EMPIRE

Their motivation is simple: Find the artifact the Drahn keep talking about, extract it, then establish a more permanent foothold "for mining operations."

They've established ~four outposts, in addition to the Hellhammer site. Not sure how far the players can attack into these, but any caravan or patrol is fair game.

To be a dick to the players, the EMPIRE troopers drink salt water. Yuck! The players will need a De-salinator to make it drinkable. But at least they carry water.

They also carry guns. Nasty guns. I'm thinking:

• Assault rifle (ammunition is acidic- feel the burn!)
• Marksman rifle (Larger rounds with more penetrating power- fewer in magazine)
• Pistol (because everybody needs a pistol. Something stealthy. Like a poison gun? That's cool.)
• Grenade Launcher (either incendiary, chemical, or fragmentation)
• Heavy machine gun (fires assault rifle ammunition at crazy high-speeds)
• Cool combat knife (heavier and more armor piercing than Drahn weapons)

 Every time a player loots a weapon, they roll on this table:

Um... Blogger doesn't do tables.

The weapons will be in better or worse condition. Worse ones are more common than better ones, as dictated by a D20 roll.

• Uniquely Terrible (1-2)
• Cursed (2-4)
• Unlucky (5-6)
• Average (7-17)
• Improved (18)
• Optimized (19)
• Blessed (20)

I'll throw up a new page on EE.

EMPIRE armor is meant to work against their own weapons- it has a chemical protection as well as kinetic and concussive.

As for vehicles, I was thinking hovercraft or something similar. Those are pretty cool.

Though, realistically, a hovercraft would be really crappy in a desert, filled with lots of dunes. It'll most likely be a tank-treaded thing. Like a large sledge. I'll figure it out.