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For my upcoming Summer 2012 Campaign with my gaming group, the decision was made (without my choice but alas, 'tis life) to run a Pathfinder Rolepaying Game set in a Steampunk world BUT that the game would go post-apocalyptic.
Naturally, the turned to their good old friend d20 Modern Apocalypse (Wizards of the Coast) and decided that a mixed apocalypse would suit nicely and so Alien Invasion was merged with a Rise of the Machines.
After some initial groundwork, I came up with a rough outline that the players all agreed on. (We do this teaser of the campaign parts to whet their appetites and make sure it's to their liking.)
Currently though, I am stuck designing the main bad guys (the aliens). Known as the Nebelis, these abberations were formed by Ironfall's Academy of Science and are slightly based off the Tyranids from Warhammer 40K and the Slivers from Magic the Gathering in that they evolve their own genetic mutations.
I've made a base form for the smallest of them (Tiny Abberation, CR 1/2) and am now designing a large table of applications and evolutions that can be applied to them.
In any case, the Rise of the Machine part involves the Steamworked (Half-construct race created using the Advanced Race Guide playtest) rising up from their near state of slavery and going riot on Ironfall (that's the metropolis the players are in).
For those interested, here's the Campaign Teaser of what I plan to have the players go through.
What follows is a short summary of the entire Clockspinning Campaign. Note that though the Campaign uses Pathfinder (pretty much D&D 3.5) this takes place in a Victorian Age - Industrial Age world known as Ironfall. Therefore, expect the fantastic and science fiction to clash together.
Act I ~ Grindgeist [1-3]
When a desperate plan to make some quick money to repay some deadly debts goes horribly wrong, the party finds themselves trapped within the mechanical nightmare asylum of the Saint Restorer, pursued by mechanical abominations, undead inmates and the psychotic villain who makes the place his home.
Act II ~ Behind Glass Doors [3-5]
With a large part of their debt repaid, the party is given the chance to clear their name and make some profit when they become embroiled in a heist on Ironfall's Academy of Science. Yet something sinister lurks within these glass filled halls... something that hungers.
Act III ~ Raven's Crime [5-7]
With their names cleared and new allies made amidst Ironfall's Enforcers, the party teams up with down on his luck Detective Alastair Vindt as the city falls prey to the predations of a sick and twisted murderer who not only viciously slays his victims but brings them back as tormented undead to stalk the streets.
Act IV ~ Iron Thunder [7-9]
As the politics of Ironfall rise and fall after the hell of the past months, riots begin in the streets as the Steamworked dissidents transform into a terrorist group known as the Iron Pact. And yet, even more dire concerns may be brewing as strange aberrations begin using the terror and chaos of the riots to abduct citizens.
Act V ~ Totenwelt [9-11]
As the riots rise to a fiery crescendo, the alien masses of the Nebelis rise from the depths of the planet and clash with the human populations. Caught in the grip of a world gone to hell, the party must make it out of Ironfall alive, and with all the backup and supplies they can find.
Act VI ~ Of Seas and Slaughter [11-13]
Having made it out to sea aboard one of the last intact vessels, the party finds themselves navigating the treacherous Derelict Strait, hunted by Nebelis and their twisted cultists. Meanwhile, one of the crew is not who he seems to be, and mangled corpses turn up daily.
Act VII ~ War and Pieces [13-15]
Having heard from other refugees that a collection of ships have made it out alive and are currently heading to a determined safe refuge, the party attempts to meet up with them. There, they find a world of panic and despair as various figures attempt to control the frightened masses. If any hope is to be had, order must be imposed.
Act VIII ~ The Leviathan Gauntlet [15-16]
In order to maintain control of the barely held mass of people that they have, the party must brave a nautical gauntlet of Nebelis creatures and the perils of an underwater facility to reach the vaults where firearms and weapons were mass produced and are now stored.
Act IX ~ Revenge of the Resolute [16-17]
Armed to the teeth and bristling for vengeance, the refugees of Ironfall prepare their crusade to take back their world. The first call lies in taking out the Nebelis breeding plants and founding a beachead to begin retaking their home.
Act X ~ Ground Zero [17-18]
The time to strike Ironfall has come. The party must lead their forces back into hell and retake their fallen world, piece by piece, Nebelis corpse by Nebelis corpse.
Act XI ~ Starline [18-20]
With the ground retaken, the party realizes that the looming threat of the Nebelis is only stopped when their entire forces have been annihilated. Using what little means they have, the party manages to construct the very first rocketcraft in order to reach the Nebelis base on Lunae Major, Ironfall's largest moon.
Act XII ~ Beyond the Farthest Sun[20+]
In the final epic conclusion, the party find themselves facing the Nebelis hordes on another planet in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. After all that has happened, will the party succeed or will they and their allies corpses return to Ironfall... enslaved and mutated to begin the domination again?
In any case I'd love the have some feedback on the ideas and also on any possible resources or material that you think would go great with this.
Thanks in advance!
cool and imaginative. Thumbs up :)
One thing could be a rise of a Machine God cult, among the steamworked and even among the "soft" races as well.
I had similar ideas for various campaigns, and always made for interesting encounters and themes to run with. Like what I am seeing so far though, keep up the good work.
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Machine God cult eh? Reminds me of good old Perdido Street Station (and now that I think about it, China's works might be pretty full of good ideas).
I like the sound of the cult though as they would make perfect clashes to go against all the doomsayers and apocalypse bringers who feel so attached to the Nebelis Brood.
Now I'm back off to struggle with ghost-possessed clockworks, insane test subjects/mental patients and disease ridden vermin to populate the Asylum of the Saint Restorer.