Here's our "Assumptively Asked Questions", a rather good summary of our rundown via rant:
Q: Hatchet is an Apoc Setting?
A: Yes. A nuclear apocolyptic setting, 50 years after so, where humanity is finding a foothold once more, but finds itself struggling with questions of freedom, ideologies, and belief structures.
Q: Is this setting related to or inspired by Fallout?
A: No. In fact, you may be disappointed to here that I (WCCC) rather disliked fallout when playing it. Purely not my taste, really. But I love elder scrolls. Don't let the similarities deceive you, that's pure coincidence. Once you see Hatchet's inner workings you won't associate them in the slightest, I promise you.
Q: Where does Hatchet take place?
A: 50 years post-apoc near a fictional version of Pearce, Arizona.
Q: How extreme is the environment of Hatchet?
A: Technology and successful settlements are both VERY prevalent. Radiation exposure is mild, but existent, and the wildlife has grown to adapt in its own way to the Apoc Environment. You guessed it, a bit of strange mutation (cherynobl esque) and a large increase in deadly features, particularly size and toughness.
Q: What are the factions in Hatchet?
A: The Followers (Cultists depending who you ask), The Bandits (Blood Wolves), The Order, and The Neutrals (N/A). Each of them feature unique settlement, living, and weaponry styles all their own, along with unique quest lines that guarantee choice replayability and paint Hatchet's world further.
Q: How are each of the factions?
A: The Followers are highly religious (no relation to modern religions, oddly) and in recent years are violent. They use low tech weaponry (for personal reasons) and feature underground settlements and an adept nature for all things dark and violent.
The Bandits have a roughly structured, yet primarily anarchistic society. Their ranks are organized, their tactics effective, and their highest ranked men bear more resemblance to Hitokiri of Japan than a street thug. Their society is highly detestable, yet their level of skill and population is hard to match when they go full steam ahead. They don't make their own tools and arms, they steal them, as you might have guessed.
The Order live in highly fortified towns not unlike communes. The people live long and healthy (as can be) lives, but they work hard, are fed with dissatisfying rations, and have little personal freedom without a level of bureaucracy. They have reverse engineered much of the old world technology (but maybe not smithing and machining quality), and have put together their own custom arsenal of high firepower weapons meant to keep their enemies in check, and to solidify their settlements STAY safe.
The Neutrals are peaceful, reasonable, and actually very kind, despite their harsh surroundings. They just want to reboot a modest existence and carry on their way of life, even though their environment limits this greatly. They use weapons most relatable to modern arms and have a good level of personal freedom, but their security is constantly put under pressure.
Q: What is the main objective of Hatchet's story?
A: Complex. Largely it's about finding those who led to the apocalypse (not those that failed to stop it, but those that fed its conflict to the boiling point it reached) and making a point that they can no longer harm the new societies of man, while still asking questions at to when it's time to forgive and place trust vs when it's time to exact violent revenge. Moral questions we rarely can say for sure, put up to the highest stakes for the sake of humanity's future.
Q: What are these random bind paper drawings?
A: Digi doodles. Doodles from the dawn of Hatchet's inception back in High School that have been preserved and digitized so that they can be tracked and used easily. Dig in, there's a few fun concepts to be found, including a lot of origin for items that have already made their finesse'd cameo.
