Wik
First Post
I'd been running a homebrew d20 game set in an apocalyptic future for a few months when I picked up d20 Apocalypse. I'd hoped that some of the ideas in the book would be worthwhile to adapt to my own game. Instead, after reading this book, I scrapped my house-ruled game and rewrote the setting to incorporate much of what this book had to offer.
d20 Apocalypse is the perfect expansion for pretty much any apocalyptic game. You want a game set in the near future, overrun with violent zombies? This is the book for you. A mad max-style game with crazy mutations? This one will work. What about an alien invasion scenario? A "Twelve-Monkeys" scenario? Howzabout global warming?
This game has stuff in it that will cover it all.
Surprisingly, the book is only 96 pages long, which may cause some readers to dismiss it as being unimportant. However, every page of this book will help you in running a post-apocalyptic game, even if you ultimately decide to scrap a few of the rules presented.
The book is very modular in it's layout, allowing the GM to pick and choose what to add to his game. While the game is built around the d20 Modern ruleset (and claims to require d20 Future to use, although I found that only the mutations and robotics mentioned in d20 Apocalypse rely on d20 Future rules), I have no doubt that much of what is presented could be used in a D&D game.
The first parts of the book describe the post-apocalyptic genre, and describe various means in which a world could come to an end (from the alien invasion to a nuclear war), as well as how long it's been since the apocalyptic event occured (did the apocalypse happen last week, or a hundred years ago?). There is also a section describing apocalyptic societies that I found interesting, and used as the basis for creating apocalyptic communities in my campaign world.
However, the meat of this product is in the rules additions, of which there are MANY. We have, for example, rules on:
* Barter
* Scavenging
* Radiation
* Viruses
* Mutations (expands on the d20 Future rules)
* Nuclear Blast Devastation Zones
* How buildings decay over time (and scavenging in old buildings)
* Acquiring and collecting parts to fix things (this revamps the old repair skill)
* Travel over broken terrain
* Mounted Combat (a la D&D)
* Environmental Hazards (run from the Acid Rain! Or a Fallout Cloud!)
* Converting and changing your vehicles (add armour to your jeep, for example)
* Expanded Vehicle Combat Rules
Most of these rules seem to work excellently in play, although I found the barter system to be a little too harsh. Weapons are rather cheap in the system, whereas ammo is incredibly expensive. A single round for your glock 17 will cost 1 Trade Unit, whereas the entire pistol costs only 9 trade units. In other words, you can almost purchase two pistols for the price of fully reloading one! This, however, works excellently for GMs who really want to emphasize the "survival" aspect of the post-apoc genre. In fact, there is even a section in the book on how to award gear to the PCs as treasure (much like the "average treasure value" tables you see in D&D).
The repair and build skills have been re-worked to better fit the apocalyptic genre, and focus around "parts". This is a very elegant and simple system that functions beautifully in play - to create or repair an object, you need the right part. You make a d20 roll, add the number of parts your character has, and if you beat the DC for your parts check, you have the necessary part to make your fix or craft check. The beauty of this system is that it saves the group from having to keep track of each and every mechanical or electrical part they come across, and just have the characters collect parts throughout the adventure. Since my post-apoc game featured a mechanic as one of the primary characters, I really appreciated this simplified build/repair system.
There are a few new monsters added to the game, although most of them didn't fit my campaign. For example, there is a giant irradiated cockroach, demons and angels (made for one of their sample campaigns), a few large robots (interesting, although I prefer to use my own creations), and the like. My two favourite monster additions might dissapoint you - I loved how they statted up the Donkey (a staple of the genre), and the Viral Deathspawn - the typical "Dawn of the Dead" zombie. Actually, I loved the Viral Deathspawn so much that I now use them as my typical D&D Zombie. The only problem I see with the deathspawn is that it is a template that merely imposes a penalty on the infected's intelligence score, meaning it is possible to have fairly intelligent zombies. I fixed this with a simple house rule. The picture for the Viral Deathspawn is also one of the few cases of WotC art that depicts bare breast. oo la la.
There are a few class additions to the game, although nothing is truly groundbreaking. There are a few modifications to the d20 modern occupations, as well as some new uses for skills. A few feats are added, although not all of them would be suitable for every post-apoc campaign. There are also a few PrCs in the game - a Road Warrior (mad max), and a salvager (which I cannibalized in my own campaign and renamed the machinist, a core class). Both are excellent PrCs, although the Road Warrior is absolutely focused on vehicular combat, which would probably deter players from selecting it in long-term play.
We are given three sample campaigns - Earth Inherited, Atomic Sunrise, and Plague World. All three are interesting reads. Each is given perhaps five or six pages of description.
Earth Inherited is a post-apoc world that has been deeply affected by a war between angels and devils. The war is ongoing, as humans fight for their own survival between the forces of absolute good and evil. The setting is an interesting one, although the picture of a cherub angel with an assault rifle threw me off a bit. I really liked how the setting focused on the morality of the conflict between good and evil - there are angels that are questioning heaven as they wage their war, and demons that are weary of conflict and wonder at their purpose in life. There is a lot of role-playing possibility in this setting. Given as the bonus "Rule set" for this campaign expansion is a map of a sample community - one set in a docked barge. I used this community in my own apocalyptic setting with very few changes - the map is excellent.
Atomic Sunrise is pretty much your typical Gamma World campaign, with mutations and high technology. Of the three campaign models, this is my least favourite. In fact, I've always hated "wild west" post-apoc games, which is very much what this model styles itself as. This model presents a "lawbringer" PrC of which there is no shortage, and a model for a villainous compound built around a football stadium. I personally felt that this was the weakest part of the entire book.
Finally, there is Plague World, a post-apocalyptic world set so far after the apocalypse, that it might not even be considered "post-apoc" anymore. In this model, the PCs play members of a government organization who have been frozen with the intent of carrying on human civilization after an alien invasion. Since the aliens were unable to truly invade, the PCs aren't unfrozen until three hundred years after the invasion ended, such that they enter a completely different world. Humans are at a medieval level of technology, and the aliens have degenerated into violent reavers that inhabit the dark wilds. Strange, alien pathogens have mutated humans and aliens alike, so that the game makes ample use of the mutation rules (in fact, the model presents a PrC focused entirely around mutations). The great thing about this model is that the PCs would start off with a great deal of modern gear, but slowly lose it to more archaic weaponry as the game progresses.
The thing I didn't like about the Plague World model was that it was too similar to an idea I had only a few weeks before I purchased this book. I was quite upset to see that an idea I thought was so original had already been covered in an RPG.
In any case, I've had d20 Apocalypse for almost a year now, and you can tell how well-used the book is just by looking at it. This is the primary book for all our post-apocalytic games, and I dare say it's the most useful post-apoc book out there for the d20 system. In fact, if you run a d20 game set in a post-apoc world, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book. I guarantee you'll find something for your game.
d20 Apocalypse is the perfect expansion for pretty much any apocalyptic game. You want a game set in the near future, overrun with violent zombies? This is the book for you. A mad max-style game with crazy mutations? This one will work. What about an alien invasion scenario? A "Twelve-Monkeys" scenario? Howzabout global warming?
This game has stuff in it that will cover it all.
Surprisingly, the book is only 96 pages long, which may cause some readers to dismiss it as being unimportant. However, every page of this book will help you in running a post-apocalyptic game, even if you ultimately decide to scrap a few of the rules presented.
The book is very modular in it's layout, allowing the GM to pick and choose what to add to his game. While the game is built around the d20 Modern ruleset (and claims to require d20 Future to use, although I found that only the mutations and robotics mentioned in d20 Apocalypse rely on d20 Future rules), I have no doubt that much of what is presented could be used in a D&D game.
The first parts of the book describe the post-apocalyptic genre, and describe various means in which a world could come to an end (from the alien invasion to a nuclear war), as well as how long it's been since the apocalyptic event occured (did the apocalypse happen last week, or a hundred years ago?). There is also a section describing apocalyptic societies that I found interesting, and used as the basis for creating apocalyptic communities in my campaign world.
However, the meat of this product is in the rules additions, of which there are MANY. We have, for example, rules on:
* Barter
* Scavenging
* Radiation
* Viruses
* Mutations (expands on the d20 Future rules)
* Nuclear Blast Devastation Zones
* How buildings decay over time (and scavenging in old buildings)
* Acquiring and collecting parts to fix things (this revamps the old repair skill)
* Travel over broken terrain
* Mounted Combat (a la D&D)
* Environmental Hazards (run from the Acid Rain! Or a Fallout Cloud!)
* Converting and changing your vehicles (add armour to your jeep, for example)
* Expanded Vehicle Combat Rules
Most of these rules seem to work excellently in play, although I found the barter system to be a little too harsh. Weapons are rather cheap in the system, whereas ammo is incredibly expensive. A single round for your glock 17 will cost 1 Trade Unit, whereas the entire pistol costs only 9 trade units. In other words, you can almost purchase two pistols for the price of fully reloading one! This, however, works excellently for GMs who really want to emphasize the "survival" aspect of the post-apoc genre. In fact, there is even a section in the book on how to award gear to the PCs as treasure (much like the "average treasure value" tables you see in D&D).
The repair and build skills have been re-worked to better fit the apocalyptic genre, and focus around "parts". This is a very elegant and simple system that functions beautifully in play - to create or repair an object, you need the right part. You make a d20 roll, add the number of parts your character has, and if you beat the DC for your parts check, you have the necessary part to make your fix or craft check. The beauty of this system is that it saves the group from having to keep track of each and every mechanical or electrical part they come across, and just have the characters collect parts throughout the adventure. Since my post-apoc game featured a mechanic as one of the primary characters, I really appreciated this simplified build/repair system.
There are a few new monsters added to the game, although most of them didn't fit my campaign. For example, there is a giant irradiated cockroach, demons and angels (made for one of their sample campaigns), a few large robots (interesting, although I prefer to use my own creations), and the like. My two favourite monster additions might dissapoint you - I loved how they statted up the Donkey (a staple of the genre), and the Viral Deathspawn - the typical "Dawn of the Dead" zombie. Actually, I loved the Viral Deathspawn so much that I now use them as my typical D&D Zombie. The only problem I see with the deathspawn is that it is a template that merely imposes a penalty on the infected's intelligence score, meaning it is possible to have fairly intelligent zombies. I fixed this with a simple house rule. The picture for the Viral Deathspawn is also one of the few cases of WotC art that depicts bare breast. oo la la.
There are a few class additions to the game, although nothing is truly groundbreaking. There are a few modifications to the d20 modern occupations, as well as some new uses for skills. A few feats are added, although not all of them would be suitable for every post-apoc campaign. There are also a few PrCs in the game - a Road Warrior (mad max), and a salvager (which I cannibalized in my own campaign and renamed the machinist, a core class). Both are excellent PrCs, although the Road Warrior is absolutely focused on vehicular combat, which would probably deter players from selecting it in long-term play.
We are given three sample campaigns - Earth Inherited, Atomic Sunrise, and Plague World. All three are interesting reads. Each is given perhaps five or six pages of description.
Earth Inherited is a post-apoc world that has been deeply affected by a war between angels and devils. The war is ongoing, as humans fight for their own survival between the forces of absolute good and evil. The setting is an interesting one, although the picture of a cherub angel with an assault rifle threw me off a bit. I really liked how the setting focused on the morality of the conflict between good and evil - there are angels that are questioning heaven as they wage their war, and demons that are weary of conflict and wonder at their purpose in life. There is a lot of role-playing possibility in this setting. Given as the bonus "Rule set" for this campaign expansion is a map of a sample community - one set in a docked barge. I used this community in my own apocalyptic setting with very few changes - the map is excellent.
Atomic Sunrise is pretty much your typical Gamma World campaign, with mutations and high technology. Of the three campaign models, this is my least favourite. In fact, I've always hated "wild west" post-apoc games, which is very much what this model styles itself as. This model presents a "lawbringer" PrC of which there is no shortage, and a model for a villainous compound built around a football stadium. I personally felt that this was the weakest part of the entire book.
Finally, there is Plague World, a post-apocalyptic world set so far after the apocalypse, that it might not even be considered "post-apoc" anymore. In this model, the PCs play members of a government organization who have been frozen with the intent of carrying on human civilization after an alien invasion. Since the aliens were unable to truly invade, the PCs aren't unfrozen until three hundred years after the invasion ended, such that they enter a completely different world. Humans are at a medieval level of technology, and the aliens have degenerated into violent reavers that inhabit the dark wilds. Strange, alien pathogens have mutated humans and aliens alike, so that the game makes ample use of the mutation rules (in fact, the model presents a PrC focused entirely around mutations). The great thing about this model is that the PCs would start off with a great deal of modern gear, but slowly lose it to more archaic weaponry as the game progresses.
The thing I didn't like about the Plague World model was that it was too similar to an idea I had only a few weeks before I purchased this book. I was quite upset to see that an idea I thought was so original had already been covered in an RPG.
In any case, I've had d20 Apocalypse for almost a year now, and you can tell how well-used the book is just by looking at it. This is the primary book for all our post-apocalytic games, and I dare say it's the most useful post-apoc book out there for the d20 system. In fact, if you run a d20 game set in a post-apoc world, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book. I guarantee you'll find something for your game.
