D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Post-Apocalyptic Adventure

[HoboGod]

I'm in the process of planning a post-apocalyptic DnD game. Currently, I'm DMing an evil campaign where my players fully understand that the completion of their dark master's ambition means the end of civilization. When they've completed the game, likely around level 15-20, I shall take their character sheets and turn them into the villains of the new world they've created, 50 years later. Some villains will lose levels, some shall remain the same, perhaps others shall grow stronger. It will be fun! However, I want the world to authentically represent the decay of a civilization. For this, I'd like some advice on a couple of topics!

This will be a restricted gestalt game. Every player must gestalt with at least one savage character class. For example, most variants of barbarian, most variants of druid, and the savage bard variant are all acceptable. What other possibilities do my players have?

Technology should be all but lost. All items made by forging metal become minor artifacts in terms of rarity and availability. What other restrictions should I make to fit this theme? What weapons and armor should my monsters be looking to use?

Most importantly, what books should I be reading? Every major city will become a necropolis, so Libiris Mortis and Ghostwalk is a must. The world will become cold and barren, so Frostburn of course. I still need a good book for tribal and barbarian lifestyles. I wouldn't know what aberrations to use in this kind of world. Also, I need more books with any topics related to hardship, disease, slavery, and ruins.

 

[Dandu]

Ever look at Dark Sun?

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'll second DarkSun (lots of info at www.athas.org). It has several of the elements you're considering, including the rarity of metal, slavery, and what a decayed civilization looks like in D&D terms.

Regarding savage classes, don't forget ranger. Also, if you want to make spellcasting available, I think sorcerers and or spontaneous divine casters are easily reskinned into shaman-like characters, especially if tied to a totem/spiritguide/bloodline/element/etc.

There was a 3.0 book way back called "Primal Codex". It was a sourcebook about savage/prehistoric campaigns, with material on savage classes (eg, witch doctors) and races (eg, neanderthals), as well as info on wilderness combat rules, diseases & exposure, primitive weaponry, and the like. I never used it in game, but it was an interesting read. I don't know if it's still available, though.

As for aberrations, I'm not sure. Lowly things like carrion crawlers, grell, or rust monsters make good scavengers in ruins, but higher order ones all tend to be very niche, imho. What is the nature of the world-ending cataclysm? Is it something that would awaken sleeping horrors; or attract aliens beings from other dimensions; or draw demons out of the Abyss; or warp existing creatures into malevolent forms?

 

[HoboGod]

The world ends with the Cult of Cthulhu getting there way and the (partial) summoning of Cthulhu into the material plane. The world is not ended by the horrors of Cthulhu, but rather by Cthulhu's very existance influencing the minds of others to the point of madness.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Ah, worldwide madness... Sound entertaining!

It occurs to me that certain elements of your campaign sound fairly S&S. Have you looked into the Conan RPG? I've never played it, so I can't vouch for it, but it may have some useful info.

Re: aberrations- a few things that spring to mind:
- The feyhir (fyhir in 3e, iirc) actually coalesces from peoples' fear.
- An aboleth or two (possibly reskinned), with sahuagin or similar Deep-Ones-esque minions might make work well in a coastal area, possibly as the focus of a cult.
- Gibbering mouthers or chaos beasts have a definite Azathothiness about them, especially if they lurk alone deep in a cave somewhere.
- For some reason, phantom fungus always seemed very Mythos to me, especially if given an Int score and converted to the aberration type.
- The (low-power, non-epic) pseudonatural template from WotC's "Lords of Madness" is nice for slapping on mundane creatures to convert them into Things That Should Not Be. Or even the lowly fiendish, half-fiend or half-dragon templates could be easily reskinned to create malevolent beasts-- like warped, betentacled cave bears or something-- that could be worshipped by savages.

As for additional sources, I'm stumped. But if you're looking for inspirational reading (rather than game-sytem specific reading), you might query up in the GeneralRPG forum. Folks up there might have suggestions for materials from other editions, specific settings, non-fiction sources, or literature. Sounds like an interesting game. Good luck.

 

[HoboGod]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely look into Dark Sun, Primal Codex, and any Conan RPG I can get my hands on.

Although it's funny you mention the psuedonatural template from Lords of Madness, that book's description of the psuedonatural creatures and the Far Realm was my inspiration for creating a DnD campaign with Lovecraftian themes.

Another question! I remember from some book there was a variant rule for insanity, I can't remember which. Does anyone know the book and how well the variant works?

 

[Dragonwriter]

The Sanity mechanic was printed in Unearthed Arcana, and it is also available here. I haven't used it, so I cannot comment on how well it works.

I think Heroes of Horror might have had a similar thing. Of course, it may just have been a refined version of the Taint variant, from Unearthed Arcana (and SRD).