It is the Year of Our Lord 1666 -- London is in flames.
In this alternative timeline of Palladium Books' post-apocalyptic mutant animal rpg After the Bomb, the world was rocked by an ethereum bomb disaster which occurred during the latter days of the Thirty Years' War. The resulting landscape is a steampunk-puritan-ghosts of Appalachia-post-apocalyptic-horror show. The lost continents of Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu have returned as a result of the dimensional rupture of the 'Day of Darkness' when the ether bomb was dropped on central Europe. Dark creatures of legend roam the streets at night, and the veil between the nightmares of the astral planes and the world of the living have become thin and tattered, allowing the easy ingress of mythic horrors.
The European colonies of the Americas have become largely self-sufficient and independent as a result of the catastrophe. The various breeds of mutant animals, once loyal servants of their human masters, have increasingly established their own civilizations and communities in the wreckage of the old order.
The storied orders of the Knights Templar, the Witch Hunters, and the Vampire Slayers have emerged from the shadows to combat the new threats to civilization - among their most competent adherents are the mutant animals who have maintained their faith in the cause, even if they have thrown off the shackles of their previous servitude to the Empires of Humankind.
This setting will adopt elements of After the Bomb, the Savage World's setting Rippers, and the Adventures of Solomon Kane, among other inspirations. One of my players came up with the tag 'Colonial Atom Punk' to describe the setting. In this world, the historical technology of the 1600s is considerably supplemented by steampunk ethereum tech more reminiscent of 1800s-based steampunk images and concepts -- witch iron clad battleships, ethereum canons and handguns, ornithopter-type flying vehicles. The ambience would be similar to Val Helsing, Witchhunter: the Hidden World, and the Adventures of Solomon Kane and would involve a party of humans and mutant animals that are part of esoteric orders that hunt down demons, devils, vampires, witches, and other cryptids threatening the ashes of civilization on the East Coast and the ruins of Europe.
Using the After the Bomb Mutant animals rules for a race/r.c.c., there are at least three different options for making characters. I am allowing players to have both an r.c.c. (in this case, mutant animal), and an o.c.c. or similar additional element to open up additional character concepts like mutant animal black cat witches.
(1). Use a mutant animal as your race, and pick an o.c.c. from Rifts, Fantasy, or another Palladium game line.
(2). Pick another, compatible r.c.c or r.c.c-type chassis like a Nightbane or an anti-monster (Rifts: South America).
(3). Make a mutant animal 'super hero' by combining the mutant animal rules with the super powers in Heroes Unlimited.
There is no SRD for this system, so you'd have to get access to the books somehow on your own (I own a hard copy of the core book, so I really can't help on that front).
The current setting/plot is a town called 'Kamden' in the mutant animal state of New-new Jersey that is currently in the grip of a 'Witch Hunter Terror' caused by apprehensions of infernal forces from Hades and Dyval increasing in their activities in the region. Outlying farms have been attacked. Larger bands of zombie 'roamers' have begun to move into the region. Law-abiding citizens of Kamden have been abducted a night under mysterious circumstances, never to appear again. These circumstances have led the Town Council to set up a Witch Hunter Inquisition to attempt to ferret out the malevolent elements that have infiltrated their society. The result has been a dramatic increase in the number of public executions at the Town Square, but persistent rumors hold that the Inquisition has become a terror and has had little impact on the true sources of the region's recent troubles.
Some of the chief parties/factions in the region:
The Knights of the White Lilly -- a rigorist military wing of the local version of the Church of Light and Dark (similar to the Palladium Fantasy version, except with more Greek/mystery religion influences). There are several knight orders devoted to several of the gods of Tuat that form the spearhead of the Inquisition. The factions of the Knights include the Obsidian Paladins (adherents of a dark trinity consisting of Set, Anubis, and Anhur) and the Emerald Drakes/Emerald Tarragon -- adherents of Amon the Faceless.
The Cult of the Scarlet Veil -- adherents of Modeus and other powers of Hades -- this cabal of magic users were once associated with the Awakened of the Crimson Spire, an order of magic users similar to the grey wardens of Dragonage -- they use their powers and abilities to explore the dark spaces of existence. The Cult of the Scarlet Veil succumbed to the darkness into which they gazed. Different factions in the Cult are adherents of different demon lords of Hades, though the most powerful/numerous are adherents of Modeus, and have several Hell High Priests from the Hades book who are a new innovation that are attempting to start a demon cult. This is causing some tension with the existing heirarchy, which is made up of witches.
The Sable Circle -- previously a sect of good mutant animal fawns and deer who were druids and tattoo mages, their desire to defend their woodland sanctuary from the encroachment of civilization led to them falling to the dark powers of Dyval. They made an alliance with the woodland demons of Dyval Prime and became Jersey Devil mutant animal chimerae. They wish to drive out the Cult of the Scarlet Veil and the Knights of the White Lilly, and eradicate the town of Kamden with an army of fenry wolves, shock dragons, and other horrors mustered from the Deevil Host. Like the forces of the Deevils in the Palladium world, they have been more successful than the demons in setting up local religions. They have converted at least one local tribe to the veneration of Sahtalus. Like the Cult of the Scarlet Veil, different factions within the Circle have allegiance to different deevil lords, but Sahtalus is the primary patron of the Circle.
The River Lords -- mutant animal otters and badgers in Richmond to the South who consist of a council of 'elemental slavers' who bind water elementals of various sorts to support their trade empire. They are at war with mutant animal penguin pirates who live off of the coast, some of whom are vampires and pilot ghost ships.
Other considerations --I'm going to use tableplop Tableplop: Digital tools for legendary games for the VTT. Just positioning and potentially rolling dice (I also have a 3d dice room) -- no automation. If you're looking for a theater of the mind game, this won't be a good fit -- I like/enjoy battlemaps and tokens and make fancy ones.
I use a lot of mood music and AI-generated images for people places and things. If you're not into that kind of stuff, this won't be a good fit.
I do a lot of world building -- I have multiple factions active and I dive deep into the Palladium lore on the Minion War in this game. If you're the kind of player that's more like "I'm just here to play a game, kill some monsters, I'm not so into the background stuff" there's nothing wrong with that, I don't think there's one true way(TM) to play these games, but I'm looking for players that are into worldbuilding/lore, take notes, and remember stuff between sessions.
I'd like to get started Tuesday the 26th. I'll be available to do session 0 of some sort before that.