While I'm confident running fantasy, and to a lesser extent, gritty sci-fi adventures, I never felt like I could wrap my head around hosting a prolonged postapoc game. Looking for ideas and inspiration on world-building, and frankly, what the PCs should do. Something beyond Tank Girl or Mad Max rip offs.
How important are factions in your world? Is resource management a big part of the game? Do the PCs ever hope to effect (positive) change to their already-doomed planet? Do you like to play it serious, or horrific, or more tongue-in-cheek? Is there much role-playing in your sessions, or do they tend to be more like dungeon crawls, only re-skinned as postmodern ruins?
I really like the world they're building in the TV show Into the Badlands. It isn't too grim-dark and they give a plausible gun-less setup that allows wuxia to feature prominently.
It isn't a post-apocalypse where the world is grinding down to its eventual doom, but one that's had to start again and might flourish once more.
Other than goofing around with some 2e Gamma World way back when, I don't think I've ever run a post-apoc campaign.
Thought about it numerous times, but it always breaks down when I think a gonzo, giant bunny-riding Gamma World campaign is just too silly, but I can't run a serious game without going all "The Road"...and I really don't want to run that game.
Eventually, I probably embrace the madness and do a Thundarr game.
Ookla! Ariel! RIDE!
Depends on the setting.
Early Gamma World is my personal favourite. You have pockets of varying levels of tech. But mostly people are at the medieval stage at best and some are near tribal still. It allows for all sorts of startoffs from the more primitive to the slightly more advanced. Usually alot of travel and meeting new groups. Factions I tend to keep to a minimum till something warrants their presence.
After the Bomb presents a different sort of PA setting with a genetic disaster reshaping civilization and bringing vast swaths to ruin. Things are recovering slowly though on several fronts. That is if certain factions dont tear it all down.
Others I like are Morrow Project for its take on a post apoc setting and the Robotech/Macross RPG for its reconstruction phase.
d20m Gamma World from WW has an interesting idea of the PCs start town as a sort of statted out thing with its own skills/feats. The PCs have to handle running the place and dealing with problems internal and external that impact the populations outlook and support or lack thereof.
Love playing Atomic Highway. Not too much crunch, pretty awesome rule set for Mad Max like adventures in the wasteland. I gm'ed one where the PCs were descendants of US Marines who took shelter in a large National Forest in Northern Minnesota. They encountered cannibals, mutant wolves, mutant spiders, and all sorts of craziness- even a semi functional Artificial Intelligence based in a university they found after awhile. Just threw whatever felt cool at them and a good time was had by all.
Inspirations from an old series of books called Endworld, the Postman, the Gunslinger books, etc.
Currently planning a Big Eyes Small Mouth 1E campaign called "Army Dudes" that is semi-post-apocalyptic.
The PC's are anthropomorphic toy army men in the aftermath of a devastating war. It's like Twilight 2000 meets Toy Story.
Into the Badlands is indeed a cool show. Only seen the first season, but it totally screams RPG campaign setting to me. I wonder when the sourcebook will be out...
It seems like medieval style tech to begin with (1st level) is a good way to go. As the PCs explore the wasteland, they obtain higher tech, but may not understand it for awhile.
There's a fan made Thundarr the Barbarian campaign setting for Mutant Future out there. Never ran it, but the show was awesome.
The idea of a statted-up towns is interesting. I will have to check out more of d20 Gamma World.
Funnily enough, I was just writing out some charts for my Army Men post-apocalyptic campaign before I got on here.
I've never run a post-apoc campaign! It's the "one that always gets away."
Influences:
Fallout (PC games) and Book of Eli. Mad Max is too "Car Wars" and The Road too depressing. Are there any other (true) post-apoc movies? Zombie Apocolypse doesn't count, that is its own genre. I guess Planet of the Apes counts, but I found the first one with Gary Oldman dull and did not watch the rest. If they turned it around later, let me know. Partial Apocolypse (Judge Dredd, or sci-fi with post-apoc planets) doesn't really count either.
Systems:
Other Dust by Sine Nomine is incredible. It's built on the same chassis as Stars Without Number, but there are four classes (I forget the actual names, but they are basically fighter, tech, faceman, and scout.) Each class gets one special ability. The fighter ability is interesting. In SWN, the fighter's ability is defensive; in OD it's offensive. There are awesome rules for radiation, thirst, and starvation. Like SWN, it uses a D20 for combat and 2d6 for skills. All of the tech items from SWN are compatible, so you have instant random treasure tables.
Darwin's World: The version I have is for D20 Modern, but I'm a bit burned out on 3rd-era's endless feats. They retooled it for Savage Worlds, but based on the few times I've played SW, it would need some mods to make it less pulp, in my opinion. In terms of D20M, you can do the "strong hero" stuff or better yet, use their "post-apoc hero" class and segue straight into the awesome advanced classes. The mutations are excellent. The "wasteland generator (http://www.rpgobjects.com/modgen/index.php?page=setgen)" is a great resource.
Morrow Project: I don't own this, but from a friend's description it sounds cool. Sounds like the PCs are from Now, frozen for a mission in the far future, and wake up to a world gone wrong. I think I'd modify the premise a bit and let the PC's have genetic engineering or psi powers.
I am a huge Post-Apoc fan. It's my fav gaming genre in many ways.
I run Gamma World 1e and the D&D4e version, Rifts and Waste World. I tend to run the settings as gritty, but GW lends itself to some tongue in cheek. If you don't own a PA RPG, I highly suggest downloading MUTANT FUTURE (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/56282/Mutant-Future-Revised-Edition-noart-version) (its the free retroclone of GW).
Factions and local politics can play a big part. I love GW's Cryptic Alliances and my GW campaign always features them prominently, often with PCs belonging to them.
Much of post-apoc is reskinned fantasy, and I consider that a boon.
How much the PCs focus on improving the world often depends on the campaign and the player interest. Usually the PCs want to make money, and thus they take missions which are generally paid for by those in power of an area whose goal is to extend their reach.
I ran a brief Fallout campaign set in my home state using Savage Worlds. We had fun but I didn't feel like Savage Worlds was a good fit for what we were doing. If I had to do it again I'd either use GURPS or the old home brew Fallout RPG floating around the web.
As to the actual game itself, there was a good deal of focus on local politics as well as economics. The players were trying to find a niche for themselves as river boat guards for the dominant trading house of the region. They uncovered a conspiracy between said group and a coalition of smaller gangs which kept raids on their goods at a minimum whilst ensuring raids on their competitors were constant.
Quote from: Kiero;1036537I really like the world they're building in the TV show Into the Badlands. It isn't too grim-dark and they give a plausible gun-less setup that allows wuxia to feature prominently.
It isn't a post-apocalypse where the world is grinding down to its eventual doom, but one that's had to start again and might flourish once more.
I'm currently running a post-apocalyptic OSR game strongly influenced by Into The Badlands.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1037239I'm currently running a post-apocalyptic OSR game strongly influenced by Into The Badlands.
What system are you using? What resources?
If you haven't check out Sine Nomine's Other Dust, its worth a read.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/103502/Other-Dust
Quote from: Spinachcat;1037242What system are you using? What resources?
If you haven't check out Sine Nomine's Other Dust, its worth a read.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/103502/Other-Dust
I've got Other Dust, and it's quite good, like all of Sine Nomine's products.
But I'm using a kind of generic OSR game, very rules-lite, and borrowing from a couple of different sources. It's not exactly anything specific.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1037623I've got Other Dust, and it's quite good, like all of Sine Nomine's products.
But I'm using a kind of generic OSR game, very rules-lite, and borrowing from a couple of different sources. It's not exactly anything specific.
Are you using any variant rules for unarmed combat (to make it suck much less than default)?
I ran a Zombie Post-apocalyptic campaign using the d20 Modern system. I had a handy Resident Evil companion guide for some of the more iconic monsters and some additional sub-rules like Called Shots for zombies, etc.
So the system wasn't the best for that style of play. The d20 system is.......sketchy and riddled with lots of penalties, required stats and proficiency, and not all that angled towards gritty fast-paced action with guns and technology. I mean, it can be but you have to work at it. Regardless my group seemed to have fun the handful of times we ventured there.
The setting was taken from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (hometown) and because of that intimate knowledge it was a LOT easier to detail the surroundings as well as gauge the time/distances of getting from place to place. It also helped the group form a better picture of the landscape and feel of the environment. Parts of the game took place in a quarantined section of Downtown and used the Rivers as natural barriers from the Undead -ever see Land of the Dead? It's like that- that acted as 'Green Zones'. From there, I'd use current maps for the players to strike in terms of getting supplies, finding pockets of survivors, and furthering The Umbrella Corporations machinations.
Adventures included a lot of resource management, especially ammo and food/water rations. It also included a lot of difficult choices when it came to coming into contacted with infected people (including kids) who haven't turned yet, and what to do with them. It also incorporated their efforts in getting parts of society working again such as a better transportation system like our local railroads and boats. Because the PCs were working for Umbrella (the supposed savior in their eyes), they were also tasked with finding important stranded doctors and researches in the immediate area that had become over run.
All in all, we had a fun time playing the game. It's been brought up a few times, especially with how popular Zombies are in mainstream, to do a few more sessions but working with that system really has me wishing there was something better out there. When we get the Zombie itch, I always just suggest the game Zombies!!! because it's fun and there's no prep work.
Quote from: Kiero;1037655Are you using any variant rules for unarmed combat (to make it suck much less than default)?
Yes. Characters with martial art training have better unarmed combat damage, and depending on the combat school they've trained in will have special abilities.
I haven't run any post-apoc campaigns, but the Mutant Future wiki lists a ton of interesting settings. I really wish I could play some kind of crossover setting which includes Fallout, Mad Max, Gamma World, Omega World, Darwin's World, War Against the Chtorr, Blue Gender, Left Behind, Shadow of Chernobyl, Metro 2033, UnderRail, Wasteland, Vampire Hunter D, Deadlands, Rifts, etc.
Like, IDK... the rapture, nuclear/chemical/biological weapons, alien invasion, reality distortion, etc all happen and turn the world into a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Time travel and planar travel mean that different universes and post-apoc time periods interact.
Does Mutant Future support that sort of thing?
Of course, my famous DCC Last Sun campaign (which has playlogs archived in the RPGPundit's Subforum here, and has a number of RPGPundit Presents issues dedicated to it) is a post-apocalyptic campaign, it's just that the apocalypse happened a long time ago. Of course, it's still going on.
I used to run this kind of thing a lot, generally zombie survival for the most part. On one memorable occasion they turned a diesel train into a mobile home base of sorts, which worked really well until they parked under a bridge and zombies falling over the sides to try and get to them manage to make it into the train.
I ran a post comet-strike game once, styled after Lucifer's Hammer, that was so long ago I can't remember too many specifics but it ended up very much like the original series of Survivors, only with some cannibalistic Royal Marines - IIRC.
I did run a very, very grim post-nuclear game once, but it was too much like misery tourism.
I'm plannign to release a trio of survival/post apoc based games in the near future, based around the themes of family, generations, cooperation and heritage.