Quick Start:
What Every Player of the Game Should Know

The Nuclear War 1985 and General Background Conditions

The limited nuclear war of 1985 and the two terrible winters that followed killed off approximately 95% of the population of the Northern Hemisphere and 80% of that of the Southern Hemisphere. The nuclear attacks launched by both sides were aimed at population centers and major industrial sites across the world. These attacks had a deleterious effect upon modern society far beyond the already unimaginable annihilation of millions and destruct of property. Most of the world's transportation network collapsed immediately. Modern civilization requires food to be moved from areas of production to areas of consumption. With the railroad hubs destroyed, roads and bridges rendered unusable, and ports flattened, some areas had massive stocks of food, while most went short. Coupled to this was the breakdown of civil order. Most governmental and military centers were destroyed. When huge crowds of people erupted from those food short urban areas into the countryside, there was nothing to stop them from doing so in most locales. Widespread violence swept through the land in a dog-eat-dog frenzy of looting, rape, theft, and murder.

To cope with this disaster, local strong men and women would take charge of an area. Some of these new leaders were someone with some preexisting source of authority, such as a mayor, a police chief, or the commander of a surviving military base, and sometimes they were just a person of natural authority, Organizing, protecting, and controlling food supplies was the key to an area's success or failure that first winter. From those group who succeeded came the new social and political entities that dominated the post-nuclear world. These nuclei took many forms: military governments, local strong man dictatorships, small democracies, slave-owning aristocracies, and even criminal and biker gangs. Groups with preexisting social cohesion, such as the Mormons and other religious groups, those with popular leaders such as the Kennedys in New England, and military bases that were not attacked such as Fort Ord in California, all had a considerable edge in survival.

Early attempts to revive the United States failed due to poor communications, the total discrediting of the Federal Government that fought the war, and the lack of a leader with political legitimacy. As the new, small, local states coalesced, endemic warfare between them began as they jockeyed for scarce resources. This cycle of warfare and destruction help continue the downward slide of population levels and the loss of technological and economic capabilities.

Another major impact of the nuclear war was the loss of technology and technological knowledge. By its very nature, a complex, interactive system of technology must be concentrated in cities, the very cities that were destroyed by the nuclear blasts. Even more important than the loss of the physical items of technology was the destruction of the human beings that design, build, and maintain it. Destroyed factories can be rebuilt, but if you destroy the only minds that know how it is made and how it works, then you cannot easily replace it. Vast technical libraries were destroyed utterly, universities laid waste, and technicians killed. Even with all the destruction, a higher level of technology could have been maintained, if it weren't for the deaths and destruction in the first year, killing off the skilled minds needed for rebuilding. After that first grim year, high tech had to take second place to simple daily survival. Within five years, most of the survivors were reduced to simple subsistence farming.

Reconstruction Begins

Human beings are nothing but resourceful. Almost as soon as the rumbles of the last nuclear blast receded in the distance, some areas were banding together to repair the damage, secure a reliable food supply, and bring back civilized life from the ashes. Those cities that were, for some fluke of fate, not destroyed, possessed a tremendous advantage, even with the chaos of the first fall and winter. Portland, Oregon, a coalition of small cities in New England, and Savannah, Georgia all were lucky in that regard. Even though these cities were depopulated to a great extent, enough governmental structure survived to permit civilized life to continue, and in the years following 1985, survivors who had fled to find food and who had lived through the Nuclear Winters returned. All these cities contracted into smaller, more defensible nuclei, often walled and fortified. But they, at least had a technological infrastructure and surviving industrial machinery that permitted a higher technological base. This capability transmitted itself into military power and these cities rose to dominate the economies of their regions.

Elsewhere in the world, other powers arose, using different forms of social organization. The most powerful of these was Italy, a nation that shirked its NATO obligations during the Third World War. Playing the neutral card, Italy played one side against the other, and stayed aloof from the fighting. Both sides avoided nuclear attacks on Italian soil, leaving Italy nearly untouched. A Fascist movement took power during the chaos that followed the first nuclear winter. Being better armed, far more numerous, and much more cohesive, the Italian leadership attempted to revive the glories of Imperial Rome, and were, for almost fifty years, the most powerful state on Earth.

The other contender for “superpower” status was the Mongol Empire. A decentralized, and mostly anti-technological movement arising in central Asia, built on the ruins of Soviet power, the Mongol state expanded until it has covered the entirety of the pre-1985 Soviet Union and the Mideast.

The Alaska League 2005-2007

One of the smaller, regional powers that sprang into existence early in the Twenty-First Century was the Alaska League. The league was created as a response to an impending invasion by an expansionist Japanese Empire seeking sources of raw materials. Rear Admiral R.E. Ffolkes, supposedly a Royal Navy officer send on a circumnavigation of the globe, but whose actual origins are totally obscure, welded a diverse collection of small, coastal communities into a cohesive whole. The League halted the Japanese invasion by 2006, while completing a crude, armored warship out of salvaged materials. After having defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battles of Blackstone Bay and Dutch Harbor using the H.M.S. Phoenix, the league found itself too weak in manpower to drive the Japanese out of the Alaskan enclaves they had already taken.

League leaders, especially Admiral Ffolkes, wanted access to a warmer clime than Alaska. The Hawaiian Islands, fairly isolated from the Japanese and the stranglehold on trade held by the Republic of Portland, seemed like a perfect target. Maui, divided into warring ethnic factions fell to the league after a short campaign. From the new base on Maui, Ffolkes dispatched a number of exploratory missions into the hinterlands of North America.

The Rise of the British North American Colonies 2007-2019

The Portland Republic was the dominant power on the Pacific Coast of North America in 2007. Run by a rapacious oligarchy headed by the Mayor for Life William DeHaven, the Portlanders controlled the trade routes that ran along the Pacific Coast both on land and sea, and the main trade route leading inland into the continent. The Portland government took far more than its fair share of that trade, building an enormous pool of resentment against them.

This hostility flared into open warfare when a party of explores commissioned by the newly created Alaska League had an aircraft and stock of salvaged equipment confiscated by greedy Portland officials. Using the prestige conferred by the enormous power and prestige represented by H.M.S. Phoenix, the infuriated Ffolkes set about building a coalition to take down the obnoxious DeHaven regime. Every community north of the California border on the west coast of North American offered men and or supplies. The invasion was launched in the summer of 2007, and after a short battle, the DeHaven regime collapsed and fled into exile.

Ffolkes realized that the Portlanders had assured their own destruction by their oppressive tax policy on trade. He promptly offered protection to the smaller states of his alliance at greatly advantageous tax rates in return for a fairly loose allegiance to the British Crown. The thought that a powerful, world –girdling state could protect them from the endemic lawlessness that then prevailed was a powerful inducement to join. Ffolkes offered considerable autonomy to these members of his new Commonwealth. The fact that the admiral’s connection to any British Empire was either a scam or a hallucination on his part, did not make the idea any less powerful.

Communications Technology

• Telephones
  • Outside major cities, telephones are quite uncommon. Most small towns are lucky if the local police station and mayor's office have one.
  • Telephone systems tend to be unreliable, especially outside Portland, Savannah, and New England.
  • Most people believe the phone system is tapped and tend to be reluctant to impart confidential information over it.
  • There is no telephone link between the east and west coasts of North America, nor with Alaska or Hawaii.
  • There are no working trans-oceanic cables.
  • Phone systems in major cities use rotary dial switching. Rural systems are often "plug in" switchboards.
  • "911" is still the emergency number, a holdover from the pre-1985 world.
  • Cell phone technology, beepers, etc, are non-existent.
  • Official wiretapping is done by Navy Technical Services.
• Telegraph
  • There are two major telegraph companies. One the east coast is the North American Telegraph Company, usually nicknamed "Eastern Union," and on the west, Keaton Communications, Ltd., nicknamed "Western Union."
  • Telegrams are the preferred method of transmitting vital or urgent information, especially for businesses.
  • Businesses often encrypt telegrams when added security is required.
• Mail
  • Theoretically, the Royal Post Office (RPO) reaches every corner of the kingdom. It does a fairly good job considering the massive territorial scope of that mission.
  • Mail delivery is daily, six days a week in more settled areas, particularly in major cities, and as little as once a week in remote, rural areas.
  • The RPO maintains a large, well trained, and well-armed Postal Inspectors Service as mail theft (the mail is often used to transfer cash as the banking system in remote areas is non-existent) is all too common.
• Television
  • Television is unavailable.
• Radio
  • Printed circuits and miniaturized electronics are extremely rare. Most radio technology is a mixture of vacuum tubes and simple, fairly large transistors.
  • Commercial Radio is a growing industry in the UKA. Simply, battery operated crystal sets are increasingly common, even in more rural areas. Larger, vacuum tube-based radios are common in larger communities with reliable electric power grids.
  • The three major radio networks are the government owned North American Radio Network (NARN), the Keaton Broadcasting Company (KBC), and the Martinchick Radio Network (MRN) on the west coast, and NARN, KBC, and the Universal Broadcasting Company (UBC) on the east coast.
  • Military and police radios and large, heavy backpack affairs with limited range and short battery life. Police departments do not use radio dispatch systems, not even the RCMP. Larger cities have phone call box networks.

Transportation Technology

• Motor Vehicles
  
  • Motor vehicles in civilian hands are restricted to the wealthy, as they are extremely expensive both to purchase and operate.
  • No automobiles are manufactured in the UKA. All those in use are either imports from Italy or extensively refurbished pre-1985 vehicles. Motor vehicles manufactured in the UKA for the civilian market are restricted to construction equipment, jeeps, and trucks. No semis are in use anymore.
  • All civilian motor vehicles are ethanol or methanol burning. Ethanol powered cars get about 8-10 miles per gallon, methanol powered cars get 6-7 miles per gallon. Gas stations are non-existent outside major cities, so anyone driving between cities have to carry drums of fuel, hence travel by car or truck between cities is rare. People living in more remote rural areas under about age forty probably have never seen an operating motor vehicle not operated by the military.
  • Major metropolitan police departments often have a few ancient, carefully maintained squad cars for emergencies. The RCMP has a pool of military-issue jeeps, command cars, and light trucks. About a third of the RCMP Field Companies are equipped with light trucks. Most regional offices and Special Branch field offices have a motor pool with a jeep and light truck or two.
  • The military is increasingly motorized. This has had a major and negative impact on the mechanization of civil society, as it has diverted most of the industrial capacity and limited fuel production to military use. The UKA military's motor vehicle technology is the approximate equivalent to 1945, but land vehicles are still exclusively fueled with methanol, which greatly limits mobility.
• Railroads
  • Railroads are the main form of intercity transportation where available.
  • Locomotives are exclusively coal powered steam engines, similar to early Twentieth Century types.
  • There is no transcontinental railroad line.
  • Railroads all provide local and express passenger and parcel service as well as freight services.
  • One the west coast, the partially government-owned Portland National runs from the Puget Sound area south to southern California, from Portland east to Utah, and a newly opened line from Utah to southern California.
  • On the east coast, the wholly government-owned Southern System runs from Savannah, through Chattanooga, to the Cincinnati area. There also is a dense rail grid with several privately-owned railroads in the old New England USA, these do not connect at this time with the Southern System.
• Stage Coaches
  • The most frequently found form of common carrier off the railroads is the stage coach. Coach companies serve as feeder lines to and from the railroads and can be found virtually everywhere.
  • Major express coach lines have depots every eight to ten miles along their routes.
  • Numerous companies operate coach lines and competition is intense.
  • Coaches carry mail and express parcels as well as passengers.
• Livery Stables
  • Livery stables which hire out carts, wagons, coaches and riding animals can be found in most towns and all cities.
• Cabs
  • Cabs, as found in major towns and cities, are horse drawn, mostly of the one horse, two wheel "Hansom" pattern.
  • No motorized cabs are available anywhere outside of Portland. A small number of "Jeepney" cab/minibuses can be found in the capital city.
  • Cabs have to be hailed or found at cab stands, there is no dispatching system.
• Trolley Systems
  • Trolley systems can be found in major New England USA towns, Portland, the Puget Sound communities, and Savannah. Trolleys in these communities are electric powered. Some smaller towns have horse-drawn trolley systems.
• The Road Net
  • Roads vary from marginal to impassible across the kingdom, outside of major cities and their vicinities. Most roads have not had any repaving since 1985, and sixty-one years of neglect and weathering has left any pavement crumbled.
  • Routes that have heavy traffic, I-5 on the west coast for example, have had their washouts and landslides cleared, and ruts and potholes filled with gravel. This is also true for any roads that are used for major military movements, as a primary function of military engineering units is road repair.
  • Most roads have degenerated into tracks that are paved with broken asphalt, gravel, and dirt, which turns into a muddy goo when wet.
  • Roads outside major cities are not plowed in winter, and travel, even by stage coach, is by sleigh if it snows.
  • Bridges are often in poor repair or missing. Some have been replaced by ferries, especially over major rivers like the Ohio and Mississippi.
• Aircraft
  • Aircraft are exclusively either military or airline operated.
  • Virtually all refined light petroleum products are used for aviation fuel, which is extremely expensive.
  • Aircraft technology is approximately 1945 vintage. Most aircraft are propeller-driven reciprocating-engined machines.
  • The few jet aircraft are fairly primitive and exclusively military.
• Commercial Air Travel
  • Royal Dolphin Airlines, owned by the royal family, runs scheduled service up and down the west and east coasts, with connecting flights across the continent, and to Europe.
  • Air travel is restricted to those on official business or the very wealthy do to its great cost.
  • Air airliners are propeller driven.
• Ships
  
  • The great bulk of the world's shipping consists of small, wooden sailing ships.
  • The most sophisticated vessels are steam turbine craft, mainly military, though an increasing number of steam turbine ocean liners are going into service.
  • Major shipping companies power their faster vessels with steam reciprocating engines. These are used on slower military vessels in some cases, as well.
  • Fuel for steam vessels is primarily coal, though many of the UKA's warships use a slurry of powdered coal mixed with natural and synthetic oils.
  • Most major port cities are linked by scheduled shipping routes.
  • On the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, Nineteenth Century-style reciprocating engine steam boats are common and being built in large numbers. Most burn wood.

Government in the UKA

As members of the RCMP and other police forces, your characters are assumed to be intimately familiar with the convoluted governmental structure of the UKA. If you have any questions, always feel free to contact the GM!

The UKA Royal Federal Government

On the surface, the UKA is a parliamentary democracy, like that of late Twentieth Century Great Britain. HOWEVER, this resemblance is very deceiving. Some of its key features are:

• King Patrick possesses considerable real power, to the point that the kingdom has many aspects of a military dictatorship.
• The crown is hereditary in descent from King Josh I, and the eldest child, of whatever gender is heir.

The king’s official powers include:

• The power to prorogue, i.e. shut down and call for new elections to, Parliament whenever he feels it in the best interests of the nation.
• The power to veto legislation passed by Parliament. There is no prevision for overriding this veto.
• The making and operation of foreign policy, including authority to appoint, or remove all military officers and the Foreign Minister and the Minister of External Security.
• Allied to the above, he effectively has the power to declare war by issuing the appropriate orders to the military high command, the Imperial General Staff.
• Responsibility for the maintenance of civil order, hence control of the Ministry of Interior Security, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
• All soldiers and officers of the Royal Army and National Guard, plus all federal government officials take an oath of loyalty to both the king and constitution.
• Soldiers of the Royal Guard take an oath to the Crown alone.

In addition, the crown possesses some less overt forms of power, among them are:

• Considerable influence with the Constitutional-Monarchist and Monarchist Political Parties, both from long standing personal ties, and a community of interest.
• Massive personal wealth. Not only is the Royal Domain extensive, the House of Dolphin owns large industrial properties of many kinds, the heir, Crown Princess Maureen is married to the second wealthiest man in the UKA.
• Considerable popularity with the common man, especially on the West Coast as a result of King Josh’s bravery and lead from the front attitude, and as a legacy from the popular reign of his father, King Josh.
• With the control of the military and police, the king has the power, occasionally exercised, of detaining dissidents, making it possible for him to intimidate political opponents.

Parliament is the supreme legislative body, organized as a bicameral legislature with an elected House of Commons and a hereditary House of Lords.

Parliament has the following powers:

• To promulgate or revoke legislation.
• To pass appropriations.
• To raise taxes.
• To declare war (in a legal sense).
• To confirm Crown appointments of judges and governors general by two thirds vote.

Political parties and coalitions play an important role in government.

The Government of the Province of Northern Oregon

Each province in the UKA has a uniquely organized government. The Province of Northern Oregon is headed by the Crown-appointed governor general, Gervaise Beckham. The Provincial Parliament meets once a year in the prvince's capital city, Corvallis. The provincial government provides three basic services: the Northern Oregon Provincial Police, the Northern Oregon Provincial Courts, and the Northern Oregon Provincial Highway Service.

The Government of the