Center City Green Zone

The official remnant of U.S. government authority in the city, composed of National Guard, PPD, PFD, and FEMA personnel. The JTF struggles to maintain the Center City Green Zone and distribute aid, but is hampered by dwindling supplies and restrictive rules of engagement that are ill-suited for the city's brutal reality. They represent the pre-collapse ideals of order and hope, which many survivors now view as a fatal weakness.

A highly-trained and heavily-armed cell of betrayed First Wave SHD agents who have gone rogue. Led by the brilliant but nihilistic Aaron Keener, they believe the system they swore to protect abandoned them and is now too weak to survive. They are the ultimate embodiment of Radical Stoicism, seeking to seize control of the city's SHD network infrastructure from their base in University City to forge a new order through strength and technological dominance.

A gritty federation of neighborhood block committees and row house communities in South Philadelphia who have rejected all outside authority. They practice a brutal form of summary justice and are fiercely territorial, having fully embraced the Radical Stoic mindset to survive. While not overtly expansionist, they trust no one and will kill to protect their people and scavenged resources.

A powerful smuggling syndicate that controls the city's black market from the labyrinthine SEPTA subway tunnels. Composed of pre-collapse criminals and desperate survivors, they are the only reliable source for high-value goods like antibiotics and military-grade ammunition. They are ruthlessly opportunistic and apolitical, willing to trade with any faction that can meet their price.

A well-armed private military contractor that was guarding the Philadelphia Navy Yard during the outbreak and has since converted it into a private fortress. They possess significant industrial resources, advanced weaponry, and a rigid command structure. Ares operates with cold corporate efficiency, viewing the collapse as a hostile takeover environment and all other factions as either potential clients or hostile assets to be liquidated.

The area around City Hall and Dilworth Park has been transformed into the JTF headquarters. HESCO barriers, checkpoints, and floodlights create a perimeter of relative safety. It is overcrowded with refugees and smells of disinfectant and despair.

A sprawling residential district of brick row houses. It has fractured into dozens of small, independent block-by-block barricades. The JTF has no official presence here, leaving the locals to fend for themselves.

The campuses of Penn and Drexel are a ghost town of looted hospitals, ransacked labs, and abandoned student housing. The high concentration of medical and technical supplies makes it a constant battleground for scavenging factions.

A former naval shipyard, this industrial park is now a fortress controlled by a disciplined group of ex-military private contractors who were stationed there when the virus hit. They have generators, workshops, and a commanding view of the Delaware River.

The origin point of the Philadelphia outbreak. Massive, hastily erected concrete walls topped with razor wire seal off the entire district. Warning signs in multiple languages promise death to any who enter. A constant, low-hanging fog of vaporized disinfectant hugs the streets within.