Fallout: Florida , The Sunshine State's Post-Apocalyptic Wastes Options

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Well, I never thought I'd be posting in this particular subforum before now. But with all these ideas bouncing in my head of what post-Great War Florida would look like in the Fallout universe, I have taken to jotting them down and (hopefully) making a cohesive guide to it. I don't really write fiction, so I don't think I'll be writing actual stories like you all do, but I suppose we'll see. For the time being, it's really going to be a guide of sorts, somewhat like a wiki or what textbooks would say.

This will obviously attempt to adhere to Fallout canon as much as possible. I chose Florida as the setting not only because it is my home state (though that is definitely the biggest reason) but because, from what I can tell, so little about the Southeastern United States is talked about in Fallout lore, giving me a lot more room to operate in. And, of course, it's the state I know best and would love to see the most as a setting for a Fallout game.

So here's the plan for all this:
[*] I'm going to break up each section of the guide into its own post to separate it sufficiently. This one will be the introduction to the setting.
[*] I may include some incomplete information on here for several reasons. For one, it'll be an easy repository to refer to just in case the Word doc I am using has something go screwy or that my computer messes up or whatever. Two, it can be a little taste of what's to come. Three, I just want to get down as much content as comes to me.
[*] The tentative list of sections to have here include, but are not limited to (and not necessarily in this order):

[*] General overview of the setting and how I am breaking up the parts of Florida
[*] The Bestiary
[*] The Timeline
[*] The Factions
[*] Profiles of each of the regions I am making

Some of the stuff you see will definitely be subject to change if needed to make it cohesive. I'll try to document what I change to make it clear.

And most of all, I hope you all like it and I'd like to hear whatever feedback you have. Presenting and communicating information is one of the things I enjoy most, although I'm more used to doing so for real-life content (particularly political science).

First section of the guide coming up!

The Setting - Basic Overview

While not experiencing the same level of nuclear barrage as places such as Southern California, New York, and D.C., Florida was plunged into nuclear fire just like virtually everywhere else in the world. This was especially true of the Tampa Bay Area, Orlando and its surrounding areas, and South Florida, centers of great economic and political importance in Pre-War America. Being the 3rd-most populous state in the country, the Great War extinguished far more lives than average here and left plenty more to pick up the pieces in the post-apocalyptic, anarchic wastes. The exceptional biological, geographical, and human diversity of Florida led to a far more varied impact on the former Sunshine State when the bombs fell.

Nevertheless, many settlements started to crop up in the decades just after the Great War, even in those once-densely populated cities and metropolitan areas. In time, former towns and cities were beginning to be resurrected and reclaiming their old names, and brand-new ones started to form. But post-War Florida--and the rest of what used to be the country's Gulf Commonwealth, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi--was still highly fractured. In the 22nd century, the first of many ambitious attempts was made to reunite this once-thriving landscape. While extraordinarily difficult at first, a string of successes in reunification gave birth to the Gulf Coast Union, a nation similar in concept to the future New California Republic (NCR). The so-called Great Reunification--a somewhat hyperbolic title, at least currently--started extending through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and even some of southwestern Georgia, though it has yet to reclaim the whole of any of these former states.

The process is far from completed, however, and many other factions both big and small struggle with the Gulf Coast Union for dominance in the former Southeastern United States. Many of the conflicts take place in what used to be the Sunshine State. The Gulf Coast Union was successful in claiming virtually all of Northern Florida and has made inroads into the Central Florida wastes. Major and minor powers violently feuding with each other and with the Gulf Coast Union have made the GCU's grip on these lands somewhat tenuous, preventing any attempts at expanding into South Florida.

As of this guide, it is currently the year 2130, over a half-century since the world was irrevocably changed. To most easily understand the lands that were once called Florida, it is best to divide the area into ten distinct regions--even if the divisions are a bit crude, arbitrary, or too convenient. Each have their own set of conflicts being waged, major and minor players vying for power, and civilizations trying to carve out a life in these harsh wastes. Welcome to the Sunshine State's post-apocalyptic wastes.

The Ten Regions and Their Counties

County Map
Here's how some coasts in Florida got their nicknames, though not all are explicitly mentioned here

Though these broken-up zones are somewhat crude and arbitrary, it'll be easiest to understand post-apocalyptic Florida this way. However, major conflicts in one region can definitely spill over into another.

1) Panhandle (13): Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Liberty, Franklin, Gadsden
2) Big Bend (8): Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Lafayette, Dixie, Levy
3) North Central Florida (8): Hamilton, Suwannee, Columbia, Baker, Union, Bradford, Alachua, Gilchrist
4) The First Coast (6): Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler
5) The Space and Treasure Coasts (7): Volusia, Seminole, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee
6) Central Florida (8): Marion, Sumter, Lake, Orange, Polk, Osceola, Hardee, Highlands
7) The Tampa Bay Area (6): Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee
8) The Gold Coast (3): Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade
9) Southwest Florida (7.5): Sarasota, De Soto, Charlotte, Glades, Lee, Hendry, Collier, Monroe (mainland only)
10) The Keys (0.5): Monroe (Keys only)


Just a quick side-note: The Panhandle West/East dichotomy is one I totally made up for my own purposes. They are, as far as I know, not referred to as such in real life. It is just the Panhandle, and the real-world Panhandle doesn't necessarily include all of the counties in Big Bend.

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Jun 9 2020, 01:30 AM

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Aren't toads poisonous? I would go with them having a radioactive poison that damages anyone who hits them in melee, or whom they hit.

I love La Boca del Lago. It reminds me of a monster alluded to in The Call Of Cthulhu. The actual short story, not the rpg.

There were legends of a hidden lake unglimpsed by mortal sight, in which dwelt a huge, formless white polypous thing with luminous eyes; and squatters whispered that bat-winged devils flew up out of caverns in inner earth to worship it at midnight. They said it had been there before D’Iberville, before La Salle, before the Indians, and before even the wholesome beasts and birds of the woods. It was nightmare itself, and to see it was to die. But it made men dream, and so they knew enough to keep away.

After checking up on it, it seems that they generally are poisonous though the toxins aren't always enough to kill predators. But good point. What I'll do is make their tongue do radiation and poison damage, though I still want to keep the rest the same to sufficiently distinguish Radtoads and Radfrogs.

Ah, good ol' Lovecraft. I was actually somewhat inspired by a boss in Resident Evil 4 called "Del Lago" but this would be right up Lovecraft's ally.

Oooo! Looks like Big Crescent now has some trading partners down the coast to the east! Be expecting a visit from Désirée Devreaux soon!

Haha, I guess so. Even though they are just our imagination I'll try not to make my Fallout concept conflict with yours too much. It would be pretty cool to get ideas from other people to flesh out the world I am building, or at least try to make them consistent. It may even indirectly make mine more cohesive.

Do you have your version of Fallout on these forums? I'd love to take a look at it if you want to share it. When is it set? And what is your concept of New Orleans in 2130? In my headcanon, I have it as being a warzone and fought over by a bunch of groups, though I haven't named them.

------------------------------------

And now, time for some factions! I've got a lot of working names in my document I am working on, so I may put them down here as well.

The Factions

1. The Gulf Coast Union: In 2110, four small nation-states controlling much of the Gulf Coast--New Florida, The Alabama Compact, Republic of Mississippi, and the Louisiana Union--agree to join forces and create one single nation after years of cooperation through trade and interpersonal relationships. Each of the former nation-states was led by a single executive at the time--Emilio DeSoto (Florida), Sarah Devereaux (LA), Frederick Gepford (Mississippi), and Bernice Jackson (Alabama). The resulting government still retains some elements of the old order, with each of the small nation-states having representation.
2. Brotherhood of Steel - Midwest Chapter: Operating mostly of former Texas and Oklahoma, the Midwest Chapter had made inroads in lands east of their territory, cutting through Louisiana and knocking on the metaphorical doors of Gulf Coast Union lands. The chapter also displays a much more militaristic mindset, getting into direct confrontations with the GCU and other smaller groups controlling their own territory. In 2130, they have been heavily involved in the war-torn, highly fractured ruins of New Orleans (of which many groups are fighting for control in), as well as Hattiesburg and Pensacola, the last of which threatens to sever Florida from the rest of the GCU.
3. Brotherhood of Steel - Southeast Chapter: The Southeast Chapter and the GCU in Florida and Alabama have been at odds for many years, though not always in direct conflict. Although the Southeast Chapter falls under an overarching banner with the BoS Midwest Chapter, the similarities mostly end there. While they both are militaristic and seek out the Brotherhood's ultimate purpose--to acquire Pre-War technology and preserve it in their organization's hands--the Midwest and Southeast Chapters have developed an interpersonal rivalry. It hasn't resulted in bloody conflict between them--yet--but it has become a particularly tense situation between the two groups, with each seeing themselves as the most capable of preserving technology and the other as incompetent at best.
4. Conquistadors: In the years before the Great War, many Europeans sought to escape the political and economic turmoil following the Resource Wars, Euro-Middle Eastern War, and European Civil War. For Spaniards in particular, a popular destination was the First Coast of Florida, site of the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the United States-St. Augustine, which was also settled by the Spanish in 1565. The Conquistadors are descendants of these immigrants, taking on this name Post-War to evoke the real-life Spanish conquerors who set out all over the world to claim land for their home country. The Conquistadors have been at odds with the GCU for a long time, dating back to when New Florida still existed. More recently, they have also had to contend with the Southeast Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel and unrest within the Conquistador ranks--the intragroup faction El Bastión, which while not separating from the Conquistadors for fear of being too weak to take on either the GCU or the Brotherhood or even local raider groups, has certain sharp differences with Conquistador leaders.
5. El Bastión (The Bastion): A minority within the Conquistadors, El Bastión has been at odds with the larger intragroup faction, such as regarding military conflicts. The Conquistadors favor a more aggressive approach with the GCU and Brotherhood, while El Bastión is concerned about spreading themselves far too thin. The Conquistadors also favor forcibly conscripting Sunshine Wastelanders unaffiliated with any group into their armed forces while El Bastión think a diplomatic approach is more practical, such as by agreeing to protect them from local raiders in exchange for more soldiers. Both factions try to keep said divide as under wraps as possible, lest the GCU or Brotherhood find out and try to exploit it.
6. Buccaneers: A considerably large raider group has become perhaps the major power in the Tampa Bay Area. The Buccaneers take heavy inspiration from the pirate-themed culture of the area from Pre-War times--such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team and the pirate-themed festival, Gasparilla. They operate predominantly from what used to be Pinellas County and are very active along the rest of the bay's coastline.
7. The Scaled Legion: Swamp Demons and regular Rad Gators are a menace in many parts of Florida, but none are as fearsome as The Scaled Legion, a group of these creatures that have banded forces thanks to the efforts of a handful of intelligent Swamp Demons. Enclave experiments on this type of irradiated alligator produced several that could speak English and read, yet still communicate perfectly with other gators. Chief among them was Methuselah, who had spent a long time cooped up in zoo exhibits before the Great War. Eventually, the Enclave acquired him and started experimenting on him with FEV along with other mutagens and chemicals. Methuselah was the first of the experiments and became even stronger than he had already become due to mutations from nuclear fallout. At some point, Methuselah broke free from his Enclave captors and annihilated them, leaving behind mostly-eaten corpses for other Enclave personnel to find later. The interactions with humans he had and those he had witnessed other gators in deeply embittered him against humanity, with him vowing to wipe out all that we could. Breaking the few fellow intelligent Super Gators free as well, they grouped together and found others of their kind to create their own society, which would come to be known as the Scaled Legion.
8. Alabama Dissidents: For many Southerners, the rebel spirit dies hard. Such is especially the case for this group. When the GCU was formed, not everyone in their former nation-states was happy, and the Alabama Dissidents are perhaps chief among them. Freedom fighters to some, insurrectionists and terrorists to others, and simply a nuisance to even others, the Alabama Dissidents have fought against the GCU (but so far, not the Brotherhood of Steel), seeking to create their own nation. The Dissidents see the GCU as some faraway power too beholden to interests outside of Alabama. Although the GCU have derisively referred them to as dissidents and such, the group took such names as badges of honor. Currently, they are heavily active in the Pensacola area, hoping to cut off the lands of Florida from the rest of the GCU. While on paper the GCU should win easily, GCU forces are strained by being involved in many different conflicts: They have been battling with the Brotherhood and other major factions active in Florida and they have had significant trouble brewing in the Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas over in Louisiana. If the strain proves too much for the GCU, the Dissidents may very well get their wish of their own independent nation.
9. The Challengers: A mysterious group whose name is inspired by the space shuttle flights of the same name, the Challengers have gained control of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and surrounding area. While not violently hostile, they are very distrusting and suspicious of outsiders, especially the Hubologist cult that wants to access the KSC. One may wonder why they would call themselves the Challengers given the tragic Challenger space shuttle explosion. The Challengers' leader is Carrie McAuliffe--a descendant of teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died aboard the ill-fated flight--who decided to take the moniker both to honor her ancestor's memory and to signify that the group would "œchallenge" any obstacle to come their way. The Challengers are clearly more interested in knowledge and discovery than warfare or expansion, though what exactly their ultimate goal is is unclear to outsiders. Within the organization, there is some difference in opinion of what they should be striving for: To discover technology that can help rebuild the Sunshine Wasteland, or to one day escape Earth altogether and start anew on the moon or a different planet.
10. Hubologists: This Pre-War cult managed to survive the "Great Deluge," their term for the Great War. Founded by Dick Hubbell, Hubologists believe that existence hinges upon the Great Wheel, with the Hub at the center. They seek to augment their spiritual power by purifying "neurodynes" in their bodies, believing that one day they will be called to the "Star Father" on the planet Quetzel. The contingent of Hubologists in Florida reside in the Space Coast area hoping to access what is left of the Kennedy Space Center facility, believing that the space travel technology there can help them achieve their ultimate goal of uniting with the Star Father. The Challengers, however, are a group that already has control of the facilities, putting them at odds with the Hubologists. [NOTE: Hubologists first appear in Fallout 2 and appear again in the Nuka World DLC for Fallout 4.]
11. Keepers of the Glades: The Keepers are a cult that mostly reside on the outskirts of Everglades National Park. While others run in fear at the sight or sound of the giant Gladewalkers, the Keepers instead were awestruck and took to worshiping them as "living gods." They see it as their duty to protect the "holy ground" of the Everglades, stopping outsider "heretics" and "uninitiated" from entering their sacred place. They will not necessarily outright attack on sight and it is possible to talk to them, though they are mostly only interested in proselytizing and sometimes trade. Beyond that, they try to firmly get outsiders to leave. Anyone who tries to enter the Everglades or insults Gladewalkers strongly enough will be subjected to violent action from the Keepers. It isn't clear if Gladewalkers really do see the Keepers as allies...or that they simply haven't found them to try to make a meal out of them.
12. The Collier Republic: The CR is a burgeoning nation-state based in what used to be Collier County in Florida. The president and founder of the Republic, Ezra Maddox, claims to be the grandson of the last Florida governor. While many CR citizens see him as an inspiring leader, others are suspicious of him and skeptical of who he says he is and what his vision for the CR is. It's hard to say what the full story is on him is.
13. The Enclave: You already know them: The remnants of the U.S. shadow government who seek to rebuild the country according to their own twisted vision. The Enclave is still active in 22nd century Florida, with several bases scattered throughout. They also continued and improved on some pre-War U.S. government experiments, including the intelligent Super Gators that still reside in the state. The Enclave are bad news as always, though what their specific end goals are in Florida is unclear.
14. Falcons: This mercenary group from Atlanta has traveled all the way from their home base in Georgia's former capital--the NFL's Atlanta Falcons' stadium, the namesake of this group--to the outskirts of North Central Florida, though who or what they are hunting down is unclear. Given that they have traversed such a long distance, their target(s) must be a highly important one, though whether they are good or bad (or somewhere in between) is unclear to Sunshine Wastelanders.
15. Devil Rays: The Devil Rays are another raider group battling for supremacy in what's left of the Tampa area, developing an intense and bloody rivalry with the Buccaneers. The Devil Rays' namesake comes from the original name of the Tampa Bay Rays, the area's MLB team. Tropicana Field, said team's former stadium, serves as their home base.
16. Seminole Indian Tribe: The Seminole Tribe hails originally from Florida, though in the lead-up to the Great War the majority of them lived in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma contingent's status is unknown, but in Florida they managed to survive. Despite being in conflict every so often with Florida's state government over the years, the Seminoles controlled most of the gambling industry in the state, even buying the Hard Rock Cafe brand of hotels, resorts, and casinos. When the bombs fell, two Hard Rock casino locations miraculously escaped total destruction: Immokalee in Southwest Florida and Coconut Creek along the Gold Coast. The Seminoles have rebuilt these two locations into well-known economic powerhouses, a sort of southeastern version of Mr. House's New Vegas.
17. Miccosukee Indian Tribe: The Miccosukees were another prominent Native American tribe, having several reservations in South Florida before the bombs dropped. Being far enough away from the cities and from Everglades National Park made it less difficult for them to escape the brunt of the nuclear bombs, but it still certainly wasn't easy. They still mostly keep to themselves, though they will sometimes engage in trade. The Keepers of the Glades, however, have been giving them some trouble as of late.
18. Veterans of the Second Cuban Missile Crisis -- Americans: The Cuban Missile Crisis in our world proceeded the same way as in this Fallout timeline, though in 2076 the Second Cuban Missile Crisis began. It was a far more protracted affair than the first iteration, being a full-out war in all but name. Cuba and China became allies in the 2070s. While they bonded due to similar political ideologies and their hatred for the U.S. government, Cuba also desperately needed military and financial backing to combat the U.S. (as well as supplies to help keep unrest in the Cuban citizenry to a minimum). Meanwhile, China sought to have another location for an offensive against the U.S. while the latter was also preoccupied with liberating Anchorage from China's control. Some American veterans from the Second Cuban Missile Crisis survived the Great War but turned into ghouls, although there are still human descendants of soldiers who fought in it.
19. Veterans of the Second Cuban Missile Crisis -- Cuban Nationals: But trouble related to the Second Cuban Missile Crisis is still brewing. Some Cuban military personnel involved in the conflict also became ghouls following the Great War and there are still human descendants. Some of them have made it to the southern extremities of Southern Florida, apparently looking for some particular technology. In their minds, acquiring this technology and using it to destroy whatever they can of Florida would finally mean "victory," despite the Great War happening over 50 years prior. The Americans are trying to find this technology first to not only prevent the Cuban Nationals' goals but to employ it against the Cuban mainland, though there are a few dissenters in their ranks that want to simply destroy this technology without it claiming more lives. Whatever this technology was and why it wasn't used before the Great War isn't exactly known.
20. Veterans of the Second Cuban Missile Crisis -- Cuban Exiles: Many Cuban refugees who escaped their homeland's government in the 2060s and 2070s would fight alongside the Americans in the Second Cuban Missile Crisis. And just like for the previous two groups, there are still ghouls from the conflict as well as human descendants of veterans. However, unlike most of the American contingent, they want to destroy whatever this technology that the Cuban Nationals are looking for instead of use it against their country. The Cuban Exiles are still hoping to one day return to their homeland, no matter what ruins are left there.
21. La Familia: La Familia is a Cuban-themed faction that (mostly) controls Miami and some of the surrounding area, headquartered in Little Havana. While they are the largest proportion of the group, being Cuban is not a requirement and La Familia counts many other Hispanic and non-Hispanic members in their ranks. The citizens of post-apocalyptic Miami come from a wide variety of ethnicities as well, just as they did Pre-War. Lately, they've been having more trouble with local raider groups, Mirelurk and other monster attacks along the coast, and the conflict between those veterans of the Second Cuban Missile Crisis and their descendants.
22. Los Huracanes ("The Hurricanes"): Los Huracanes are the pre-dominant raider group in the Keys, who have gone so far as to enslave several local populations on the islands. They have their eyes set on controlling the rest of the Keys...and eventually expanding their operations to the mainland, which would set themselves up for war against the Collier Republic, Second Cuban Missile Crisis Veterans, La Familia, and local raider groups. First, however, they have The Restless League to contend with.
23. Apalachee Indian Tribe: In Pre-War times, only several hundred descendants of this tribe existed and all of them lived in Louisiana, but their ancestors came from Northwest Florida. In the 2120s, they returned to Northwest Florida, though no one outside of their group knows why they would travel back so far. They reside in the Apalachicola National Forest area, or at least what's left of it, in the Panhandle.
24. The Restless League: The only serious challenge to Los Huracanes in the Keys is the Restless League, though the latter is at a disadvantage in numbers, weapons, armor, and organization. They are also based far into the extremities of the Keys to the west, making it significantly harder to seek out or receive help from would-be mainland allies and limiting their already-dwindling supplies. If their fortunes don't turn around soon, Los Huracanes may not have to engage in all-out warfare and simply just wait them out until The Restless League starves to death or capitulates to the raiders' rule. [NOTE: The Restless League is a direct reference to one of the two main factions in The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard].
25. The Old Guard: The Old Guard is somewhat analogous to The Enclave at the state level, being the remnants of the Florida political elite class. Yet make no mistake: The similarities to the Enclave mostly stop there. The Old Guard loathes the Enclave, laying much of the blame for the Cold War at their feet. The Old Guard seeks to claim (or in their eyes, reclaim) what they feel is rightfully theirs: The lands of what used to be Florida. They have mostly laid low, waiting for the right moment to kickstart their plans, but they have bases in multiple places around the state. Right now they are mostly involved in Southwest Florida...and may have already infiltrated the Collier Republic government's ranks.
26. The Red Rangers: Recognizable by their distinctive red-dyed combat armor, the Red Rangers are arbiters of justice in the Sunshine Wasteland much like the Regulators become in the Capital Wasteland. Little is known about them by most outsiders, including where they are based and who they are led by (if there is even a single leader at all). Something that is known is that they operate in multiple regions of the Sunshine Wasteland, which may indicate that they are split into several major units.
27. The New State of Florida: The NSF is an unlikely conglomeration of robots, feral and sane ghouls, and other monsters that dominate the ruins of "Old" Tallahassee. They are led by a brilliant yet unstable and megalomaniacal ghoul named Ezra Davidson, a scientist and Pre-War state senator with Florida gubernatorial ambitions. He established the NSF as the "true, legitimate, and rightful continuation" of Pre-War Florida's government, though certainly the Old Guard would have something to say about that.

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Jun 21 2020, 03:02 PM