D&D as a Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

[Oofta]

A while back I decided to blow up my campaign world and had Ragnarok (Norse end of the world). Fortunately the group was able to reverse it's effects in my 4E campaign that went to epic levels, but the world was pretty trashed.

So my current campaign definitely has a points of light in a dark world feel. Want a magic item? Well there's the ruins of the old city over there. Good luck with all the undead that infested it when 90% of the population was wiped out in a matter of hours and thinned the border with the Shadowfell. Oh, and by the way, there are other spots where the border to the Feywild is thin and another where fiends have been trying to break through.

But at the same time, it's also not resource scarce from a survival standpoint so not sure it really qualifies. I thought about setting up some kind of magical disease/crop failures but I'm not good at constant dark and dreary tone.

 

[Maxperson]

MAX MAD FOR THE WIN! THUNDERDOME!

Setting me up for success. I like it!

 

[ninjayeti]

I think "apocalypse" implies a sudden, complete collapse rather than general decline of knowledge and civilization. I've never heard the fall of Rome referred to as an apocalypse or the middle ages as post-apocalyptic.

I'd say the two hallmarks of post-apocalyptic fiction are:

1) complete collapse of society and institutions. There is no government, no military, no corporations or guilds. At best you have a village or tribe to help you but beyond that you are on your own. Other civilized settlements may just be rumors, but at best they are long and dangerous journeys to reach.

2) the objective of adventuring isn't wealth or glory but survival and the acquisition of basic supplies: food, water, bullets, gas, etc.

With a fantasy environment you can do some fun stuff with #1, but #2 is more problematic. Even in a "magic as technology" setting like Eberron a typical rural village is going to be largely self sufficient: they likely grow their own food, have a reliable water supply, have a blacksmith to make basic weapons, etc. Things like medicine, gas, bullets, water purification chips don't really work as objectives. Even if you assume a village has no food or water it is harder justify adventuring for a solution as you aren't going to find a stash of MREs or a water tanker truck in most fantasy environments. "Our well is contaminated but I think the temple a few villages away has a Decanter of Endless Water" doesn't feel like a compelling plot.

So if I was doing a fantasy post apocalypse I would focus on #1: the PCs need to find the remaining pockets of civilization, set up trade and mutual defense, and create new institutions to face the challenges of the new era. It would lack many of the tropes typically associated with post-apocalypse fiction, but it would still pose distinct challenges from a standard fantasy game.

 

[S'mon]

Default D&D setting is post-post-apocalyptic, Medieval not Dark Age, so you have ancient ruins plus a more or less functioning current society. Some settings do go more post-apocalyptic, like 4e Points of Light, which has the recent apocalyptic Fall of Nerath.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Civilisations rise and civilisations fall, so every civilisation is built upon the ruins of an earlier one.

 

[Coroc]

A while back I decided to blow up my campaign world and had Ragnarok (Norse end of the world). Fortunately the group was able to reverse it's effects in my 4E campaign that went to epic levels, but the world was pretty trashed.

So my current campaign definitely has a points of light in a dark world feel. Want a magic item? Well there's the ruins of the old city over there. Good luck with all the undead that infested it when 90% of the population was wiped out in a matter of hours and thinned the border with the Shadowfell. Oh, and by the way, there are other spots where the border to the Feywild is thin and another where fiends have been trying to break through.

But at the same time, it's also not resource scarce from a survival standpoint so not sure it really qualifies. I thought about setting up some kind of magical disease/crop failures but I'm not good at constant dark and dreary tone.

Go ravenloft. One of your shadowfell portals will do. Some really dark domains are Falcnovia, or the one Azalin rules.

Or just start a darksun campaign that's imho the best postapocalyptic campaign world. It is gritty w/o undead at every corner, daily food and water are a constant challenge.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah, this is kind of a core conceit of the genre. Some settings deviate from it of course, but it was central to the original source-material, and it survives in some form in most of the current adaptations.

By the way, I think this makes an excellent in-universe explanation for the weird pan-medieval hodgepodge of different technologies and sociopolitical structures that D&D has.

 

[Oofta]

For me, I like the idea of there being plenty of ruins that can be plundered for riches around. Even though I normally don't do dungeon crawls I like the idea that there is danger around every other corner.

But ... much like the Black Plague the survivors of the apocalypse actually have a lot of resources. Arable land and other resources are relatively plentiful. Yes, there are monsters that go bump in the night but if you are one of the lucky ones and aren't eaten life is not that difficult.

In the previous campaign there were food shortages and other issues but it didn't really add much to the game for me. People are assumed to have a relatively high level of wealth quickly in their career, if not at first level. Maybe I'm just not a doom and gloom guy, more of a be paranoid because there really might be something hiding in the closet.

 

[Coroc]

For me, I like the idea of there being plenty of ruins that can be plundered for riches around. Even though I normally don't do dungeon crawls I like the idea that there is danger around every other corner.

But ... much like the Black Plague the survivors of the apocalypse actually have a lot of resources. Arable land and other resources are relatively plentiful. Yes, there are monsters that go bump in the night but if you are one of the lucky ones and aren't eaten life is not that difficult.

In the previous campaign there were food shortages and other issues but it didn't really add much to the game for me. People are assumed to have a relatively high level of wealth quickly in their career, if not at first level. Maybe I'm just not a doom and gloom guy, more of a be paranoid because there really might be something hiding in the closet.

I got some idea spooking around in my head for a while on how to best do a setting a bit alike some ravenloft domains, like Falcnovia with its oppressive regime or the one which map is basically 19th century industrialization London (cannot recall the name of this one atm it's got some Jack the Ripper theme I think).
What I imagine is something extremely gloomy, literally dark, maybe foggy but not always, but when not, the sky is clouded also with smog eventually. It should be a populated area on the one hand otoh many houses should be empty or inhabited by something else than the normal folks. The normal people would only leave their homes if they absolutely have to.
Basic things like water and food supply should still work somehow though, but I have no good idea on how to make this logically consistent, because this would require rural areas providing these goods.
While the rural areas could be as gloomy and dark, having lonely farm houses strewn about, there would have to be some market or traffic of goods in larger quantities. I do not know how to resolve that.

That's where darksun really shines, it is thoroughly consistent and still gives that postapocalytic feel.

 

[Guest 6801328]

While the rural areas could be as gloomy and dark, having lonely farm houses strewn about, there would have to be some market or traffic of goods in larger quantities. I do not know how to resolve that.

This is where too much worry about realism can ruin a good thing. Screw the trade routes.