AH, you are growing old, and losing you edge.


Did you forget that it was talked about in SONA? I am preaty sure they tlak about it the MiTS, and maybe even Sota 63 or 64. Not so sure on the Sota books.

Actually the nuke didn't destroy so much.
It was detonated directly inside the insect hive after the insect spirits had erected a massive magical barrier around the hive that contained most of the explosion before dissolving.

So not only was it "only" a tactical nuke but the blast radius was magically decreased.

Maybe, but that hasn't been determined with certainty yet.

Maybe you're right...but I mentioned Jacksonville for a couple reasons. The first, as you mentioned, would be the presence of the military. Military means jobs and possible opportunities for corporations that excel in weapons/defense systems to get involved, and the presence of Ares in Florida has already been well-documented in their holding of Cape Canaveral. Second, the sections of the city would appear to be a hotbed for racial tensions and animosity toward each other if claimed...and even within the sections. (A prime example would be if Southside were in mostly human hands, but the area between Baymeadows and I-295 was mostly inhabited by, say, orks and dwarfs.) Third, you've got the Beaches, where the wealthy live far from the struggles of the city itself. This would be a prime area to hook up with Johnsons that want to employ runners in extraction and corporate sabotage missions...or that retired Mafia boss that needs to settle one final score before he gives up the game for good.

And yes, I do see Orange Park as being mostly ork, troll and squatter country after a particularly...interesting run-in with one of the locals there while I was trying to find a place to live down there. And yes, I can think of all those little hamlets as being in the Jacksonville sprawl...going as far north as Fernandina Beach and south to Ponte Vedra...and if you wanna stretch it, you could include St. Augustine in there as well. The north would probably be borderline barrens until you get to Fernandina and full of metahuman types that can't cut it in the city.

As for nightlife...this is 2070 we're talking about. Switch the 7 with the second 0 and you've got today. (2007) Give it some time and the nightlife will come and/or surface on its own. Even a proud blue-collar city has its places to get down and cut loose.

You'll definitely be hearing back from me soon with ideas for a Jacksonville sprawl...keep in touch, chummer.


--
Kan Kugarugu, Orkrunner for hire

Can you give us a sneak peak at the list of Cities 'in the running'?

I can't, really. Feral Cities isn't in the proposal stage yet, so there are no determined cities "in the running." Chicago has been mentioned before because it would fit well with the idea of the book, but until the devs see what sorts of proposals they get, there's no telling what will be in there.

Ah well, it was worth a try. Thanks anyway.

As an example, here's what I have for Philadelphia, for my homebrew game. Shows some of what a city's gone through to get where it is today. Not sure if this'll code proper...

Modern Times

The 21st Century

January 1st, 2000, Professor Ben Brown discovered a new species of Ferret in the woods behind his home. This find, a shock in a modern country, let alone in such a populated area, was often played in the media after the latest news on the food riots of the time. This ‘Century Ferret’ was later seen as the first arrival of magic in the modern world, joining a long line of famous Philadelphia firsts. Professor Brown went on to found the Parazoological Society of America,
which in turn became the Parazoological Society of UCAS in 2020.
In 2005, the Great New York Earthquake (better known in Philly as just “The Quake�) struck, all but obliterating the city. Philadelphia absorbed over a million refugees, quickly overwhelming the facilities it could provide, and was unable to prevent hundreds of thousands more from flocking into the city proper. The city’s economy went into a tailspin as emergency services stretched beyond the breaking point, with food riots and shanty towns blighting the landscape. The tumultuous situation caused the New York Stock Exchange to jump to Boston,
rather than the better-prepared Philadelphia, in fear of a cascading collapse of society.
Philadelphia’s nuclear reactors are taken offline after unusual reactions, driven by fears of the Kent meltdown, causing a spike in energy costs that finishes the city’s economy off. By the end of 2006, Philadelphia enters a full-blown depression.


VITAS and Magic

In 2010, VITAS strikes India, then China, then the rest of the world. Philadelphia adds VITAS infection to the list of famous Philly firsts, the infection eventually tracked down to Chinatown and the food market there. Hit harder than most, over a third of the city’s population dies in the plague, as well as half the refugees. Very quietly, the city heals over the next year, with the remaining refugees being absorbed into the empty homes and jobs of the reduced city. By the spring of 2011, the shanty towns are empty, the City of Brotherly Love starting along the path to economic recovery as wealth consolidates in an eerie reflection of the Blague Plague leading to the Renaissance.
At Noon on July 4th, 2011, the Liberty Bell rang three times, a sound that echoed through the streets with an impossible clarity. The Ghost of Ben Franklin was seen at Independence Hall soon after, speaking to a ghostly group of colonials... they didn’t interact with the gawking public, nor were cameras or video equipment able to capture them, but it was one of the more famous incidents of the Year of Chaos. While the sighting of Ryumyo is generally heralded as the start of the magic age, Philly natives point to Franklin’s Ghost as the first spirit manifestation and laid claim to the beginning of the 6th World; while the former is accepted in academic circles, the latter is generally contested only by Pennsylvanian natives.

The Indian War and the Great Ghost Dance

While Philadelphia was far enough away from the announcement of the NAN and the Great Ghost Dance, it earned an unusual distinction during this time. Dating back to the formation of the state, Pennsylvania had long been known for the friendly relations with the Delaware tribe and the Great Pact of William Penn was the only treaty that the Americans never broke. Senator Edward Williamson of Pennsylvania cast the only vote against the Resolution Act of 2016, while several state representatives abstained. There was a small crackdown due to this, with tensions high, but the war itself was distraction enough to keep matters from boiling over. Philadelphia’s shadow media surged during this time, it should be noted, growing only stronger as time went on.
Senator Williamson was part of the UCAS coalition at the Treaty of Denver, a guiding hand at the negotiation table who called on the Great Pact for guidance. The Treaty of Denver holds firm even today, thanks to his leadership, tho he’s mentioned far more in native schools than in the UCAS public education system. Senator Williamson passed away in 2020, sure that he’d done the right thing, no matter the feelings of the rest of what was left of America.

Goblinization

April 30th, 2021, Goblinization struck. Philadelphia had largely weathered UGE without too much trouble, but Goblinization, where you weren’t born an Elf or Dwarf, but, rather, simply became an Ork or Troll ...well, that was a whole other story. With memories of VITAS still fresh in the minds of Philadelphians, camps were set up, quarantines enacted, and repression became the order of the day. The shadow media once again grew in strength, lashing out at the ignorance and panic of the general population, fostering distrust and allegations on every side. Philadelphia was struck harder than any other east coast city and was vritually paralyzed with race riots.
VITAS-2: Electric Boogaloo

The return of actual VITAS in 2022 put a lid on the racial problems right quick, with the Metahumans flushed out for plague victims. The City of Brotherly Love fell back in line, even if at arm’s length, to try and get through the deadly infection. Edward Williamson Jr, elected in a landslide to take his father’s seat, was a key member of the senatorial drive to extend rights to Metahumanity, and a semblance of normallacy returned. Philadelphia even rejected Lone Star, who wanted it to be the first expansion of its policing strength.
Philadelphia was too slow to form the first bachelor of magical arts studies, but was quick on the followup, with four universities offering undergraduate programs and one, Bryn Mwar, offering the first masters degree. The election of 2024 saw President Jarmon elected in a landslide the same year that e-voting was fully enabled, leading the shadow media to, as usual, lash out. Deep investigations were ongoing right up until the Crash of ‘29. As a side note, a huge swath of Philadelphia’s Elves followed the call of Salish-Sidhe Council, roughly a quarter of the Elven population. A handful of Dwarves made the travel as well, but most Orks and Trolls were unable, or unwilling, to join the exodus.

The Crash

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange crumbled on August 9th, 2029, while computer failure cascading across the city, then the state, soon after. Predictably, riots broke out once again, with the city, finally, taking the offered hand of Lone Star to step in and help quell the situation. Surprisingly, Lone Star managed this with a minimal level of violence, shocking the shadow media, to say the least. Lone Star had put the best people it could find into Philadelphia, rightly expecting a massive payoff if it went well. The Philadelphian police, in contrast, engaged in thuggery, went on strike to protest the Star, finding themselves out of a job in 2030 with the arrival of Philadelphia’s first Republican mayor in a hundred years, Jenny McCarthy.
While the average man on the street had simply had enough and voted in the strong hand of McCarthy, Pennsylvania as a whole was, yet again, a driving force behind the formation of the UCAS, with Senator Williamson Jr a co-sponsor of the unification bill. These views seem to clash, but, it was two views of the same situation ... Philadelphia was stressed out, beaten down, and needed a hand. McCarthy promised to keep them safe while Canada offered to get them back on their feet. When the CAS decided to leave, Pennsylvanians, drained from so many conflicts, couldn’t even muster enough energy to stop it. Sen Williamson, beaten down, resigns in the wake of the CAS secession, taking a few years off before re-emerging as a political commentator and writer. His replacement helps pass the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, establishing SIN.

The Night of Rage

Racial tensions bubble over across the nation and even Philadelphia, now known as having the largest Metahuman population in North America, isn’t immune. Feb 7th, 2039, the city burns, but the central planning of Philadelphia was designed specificly to stop rampant wildfires. The race riots die down, and, once again, the city heals. Mayor McCarthy forms a commission on race relations and establishes “MetaZones� for the protection of Orks and Elves. These communities eventually evolve into Tiny Tir and Tuskerville.
2040 and up

Following the establishment of MetaZones, Mayor McCarthy adds the Corporate Sector of West Philadelphia, as well as the Zero Zone of northeast Philadelphia, better known to residents as “The Zero.� A general calm follows for an entire generation as basic fatigue finally drains the upheavals to a bare minimum. Mayor McCarthy is later outed in a financial corruption scandal in ‘42, ending a twelve year run. No Republican has since been elected to the mayorial position. Even the riots following the assassination of President Dunkelzhan are relatively minor, despite his Metahuman-friendly status.
The Year of the Comet failed to make a major inroad in Philadelphia, with the club scene quickly taking to Changelings as a hot new trend which, like all trends, faded away as quickly as most SURGE effects did. Race relations remained on edge, but, the kettle didn’t boil over.

Crash 2.0

A different story was the second crash. When the Matrix went down in 2064, it took jobs with it, and job loss sparked fears of both the depression of ‘05 and the Crash of ‘29. Philly had also been hard-hit by the loss of Fuchi several years back. The detonation of nuclear weapons by Winternight and the EM pulses that followed only helped confuse matters, with the New Revolution’s assassination of President Heffner being the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Philadelphia Today

It took five long, hard years to come back, but the Philadelphia Metroplex is up and running today, fully integrated into the Wireless World and ready for whatever disaster the 6th world can hurl at it. Mayor Robert “Bobby� Lebowski is halfway through his second term and, despite his reputation as being a wembling gasbag, has managed to surround himself with good people. He’s short, pudgy, balding, and seemingly lacks a spine, but he knows when to let experts do their thing and has a befuddling, harmless charm about him. His advisors and the aldermen largely run the show while “The Bob Lebowski�kisses babies, visits ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and stammers his way through press conferences. The corporate sector is booming and the extremely expensive Liberty Web is now fully operational, which has essentially ended civil unrest in the upper and middle classes.

*The Bob Lebowski is, of course, in with the mob, through his Civil Service Secretary, Antonio Fonzerelli. A good sized chunk of the administration as a whole is in somebody’s pocket as well, usually the Megas, while Lebowski blows in the wind. Even among politicians, he’s astounding at measuring the public and reacting to keep them happy. The man can’t string three words together without tripping, has to be dressed by his assistants, and is generally befuddled, but if you spend just five minutes with him, you’ll find him the most charming and harmless guy ever.
* Office Insider

* He also has an aversion to paperwork. Deputy Mayor Callie Briggs handles all the real work, herding cats, making sure all the proper procedures are followed, and, in general, does everything that Bob’s supposed to be doing. She’s a looker, too! What can I say? That librarian look makes my turbines twist.
* T-Bone

I responded in in a separate thread on the topic, so as not to disrupt this thread further. Please note that religious debate is not my intention either here or in said thread, and my apologies if the spawned thread is not to your liking/preference either.

It's pretty obvious they're patterned on the KKK.

Cranial bombs - in case of heresy, hit the remote

Figured as much...I mean, the hoods are a dead giveaway.