Riverton, post-Liberation

The “Liberation at Riverton” module is a very simple black/white set-up: evil Imps are oppressing passive peasants (and have been doing this for 150 years). I suspect that this is due to the time it was written: its style would be interchangeable with a ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ scenario – evil orcs beating up human peasants. It can be a hack-and-slash session, and, if you want to run it like this, then that’s fine. However, there are alternatives…

The Oil Patch

It’s an open secret that “Camp Riverton” is the real-world Camp Grayling.  So let’s use the interesting terrain around Grayling

Liberation at Riverton: After the Module

This is the first of a new category of article.  This category will provide suggestions to the PD on keeping the players interested “after  the module” and – perhaps – taking the game beyond the “village level”

An alternative title might be:  “OK, so the Imps have been defeated.  Liberation at Riverton has been achieved.  Now what?”

Perhaps, your players will be interested in a “village-level” storyline? At least for a few sessions?   If so, they’ll be  helping the local population set up a more civilized society, re-recreating the USA “in miniature” , so to speak.  To achieve this goal, the Riverton citizens will need guidance, advice and a few tools.  Camp Riverton and its facilities will be extremely useful/valuable.

Which leads to the reactions of groups outside Camp Riverton  (aka Camp Grayling).

Traders from the area controlled by the Overlord of Kalkaska will be the first outsiders to be aware of the “Liberation”.  They’ll be pleased by the news and very excited if they know about the Imps’ library of books and manuals.  They’ll also be intrigued by the Morrow Project and its capabilities.

The Overlord will be equally fascinated by this news.  How is he going to react when the Imps are removed?  Well, first of all, he’ll want information.  Who are these Morrow Project people? Does this mean that his Merchants can now use I-75 without paying tolls to the Imps?  If I-75 is “Imp-free” will Truckers now be coming up to Kalkaska?   Can he get access to the Imp’s M60 tanks?  Above all…..Can Riverton be persuaded to accept his “protection” ?

Another complexity is that players should be able to use the Camp’s “106” radio (which is probably a GRC-106).  With skill, this HF radio can achieve a range of 80 km, it can also be used to pick up ordinary AM transmissions.  This means that the Team could be in radio communication with the Overlord, Gypsy Truckers AND detect transmissions from Twin Port University

The Overlord will want the Team to think that they are “on their own”.  You – as the PD – might want them to form useful alliances with groups like the Truckers or the University.  They’ll have to deal with spies, diplomats, feudal hotheads, wily traders, cool (but ambitious) academics/politicians…

Suddenly, it’s not just “village-level” any more

Maxwell's Militia: 'The Overlord of Kalkassa'

Game Background: the Maxwell’s Militia unit in “Operation Lucifer” lost contact with the ‘Overlord of Kalkassa’ over 100 years ago.

I’ve taken an arbitrary decision of this being a reference to Kalkaska, Michigan (the people in post-collapse Wisconsin can’t even remember the original names of their OWN towns – so just changing one consonant in a Michigan town doesn’t seem unreasonable). I’m also deciding that the reason for loss of contact was the collapse of the I-75 bridge after 50 years without maintenance