The Ruined City of Vrotrak Valley



Excerpt from my design document for Vrotrak Valley, a post-apocalyptic Hex Crawl:

7 hexes. A haunted old metropolis, filled to the brim with dungeons in the form of abandoned warehouses, apartment-complexes and office buildings. Populated by bandits and predatory animals. Ud stands for Usage Die.

  1. A “haunted” suburb that used to be a popular spot for rich and wealthy people. They all had servant robots programmed to love them. After they all died, their machines formed a suicide pact. Robotic body parts litter the area. They can be looted for scraps and fuel, but nothing mechanically useful. The houses of their former masters are filled with fancy technology and the occasional rare artifact. The last robot standing can be reactivated, explaining that it was left here to remember the events that led to the apocalypse. It will refuse to say, or can’t say, what it remembers. 
  2. A giant shopping mall that has collapsed into the asphalted-over wetlands it was built on. Inhabited by crocodiles, snakes and unsavory types, it is slowly sinking into the ground, destroying the valuable technology there within. A Wandering Mega-Beast wishes to enter and will cause the structure to collapse within Ud8 rounds. 
  3. In a town square, an endless street-fight has burst out between warring factions of Meltskin Warriors, humanoid beings that rise out of toxic sludge and dirt that had infected the soil of two neighboring graveyards. The two neighboring graveyards belonged to two different denominations of an ancient Christian religion. Their muddy faux-skin melts off and regenerates instantly every two seconds, occasionally revealing a strange, metallic skeleton. They fruitlessly wrestle each-other in the streets, constantly dying and being resurrected. They are not capable of explaining why they are fighting. There are 5d20 Meltskin Warriors of Each Faction present in the square at any time. They are HD1 and their attacks trigger a Constitutiom roll to resist radiation poisoning, but they will not attack PCs unless provoked.  The abandoned graves can be looted for valuables, but players must roll to resist disease or radiation when spending any time in them. At the center is an abandoned, fully functional tank. 
  4. An industrial zone taken over by The Synthwavers, a gang of 80’s-loving mutated humans, led by a tiny psyonic intent on re-introducing the glory of ancient commercial Brands (Bepsi, MockDonalds, Cantucky Flopped Chickies.. you know!). An abundance of resources can be found in the warehouses, factory plants and car retailer joints, but only so much can be taken back without facing the wrath of The Synthwavers, who ride forklifts and possess bazookas. 
  5. A huge skyscraper protected entirely by a colony of Fungi-Spiders, dog-sized spiders which filter out toxic air through fungi in their back. The HD 10 Spider-Queen rests on the top of the skyscraper, producing spawn and looking for prey to feed it’s young ones. Inside the skyscrapers live the 15th generation of 4 families of master scientists, humans who will protect their (faulty, inaccurate, outlandish) research against anything perceived as a threat. Unfortunately, they perceive everything as a threat, and will attack intruders with machine guns. In their libraries are contained 1000 Coin worth of Invaluable Scientific Research. The fungi on the spiders back can be used as air filtration for the settlements and protect against radiation poisoning Ud8 times (for the Spider Queen, Ud10). 
  6. A group of pacifist mutants has made this local park into the meeting place of a debate club, wherein the mutant population gather to debate the serious topics of the day. Reasonable and respectful, they invite the players to compete in the art of debating. They don’t mind that a group of Mega-Vultures occasionally swoop down to catch and fly away with whoever decides to go on the make-shift  stage.
  7. At a make-shift farm settlement on the outskirts of the city, a legless, three-armed Psionic child has fooled the entire group of survivors that he has a direct connection to a man living in a space-ship in Earth's orbit. Most worship him, but some fear him. He can mimic any voice and will accuse any outsider of trying to destroy the settlement. If you want to destroy the settlement, the Psionic child has rigged a set of explosives to go off if his ploy is uncovered. 
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