RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 10-What's the first thing we should do?

When heading out on a trip through the campaign setting (even just the 'starting area'), where should you go first?

There are other places to go and things to do that are a bit more adventurous, so they're getting saved for later entries, but one definite thing to do would be to take a boat tour of Humboldt Bay.

I don't know if the Samoa Bridge (both of them) would survive, but I think it would be more fun if it didn't because it would bring back boat travel to the bay. The last ferry boat in Humboldt Bay, the Madaket, is currently run as a tour boat. Madaket Ferry Lines has emerged from the ashes, providing transportation to those who live around the bay.

Even if the communities of Manila and Samoa on the North Spit have fallen to just a few families, building a simple dock means that they can be connected to Ureka by the ferry.

Though like many waterways in the area, there are the slamon to contend with. Overgrown variations of the pre-collapse salmon species, the slamon gets its name from its tendency to attack boats by ramming them and tipping them over. Also, the slamon are not above eating any people that fall out of the boats they tip over, either.

This is making me wonder about Tuluwat, the largest island in Humboldt Bay. As much as is feasible, the island is the property/territory of the Wiyot tribe in the present day. It's also presently linked to Eureka and Samoa via the Samoa Bridge, but if that fails in our post-apocalyptic future, the only access will be by water. As part of the backstory for what's going on in the Ruin of Hupa, I posit that indigenous Americans industrialized and militarized independently from (and in response to) the US as a whole. Was Tuluwat involved in any of this? Is there a military installation there? Is or was there a navy of some sort patrolling the bay? What people still live there and what are their opinions on the people of the mainland?

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 9-Who's in charge here?

Who are the major movers and shakers in the campaign?

Eureka is run by Mayor William Henry Carson, who occupies the formerly glorious Carson Mansion. While I like the name, I don't think he's strongly related to William McKendrie Carson, who was its original owner and inhabitant. I'm tempted to suggest that he took the last name Carson to legitimize his power.

Order is kept in Eureka by the Ratcatchers. As the name suggests, they are primarily focused on keeping ratfolk out of the human-occupied portions of the city, but they do also protect Ureka from human troublemakers as well. The Ratcatchers are led by Sheriff Allen Ross.

The Sasquatch run things in Squatch-ville, though I haven't taken the time to set any of them up as individuals. They never sought power, but the humans in their care placed it into their hands. This is likely some of the core friction in Sasquatch politics. How much are they guiding and how much are they controlling? How much control do they need to have over the humans and at what point are they ultimately causing them harm? How much are the humans their "children," in need to care and support, and how much are they "adults," capable of making mature decisions?

Cow Town's influence has waned as its population has withered. They were previously able to export food crops to Ureka and other small communities, but now can barely feed themselves. What trouble breaks through the apathy of the citizenry is addressed by a small Town Watch under Mayor Bruce Garbutt.

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 8-Tell us about the local peoples and their cultures

Describe the people and their Species, Nationalities, and other identifying features.

There are 3 known sentient species in the area. Humans (including mutant humans), Ratfolk, and Sasquatch.

Since the chaos of the collapse, due to various contagions, including radiation, humans have been prone to developing various mutations. Some are beneficial, some are detrimental, and others are just weird.

Humans predominate the existing Enclaves, and rule 2 out of 3. The humans of Squatch-ville live under the guidance and care of the Sasquatch.

The ratfolk have evolved from rats to full sentience. Whether this was a result of environmental contagion or deliberate intervention from the labs of Calpoly, no one knows. They are ruled by a Rat King, a collective of ratfolk who have joined their tails and their minds into a communal whole of formidible intelligence and (according to rumor) psychic powers. They used to roam Ureka freely, but have been pushed back from Old Town, along the coast, to the inland neighborhoods.

The cryptid known as Sasquatch has since become a proven fact. The humans fleeing the tsunami that destroyed Crescent City fled inland into the redwoods. The local Sasquatch community took pity on them, revealing themselves so that the people could survive. They have since become the leaders of the very successful community known as Sqatch-ville.

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 7-What's the weather like today?

Is there a particular climate or weather that's prominent in the region of the campaign? Does it vary? What is it like and how bad does it get?

The default weather I remember for much of my time living there is cold and overcast. If it got above 70 degrees, it was a heat wave. Winters are dominated by rain. As I've told people since I moved away, "It's never not jacket weather."

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 6-Where shall we start?

 Where did the campaign begin and/or where should a traveler to the region start their journey through it?

My intended starting/focal point for the campaign is the Enclave of Ureka. Mostly because this is the place I was born, grew up and spent most of my life.

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 5-Can you tell us about the campaign's history?

 In the real world and within the universe.

This is a place that really exists. At least up to the present day, it has the exact same history as the real place. Inhabited by indigenous Americans, then Europeans as they traveled north up the coast in the early 1800's. The major industry was redwood logging for a long period of time.

Bigfoot has been part of the mythology of the area for some time. One of the most famous pieces of Bigfoot evidence was a film shot in this area back in the 1960's. When the redwoods stood in for the forest moon of Endor in Return of the Jedi, they had to be careful that Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew was not mistaken for a Bigfoot by passersby.

At some point during the collapse, as the country fractured, indigenous peoples began fortifying their reservations and territories against usurpation by outside forces.

After the collapse, the Sasquatch have come out of the woodwork, taking in refugees from ruined cities into their forest home. They guided humans and established a prosperous community that I have currently named Squatch-ville.

Some people bristled at the idea of being ruled over by Sasquatch and headed out on their own. After some false starts (the less said about McKinleyville the better), they arrived in Ureka. The city had been given over to mutated rats since the the collapse, but this splinter group carved out a territory along the coast, pushing the ratfolk to the outer reaches of the old city.

For much of this time, the people of Cow Town kept to themselves, continuing the farming traditions of the community. Before the collapse, they were dairy farmers. After the collapse, the tanker trucks stopped coming to be filled with milk, so the people diversified. They tilled fertile soil to grow a variety of crops that allowed them to survive and even thrive on their own. But within the last generation or so, the health of the soil collapsed. Also, the people began falling ill. The current theory is that they acquired materials from the abandoned nuclear power plant from a scavenger, and the radioactive and irradiated materials found their way into nearly everything. (I really like this, but I'm in the process of considering other options.)

RPG CAMPAIGN TOUR CHALLENGE 2026 Day 4-Is there a Map?

Give us a visual! Show us a map of your setting! Don't have one? WHY NOT?!?

At the moment, I am relying on a real map of the area that I derived from https://maps.army that they were even kind enough to overlay 5 kilometer hexes on. The next step is to fictionalize it just a bit, with markers for locations in the campaign and to mess with place names to make them sound a bit more post-apocalyptic.