Tropes
Human extinction is an idea embedded in our genetic memory perhaps dating as far back as the population bottleneck of 70,000 years ago. Recent localized events such as medieval Black Plague, the ongoing Cholera epidemics that have plagued much of the world since the Industrial Revolution, and the influenza outbreaks at the turn of the last century have cemented the idea that was long established in cultural texts such as the Revelation of St. John The Divine, the Kali Yuga, and the Mayan Calendar.
The scythe-carrying robed Reaper of the Apocalypse that had persisted since ancient Greece was given a glowing face for the Third Millennium by the likes of Einstein and Oppenheimer. While several incidents brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, the media and the cultural zeitgeist of the west reflected the growing awareness that engines of creation were being harnessed as a destructive force. Radiation and The Bomb were the boogeyman of the 1950s. Each generation since has meditated on which of their pressing concerns could lead to The End... And what might come after.
A group that wants to play a Post-Apocalyptic campaign needs to understand the following tropes common to all subgenres.
It's Not A Tumor!
The End has come and gone. Civilization is in ruins, and the toughest, luckiest, and nastiest have survived. The question of what they survived is almost academic, nothing more than the colour of sprinkles on your Post-Apocalyptic Ice Cream Cone.
Uses:
There are a lot of ways to end the world, from the likely (Nuclear War, Massive Solar Flare, Geological Upheaval, Pandemics) to the offbeat (Genetic Engineering, Nanites), to the supernatural (Vampires, Zombies, the Rapture) to the fantastic (Alien Invasions, AI Takeover). Which Apocalypse you choose with determine the types of window dressing the campaign will take. In the end analysis, though, The World Ended, The Bad Thing should be avoided, and The Good Stuff is out there to try to reclaim. The details will not significantly change the type of adventures a group of Post-Apocalyptic PCs pursue.
Pitfalls:
If the cause of the Apocalypse becomes entirely irrelevant, you end up with a campaign that approaches flavourlessness. Watching The Road, for instance, is a very different beast from The Book of Eli. In the former, it might as well be set in a small area impacted by any catastrophic event. Whether warrior-priests with crosses tattooed on their foreheads, radioactive mutants, or military enclaves hoarding weapons, food, and medicine, the shadow of The End should loom over and flavour the campaign.
It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times
As important a consideration as how and why the world ended is when. A Boy and His Dog are walking around in what's left after the 1960s, Fallout takes this further and postulates a 22nd century where the cultural trappings of the 1950s survived intact into and beyond the Information Age. Whether the Black Plague took out 19th century England, the bombs fell at the Bay of Pigs, or the aliens invaded at the same time as the Disco Zombie Uprising, the look of the world will still be ruins. The ruins of what, however, depend on the when.
Uses:
A game set in the aftermath of Gordon Gecko becoming President and Greeding the world into the Apocalypse will find a lot of 80s Corp-Speak, snazzy suit patterns, and focus on paper money as a commodity. Likewise, the fall of civilization by Psychic Post-Emo Mutants will lead to a world where The Black Parade is a normal raider gang. The times dictate the styles and gear the PCs will live with.
Pitfalls:
It is far too easy to turn a themed genre campaign into a parody. Remember, real people were living real lives in roller discos and Wall Street Board Rooms. Keeping the people real will keep the tone level. Don't descend into farce, as there has to be a sense something of value was lost... even if the surviving culture is Post-Kaiju Hello Kitty-based.
War... War Never Changes
There's a whole world out there, the spoils of fallen civilization scattered amongst the ruins. Scarcity can, in real life, bring out the best in people, as witnessed in the 21st century's natural disasters. But it can also bring out the worst. When no help is coming, and there's almost nothing left, people band together to defend and rebuild.. or to take what they can by force. Either way, just because the world ended does not mean the fighting ever will.
Uses:
The environment is going to be a prime adversary, but the interactions between mercenary groups, rampaging warlords, and tyrannical fiefdoms amidst the few bastions of attempted peaceful rebuilding will drive many plotlines. Whether its a cache of medicine, a source of clean water, a somehow miraculously still-working deep freeze full of pre-catastrophy frozen food, or just ammo, someone is willing to wage war over it. Sometimes, its just warm bodies capable of work and breeding that cause the raiders to come calling.
Pitfalls:
The campaign can easily become a war for all the nothing that is left. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, but Twilight: 2000 is a very different tone and feel from Gamma World. Keep an eye on the balance between armed conflicts and survivalism in the harsh environment.
This is my BOOM STICK!
The spoils and excesses of the world before were plentiful and ubiquitous. In most places, there were vast surpluses of food, water, and medicine. Endless tools, comforts, diversions and toys were provided by massive industries. The sheer variety of convenience tools was staggering. But since the End, the food has spoiled or been raided, the water is often contaminated, and if you need a hammer, you might end up pounding in your nails with the butt of a screwdriver. People make their own tools and scrounge what they can to survive.
Uses:
A gun is a gun is a gun in an RPG. Although there are those who argue that real world weapons do x and y and z differently, in the heat of the adventure, the pundits are nothing but noisemakers. A Post-Apocalyptic setting gives you leave to exercise your imagination in regards to bits, pieces, cogs, and springs making up a lethal shooty stick. No two need ever look the same.
Similarly, hunger and thirst can drive characters as much as any other impetus. In your Sword and Sorcery adventures through Middle Earth or your Pulp Heroes stopping at the Diner, there's a menu. In a Post-Apocalyptic game, an undented tin of potted meat can be a treasure worth killing for.
Imagine what a factory-new AK47 and a case of ammo is worth.
Pitfalls:
The PCs are not superheroes, unless that's your flavour of Apocalypse. They should not be Tony Stark or Reed Richards. MacGyver is the upper limit here.
Sources:
That wraps up this installment of Tropes. Next time, we'll see what happens when the world doesn't end, but it may as well have. See you in 30 for Cyberpunk. Meanwhile, here's a list of some past and present published games that deal with Post-Apocalyptic gaming. Look them up in RPGNet's Game Index.
After The Bomb (Palladium Games), Aftermath (Fantasy Games Unlimited), All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Eden Studios), Armageddon (Eden Studios), Blood Dawn (Optimus Design Systems), Darwin's World (RPGObjects), Degenesis (Sigh Press), Desolation (Greymalkin Designs), EarthAD (Precis Intermedia), Engel (Sword & Sorcery Studios), Gamma World (TSR, Wizards of the Coast, Sword and Sorcery Studios), GURPS Reign of Steel (Steve Jackson Games), GURPS Y2K (Steve Jackson Games), Have Not (JAGS), Hell On Earth (Pinnacle Entertainment), Hot War (Contested Ground), Midnight (Fantasy Flight Games), Morrow Project (TimeLine Ltd), Mutant Future (Goblinoid Games), octaNe (Memento Mori Theatricks), Post-Apocalyptic Hero (Hero Games), RADZ (Deep7), Redline (Fantasy Flight Games), Sundered Skies (Triple Ace Games), The End (Tyranny Games), Tribe8 (Dream Pod 9), Twilight: 2000 (Game Designers' Workshop), Waste World (Manticore Productions Limited)
