Interest Check - Armageddon: The End Times

Started by TheSithChicken, April 19, 2017, 01:55:23 AM

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TheSithChicken



Introduction


Armageddon is set in an alternate now, a time of war and uncertainty, a world where magic and the supernatural have become a factor in the lives of every living person. Beings of tremendous power walk the Earth once again - the Old Gods of mythology side by side with Angels and Demons and even stranger creatures. These beings have returned to the world to fight an enemy that threatens their very existence - and that of our entire universe. An evil from beyond reality has risen in the East, and has already seized over half of the planet. Led by the Dark Apostle, the Believers of Leviathan want nothing less than the total submission of humankind. If they triumph, reality as we know it will cease to exist, transformed into a reflection of the twisted desires of Leviathan, the Outsider who was cast out by the Creator at the beginning of time.

The war is being waged in every plane of reality.The forces of the free world, led by the United Nations, oppose the war machine of the Army of Revelation.The most advanced weapon systems of the 21st century, backed by bravery and fanaticism, clash in battlefields in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Most of Europe has fallen already, but a newly formed Underground continues to resist the Dark Apostle and his minions. In the Otherworlds, the war rages as well; the Death Realms, the Fey Kingdoms and the Abodes of the Gods are not exempt from invasion by the followers of Leviathan. Traitors, both human and super-natural, lend their resources to the monstrous armies of Dark Apostle, tilting the balance in his favor.

The prizes of this conflict are not land and resources, but human souls. In the fallen territories, the Soul Police oversees the forced conversion of the conquered peoples. Only when every living human being worships Leviathan will this being manifest itself in our reality, and bring an End to all time. If Leviathan is successful, everything will cease to exist, replaced by its own warped creations. And, slowly but surely, the number of converts is growing. The call of Leviathan is seductive, offering power and the fulfillment of one's darkest desires. Prayers to Leviathan are always answered, and many wishes are granted - at a price. The taint of Leviathan will eventually destroy the believer's sanity and his body and soul until they are no longer human.

Even before the Dark Apostle rose to power, the world had been undergoing severe changes. Magic had become a common force once again, wielded by many, feared by most. Supernatural predators of every ilk lurked in the shadows, hunting the weak or unwary. The Heavenly Host and the Infernal Legions had waged a millennia-long battle to determine the fate of Humankind. Covenants controlled by Gifted Humans pursued their secret agendas. Even now, with the True Believers unleashing their armies against the entire world, and Leviathan's Soul Police hunting down all supernatural beings, the old conflicts are not easily forgotten. Angels and Demons face a common enemy, but they refuse to work together our of hatred or mistrust. The Old Gods remember their old quarrels and remember well their persecution at the hands of the Heavenly Hosts.

What Everyone Knows
To the average person, the world of Armageddon is a place of fear and uncertainty. The world is at war. A fanatic cult known as the Church of Revelations has inexplicably risen in several nations of the world, over-turning governments and amassing huge armies which then charged into neighboring countries. A madman who calls himself the Last Apostle (but who'sreferred to as the Dark Apostle by the free world media) has appointed himself the leader of this movement, and is now the most powerful man in the world.

Furthermore, the Dark Apostle and his acolytes also command enormous supernatural powers. Some prominent Believers (as the members of the Church call themselves) have started to change, to become inhuman things. Many dismiss these rumors are mere superstition. The facts are horrible enough. When theArmy of Revelations took Rome and seized the Vatican, the Dark Apostle executed Pope John XXIV on live television. The vision of the Apostle calmly firing a gun into the head of the spiritual leader of millions has become a symbol of the evil the enemy is capable of.

Nuclear war should have been inevitable. The atomic holocaust never happened, however. The free world tried to use tactical nuclear weapons against the relentless enemy: every device mysteriously malfunctioned. Nobody has come up with an explanation for this. Perhaps it is God's will. Maybe it is just magic.

This is no long distance war. For the first time in two centuries, the US is being directly attacked by a foreign foe. Every week, stealth bombers pierce the air defenses of America and conduct air strikes. Texas and New Mexico have become huge armed camps, and enemy probing attacks have managed to establish short lived beachheads on US soil. Every night, families gather in front of television sets to hear news of battles or skirmishes, and to see casualty lists scrolling down the screen.

Along with the war, the world is beset by supernatural events. Stories that once belonged to the wildest supermarket tabloids are now seriously reported in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Angels have come down to Earth in great numbers. As the holy city of Rome fell, a host of angelic beings appeared to make a futile last stand. As millions watched in utter disbelief, winged beings of light flew through the skies and battles jet fighters over the streets of Rome - and were overwhelmed by superior numbers and high technology.

To many people, the situation is clear. The End Times are at hand - the Apocalypse, Ragnarok, the Final Battle between Good and Evil. The Dark Apostle is identified with the Antichrist, the False Prophet and the Beast of the Book of Revelations. The fact that his followers sport a mark on their hands or foreheads has been recognized as the biblical "Mark of the Beast." Religious fervor has become a source of strength. This war is for far more than national interests, but it is a battle between absolute forces and principles; to those who believe this, no sacrifice is too small. Religious fanaticism has brought about internal strife and discord. To some sects, the free world is too sinful and tolerant to stand against the Church of Revelations. These zealots would like to create their own theocracy to resist the Adversary, and will go to any lengths to do so.

The United States, the heart of the free world, is beset by internal problems. The inner cities of th egreat metropolitan areas, wracked by riots and poverty, have been walled off into Security Zones, turning them into giant prisons where no law exists, street gangs run rampant, and supernatural predators hunt at will. Although there have been numerous protests about this act of tyranny, with barbarians at the gate, most people have other things to worry about. The highways between cities are also plagued by roaming bands of cycle gangs, new nomads made up of army deserters, insane cultists, and militia men. Some areas of the Midwest and South have effectively seceded from the US and established their own version of America, and the government currently lacks the man power to retake those territories by force.

Still, people carry on. Even despite the shortages and fear, and the death and terror, many try to lead normal lives.

The Hidden Truths
Although supernatural creatures and events have now become a part of everyone's lives, they have always existed. Since ancient times, humans have learned to harness tremendous spiritual powers through the force of will and tradition. Magic, the Second Sight, and similar powers are real but often misunderstood and feared. Immortal beings have walked among us, sometimes worshipped openly, others hiding their nature from the world. Some of these entities had human attributes but superhuman power; others were utterly alien creatures with unfathomable purposes. These beings battled each other, or plotted to gain more power or avenge past wrongs, and recruited humans to assist them in their struggles.

In the past, there have been many moments of crisis, known among occult circles as Reckoning. A Reckoning is a period of chaos both mundane andsupernatural, a testing time that affects most of the world in almost every sphere, political, social and spiritual. They are times of war and upheaval, often marked by plagues and natural disasters.

Towards the end of the century - and the millennium - occultists could sense a new Reckoning was at hand. More people than ever before were being born with the Gift - the ability to work magic, or the Second Sight. Supernatural predators, who for centuries had been few in numbers, were appearing at an amazing rate, to the point that even the normally unaware Mundanes were starting to realize that something was terribly wrong. The signs were clear for those who could see them. A storm was coming.




Hello and welcome to my little interest check! Especially those of who expressed interest before I even finished this post. Let me lay out some things. This will be a system game and that system is Eden Studios Unisystem - which is a super simple system - used in such games as Armageddon, Witchcraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, and more. You do not need to be familiar with these rules as the corebook for Witchcraft is available for free and - as the prequel setting to Armageddon - it's rules and setting are perfectly compatible. I will provide a link below to that book. If you do not have access to Armageddon I will provide links for the specific character types that are available there that are not in the Witchcraft book - the same for available character types from any source books for the two game lines. This will be done in a perfectly legal manner. And I am always happy to teach a system to new players.

Witchcraft Corebook: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/692/CJ-Carrellas-WitchCraft?cPath=57_93&it=1

Source Books: Armageddon, Armageddon: Armed Forces, Witchcraft, Witchcraft: Mystery Codex, Witchcraft: Abomination Codex




Content

I want to take a moment to address game content because I feel like this important to talk about on a permissive site like E. I will be putting this game in the Extreme category now I am doing this for a number for a number of reasons. One is that I kind of view the Extreme tag as condom. It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Secondly is that this is a dark setting that touches on a lot of heavy and disturbing topics. This is a world were monsters feed on the innocent, religious extremism is renewed in strength, and Holocaust centers concetration camps exist for those who oppose the Church of Revelations. That does not mean the game will be a shockfest or a gorefest but is rather simply a warning of potentially disturbing material. As for sexuality I reserve the right to use it in storylines but as the gm I will not be playing out any sex scenes barring some truly unusual story need for it to happen. Any such scenes will fade to black. If the players want their characters to have sex feel free. I will have a thread for it and as long as it does not derail the game I don't care.

Once players are ready we will have a more personal discussion on the kind of content we do not and do not want to see. I am big believer in social contracts.




The Fun Stuff

Here I will discuss acceptable character types to give you an idea of what you can play, who you can potentially work for, and the kinds of game we can play. As you can see I want to build a game around what you want to play. I have some ideas but at the end of the day if none of those excite you I can come up with more. I will put short blurbs for each but feel free to ask questions. I have no life and like to talk.

Character Types - Human

Mundanes - Normal if skilled mortals
Gifted: Basic - Witches, psychics, the divinely Inspired, and necromancers make up the bulk of the Gifted. Covered in the Witchcraft Corebook.
Gifted: The Knights Templar - An ancient order carrying out their secret war against the Great Adversary. Mystics and warriors with access to the powerful Keys of Solomon. Witchcraft Abomination Codex.
Gifted: Mockers - Men and women tainted by the touch of a Mad God and able to wield the powers of those dread beings at the cost of their sanity and - potentially - their humanity. Witchcraft Abomination Codex.
Gifted: Pariahs - Broken Gifted who have turned their trauma to the power to manipulate their shape and form using the Disciplines of the Flesh. Witchcraft Mystery Codex.

Character Types - Supernaturals

Angel: Seraphim - True angels of the Heavenly Host (or the Pit) and wielders of the Celestial Fire. Armageddon Core.
Angel: Kerubim - Humans elevated to the status of angels after death. Armageddon Core.
Angel: Nephilim - Half human child of a Seraphim and a human. Virtually indestructible and untouchable by powers but unable to use any magic or powers of their own. Armageddon Core.
Bast - Feline shapeshifters who can learn magic, psychic powers, or necromancy. Witchcraft Corebook.
Ferals - Tribes of the Moon. Werecreatures. Bear, Coyote, Hyena, Jaguar, Lion, Tiger, and Wolf. Witchcraft: Abomination Codex.
Inheritors - Half human children of the Old Gods. Wide variety of powers dependent on parentage. Armageddon Core.
Relentless Dead - Revenants. Undead driven by a terrible thirst for revenge. Unfortunately common in the End Times. Witchcraft Mystery Codex.
True Immortals - Immortal descendants of Atlantis that can gain access to Atlantean "sciences". Witchcraft: Abomination Codex & Armageddon Core.
Vampires - Do I really need to explain? Witchcraft Mystery Codex.

That All Sounds Fun But What Are We Gonna Do With It?

Well that answer to this question depends on all of you. Do you want to work for the Old Gods pursuing their ancient enemies from Earth to the abodes of the Gods? Do you want to hunt down Churchies where they hide like cancers in America's Heartland? Do you want to be deep behind enemy lines working to disrupt the CoR or even to liberate "work camps"? How about working as part of a military strike team being sent after "special" targets? Or do you have an idea? I am open to suggestions.

The single most important thing I have to say is if you have a curiosity about anything - ask. I want to build a game we can all enjoy and I can't do that without you.

Idea #1
- Cleaners

The PCs would be a small group assembled by either the Alliance (the big group of Supernatural specialists working with the American military and allies) or a smaller group who are tasked with hunting down cells of the CoR in home territory. Ferreting out hidden cults and stopping terrorist attacks. Dealing with vigilantes who try to take justice into their own hands. Basically digging through the underbelly of this war shadowed world leading towards bigger secrets that will eventually place you in larger battles and more dangerous places like hunting a particular Adept during the Battle of Tiajuna.




Character Sheet


BASIC INFO:
Character Type:
Full Name: 
Age/Apparent Age:
Gender:
Occupation:



ADDITIONAL INFO:
Education:
Place of Birth:
Ethnicity:
Faith:
Loyalty: .
Motto:
Sexuality:


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Height:
Weight:
Hair color:
Eye color:
General Appearance:



HISTORY & PERSONALITY

HISTORY:

PERSONALITY:




PLAYER LIMITS: (Use this segment to list anything that is a no go for you. Situations, acts, etc.)




CHARACTER CONNECTIONS: (Once a character is approved you may ask other players for connections and sort out how you see one another. I expected all characters to have connections with each other, filled out, before the IC starts. Leave this blank for approval. The conncections conversation will happen after the players are picked.)




MECHANICS

ATTRIBUTES

Strength                Intelligence
Dexterity               Perception
Constitution           Willpower

SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES

Life Points              Speed
Endurance              Essence


QUALITIES:

DRAWBACKS:

SKILLS:

METAPHYSICS: 

GreenMoonKing

So much fire and brimstone, I'm gonna need meh a heat shield! ;)

Loving the mix of the supernatural into this.

One question, when you say the old gods. Do you mean the greek gods, H.P Lovecraft's Cthulhu? Or your own gods?

GMK
"The veil that separates us from the supernatural, is thinning more and more every day."

TheSithChicken

Norse, Greek, Egyptian... that kind of thing. There are Lovecraftian gods. They're called the Mad Gods and they are bad news.

GreenMoonKing

Interesting, a pantheon of all the gods.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Get some rest.

GMK
"The veil that separates us from the supernatural, is thinning more and more every day."

TheSithChicken

Technically pantheons. It makes sense in the cosmology.

Lustful Bride


CShades

~stakes a flag, flying colors of curiosity.  The premise is interesting - but who are the players to become, and what sort of interaction should we be expecting for them?

"The next time I kill you, I promise you the labyrinth that consists of a single straight line that is both invisible and endless" ~Jorge Luis Borges.

TheSithChicken

Give me some time to finish the initial post and all of those detals will be provided.

TheSithChicken

Updated! Feel free to ask any and all questions you have.

Lustful Bride

So aside from possible Party of Heroes stuff, will we be getting any chances to take part in the big war as the allies push south to liberate mexico?

TheSithChicken

If that is what you want to do - yeah. I'm all for it.

TheSithChicken

Updated with a character sheet and a campaign idea.

Lustful Bride

#12
If there is a chance this game might continue on, I am still interested. I even made a character sheet.

*Moved at a snail's pace*

Gabriella Sanchez


Gabriella Sanchez

BASIC INFO:
Race: Nephilim.
Full Name:  Gabriella Luis Sanchez.
Age: 24
Gender: Female.
Occupation: Militia member/janitor.



ADDITIONAL INFO:
Education: Associate's Degree. (Not that an education means much anymore)
Place of Birth: San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Ethnicity: Hispanic. (Puerto Rican)
Faith: Christian. (constantly sways between Catholic and Protestant)
Loyalty: The Alliance.
Motto: "Kill them all, God will understand."
Sexuality: Bisexual (yes she knows the Bible doesn't approve)


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Height: 5'9''
Weight: 172
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown.
General Appearance: Tends to always wear boots, 5.11 tactical pants. Generally always ready for an air raid or other emergency that might lead to the call for the militia. She is ready to leave at a moment's notice but still keeps a level of informality by allowing her hair to grow out and sometimes wearing a shirt with some image on it for fun. But is at least halfway ready for any kind of emergency. 



ABILITIES/EQUIPMENT/OTHER

SKILLS:

-Practiced in the use of firearms.

-Bilingual.




EQUIPMENT:

-MP5 Submachine Gun: Standard issue for some members of the militia, the weapon is light and easy to use once learned. It fires 9millimeter rounds with little recoil and has multiple modes of fire. Given the age of the weapon, it isn't nearly as good as the weapons used by the AoR/CoR, but it does put them closer to the playing field of the AoR when attacked. If used right it can put the hurt on them just like anything else, and scare off some would-be thugs or raiders who are accustomed to picking on those who can't fight back.

-Berreta 9mm pistol: One of the tricks taught to Gabby by her instructors at the Militia course was that having weapons with the same ammunition made it easier to carry more ammunition and not having to juggle different ammunition types. So it would have made sense to carry a 9mm with her. If only her Berretta wasn't shit. Like her MP5, it was a hand-me-down/government surplus given to the sanctioned militias. Unlike her MP5, the pistol has a bad habit of jamming on her sometimes and is less reliable to her in a pinch, but if push came to shove she would make due. At least her instructor was right that it allowed her to carry much more ammo with her and at least 9mm ammunition was still the most common type in the world.

-Sword with strange Runes on it: During one of the few times that Gabby had to fight against the AoR, the Militia had been sent out to help the local police and SWAT teams when they uncovered a plot by an AoR insurgency to blow up several bridges used by allied forces to transport supplies to the Mexico battle lines. It wouldn't stop the flow of resources, but would slow it down, and any delay in food, meds, or ammunition could prove critical. Luckily the insurgent group had only been 12 members strong, and wasn't expecting a rapid response from local agencies. During the firefight all but 4 of the Churchies were killed, and their weapons and supplies were seized and redistributed to those involved. No need in destroying what could be used against the CoR. No one else wanted to pick up the strange sword that had been found among several other strange artifacts, but Gabriella herself felt drawn to it. She didn't know what the runes on it meant, but she thought they added character to the sword. At the very least it would give her more options if she ran out of ammo and had to fight one of the heretic's monsters.




HISTORY & PERSONALITY

HISTORY: Born in 1992, Gabriella grew up in Puerto Rico, never really paid much attention to the world outside beyond movies and TV shows. Her life was uneventful beyond sometimes visiting her father at the Firestation he worked at and getting to play with the fireengine's horn. As the outside world began to slowly fall into madness and corruption, Gabriella was content to just spend a day at the beach and enjoy the gifts of nature and live in the moment. It wasn't until the war really got started and AoR uprisings began in South and Central America that she really paid much attention. The danger was coming and it was coming fast. So her parents and some other members of her family (grandparents, aunts) pulled all their money together to send as many of their children as they could off together to the United States. Since they were Puerto Ricans they were already citizens and didn't have to worry about being turned away as refugees. All it took was the money and planning to do so.

Gabriella ended up going to a cheap university for a time as her parents emptied their bank accounts hoping to put her on a right path and that she would have a nice life in the states, away from all the violence. As the US entered the war on the side of the Allies and NATO, a few light bombings came to Puerto Rico, nothing major, but it confirmed the parents fears and made them feel even more that they had made the right decision. They had no idea that the shadow of the Dark Apostle would eclipse even the paragon of Democracy itself. And it would be much more than causing riots and stockmarket hits.

Gabby had been attending college for almost two years when it happened. A fifth column group of the CoR planned an attack, with chemical weapons, chlorine and worse. The explosions rocked the campus as the members of the CoR stepped out, weapons in hand and began gunning down anyone who tried to get in their way or tried to run away. Gabriella was trapped in her dorm as the terrorists went room to room, gunning down anyone they saw, being followed by a trail of chemical gas. She had nowhere to go, and was forced to listen to the screams of so many of her friends as the men made their way to her room. By the time they finally arrived they heard a scream of rage rather than one of fear, as Gabby burst out of her room with a pair of scissors in hand and began stabbing the nearest members over and over again, even managing to force off his gas mask so that he could breathe in the same chemical fumes he was forcing others to suffer from.

Before she could attack the other Churchie he fired his weapon into her stomach and sent her back, her own intestines spilling out of herself. After that Gabriella didn't remember much, only drifting in and out of consciousness as the gas did its work, damaging her body just like the bullets had done...but somehow she didn't die. The pain actually lessened over time and she managed to find the straight to keep going, to force herself to her feet and walk through the hazy yellow cloud and get outside. She was there to see as government forces finally responded to the emergency. Moving in to kill the CoR. They actually found her wrestling with one of the terrorists, trying to take his gun from him while he tried to pull her intestines out with his bare hands.

It was deemed miraculous as she was taken to a field hospital, and the Churchie was taken to a  prison cell somewhere to be beaten to a pulp she hoped. It was at this point that the Angels had already made their presence known, and other mythological beings were beginning to reveal themselves. It didn't take that long for some to figure out (based on her powers) that Gabby was actually a Nephilim..one descended from the union of both Man and Angel.

Learning that she was the descendant of an Angel didn't surprise Gabby as much as it should have, as she rarely ever got sick and remembered a few times where she had injuries that should have been far worse but never even had so much as a scratch. She even had a fairly good idea as to who in her family line was the most likely candidate. As her Grandfather had been a man of Blonde Hair and blue eyes, who looked like he had been in his 20s, while supposedly in his 40s. She had never met the man as he worked on a fishing boat and 'supposedly' fell overboard on one stormy night. The same night that the boat had the biggest catch of fish ever. After learning of her Celestial bloodline, Gabriella was sure he had used that as a cover for his escape.

Since then Gabby has joined up with a militia that formed after the attack at the college. She had no interests in continuing her education. The world needed soldiers now, not college students. She never thought she had the skill to be a real one though, but she knew she could damn well be a good militiawoman. Her parents might have protested her decision but...the ere no longer in the picture.

The last she heard of her family, her Father died putting a fireaxe through the helmet of an AoR soldier, and her mother went missing after a stealth bomber dropped explosives in the area she worked in, with one of the bombs hitting her hospital.

Since then Gabriella has been working hard to fight for the last remaining free territories against all enemies foreign and domestic.

PERSONALITY: Even since her youth Gabby has had a sense of civic duty, thanks in part to her mother being a Nurse and her father a Firefighter. She was instilled with the values of helping others since it was the right thing to do, and that if it was within her power to help, she had to do so. Those lessons stuck with her all through her life until Gabby discovered her power, and decided she couldn't stand back in fear while others fought and died.

She used to doubt her belief in God before the arrival of the False prophet, but now that the very war for mankind's soul is being waged in her lifetime, there is no room for doubt, only duty. She takes the war seriously and holds herself up to a high standard and can sometimes get upset if she thinks others may not be doing their part or are hurting the war effort. But aside from that she is in general very friendly and accepting, even to those of other faiths, or who have no faith. To her, so long as they are not following the False Prophet, then they are on her side. She firmly believes that if everyone works together they can take the world back and send the Leviathan back to whatever hell it crawled out of.




PLAYER LIMITS: (Use this segment to list any form  of gore/injuries or psychological suffering that you are not willing for your character to undergo. Anything not listed here can be forced on your character. Most characters are going to get severely injured and traumatised)




CHARACTER CONNECTIONS: