While the settlers struggle to adhere to some sense of law and order, the bandit clans are pure anarchists, answering to nobody. They do whatever they please and take what they want by any means necessary. There are six major bandit clans operating in the Wasteland. Some clans are completely barbaric, kidnapping and murdering settlers purely for thrill. Other clans take a more business-like approach, hoarding supplies and energy, only to sell them to the highest bidder. The settlers have learned that no bandits can be trusted and avoid traveling through bandit-controlled territories at all costs.
The Ghost Clan
The Ghost Clan broke from the Scourge Clan because they felt they were superior, which in fact they are. Steadfast believers in the supernatural, they favor tattoos, talismans, and trinkets that serve to illustrate their beliefs. If you spend any time at all in the Wasteland, you’ll see evidence of their blood rituals which, in their religion, guarantee acceptance in the afterlife. The other clans, with the exception of the Jackal Clan, fear the Ghost Clan and avoid its members at all costs. The Ghosts are fearless, but intelligent combatants, and they possess the ability to jump, crawl, and navigate their surroundings like world-class gymnasts. They attack with grace, speed, and brutality. You never know which direction they will hit you from, so when you find yourself in Ghost Territory stay sharp. They can be found in dark, forgotten, and abandoned places where they decorate their surroundings with graffiti and grisly trophies of their victims.
The Scorchers
The Scorchers worship the asteroid that destroyed the world. They believe that a demigod rode the burning rock straight into the soul of the planet, and by tapping into that energy they will become the toughest SOBs in the Wasteland. They decorate their own bodies and vehicles with images of fire and destruction. You can easily spot them in the Wasteland because of this fact, which is important because they roam like gypsies, scorching and burning everything in their path. They are led by a nasty guy named Reaver who is known for his brutality and his open hatred for the Shrouded Clan. Reaver is easy to spot in the Wasteland; his car is bright yellow with a big comet painted on the side.
The Shrouded Clan
The Shrouded Clan is a secret offshoot of the other clans. Made up of members disillusioned by their own clans, they have come together under a veil of secrecy to hide their true identity. Though most of the current clan members have always belonged to the Shrouded Clan, the face coverings have now become a sense of identity for the clan. Within its own ranks secrecy is a prominent feature that governs its culture and management. Fear of betrayal dictates there are no factions within the Shrouded. The only way to leave the Shrouded Clan is death.
The Shrouded are more likely to install traps and secret passages into their hideouts and settlements than other clans in the Wasteland. The Shrouded are a smart bunch of bandits, capable of engineering and creating interesting and deadly devices. Their trademark device is the Remote Control Bomb Car, which is capable of long-range strikes on both vehicles and personnel who foolishly venture too close to their hideout.
The Wasted Clan
What the Wasted Clan members lack in intelligence, they make up for in personality. Decorated with tattoos and colorful body armor, these bandits use fear and intimidation instead of strategy and combat tactics. More inclined to grab a burning club and bash you over the head than hide in the dark and fight from a distance, these guys are best kept out of melee range. Loosely governed by a patriarch that changes frequently due to internal fighting, the Wasted Clan can be found almost anywhere. When you face these bandits, you’ll need to be fast on your feet and watch your back—they will come at you from every direction fast and hard. They prefer industrial areas for ready access to old supplies and tools to support their primary hobbies, which include modifying vehicles, making moonshine, and performing self-inscribed tattoos. According to popular legend, the Wasted are the last remnants of the United Kingdom. God save the Queen.
The Jackal Clan
The howls in the night mark the coming of the Jackal Clan. This group of bandits are part animal and part man, a savage group of hunters and combatants. The Jackals act more like a pack of wolves on a hunt than a well-trained military force. They adorn their bodies with bones, furs, and animal pelts, making them look more animal than human. They are savage in nature and brutal in combat. The Jackals are also very strong, capable of sustaining large amounts of pain and also capable of inflicting that same amount of pain back on their enemies. The Jackals live in the canyons and caves of the Wasteland. Not a nomadic tribe, these bandits are all about territory. Once they claim a piece of land, only death will drive them from it. The Jackals have no vehicles and use only primitive machinery in their settlements. The Jackals are ruled by the leader of the pack, the alpha Jackal—the meanest, toughest, motherfucker in the bunch. A new leader emerges when he is challenged and killed.
The Gearheads
The Gearheads are the smartest bunch of bandits in the Wasteland. Not relying solely on brute force for survival, these bandits have built advanced machinery and weaponry that make them a force to reckon with. These bandits look to technology for their salvation and vow to never let “Mother Nature” destroy them again.
The Gearheads are all about power, machinery, and tools. Oddly enough, they are also the most civilized bandits in the Wasteland, surviving on selling electricity to nearby settlements. The Gearheads are happy making profits more than enemies. The Gearheads coexist quite nicely with both the settlers and the Authority. But as civilized as they may seem, they are not ones to be crossed or cheated. Eternally paranoid, these bandits are all about secrecy, building very advanced weapons to keep people away from their power plant and research.
Rumors are that these bandits acquired their technological edge from early Ark survivors. Some believe that founding members of this group may well have been Ark survivors that gave up on society and went their separate ways.
