In the wastes of the old world, poisoned and drained of life, the first, true Barons built the railways between what settlements remained, taking the last scraps of the old industry in their grasps and empires. They are gone now, too, and only petty tyrants and poisoned-brained madmen remain. The deserts have grown even harsher and strange monsters lurk in their sands. The railways--those rusting few that remain--are the only way through. Civilization clings to them. Despite road agents, psychotic tribesmen, and giant beasts, the trains have got to keep rolling.
Take the post-apocalyptic cultures and aesthetic of Mad Max 2: Road Warrior and Mad Max: Fury, but make it a little less 1980s and a little more 1880s, and combined the burrowing monsters and extensive railways of Mieville's Railsea. Season to taste with The Hills Have Eyes and Spaghetti and Acid Westerns, and you've got a kickass campaign setting, I think.
9 comments:
I think the novel series "The Amtrack Wars" would be a good resource/influence for this.
I would play in it.
Also, for reference, Mieville's Iron Council and, maybe, Deadland's Great Rail Wars.
That sound pretty sweet to me. Iron Dragon included RPG tips in it, and I always thought a rail based game would be pretty sweet.
Stephen King's Dark Tower series, especially The Waste Lands.
Blaine might be some influence, though he's a much more high tech train than I was thinking of. Otherwise, the Dark Tower is fairly "fantasy Western."
I especially love the science fantasy western nature of the Dark Tower series. Maybe why I love Dark Sun so much.
Write it and I'll buy it.
Is that a Dead Rabbit from DiCaprio's mockery of Gangs of New York at the bottom? Also I'd include a fair dose of Snowpiercer in there. Finally 19th century apocalypses are interesting.
@Gus - It's a design for sort of Westernpunk game, I think, but it was obviously inspired by Gangs of New York.
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