Northern Chihuahua · 1910
Rail lines, drought, and rebellion in the north
A late Porfiriato life simulation set in northern Mexico in 1910, where rail work, land pressure, local bosses, drought, and revolutionary rumor make ordinary survival politically dangerous.
Opening situation
The town still runs on the rail line and the company store, but wages feel thinner, tempers are shorter, and the talk out beyond the tracks has begun to sound less like complaint and more like preparation.
Rail wages still matter, but the town trusts the bosses less by the week.
Drought and store credit are turning material hardship into political anger.
Revolutionary rumor has become concrete enough to reshape caution and loyalty.
Locations
industry
Freight, schedules, and men barking over who gets today's work.
market
Food, credit, resentment, and the arithmetic of dependency.
social
Drink, rumor, cards, and men measuring which way the wind is turning.
religious
Public prayer, family petitions, and the town's visible conscience.
authority
Land, armed pressure, and reminders about who is expected to stay in place.
travel
The route outward toward camps, villages, and people preparing for harder things.
Factions
economic · influence 75
Managers and foremen trying to keep freight moving and labor compliant.
political · influence 68
Order backed by horses, rifles, and selective law.
social · influence 58
Families balancing rent, food, kin duty, and fear.
political · influence 44
Quiet anger hardening into plans and contact points.
NPCs
rail supervisor
A supervisor who calls himself practical whenever he chooses cruelty.
seamstress
A careful seamstress balancing piecework, family need, and rising local fear.
priest
A parish priest trying to speak peace into a town that no longer trusts peace.
mule driver
A weathered driver who knows routes, tempers, and how quickly men disappear outside town.
canteen clerk
A sharp clerk whose smile hides excellent memory and better judgment than most customers deserve.
World state
Visible defiance can draw force quickly.
Employment dependency gives bosses leverage beyond wages alone.
Church and household reputation still matter, even as politics harden.
Private sympathy and public behavior often have to diverge to survive.
Rail, land pressure, and local hierarchy shape daily life more than ideology alone.
Drought and debt intensify every ordinary household decision.
Political unrest reaches people first through rumor, fear, and changing enforcement.
Freeform play
Risk low
Seek a shift in freight, loading, or track labor.
Risk low
Check credit, costs, and the changing mood around supplies.
Risk medium
Approach someone with standing for help, warning, or placement.
Risk high
Hide coin from creditors, kin, or men who think they are owed first.
Risk high
Leave town for a route errand, contact, or risky opportunity.
Risk medium
Seek backing from an organized network before events choose for you.
Risk high
Push a story into town and watch which men stiffen at it.
Risk medium
Look into missing goods, missing men, or a warning no one wants to say aloud.
Ready