Dark Heresy Episode 1.2

I'm a week behind in the write-ups, as we've just finished playing episode 1.3. Just before we started last session, Stuart realised that he had already played the original Call of Cthulu campaign on which this Dark Heresy campaign is based. Before the start of the session, we briefly discussed our options as a group (carry on with the campaign, play a different published campaign with the same characters, or switch to Legend of the Five Rings). For the time being, we decided to continue playing and decide what we would do next week.

The Acolytes:

• Cadence: A Tech Priest CyberHound handler. Played by Ali.
• Grimoire: Potent Void-Born Psyker. Played by John.
• Gunner: Down-Hive Gun-Slinging Scum. Played by Fiona
• Ishtari: Novice Sister of Battle. Played by Caroline. 
• Lemantz: Penumbrae Hive Enforcer. Played by Niall.
• Zane: "Squat" Flamer-wielding Cleric. Played by Stuart.

Outside the door of Chamber 401, the Acolytes begin a hurried discussion, first determining (after a brief word with the ship's captain) that they are standing outside the only exit. The immediately instruct the captain to withdraw to the next bulkhead and seal both it and the one on the other side of the room.

Once "safely" locked in to a very confined space with an unknown foe on the other side of the door, Cadence easily bypasses the lock.

Inside, the once-stateroom is in disarray. Three naked human figures, "clad" only in bloody war-paint stand around a small, metallic letter bin (the sort you might find next to any scribe's work-space) throwing in documents, books and other artifacts. An odourless, colourless steam rises from the bin. Meanwhile, on the bed, lies a headless, mutilated corpse. The three intruders reach for their weapons while the door hisses open: each carries a sharpened human thighbone, carved with strange runes and already stained with (presumed) human blood.

The Acolytes gun them down before they can even move.

Entering the cabin, the Acolytes quickly begin an investigation. Cadence and Ishtari immediately move to rescue what documents they can, particularly those already consigned to the bin. Inside the small metal receptacle, they find not flames, but a strange, purple goog that appears to be slowly dissolving any non-metal objects placed within. 

They rescue a number of documents from the flames, including a hard copy of an astropathic transmission, a formal "chop" of the sort used by Rogue Trader and noble houses in the Crone Sector to announce themselves, a metal jho-stick lighter (on the carpet next to the bin), a trade receipt and (rescued from the bin itself) a partially dissolved, grainy pictograph of a star-ship.

[Handouts 1-5 from the previous post]

Meanwhile, Grimoire reaches out with his less natural senses. The temperature in the room immediately drops slightly, but no-one seems to notice. Grimoire's senses detect a dispersing warp nimbus, with a similar "taste" to the one he experienced in the Surgeon' lair [Episode 0.4] immediately following their quarries escape. It's only similar though. Not identical.

Meanwhile, Zane examines the dead "painted men". He can find no clue as to their identity as individuals, but notes that the war-paint is indeed blood (very fresh blood) that has been painted atop a pattern of swirls and jagged lines carved into their flesh and long since scarred over. He also gets a closer look at each of the three thigh-bone clubs and confirms that they did indeed once come from a human being. He can make out a number of runes carved into each, but they mean nothing to him personally (or, indeed, to any of the Acolytes). Each painted man wears an identical white mask, seemingly carved from a large piece of ivory (a shoulder bone perhaps?). The masks are worked into a rough oval, featureless except for two triangular vision holes and a long "mouth" from which protrudes a long, bloody (and somewhat rotten) animal tongue of some kind. Similar to that of a grox.

Gunner looks around the rest of the room, carefully checking for anything the painted men might have dropped or missed in their search. He finds a hand-written letter on the carpet beneath a dresser [Handout 6] and a small hard-bound book beneath the bed [Handout 7]. 

Meanwhile, Lementz, the most forensically-aware member of the group, examines the corpse on the bed. It's a man, with an appearance anywhere between mid-to-late thirties, although it's hard to be sure for two reasons: the relative availability of rejuv treatments in the Crone Sector and, most significantly, the fact that the body has been horribly mutilated. Lementz can tell that the marks carved into the body were made while the victim was still alive, all the more horrible given the extremity of the mutilation. The head has been severed from the body by a number of down-word strokes from a crude, sharp object, leaving a ragged wounded and a series of puncture wounds to either side of the point of separation. An especially large rune [Hand-Out 8] stands out among the smaller wounds on the body.

The group briefly confers after their sweep. They briefly discuss the various clues they have found. The central issue for the group seems to be whether or not the corpse on the bed is Jeremiah Elias. After all, they have no-way of identifying the body as yet. After a brief discussion, they step out of room 401 and close it behind them. They they summon the captain.

Prudently, the captain returns with a fair-sized Securitor team at his back. The ship-board guards are wearing full flak armour and carrying boarding shotguns. The captain, looking relieved, leaves his escort at the bulkhead and approaches the party alone. The relieved look soon vanishes from his face (replaced with near-panic) when Cadence, who's understanding of Geller fields is somewhat sketchy, instructs the Captain that he will need to have the ones onboard ship checked immediately. The Captain (assuming that the occupant of room 401 was killed by Daemons who boarded the ship while it was at warp) immediately orders a full sanitation sweep of the ship and an inspection of it's Geller Fields.

Although the Captain clearly wishes to return to the bridge to coordinate these efforts, the acolytes use their authority as Throne Agents to keep him where he is. They escort him into the room and ask him to confirm if he recognises any of the corpses. As it transpires, he claims he can't. He never met Jeremiah Elias in person and does not recognise the three painted men as being among his crew. But then, given that there are around 1400 crew onboard, that's not surprising. 

"It's difficult to give an exact figure," the Captain admits, "We regularly conscript fresh bilge-scum from the prisons at every stop we make. In-fighting and disease amidst the lower deck crew insures a high-turnaround. We don't even bother to keep track of who lives and who dies anymore. Haven't for centuries, in fact."

The other acolytes are not pleased (nor especially convinced) by this, but settle down a bit once the void-born acolytes, Grimoire and Zane, confirm that this is fairly common practice among warp-capable vessels of all kinds. Even a luxury transport such as this.

The Captain is them grilled about possible ways for an outsider to come onboard. Grimoire in particular is convinced that warp-craft or teleportation was used but Cadence argues that without the protections of the Blessed Omnisiah and possession of certain powerful machine spirits, the painted men would have been destroyed by the denizens of the warp mid-transport.

At this point the captain is dismissed with instructions not to leave Penumbrae Space Dock until released by Inquisitorial Authority and with even stricter orders to permit no-one save the Inquisitional Forensor teams the Acolytes will be summoning to access this chamber.

Meanwhile, the Acolytes wait for a number of the "Zorias'" to arrive to retrieve the bodies and begin a more in-depth investigation of the scene. In the meantime, they again discuss whether or not the corpse on the bed could be Jeremiah Elias or just some dupe. After a time, they realise that speculation is pointless and instead decide to attend the planned rendezvous at the Irridium Guesthouse. Partly in the hope that they will find Jeremiah there alive and well. Partly to see who else might turn up to the planned meeting.

They thereafter turn back to the other clues and identify some leads that they can pursue without having to leave Penumbrae:

• The Trading House
• The Hand-Bill for the Lecture
• The Librarian
• Lady Eika Coriolanus herself.

They are still debating long after troupe of  stitched-face Zarius serfs arrive to take custody of the bodies and chamber 401.

[In fact, they won't decide which lead to follow up after the Iridium Guest-House until well towards the end of he next session.]

Crossed Genres: Dark Stryder and Rogue Trader

The Dark Stryder Campaign Box

Of all the many, many published sci-fi and space opera campaigns I've come across over the years, Dark Stryder was easily the best. With the old Living Force campaign series run by the RPGA a very close second (I only have the first two seasons of that in my collection at the moment though, due to hardware failure. If anyone has the rest of it, please give me a shout).

Some of my favorite campaign ideas involve taking a campaign or setting from one roleplaying game and combining it with the rule-set for another. This is pretty evident from my current Dark Heresy campaign, which basically takes the players through the excellent Mask of Nyartlothop (or however it's spelled) campaign for Call of Cthulu.

In the same vein, I'd love to take the wonderful Dark Stryder campaign for D6 Star Wars and run it in the 40K universe with the Rogue Trader rules. Instead of being agents of the New Republic pursuing a Rogue Imperial Moff through uncharted space, the players would consist of a newly enfranchised Rogue Trader and his crew. 

So what are the elements of the Dark Stryder campaign that made it great? Well, first of all it drew upon the troupe style play experience of other RPG's such as Ars Magica. Every player had multiple characters so that no-one felt left out in any given scenario. If your main character was the Chief Engineer and tonight's adventure was a straight up combat mission, then you took control of one of the ship's Marine grunts for the evening. A good DM would even incorporate a cut scene away from the action so that all the main character's got a little air time, even if was just at the planning session or using the ships sensors to locate an incoming enemy. There were even whole adventures in the campaign specifically set up so that none of the ships command crew (the main player characters) were involved. Very similar to the handful of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes that revolved around a group of minor  recurring characters from the lower decks. 

Rogue Trader Style Command Crew

In the 40K universe, I'd take this further. Each player would control a member of the command crew,  a Deathwatch Space Marine, and a pair of Imperial Guardsmen and lower deck crew. This would me to combine all the various sets of 40K RPG rules (Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, Only War and Dark Heresy) in a single campaign. I could even include one-off games where the players get to play the Renegade Moff (In this case, a Renegade Sub-Sector Governor) using the Black Crusade rules.

I think that was one of the reasons the campaign always stayed so fresh, despite it taking us about 18 months to play through (12 hour weekly sessions during term time). We weren't always using the same characters or playing the same type of scenarios. Or even at the same power level.

The second element was the theme of exploration and world building. It was, in essence, one great big sand-box to explore in the hunt for the Rogue Moff. With incomplete charts of the Kathol region (I'd call it the Kathol sub-sector in 40k) the players had to "fill in the blanks" as they went, purchasing, stealing or capturing parts of the sector map as they went. In this way, the GM kept some control over where the players could go from week to week by limiting their available options to just a handful while at the same time giving the players considerably more options than they would find in a modern linear campaign, such as an adventure path. In my opinion, they found the perfect balance between the two, with ever less than three of four options for which planetary system to visit next. It means that no matter where the players went, the GM could be prepared. It's much easier to prep for three possibile adventures than it is to prep for twenty from week to week.

Thirdly was the heroic feel of the game. The ship was on it's own. The sole representatives of the New Republic (or, in this case, the Imperium of Man). This mean't the stakes were big. Using diplomacy or force, the characters were able to gain local support against the renegades and even recruit new worlds in the Republic. In essence, they were gathering an alliance to take on the forces of evil. But on the other side of the scales, if they performed poorly or made enemies, they not only weakened themselves but risked driving other worlds into the renegade fold as well. 

High stakes and high adventure? What could be better.

Alternative Command Crew

It would also be fairly easy to adapt all the existing worlds and adventures  into the 40K universe. Very few changes would be needed. After all, the 40K universe is very much a kitchen-sink setting, with room for just about anything ever featured in sci-fi. Plus the interactions between the humano-centric and even downright xenophobic Imperials (the PC's) and the handful of mixed species and even purely xenos cultures encountered should make for good roleplaying opportunities. And as for the Dark Side of the Force? When, in the 40K universe we just call that Chaos.

The only complain I ever had about the Dark Stryder campaign was the frankly awful final book in the series. Rather than presenting  a number of concluding adventures that tied up the campaigns loose threads in a series of episodes (like Season 4 of Babylon 5) the designers decided to cram everything into one long super-adventure. The end result was more like a series of jumbled notes and cool-sounding ideas rather than a coherently presented adventure. In fact, when I picked it up just a few weeks before we'd come to that point in the campaign, I'd expected to be able to run it after a quick read through or two, much as I had the other adventure packs for the campaign.

Instead, I had to break up the flow of the campaign (and lose some considerable momentum) while I basically re-wrote the thing from scratch. While the conclusion of the campaign was still a resounding success (high-fives and cheers everywhere) I can't help but think it would have been even better if we hadn't had to play a different game for five weeks while I wrote the ending myself.

If I ever get to run this campaign again (and if I do, it will be in the world of 40K) I won't make that mistake again.

Plotting

Silenced Voices 2.0: A Dark Heresy Campaign

This is a reboot of an old campaign that never really got off the ground. After our play-test of Stuart Marshall's new Mega-Dungeon project, the group decided we didn't want to be a temporary collection of play-testers after all. So, I've blown the dust off my old notes. Time for a reboot.

Player's Introduction:
"Your contact is late. Three hours late. Intelligence indicates he is residing in room 4306, on the thirty-first floor of the Irridium Rest House. It is outside this door that you stand. Now. Looking at the shattered mag-lock slowly melting melting into the floor. Wondering at the smell of blood. The ozone of warp-taint lingering in the air. Behind the closed door, you can hear the faint sounds of movement. Something unnatural occurs within..."

The Crone Sector:
The setting will be the Crone Sector, in the galactic south east. A newly re-conquered Sector, returned to the Imperial Fold a scant fifty years before, it lies on the very edge of Imperial Space . The Inquisition keeps the Imperium's newly-conquered subjects extremely ignorant (even by the standards of the Imperium) or other worlds within the Sector.

Only the handful of Chartist captains (and a good half-dozen Rogue Traders) operating within the Sector have any real comprehension of the Imperium beyond their home world.

The Voidship Penumbra's Ghost

The Sanctum Invigilus:
The Sanctum is a modest manor house in the mid-levels of the Central Spire in the Rubiantum Mega-Hive of the twilight-shrouded world of Penumbra. Although none of the Acolytes are aware of it's exact location, it a small but significant location in Shard's net-work and the operational base of Shard's cell-network on Penumbra.

Rubiantium Hive, Penumbra.

It is here that the Acolytes received their brief, orientation training. It is the (some-times) home of Inquisitor Shard (albeit not for nearly half-a-century) and the dwelling place of their "handler", Explicator Sand, the Inquisitor's Senior Interrogator.

Inquisitor Shard:

Inquisitor Sharde, according to a 50 year old Portrait in the Sanctum

A shadowy figure, Shard rarely allows his acolytes to meet with him directly, instead operating through a network of "handlers" - senior Acolytes, Explicators and Interrogators, who carry out the actual field work while under his command. Shard seemingly belongs to no specific Ordos and directs multiple lines of inquiry simultaneously from some secret lair hidden deep within the shadows of the Crone sector.

Explicator Sand:

Explicator Sand enjoying work on his latest project

A somewhat macabre and distant figure, Sand is the Explicator who undertook your painful (and invasive) induction into Inquisitorial Service. A former Munitorium Surgical Adept, Sand invariably dresses in soiled, blood-stained surgical gowns and green plastic aprons when conducting Inquisitorial business. He displays an unnerving and somewhat disturbing affection for his many surgical devices, knives and implements of torture, keeping them spotlessly clean while at the same time neglecting his own appearance and hygiene. Sand's voice is a silky velvet caress, somewhat disarming at times, but capable of discussing the most painful acts of torture in entirely dispassionate tones.

The Explicator has never raised his voice in your presence, but you have heard whispers among the distaff that those juniors who raise his ire seldom re-appear as anything but the newest addition to his installations seemingly endless supply of servitors.

Sanctum Encounters:


Aside from the ubiquitous Servitors and Servo-skulls, a handful of pallid, aging former acolytes act as house servants. All are former Acolytes themselves, though many seem to have failed their master in some way, leading to their re-assignment and "retirement" to the Sanctuary. Their bitter pronouncements of near-certain death with regards to the Acolytes and their glee in laying odds on each individual Acolyte's chances of survival can be somewhat unnerving.

Former Acolytes serve even in death

Most unnervingly, each of these servants, male or female, bears an identical, grafted face. All without exception must be addressed as "Zorius".  

Other hooded Acolytes, hurrying too and from briefings with Sand occasionally cross your path. Communication between members of active Acolyte cells is, however, forbidden, upon pain of mind-wipe or surgical lobotimisation.

Inquisitor Shards Rosette and Seal

Character Creation: 

 Shard is know to despise conventional means of recruiting Acolytes to his service - having neither the patience nor inclination to recruit and train novices only to see them falter and die due to inexperience. Therefore, he draws his followers exclusively from veteran members of other Imperial agencies and Adepta, choosing those who have, through a combination of luck and skill, stumbled onto heresy and survived where others who chose to take action have not.

An Acolyte Cell

The Acolytes have faced heresy and adversity and survived. While they have been subjected to only the briefest hypo-indoctrination techniques, they are now sufficiently acquainted with Inquisitorial doctrine and practices as to be unleashed, under the careful observation and direction of a distant "handler", into the Crone Sector.

Acolytes begin play at rank 1, with 400 points of experience to spend on creating their character.

Legal Books for Character Generation:



The beginning character may follow career paths and acquire skills, talents and equipment made available in the following rulebooks. Purchase of Heretical items is not permitted during character generation.

The Dark Heresy Rulebook.
The Inquisitor's Handbook (inc. Sisters)
The Book of Judgement
Blood of Martyrs (excluding the rules for Sisters)
 The  fan-produced Commissar career path.













Important Note on Character Backgrounds and Portraits:
Note that at least a paragraph of background information explaining how the character came to attention of the Inquisition is expected, as is a character photograph.

OSRIC: Religion, Morality and Alignment

One thing's for certain, I really need to find a new name for my War of the Roses OSRIC campaign. Something a little catchier. OSRIC: Age of Anarchy, perhaps. What do you guys think?

Anyway, one of the (slightly) different things about this campaign is the way I'm treating alignment. Rather than doing away with the concept altogether, except for extremes of good and evil (as I often do) alignment with be replaced by moral codes and religions. This is still a work in progress at the moment, but the options at present are:





Religious Alignment Choices:

• Medieval Catholicism
• Medieval Islam
• Medieval Druidism/Paganism
• Medieval Judaism
• Medieval Orthodox
• Servant of the Dark One (NPC Only)

 The religion based alignments are the most nebulous of all in a very real sense. For example, most of the major religions have a variant on "though shall not kill". As mentioned in a previous post though, Catholics believe that only humans have souls, so this rule only counts towards killing humans. That being said, for a Catholic it's perfectly acceptable to kill a human if he (or she) is a non-christian, or if you're a member of the knightly and noble caste (because god has ordained that you are born into a role that requires killing) and have a fairly good reason for doing so.

So, these five choices aren't quite the straight-jacket they might first appear to be.

Then we have the (sometimes) more restrictive, properly fixed moral codes:

Rashi, perhaps the best known medieval Rabbi and Scholar

Moral Alignment Choices:

• Athiest/Agnostic
• Chivalric Code
• Humanist
•  Irreligious
• Secular Devotion

The Humanist and Chivalric moral codes are perhaps the most tightly restrictive in a sense that they have fairly well defined limits. Like everything else, of course, there are loopholes to exploit, but the Chivalric code especially is fairly well defined. The irreligious and atheist/agnostic alignments give the greatest freedom of action of all, perhaps equivalent to true-neutral in the traditional D&D alignment spectrum. Basically, such people are limited in their actions only by the actions and the beliefs of the authorities around them.

Lastly, we have Secular Devotion, which implies an utter adherence to an NPC secular authority such as the King, a Duke or Earl or even simply a friend or loved one. The limitation here is that the character won't do anything to act against the interests of the object of his devotion, but at the same time the character would be reluctant to disobey any instructions from this same NPC, regardless of how abhorrent. Most of the lower-end bad-guy NPC's in this game will have this alignment, which is very similar to lawful neutral in many respects.

Finally, we have good and evil

Salahadin: A great example for Islamic Paladin characters

Good and Evil:
Good and Evil, Law and Chaos no longer exist in an alignment sense, but they do still have a place in the game world. Generally, for a creature of being to be affected by such as a spell, they must have a history of routinely acting in a certain way. For example, angels and demons are always affected by spells that affect good and evil creatures respectively. A knightly character who consistently acts to uphold the law and maintain stability in the land (regardless of his actual alignment) would be affected by spells such as Protection from Law. A robber-knight on the other hand (or one notorious for changing sides during the Wars) would be affected by Protection from Chaos and so on.

Alignment and Clerics:

Clerics, strictly speaking, can be of any alignment, not just the alignment of their religion. However, if they wish to retain their spell casting abilities, they had better ensure that their actions remain consistent with the tenants of the religion they represent. Thus, a Catholic cleric might have the Secular Devotion alignment, and be devoted to the service of his brother, an NPC Lord. He might politic and preach on his brothers behalf without effect, but if he arranges the assassination of his brother's enemies, he can kiss those clerical abilities of his good-bye.

This helps to explain why so many priests in the historical time period (and setting) can act contrary to the interests of their religion and still remain priests. In a gaming sense, the ones that manage to obey the tenants of their religion can perform minor miracles. The ones who betray their religious beliefs in favour of more secular or personal concerns, lose their powers. Often very early in their clerical careers. The few who manage to exist in the secular world and remain true to their faith are essentially minor miracle workers, moving to become widely recognised as living saints (or prophets) at higher levels.

Pope John XXIII. A fine example of a priest who most definitely would have lost his cleric powers in this setting.

 All these concepts are just skeletons at the moment, in need of a great deal of fleshing out. But that's where the alignment system remains at the moment.

WoTR/ToEE Campaign: 17 Things You Need to Know

17 things my players will need to know before the start of the new campaign:

Choosing Sides: White Rose of York or Red of Lancaster?

Setting

Recent History:

• In 1455, under pressure from the Pope (who had threatened to excommunicate the whole of England), Richard, Duke of York, leads fully half of England's nobility in revolt against the Lancastrian King, Henry VI. A weak and insipid ruler, Henry had allowed himself to fall under the sway of dark magicians and demonologists.

• In 1471, the Yorkist faction finally put an end to the Wars. The Yorkists (fighting under the banner of the White Rose) defeat the Lancastrians and their demonic allies at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Following the battle, the Earl of Angstford and his family, stout Lancastrians and fearsome demonologists, have their lands and titles placed under attainder, (confiscated), by the Yorkist King Edward IV. They flee in various directions: to France, Burgundy and Ireland.

Henry VI, executed soon after Tewkesbury

 Current Situation:

• The current year is 1481. Edward IV still rules England.
• With the great mass of English chivalry dead on the Bloody Meadow of  Tewkesbury or in exile abroad, much of the country remains ungoverned and lawless. Many heirs are still too young to inherit their lands. Other lords and knights still retain their lands but live in Exile. Brigandage is common. The monstrous creatures forced into the Wildwoods by the campaigns of Arthur and St George are now once again venturing forth into the settled lands of England.
• The seat of the Earl of Angstford remains vacant, a tasty morsel dangled before the nose of several important noblemen of dubious loyalty as a means of ensuring their good behaviour. The few castles and manor houses within the limes (territory) of the Earldom which are not razed or ruined, are held by Flemish mercenaries in the service of the King.
• Women are expected to marry and raise children or take vows as a Nun. HOWEVER, female mercenaries and adventurers are actually quite common in this period, but are viewed as abominations by most "right-thinking" folk.
• Some new items not normally found in the OSRIC rules are available, but are well beyond the means of most starting players. These include: Arquebus/Hackbutts (primitive handguns), Field Plate Armour, Full Plate Armour (better versions of Plate Mail) and Brigandine Armour (actually quite common, I'll probably post the rules for these)

Religion:

• According to the Catholic church, only humans have souls (and possibly Half-Elves and Troll-bloods, but the church isn't sure about that).  Killing animals or members of any other race is NOT considered an act of murder by Catholics. Muslims and Jews believe that Dwarves also have souls. The Muslim and Jewish religions have not had sufficient contact with Elves, Half-Elves and Half-Orcs to have formed an opinion regarding the status of these beings one-way-or-another.

Geography:

• The campaign will be set in the fictional English Earldom of Angstford. Although there are road and other physical connections to the rest of England, the territory  of the Earldom represents the physical limits of the campaign sandbox. In theory, your characters can leave at any time. In practise, please don't.

Edward IV, Yorkist King of England

Game Information:

•  Races: Player Characters may be Shidhe (Elves), Changelings (Half-Elfs), Dwarves, Humans or Troll-Bloods (Half-Orcs descended from Fomorians). There will be no gnomes or halflings in this setting.
• Class and Level Limits: Unlike the previous game, humans will not be able to multi-class. Non humans may multi-class as normal but be aware that maximum levels for non-humans apply in this setting with the following exceptions: Dwarves and Trollbloods may advance to any level as a fighter or Barbarian. Elves may advance to any level as a Magic-User or Illusionist. Changelings may advance to any level as a Houri, Thief or Ranger.
• PC Clerics may follow one of three religions: Catholicism, Islam or Judaism and may be of any alignment. However, Clerics must always act within the bounds of their religion. Carrying out actions forbidden to their religion (for example: theft, sexual intercourse or murder for a   Catholic Cleric) will result in the character losing their spellcasting abilities. Only NPC Clerics may be followers of the evil deity known by various names such as the Dark One, Satan etc. PC Clerics ALWAYS turn undead (rather than control them) regardless of their alignment. Clerics of the Dark One always control undead.
• All Clerics are Priests of their religion. However, not all Priests are Clerics. Clerics are essentially proto-saints at low-levels and actual, living saints, prophets or the equivalent by higher levels. Spell-casting priests (i.e Clerics) are said to possess Grace, as in the "Grace of God". Perhaps one Priest in ten in so blessed.
• Druids are, well, druids or witches. They are often mistaken for servants of the Dark One and burned at the stake.
• Wizards and Illusionists are, likewise, often mistaken for servants of the Dark One and burned at the stake. Most pretend to be "astrologers", "sages," "natural philosphers" and the like.
• Elves may not be Clerics. They may be Druids instead.
• Paladins do not belong to an Order of Knighthood. They might not even be knights. They do not hold any official place in the hierarchy of their religion, but may eventually be recognised as "warrior-saints" by their faiths. Salahadin and Sir William Marshal are perhaps the best historical examples of individuals who behave in a Paladin-like manner.

Do You Want To Know More?

Click the link for a good grounding in recent events.

Temple of Elemental Evil: War of the Roses Style.

Now that I spend about 10-12 hours a day painting figures for a living, the Isle of the Earthshaker campaign has pretty much died. I was largely making up dungeons and encounter locations as I went, so prep time for each weekly game was fairly considerable. I just don't have the free-time anymore to put so much work into writing a campaign.

The solution is to re-start with a published campaign, fleshed out with a few extra adventure locations from published modules. I had an inkling to convert the WFRP 1e Doomstones campaign back to it's original format (AD&D) but that would be a fairly substantial task. Plus, the story driven nature of the game makes regular attendance by the same group of players pretty important. That isn't really compatible with my current group's"sit-in when you can" style of campaign play.

So, I'm thinking of running Temple of Elemental Evil. It has it's flaws, but it should do the trick. I'll take a look through my early module collection for an alternative, but I'm thinking Temple of Elemental Evil for the main dungeon, Stonehell Dungeon as an alternative location nearby and simply sticking other adventure locations from modules on the map as and when required. Not exactly a masterpiece of creativity but it'll do.

The twist is that I'll be setting it in an alternate-earth version of Real-World history during the War of the Roses.

I have a few ideas in mind that need fleshed out. For the moment, Clerics and Paladins can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Servants of the Dark One. Druids are, well, druids. Wizards use coin magic (spell preparation consists of enchanting small coins which unleash the magic contained within when thrown),  Elves come from the wildest, more remote parts of Wales, Ireland and Scotland and are more British-Fae elves than they are Tolkeinesque. Half-Elf's are called Changelings, Dwarves come from Scandinavia and can be found in parts of the British Isles settled by Vikings (yes, Dwarf Vikings!). Half-Orcs are humans with an ancient Fomorian bloodline, rather than being actual half-orcs.

All humanity knows that the legendary creatures of fire-side tales and dark, ancient myths still lurk in the wildwoods, driven from the lands of humanity by the likes of the Sainted George and King Arthur in the distant past. From time to time, a village is burned, crops or beasts are stolen and children vanish. All know this to be the work of creatures from the wildwood, and every house in Britain keeps an iron horse shoe above the door and ancient runes carved on their window-shutters.

Oriental Adventures/Masks of Nyarlathotep Update

SANDBOX:
 After some humming and hawing as to whether or not I should simply create my own pseudo-Japanese nation from scratch or else borrow one of the maps for Kazakura from the Oriental Adventures box set, I've finally settled on a third option. Frankly, I'm just going to use a map of Japan complete with original province names and the names of major cities as my starting point. Runequest Ninja (a very fine supplement by the way if you can find it) provides an excellent map of the Provinces as they stood in the (I think) Tokugawa period.

This has the added advantage of allowing me to incorporate various Japanese geographical myths into the campaign world -for example, the legend of a pit leading directly to the Buddhist Hell in Izumi province makes Izumi the perfect stand in for one of the major adventure locations in Masks of Nyarlathotep.

However, rather than simply call the country founded on these islands Niwon or Nihon and use an "alternate earth Japan", I'm going to incoporate them into my home-brew campaign world, Edarnia and call them "Hisui no Shima", the  Jade Islands. Fortunately I've already established that Edarnia has an Underworld as well as dark, utterly alien Cthuluesque Gods even older than the Primordials who created Edarnia.  On top of that, the game world also has as well as a malevolent force of non-life known as the "Corruption (amoung other names)," an excellent stand-in for the Taint from L5R. However, I like the sound of "taint" so it looks like the corruption has acquired another cultural-cetnric name. I'll be tracking (and using) taint points in the same manner as Insanity points are used in Call of Cthulu, with the added bonus that an increasing taint score also results in increasing physical mutation. Hmm, echoes of Ravenloft here as well perhaps?

RELIGION:

Rather than having the traditional view of two main Japanese religions that exist concurrently and in relative harmony, Jeido Shoto will have just the one, the Hundred Million Kami. The religion will be mostly Shinto based, but will include a great many Buddhist elements. The main reasoning for this decision is that it will reduce the number of concepts a gamer unfamiliar with Japanese culture will have to adapt to. Hopefully, given how closely Shinto and Buddhism were integrated in Japanese culture, it won't be too big a change for the Japan-buffs in the group either.

AUTHORITY:

It might seem odd (and in fact, probably is given that I chose to simplify the religious situation on Jeido Shoto) but rather than going with RuneQuest Nija's recommended triumvirate of power (Emperor-Retired Emperor-Shogun) I'll be going with the puppet Emperor, Retired Emperor, puppet Shogun, Shikken model from later Japanese history. Although this power structure shouldn't feature too much in the Mask's campaign, I'm not putting so much effort into a campaign setting just to use it one campaign. I expect to get my mileage out of Hisui no Shima.

GREATER ASIA:

I've still to come up with names for the setting's analogue of China, which will be a major trade-partner and which will provide many NPC's and at least one adventure setting during the Masks campaign. However, Mongolia is easy enough. I'm taking the name "Burning Lands" from the L5R setting, which works well enough for me, and I'm going for it.

EZO:
Ezo, the northern-most of the Japanese Islands, was not particularly settled until the 15th century. Except by wako (pirates) renegades and Ainu (the indigenous inhabitants of Japan). Ezo seems to be an ideal stand-in for the Shadowlands of L5R , the Chaos Wastes of the Old World, the Blight of the Wheel of Time and about a dozen other settings combined. So that' what I'll use it for. The interior of the island will be a blighted wasteland of volcanic cloud, ash and a gateway to the Hell of the Hundred Million Kami. The coastal areas will be habitable, and home to a few hardy samurai clans and their retainers as well as a great many bands of ronin, wako and other renegades.

Peoples of Zama: Elves and Shidhe

Unlike the other Zama posts thus far, the information below is NOT common knowledge in the Zama campaign setting. In other words, if you're playing in my Earthshaker campaign, the only way your character will know this information is if your character happens to be an elf. If you aint no elf, you ain't got no clue.

An Exerpt from, "On the Un-Lives of the Eternal Shidhe"

"There are some who consider the Shidhe (and the once-Shidhe) arrogant beyond bearing. In many cases “they” are correct. Yet there are many mysteries concerning this race. Mysteries I shall attempt in some small part to reveal hereafter. Perhaps then “they” will finally understand that the Shidhe have just cause to be overbearing, proud and contemptuous of mortals.

Indeed, this behaviour is hardly surprising when one considers that of the teeming thousands of Shidhe who dwell within the Summerlands today, most can truthfully claim to be older than the Gods themselves. Or at least, that generation of Gods whom we mortals worship today. Indeed, there are many Shidhe still in existence who witnessed, with open mockery, the very birth of our world, Edarnia. Shidhe who poured derision upon the the efforts of the first Gods of Edarnia, those mankind know now as the Primordials, and their efforts to create something new and ever-lasting. For the Shidhe, immortal, eternal, unchanging, perceived theis, the very hubris of the Gods, as rank folly. No-one and nothing, not even the God's, claim the Shidhe, are truly immortal. Nothing save perhaps the Shidhe themselves . Ever patient, ever deceitful,  ever malevolent and mocking of mortals from behind their veils of still living butterflies -stitched together wing to wing- they are no true race as we mortals understand the word. They are in truth, a force of nature. A part of the universal anima itself. Their very existence a law of creation. Some among them -including their fickle and malevolent “deity,” the EverQueen - through subtle innuendo and half-truths, hint of bearing witness to the birth-pangs of the universe itself.

Having experienced such wonders, or heard them spoken of as  living memory, is it truly surprising that the Shihde seem as alien to mortals as we are to them? Mortals, Gods, even the world itself- are but little more than may-flies in the ken of such a folk. Our occasional intrusions into their Summerlands -as we succumb to dreams or flit through their realm in the form of shades awaiting rebirth- are to them the merest speck of a momentary annoyance.

The Shidhe are truly ancient – and alien- in ways we mortals -and perhaps even the Gods- cannot possiblycomprehend. And yet, despite how they perceive mortals, in some ways we are much-alike. The Shidhe feel the baser emotions keenly – anger, avarice, malice, lust, greed- more so even than the vilest of mortal men. Yet in turn they know and comprehend little of gentler, more noble emotions such as love, kindness, compassion and honour-although even they experience such emotions from time to time, although as nothing more than a faint, vaguely disturbing sensation. A moment's perturbation that swiftly vanishes, a tiny drop of human experience in a sea of cruel Shidhe emotions.

Though many -even the Gods- have tried to prove otherwise, no Shidhe can be killed by any means while they dwell within the Summerlands. In the mortal realms they are vulnerbale, but even then they are mighty in power and awesome in aspect. In the Great War between the Gods and Shidhe at the time of Edarnia's creation, countless Shidhe warriors were struck down by the Primordials and their elemental servitors, laughing with ill-humoured mirth even as their disjointed body parts reassembled themselves before the very eyes of their “slayers”. In truth, none save the Shidhe themselves can claim to understand with certainty why the Shihde warriors simply turned away and returned home after untold centuries of ceaseless warfare. I, who have studied the Shihde for many years, I who am myself the son of a once-Shihde- have my suspicions. And they are terrible in aspect.

For I believe they simply grew bored.

Boredom is a curse upon these timeless creatures. Having lived uncounted aeons, even their debauched and treacherous tastes must soon leave then indolent with innui. Many Shihde court disaster time and again -risking the terrible anger and rage of the EverQueen- to escape the tedium of their existence. Many choose to plot uselessly against their Queen, or attempt to imprison or torment rivals at court. Or else choose to break the most sacred of law of the Shidhe. The EverQueen, conscious of her folk's eternal nature, has long-since decreed that no Shidhe save she herself may ever bear a living child. Though the act of love-making itself is tolerated, it's consequences can be deadly indeed. Many choose to undertake this dangerous, forbidden act from simple curiosity or from simple malevolent rebellion. Few Shidhe undertake this dangerous pass-time for reasons of love – it being an emotion almost as foreign and repugnant to the Shidhe as the desire to murder a child is to mortals. Instead, such indulgent acts of love-making, treachery and intrigue serve only as simple a distractions from boredom.

Those who do succumb to the slow natural fertility of their race most often destroy the child while still within the womb. Those few who succumb to the unfamiliar emotions that swell within them at the pace of their bellies face an almost unimaginable choice. An eternity of imprisonment in the squalid dungeons of the Shidhe – a fate truly worse than oblivion for the immortal Shidhe- or banishment to one mortal world of many. There to live out the reminder of their much-reduced, near mortal lives as a shrunken shadow of their former power. Such are wretched beings , however beautiful their appearance, for they have lost all that made them who they once were. Knowledge. Wisdom. The memory of lost beauties to which they alone among all living beings bore witness. I know and feel the pain of their loss. My own mother was one of the banished. The unShidhe. An Elf!

Those few who choose so terrible a punishment undergo a painful and humiliating ordeal, a ritual of blood and pain, in which their very anima is torn asunder and merged with the tortured Shade of a some mortal being, plucked for this very purpose from the tortures of the Underworld. The mortal soul is completely subsumed by the process, destroyed forever. Yet a glimmer of mortality remains within the ruined anima of the former Shidhe. The newly-created elf is forever after a mere mortal. Un-aging, yes. But not invincible. Cursed to live a shadowy existence until such time as it's immortal body is slain. Such former Shidhe are as vulnerable to blade and spell, disease and misfortune alike, as we mortal beings.

Yet worse still than the fallen state of their once-eternal frame is the ravages of the mind. The memories, skills and knowledge of the transformed are left as thin and ephemeral as a single strand of silk -and equally difficult to grasp. Just as their bodies are warped into a less fearful form by their transformation, their minds are left torn and tattered by the experience. Like a fine silk tunic gnawed upon by locusts, there mind and powers are the barest tattered remnants of what they once were. Such beings as my mother retain their arrogance – for a time- but many, like my blessed mother, mellow in their bitterness and envy with the passing of the years. Some even learn to find joy and blessings in their mortal lives, as though every moment has become more beautiful with the knowledge it may be their last. Yet, just as often the Elf becomes a self-destructive being of hate. Destined for a lonely death at the edge of a blade. A sad fate, for when the unShidhe pass over from this world to the next, there is no relief from their torment. No return to the blessed Summerlands from whence they came. No, not even in dreams can they return there. For they each still carry a fragment of the damned soul within them. A tiny soul-shard that condemns them for a time to the eternal torments of the Underworld, where, in time, they are sure to be devoured by the unnatural denizens that dwell forever within that dark place. No magic known to Gods or mortal man can return them from that place. In this regard, once dead, an elf is indeed truly damned.

Yet it is whispered among these scattered exiles, on those rare occasions when two or more may gather in one place, that salvation exists. It is said that if, by some chance, an Elf might perform some unimaginable feat that might draw the intention -and interest- of his ennui-ridden Queen, it is whispered that this terrible process can be reversed. I have heard often such whispers pass between my mother and those few Elves with she has corresponded during her long exile, that Shidhe have undergone the dreadful transformation many times. Passing from Elf to Shidhe to Elf again in accordance with the Queen's whims. My mother talked often of such a being – telling tales while I perched upon her knee, give me hope for her mortal soul. Tales of a creature she spoke of only in the most hushed and reverent of tones. Tales of the being she called the Dancer in Shadow."

                                                                                                           

                                                                                             -Pytheragon Half-Elf,
                                                                                             Pedagogue to the Royal Court, Zama

 Game Terms:

• Shidhe are old. Very old. Several hundred thousand years old at the very least.
• Shidhe are a mere wisp of a shadow of some of their old selves. They may catch occasional glimpses of their past while in reverie and experience occasional flash-backs to their former lives. However, they have only a limited context with which to understand these images
• As a result, despite their great age, all newly transformed Shidhe begin as first level characters. 
• A deceased elven character cannot be brought back from the Underworld (returned to life) by any spell regardless of caster level or the casters divine status (if any). The only way to bring an elf character back from the Underworld is to go down there and get him (or her).
• Elves in Edarnia have no upper level limits on character classes, but because the disjointed and fragmented nature of their previous existence and the truama of trasnformation, they acquire an an XP penalty of 10%. In other worlds, they require 10% more xp per level advancement.
• Edarnin Elves cannot enter the Summerlands by any means, whether by Gate, Planeshift or the simple expedient of climbing up a sufficiently tall peak.
• Edarnia elves otherwise follow all the normal rules for Elves as outlined in the OSRIC rulebook,
• Final note: Shidhe are somewhat vampiric in their appearance but they are NOT vampires. During the transition from Shidhe to Elf their appearance changes to (more or less) that of a traditional elf. In moments of anger, a powerful or very old Elf can briefly return to her original form, if only for a fraction of a second (ala Galadriel in the first LOTR film).

Converting Masks of Nyarlathotep to Oriental Adventures:

As mentioned in a previous post, I was considering published campaigns that I could adapt to the Legend of the Five Rings setting for my second, much smaller, group. The one that essentially meets as when I have the time and can be bothered, as opposed to the weekly earth-shaker game.

Kelvin Green, genius that he is, suggested reworking Masks of Nyarlathotep. An awesome idea that I leapt on. I had just finished converting the first chapter, originally set in New York, to work in L5R's City of Lies when I had a revelation (inspired by the excellent blog Ramblings of a Great Khan): Why the hell am I bothering to convert this awesome campaign to L5R, a game system my players have never used, when I can just use OSRIC flavoured with 1^st ed AD&D Oriental Adventures?

So, over the next few days you'll probably come across a number of Oriental Adventures themed posts. Nothing to do with my efforts converting the campaign module itself, I'm afraid. After all, my group has to play through it first. Mostly I'll be taking the mounds of racial and character class information in OA and re-presenting it in a more user friendly format. Last night I had to read through the Samurai class information three times to work out how many starting proficiencies they had.  The “OSRIC” Oriental class artciles will therefore be nothing new or original (with the possible exception of the ninja. I might re-work that class entirely) just a rehash of existing material. Mostly for the benefit of my players, it has to be said, but hopefully there will be something useful in there for you too.

I'll also post maps and a brief key of my version of a fantasy Japan. Though the campaign won't be set in either OA's Kara-Tur or L5R's Rokugan I'll probably use elements of each lifted wholesale from the original. The starting city will still be called Ryoko Owari. It will still be a “hive of scum and villainy” but it wont be Rokugan's Ryoko Owari, apart from a few key locations. I also anticipate building in an area based heavily on L5R's Shadowlands. Blood Magic will also feature heavily (it shouldn't be too hard to work up rules for Blood Magic in OSRIC). So look forward to seeing articles about these over the next few weeks.

Anyway, that's it for me just now. I'm coming down with could be a winter cold. So I'm off to hop under my duvet with a mug of hot toddy and try to beat this thing down before it has a chance to take hold.

The Ruin at the End of the World

 Ordinarily I would be prepared and willing to create a sandbox for my new setting from scratch. However, as I'm already running two regular campaigns (the Pendragon campaign and the Expeditionary Campaign) and a one-off game, that looks set to become a full campaign as well. That doesn't leave me with a great deal of time on my hands. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent Post Apocalyptic sandboxes already available out there. So I'm going to mess-around with one of the better (and in my opinion, the very best) pre-made post-apoc sandboxes out there: Darwin's World's “Ruin at the End of the World.”

Coming in at nearly 300 pages, the book evocatively details a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles with more than 200 wonderfully detailed encounter sites. The ruins as presented don't quite fit neatly into my imagined campaign setting however, so the sand-box needs some work to make it compatible with my campaign. Here's a brief list of the setting elements that don't really pan out for me:

• 
  Tech Level: Society has regressed to a medieval tech level in the supplement. I want to have more of a Fallout/Book of Eli/The Road/Vampire Earth feel as far as tech concerned. Like Fallout, high-tech weapons and equipment in a functional order still exist. Fire-arms are the order of the day, although pre-Rapture firearms are treasured relics. Most folk have to make do with cannibalised or hand-made weapons. Fortunately, this is an easy enough fix. I simply add more firearms to the creature stats and encounter tables.
• Mutation: In the Darwin's World setting, survivors who display extreme physical mutations are the norm. As mentioned in the book's introduction, the “Ruin at the End of the World” takes this even farther: entire races of stable-phenotype, intelligent mutant creatures exist in the Ruins, soemthing of a departure from the rest of the setting. In this case, intelligent insect men bent on expansions (Bugs) and the pseudo-Roman Beastman Empire. This is a little more science-fantasy than I want in my admittedly science-fantasy/survival horror setting. So I'll have to tinker around with these factions a little. But just a little. The Beastmen will become an aggressive faction of mutant raiders who have enslaved the less obviously mutated survivors in their territory. And the Bugs? Well, I won't spoil the surprise, except to say that they will be a human faction with it's own shadowy agenda amidst the ruins. An agenda that includes abducting other survivors for some terrible purpose.
• Supernatural Creatures: There are some supernatural elements present in the setting as presented, yet they are subtle enough not to clash with the rest of the Darwin's World setting  for a gamer that wants to run the Darwin's World setting as is. They're minor enough not to require any additional work by a Darwin's World DM if he doesn't want to include them. Me, not only do I want to include them, I want to expand on them considerably, while still retaining their subtle impact on the setting.

As you can see, the three elements don't quite fit with my “vision” of the setting are easy-fixes. On the other hand, the list of things I like about this setting are well, extensive, to say the least:

• Other than the problematic Beastmen and Bugs, the rest of the factions detailed in the setting are, frankly, brilliant. Actually, the Beastmen and Bug's are pretty good as well, just not relevant to my Post-Rapture campaign setting. I'll have to change some of these other factions cosmetically, if only because I want to include descendants of marines and navy personnel from the nearby Naval Base as a faction. But at the same time I don't want to tinker with them too much.
• The 200 encounter areas are simply fantastic. Very well detailed, and very nicely varied locations. One of the things I love about them is the “Old School” feel: relatively harmless encounters are interspersed with the occasional positively deadly ones. There is no geographical division of “threat levels” catering to characters of different experience levels. True, some areas are more replete with danger than others, but even in the more “civilised” parts of the ruins, great danger lurks round every corner.
• Despite already having 200 Encounter Areas, there is absolutely space to insert more. A great many more in fact. Indeed, the setting includes a mechanism for randomly generating the content's of each un-keyed hex, making every single hex a potential adventure location.
• The setting includes rules for travel through the ruins that, while simple, really capture the feel of travelling through a city where every second street might be blocked by rubble, barricades, crashed vehicles, radiation hazards and so on. Travel speed through the ruins is randomly determined -unless the characters decide to retrace their steps exactly.
• The setting is based on the D20 rules-system, which (for me) would normally be a negative. Fortunately, I'll be using Cascade failure, which, as already discussed, has a high degree of compatibility with D20. So very little conversion work with be required, mechanics-wise.
• There is a very, very excellent sub-plot running through a number of encounters. A sub-plot which might lead characters to stumble upon answers to several of the ruins great mysteries. Or, in my version, the very cause of the Rapture itself.
• A minus for some folks but a plus for me: although the supplement lists several locations on the cities outskirts, it doesn't actually provide any keyed locations outside the actual city itself. Meaning I have even more room to bring in encounters, settlements and even whole factions of my design later.

Any future campaign played-out in the L.A Ruins of the Post-Rapture world would likely begin either inside, or just outside, the city. My present leaning is towards starting just outside L.A, on a hill overlooking the ruins of the city. That way, the first image of the campaign world the players will ever get to see is an astonishing vista of the entre city, laid out before them in utter abject ruin.

"Noooooooo. I slept too long."

Yeah Ash, you and the other PC's both.

Campaign Design: Defining The Post-Apocalyptic Game World

 As you can see from even a brief perusal of the previous post, the term "post-apocalyptic" covers a lot of ground. Therefore, before you begin designing your campaign world, it's helpful to stop for a moment and ponder what exactly it is you mean to include. And what you intend to leave out.  In essence, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this game going to be set in real-world earth, a future-earth, a past-earth, an alternative universe earth or another world altogether?
• What was the "Event" that triggered the destruction the world?
• What was the technology base pre-Event?
• How long ago was the Event?
• How far has civilisation recovered?
• Who (and what) what Survived? Does your world have a place for Aliens? Mutants? Zombies? Robots? Supernatural Creatures? Psionic Powers? Magic? Scientific Enclaves? Do any Pre-Event power blocs or agencies survive?
• What is the specific role of the characters in this world? If any?
• Finally, given what you know about your world setting, what rules system would be best to use?

Right about now most of you are probably wondering, why the hell would I leave choosing the rules till last? Well, you can always tailor your sandbox to your favourite rule-system if you wish and then crowbar in house rules that would allow you to include zombies, demons and psionic powers into a game of Aftermath, for example. I prefer to create the setting I want and then pick the rule-set that would handle that setting best. To me, it's a more elegant solution than having to bolt on endless house rules. Your players will probably thank you for it.

Here's how I used these questions to establish my own post-apocalyptic setting:

Step One: Real Earth or Not-Earth? 

Having looked over the options and thought about my source material,  I've decided to stick with the real world for now. However, rather than having my "Event" occur in the modern day, I'll set the "Event" 200 years in the future. This will allow me to have lots of hi-tech gee-gaws and gadgets ala Gamma World scattered around the environment. It also raises the possibility of human civilisation having spread to the stars (or at least, elsewhere in the solar system) before the "Event".

Step Two: Defining the "Event".

Taking a page from the likes of Stephen King's 'The Stand", the movie "Legion" and RPG's such as "The End", I've decided that my worlds trigger event was nothing less than the "Rapture". Or at least, that's what the survivors decided to call it. However, I also like the idea of nuclear annhilation, supernatural monsters and "fast zombies" so I'm going to work these elements into the tale as well.

On one single day in 2222 untold millions of human beings simply vanished into thin air, leaving their empty clothes and personal effects behind them. Though confusion reigned, it took only a matter of hours for police and investigative reporters around the world to piece together some startling information: though those they dubbed the "Taken" had belonged to all manner of cultural and religious groups, each had been a devout practitioner of their own religious beliefs. In essence, the faithful had been taken away by a higher power. Those that remained behind were quickly dubbed the "meek" (those who professed to possess a religious afiliation but who were lackadaisical in their adherance to it's teachings at best) and the "faithless" (those who either belonged to no religion at all or who claimed to be devout but were instead somewhat hypocritical, rather than merely lax, in their beliefs). 

Shortly after this first revelation reports of the dead rising from their graves and attacks by supernatural, monstrous creatures straight out of Hell itself were wired, emailed and streamed all across the world. In desperation, nuclear powers launched missile after missile at their own and foreign populations in an attempt to stem the tide of evil. Strange and wicked plagues scoured the land, unleashing slow and painful deaths upon the multitide and driving the enraged survivors mad with angry, cannibalistic fury. Those who remained immune to the infections, or who managed to avoid exposure, destroyed themselves in an orgy of violent competition for food and resources. The word, as it's inhabitants had known it, ceased to exist.

Step 3: Pre-Event Tech-Base

I've already established that the Event happened 200 years in our future. So we'll say that there are an awful lot of old scientific gee-gaw's lying around just waiting to be discovered and repaired by enterprising types. These will include laser guns, robots, androids, A.I's, power armour, grav vehicles, inter-system space-craft and so on.

Step 4: How Long Ago?

The answer to this question will determine just how far civilisation has sunk (at one extreme) and how far it might have recovered (at the other). Most of my favourite post-apocalypse games seem to be set anywhere from eighty to two hundred years after the Event. I think in this case we'll go with eighty. Long enough for third and even fourth generation survivors to be running around (possibly with mutations) but not so long that old skills (such as the ability to make or repair firearms, some basic understanding of science, mechanics, telecommunications etc) have died out completely. There could conceivably still be survivors of the actual Rapture Event running (well, most likely lying or sitting) about the place. Either as the recipients of life-extending medical treatments or as revered elders who were only children at the time of the Rapture.

Step 5: Recovery/Current Tech Levels

Although sources such as the Postman, Eli and the Mad Max Films were all set either during or soon after the breakdown of society, I've always rather liked their feel. So we'll say that the majority of survivors have retained some level of “savage” (i.e modern day) technology. Lucky settlements have access to water purifiers, electricity, radios, a few working vehicles and the like. Warrior and soldier types are likely to possess a few treasured firearms and laser weapons but most normal folk make do with melee weapons and improvised or poor-quality firearms and block-powder weapons. A few lucky towns have specialist craftsmen with the skill, talent and resources to manufacture automatic weapons and cordite-based ammunition. This level of technology is merely the base-line. Extremes exist in either direction. Essentially, this world will have a lot in common with the Fallout series, with the major (and important) exception that it will lack Fallout's 1950's aesthetic.

Step 6: Who (or What) Survives?

Despite all the odds, millions of stubborn, tough and well-prepared (or even just lucky) human beings survived the radiation, the war, the disease and predation by ghouls and demonic beings to pass on their genes to a new generation. Unfortunately, so did many of the ghouls and demons. Moreover, those humans who did survive did not (for the most part) survive without at least some damage at the genetic level due to radiation. At first this damage resulted only in some minor deformities among children borne by survivors, most often leading to the death of the child concerned. Yet some mutated traits were advantageous and these were usually passed on to children of the second and subsequent generations, becoming more pronounced and dominant each time. Of course, the radioative and (perhaps supernatural) elements in the environment continued to affect each subsequent generation as well. Now many survivors bear obvious (but relatively minor) phenotypical mutations of one kind or another. These minor physical mutations usually grant some small advantages such as improved vision, thicker, radiation resistant skin and the like. Extreme mutations (such as functional, non-vestigial extra arms or tails, for example) are incredibly rare. At least in humans and other animals. Creatures with faster generational cycles (such as plants and most insects) have undergone some more extreme mutations since the Rapture. Most mutations however, pose a distinct disadvantage with regards to survival, though as radiation levels decrease and the generations pass disadvantageous mutations are becoming distinctly less frequent (but are still common). Some few individuals have even begun to develop minor mental powers such as telekinesis or telepathy.

In other words, unlike in settings such as Gamma World, Mutant Future and Darwin's World, obvious mutants (or obvious mutant humans, at least) remain the exception rather than the norm. In the current time frame anyway.

Threats to the survivors and PCs include: raider groups (human and mutant), ghouls (humans and mutant fast-zombies affected by the Ravvies virus), rogue robots, ancient military bases, multiple factions, mutated plant and animal life, secret societies and, scariest of all, supernatural threats such as demons.

Step 7: Where do the PC's Come In?

Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, two large factions of humans survive in relative safety: the Vault Dwellers (taken straight from games such as Fallout, Exodus and Darwin's World)  have lived for generations underground in relative ignorance of the terrors and depredations above. A second group, often referred to as “Popsicles” (by those few outsiders who know of them) also exist in remote, secret locations around the globe. These men and women are pre-Event humans who volunteered to be stored in cryogenic suspension in the event of cataclysmic emergency (though no-one could have predicted the form that the apocalypse actually took). These brave men and women  of the Morrow Project (yes, ripped off directly from the RPG of the same name) were supposed to awaken a mere decade after the Event in order to assist in rebuilding. Alas, Prime Base was destroyed mere months after the event and no recall signal was sent. Now, eighty years after the Rapture, the power-systems for the cryogenic storage tanks are running dry. Morrow Project teams all over the world are finally coming to life, face-to-face with the Herculean task before them: survive, re-educate, re-build.

It's my intention for the first group of PC's to come from either the Vault Dwellers or the Morrow Project. This will let me flesh out the sandbox bit by bit as the party explores their environment rather than having to create the whole sandbox before-hand. Later replacement PC's (or even whole parties) can come from anywhere in the sandbox that PC's have already explored. Restricting the first party to outsiders from a Vault or the Morrow Project gives the party a good reason to stay together. At the same time, it also explains the character's (and player's) general ignorance  of the setting.

I will add there is also a third and (at least) a fourth group of human individuals out there whose ancestors never experienced the torments of the Rapture. I'd say more, of course, but I intend to run this sand-box one day and can't risk spoiling the surprise for ym players.

Step Eight: Choose your Weapon (er, rules. I meant rules).

This is such an important step that I want to devote an entire post to it. The next post, will cover the available rules in my collection with some detail, looking at the strengths and weakness' of each in relation to the setting.