The spine
The tech-tier ladder
Every step toward the cities raises the tech, the danger, and the temptation. How far you climb — and what you trade away — is the game.
Off-grid — Home Valley
Hillbillies / Preppers. Hand-built, scavenged. Melee + crude ranged. No shields.
The Outskirts
Scavengers, drifters. Salvaged tech.
The Roads
Couriers, black market. Mixed / gray-market gear.
City Edge
Baron enforcers, drones. High-tech, automated. Shields appear.
The City Core
Barons, cyborgs. Cybernetic / elite.
The factions
The tribes
Each clan is a different relationship to technology — and the society that comes with it. Standing with them gates your trade posts and prices.
Preppers
Off-grid mountain survivalists. Self-sufficient, barter-only, deadly on their land. Your clan.
Marauders
Wasteland warlord hordes living on their wheels. Top of the food chain outside the walls.
Thuggies
Electric-scooter street muscle. Denied citizenship, denied fuel. Whips, poles, spears.
The Brotherhood
Ex-military bikers, fuel- and ammo-rich. An "Angels" chapter teaches farming & co-op.
The Military (New Texas)
A collective of generals behind a massive berm. Funds ops for paying clients.
Barons
City rulers hoarding shelter, water, power, DroneLink. Ruinous prices, robot enforcers.
The engine under the hood
Exodus Earth → ground level
The proven systems from your space GDD Sol Survivor port straight down. Only the skin changes — space becomes wasteland.
| Exodus Earth (space) | War Tribes (ground) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ship (Tier 1→5) | Vehicle / chassis + body | 6-chassis taxonomy |
| Ship Store + Hangar | Trade Post + Garage | buy / equip / repair |
| Credits | Scrap | loot · salvage · missions |
| Faction reputation | Tribe standing | gates vendors & prices |
| Hull / Armor / Shield | Health / Armor / Shield | shields tech-gated |
| Mark I–VI item tiers | Mark I–VI by tech tier | the ladder is the upgrade curve |
| 5 mission types | same 5 | clear · collect · scout · rescue · defend |
The grammar of danger
Light language
One consistent visual code, taught in the first 90 seconds and never broken.
What the game pulls from
The asset library
The book, broken into modular records the prototype loads. Each type has a defined set of variables (the schema) so any bot can build the JSON.