Anybody ever played a post apocalypse game?

[Chaoszero]

I'm thinking about making a new setting and I recently saw an episode of Thundarr the Barbarian and was thinking of making the setting post nuclear war earth. It would sort of be like He-Man where there is lazer guns and such, but mostly swords and sorcery.

Has anyone ever done this?

I was thinking about a pantheon made from corporations, company mascots and popular figures, real and fictional. Some of these may be funny, but I'm trying to make it as serious a possible. The parenthesis shows the source of the god.

ADAM - God of War
(Atom - as in atom bomb)
The father god, one who wields the Burning Thunder (bombs). He remade the world and gives strength to nations and individuals.

THE SKY WALKER - God of Justice
(Luke skywalker)
Wields a sword of light and fights those who do evil.

RONALD - God of Joy
(Ronald MacDonald)
A jester who feeds the hungry and watches over children.

WOL - God of Tyranny
(Wallmart)
Behind the seemingly joyous yellow happy face, lies a heart of ice who imprisons foreigners and enslaves them. He is the enemy of Ronald as he sucks the joy from all.

and others

THE GREEN GIANT - God of Agriculture
FORD - God of Strength
MICROSOFT - God of Magic / Technology
BOEING - God of Crafting
ASPRIN - God of Healing

Most of these need their names shifted or misspelled to give them a little more credibility or enigma-like presence.

I'm just throwing out ideas.

 

[Voadam]

Robert Jodan's Wheel of Time had a little bit of this with short references like "the tale of Glenn who rode to the moon on the back of an eagle."

 

[Wik]

I love post-apoc play. It really is a great way to do things.

Your ideas for a pantheon work nicely, but remember - you need "ancients". The people should discuss the doings of the ancient, and should know that the ancients destroyed themselves from their own hubris.

Exactly how much tech you want in the game is another good question - I'd keep tech light, and simply have statues and remnants of buildings. Corrupt the names of local features (as you did with your god). Have the Roc's mountains (Rocky Mountains), Pacifist's Ocean, and the Mizippi River. Things like that.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

*click"

"Captain Walker!"

*click*

"Mrs. Walker!"

*click*

"The River of Light!"

I love P-A/ dark future games- I've enjoyed Gamma World, RIFTS, Hell on Earth, Paranoia and I'm designing a P-A fantasy campaign for D&D.

Another game you might want to take a look at would be Underground, though that's more Blade Runner than Mad Max. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_(role_playing_game))

Remember that pantheons will differ from region to region. In addition, the longer the time between the apocalypse and the time of the campaign, the more the details of the past will get muddied.

For instance, someone might see the side of Mt. Rushmore and think that Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were contemporaries...or even that the sculpture was a depiction of a mighty 4-headed god!

Other readings:

1) Terry Brooks' Shannara books are post-apocalyptic fantasy set in our world, which is being made more clear now that Brooks has linked them to his Word & Void trilogy and his Genesis books.

2) S.M. Stirling's novels of The Change are set in a P-A version of our world that has a more low-fantasy feel. They are also linked to his Islands in the Stream of Time books.

Music:

1) The Sword's Fire Lances of the Hyper-Zephyrians.

 

[Scott_Rouse]

Gamma World is my second love RPG behind D&D. I would bring it back in a heartbeat if I thought it would sell. I love the real world tech meets mutant/fantasy elements.

 

[El Mahdi]

Gamma World is my second love RPG behind D&D. I would bring it back in a heartbeat if I thought it would sell. I love the real world tech meets mutant/fantasy elements.

Knightfall would love you forever if you did.

Man, I'd love it if you could also, especially with a D20 Modern/Future 2nd Edition. But yeah, probably not enough of a market for it.

Too bad really.

 

[Hussar]

Gamma World is my second love RPG behind D&D. I would bring it back in a heartbeat if I thought it would sell. I love the real world tech meets mutant/fantasy elements.

Yeah, really, this sort of thing has kinda passed on by. You don't see a whole lot of post-apocalyptic stuff in that vein anymore.

Although, you might see it return with the number of eco-disaster style post apocalypse fiction you get. But, this is really a very different feel from either Gamma-world or Mad Max.

To be fair though, Deadlands does make a decent stab at keeping the torch alive.

 

[Tetsubo]

Gamma World is my second love RPG behind D&D. I would bring it back in a heartbeat if I thought it would sell. I love the real world tech meets mutant/fantasy elements.

GW is my second love as well. I own all of the editions though the 4th is my favorite. Who needs to 'bring it back'? Pick up a copy of the 4th edition and you can game forever.

Another that I like is the second edition of After the Bomb, though the Palladium system sucks.

I own every PA RPG I have ever found in person.

 

[Nymrohd]

I played a post apocalypse FR years ago near the release of 3E where Shar had rended the Weave and assasinated Mystra with the help of Cyric. Seriously, I wonder who stole my notes . . .
Anyway because my players had played FR a lot before and I had shunted them into the future through a spell, seeing the world they loved corrupted and destroyed was awesome. Tons of drama and great comedic potential.

 

[jdrakeh]

I'm working up something like this for Risus but it has more similarities with the Final Fantasy and Shining Force console games than with Mad Max or Gamma World. It's sky galleons, magical undead plagues, save points, gene splicing, forgotten weapon satellites, and so on.