Shortly after the release of Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #6: Factions one reviewer stated that he was disappointed with the lack of actual rules.

Here are some basic rules that anyone can easily incorporate into the factions. For future issues (or source books, as I am in the stages of planning one) I will ensure that all entries will follow the guidelines I have created.

Also I have included a list of possible new languages that may be encountered in the wastelands, and an expanded intelligence chart.

Shortly after the release of Wisdom from the Wastelands Issue #6: Factions one reviewer stated that he was disappointed with the lack of actual rules.

Here are some basic rules that anyone can easily incorporate into the factions. For future issues (or source books, as I am in the stages of planning one) I will ensure that all entries will follow the guidelines I have created.

Also I have included a list of possible new languages that may be encountered in the wastelands, and an expanded intelligence chart.

Geographical Location:
All factions have a geographical location, be it in a specific city, ruin, state or other similar location, up to cross-country or even globally. On top of that, factions that have numerous locations will often have a main base or home territory that will be exceedingly important to the faction.
 
Average Community Size:
Like Geographical location, size of communities is important. This entry is for just that, mentioning the average size of a community, also how small they can be up to the largest communities that will be found.
 
Resources:
Each faction will have one or multiple resources at their disposal. This could be anything from manpower to providing food, lodging, medical help and so forth. Often members of the faction will be required to provide resources or at least help in locating the resources, and at the same time will be willing to provide resources to faction members for a reduced cost.
 
Allowed Races:
Certain factions will only allow certain races to join. For example, a faction that despises mutants will only be open to Pure humans and Humans, while one that is dedicated to Furries will only allow Exotics to join, or mutants that appear to be animal human amalgamations.
 
Requirements to join:
Almost all factions will have specific requirements to join their ranks. This can be anything from paying a monthly or yearly due, to going on quests to retrieve artifacts or needed resources, to killing a hated faction enemy. In order to join a faction, the potential member must accomplish the specified task.
 
Benefits of membership:
After a person has joined a faction, there will be benefits. Like resources, this can be cheaper goods, access to safe houses, medical attention, or even martial help. This also covers things like bonuses to various stats or combat, saving throws, and the like.  Typically the bonuses will have specific requirements, such as a +1 to hit against mutants. Not all factions will provide bonuses.
 
Possible Drawbacks:
As with benefits, there could very well be drawbacks to joining a faction. This could be something like being hated by non-mutants, to having to give up the use of technology, to negatives in combat, saving throws and the like. As with Benefits, not all factions will have drawbacks to membership.
 
Membership dues:
Although covered briefly in the requirements outline, most factions will require something from their members. This can be simply paying fees to providing resources, martial aid, lodging and so forth.
 
Faction Relations:
This will be a chart that will be updated every time a new faction is introduced to the game. This chart will list how the factions feel towards one another, from out and out hatred to open allies. Also, this will list the reaction modifier that comes along with encountering a member of a different faction.

This bonus article also includes an expanded Intelligence table that indicates at what intelligence the mutant gains a new language.

Languages

Below is a list of languages that can be integrated into any campaign. It is strongly recommended that the Mutant Lord create and introduce her own languages, be it based on real life languages or on the various mutant races that have sprung up across the ruined wastelands.

Most languages will have a written component, and will require the skill of read and write to be able to use. This skill is one of the optional rules included in this book.

Because most campaigns tend to be situated in a specific locale, variations in common and other languages will not be much of a problem. However the ML if she so desires, can make common in another section of the country totally different from the tongue the characters know and understand.

Also, many small tribes or groups will have their own languages, and some mutated ‘races’ could have a language of all their own. It is up to the ML to decide. But simply for convenience, here is a list of fairly common languages that the characters might encounter through game play.

Ancient: This is the language of the forefathers of the current survivors. Generally it is English, as that was at the time of the holocaust one of the most common languages on the planet.

Asiatic: This is a mixture of Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, and Japanese. This language was born over the centuries from the combining of these different ethnic groups who survived in close proximity to one another.

Chitiac: A language created by the sentient insect races that have appeared across the globe. It is unique in the fact that it is clearly understood by intelligent insects, no matter how much distance separates them. An American insect will be able to converse with insects from the Middle East.

Common: A mixture of languages, with roots in the ancient tongue. Generally accepted across the wastes, but can have subtle differences in meaning and accent from location to location.

Euran: As with Asiatic, this language is a mixture of several languages of what had been Russia and the surrounding countries.

Green: The language of the plants. It is all but impossible for non-plant life to speak since it consists of movement, the rustling of leaves, bark or the like and humming created by the passage of wind or air through branches. This language is used by the Gaians, and does not have a written component.

Guttural: A language that has grown out of the grunts, cries and other noises created by many mutated animals. This language, although difficult for human tongues to master, has spread widely among the mutated animals. Many Exotics have embraced this language. This is one of two languages that do not have have a written component.

Mech: A language of the machines. Robots, androids, AI and similar created use this language almost universally. When listened to, it sounds like a series of squeals, beeps, chirps and other odd noises. It has a written form as well, but it is very strange, mainly strings of odd symbols and 0’s and 1’s.

Merc: A language that sprung from the ancients. This language is similar in many ways to Netspeak because of the usage of slang and abbreviation, but was born from the various militaries of the world. It is now used quite commonly among mercenary companies and other soldiers of fortune.  Many believe it was started by the Legion.

Native: The oldest language still used, it is the tongue of the aboriginal populations who survived the Apocalypse.

Netspeak: Somehow this bastardization of ancient managed to survive into the current era. It is a combination of shortcuts and abbreviations that were translated from type into direct speech.

Polly: A language used by a wide variety of races spoken by the ocean going traders whose roots are based upon several varieties of the Polynesian language. This language is a main stay around trade ports where many ocean going mutant breeds are found. The language has only recently (within the last 50 years) found its way into some of the land-locked towns.

Scavenger: Like the Trade language, this is a special language created by those who scavenge the ruins of the world.

Sign: basically the ancient hand signal language used by the hearing impaired. Again, no written equivalent, although if the ML wishes, it can have a written equivalent of ancient, common, etc.

Siren: The language of the aquatic dwellers. A complex language of whistles and clicks, much of it sounding like a wordless song, combined with hand or limb gestures. This is one of two languages that do not have a written component.

Trade: A special language developed by the merchants and traders of the wastelands.

Intelligence