Hi everybody,
I'm trying to come up with a home brew post apocalyptic fantasy world and I was wandering if anyone had any cool ideas, mechanics, adventures or flavourwise. I'm trying to stop it lurching into sci-fi as much as possible (I don't want PCs running around with massive electricity guns blasting everything left right and centre).
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated as I'm going to try and start a game January/February Time with a new group.
Cheers.
Warmage 101
World War three rips open the fabric space/time creating a world with most modern technology destroyed/unoperative. (D&D with a dash of shadowrun?)
Great minds think alike.
I was thinking of doing something sort of similar.
My basic idea was to take d20 Apocalypse, and 3E, and sort of mesh them together. My basic ideas:
1) Set the world up as a generic fantasy world, and then subject it to a "magical apocalypse", with irradiatted zones - "Magical Fallout".
2) Have many non-magical classes (Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Spell-less Ranger, Samurai, Scout, etc...), and then a few magical classes. But make sure the class list is considerably different than classic D&D, so that the players subconsciously get the idea that they're in something "new".
3) Get rid of money, using the barter system detailed in d20 Apocalypse (you'd have to set up some rules for converting GP values into barter points, but it'd be worth it)
4) Take a template, and apply it to ALL monsters - these are the critters that have been warped by the magical forces, and are now evil. Fill the world with zombies, purple worms, owlbears, etc.
***
The other idea is going the "Rifts" route, and kind of just using D&D rules, a few choice things from d20 Apocalypse, and setting it up that PCs can take occupations or something so they can mesh with the setting (pretty much apocalyptic earth).
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I'm trying to come up with a home brew post apocalyptic fantasy world and I was wandering if anyone had any cool ideas, mechanics, adventures or flavourwise.
Although a little anachronistic a book that may in fact be of some use to you is Ariel: Book of Change, by Steven R. Boyett .
You can get it on eBook . If you cant find it cheap elsewhere.
My gaming group has played some version of the Ariel setting for about 20 years off and on.
If you want something less anachronistic then fighting in a dungeon that used to be a skyscraper you can aslo get good ideas from the Shannara series. Both the original books and the later series are about a time long from now but that is Fantasy in setting. Makes for a good read.
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I ran one several years back (during 2nd edition years).
I used demi-humans, but made them more akin to the elves, dwarves, etc, of myth. Elves where very fey in nature. Dwarves where rare and lived alone or in small groups in deep caves, etc.
The technology that did remain was at no higher level then we currently have. A hold over from an ancient civilization known a the Usanian Empire.
New firearms weren't mass produced, many where unique creations made by dwarves. There where still centers of civilization which had the ability to produce them though.
At the end of the campaign the party explored an ancient Usanian ruin, the players discovered the origin of the Usanian name when they found some scrap metal from a flying machine which had USA emblazoned on it.
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In the time before man was the master of the world. Kings sped across the skies on magic platforms, clerics offered sacrifices to the gods for favors and the gods, pleased, replied with good fortune. Wizards pushed their art to greater heights: Running water in every home, candles that never burned out, and boxes that preserved meat from decay.
Then came the plague.
At first it seemed a mere flu, one resistant to the healing powers of the clerics. But as soon large lesions appeared. These sores weeped a black ooze that spread over the body, encrusting the victim in a hard shell. Soon all but the mouth was covered from which a raspy breath issued.
Whole cities became infected as the plague swept rapidly. Those who remained unaffected witnessed the final turn of the plague as the crusted victim broke free from their shell and emerged forever changed.
Some people grew thicker, more muscular, with coarse hair and brutish tusks. Some where more fair, tall, lithe with grace and beauty but death on their minds. These were the lucky ones. Most emerged as some twisted thing of nightmare. Women with snakes where her long hair once hung. A man with the head of a bull. Or as bizarre as floating mass with a toothy maw, a huge eye, and eye-tipped stalks where magical death shot forth. All were changed in some way, both physically and mentally.
The abominations, the changed men, and the unaffected waged war. A chaotic massacre that left the world bereft of its former glory. In the end, most died, men and abomination alike. The surviving wizards called down firestorms that burned whole cities and the fields around them. The abominations banded by type and killed all who differed from them.
Now we the survivors seek to find solace, a place to regain some sense of our former glory. Some the mildly affected have joined us. We hear that across the sea the lands were spared the plague. There is hope. Its all we have left.
Awesome ideas so far guys, many thanks.
I quite like the theme from the Magic: The Gathering block Time Spiral (temporal rifts/chaos) though I'm not sure how that'd pan out.
A resistance war against demons/devils/other nasties that control much of the surface world would also be quite cool.
BTW: What sort of adventures would you run in such a setting?
Warmage 101
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BTW: What sort of adventures would you run in such a setting?
For the most part, adenture types don't change.
Dungeons crawls still happen, they are just different now (ruined underground military facility?)
Quests can still happen,but instead of questing for a unicorn horn to cure the duke's poison.You are looking for vaccination to a mutant virus.
Most every type of adventure remains, you just change the trappings some.
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BTW: What sort of adventures would you run in such a setting?
Warmage 101
Well as I mentioned we Ran Ariel for some time and the begining of the game always kinda seems silly. You go to Walmart and clear it out for supplies while fighting off people who went nuts due to the change. Or you could always do the 10 or 20 years later game where you find out about the "change" and try to find out what you can do to restore it alla Fred Saberhagen's Empire of the East.
BTW: What sort of adventures would you run in such a setting?
Warmage 101
Well as I mentioned we Ran Ariel for some time and the begining of the game always kinda seems silly. You go to Walmart and clear it out for supplies while fighting off people who went nuts due to the change. Or you could always do the 10 or 20 years later game where you find out about the "change" and try to find out what you can do to restore it alla Fred Saberhagen's Empire of the East.
I like some of the concepts here, but what many people have been saying sort of relates to post apocalyptic earth. I was more thinking along the lines of Greyhawk after a planar collision/time war/demonic invasion/massive plague type thing
Warmage 101
You can use my Deadworld campaign setting if you would like, I'll try to draw a little bit of a picture for you:
I approached the world from the question "What if the bad guys won?" To clarify, what if the baddest bad guy brought his age of darkness?
At the height of this horrible age, a small majority of Good Aligned clerics and paladins decided that no man was deserving of this world any longer and activited a magical scouring of the entire plane, completely killing every living thing: plants, animals, and people.
1000 years pass, visitors from other planes find an empty world filled hollow cities, treasuries lying in wait. Whole continents are quiet.
And now, new growth, new forests, frontier cities, undead that have walked the plane unhindered for a 1000 years now want revenge or absolution.
Old magic is resurfacing as are the original forces that began this cycle - the evil ones who claimed the world, and the good ones who killed it.
DM Stuff:
There are rips all over Deadworld and strange, monolithic cities are built over nearly every one, sealing these tears. The largest by far is Hind, The City of Eyes. It is a city built of black stone that has a constant coterminancy with the negative energy plane. Secret police patrol the streets as well as tall, rectangular black stones covered in painted eyes that hover inches above the cobbled roads.
-
The original cataclysmic texts of the clerics has been found and there are acolytes who believe a second scouring might once and for all close the plane forever.
How about some stuff that has already been done?
The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!
Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...
He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!
Or
The Age of Science has ended, and the Second Age of Magic has begun. The world of Prysmos is now inhabited by magical creatures and wizards. This new dark age for civilization has resulted in feudal societies being formed from the ashes of a technological utopia.
-Visionaries
you could do a setting where the monsters take over, and the common races aren't so common anymore.
or a setting where the undead have taken over, lead by an army of necromancers, which is scarrier IMO because if someone dies, then they would become an opponent. and you can just undead template regular notable NPC's for a quick and dirty conversion. just make sure to do more intelligant undead, and tone down the whole "channeling divine power" thing, kinda a "the gods are dead" thing where clerics and pallys are really rare, to keep from upsetting all the undeadness.
you could do a setting where the whole world was a wild magic zone, but that might get really annoying for everyone.
or, my current favorite idea that my group hates, have a setting where there are only like 10 or so people, including the PCs, all in a castleish building. outside the castle is hundreds of mean animals, hungry plants, and irate elementals all looking to avenge nature, countless ruins to explore, limitless treasure- and really no competition to get it. I like this because it's really different. and i like different. and a major plot point could be how occasionally new people stumble out of the wilderness and find the castle, and how the new person fits in, what skills they have... and the fact that if someone dies, it's a huge impact because there really aren't that many people to begin with and everyone's contribution is important. but, i'm crazy, so take that into consideration.
Well, post-apocalyptic sort of begs the question... what happened?
In good ol' "real life", we've had everything from the influenza epidemic of (approx.) 1911 to WWII (WWI, meh), to the Cold War (50 years, waiting for nuclear annihilation), to some superbug wiping us out to zombie/vampire-creating plagues.
So you have a fertile field to pick from, or to adapt to a fantasy setting. The default western european fantasy setting seesm to suppose that once the world was wilder, dragons elves and dwarves had their time in the sun, now it's man's turn. In some settings magic is inherent to an earlier time and fading, in some, it is a variant technology and able to be used by men just as by all those who came before him. But what if the destruction of civilization came not from without, but from within?
Here's an idea I have for my homebrew multiverse (can you say biting off more than you can chew?):
Mankind carries within himself the seeds of his own destruction. Long ago there was a continent with many nations, but after years of war, these nations polarized into two nations: side A and side B. They tried to exist peacefully, but the one consistent thing about mankind is that they screw up everything they touch. Either side A coveted side B's mines, or side B felt side A was a bunch of snobby bastards, whatever, eventually it devolves to war. It can be big and open and flashy, or subtle and strained with the mask of diplomacy to cover things up. But eventually side A and side B unleash massively powerful (create 10th level spells, say) magic on each other and the results are drastic. The once bounteous agricultural nation is reduced to arid desert and savannah covered in scrubby grasses and lichen, but that is where the remnants of humanity eke out a living, because within the remaining verdant forests to the northwest live... things. Things which hunt men like animals and live on blood. It is only the intense heat and dryness of the deserts and the unremitting sunlight which keeps these beasts at bay. Though the deserts hold dangers from poisoned springs to giant sandworms to razorwinged drakes, it is still better than to be the meal of something that was once human. These humans live nomadic lives, occasionally stumbling upon the ruins of their past; sometimes children are born who can move things with a thought or tell the future, or speak to beasts (sorcerors, psions, whatever), and brave souls venture into the wilderness to hunt game. The faithful of the fallen gods, the only remaining faith left to man, minister to the bruised souls and wounded flesh. These hearty ones sometimes band together to explore an ancient city revealed by the shifting, windblown desert sands. Or collect to explore the strip of lush vegetation that buffers the deep deserts from the seas.
Meh, I've created better, but it might serve.
Of course, I wanted a starting game that provided:
1. a reason to bring together all the disparate PCs that players make, 2. incorporated why these strangers would act together or even
associate,
3. provided an outlet for that one player who couldn't make it every so
often or the fade-out or -in of players throughout the campaign,
4. still came up with new stuff to awe and inspire the players.
I liked the idea of merging M:TG and D&D in this way:
The PCs are going about their lives, none of them have to know each other, or be from the same city, race or world. One day, they disappear from their usual routine and find themselves standing in an ENORMOUS oval arena bounded by grayish purple rock. The vast seating of the arena is built to holds tens of thousands, yet is totally empty. In a loose bunch around the various PCs are all manner of creatures, some fantastic, some horrid. Across a vast expanse of hard-packed earth is another group of creatures, some similar, some wildly different (is that a DRAGON??!?!?!) from the group they are in.
They feel an urge to turn and see behind them a humanoid figure composed of glowing yellow light positioned behind a bank of crystals, stone plaques and moving lights which all seem to hover in the air before it. The figure lifts a limb and touches a crystal, then strokes a plaque of stone; a deep, resonant voice erupts within their minds.
"I am Nal Karesh. You or your line is known to me. A pact forged by you or an ancestor has come due. My will is your will. Defeat the avatar of my enemy, Boliphous. Destroy his creations. Prevent them from inflicting harm upon my avatar. These are your tasks. Go."
You are filled with a terrible urge to charge to the other end of the arena. You see the creatures from the other side running, hopping, slithering, flying and burrowing towards you and are filled with a terrible burning hate. With a cry you hurl yourself forward, as those around you do the same, their shouted cries legible to your ears despite the underlying gibberish you hear spouting form their mouths. It must be the magic of Nal Karesh but this is inconsequential as you and a few of those around you move to intercept a two-headed giant who seems intent on moving around you and attacking your leige.
The fun part (after about 10 rounds of combat, with any sorely wounded or killed creatures returning to Nal Karesh's side of the arena to be healed by elves or alchemists, etc.) is when Boliphous casts a major-league spell and a bolt of coruscating green energy strikes Nal Karesh directly and his form explodes. Every PC suddenly feels themselves freed of the grip upon their will as all of the creatures from Boliphous' side are wreathed in shimmering white lights and vanish along with the other avatar. The PCs look around and start to speak and it's a mish-mash of tongues because no one is magically translating their speech. And some of them aren't remotely human. And they are all stranded in a massive arena... somewhere.
Where they go from there is up to them, but the sun is setting (both of them?!?) and it's starting to cool off and the PCs realize that they're hungry. All they have are their clothes (armor) and weapons.
I think the first question you want to ask yourself is what kind of world had an apocalypse?
Magical World - of a sort of standard D&D Medieval variety
Magical World - of a more advanced "High Magic"
Magical World - with a more Renaissance level technology
Modern World - Nukes, Tanks, Aircraft Carriers, Stock Exchanges
Future World - at the level of sci-fi you like
Science Fantasy World - along the lines of Star Wars
Then what caused it?
Plague, wrath of the gods, wars, some horrific genetic experiment, a new source of power, hit by an asteroid, aliens (magical or extraterrestrial)
Are their lingering effects?
Are the aliens still around, does plague still resurface, are there new races, is magic stronger/weaker, are estill artifacts from the prior age, are there new monsters, etc.
All of these things will completely change the flavor of your world. As its your game and you know your players you need to judge what works best for you - you want an idea...
A wholly human world with well developed magic - including industrial magic around the Victorian age with regard to magic
Nations have colleges of magic and science and military units that specialize in magic and magically enhanced weapon systems
One of these colleges discovers a new font of power a way to tap directly into Raw magic (elditrich fire, spirita, mana, reawa, whatever you want to call it), initially it is a huge boon to society and magic is raised to a whole new level, the secret leaks out, and other countries and institutions get it - this weakens the barriers between the plane of mystic energy and the world - resulting in horrific cataclysm. Great wizards good and evil pool their resources to save the world - most die in the process - and the world is saved but changed.
Some species mutate (mage-tate) some are eliminated new ones emerge shaken loose from folds in alternae realities.
In all of the chaos cities, mountains, seas from other worlds crash into ours resulting in unprecedented earthquakes, tidal waves, etc. and depositing in their wake new races - elves, dwarves, mer - who have brought their culture and history with them but are new, unrooted in this world, and not common in every corner of the world:
Elves arrive in vairious parts of (the analogs to) Europe and North America, goblins, giants, and trolls in Finland and Scandanvia, djinn and efreeti in the middle east, centaurs and satyrs in Greece and Italy, Bear Clans in the pacific northwest of North America, etc.
The land is scarred both geographically and magically - barriers that cannot be teleported across, wastes without (or with poisoned) water, rivers of elemental fire - infested with elementals, salamanders, fire snakes. Mystic storms that scour the land.
Anyway soem thoguth starters - hope that helps.
I think the first question you want to ask yourself is what kind of world had an apocalypse?
Magical World - of a sort of standard D&D Medieval variety
Magical World - of a more advanced "High Magic"
Magical World - with a more Renaissance level technologyModern World - Nukes, Tanks, Aircraft Carriers, Stock Exchanges
Future World - at the level of sci-fi you like
Science Fantasy World - along the lines of Star WarsThen what caused it?
Plague, wrath of the gods, wars, some horrific genetic experiment, a new source of power, hit by an asteroid, aliens (magical or extraterrestrial)
Are their lingering effects?
Are the aliens still around, does plague still resurface, are there new races, is magic stronger/weaker, are estill artifacts from the prior age, are there new monsters, etc.
All of these things will completely change the flavor of your world. As its your game and you know your players you need to judge what works best for you - you want an idea...
A wholly human world with well developed magic - including industrial magic around the Victorian age with regard to magic
Nations have colleges of magic and science and military units that specialize in magic and magically enhanced weapon systems
One of these colleges discovers a new font of power a way to tap directly into Raw magic (elditrich fire, spirita, mana, reawa, whatever you want to call it), initially it is a huge boon to society and magic is raised to a whole new level, the secret leaks out, and other countries and institutions get it - this weakens the barriers between the plane of mystic energy and the world - resulting in horrific cataclysm. Great wizards good and evil pool their resources to save the world - most die in the process - and the world is saved but changed.
Some species mutate (mage-tate) some are eliminated new ones emerge shaken loose from folds in alternae realities.
In all of the chaos cities, mountains, seas from other worlds crash into ours...
Awesome! Many thanks Kyr.
I'm sort of split between the original world being high magic and renaissance (much like Arcanum if you know the PC game)
Warmage 101
Great minds think alike.
I was thinking of doing something sort of similar.
My basic idea was to take d20 Apocalypse, and 3E, and sort of mesh them together. My basic ideas:
1) Set the world up as a generic fantasy world, and then subject it to a "magical apocalypse", with irradiatted zones - "Magical Fallout".
2) Have many non-magical classes (Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Spell-less Ranger, Samurai, Scout, etc...), and then a few magical classes. But make sure the class list is considerably different than classic D&D, so that the players subconsciously get the idea that they're in something "new".
3) Get rid of money, using the barter system detailed in d20 Apocalypse (you'd have to set up some rules for converting GP values into barter points, but it'd be worth it)
4) Take a template, and apply it to ALL monsters - these are the critters that have been warped by the magical forces, and are now evil. Fill the world with zombies, purple worms, owlbears, etc.***
The other idea is going the "Rifts" route, and kind of just using D&D rules, a few choice things from d20 Apocalypse, and setting it up that PCs can take occupations or something so they can mesh with the setting (pretty much apocalyptic earth).
Do you know the basics of a barter system. I've looked at write ups of d20 apocalypse online and the general impression I got was that it was a pretty bad book, not someting I want to invest in just to get one piece of information.
Of course, I understand the copyright issues, but I was just wondering if someone could give me a vague outline of GP conversion/item value mechanics when bartering so I can work it up by myself from there.Again, many thanks for the contributions so far.
Warmage 101
In the time before man was the master of the world. Kings sped across the skies on magic platforms, clerics offered sacrifices to the gods for favors and the gods, pleased, replied with good fortune. Wizards pushed their art to greater heights: Running water in every home, candles that never burned out, and boxes that preserved meat from decay.
Then came the plague.
At first it seemed a mere flu, one resistant to the healing powers of the clerics. But as soon large lesions appeared. These sores weeped a black ooze that spread over the body, encrusting the victim in a hard shell. Soon all but the mouth was covered from which a raspy breath issued.
Whole cities became infected as the plague swept rapidly. Those who remained unaffected witnessed the final turn of the plague as the crusted victim broke free from their shell and emerged forever changed.
Some people grew thicker, more muscular, with coarse hair and brutish tusks. Some where more fair, tall, lithe with grace and beauty but death on their minds. These were the lucky ones. Most emerged as some twisted thing of nightmare. Women with snakes where her long hair once hung. A man with the head of a bull. Or as bizarre as floating mass with a toothy maw, a huge eye, and eye-tipped stalks where magical death shot forth. All were changed in some way, both physically and mentally.
The abominations, the changed men, and the unaffected waged war. A chaotic massacre that left the world bereft of its former glory. In the end, most died, men and abomination alike. The surviving wizards called down firestorms that burned whole cities and the fields around them. The abominations banded by type and killed all who differed from them.
Now we the survivors seek to find solace, a place to regain some sense of our former glory. Some the mildly affected have joined us. We hear that across the sea the lands were spared the plague. There is hope. Its all we have left.
This is my favorite one so far. Keep it comin' Stedd.
How about some stuff that has already been done?
The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!
Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...
** spoiler omitted **Or
The Age of Science has ended, and the Second Age of Magic has begun. The world of Prysmos is now inhabited by magical creatures and wizards. This new dark age for civilization has resulted in feudal societies being formed from the ashes of a technological utopia. ** spoiler omitted **
Bravo Pres man. That was funny.
Bravo Pres man. That was funny.How about some stuff that has already been done?
The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!
Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...
** spoiler omitted **Or
The Age of Science has ended, and the Second Age of Magic has begun. The world of Prysmos is now inhabited by magical creatures and wizards. This new dark age for civilization has resulted in feudal societies being formed from the ashes of a technological utopia. ** spoiler omitted **
I sprocking LOVED Visionaries, the only thing I didn't get was the late 90's comic that I heard was amazing.
Also, with regard to my last post, I'd throw in that there are some humans who just look weird, who may have traces of other-than-human blood in them, but just didn't take to it, don't use their abilities or didn't get any abilities. There was a cool character in Lady of Poison like that.
In good ol' "real life", we've had everything from the influenza epidemic of (approx.) 1911 to WWII (WWI, meh),Ten million dead gets a "meh". Wow, I would can't imagine what you see as an appocolypse.
Probably 75-100% total population loss. (6 billion would be an apocalypse right now.)
I would bet though, that he was saying "meh" to the story potential (of introducing magic or science) and not to the reality of those events.
Edit: Though scary enough, a 6 billion population loss would put us back to approxiamatly the same level of population 1000 years ago.
In good ol' "real life", we've had everything from the influenza epidemic of (approx.) 1911 to WWII (WWI, meh),Ten million dead gets a "meh". Wow, I would can't imagine what you see as an appocolypse.Probably 75-100% total population loss. (6 billion would be an apocalypse right now.)
I would bet though, that he was saying "meh" to the story potential (of introducing magic or science) and not to the reality of those events.
I was thinking that though WWI (according to Wikipedia, 20 million military and civilian casualties) was without doubt, at that time, the "War to End All Wars". In light of later conflicts and fears of conflicts (nuclear scare), it became not as bone-chillingly horrible as a nation which allowed a charismatic leader to make it complicit in attempted genocide. Or the reality of a world where one night of tension and two button pushes could result in the effects seen in movies like "The Day After" and "Threads" (though, really, wouldn't they be tame compared to what might have happened?).
Apocalypse, according to Merriam Webster is:
1 a: one of the Jewish and Christian writings of 200 b.c. to a.d. 150 marked by pseudonymity, symbolic imagery, and the expectation of an imminent cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil and raises the righteous to life in a messianic kingdom bcapitalized : revelation 3
2 a: something viewed as a prophetic revelation b: armageddon
3: a great disaster <an environmental apocalypse>uh.... that totally derailed my original line of thought, but this is what sprang up in it's place. Read entry #1. What if the Gods (or God, depends on your cosmology) decided the fantasy world you have was unworthy/ lost/ decadent/ a failed experiment? They wiped it clean, and not with some wussy "falling mountain" from space (unless it REALLY did the damage a falling mountain would do - tidal waves, earthquakes, mini-ice age, massive crop and animal population die-offs), but with something REALLY deadly. Like an invasion by extra-dimensional creatures who are immune to spells and who require seige-engine-level damage to even bother them, attacking en mass. Or the sudden massive malfunction of ALL magic items, culminating in each one exploding, doing 1d6 damage for every 50gp of value (bye-bye cities, dragons eviscerated, no more liches, basically it's hillbillies and goblins). Or the sun goes out (there is or isn't a circle of black in the star-filled sky where it was) and life exists only at the bottom of the oceans, in deep earthen tunnels and around areas of volcanic activity, kept alive by the heat and meager light of lava.
Hell, implement a DMs greatest ally in the quest to create adventures...
plagiarize!Grab the bugs from Starship Troopers, or the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. Steal the moon-shattering comet of Thundarr the Barbarian. Maybe the vampires really do run the world a la the Trinity anime. Or steal the rage virus from 28 Days Later (how horrible if the PC clerics step forward to turn undead and they look at the PCs with their blood-red eyes and LEAP 20' to tear out the priest's throat?)
Bloody hell, what am I saying, use what you've already got! your world have dragons? Well, what if they've finally had it with the obnoxious two-legged pink vermin and set aside issues of color and alignment and join in as DRAGONS to slaughter them. A return to the Time of the Scale. Can you imagine the utter Hell wreaked by a flight of 10 adult male reds? Now throw in Blacks, Blues, Greens and Whites. What nation in any fantasy world could withstand that? Now add the metallics, because though they despise slaughter, the damned mammals have had their time in the sun and look at how they're wrecking the world! After they scour the planet with fire, acid, poison, lightning and cold, they retreat, perhaps, to another world or demiplane where scalykind is more comfortable.
What the hell do the survivors do now?
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Adopt the Deadlands setting. One of the best campaign settings ever, and a great ruleset. Too bad it didn't catch on better...
OR:
The Fey have watched from the shadows long enough. Watching humanity pick away at the natural world with pollution and deforestation to heighten global warming has pushed them to the edge and forced them to act.
Making themselves known publicly and warning humanity to stop emissions to preserve the planet was the first step. After humanity ignored this warning, the Fey were forced to take further steps, such as causing all technology in London to stop working.
Still humanity failed to listen. After all, what could the Fey possibly do when faced with the might of the nations of the earth? Fey had some "magic", but we have all the weapons, right?
Slowly, the fey presence became known world-wide, as more and more pollution-causing cities and countries fell under the influence of the Fey's spell.
Humanity tried fighting back. Launching missiles and offensives into Fey territory, to no avail. Nuclear strikes were launched at major Fey holdings, only to see the bombs turn to harmless raindrops as they entered Fey airspace. Soldiers entering Fey space lost their memories, forgetting who they were and falling under the Fey's spell.
It looks like the end of civilization as we have known it. Only the constant feuding among the Seelie and Unseelie Courts prevented a world wide takeover. The world fractured in two as the Courts argued over territories and resources, leaving the last few pockets of "free" humanity to their own devices.
Now, with only a few human holdings left where technology functions, humanity is forced to face a future bereft of the comforts they have become accustomed to. A need to fight the Fey on their own terms - using "primitive" weapons has arisen. A few members of human society have even found a way to tap into Fey Magic, but it is a fleeting ability, not always reliable. Resistance grows more and more hopeless every day as the Fey zones expand and humanity loses track of its values and traditions.
Can humanity reclaim its legacy, or will the earth succumb to the will of the Fey?
I agree with Larry, Deadlands is awesome. And that's all I got to say about thaaat.
My current game could loosely be called "post apocalyptic". The game is set in a vaguely "spelljammerish" universe, where there has in the past been alot of world hopping in ships, as well as the use of plane/planet hopping spells and such. The elves are credited with introducing much of the various races to spacefaring life, either intentionally such as with the dwarves and gnomes or accidentally such as the hobgoblins that murdered an elf crew and took their ship and designed their own from it.
Well the elves explored too "greedily" and they discovered a world whose populations were composed entirely of undead. The undead infected some of the elves, and followed them back to their world. The ravished that world and followed the survivors to the worlds of others and followed those to other worlds. Some small groups were able to get away (a small rag-tag fugitive fleet) and get to a world.
They destroyed their vessels and hide the truth from future generations, so that they wouldn't go exploring and bring the menance to them. Yet even after 7000 years (when ages of magic and science have ebbed and flowed), all of the evidence is not totally gone. And they can not stay hidden forever. Others will find their world, even if they are not the undead armies.
You might want to check out the Castlemourn Campaign Setting by Ed Greenwood for ideas and stuff to mine. It sounds similar to what you're looking to do.
Two words: DARK SUN.
Look it up and see what an apocalyptic landscape might look like if it happened to a typical fantasy world.
If you're thinking of something more akin to a modern world thrust back into a dark ages society that's easy too. You don't need to change the rules at all, depending on how you want to handle magic, you just change the way things look. The dungeons are the blasted remains of cities and skyscrapers and sewers and the swords and clubs and armor are salvaged bits from our world. Magic in such a setting could be reduced by saying maybe only sorcerers were available for play.