Setting Expansion

The New German Republic Revisited

When I first bought Triax and the NGR, I expected it to contain information much like the other books. Government information, notable NPCs, and city descriptions. What I found was far different. The book contained weapons, equipment and power armor, but no information on the cities of the NGR. It described the Gargoyle Empire quite well, however, there was only a timeline leading up to the current NGR; nothing on the current government or way of life of the "Neo-Germans." What I hope to accomplish here is to give everyone an idea of what the government, cities and citizens of the NGR are like. I plan to delve into the criminal organizations that are present as well as how the government is ruled. Lastly, what are the Republic's views on d-bees? We know they are human supremacists, but how are d-bees actually treated? Does the NGR go to the extremes the Coalition States do? This all will be discussed.

Government

The government of the New German Republic is much like present day military-ruled countries. The NGR is overseen and policed by the military. The country's multiple faces (foreign policy, economics, transportation, etc.) are all governed by a separate member of the governing High Council. Currently leading this great army is General Heinrich Jager, a charismatic man in his mid-forties. General Jager governs the country with compassion, but also with necessary force. He does not believe in brutality to force people to follow you, but will use it to police the people, should the need arise.

General Jager came to power ten years ago when he was still a young officer, the youngest, in fact, to ever become a General. The method by which Jager to come to power is still a matter of speculation. Many believe that he was legitimately elected by the ruling council. There are those among the populous, however, who believe he used his military unit and gained the position by force. This is unlikely because no one opposes his rule and agree with most, if not all of his policies.

The ruling council is made up of five members. One to handle military issues, one for foreign policy, one for domestic police, one for economics, and one for industry and production. These five members are overseen by a governor elected by the council in a majority vote. The elected governor is in the position for life, typically resigning around age seventy-five, when a person's ability to function as a leader starts to degenerate. Currently, the council consists of Melissa Hoffman overseeing Foreign Policy, Gregor Handel overseeing domestic police, Milo Zimmer overseeing Economics, and Franc Fischer overseeing industry and production.

Cities in the NGR

The cities of the New German Republic are centers of technology and learning, however they are few and far between. Much of the population lives in spread out villages of little more than a few thousand people. The largest centers of population in the Republic are Bonn, Frankfurt, and Munich.

Bonn remains the capital and a major population center of the technological superpower, housing the governing officials' homes as well as the high council's chambers. This great city is fortified against intrusion, with a fifty-foot tall, mega-damage wall (1,500 M.D.C. per ten square feet). At regular intervals of 250 feet are automated laser turrets (2D6 x 10 M.D. per blast, +3 to strike). A large garrison consisting of a full brigade of soldiers is permanently stations in Bonn. The purpose of this military force is to protect the ruling officials of the Republic, monitor incoming merchants for smuggled and illegal goods and protect from supernatural menaces, including the nearby Brodkil and creatures created by Mindwerks. The homes of government officials are found in a second, internally fortified area of the city. This area is surrounded by an inner wall thirty-five feet tall and ten feet thick (1,000 M.D.C. per ten square feet) with automated laser turrets (2D4 x 10 M.D. per blast, +3 to strike). General Jager's home is a great mansion located in the center of the internal fort. A ballroom is the first sight that greets visitors. Staircases lead upward on both sides of the enormous ballroom to the levels above and the governor's living quarters. The mansion's grounds are patrolled constantly by five platoons of NGR Commandos.

The mainstay of the city is it's shipping routes along the Rhine River. Several large shipping companies, including Krieger Industrial Shipping and Hollman Transportation (described later), have arisen and gained a secure hold in the market because of the easy accessibility. Triax also has two small manufacturing plants located in Bonn. They are much smaller than the primary manufacturing center, located in Frankfurt. These two plants manufacture small arms and basic cybernetic systems, including bio-systems. In addition to these industries, Bonn houses the Tarnow Kingdom, Wroclaw and Coalition States Embassies.

Despite, or more likely due to, the local industry, Bonn is the subject of frequent attacks by the increasingly aggressive Brodkil. In the past several months alone, nearly 40,000 people have been killed or wounded in attacks staged by these sub-demons. Because of the Brodkil's cybernetic enhancement and M.O.M. implants, many have speculated that Mindwerks may be involved.

Frankfurt-Am-Main is second in population to Bonn, housing the primary manufacturing center for Triax Industries. It surpasses much of the world, and the entire continent of Europe and Asia, in technology and luxury. The city is well defended, both because of Triax plants and its location so close to the Gargoyle Empire. The city is surrounded with a 50-foot, mega-damage structure, 25-feet thick (5,000 M.D.C. per 10 square feet). Laser turrets (3d6 x 10 M.D. per blast, 2000 foot range, +3 to strike, 500 M.D.C per turret) are located every 300 feet along the top of the wall, with small squads of three to four power armor units patrolling the area between and offering cover fire to the turrets. A full company of the military's Mechanized Division, including Dyna-Max, Ultra-Max and cyborg units, is housed at the military base. In addition, Two brigades of Infantry (including 150 personal guards employed by Triax) and a brigade of Power Armor units are stationed here. The number of troops stationed here is second only to Munich.

General Jager insists that the great military presence be maintained, even though the city is rarely attacked, and when it is, the foes tend to be bandits or wild d-bees and not part of a larger, more organized group. Still, the city is occasionally attacked by menaces that offer a greater threat than these, including, gargoyles, gurgoyles and the occasional Gene-Splicer creation from the Black Forest region of Southwestern Germany. Most believe that he is being more than a little paranoid, though they understand his concern. Attacks have become more recent because of the war gaining more prominence in the military and the gargoyles know that if they can level the manufacturing centers, they can defeat the New German Republic once and for all.

The last of the great cities is Munich, a great city and the primary staging area for operations against the gargoyle empire. The city is patrolled constantly by infantry, power armor and robots and has the largest military presence in the New German Republic. The city includes many factories and shops which repair the military's war machine, thus keeping the much of the city (35%) employed. The downside to the large number of factories is the amount of pollution that is being put out. Despite all Triax's advances, nuclear power remains the most widely used and advanced power source. The pollution has caused many mutations and defects in the city's residents. This has not been brought to the government's attention because most of the people believe that it is caused by the rifts and the high level of magic present on the planet.

The large number of factories has also led to a high level of warehouse storage for parts and finished products. Unfortunately, as with all buildings, the warehouses become worn down and eventually condemned. Large slums have sprung up in the last two decades, and the crime rate in these areas soars. Street gangs and organized crime runs rampant. Erin Tarn compared the slums of Munich to the 'Burbs of Chi-Town. Drugs, weapons trafficking, and human augmentation (which is strictly forbidden inside the borders of the NGR) can all be found here with relative ease.

D-Bees and the NGR

The New German Republic is indeed a human supremacist nation, but not to the genocidal extent of the Coalition States. The New German Republic is too busy dealing with a greater menace to wage a war against d-bees, many of whom are not causing any problems. The NGR's views on d-bees is much akin to the United States during the years after the Civil War and before the Civil Rights Movement. The government does nothing to interfere openly, though they are not recognized as full citizens of the NGR. The d-bees residing in the cities of the NGR are discriminated against, often being forced to pay 100-250% higher prices for goods and services. D-bees are seen as the lower class, working in factories (albeit non-government and non-Triax factories) and making the least money. This has caused many of the d-bees to turn to a life of crime, others to become determined to set things right.

D-bees have gathered in large factions striving for equality. Some do this through peaceful means such as protests (though they are usually fired upon by the military to disperse them) while others choose violence. There are several prominent factions, such as the Non-Human Liberation Army (NHLA), Other Species for Equal Rights (OSER), and the D-Bee Coalition. The NHLA and D-Bee Coalition are both very well known for their acts of terrorism, with the D-Bee Coalition hitting only military and government installations, not wanting to involve civilians. The NHLA, however, will do anything it can to get it's message across, bombing living complexes, military installations and empty warehouses. Other recent NHLA and D-Bee Coalition activities involve hostage situations and raiding of political meetings and social functions.

New Factions and NPCs

The first and most prominent mercenary group is the Krieger Crime Family. The Krieger family is run by Danielle and Johann, greatly respected members of the Republic. Even when the family is accused by a foreign power of smuggling and weapons and drug trafficking the Republic's government does not believe the charges. The Kriegers have give millions of credits to charity and political fundraisers. No one would ever suspect them of trafficking weapons and supplies to anyone, particularly d-bees.

Danielle (8th level Rogue Scholar) and Johann have both aged (both are in their 50s) and have left the "dirty work" of the business to their daughter and two sons, Alexandra (5th level Smuggler), Nicholas (5th level Intelligence Officer), and Jason (4th level Psi-Slayer). Alexandra works with most clients while Nicholas and Jason both act as bodyguards and enforcers for Alexandra. Their current exploits include weapons and supplies trafficking to Tolkeen and drug and augmentation equipment (bionics, cybernetics, juicer harnesses, and M.O.M. equipment) throughout the NGR and Russia. They do this through their cover business, Krieger Industrial Shipping. They have a large fleet of air, sea and land transports and are always well guarded.

Their main base of operations is out of their estate, located about fifty miles east of Bonn. Their estate is heavily guarded and fortified with mine fields and automated defense systems (mostly laser and particle beam turrets). They employ approximately 200 mercenaries as guards, of which, 150 are always present at the estate. Four small patrols of twelve patrol the estate grounds and a squad of six guards the interior of the main estate building (where the computer systems and records are kept) while the rest monitor surveillance and communications systems. The Krieger goods, both legitimate and illegal, are kept in warehouses inside Bonn, Munich, and Koln. The warehouses are even more heavily guarded than the estate, with 500 mercenaries employed at each city (1500 total). Each warehouse complex consists of ten warehouse buildings guarded constantly by 250 of the mercenaries, with the rest less than five minutes away should the need arise.

Hollman Transportation is a legitimate company that takes jobs for the government, shipping parts and finished goods to the multitude of military bases. The company is run by William Hollman, second generation businessman (equal to a 3rd level Rogue Scholar). William is still young and has much to learn about running a business and what it means to have wealth. He squanders much of his money and is quite arrogant. He has started to see the error of his ways and has become much better with money handling and listening to his advisors, but remains arrogant and ignorant. Hollman Transportation continues to retains a large security force, but occasionally hires mercenaries to help out when the workload becomes very high and not enough security can be spared for all of the transports. In addition, when handling military and Triax manufactured equipment, the transports are also supplied with escorts from either the military infantry division (power armor if the shipment is especially valuable or possible resistance is greater than usual) or the private security force of Triax Industries.

The Non-Human Liberation Army (NHLA) is one of the most active equal rights advocate, and also the most violent. The NHLA is reminiscent of the Palestinian Liberation Army of Pre-Rifts Earth, using assassination, kidnapping and terrorism in an attempt to force the government to treat all non-humans equally with humans. The militant faction is led by a lizard-like d-bee named Ssephiro (9th level Special Forces, 63 hit points, 142 S.D.C.) from a jungle dimension. The "troops" are composed of varying races of magic-using, psychic, and mundane non-humans (average 3rd to 6th level) totaling 1300 members spread across the Republic.

On the opposite extreme is the Other Species for Equal Rights (OSER), a peaceful faction dedicated to resolving an amendment to the countries constitution allowing non-humans to become full citizens of the New German Republic. They often organize protests and rallies at government sponsored events. They are not likely to succeed anytime soon, as the military still sees firing energy blasts into their midst as a means of easily dispersing the crowd. The government views OSER members as a threat to security, easily hiding criminals and terrorists in the crowd's midst. If the rally is small and OSER members are not damaging property or hurting anyone, the police leave the crowd be. Larger protests are dispersed almost immediately, especially when the Governor or other officials are scheduled to appear, because they are more likely to develop into riots of other forms of violence. OSER is currently led by Solari S'sareth, a peace-loving elf from the Palladium world (6th level Priestess of Rurga, 3rd level Wilderness Scout). The organization has approximately 500 members of various races, including some humans, throughout the New German Republic.

Somewhere in between these two factions lies the D-bee Coalition, a militant group fanatically dedicated to creating a place for non-humans inside the Republic. Should such a place not be able to be created, they will turn from their current course and work to create a sovereign kingdom ruled and inhabited by non-humans. This would not pose a problem for the government of the Republic except for the fact that it will likely have it's land area take up a portion of the current Republic's domain. The D-bee Coalition leaders currently believe that they must force themselves into power in order to make the government listen. They do this through assassination, terrorist action, and rebellion. The D-Bee Coalition can easily be compared to any of the coups of the 20th century that existed in order to overthrow the government, with the exception that they intend only to reform the government once they have obtained positions of power. The D-bee Coalition is currently under the command of Sykal Nizb (5th level Wolfen Bounty Hunter).

Well, there you have it, my additions to the New German Republic. I hope you all like, and maybe even agree with, these ideas. I tried my best to stick with the timeline and information presented in World Book Five and the Mindwerks Sourcebook. If you want, you can e-mail me and let me know what you think.