So I'm brainstorming for my homebrew setting, which takes place in the Shadowrun universe (ie our Earth), but centuries after an unspecified catastrophe wiped out civilization, reverting the planet to a medieval-level of technology and society. Something kind of like Rifts, but with the sci-fi/modern trappings not as obvious and widespread.
For those not in the now, Shadowrun is a cyberpunk setting, but with fantasy trappings; elves, magic and dragons exist side-by-side with cybernetics and Matrix hackers. I really like that idea that if such a world was devastated by an apocalypse that was magical or technological in nature (or both), it would revert to a quasi-feudal state, especially where I'm setting it (the Japanese isles).
I'm trying to find creative ways of describing things that are from our era (or at least, from an era decades from the current year) without explicitly giving away what they are to the players, since I don't plan on revealing the true nature of the setting until later. (Not to worry, I made sure that they're aware that my setting has sci-fi/non-fantasy elements and they're perfectly okay with it.) Some things I have so far:
-A giant, rectangular fortress of steel with a strangely flat top with multi-colored markings on it. A single, squat tower sits on the edge of the flat top (a beached aircraft carrier).
-The Glassgraves, home to a gigantic, preserved, ancient city where the buildings reach the sky, and full of "lightning elementals" and "rusted, metal wagons" (post-apocalyptic Tokyo).
-A metallic, small cylinder that can only be opened by a mechanism on the top that punctures a hole in it, releasing a brown, barely drinkable liquid (good ol' soda in a can).
-A treat from the old times: a yellow, vaguely brick-shaped cake inside of a see-through bag made of unknown material. The item is eatable, and is filled with a sort of white cream inside of it (Take one good guess)
-Gigantic monstrosities that are vaguely shaped like birds, hooked to a larger building via a hollow, square walkway (an airport).
I'm also trying to figure out a good name for the cataclysm that destroyed our civilization that isn't just "the Apocalypse" or "the Big Mistake" (Something like this). Some ideas I had was "the Skyfire Wars" or something of the sort.
Y'all have any suggestions?
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My brother and I use the term "The Sundering" to refer to the cataclysm in our campaign setting. Outside of that, I actually really like Adventure Time's subtle allusion to a nuclear apocalypse as The Mushroom War.
You could also focus on the cataclysm as a very precise day or time span. Terminator made the term "Judgement Day" famous, and Half-Life used the very ominous Seven Hour War.
Or maybe the apocalypse happened on a holiday and common folk - due to a bastardization of written history - have taken to referring to the event by that moniker. How spooky would it be if they called it All Saints' Day?
There was a d20 version of Gamma World.
I loved old school gamma world's treasure tables. Broken microwave oven, metal street sign / shield.
Two metal rods hinged together, and a flat metal plate with a gear and a stack of 2 sharp metal disks. (An old can opener which is almost impossible to use.)
