Faction Breakdown

The Brotherhood of Steel is the sole faction maintained directly by the sim.
All other groups listed serve only as NPC background for storytelling, lore, and history.
Players are free—and encouraged—to forge their own factions and stories within the wasteland.

Overview: The ruling power of the region. They rebuilt New Chicago into a city-state, combining pre-war industry with Brotherhood military order. Citizens live under Brotherhood authority, with laws enforced by Knights and Paladins. The Brotherhood’s monopoly on advanced technology makes them unmatched militarily.
Structure:
- Elders’ Council – Governs New Chicago and sets regional policy. Lead by Elder Bradley Cromwell
- Paladin Orders – Military backbone, garrisoning the city and patrolling the outer wastes. Commanded by Star Paladin Claire Belmont.
- Scribes – Oversee industry, research, and reconstruction projects.
- Initiates & Civilians – New generations born inside New Chicago; initiates are trained from youth, while civilians live under Brotherhood law.
Motives: To secure, preserve, and control technology while expanding their influence in the Midwest. Their leadership is divided between traditionalists (preserve tech at all costs) and reformists (build a true nation).
Player Hooks: A loyal Knight or Scribe, a civilian citizen with resentment, a reformist recruit, or an outsider working for Brotherhood trade and protection.

Overview: Detroit never recovered. Its industrial ruins spawned countless scavenger gangs, but the most powerful are the “Motor Lords,” a loose confederation of warlords who rule from fortified auto plants and old highways. They are notorious for their jury-rigged vehicles, explosive warfare, and brutal slave raids.
Culture: Might makes right. Clans decorate themselves with chrome, flames, and scavenged machine parts. Many worship “The Foundries” — twisted cults that see the forges and factories as holy sites.
Organization: Dozens of warbands, each with its own boss, united only when fighting outsiders.
Motives: Survival, conquest, and plunder. Some warlords dream of rivaling the Brotherhood’s industry, while others just want blood and loot.
Player Hooks: A raider looking to rise within their clan, an escaped slave bent on revenge, or a mercenary hired to navigate Detroit’s chaos.

Overview: Survivors of the GECK disaster live in the tundra wastes. Known as the “Rapids Tribes,” they’re nomadic hunters, trappers, and scavengers, relying on hardy mutated beasts and frostbitten trade goods.
Culture: Tribal, shamanistic, and deeply mistrustful of technology due to the GECK incident. They believe the land is cursed by “The White Winter,” a spirit storm that punishes greed.
Organization: Dozens of small clans, some peaceful traders, others brutal raiders hardened by starvation.
Motives: Survival in the endless frost. Some seek to migrate south to New Chicago, while others fight to protect their frozen homeland.
Player Hooks: A tribal scout exploring the wider world, a shaman seeking answers about the GECK, or a war-leader trying to unite the clans against Brotherhood expansion.

Overview: Fort Wayne was ground zero for an ICBM. Few dare to enter, but whispers tell of “The Ghosts” — irradiated survivors, feral ghoul packs, and mysterious figures cloaked in rags who wander the glowing fields. Some believe they are a cult, others think they are test subjects warped by radiation.
Culture: Little is known, but Ghosts are said to chant in broken voices about “the Fire Below” and “The Burning God.”
Organization: Fragmented and barely human. Some are feral ghouls, others possibly organized cultists scavenging from old bunkers.
Motives: Unknown — scavengers report seeing Ghosts dragging victims deep into the irradiated crater, never to return.
Player Hooks: A scavenger obsessed with uncovering Fort Wayne’s secrets, a Ghost survivor who somehow resisted full mutation, or a Brotherhood patrolman sent to investigate.

Overview: Independent traders who refuse full Brotherhood authority. They manage caravans between New Chicago, Detroit’s outskirts, and the Frozen Rapids. They provide vital goods but often clash with Brotherhood patrols over taxes and restrictions.
Culture: Mercantile, pragmatic, and fiercely protective of neutrality. Guild caravans are well-armed, and many leaders are ex-Brotherhood deserters or skilled survivors.
Organization: A council of caravan masters sets routes and prices, though internal rivalries are common.
Motives: To maintain independence and profit, while resisting Brotherhood control. Some dream of creating a rival city-state built on trade freedom.
Player Hooks: A hardened caravan guard, a smuggler running goods into Detroit, or a young merchant hoping to grow their fortune.

Overview: A splinter from the Detroit raiders, these zealots worship the ruined factories themselves. They believe the old machines have souls, and that forging weapons in sacred smelters brings divine favor.
Culture: Violent religious fervor. Their armor and weapons are covered in soot and slag, and they brand themselves with glowing embers.
Organization: Led by “Forge Priests,” who preach sermons inside ruined assembly lines. Their followers are half-cult, half-industrial militia.
Motives: To “awaken” Detroit’s ruins into holy fire, and eventually march on New Chicago to claim it as their Iron Temple.
Player Hooks: A fanatical Forge Disciple, a defector questioning the cult’s teachings, or a Brotherhood spy sent to infiltrate their ranks.

Mutant Warlords of Detroit (NPCs)

Overview: Among Detroit’s most feared enemies are its Super Mutant packs. Descendants of FEV experiments gone unchecked, they’ve established strongholds in the ruins of skyscrapers and automotive plants. They occasionally unite under war chiefs to wage campaigns into the surrounding wasteland.
Culture: Brutal, but cunning. Some war chiefs have rediscovered crude weapon manufacturing. Others have devolved into savage raiding hordes.
Organization: Small packs led by “Brutes” or “Overlords.” When united, they form unstoppable war hosts.
Motives: Expansion, domination, and survival. Their hatred of the Brotherhood is legendary, fueled by countless bloody battles.
Player Hooks: A rare intelligent mutant seeking peace, a human enslaved by the warlords, or a Brotherhood soldier tasked with eliminating them.