The Lompoc Campaign
Regional Information
The Lompoc Area in the year 2165
The Lompoc-Solvang area was not hit directly and was protected by geography and luck from much of the effects of the blasts that hit L.A., Long Beach, the San Joaquin Valley, and Port Hueneme. Santa Maria burned down, caught in the edge of a bomb that landed in the mountains south of Coalinga.
Lompoc remained a small town into the 21st century, the only signs of the modern age was a single super skyscraper in the downtown area that were built around 2045 in expectation of an economic boom that was supposed to follow a planned increase in funding for Vandenberg AFB. With the economic slump that followed the fuel crisis of the 2050’s the funding didn’t materialize. Unemployment, rationing, and shortages caused by the war effort drove a lot of people to move to the bigger cities in search of work and access to the black market. Vandenberg AFB was closed in 2069 due to budget cuts caused by the escalating costs of the war overseas. The end of private automobiles and the economic decline made the area an isolated backwater.
While the area was spared the worst of the devastation that hit most of the world, there were fires and fallout in places caught in the edge of atomic blasts. Refugees fleeing north from Ventura County brought with them panic, riots, looting, and fires; burning or damaging much of Lompoc and almost entirely destroying the town of Buellton.
The city government and sheriff’s department of Lompoc occupy the bottom four floors of the 101-story Bank United tower. This building was intended to be the centrepiece of the modernization and development of Lompoc that never happened. The building was never occupied beyond 25% and many of the upper floors were never finished.
The inhabited sections of Lompoc are surrounded by a ring of ruins that have been thoroughly scavenged for usable building materials, piping, etc. Many blocks in the town have been cleared and dug out to make fields for cultivation. Post-War Lompoc is made up of 4 quarters: Old Town, West End, Rust, and the Tangle. Old Town is in the centre of Lompoc by the old freeway and included the city tower and old business district, this quarter is surrounded by a combination of chainlink fence and walls made of various sections of old buildings and other improvised material. West End was primarily houses. This quarter is dominated by the Khans, a gang started by two men who moved up from the south (they would never talk about why they came up to Lompoc and they are always suspicious of strangers who come to town). Rust is an old industrial district that is the territory of the Hellions, a rival gang. The Tangle was an area of mixed apartments, business, and light industrial that is now a slum as well as an almost impenetrable maze inhabited by the desperate and the insane
To the West of Lompoc is Vandenberg Air Force Base. By the time of the War it had been 90% closed, with only a few labs and offices being used. Most of the buildings were empty and silent. Once the bombs dropped it was reopened as a refugee camp by the Air Force and the Red Cross. The flood of refugees overwhelmed the camp and most of the base was burned or destroyed in the riots and chaos of the early post-War years. The base has been heavily picked over for usable resources and is now inhabited by only by crazies and ghouls.
Mayor Travis Ortega, age 50
Sheriff Ian Kerr, age 36
Other Communities
The Santa Ynez Valley: This sheltered valley is still known for wine and horses. It was also protected by geography and luck from the devastation. This community is ruled by a hereditary “Captain of Cavalry” and protected by a troop of mounted crossbowmen and carbineers. The San Marcos Pass (154) is blocked by a redoubt built out of old vehicles and big-rig trailers and manned by snipers who have an unrestricted view of the long road leading up to the pass.
Buellton: Trading post and perpetual swap meet run by Jubal Harris. Buellton was almost completely destroyed by refugees from Los Angeles and the south after the War. The current town is made up of a compound fortified by old car bodies and other large pieces of debris.
Gaviota Pass: This pass is the only way south to the Coast Highway that leads up from the ruins of Los Angeles. It is controlled by a fort built of concrete and shipping containers located at the old rest stop and a toll is charged on any who wish to travel north or south.
Santa Maria: A burned out and ruined town, picked over by scavengers and inhabited by crazy loners and dangerous animals. It has recently been invaded by Clan Corvega slavers from the ruined city of Maricopa, they have set up a slave camp and are raiding outlying and isolated farms and homes from Lompoc to Buellton.
Santa Barbara: This once affluent seaside community was hit hard by refugees from Ventura and Los Angeles and suffered damage from riots and fires. It is now a quiet fishing village. With both Gaviota Pass and San Marcos Pass fortified and closed not many people come up to the village as it is a dead end now.
Ventura County: This is a burned wasteland. There are reports of groups of super mutants inhabiting this area.
Maricopa: located to the east of Santa Maria along the old Cuyama Highway (166), this city is located at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. Maricopa is a burned ruins inhabited by a loose coalition of wasteland raider clans, including Clan Corvega and Clan Crey Technology.
Other Notes
There are the usual dangers roaming the countryside such as mutated predators and the like. There are rumours of giant squids attacking people or animals along the shore. Another seaside danger is the pirates who raid and take slaves along the coast. There are also stories of nighttime sightings of an old luxury ocean liner, a ghost ship passing by the shore.
The local ghouls are actively hostile, a reaction to the constant harassment and attacks by the local humans. They live in the hills and surrounding forest in small bands and will attack travellers and isolated farms.
Pre-War Maps
Local Terrain Map
