defend our homes. It is in the Constitution:).

If that isn't enough the burgeoning psychics among us will be picking up our sdc firearms and charging them Psi-Slinger style.

Fort Hood, Tx (in Killeen). Home to the Army's III Corps. nearly 50% of the US armor assists are kept there. the last time i was posted there, we had almost 70,000 soldiers assigned. Largest personnel base, 2nd largest land-wise.


definitely desires mention...

Now I just need to find a place to get .40 cal ramjets for my new pistol.

I think 15 or 20 years after Nema Discover the Lone Star complax they will make Dog boys to detect and protect humans from Vampires and Other supernatural creatures.

What do you think?

gaby wrote:I think 15 or 20 years after Nema Discover the Lone Star complax they will make Dog boys to detect and protect humans from Vampires and Other supernatural creatures.

What do you think?

Possibly, if they decide to go that route. I'm thinking of something else though.

What are you thinking Dustin Fireblade?

I think if Nema is still around in 2198, they may Prevent the Pecos Empire or decrease the size of land they control.

Geting humans and good D-Bees on ther side.

What do you think?

gaby wrote:What are you thinking Dustin Fireblade?

I think if Nema is still around in 2198, they may Prevent the Pecos Empire or decrease the size of land they control.

Geting humans and good D-Bees on ther side.

What do you think?

I'm not gonna tell yeah.

(Mainly because i don't have it all thought out yet...though I'll say there won't be a Pecos Empire in my version. Least not in Texas anyway.)

Do you think it would make a Big Differences if Nema have Dog boys?

Yeah I'd love to run this scenario with my regular gaming group, but were are not even playing any Palladium system at the moment. So I thought about either a PBP or PBeM type game as I've enjoyed those, but I don't seem to attracting too many players for that.


gaby,
Yeah in the search and rescue role Dog Boys would be a huge plus for NEMA along with their ususal role of combat. The question is would NEMA scientists even think about trying something like that?

The Lord of Bones wrote:Hmm... The vampire threat could be an interesting twist too.

Suppose a handful of Mexican NEMA forces are turned into vampires. They could pretend to be allies in need of help to lure some of the American NEMA forces into a trap, or regularly use this sort of trick to attack patrols.

At some point the NEMA forces of Lone Star join forces with the remaining mexican forces to combat the threat, possibly eventually being annihilated, but still being the only thing that kept the vampire domination from taking over the rest of North America.

I'm kinda hoping to see if there is/and if so how much new vampire information from Jason Richards' Arzno book when it comes out.

I think the Vampire threat cannot pass the Rio grande for a 100 years.

If they do make Dogboys I think they will be fix/steriled for 270 years.

I also think after200 years they made accept Specific D-Bees races like Elves,Dwarves and other humans like ones.

My game set in 100.P.A Lone Star/Texas:pop is 3.5 Million,they made colonies in 1 million in Okahoma,1 million in Arkansas,1 million in Missiouri and 2 million in Iowa.

Iron Heart and Free Quebec make New Canada with a Pop:4.9 million.
They will be both Anti-D-Bees and Magic.

The New U.S will accept Pisonic and Specific types of Magic.

The Big Bad guys will be the F of M with a Pop of 1 million.

Sounds good gaby, but I think you might want to increase the numbers of your bad guys a bit more.

You're right the NEMA forces under Sawyer could not have known that, nor could anyone else. It's a pleasant surprise isn't it?
Still should have been pretty obvious that a sort of nuclear winter was taking place, I think some common sense would tell a person to not go north where you know it would already have been cold and snowy.

Good point about Sawyer's point of view. I considered that. She is head of NEMA MIDWEST (why she was in the SOUTH I'm not sure), so going to Chicago does make some sense, just out of a sense of duty if nothing else. On the other hand, going to Texas has much more to offer in terms of natural resources, manufacturing, hospitals, military, agriculture, etc than does the Chicago area.
Also there is a possibilty that Sawyer may have known about the Lone Star Complex already, either in her capacity as a NEMA head or from a military person.

Plus I think you are selling Texans a bit short, everyone I have met through various means has been a decent person at least. Texans are a fairly hardy breed I think and as I pointed out the civilian leadership survived mostly and together with the NEMA assets in the area along with extensive military personnel had already started recovery operations before Sawyer had arrived.

Anyway this is just a alternate setting idea, and mainly sets up for a alternate Rifts campaign setting.

our group is doing one based in Texas as well, but the person running it wants to wait till after the supervolcano program to add to his research.

That doesn't sound like good news for your group

wolfe wrote:now how would sawyer know about the conditions of texas?
well if she was even remotely a competent commander she would have sent out recon teams to get "the big picture" of whats going on in the states at the very least, generals are great for that.

You know, maybe she did get intel on the Texas region. A good point was made earlier with the vamps in the south, but a couple other key bits weren't taken into consideration. I am referring to the mass relocation of Simvan and Tokaani. Even if Texas was warmer and had better resources, something about roaming hordes of unfriendly demons would probably cause Sawyer to reconsider a forced march through that territory. And that's just one possibility...

It is/could be a possibility for sure Warwolf, and it's a very good point. The same applies to going north though to Chicago, through the Magic Zone. The Vampire Kingdoms didn't appear overnight though. Likewise neither did other races from Rifts that are present in Rifts Earth LoneStar.

I think my point is, this is a alternate setting, meaning that certain things will be done differently and the outcome 300 years later for Rifts Earth would thus be different as a result. In truth this whole thing is partly inspired by Los Alamos from the JU book. What if they had received help early on? Or the other communities? The other thing is what took place in Texas during/after the apocalypse?
Beside's I can't leave well enough alone and like to tinker with new stuff.

By all means Dustin, do whatever you and your group enjoys. I just felt the need to bring another bit of info to light.

If your looking for an alternate location for NEMA HQ in Texas look at San Antonio, there are no less then 3 Air Force bases in the area, including the Basic Training school at Lackland and the military tatics school where the US government had trained such noted foiren dignitaries as Saddam Hussain.

Brainfreeze wrote:If your looking for an alternate location for NEMA HQ in Texas look at San Antonio, there are no less then 3 Air Force bases in the area, including the Basic Training school at Lackland and the military tatics school where the US government had trained such noted foiren dignitaries as Saddam Hussain.

Thanks for the info. That is planned on becoming a major base.

I think the idea that these military bases will exist in 100 years, anywhere near the capacity they have now, is wishful thinking. NEMA takes over everything local, from my understanding. I see NEMA being all of the Guards(National, Air National, Coast, etc...) coupled with all Alphabet companies(FBI,CIA,NSA, even FEMA). With equipment like Glitterboys, and SAMAS, even Mastiff, Bulldogs, etc..., there is no need to have a standing military anywhere near the capacity we do, even now. If you notice, THe US has steadily reduced manpower for the last 50 years, as technology replaces the need to risk human life. In my campaign, I started 2 weeks before the Coming Of the Rifts to, A-give the players an idea of what there life is before the Cataclysm, so, they can fully appreciate what they have lost, and B-give them a false sense of security before I hit them with the Cataclysm.

Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

That only in the normal Rifts Earth timeline.

But with NEMA in Texas that will changed.
I also have People in Lone star never being rifted.

In Vampire Kingdoms they tell What Vampire Intelligence was in Mexico the longest by giving the Master Vampire age.

I just found my copy of Vampire Kingdoms.

The Oldest Kingdom is Ixzota,the Master Vampire is 287 years old as a Vampire in 101:p.a/2388.so he was trun in 2101.

i wonder if PB should write Chaos Earth up to the present day Rifts Earth...

or really make CE a new timeline altogether and make a new Rifts Earth for it..not replace though...

who knows

RockJock wrote:Texas is one of the logical centers for humanity to survive. Good natural resources, educational/reserach centers(Texas A&M, UT, Rice, UTD just for starters), good heavy industry(refineries/petrochem, airplane manufacturing, car manufacturing, microchip/microelectronics manufacturing), a large military infustructure from the biggest army reserves to very large active bases, fairly self sufficient agriculture wise, plus we all have guns.

...AND your the second largest state in the union. The larger one has larger reserves of Oil has refineries minimal Industrialization though oh and it's home to Northern Command... most of it is high above sea level. I know for a fact that in TX one of the larger USAF bases would be flooded as often happens durring heavy rains in San Antonio.

RockJock wrote:We can at least get ramjets. Besides, by the coming of the rifts we will have access to at least DU rounds, and explosive bullets. We have to be able to hunt whatever animals we want along with defend our homes. It is in the Constitution:).

If that isn't enough the burgeoning psychics among us will be picking up our sdc firearms and charging them Psi-Slinger style.

DU rounds don't turn SDC weapons into MDC they just increase MDC weapon damage.

badmoonz wrote:Fort Hood, Tx (in Killeen). Home to the Army's III Corps. nearly 50% of the US armor assists are kept there. the last time i was posted there, we had almost 70,000 soldiers assigned. Largest personnel base, 2nd largest land-wise.


definitely desires mention...

What's the first and where does Ft. Richardson, AK sit?

gaby wrote:I think 15 or 20 years after Nema Discover the Lone Star complax they will make Dog boys to detect and protect humans from Vampires and Other supernatural creatures.

What do you think?

Why don't you think they'd use technology? If the general populace is the same as the U.S. they wouldn't like the idea of playing God with genetics. Don't forget BtS is NEMA's past and they already had SN detection equipment.

Dustin Fireblade wrote:

Brainfreeze wrote:If your looking for an alternate location for NEMA HQ in Texas look at San Antonio, there are no less then 3 Air Force bases in the area, including the Basic Training school at Lackland and the military tatics school where the US government had trained such noted foiren dignitaries as Saddam Hussain.

Thanks for the info. That is planned on becoming a major base.

As I stated previously San Antonio is prone to flooding durring high rain seasons. My FTX at Lackland was canceled due to flooding.

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

Would SAMAS be Air Force or would the Air Force have been reabsorbed into the Army like it seems to be going now anyway. (We're all getting trained on how to take buildings the Army way even though we can't afford to take the estimated losses from that kind of operation.)

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

Would SAMAS be Air Force or would the Air Force have been reabsorbed into the Army like it seems to be going now anyway. (We're all getting trained on how to take buildings the Army way even though we can't afford to take the estimated losses from that kind of operation.)

Or they could always do my vision. One military force with numbered commands for each area of specialty.

Land, Sea, Air, Space, Sub-Aquatic and those who go between. Unlike now where the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force all have aircraft of some sort it would be the strict territory of the Air devision and so on and so forth for the rest... obvioiusly not though since the Ticonderoga only has Marines and Navy and they still have aircraft. So never mind my rantings, everyone else does

skippythebox wrote:

The Not So Amazing Nate wrote:If NEMA based themselves in Texas..even though there are fewer lines/rifts..wouldn't the proximity to Mexico and the Vampire Kingdom "wipe" them away faster than you can say Charmin Extra Quilted?

I may be talking out my backside here, but after reading the post I just had to ask

There would still be at the start some vestige of a Mexican government and government forces. With a largish force of allied military just across the border what chances would there be of a firm vampire beachhead being established?

Cause...effect. It is likely that the reason that the vampires got a fanghold on Earth was because there were not sufficient forces in the region to respond heavily to the initial incursion. They only had to deal with what remained of the Mexican branch of NEMA and the shattered remains of the Mexican government. With a more stable Texas having some forces that could be sent to help restore order the vamps may not have gotten as far as quickly.

That is one of the problem with direct timeline prequels. Even if a group of players came up with a can't miss operation to repel the vamps (and I do mean CAN'T miss), it has to fail since we all know that the vamps are in Mexico in 100 PA and have been there for a long, long, long, long time.

Even if there was all of the NEMA forces in mexico they wouldn't be able to stop the coming of a Vampire Intelligence. Who then calls out to week willed power hungry individuals to become master vampires who are immune to all attacks save silver, wood, water and light or the shadow of the cross... and not many NEMA soldiers know that or would beleive that works over a good old railgun round or plasma burst to the chest.

gaby wrote:That only in the normal Rifts Earth timeline.

But with NEMA in Texas that will changed.
I also have People in Lone star never being rifted.

In Vampire Kingdoms they tell What Vampire Intelligence was in Mexico the longest by giving the Master Vampire age.

Hmm nice might work but what if the first Masters were killed?

TechnoGothic wrote::lol:

i wonder if PB should write Chaos Earth up to the present day Rifts Earth...

or really make CE a new timeline altogether and make a new Rifts Earth for it..not replace though...

who knows

Seperate alternate reality would be cooler. That way it would be like they were initially saying it would be where the Old American Empire survived the coming of the Rifts.

Zer0 Kay wrote:

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

Would SAMAS be Air Force or would the Air Force have been reabsorbed into the Army like it seems to be going now anyway. (We're all getting trained on how to take buildings the Army way even though we can't afford to take the estimated losses from that kind of operation.)

Or they could always do my vision. One military force with numbered commands for each area of specialty.

Land, Sea, Air, Space, Sub-Aquatic and those who go between. Unlike now where the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force all have aircraft of some sort it would be the strict territory of the Air devision and so on and so forth for the rest... obvioiusly not though since the Ticonderoga only has Marines and Navy and they still have aircraft. So never mind my rantings, everyone else does

Well I've strongly considered something like that. I've thought a Space Command is a must, though on Chaos Earth and into Rifts Earth this would have little impact. A combined Army/Air Force seems logical but then we already have the Marine Corps.

Dustin Fireblade wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

Would SAMAS be Air Force or would the Air Force have been reabsorbed into the Army like it seems to be going now anyway. (We're all getting trained on how to take buildings the Army way even though we can't afford to take the estimated losses from that kind of operation.)

Or they could always do my vision. One military force with numbered commands for each area of specialty.

Land, Sea, Air, Space, Sub-Aquatic and those who go between. Unlike now where the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force all have aircraft of some sort it would be the strict territory of the Air devision and so on and so forth for the rest... obvioiusly not though since the Ticonderoga only has Marines and Navy and they still have aircraft. So never mind my rantings, everyone else does

Well I've strongly considered something like that. I've thought a Space Command is a must, though on Chaos Earth and into Rifts Earth this would have little impact. A combined Army/Air Force seems logical but then we already have the Marine Corps.

The USAF split off the Army and the US has always had a Marine Corps. In my earlier comment "those who go between" would be the "Marine Corps" of the time. They would be the ones who have the Aerospace Fighers, The Supercavicating(sp) Sea/Air Fighters, the Amphibious assault vehicles basically all their operations would be "amphibious" not just water and land amphibious anymore.

skippythebox wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:

skippythebox wrote:

The Not So Amazing Nate wrote:If NEMA based themselves in Texas..even though there are fewer lines/rifts..wouldn't the proximity to Mexico and the Vampire Kingdom "wipe" them away faster than you can say Charmin Extra Quilted?

I may be talking out my backside here, but after reading the post I just had to ask

There would still be at the start some vestige of a Mexican government and government forces. With a largish force of allied military just across the border what chances would there be of a firm vampire beachhead being established?

Cause...effect. It is likely that the reason that the vampires got a fanghold on Earth was because there were not sufficient forces in the region to respond heavily to the initial incursion. They only had to deal with what remained of the Mexican branch of NEMA and the shattered remains of the Mexican government. With a more stable Texas having some forces that could be sent to help restore order the vamps may not have gotten as far as quickly.

That is one of the problem with direct timeline prequels. Even if a group of players came up with a can't miss operation to repel the vamps (and I do mean CAN'T miss), it has to fail since we all know that the vamps are in Mexico in 100 PA and have been there for a long, long, long, long time.

Even if there was all of the NEMA forces in mexico they wouldn't be able to stop the coming of a Vampire Intelligence. Who then calls out to week willed power hungry individuals to become master vampires who are immune to all attacks save silver, wood, water and light or the shadow of the cross... and not many NEMA soldiers know that or would beleive that works over a good old railgun round or plasma burst to the chest.

I know what kills vamps... and I also know that you have to have a critical mass of secondary and wild ones to bring in the actual intelligence. NEMA are not stupid, they would figure out what kills the vamps eventually, and being practical people they would use it.

So,the question becomes would they be able to keep the vampire population for each intelligence that gains a thrall from getting to critical mass?

Uh NO... according to the book the VI's were able to come into rifts due to the PPE burst. NORMALLY (and the eruptions of Leylines and Rifts is not) they require a host of vamps before they can enter. I beleive it is sited as the vamps anchor them to a dimension with their presence, but with the abundant PPE from the cataclysm it the extra PPE wasn't required. Now with a VI actually in the dimension think how much faster the "plague" spread.

Oh and you know how to kill vampires... you also know that garlic keeps them at bay they can't come into a building uninvited ONLY holy water can harm them that a stake through the heart will kill them and they can turn into bats AND wolves What you know and what you think you know are two different things that's why characters have to roll on lore skills. No lore skill hope someone in your group has it or that who ever does has released the information to everyone else.

skippythebox wrote:

Zer0 Kay wrote:

Dustin Fireblade wrote:Thats a very good point Absolem, and I agree with your basic view of NEMA. As I have worked on what the Golden Age military of the US looked like, I've used two basic Army units the Armored Cavalry Regiments and a new unit called the Armored Infantry Regiments. These formed the backbone for the US Army between the 2040's and 2070's. Then with the start of the 2nd Cold War the US began rebuilding it's military power.

Would SAMAS be Air Force or would the Air Force have been reabsorbed into the Army like it seems to be going now anyway. (We're all getting trained on how to take buildings the Army way even though we can't afford to take the estimated losses from that kind of operation.)

Or they could always do my vision. One military force with numbered commands for each area of specialty.

Land, Sea, Air, Space, Sub-Aquatic and those who go between. Unlike now where the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force all have aircraft of some sort it would be the strict territory of the Air devision and so on and so forth for the rest... obvioiusly not though since the Ticonderoga only has Marines and Navy and they still have aircraft. So never mind my rantings, everyone else does

that kind of force structure doesn't seem to work real well. Canada, the only nation that uses it to a degree is going away from it. It really messes with unit morale and you don't get much cost savings, if anything it seems to have cost the Canadians a bit more.

And I know that the USMC would pitch a royal fit over losing their air assets. They just don't trust the Air Force to do the job they need. Not that the Air Force doesn't do a good job, just not the same kind of dogged determined job as another Marine would do in protecting his brethren.

Hmm interesting, however, the marines in my "structure" wouldn't be loosing their air assets. In fact they'd be gaining. Yeah ok but I want to see a F/A-18 go on a tank hunt with some A-10's and see who 1) comes out and 2) with more kills. Oh cannons only ordinance would be unfair since the A-10 can carry more munitions. It's a pitty there planning on replacing the A-10 with the JSF and it's small cannon.