Post-apocalyptic fantasy: Avoiding cliche.

[Razjah]

Keep in mind that avoiding clichés is a cliché in itself.

Could you clarify how doing something new or unique is cliched?

 

[Zhaleskra]

Could you clarify how doing something new or unique is cliched?

People going out of their way to avoid cliches has been done so often that it is itself a cliche.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) That is sweet!

2)A few ideas:
-hotsprings as 'points of light'
-abandoned magma-tech stuff
-loss of literacy as books and scrolls were too heavy to carry and were left behind as the races fled towards the equator (or wherever is warmest)
-if you wanted the plane to power magic via leylines, you could have fire magic use lower caster levels or not have as high spells to reflect the loss of so much fire magic (ie. if this was E6 which caps at 3rd level spells, fire magic never gets past 2nd)
-cold magic could get a boost or many fire spells get reflavored- flaming sphere becomes chilling sphere, fireball is cryoball or something better
-digging to where is is warmer, the dwarves or whatever "miner race" may have found geothermal energy and dug deep to stay warmer.
-ash storms hinder breathing, visibility, flight of animals, and even movement on the ground with winds and increasing amount of ash on the ground
-if it stays cold enough for enough time you have sea levels drop, glaciers form, woolly mammoths (what party doesn't want to hunt one and have "woolly mammoth hide armor"

Thanks all for your suggestions. Definitely helping me channel things. I will avoid any Mad Max resemblances for sure.

Razjah - you are really kindling my creativity here. Loving these ideas, dwelling into the implications and consequences of the volcano. I am thinking of doing an exclusively underground-dwelling dwarven race influenced by the Norse myths, one that is alien, distinctly not-human. Ice ages & ash storms are musts.

I have an as-yet unused post-Apocalyptic setting in which the ELE culprits were asteroids hurled from space by Illithids from the future trying to hasten the onset of the future they are from. As such, several elements of it are similar to Razja's list- lost literacy, tomes & scrolls, for instance. Those not destroyed outright by the bombardment were among the things used as fuel for fire in the impact-initiated "winter" that followed.

Because of this all published spells are somewhat rare, and I use AD&D's old method of randomizing the spells that get added to arcane casters' known spell list. They are researching new additions to their knowledge, based on the literal scraps of the past. However, I am also planning to allow the players to design their own spells- each subject to my approval, of course.

Other elements:

1) All surface creatures over size L are dead. They could not find enough food to survive the ELE.

2) the subsurface cultures & ecosystems were less damaged by the onslaught. (This means it is also a prime repository of arcane scrolls and tomes...)

3) in order to survive, some races used magic rituals to change their nature. For example, surface elves- to use 3.5Ed terminology- added the woodling template, becoming part plant, allowing them to photosynthesize in addition to finding food via hunting. They also became more closely allied with the dwarves, who built crystal-domed subterranean chambers to focus the light for them...

There are other things, too: I used non-standard races to populate the world. Not just homebrewed alterations like the planty-elves, but also races from other d20 sourcebooks, like the Seshayans.

 

[Electric Wizard]

I think the standard exploration/dungeon-crawling D&D campaign has a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Monsters roam unchecked beyond city walls. The wilderness is rife with ancient ruins. Local authorities resort to hiring mercenaries to maintain security. The world's strongest, brightest and most talented people (PC's with above-average abilities and training) risk life and limb diving into dungeons because retrieving gold and artifacts is by far the world's most lucrative profession. To me, none of this sounds too far from Fallout or Road Warrior.

These details are often lost on people who see them as typical tropes. Highlighting a setting's dangers and general disorder rather than glossing over them could go a long way. You could also emphasize the rebuilding aspect of the post-apocalypse by giving players incentives to found settlements, strongholds or organizations.