Bubblegum Conundrum Campaign Information:

For more information on the CMA or Portland, click on the links below:

The History and Background of the CMA and Portland.

The Politics of the region, especially the corrupt government of Portland.

The MegaCorporations that really run the show.

The criminal element and gangs that take advantage of the corruption.

A comprehensive timeline leading up to the events of Bubblegum Conundrum.

A summary of all of the adventures played for Bubblegum Conundrum.

Introduction to Portland and the CMA

Bubblegum Conundrum is a setting for Bubblegum Crossfire that takes place in a future Portland, Oregon, which has become a part of a confederation of cities known as the Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance.

The Cascadia Metropolitan Alliance contains nearly every city from Vancouver, B.C. to Salem, Oregon. This confederation was formed for mutual support and coss-boundary cooperation when the governmental power of the national, state, and provencial governments of the U.S. and Canada began to decline at the turn of the century.

The three largest cities in the CMA: Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, form the central nerve centers of the government and politics, with the mayor of each city sitting in a tribunal. The smaller municipalities that fill in the gaps along the I-5 corridor form a civil congress that shares power with the tribunal. Though each city is independent and the CMA government has no real legal or legislative authority, the organization was formed to coordinate the police, fire, and municipal services of all it's members under one unfied governing body.

Vancouver, B.C., to the north, can best be described as the detached observer of the three largest cities. It is relatively peaceful and quiet, with little to do with the rivalry between Seattle and Portland. Seattle is, by far, the most beautiful and wealthiest of the three cities. Seattle is relatively crime-free and is clean and well-run. It's urban center is modern and new and it's government is free of corruption. Portland, on the other hand, is the dirty and often overlooked step-brother of the three cities. It has always looked enviously northward at Seattle's success. Portland, in fact, nearly became a ghost town in the early part of the century when many corporations moved north. It wasn't util 2025 and the 2nd Great Kanto Earthquake that Portland saw a large influx of Asian immigrants and the location of GenomNW on it's East Side, a coup for the beleaguered Portland Economy. However, whereas Seattle is clean and corruption free, Portland is still dirty, industrial, old, and rife with corruption both criminal and corporate. 

The main theme of Bubblegum Conundrum is one of dillema. Conundrum refers to a unsolvable puzzle or riddle. The core riddle of the campaig revolves around the nature of humanity and freedom. My campaign asks hard questions and our gaming sessions o ften take time-outs to sit and discuss the implications of the events in the scenarios.

Questions like

• "Are Boomers sentient?"
• "What are a Boomer's rights?"
• "What seperates a man who keeps himself alive with machines from an android with human parts?"
• "Is it ethical to use the brain of a dead human as the wiring of a boomer's brain?"
• "Are boomers machines or slaves?"
• "What is 'The Cat'? A human? A Machine? An Animal? How should she be treated?"
• "Is a Boomer responsible for crimes commited while they were slaves? For doing what they were 'programmed' to do? If a human is taught to commit crimes, aren't they 'programmed' as well?"
• "Can an Artificial Intelligence feel love, pain, or joy, even if it's just programmed to respond that way? How is that different from humans?"
• "What is the difference between Evil and Good? Morality and Immorality? Conservative and Liberal? Once these distinctions are blurred, how can someone be judged?"

As you can see, there are many difficult questions raised in my game world. I don't pretend to answer them, I'm just asking them.

You might say, "Isn't this all a little pretentious for a Role Playing Game?" Well, the answer is yes. But if I had the budget to produce a book or a cartoon or a comic book, I would. Until then, I'll just have to work in the mediums available to me.