Campaign Setting, Autoduel

Information presented here supersedes or amends information from GURPS Autoduel in general.

Overall

Economics

• US Gov't is going through a "socialist" cycle, resulting in the rather prevalent welfare-state and the oppression of businesses

Environment

Cities nuked during the GNX

• Dust Bowl/Depression=Blight/Food Riots
• Nuked cities were liveable in a matter of a year or two after GNX, although small hot-zones continued to exist for longer periods; pretty much all gone at the present. Bombed cities took longer to repopulate, due to ignorance and misinformation about nuclear consequences, and are far less populous than pre-GNX
• Outlying areas of most large cities were completely abandoned (the Nethers), but during the Reconstruction, municipal gov'ts "claimed" the abandoned areas and started renting/selling them to new residents on the cheap; superintendents and maintenance workers, where they exist at all, are typically city employees

Entertainment

• Ref pro drag racing for duelling
• AADA vs BLUD=NFL vs XFL

Geopolitics

• Australia, being least affected by the Blight, now occupies the top superpower position (=current US)

Law Enforcement

• Real cops kick ass...not schlubs; almost superheroes. Rent-a-cops are still mooks (normally).
• HiPo more like "Fed Marshalls" of the Old West
• Well-funded SWAT often uses jetpacks on raids (Ref:MinorityRpt)

Medicine

• Smoking makes a comeback, to 1960s-70s levels, due to improved cancer treatments.

Technology

• Land-based inter-city communication, power and such is pretty much a thing of the past, due to the inability of the gov't to protect hardware from Raiders and such throughout the Badlands (intra-city stuff remains the same)...no telephone wires or cables. Satellites are the preferred transmission method.
• SBCTerminal, AKA YellowTerminal, replacement for public "phone books"

Local (Oklahoma City)

• Population ~1M; most (75%?) are packed-in behind the wall; lots of megablocks
• Wallies=Folk who live inside the virtual wall
• In OKC, Casinos abound, just outside/on the fringe of city limits; Little Vegas at [location] around Dirty-Bird
• Extensive monorail system, in place of subway. Individual monorail cars have no human "conductor," but are computer-controlled and video-monitored from a central station; a controller can shut down a car/line if they spot something suspicious on the monitors, and are trained to look for certain "behaviors." Computer control allows cars on differing routes to use the same rail, and still avoid conflicts or collisions. Lines going out of the "safe zone" are sometimes accompanied by air marshal-type security officers (or other measures provided by the entities the line services (i.e. the Military)), but are otherwise protected only by local authorities.
• Crime grew with the population, rising to NY-like levels; lotsa gangs; Ref: Predator II, Gotham-BatBeg; corruption hasn't quite filtered down to the street-level, though "dirty cops" are not uncommon.
• Oklahoma an "unofficial plutocracy" thanks to rampant corruption; political bribery is disparagingly referred to as "buying shares of Oklahoma Inc."
• Nuclear power plant at 10th & Morgan (W of town, on Overholser)
• As is common with many large metropolises, OKC has a "virtual wall" rather than a physical one. It consists of streets that end at the perimeter and may be obstructed by buildings or landmarks, and strong checkpoints where they go through. Meant primarily to keep out cars and large groups. The perimeter is generally the most-patrolled area in the city. Gaps in the coverage show up from time to time, but they are usually filled in quickly enough (and then a new one pops up). Inside the wall, police patrol regularly. Outside the wall, there are occasional police patrols, generally supplemented by local city cops, corporate security or private militia groups.
• South side of OKC now its own "town" referred to as Brookwood; in the Nethers
• OKC Pride, local professional AADA duelling team
• NarkBox: ODOT issues every vehicle (or the person it's registered to) a [device] (Ref:5thE), referred to disparagingly as the NarkBox, which receives signals from beacons placed around the road network and records where that vehicle has been, for tax/fine purposes "only"; works like a PikePass, and serves the same basic purpose. Most minor traffic violation fines are automatically credited to the account, which frees cops from having to deal with them in person. Cheating, tampering with or disabling the device is a serious but relatively common offense. A "small" tax is levied based on the amount (and nature, in some cases (i.e. toll roads, highways)) of road travel, and funds so generated "are" put to road construction and maintenance. Must insert driver's license card to activate.

Citation Warning message: "Warning. You have been electronically cited for [violation(s)]; [#] point(s) has been removed from your license [and you have been fined [$]]. If you wish to mitigate this citation, signal and pull over immediately and an officer will be with you shortly, otherwise you will receive official confirmation of this action within 5 business days."

• Duelling in city limits is a misdemeanor traffic violation, equivalent to speeding; worsens for duelling that results in property damage or public endangerment