GURPS After The End #15: “Down From The Mountains”

They say the road’s a dangerous place…

– The Offspring, “Bad Habit”

Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings. Kung fu movies. The training and education of a young kid. Wisdom from the holy scriptures. “We’re going to Disney World!” Sacred rituals of the Uck Stop tribe. Topping off the tank. Rainy day activities. First time in the flatlands, for some. News from a nomad. Deadly rain. Sanctuary. “Don’t you dare die on me!” The latest from Shady Shen. Ironmongery and the Iron Monger. While watching out for one ambush, fall victim to another. A fender-fender-fender bender. “You will not hurt my horse!”

GURPS After The End #14: “Burning Man”

Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can’t see no reason to put up a fight
I’m living for givin’ the devil his due
And I’m burnin’, I’m burnin’, I’m burnin’ for you

–  Blue Öyster Cult, “Burnin’ For You”

Good times in Mt Hope, followed by bad times in Mt Hope. More chicken nuggets, please. Aerial phenomena demands investigation. Ants in the jerky. Two great campsites, but really only one. Old friends. Muddy struggles and a sleepless night. Meeting the Colonel and the abominations that he has wrought. A mysterious, dangerous, and ultimately boring piece of space debris. Athens. The house of the dog. The golden ticket.

GURPS After The End #13: “Breakdown in the Diplomatic Process”

We got dogs in the alleys and dogs in the streets

Dogs that can walk with only two feet

– K-9 Corps, “Dog Talk”

The final showdown with Big Rex, the leader of the arks, in the Mangled Puppy bar.

GURPS After The End #12: “Revolution”

I’m outta the wasteland
I’m into this head, man

– Billy Idol, “Wasteland”

Fog and flying fish. On the road again. Conversations with Mindkeep. Politics. New goals. A promotion and an appointment to high office. Movie night! Looting the armory and gathering the troops. The Battle of Mt Hope. Cornered in the Mangled Puppy.

Feeding Liberty Vargas’ Flying Circus

Seems like just about every wastelander has picked up a pet, sidekick, or cherished ally. What does it take, day after day, to keep this show on the road?

GURPS After The End #11: “Cannonball! Run!”

We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs

– Dire Straits, “Money For Nothing”

Eastbound and down. Reunions, introductions, and story time. What is a “president”, anyway? Who owns who, and why? A rescue. Into the deadly miasma. No reservations. The grand tour. What do you do with all this water? Stealing toys from the attic and major appliances. Dropping names. One houseplant gives the cold shoulder, while another acts suspicious. General Jeremiah Coot and the surgeon general. Exfiltration. Midnight attacks. Evacuation.

GURPS After The End #10: “Deadly Races”

Suddenly ahead of me, across the mountainside

A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide…

– Rush, “Red Barchetta”

New growth. How to arrange for an ox-setter. Driver’s ed in the wasteland. Mysterious utterances of some oracle. Good old-fashioned spikey-haired cannibal raiders. A wild ride, sudden violence, then lunch. Dinner with goat-people who think the van is baaaad. A journey into “dangr”. Lucky that plants don’t breathe. Daring rescues by bicycle – whee! So, what’s a “President”?

GURPS After The End #9: “Unchivalrous Conduct”

The carnage races on well into the night
As the sun creeps up we see the morning light
On the battlefield the tragedy of dawn
Through the crimson tide we still carry on

– Omen, “Battle Cry”

Unexpected, unpleasant visitors. Roadside conversations and startling insults. Dire directions. The charge of the death machine, and the carnage that followed. The sentry bot fulfills its primary function, to its great satisfaction. Negotiations through a locked door. If one ally won’t, sometimes a new ally will. Dealing with the devil. A solo raid and a feast. Repairs.

GURPS After The End #8: “Access”

With parts made in Japan

I am the modern man

– Styx, “Mr Roboto”

The battle for the van. Hostile rocks and hoop snakes. A welfare check and a dinner invitation, a rare hot bath and an unscheduled checkup. Hackles raised. Conversations with a crazy Coot. The benign countenance of the colonel. The biggest map anyone has ever seen. Unidentified flying objects, both ancient and fresh. Online.

GURPS After The End #7: “Mercy Killing”

With a rope around his neck they left him hanging
High on that old hanging tree
On her knees his wife was screaming
Lord have mercy, lord have mercy

– Thin Lizzy, “Freedom Song”

In which our protagonists join the resistance and learn more than they wanted to about the invaders. Traveling in disguise. A side trip in the name of mercy. The roads of the Ancients, above and below the earth. A botany lesson from a fan. Gathering herbs. Dinner with a friendly hermit, vibrating cactus, and helpful visions. Conversations with living metal. A pearl beyond price.