Beyond The Bomb: a Post Apocalyptic Setting (bring yer building hats ^,^ )

Started by Ironwolf85, July 14, 2015, 09:22:47 AM

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Ironwolf85

BEYOND THE BOMB


Some people say the world died in 2094... those people are liars. It's different sure, but the old girl is still here.
That was just the end of an era.
The great war began over simple resources Water, clean ground to grow the sweet fruits of earth to feed an excessive population, atomic energy to transport it al.. Some among the ancients took precautions, but disptie it all none could agree on how to tackle the problems. Thus their smog and poisons soaked the earth and sky the environment changed. Despite what some of The Knights may claim the earth is a tough old bird. When the storms came Nature just did what nature does best. it adapted.

Great storms came yearly, bringing floods and distructon, or snow and bitter cold. Followed by heat and drought not but months later.
But this could be endured
wars came, battles were fought with increasingly little mercy. Supersoldiers, biobombs, Plauges, proton weapons, nannotech, all these and more were the product of old world minds.
But this could be endured
The seas rose, pouring salt water into depleted underground stores of water. The waters of life turned sour from Texas to Oregon.
This slow creeping death could not be endured.

The realization that things were changing, and would not be changing back, displaced billions or set them upon each other for a single bottle of clean hydro.
Then came the bombs. In a flash of invisible fire and plague their world ended, and ours began.
________________________________________________________

Society: The world rebuilt, they say if you walk the Great Oad far enough east lands of nor-am they say nations remain. A great federation of city-states, exotic places such as Quebeqois, Bostin, Richmound, and Great York. But unless you have enough Guzzleline and the trading skill to make it worth the trip you'll only wash out into the slums surrounding those Atlantia cities. But there's some advice for those fresh out of a bunker or if you come from Silo in the north.
Trade: While Atlantia issues paper money backed by precious metals out here beyond The Mizzery trade is done in barter. That said it's hard to figure out how many chickens are worth a water purifier. These days chickens are harder to transport too when they chew through the ropes. Thus most merchants use tabs, and as such tabs are backed by aqua. One tab, one glass of aqua.
Life: there are as many forms of life as you can imagine out there, listing them all would be pointless. But despite everything humans and human-variants are the most common.
Sex: Many taboos died when the bombs fell. Old world had time to be fussy. But with the exception of the Knights and the local gossip nobody cares what you do behind closed doors as long as it presents no threat. If your kink happens to be explosions get out of town before we throw you out. The flesh trade still thrives in texas. Unmutated genetics are precious, but it's only become precious in recent years.

Regions:
Mexicania: Locked in perpetual religious civil war between two conflicting pasts Mexicania is both the greatest consumer of Texana's weapons and victim of it's raids. Much of the flesh trade that flows into Texana comes from raids across the Tox Grande.
Texana: Barren and poisoned Texana, Land of the Gops, you can tell where The Steppes end and Texana begins by the dead grass and sour water. Unlike other parts of the country Texana acted as a magnet for those left behind by the rapidly changing economy of the world. Those who would rather embrace the glorious past. While the northern and eastern places of Nor-am tried to find a way to mitigate their dependence on Guzzline with the power of Sol or Atom. Texana embraced it's power, and suffered for it. Most of the guzzline you find out west still flows out of Texana. But without water the people fell upon each other. Creating the raiding, slaving, and tribal traditions we see today. Of these the most powerful are the Gops.
The Great Waste: Beyond the great mountians lays what was once California a sodden cracked wasteland where the local worship St. Andres an angry god. It is a place of nomads and raiders. The broken cities of the old world are pulled and pushed against the ever changing landscape scoured by salt and sand.
Utah:Some claim to have been to Utah and the lands of Canaan. the mormons are a quiet people content to live up at the great salt with their pre-war tech. All the preaching aside a Canaan house is a great place to find water in the wastelands. Water Merchants often grumble about their free water undercutting prices, but there is little they can do.
The Steppes: Stretching from Utah to Azka to The Mizzery the center of the country is a large open space of light grass broken up by the occasional forest. The only defining feature is The Great Oad a metal strip the old world built. It's self maintaining and goes everywhere. But it's also exremely obvious and makes you a target for the guzzlers and other bandits.
The East: beyond the Appalachian wall the old world is slowly reborn. While the eastern citystates have many of the same problems as the old world, crime, poverty, a need to expand, government corruption, and so forth. They are relatively stable. the east coast leaned into renewable power and resources before the war. the old country might be gone but their great grandchildren are reaping the benefits. Old world culture exists as would be recognizable to those before the bombs fell. It is not super-technology that keeps the east safe from the ravages that plauge the rest of Nor-am, but access to clean aqua from their brutal snowy winters and harder to flood aquifers. Coupled with a greater population density and organization.


Religion: Faith's a funny thing, if people find hope in something they will pass it down, and their kids may one day make gods out of it.
somewhere out there there's mutants who worship old cartoons, and others sacrifice beating hearts on the altars of old world advertising hoping it will gift them with the model looks of old. Faith is a funny thing... but there are some big ones worth noting.

Arxian: Turns out Karl Marx is still remembered, as the great prophet of Arxisim. While whatever political ideals he had have been burned away by centuries of ignorance and hostility towards his teachings. His idea of social equality and template for a small self-sufficent inter-reliant community turned out to be an excellent template for primitive villages across the country. far from unified Arxisim is a rural faith with rural adherents, the more urban a community becomes the more their Arxian tradition is lost amid the roar of city life and new faiths that spring up or move in. From mutant goat men, to reptilloids, to primitive nannolife and rural peasents... everyone has heard of arxisim because most people's ancestors out west were arxists.

Gop: Goppisim is a variant on paganisim most popular in Texana where it was founded. Based on old political speeches and propaganda from the late 20th and early 21st century it worships a pantheon of old world political persons as godlike figures. The exact traditions and beliefs vary by tribe. Usually with "Gippah" and "Bussh" taking center stage. whereas the arxists have angels and demons Gops have only their gods, and their demons they call "liburls" Gops are known to worship firepower (Gippah) and large vehicles (Bussh) as an expression of their gods.

The Great Church of Almighty Science: some say that secular thought and humanistic philosophy were in the majority before the bombs fell. Actual recovered records say that's herdbeast shit... But the GCAS is a cargo cult that would like to disagree with your theory... violently. A large number of people in what was once Washington blamed the war on religious extremism. This blame, right or wrong, was passed down and became a habit to blame "fanatics" for local troubles. Curses became superstition. The folk of Washington worship "Science" as a rigid and dogmatic father figure, who, if pleased will bestow technology and it's powers upon a village. Where such things exist hierarchy form and "scientolger" priests in white coats with vision blocking goggles to preform rituals such as scribbling random numbers on chalkboards and typing gibberish on computers to appease "Science" run the show in the great forest.

Children of Abraham: the big three faiths exist in various forms across Nor-am with Catholic Christianity (with the papal palaice in Mexicana City) being the only truly organized church, the others are largely an interconnected network of religious groups that get along surprisingly well thanks to external threats. There is talk of a growing Abraham Temple back east trying to unite these groups, but nothing has come of it yet.

More to come: feel free to suggest factions for me to add. I wanna hear what you wanna play!
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

Color me interested. After the Bomb is a spectactular setting :) But what sort of game are you intending to run?
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Ironwolf85

oh mah gosh I thought this was dead o0o
well I was not sure but had a desire for a post-apocalyptic setting and figured if nobody else had one I'd start one
I was planning on it being here in the forums and discussing details with anyone who showed up.
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

Ah forgive me if your enthusiasm is spent. :/ I just always wanted to try this setting & this looked pretty promising. But if noone else is biting :'( Though if you do want to discuss some ideas I'm quite happy to?
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Ironwolf85

oh no nono I'm still happy to talk run and play with this we can totally discuss things!  ;D
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

Well, what sort of theme did you have in mind? The settings has gangs and drifters and its own version of quests and bounties for the more traditional themes. But I'm wondering what else you can do in this sort of setti. It's a genre I haven't actually tried much before and for once, I feel my imagination is lacking and not overflowing with impractical ideas and hilarious troublesome characters for the Gm to manage...

Also did you have a system in mind or did you not to load down the play with too much dice?
Posting rate: Moderate       Currently Chasing: Playful, Romance & Something Rough.
A&A           RL Issues: Some Insomnia.
Offsite RP's: 2 online + 1 RL. Currently Craving: Romance and just a touch of something darker...

Ironwolf85

I don't want to use dice, I prefer to tell a story. Hey if you want to contribute I say go right ahead. Even if it's just the two of us it'll be fun, though I might have to ask it to be moved to world building if nobody else shows up.

You can do a lot in this kind of setting, especially because I've mixed in gamma world and mad max elements instead of just fallout.

One of the major elements is actually that I'm keeping the major religions off towards the east, making way for all sorts of crazy cults and gangs.
For example most small communities are quite literally rebuilding their societies from scratch, some are farther along than others, and bio-weapons have caused some mutations to man, plant, and beast alike.
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.


Ironwolf85

Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

wigglebiscuit


Tytus

Tytus Hale

Kimmy

So would you focus on people within a community? Or something more mobile- people trying to travel together to find their dreams in some far off place? I rather like the idea of a mechanic or maybe someone with some livestock... As complicated at that might be (where exactly do livestock end and people begin in this complicated setting?) and definitely a good knack for farming. I can imagine a flat bed truck with a green house on the back- always looking for replacement glass and good soil or water to use on the vegetables inside. Trading seeds, produce and advice to communities for water and a little meat. Maybe even a solar panel and a hybrid electric engine that runs well in the summer and erratically every other season?

I've no idea what sort of race they might be though. What are other people's thoughts?
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Ironwolf85

i was thinking of basing it around the adventures of a small community of nomads set in the great plains, in this strange world beyond the bomb.
As this is Elliquiy the world is a bit more pervy than usual, for example I can see the decendents of "playgirls" (women who geneticly modified themselves to look like playboy bunnies with the big boobs and all that.) being amazons riding chariots pulled by a roaring engine.

the idea is that socities are rebuilding and becoming more complex, religion, art, culture, science, all of it sort of got reset so there is now much competition between just about everything as people have recently stopped being so isolated.

Also I was sick of the post-apocalyptic world where everything is brown dry wasteland... there are places like that but not worldwide.
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

Interesting. I can imagine that much of the "broken world" will still have running water - a lot of plumbing is powered by dams & rivers. Not all - but if you cut the worlds population down then there ought to be enough in a lot of places to cope. And solar/wind farms still make power. If someone can just figure out how to maintain them, they might degrade but that's still hot water, radios, electronics & even electric cars. Batteries degrading down over time would be a big issue there - so batteries & maybe engine oil might be the new gold, whilst water is reasonably cheap or free to anyone putting in a good day's work where it's needed. And water means crops, wildlife & a ecosystem.

It's just a thought and not all communities will have that. Pipes burst & much of the plumbing uses pumps to keep the water flowing. But there will be places with the modern features, if they can protect & maintain them.

And I can't help but laugh at the playgirl colony! I love it! Cute catgirls & foxboys, panicky bunnies & handsome stallions with their extra large... pecs? Oh I can't help but want to put together a character now. All those animal instincts genetically modified in, allowed to roam & develop now that the pressures of a structured society have been removed to keep those more animalistic natures in check. I wonder if photography & painting might be tied into part of their religion or class structure? A forgotten remnant that's become tied into their new ways?
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Ironwolf85

that's exactly the idea Kimmy.

The idea of things like advertisement being taken the wrong way and starting like... cults of mutant cave-dog men who remember human experiments on them and worship some big billboard of dog food and the big cartoon dog as a god.
Or an army of tumor ridden chicken mutants operating a still-functioning automated chicken farm and selling the patties to a nearby town for electricity.
those were ideas from gamma world by the way.

I like the idea of overgrown mutant jungle across texas >.>
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

A tropical jungle across texas? Now that's something global warming theorists never predicted...
Posting rate: Moderate       Currently Chasing: Playful, Romance & Something Rough.
A&A           RL Issues: Some Insomnia.
Offsite RP's: 2 online + 1 RL. Currently Craving: Romance and just a touch of something darker...

Ironwolf85

partly because I just wanna, but my excuse for it is a biological incident. hyper advanced GMO plants + radiation + whatever was in those bio bombs. instead of being a utopia hive mind jungle place of nature the place is actually full of deadly but edible plants.
the other reason is that gamma world had a lot of deadly plants, and if I ever want to use some I need a place to put whatever they inspire.
so...might make texas green >,0
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Kimmy

I have this image of crazy Texan's with 6 shooters riding mutant plants about an arena, battling until one plant eats the other (or their rider).

But then I'm Australian & don't really know the USA much at all... Forgive me for my bad sterotyping...
Posting rate: Moderate       Currently Chasing: Playful, Romance & Something Rough.
A&A           RL Issues: Some Insomnia.
Offsite RP's: 2 online + 1 RL. Currently Craving: Romance and just a touch of something darker...

Cosmo_ac

is this based on a system of some sort?  Some of the things you mentioned seemed like this game had some roots in a source book or something.  Also, it seemed like it has a bit of a Mad Max flare to it, which is also cool.  At any rate, I'm curious if nothing else.

Ironwolf85

Quote from: Cosmo_ac on August 16, 2015, 11:03:34 AM
is this based on a system of some sort?  Some of the things you mentioned seemed like this game had some roots in a source book or something.  Also, it seemed like it has a bit of a Mad Max flare to it, which is also cool.  At any rate, I'm curious if nothing else.
while Beyond the Bomb itself not system based and is mostly freeform it has it's roots in Gamma World (all editions) and Rifts: radioactive (which sorta died when the current Rifts setting was made ). Gamma World 1st edition also served as the inspiration for fallout. It also has roots in my love for mad max both old and new.
Gamma world is famous for ignoring the realisim that a lot of people demand nowadays with post-apocalyptic works.

for example one of the early passages tells the story of a young semi-humanoid mountian goat watching his elder interact with a group of bounty hunters looking for a nearby bunker where his people believe the gods who gave them hands live and if they are really good then the gods will come back and finish the job. "I never saw the outsiders again, they never returned from the tomb of the gods, and neither did the gods themselves." was the last line and that sorta struck me as an interesting perspective instead of "adventurers went into bunker and died of radiation"



As to kimmy, that's a very cool idea. I could totally see that and use it too. I want to use imagination here.
Also colt six shooters were pretty friggin rugged so I could see them being re-adopted, or somthing simmilar being reinvented.
Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Alive again and posting tentative interest.

I notice that in addition to the sources of inspiration which Ironwolf85 posted, Kimmy seems to have referenced TMNT's post-apoc RPG setting "After the Bomb."

And oh good grief, classic GW and the Famine in Far-Go. Anyone remember Metamorphosis Alpha or am I showing my age again?

I'm tentatively interested if it's more grit than classic GW...Which was cheesy to the point of goofy an awful lot of the time, and its sequels seem to have focused mostly on the goofy. I am not a very avid roleplayer of goofy/silly, I'm afraid.

It doesn't have to be full-on Aftermath, or Morrow Project, or Fallout or Fury Road level grit, mind you, but I'd definitely appreciate it if it weren't "The cannister cracks open and everyone within 10' grows a chicken in addition to their real head." "You mean we have chicken heads and real heads?" "Yes, chicken heads and the rest of the chickens as well, growing out of the side of your neck from the ankles up."

If we're doing nomads...I'm curious as to the scale of society. A tiny party? Or a small tribe? On foot or convoy action? I'm having an idea regarding a hunter/trapper or scout, possibly based on something like an anime arachne:
Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide
]

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Ironwolf85

Oh god no, I had no idea it got super goofy later on. I liked the idea of societies climbing out of the ruins, recently refounded, in a world that isn't just harsh brown wasteland like all the recent post-apocalyptic fallout-style settings. One that allowed for wierd creatures and fun mutations. Grit is fine, but Book of Eli this is not :3
I just want to make room for non-black humor.


For example I'm thinking there is actually a Super Soldier gene, passed down from father to son (or daughter) but it has a high infant mortality rate.
In vegas they replaced the police force with cyborgs, some of which have survived distruction and act sort of like judge dredd.'
The mormons of Great Salt are enriched by the salt trade much like Mali in pre-colonial africa, and spend their money on scholarly presuits, knowlage and theology.
that kind of stuff...

also it's Elliquiy so it's gunna be kinda pervy


I'd been doing some work with the mutants and monsters of the setting in my spare time.

Concept art: warning risque








Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Quote from: Ironwolf85 on August 20, 2015, 09:39:17 AM
Oh god no, I had no idea it got super goofy later on. I liked the idea of societies climbing out of the ruins, recently refounded, in a world that isn't just harsh brown wasteland like all the recent post-apocalyptic fallout-style settings. One that allowed for wierd creatures and fun mutations. Grit is fine, but Book of Eli this is not :3
I just want to make room for non-black humor.

It got pretty bad. In the latest incarnation everyone gets dealt cards with mutations and you can gain and lose mutations every few turns. At which point your mutation isn't really a part of your character, and what your character IS on any given day isn't something you have any control at all over...And most of them are silly rather than dramatic.

Not saying Famine in Far-Go wasn't silly, but it had a very dark humor to it, with mutant cannibal death chickens running a chicken farm...

Quote from: Ironwolf85 on August 20, 2015, 09:39:17 AM
For example I'm thinking there is actually a Super Soldier gene, passed down from father to son (or daughter) but it has a high infant mortality rate.
In vegas they replaced the police force with cyborgs, some of which have survived distruction and act sort of like judge dredd.'
The mormons of Great Salt are enriched by the salt trade much like Mali in pre-colonial africa, and spend their money on scholarly presuits, knowlage and theology.
that kind of stuff...

All very fun and characterful.

Quote from: Ironwolf85 on August 20, 2015, 09:39:17 AM
also it's Elliquiy so it's gunna be kinda pervy

That's usually a given. You might want to select a level/degree of pervyness and also give some sort of guideline for how much it's going to slow the story. For example, if the story is waiting for two folks to get done upstairs in the inn, usually this is death to the story. I tend to favor having an alternate forum that's not time-locked to the main story and where all the sex happens.

Of course, if the sex somehow becomes a critical story element (dangerous!) this doesn't work.

Quote from: Ironwolf85 on August 20, 2015, 09:39:17 AM
I'd been doing some work with the mutants and monsters of the setting in my spare time.

Neat art!

I'm going to suggest that you've got enough interest to start something, but that there are some things which might be posted to keep that interest/get things rolling...I hope you don't mind!

First, your description talks about the entire continent...It'd probably be neat to have some idea of where the player characters are going to regionally be at the beginning of the game. Also some idea of how the party will fit together. Mercenaries? Nomadic traders? What ties them to each other?

Second, establish which forum (and thereby what level of kinkiness!) you're planning to run in.

Third, characters. How do you want characters formatted? Are we using any kind of system? Or do you just want a few paragraphs of descriptive background and maybe an image or two?

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Ironwolf85

Prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, love...
debate any other aspect of my faith these are the heavenly virtues. this flawed mortal is going to try to adhere to them.

Culture: the ability to carve an intricate and beautiful bowl from the skull of a fallen enemy.
Civilization: the ability to put that psycho in prision for killing people.

Cosmo_ac

I am interested, especially if the females have breasts like that! O_O  And very nice art, by the way.