Hi everyone, and welcome to the Finder’s Archives.
THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NIGH!
Well, nothing quite as dramatic as that – but if you read the news about the coronavirus, that certainly seems to be what they’re all calling for.
So as I sit here after the Danish government has basically quarantined everyone for 14 days as a preventative measure, I’m going to present you with a brief overview for some Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse RPGs for you to run, as the world pulls itself back together. 😊
Disclaimer: These will not include things like Obsidian Apocalypse, as I wanted it to feel like something that could reasonably happen in our time and world, rather than a fantasy one. Nor will they prevent you from running out of toilet paper.
First, a little disclaimer with Gamma World. It has 7 editions by now, but I’m only including the first one here because it’s the original. The newest version uses cards and other things that don’t fit that well (in my opinion) with Gamma World. So look into them all and see which one is the best fit for you.
That said, Gamma World is probably the granddaddy of them all. It’s the apocalypse set to “whacky,” so you have the uplifted animals, the mutants, the intelligent plants, the survivors, the “perfect humans” and more all rolled into this weird world where anything can happen and has happened. If you want to gonzo/Flash Gordon up your apocalypse, this is the game for you. 😊
Apocalypse World (2nd edition)
Apocalypse World was the genesis of the game system known as “Powered By the Apocalypse,” and today still offers a very interesting play experience. It also has one of the most unique concepts of any of the games on this list, as the event that ended the world as we know it, is not defined by the system. Instead, it is up to the players to design or choose that event, giving them a unique input into the world and setting. I highly recommend you check it out, if nothing else, it’ll familiarize you with the game engine that you’ll likely run into elsewhere. 😊
An oldie, but a goodie. D20 Apocalypse builds on the old d20 Modern engine, which might be familiar to many of you, as it was very similar to that used in Star Wars SAGA Edition and, with a bit of tweaking, would work with the modern-day 5e system. It offers 3 versions of the apocalypse: Atomic Sunrise, Earth Inherited and Plague World – In effect Mad Max, “what happens to the people left behind, when the rest of them go to heaven” and a take on the “dead rise again, many years after they fought off an invasion by aliens,” sort of a mix of zombies and infected-with-alien-spores. While the book is good and highly adaptable with modern systems, it’s 3 settings do not offer anything unique as such. They simply work well.
The Apocalypse Campaign guide is a sourcebook for the Savage Worlds system, that I’m sure many of you might have heard of. It offers a lot of new options for that system, such as mutations and cybernetics, crafting, scavenging and even a “build your own Road Warrior vehicle.” It is also one of the few to look at a VAMPIRE apocalypse (such as the one from Omega Man or I am Legend) as well as a Rise of the Kaiju – but subsets that tend to be overlooked. It has several more sub-genres that it looks at, but basically, it’ll allow you to play Fallout in Savage Worlds.
And speaking of, here it is. The official Fallout system. I guess I don’t need to tell you about it, but if you really don’t know Fallout, it’s a 1950s style “Atomic Apocalypse,” it means that back in the 50s, nuclear energy was everywhere, from robots in the household and cars – everything. Unfortunately war broke out between the US and China when China invaded Alaska during the Great War of 2077. War broke out for resources, and the world fell apart. The Fallout series takes place roughly 90 years after the Great War, with humanity struggling to cling on, all while under constant attack by mutants, robots, and other human raiders.
Kim Frandsen
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