The Dust Bowl

For eight years dust blew on the southern plains. It came in a yellowish-brown haze from the South and in rolling walls of black from the North. The simplest acts of life — breathing, eating a meal, taking a walk — were no longer simple. Children wore dust masks to and from school, women hung wet sheets over windows in a futile attempt to stop the dirt, farmers watched helplessly as their crops blew away.

This is utterly fascinating, and frankly, a bit terrifying. And it also raises an interesting set of considerations about how weather, geography, agriculture and policy can work together to create huge effects, socially, economically, and physically. As such, it makes for an instructive read for Gamesmasters and World Weavers. I have not yet played a game that involved the conditions of The Great Dust Bowl, but it is now firmly positioned in the Book of Possibilities.

Please to read: About The Dust Bowl