Keyguyperson

DPRPGC #7: Hail the Glorious Leader

Yes, GLORIOUS LEADER! I shall create a great work of art to commemorate your benevolent and wise rule over the land!

Just a bunch of PRAISING THE GLORIOUS LEADER in here

I hope the GLORIOUS LEADER switches his signature to some Russian T-34s instead of Chinese Type 99s. It would just work really well with my story.

I'm sure none of you have any idea what I'm going to write about, none at all.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

58

American Dream: A Shattered Union

@Dinh AaronMk

Other nations have mentioned the use of ironclads, and as for the steam tanks, the US Army experimented with them. As often as we consider steam power the realm of ships and trains, for a time, it isn't nearly as impractical as we tend to think. Multiple early cars were steam-powered, and of course there's the Army experiments I mentioned. In fact, there was a modern steam car that reached 140 or so mp/h, but it used propane and not coal, because coal is a really terrible power source. Also it looks like an SR-71.

Just for reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_tank
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Wheel_Tank
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1209015/Success-British-steam-supercar-smashes-100-year-old-land-speed-record.html

It's worth noting that the tracked one used steam because it had a flamethrower on it, because everyone in 1918 was presumably a massive fan of steampunk.

American Dream: A Shattered Union

@Keyguyperson
EDIT - Carrying on into military I have to offer a "Probably big no".

@Dinh AaronMk

That's where most of the problems I expected were, mainly because a state shouldn't be capable of operating a carrier in general. I threw it in as an actual military vessel at the last moment for the hell of it, without really considering the sheer size making it literally invincible despite the intended lackluster complement. I'd originally planned for it to be a civilian vessel that rarely leaves port, I'll switch it to that, deflate the numbers, and maybe throw in a couple extra ironclads. Or just the North Carolina. Actually, I think I'll go with that. It fits better with the "It'll make you shit your pants but isn't capable of much else" idea behind the Commune Navy.

I would, however, like to know just what sort of stuff I'm dealing with when it comes to the rest of my military. Do WWII-era tanks make sense? Should I only be using the very first tanks ever to be built? What about wood and canvas scout planes, nobody's even mentioned anything like that, but it seems like a pretty logical thing to use given the fact that people are capable of operating pickup trucks and frankentanks.

The population was originally 1.6 or so, then 3.6, then it ended up here because I kept moving it around and nothing seemed right. Clock has a population of 6.3 million, while some nations have it at 3, others below two, I really didn't know where to put it. Given your comment, I'd guess putting it around three million would be preferable?

American Dream: A Shattered Union

Done and sorry the hider still doesn't work.

The Carolina Commune

Flag

Claims

The bit that's in North Carolina, by the way.

Terrain

The eastern area of the Commune was completely devastated in the war, and is still full of ruins and pockets of radiation. The western part, meanwhile, is generally clean thanks to the protection afforded to it by mountains and the lack of any nuclear targets in the region. The land hasn't changed much, aside from higher radiation levels, North Carolina is much the same as it was before the war.

Government Type

Military Dictatorship

Capital

West Jefferson, a town established as a destination for countless refugees in the early days of the country, the capital of the Commune now supports a rather significant population in its former shops and various makeshift dwellings.

Head of State

Who the "Head of State" is in the Commune is a rather complicated question. If one is to be technical, it would be Niall Lister-the man who originally founded the state. At the same time, he keeps his two advisers-John Smith and Jessica Ansbach-exceptionally close and while he is supposedly the leader of the country, it is quite clear that he and his advisers are what truly forms the government. They are all in the same party, that party being the American Reclamation Party. (Profiles in the Other Important People section, because this is getting long)

Other Important People

-Niall Lister: Lister's family fled to the mountains when the bombs dropped, and were involved in the founding of the Commune. Thanks to this, he managed to end up in a high administrative position and eventually usurped power in a quiet coup with the people rallying behind him. As far as military dictators go, he's rather easygoing, and has tried his best to cultivate a popular, lovable image for himself rather than use fear to stay in power. At the same time, however, he is not the fluffy teddy bear many jokes make him out to be. Within his journal, one finds dozens of different plans to achieve his goals, and very few of these plans come free of bloodshed. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about his personal beliefs, however, is the fact that he holds a "Forged in flame" philosophy. That is, he believes that the war and it's aftermath were glorious events that weeded out the worst of humanity and let the best prosper.
-Jessica Ansbach: A former Commune Ranger, Ansbach rose through the ranks quickly due to a combination of her ruthlessness in battle and connections to the top brass. She is generally considered Lister's right-hand woman, and is generally the one who appears whenever the military (which encompasses the police, of course) is involved, since she is known for being significantly harsher than her two comrades. She has known Lister for many years, and their closeness was a factor in her quick promotion just as much-and likely more so-than her actual skill.
-John Smith: More commonly known as "Yes, that's his real name", John Smith is the only one of the leaders whom was born before the war. He was, in fact, a genetic engineer whom worked on simple things like cold-resistant crops before the war. This happened to be a significant boon afterwards, since having crops resistant to frost and cold is generally useful after a global temperature drop. At the request of Ansbach, he was set to work on adapting crops to the new, post-war conditions. Far from the grandiose, far-off dreams of the other two founders, John Smith's only higher agenda is to make sure as many people survive as possible. It is worth noting that he has never appeared in public after an expedition in his early days.
-Connor Allen: A Commune ranger famous for supposedly killing a Yeti alone. Though an officer in the military, he was kept from having any political power and instead assigned to escort parties heading into still-irradiated or dangerous parts of the land. He was one of the escorts for Dr. Smith's party, and claims to know the truth of what happened there. However, he has never actually told the story, despite his penchant for good moonshine.
-Norman Elliot: The owner of the Blue Ribbon Diner-a favorite of Ansbach and Lister's-in the capital. His establishment has turned into a community center thanks to the patronage of the founders (which some believe might involve giving him priority on the cleanest rations). Using the profits, he's also opened up a gun shop and a saloon. All of these endeavors are on the same block (another topic which makes many suspect the government intervened to give him a favorable position), which has only increased the number of people who flock to the place to do nothing more than simply socialize.

Population

5.6 Million

Attitude Towards Evols

After the coup that brought Lister to power, the Commune has stated that while unnatural abominations, Evols are simply sick. The goal, in their opinion, should be to cure them of their sickness, not purge them from the world (as was the opinion of the former government).

Economic System

The Commune, despite being called a Commune, is actually capitalist. If the words of Ansbach are any indication, though, that's only because it's hard to implement most forms of socialism after a nuclear war.

Resources

The Commune produces a significant amount of Tobacco, which is their primary cash crop. Alongside it, they also produce a large amount of corn (though mostly for consumption). One of their signature foods, however, is something common before the war: seafood (Though not in its original state-whale meat is a favorite and an entirely new dish based off of dried seaweed similar to sushi has become a mainstay throughout the Commune). Other products include steel (though not in large quantities) and some of the better automatic weapons in the region. Natural gas is their most prized commodity, though it is still in short supply within the country.

Currency

The official Commune currency often changes from leader to leader, but it is currently simply called the Commune Dollar.

Technology

The Carolina Commune has done its best to re-industrialize, however, the results have been rather lackluster. There are a few factories, mostly canneries near the coast and an old cigar factory in Durham partially refurbished by an entrepreneur. The only factory dedicated to something else is another refurbished cigar factory in Durham, which is a makeshift steel forge. None of them have any form of automation, and are little more than collections of people and equipment specialized in a certain craft (as such, most people just call them workshops). Most production is still based off of cottage industry. An extremely notable deviation from the norm in the postwar world, however, would be the preservation of prewar scientific equipment used in genetic engineering. Though very much still in use, there is nearly nobody at all qualified to do anything more complicated than polish it, and most of it sits unused. The only benefit ever received from it was a slow end to the famine in the early post-war years.

Perhaps the greatest resource of the Commonwealth, however, is its natural gas reserves. The government invested a major amount of money in revitalizing natural gas refineries and extraction facilities when it became clear that the remaining reserves and home-produced fuel wouldn't be enough to support their growing economy.

Official Religion

The Commune has no official religion, and it is largely non-religious (the end of the world has a way of making people mysteriously stop praying). However, may pre-war religious still exist, but in a different form. Out of these, the remains of various Protestant sects are the largest. Over the years they have simply merged into a single, unified Protestant Church-a development that staunchly Catholic Ansbach despises.

Religious Information

The belief that the apocalypse was a good thing has slowly crept into the minds of the populace through the popularity of Lister, and many sects of various religions consider it to have been a test carried out by God (or the gods, in some cases) to eliminate the unworthy (or let the worthy ascend to heaven-the Unified Protestant Church claims that the end times described in the Bible have come and gone). As a result of these views, the dominant opinion is more or less a watered-down version of Westboro Baptist "Everyone deserves to burn in hell" beliefs. The difference being that they also believe that they are already doing do.

Ansbach is known to never shut up about every tiny little inconsistency in the beliefs of said the UPC.

History

The Commune found its beginnings aboard the USS Enterprise just after its sea trials, when it was sent to fight the Russian Navy in the war. Most of the combat it saw was at the tail end of the fighting, just before the apocalypse. During a battle with an enemy fleet of destroyers, the bridge was hit-an event shown as a missile strike in Birth of a Nation-and most of its command staff was killed or severely injured. Its new CO was "Captain" MacLean (obviously not actually a Captain beforehand), the highest ranking officer aboard after the battle. A new CO was being brought in from the USA, but a Russian anti-ship ballistic missile came close to destroying the ship in port and it departed with remaining damage in order to avoid further attacks.

Before it could reach the mainland USA, where repairs were planned to be carried out, the entire world suddenly went dark without explanation. Their worst fears were confirmed two days later, when their radio broadcasts were answered by a Chinese nuclear submarine. The ICBMs had been launched. The world had ended. Without any other option, they pressed on, planning to return to the USA. MacLean ordered the ship to divert to Beaufort, North Carolina instead of Norfolk. After all, such an important naval base would have been completely destroyed-a smaller town like Beaufort was more likely to have survived. His gamble paid off, and the ship was welcomed by what was left of the town.

He quickly set people to work collecting survivors and bringing them to the mountains, where they would be safer from the fallout. The town of West Jefferson was set up as the de facto capital, for no reason other than it was a personal favorite of MacLean's. It was there that the roots of the Commune dug into the soil, and it was officially founded a year after the Enterprise's return. During that time, John Smith was recruited as a genetic engineer, in order to secure a viable food source for the starving population.

Under MacLean's leadership, the Commune managed to largely cleanse Beaufort, allowing its use as a seaport to be fully revived. Large-scale agriculture was also reintroduced in the Piedmont, ending the famine. MacLean himself, however, was not as fortunate. He died an early death to cancer, and his successor was simply the next highest ranking officer in the Commune's lands. This cycle continued for decades, until Lister's coup. With every new leader, the country became more and more of a police state, and Lister decided to change that. With the assistance of Ansbach, he killed the legitimate leader and put himself and Ansbach in power. Through appeasing the people and cultivating a friendly, everyman public image, he managed to cement his power in a way drastically different from that of his predecessor.

He has placed an emphasis on rebuilding North Carolina's industrial capabilities, as well as eliminating mutants such as Yetis (the government avoids explicitly culling the populations of human mutants). At the present time, the Commune is in the middle of his first "Five Year Plan", which is far less drastic and famine-inducing than its infamous historical counterpart. A movement towards centralization has slowly begun to erode the rock of cottage industry, and craftsmen are often relocated to newly-opened workshops in an effort to increase production.

The current foreign policy of the Commune is somewhat aggressive, and the threat of the CSS Leviathan is often used to exploit the fears of other, less powerful countries. In particular, they are locked in a kind of Cold War with South Carolina, which they claim would do better under the leadership of the Carolina Commune and is their rightful territory. Despite such assertions, they have yet to take any direct military action. However, the intelligence agency is severely concerned with reports of attempts to restart hydroelectric dams in the country, which would represent a massive jump in living quality and industrial capability for the Republic.

Culture

Most of the residents of the Carolina Commune are American pan-nationalists, believing that the former USA should be reunited. At the same time, however, they take it a step further and include Canada, as well as Mexico and much of former Latin America. The reasoning behind this belief, of course, is that all of those cultures were either represented in the USA or so closely intertwined that they might as well be, and thus should be under a single government. There are plenty of theories on just how such a government would be set up, but the most common involves a federal government similar to that of the USA, but with state lines divided according to ethnic and cultural differences.

Another rather prevalent cultural belief is that the apocalypse was inherently a good thing for humanity. The populace follows a similar belief to Lister's, holding the opinion that the war destroyed the unworthy of humanity and gave the survivors a clean slate on which to construct a perfect society and species. As such, marriages and even romantic relationships between mutants (no matter how small the differences) and baseline humans are considered taboo, and even forbidden by law, in the hopes that such mutations can eventually be weeded out. Through a combination of this culture and government propaganda, mutated humans generally grow up with a shattered sense of self-esteem and a deep hatred of their own kind. It is rare to see a mutant that refuses to comply with the law, as they see themselves as an abomination to be removed just like the rest of the nation does.

Music and art are both rather diverse, and one can usually find examples of plenty of different time periods in both. However, some instruments simply can't be found, and others require a government permit to operate (due to electricity restrictions). This generally keeps recent pre-war music completely out of the question, as much of it relied heavily on electronic instruments and often digital editing software. As a result, a revival of older music has occurred, with swing in particular becoming quite popular. Those with permits, however, will often go to great lengths to recreate other pre-war works using electric instruments. This practice has given rise to an entire genre, known as Lazarus for incredibly obviously reasons. In fact, it is often credited with reviving the practice of recording music and playing it privately, since to do otherwise would just be a waste of electricity. The need to conserve electricity has also revived the phonograph, since designs copied from earlier periods don't require electricity like CD players, cassette players, and even recent record players scavenged from pre-war ruins do.

A particularly noteworthy part of Commune culture is the recent revival of the movie industry with the screening of the film Birth of a Nation in the capital city's one movie theater (which had been a museum of pre-war culture beforehand). Bearing no relation to its infamous counterpart of the same name, the film was set in the Third World War and largely aboard the US carrier Enterprise during its campaign in the Northern Sea against Russia. Specifically, the events following the death of Captain John Ring and many other officers up to the founding of the Carolina Commonwealth. It made use of footage from the war, and was filmed on-location aboard the actual Enterprise. Its release gave rise to countless other privately produced films, the creators of which leased the government equipment used in the production. Once again, many of these films are remakes of ones lost in the war. Of particular interest is a group attempting to remake Twelve O'Clock High, which has gathered national interest surrounding their efforts in constructing a functioning replica B-17.

Military Numbers

In all branches of the Commune military, there are approximately 45 thousand active duty personnel. The Navy ties up more personnel than most other post-war navies, and it is estimated that it accounts for 30 or so percent of the armed forces. All males above the age of sixteen are required to register with their local militia, though such militias can only be mobilized if the nation is fighting a losing war in their own territory, and it would be impossible to fully mobilize the entire militia due to food concerns. They generally function as nothing more than a part-time police force, and it is not unheard of for some militias to put themselves up for hire as a mercenary group.

Military Units

The Commune Army continues to maintain multiple pre-war vehicles and weapons, mostly scavenged from the many military bases that formerly inhabited the state. Their motor fleet includes several Abrams tanks, though they have never been deployed on a combat mission due to the extreme scarcity of their fuel. What fuel they have for those remaining monstrous kings of warfare is stockpiled, not allowed to be used for anything unless multiple militias have been mobilized.

In place of such tanks, the Commune designed multiple alternatively-fueled tanks. These generally follow older designs from the first two world wars. Tanks fueled by natural gas are usually based off of WWII tanks, while steam-powered ones follow the infantry tank design philosophy of WWI. Alongside these tanks, the army operates a significant number of wheeled vehicles, which are usually powered by either steam or wood gas (natural gas is considered too valuable for such lightly-armored vehicles). The Army also maintains a small air force, though it is at a level of technology similar to the early days of aerial combat in WWI, and is almost never used to do anything but scout the battlefield.

The Navy is significantly smaller than that of other countries, but it is also notably more advanced. A controversial decision was made to continue to maintain the USS Enterprise, by scavenging nuclear fuel from before the war. It no longer has its original air wing (all the fuel was transferred to the Army to power the far more relevant tanks), but does carry a small complement of primitive torpedo bombers similar to the British Swordfish as well as army fighter designs adapted to launch from the carrier. The immense expense of operating and maintaining such a vessel has left it as the only ship in service aside from militia patrol boats and its own complement of four ironclads. It is estimated that, with current fuel supplies, the Enterprise will be in operation for approximately fifteen more years. After that point, it would either have to undergo a total conversion or be scrapped. There are also concerns over whether it is wise to have the entire effective naval power of the country centered around a single vessel, and it is scheduled for scrapping the moment it's reactor runs dry. However, one can't deny the intimidation value of the silhouette of a fully operational aircraft carrier off in the distance. It's post-war name, the CSS Leviathan, emphasizes the horror that comes with that image.

very ashamed right now

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

You seem to be making the assumption that independents occupy the middle of the political spectrum, perched precariously between the Republicans on one side and the Democrats on the other. That isn't true. Independents are independent not because they are moderates, but because neither of the two major parties in U.S. politics appeal to them.

Independents can be extremists. Segregationists and people calling for the U.S. government to employ nuclear weapons against Pyongyang will likely consider the GOP too far to the left for them. Communists of all stripes, and folks advocating for the U.S. to dismantle its nuclear arsenal entirely, will likely consider the Democrats (especially Hillary) to be as good as right-wing extremists. They are as far from the middle ground as possible, but are all independents.

Aside from the occupiers of the extremes, you also have independents with esoteric beliefs, neither right nor left but definitely not mainstream. Protectionists are still a relatively visible dempgraphic, both in left and right wing circles. Circling back to the topic of discussion, Trump has laid down some heavy rhetoric to the goal of pursuing that group in particular.

Appealing to the centre is not the same as appealing to independent voters.

@The Nexerus

I'm not just basing it off of assumptions about political views based off of a common misunderstanding of how politics works caused by never really studying anything aside from the American two party system, I'm basing that assumption off of the fact that the polls indicate that independent voters generally have a highly unfavorable view of Trump. While they tend to be independent because they don't agree with either of the parties and vote third-party due to their dedication to their own beliefs, someone as (apparently) extreme as Trump would surely force some independents to change their vote to a Democratic candidate in order to avoid having Trump as president. At the same time, the extremely low popularity he has with independents would most likely cause less of them to choose to cast their vote for him.

I reread my last post, and yeah, I did sort of sound like I was making the "Politics is just Republicans, Democrats, and people who can't make up their mind until the big day, rite guis?" assumption. Sorry about that, I definitely didn't intend it. While I'm not as good as some people with understanding politics, I'm also not quite that ignorant of how things work.

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

Hillary won't do much. She isn't that sort of candidate. She will play what seems prudent at any given time. Her gun talk now is because the gun issue is where Sanders is inconsistent. If she runs nationally, she will tone down the gun talk. If she becomes President, she will make less out of it than Obama has. Obama is the type of guy who is determined to make a name for himself, but Hillary seems perfectly fine playing ball with the powers that be.

Also, I am not convinced Bloomberg would take all of Clinton's voters in a Sanders/Trump/Bloomberg match-up. He'd take some, and He'd take some of Trumps from those moderate Republicans who really don't like Trump, but a lot of Clinton's votes come down to name recognition. Bloomberg is certainly a recognizable name, but not in the "Synonymous with Democrat" way that Clinton's name is. Plus, if Bloomberg runs third party, he is going to run at a disadvantage in that he isn't going to have a guaranteed voter base. I don't know who would win in that case, but I really doubt it would be Bloomberg. My gut instinct says Sanders wins, but I have a bit of a blind eye for the guy since I'm currently in his camp. He seems to be able to withstand Clinton's attacks, the question is if he will be able to withstand the Republicans. And of course, it is entirely possible we haven't seen the full extent of Trump's expert media game.

@Vilageidiotx

Hillary pretty much is incapable of making that sort of drastic change anyways. The only reason she would be so divisive is because most of the people who would do something about that sort of thing would assume it would be right around the corner, and in a much more imminent way than all the "Obama is going to take our guns!" conspiracy theories. The whole "All the Hillary voters" thing was really just an exaggeration, which is something I do far too often (especially on the internet, where we communicate entirely through text). I still think that most of her voters would support Bloomberg, and that some Republicans would as well. Given how divisive both Trump and Sanders are, I'd say that a high-profile third-party candidate like Bloomberg would have an equal shot, to the point of being a likely winner.

Then again, I'm solidly in Bernie's camp, and when you combine that with me being either mildly pessimistic or in complete despair depending on the time of day, you get Bloomberg winning. So maybe it's just me not wanting to believe that things I consider good can happen.

very ashamed right now

The good thing here is that Trump can't win. If he ends up as the Republican candidate, then he doesn't get ANY independent voters, who are the only reason we have had presidents from both parties. If Bernie is the Democratic candidate, then Bloomberg runs and most likely gets quite a few Republican voters because he's not Trump. Honestly, in a Trump vs. Sanders race, Bloomberg wins. All of Clinton's supporters would immediately switch to him, and a bunch of Republicans would as well. In a Trump vs. Clinton race, independents choose Clinton and she wins.

So in other words, we either get another old, moderate white guy as President, or we get to have our first female president. Too bad there would never be another one, because the US would presumably erupt in Civil War because Hillary seems to think that it's perfectly logical to just confiscate firearms despite the fact that they're ingrained in America culture and also protected by the constitution. Then again, maybe Hillary will just be generally incompetent instead of Civil War-level divisive. Because we all know damn well that at least half of what she says is just taken out of the latest Democratic opinion poll.

very ashamed right now

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

Is setting up playlists for the fight going to end up being this civil war's equivalent to families riding down on their buggies to watch Bull Run?

I can't wait until, thirty years from now when the world begins to recover from the Trump Wars, the first books about the conflict are published.

(mood music)

"When the call went out to go and fight the Trump, Keyguyperson was one of the first to join up. He packed light, bringing with him an AK-47, a back-pack full of ammunition, the flag his father carried during the Cola Wars, two pairs of shoes just in case he was called for a job interview, and a phone filled with his favorite K-Pop.

He first saw action at Chattanooga, where his battalion was pinned inside of a Jimmy Johns at the Elmswood Mall. Three times, a cavalry brigade of well-armed seniors in mobility scooters charged their position, and all three times Keyguysperson's battalion held their ground. But not all of his belongs survived. A bullet ricocheted off of a french roll and shattered his phone, killing it instantly.

It was the last Keyguyperson would hear K-Pop until the end of the war."

@Vilageidiotx

So many sacrifices were made that day.

CIA released formerly classified UFO documents

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>
Wait, do you like the way they admire plastic or their ass?

@ClocktowerEchos

Music & Roleplaying (What kind of music do you listen to when writing?)

I generally listen to either Sabaton or some random piece from in-between 1920 and 1960, or a remix of said random piece.

Or maybe just some really generic EDM or pop. That's for when I don't know what to use.