Basics

## MSPlex Basics

### Edge of the Wilds

First thing that makes this place different from most North American sprawls is the proximity of the Awakened wilds. Pretty much anything outside the first ring or two of suburbs either got abandoned to paracritters or reclaimed as newly fertile farmland when the Awakening hit. That means you’ve got three million UCAS citizens crammed inside the 494/694 ring, plus maybe another three hundred thousand SINless . And yes, for you here from Caracas  or Hong Kong , to a Midwesterner, that’s a lot. The SINless population tends to fluctuate with the seasons; this is not a good place to winter if you’re homeless, because in January, sleeping on the streets means death.

*Note that ‘cause of that wilderness Wirefrog’s talkin’ about, some of those SINless may just be species that haven’t been recognized by the government as citizens yet. This is maybe the only sprawl I’ve been to outside Native country where people won’t bat an eye at an obvious animal shapeshifter*.
- Red Hawk

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not usually as cold in the winter as it was a century ago, but they didn’t have to deal with the occasional mana blizzard, either. And it’s still boiling in the summertime. I don’t want to sound like your mom, but dress for it, chummers, especially outside the urban areas.

*If anybody knows mana blizzards, I do, and the big one in November ‘65…the only thing I can compare it to is the Shroud around Tibet. I don’t care how badass you are, if you know a storm like that is coming, get the fuck inside.*
- Vision Fist

*Note that you can hide a lot of things under a fluffy winter coat. Body armor isn’t gonna get noticed unless you’re wearing a tank, and it’s not terribly hard to mod out a coat’s arm with an internal small pistol holster.*
- Brynhild

*It gets crazy no heev up here, chummers. If you can’t deal with it, mus tsev and let those of us who can take the work*.
- Ginebig

Note that this ain’t all bad, though. Paracritter parts make good money, and if you wanna smuggle them somewhere, this is a good town to be at. And if you happen to be a magical type, and need a special something, this is a good town to be at for you, too.

*Chain stores are a waste here, with how many good indie magic shops there are around. I’d recommend* Mai Nhia's *at Thomas and Dale in St. Paul. You say the right things and she’ll show you at least as much as you’d find at a MageWerks or Pentacle. She’s got a surprising amount of traditions, too, not just Amerind or Hmong stuff. Just don’t try to screw her over, she knows people you don’t want pissed off.*
-Phim Kooj Koi

### Dillinger's Cities

Ever since the first Great Depression back in the 20th century, Minneapolis-St. Paul’s been a hotbed for smuggling, and it’s only more so in our time. Routes from the Siouan Nation in the west and Algonquian  country up north all converge here at the base of the mighty Mississippi. If you learn anything from this file, remember, this town eats, drinks and breathes smuggling. It’s the number one underworld  trade in this city, by far.

*T-birds, riverboats, land transport, if you can imagine it, someone’s doing it here. Hell, enough of the SPPD is in on it, some of them aren’t even all that subtle. Knight Errant in Minneapolis is a bit harder nosed, though, so don’t be an idiot.*
- Brynhild

### Northern Gemini

The first mistake people make in describing this place to outsiders is one I’m not gonna make. Chummer, this ain’t called the Twin Cities because it’s one city. Minneapolis and St. Paul have got pretty different cultures. Minneapolis is what you’d call the Seattle of the Midwest. The most vibrant music scene in the contiguous UCAS puts Minneapolis up as a competitor in the commerce that passes as culture against a lot of much larger sprawls. Packed urban populations, bases for every corp imaginable, and even spam zones are present here. Ares ’ Knight Errant keeps the peace, but their contract is up for bids again next September, and the corps  are most likely getting pieces into position already, treating this as a major contract. Overall, it seems like a much bigger city than it really is.

St. Paul, on the other hand, gives the feel of a very settled town. An extensive, across the board Mafia  presence keeps things quiet in the underworld, and an old-timey non-privatized police department, the SPPD, keeps any neighborhood from becoming a true Z-zone. Everyone seems to know everyone, the same way you’d find in a small town. You find out things through the grapevine pretty easy if you’re a local. It helps a runner sometimes, but it’s also something to take into account before you decide to screw Mr. Johnson.

The suburbs themselves seem to fall on one side or another of this classification. Maplewood, Oakdale and to an extent Woodbury are all basically extensions of Saint Paul’s East Side, while St. Paul’s West Side gradually and indistinctly becomes West and South St. Paul. Roseville, to the north of St. Paul, is basically one big shopping district. On the Minneapolis side, you’ve got Bloomington fulfilling much the same role, home to the MSP Megamall entertainment plaza, one of the biggest shopping sites in the UCAS, as well as the international airport. Most of the other suburbs are just wageslave factories of one sort or another, with few interesting features.

Return to: Wirefrog's Guide to the MSPlex