In the Deadlands there are four types of people:

City Folk: Those who live behind city walls, never leaving. Even their city guards

won’t venture out unless forced. Every walled city it’s own culture and every

Outpost it’s own subvariant culture.

Traders: Those who brave the roads, running commodities and supplies between

cities and outposts to make a living.

Mercenaries: Those who don’t have what it takes to survive the world alone, so

they group up. They protect traders, keep roads clear, and burn infected nests along

the routes — but actively avoid venturing into the Graveyards (ruins of the pre

collapse civilization) unless there’s a big payout.

Deadlanders: The peaks of human adaptability… or stubbornness. Deadlanders

are those who survive braving the world alone and live long enough to talk about

it. They often live in Graveyards, only venturing out to trade salvage with walled

cities or to take jobs for Graveworkers, the world’s bounty franchise offices.

Traders, Mercenaries, and Deadlanders share a common road culture separate from

city folk, known as “Civic Duty.”

Civic Duty is a set of rules and customs by which they keep each other alive:

1. Road Clearing: Deadlanders and Mercenaries keep the roads as clear as

they can and burn roadside nests. In return, Traders give them fair trade and

even toss in a little extra while on the road. But within city walls, bring your

A-game negotiation skills.

2. Paying It Forward: In the event a trade wagon, a Deadlander, or a

Mercenary family is on the verge of death or otherwise hindered, they leave

what can’t be carried for others who might have a better shot. If they take,

they leave something behind in return.

Example: A water wagon gets overrun; the Traders are either dead or forced to

flee. Later, a Mercenary family running a steamtruck uses the left-behind water to

top off their boiler — in return, they leave a sack of coal or a box of ammo. A

Deadlander comes along, restocks ammo he can use (swapping it for rounds he

can’t), tops up his water supply, and leaves behind a note on local nest locations to

be watched or cleared.

3. All brothers and sisters of the road should anounce them selves with Civic Duty to be recognised as friend and wait until the gesture be returned.

4. Non-Compliants to Civic Duty and shared survival, bandits, slavers, are to me such an example of that the next one gives pause before pulling at trigger.

Naming Conventions

Traders, Mercenaries, and Deadlanders all have their own internal cultures.

Traders:

Use a first and last name, followed by “of [Company Name].”

Example: Henrick Lox of Long Road Trade Company

Traders only announce themselves with company name to other traders as a sign of

position within the trade hierarchy.

The wording is important:

To another trader: “I’m Henrick Lox of Long Road Trade Company,” establishing

position.

To a customer: “I’m Henrick Lox, I’m with Long Road Trade Company.”

To traders, the reputation and ability of the owner grow the company’s name —

and that’s what people respond to.

Mercenaries:

Keep their first and last name as a reminder of origin, followed by a family name.

Example: Justin Steele — “Steel Family.”

The name declares both the individual and the family they belong to. It’s not

uncommon for merc families to refer to one another as brothers and sisters. When

mercs from different families converse, they drop the last name and use first name

plus family name:

“You’re Justin, Steel Family, right?”

Among mercenaries, the group contributes to the reputation of the family.

Deadlanders:

By contrast, drop their last name entirely. They use a first name and a title. Titles

are earned, given by others based on reputation, rumors, or achievements that culminate as recognition of self.

Reputation, rumors, achievement put together with the a core trait or traits observed of the Deadlanders Self..

Examples:

• Jennie “The Scalpel”: earned for the “medical experiments” she ran on

bandits and slavers, contributing to Graveworker and Techport medical

knowledge of the fungal parasite, but she is also calculated, precise, elegant.

• Mallory “The Mad”: A psychotic Deadlander who attempted “alchemy” by

using human and animal infected bites on bandits and slavers to try and create

hybrids. He discovered they’re the same parasite, the host’s primal instinct

determines behavior — much to his disappointment, but a contribution

nonetheless.

• Selena “The Dancer”: named for her history as a dancer in Dunmere,

the way she fights, often with a rope dart and her playful cat like sadist nature.

A Deadlander with no title refers to themselves by first name only.

Among Deadlanders, there’s an unspoken custom to erase origin — to become a

part of the Deadlands itself, the place of origin now longer wanted them, so sever the tie where so it holds no bearing over you and only the self remains.

Every title is a look into who they are.