Good Become Cancerous

As a group of scavvers, players follow a loose trail of evidence to uncover what happened to the famed Meecham Expedition, led by the decorated commander Sir William “Bill” Meecham. With 700 soldiers and support staff, Meecham planned to head deeper into the ruins than any previous expedition, hoping to find vast, untouched heaps of technology. Disaster struck almost immediately. Several scouting patrols never returned. Morale plunged. Meecham turned to increasingly draconian measures to ensure discipline. Dozens deserted: some returned home with tales of an increasingly desperate situation, others fled into the ruins that seemed to mock the camp with their silence. The final straw came when Meecham’s own son-in-law went missing during a routine scouting patrol. In a rage, Meecham vowed to lead every remaining member of the expedition into the ruins, threatening death to those who disobeyed. The entirety of the expedition left the camp, and none ever returned. A group of settlers arrived after several weeks had passed with no contact, and discovered the camp empty. A relief force dispatched into the ruins came back empty handed, and no sign or indication of the expedition’s fate has ever been discovered… until now. 

Background

The purpose of this adventure is to introduce players to the backstory of a post-apocalyptic St. Louis and the exploration of its ruins. GMs can also use this adventure to introduce the local mystery around Samuel Arkwright’s death and other plot points in Meecham via LISSI, the Legion Interface of Self-organized Swarm Intelligence. LISSI is the personality and combined intelligence of a swarm or legion of robotic devices. Although LISSI has come to view humanity as a threat to its survival, characters can tap into LISSI’s expansive knowledge of the Old World, The End, and the occurrences around the region of St. Louis.

This adventure is suitable for the following

• 3-5 Scavvers, Low-Level (Levels 1-7)
• 12-15 Hours or 4-5 Sessions
• Normal Difficulty Level

This scenario is 31 pages in length, includes five virtual tabletop tokens, two maps, and can be played with the free Backroads Quickstart.

Backroads: American Gothic Horror Tabletop Roleplaying

Welcome to St. Louis, the City of the Arch. Beyond Backwater and the border of the American Lands lies the City of the Arch, a diamond in the rough and a trove of Old World artifacts for those who wish to strike it rich, uncover lost technology, or shed light on this nation’s catastrophic history. Drawing curious researchers, skilled prospectors, and desperate scavengers from across the continent, the ruins of the old city are a vast urban jungle, crawling with danger but promising a fabulous wealth of knowledge, technology, and antiquities—for those who survive. Are you willing to risk it all, scavver?

Backroads: City of the Arch is the first expansion for the Backwater: Southern Gothic Horror tabletop roleplaying game. It describes the Outskirts of a post-apocalyptic America, which spans from Arkansas to the Great Lakes including the ruins of an abandoned St. Louis. 

Built with Backbone

Backroads uses the same original system that Backwater uses, now called the Backbone Tabletop Roleplaying system. In addition to its unique setting, Backroads includes all of the core rules for the Backbone game system, so you do not have to purchase Backwater separately. You can also find most of the essential rules in the Backroads Quickstart Guide. However, each book has distinct options for character origins, archetypes, ideals, and items, as well as its own unique setting and characters.

The Backbone game system is original. It uses a 20-sided die for everything except damage. It is intended to be intuitive and streamlined. The foundation of this system are four basic attributes that provide both a modifier (which you add to rolls) and a goal score (which others roll against). When you attempt a skill roll against another character, you simply roll against one of their attribute goals, for example:

• When you threaten or deceive a character you roll against its Intuition goal
• When you hide from or sneak by a character you roll against its Vigilance goal
• When you attack a character you roll against its Reflex goal
• When you shove or trip a character you roll against its Build goal

Characters have both Health Points (physical stamina) and Resolve Points (mental fortitude), and they are relatively low to reflect human fragility. Combat scenarios are consequential and can move quickly as a result. One especially unique element of the system is its Health rolls and Resolve rolls. Players must try to roll under their current Health or Resolve with a d20 to avoid suffering a condition, like the Bleeding condition. The more damage or duress that a character receives, the more likely it may suffer the condition. 

Character sheets for the Backbone game system are form-fillable PDFs. The Backbone system also has its own GM sheet for note-taking and tracking.  Backbone also has a character sheet on Roll20; see "Roll20 Character Sheet for the Backbone Game System."