Species of the Wasteland

Humans are by far the most common species that can be found in the wasteland. However some are tainted with mutations. Most are minor, but many have substantial physical deformities to be considered Mutants (commonly referred to as Muties).

A branch of humanity with genomes changed through genetic engineering before the war were especially altered by radiation. The war initially birthed many mutant species. Most quickly died, but a few lived on and bred true as Freaks. Freaks on average are the same height as humans, but tend to be slightly stockier. Their skin comes in various shades of gray, from snow-white to ebony-black. Parts of their skin have a rough toad-like texture. The shoulders and top of the head nearly always have these bumpy formations, and some freaks have them covering their whole body, save their face, palms, and soles of their feet. Their eye pigmentation is also inhuman, typically including shades of red, orange, or yellow. Freaks are completely devoid of hair. Some may have mutations, but frequently aside from their toughness and resistance to radiation, do not express abnormal mutations (for Freaks).

Simians are mutated chimpanzees that have obtained human-like intelligence. Those that have knowledge of the beforetime theorize they might have been a product of genetic engineering conducted by the US military, and may have descended from test subjects given memory enhancing drugs, or they might just be products of random post-war mutation. Most simians are found on the east and west coasts of former North America, though a few have made their way to the central parts of the continent.  Simians greatly resemble the great apes they descend from, though their hands and legs are more human-like and are fully bipedal. Their bodies are covered with fine black hair, and they have brown eyes. They stand slightly shorter than humans, averaging just over five feet tall.

Synths appear in all ways to be human, and in many ways they are. They begin as artificial skeletal frames with robotic brains upon which human tissues are grown. They have human muscles, organs, and skin. Leading up to the Great War many militaries, including the United States’, experimented with synthetic, techno organic beings, commonly called synths. Synths were designed to work as intelligence gathering agents and assassins. They could duplicate a subject down to the genetic level, but with brains that could be programmed to carry out covert missions. While classified as top secret, a few well-connected scientists were able to procure synth technology and use it for their own purposes. 

After the War, hundreds of synths remained in stasis, awaiting orders that would never come. Over the years, synths occasionally awaken. Sometimes they are programmed with artificial memories, but other times they are blank slates, seeming to have amnesia. About half of all synths know their artificial origin, but an equal number believe themselves to be human.