Your T2000 group just reached the US evacuation fleet at Bremerhaven, Germany.

Assuming they don’t sign up for active duty in the Persian Gulf, or get drawn off in some other direction, the Americans are Going Home.

But where?

Uncharted Land

The Evacuation Fleet disembarked in Norfolk, VA as noted in Going Home (1986). After that, it seems the intention was for the PC group to bounce around the country in the service of MilGov or CivGov.

The adventures, by location, work out like this (release year):

  • Texas and New York City (1986).
  • Pennsylvania, Arkansas, The Caribbean, and Florida (1987).
  • Maryland/West Virginia, Baja California (1988). [Howling Wilderness also released that year, acting as a tantalizing mini USA sourcebook.]
  • Los Angeles, CA (1989).

And so ended the America campaign as seen in the adventure modules. A bit of a letdown after the glorious RPG sandbox that was the Twilight 2000 Poland Campaign.

I can see that they were now going for a Traveller-type campaign, where the PC party visits places, solves local problems, and departs: The scattershot USA modules, the USS Constitution in the Caribbean, and the Return to Europe adventures. A valid RPG campaign style, to be sure, but not what Twilight 2000 needed in my opinion.

Playground

Back in Poland, once free from their pursuers at Kalisz, the assumption was that the party would travel to Krakow, then perhaps to Silesia, and sooner or later down the Vistula River to Warsaw. All this was revealed over 4 published adventures, largely independent but loosely-linked to the others. Where a particular group went, what factions they joined… everything was up for grabs. Together the modules formed an open playground for gaming.

Importantly, Poland is a small country, smaller than most would reckon. And most of the T2000 campaign took place in the south and east of the country – about the area of one state in the USA.

Many player character groups took sides in the political and military struggles in post-apocalypse Poland. Places became familiar, the characters acquiring a reputation and a history, making for a memorable game experience.

The America campaign lacked this focus. It was vast and unknown outside the published adventures. The modules had constantly-declining print runs through this time, half or less than in the heyday of the Poland Campaign.

The Northeast USA

Referees developing their America Campaign weren’t left completely holding the bag. Challenge magazine articles would continue for years, adding some detail to the postwar (Dis-)United States.

The Northeast USA stands out in this respect. Four published adventure modules got an assist from four excellent Challenge articles.

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Clearly the player character group wasn’t intended to remain in Norfolk, VA. Little information is revealed, save that the naval base was extensively damaged, and that MilGov was still using the facilities in a reduced capacity.

A Rock in Troubled Waters (Challenge Magazine 42 – DTRPG) is a gold mine in its 9 pages. Cape May, New Jersey has been designated a naval base, and takes pressure off of stricken Norfolk. Not only is Cape May developed, but all of the south half of New Jersey as well. Plus a glimpse of what remains of the US Navy. Cape May is a fantastic base of operations for the PCs – I’ve been using it in our campaign (See America Arrival: The Cape on the Borderlands). A further adventure in the area can be found in Strangers in a Strange Land (Challenge Magazine 48 – DTRPG).

Armies of the Night (DTRPG) takes place in post-apocalypse New York City. Overlooked by Soviet missile targeting, Manhattan Island stands mostly-empty, inhabited by gangs and primitives. No sane reason to go there… except MilGov is looking for a big pile of gold. Our campaign just wrapped up this scenario (See Metropolis: Mission Briefing for the kick-off). NYC is a rough place.

See also: Armies of the Night inspiration: Escape From New York

Allegheny Uprising (DTRPG) is set in Western Pennsylvania. A whole lotta hungry refugees in the lowlands believe that the independent homesteaders of the Alleghenies are sitting on huge stockpiles of food. Pennsylvania Crude (Challenge Magazine 49 – DTRPG) is another excellent, long-form article. A natural complement to the Allegheny Uprising module, just to the north of that adventure location. Also reveals the situation in western New York State.

The Last Submarine (DTRPG) begins the Return to Europe series. Nevertheless, the module covers a lot of ground in New England. Plenty to do even if the party never sees the sub. Rifle River (Challenge Magazine 39 – DTRPG) is also set in the area, directing the party to locate and recover the dies for manufacturing M-16s.

Kidnapped (DTRPG) takes the players from Maryland to West Virginia. The PCs attempt to snatch the leader of New America. Introduces the continent-wide drought metaplot. Not my favorite module, but I have some plans to use parts of it in our campaign.

Wanna get everything you need, one-and-done? Check out the Twilight 2000 1e and Challenge Magazine CD-ROM PDF collections from FFE. I sell them here:

Classic GDW RPGs on CD-ROM: Traveller, Twilight 2000, 2300AD, Dark Conspiracy, and more

See also:

Western New York: A Surviving State Government in Twilight 2000 America

CITY STATE: A drop-in Chicago Sourcebook for your T2000 campaign

Ozarks Scouting Report

CITY OF ANGELS: Twilight 2000 adventure in Los Angeles

New Release for Twilight 2000: The Pacific Northwest is a carefully-researched, open sandbox for T2000 play. It’s the least-damaged region in the United States, but nevertheless beset by a host of calamities, not the least of which are the Soviets just across the border in British Columbia. Also explains how MilGov’s far-flung logistics network operates west of the Mississippi. Pacific Northwest at DTRPG