Dr. Anomaly
Dec 14th, '04, 01:58 PM
I think they should have just made the plot outlines, let Stephen King write the books, and then looked them over to make sure they were allright.
At one point, I created and ran an RPG that was based in the world after the Apocalypse. Here's the text from the intro of the game materials I wrote:
Aftermath: Roleplaying After Judgment Day
What follows the End of the World?
My friends, all of us gathered here today have seen events that no man should be able to see, and live to tell about. We have witnessed the Second Coming, the dead rising from the grave, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse racing across the face of the world, the faithful being lifted into Heaven and the wicked being dragged down into Hell. We have looked angels and demons in the face and Death in the eye.
And we have been passed by.
We are living in a world that none of us were expecting, a world that all good Christian religions would have said was impossible...a material world that exists after the Armageddon, a material world that still contains living souls. A world that contains US.
There are those who hope this is Hell, for it is not as bad as Hell is purported to be. Others fear that this is Heaven, for in most cases it is worse than their prior lives. Some feel this is Purgatory, where neither Good nor Evil hold sway.
I say that all these speculations are wrong.
The world in which we find ourselves cannot be Hell, for there are those of us present who still hold Hope in our hearts. We do not know what it is for which we Hope, but we do not feel the utter despair that signals the fleeing of Hope from our souls.
The world in which we find ourselves cannot be Heaven, for where are the Heavenly Hosts, the Blessed Dead, the Saints, the Face of God? In Heaven there is no want, no suffering, no marrying or being given into marriage. All of these things hold sway here, as much as they ever did in the world we once knew.
This is not Purgatory, for where is the eternal bland sameness that permeates that place? Where are the souls of the unbaptized dead, who could not gain entrance into Heaven without being consecrated in the Lamb, but were not guilty enough to be sent to Hell? Where are the souls of the men of good conscience who lived and died without the opportunity to have heard the Word of God? No, this cannot be Purgatory.
What we must face, my friends, is that this is a world none of us, neither heretic nor student of theology, predicted or could have predicted. It is a world unlooked for, and we ourselves are in a position, a life, unforseen. Some refuse to accept this strange new world, and have retreated into catatonia, or a kind of madness in which they go about some ghastly travesty of their former lives, going each morning to empty and crumbling offices, scheduling meetings attended only by phantasms, and filling out paperwork that will never be read. Others hold the view that we are the ones who were neither good enough, nor evil enough, to be drawn into either extreme of Heaven or Hell. Some of these are attempting to bring closure to their lot by sinking themselves into sin and depravity whilst others seek to cleanse and purify their soul through good works and thorough examination of heart, mind, and soul, rooting out any thought that does not lend itself to the path of Righteousness. Both feel that, should they become evil enough or good enough, they will be taken into one of the Eternal Realms. Why are they so desperate to leave this world? Before, even if they professed non-belief, somewhere deep down inside they knew, KNEW, that they would continue into Eternity after death. Now that certainty has been shaken, nay, ripped from their souls. They feel the same terror, the same uncertainty, as men aboard a sinking ship. They want off, some degree of surety, no matter it means an Eternity in torment. What they fear is utter nonexistence, and they will pay any price to avoid that fate.
What about the rest of us? We, who have neither become conscienceless killers or living saints? Who are we, really, and why do we find ourselves in this world? Many names have been applied to us since that fateful day: The Forsaken, The Lost, The Forgotten, The Left-Behind. We have called ourselves Outcasts, Scraps, Refuse. I am against all those names, for they bring with them a sense of unworthiness, of futility, of despair. I for one do not care to live my life in despair, waiting for the material world to finish falling apart around us. I do not meekly accept my lot, believing it cannot be improved.
I say we are The Survivors! We remain, and we should not forget that we still live, should not give up Hope and fall into the arms of Despair. No, my friends, I cannot give you a sure and certain direction in which to proceed, or a goal for which to aim. I no longer know if the Almighty has a part for us in his Grand Plan, but if He does, we must not foreclose that possibility by our actions.
It may be that this is all some sort of Final Test, and that we are even now being judged by the Almighty. If it is such a test, it would serve us poorly indeed to loose faith now, after surviving the ultimate cataclysm. If it is a test, let us not stumble now, in the last few yards of the race. Let us not fall down and quit when the finish line must surely be close.
On the other hand, it is possible that we have been forgotten by God, that we have fallen through the cracks in His system as so many unfortunates have fallen through the gaps in Man’s own systems in ages past. If that is the case, then God is not perfect, and does not deserve our continued devotion. If that is the case, then we must say "Up Yours, Almighty God! I don’t need your and your self-serving Laws and Commandments!" and forge a new world, a world that will be but ours, a world in which we owe no fealty to an undeserving Creator who allowed the Devil and his Minions to run rampant among the innocent, bringing thousands of years of pain and suffering.
I don’t know which is the right answer, my friends, but personally I’m inclined to the latter rather than the former. To me, this seems like the final insult to a race who has fought, suffered, and died for so many years trying to live up to an impossible series of Laws laid down by Someone who never had to worry about trying to meet those Laws.
I’m not going to try and make your decision for you...each of you is perfectly capable of making up your own minds, of telling right from wrong. Isn’t that how all this started in the first place?
When I step down from this podium, I am through with God and anything He asks. Me, I have important things to do...like making sure that new barn gets finished before the winter comes, so we have someplace to store our grain. All of you are encouraged to stay and help; with your support, I’m confident it can be accomplished in the time we have. As a further incentive, a number of the ladies have put together a large dinner, to be served at the end of today’s work.
Now, before I go, who’ll join me in a rendition of "Take This Job and Shove It"?
-- The former Reverend William "Billy" Sunday,
during his first (and last) sermon after Judgment Day
Introduction
Not long after the beginning of the New Millennium, it happened: The End of the World, as foretold in the Book of Revelation. The Apocalypse. Armageddon. Angels and demons walked among mortals, the dead rose from the grave, and the Four Horsemen began their dread ride. Men ran riot through city streets and countryside in an orgy of terror, destruction, violence, and panic. Cities burned, homes and lives were destroyed, and a nuclear missile or two were detonated.
Amid all this chaos, the representatives of Heaven and Hell went about their duties, collecting the living, the dying, and the dead and bearing them off to their place in Eternity. No weapon made an impression on them, nor did any amount of begging, pleading, bribing, or other attempts to stay their hand. To those who had to endure it, it seemed both to last forever and to be but a heartbeat in length.
Finally, the last angel disappeared into the blackened, bloody sky, a sky draped in the smoke of ten thousand fires still burning on the funeral pyre that was the world. The final demon slipped back below the torn and blasted earth, dragging the last terrified, shrieking soul with it. The thundering hoofbeats of the Horsemen sounded no more, and only the greedy crackling of flames and the occasional sound of the final collapse of civilization remained.
It was then that you realized you were still here, still alive to hear the sounds of the fires doing their work, cleansing the ruins of the world. The Apocalypse had come and gone, and you were left behind with no idea WHY.
Before long you discovered there were other survivors, but not many. Some were mad, others in denial. Some were no longer truly human, or perhaps never had been to begin with. Now you, the Forsaken (or the Survivors, depending on your degree of optimism), are trying to forge a new life in the shattered remains of a strangely altered world.
Welcome to Aftermath, roleplaying after Judgment Day.
The World
The Aftermath world is a strange amalgam of the shattered remains of many different Earths, from a wide variety of times and alternate histories. The only constant between them is that in each, people feared the Apocalypse might be imminent, and in each, they were right.
The basic geography of the world has not changed much, but Man’s imprint on the face of the world did not fare well in the End. Vast tracts of forest reclaimed settled lands in an eyeblink; medieval towns replaced more modern counterparts, and here and there bastions of incredibly advanced technology appeared where none had been before...a spaceport for interstellar ships replacing Cape Kennedy, for example.
The Survivors come from these various times as well: Renaissance nobles, pre-industrial Mongol nomads, 20th - century bankers, and 50th - century star pilots. Some come from somewhat further afield -- vampires, wizards that can work real magic, knights from Arthur’s Britain. All came from worlds in which they were, if not actually common, at least possible. And all remember living through the Apocalypse. All remember it taking place in their own time and in their own world. It is almost as if Armageddon occurred simultaneously at a wide range of dates in history, and in a mind-boggling array of "parallel" worlds. There are creatures that were human at one time, as well as those that never were. There are undead creatures who were people rising from the dead during the End, but who never finished the job before the End was complete. There are living people who died before their world’s Armageddon, but who woke up mostly out of their grave during that terrible span of time. Mythical creatures now roam the countryside, as well as species believed extinct. Pretty much if you can imagine it, it’s probably out there, somewhere.
Long distance communication is almost unheard-of since the End; most technology was destroyed during Armageddon or stopped working not long thereafter. Couriers and bards are making a comeback as valuable professions now, but travel of any distance is still engaged in only with caution -- there are a lot of nasty things and people stalking the shadows of the ruined planet.
One disadvantage of advanced technology is that it requires an extensive infrastructure and regular, specialized maintenance or it stops working. With most of the world’s cities in ruins, and few with the specialized technical knowledge remaining, the average level of technology is roughly equivalent to the Victorian Era, with steam power being something that most places have managed to put into service. There are rumors of isolated enclaves where a much higher level of technology has been preserved, but so far no one has verified the truth of any of these tales.
As they have since time immemorial, people almost immediately began to band together for protection, usually under the guidance of a self-appointed leader. True to human nature, there were those quick to capitalize on the situation following even the End of the World. They began to amass power, wealth, and resources.
Some of the most valuable resources are people. The type most in demand are those from a pre-industrial age, with a lifelong knowledge of agriculture and animal husbandry, and those who can keep the remaining technology working. Everyone else is usually assigned to some sort of unskilled labor, the local militia, or if they have aptitude for a needed craft, placed as an apprentice with a knowledgeable craftsman.
Another valuable type of person is the sort who can take care of himself, and is willing to take risks for payment. These new mercenaries (often referred to as "Openers") are not usually hired for militia, but are instead paid to be couriers, carrying messages, information, and specialized valuable goods from one community to another. Other times they are hired to investigate possible caches of usable food, weapons, or technology that may be lying as-yet unplundered in the new wilderness. Through the efforts of these so-called Openers, communication between far-flung communities is slowly being re-established. Sometimes they have even acted as mediators, bringing compromise between two opposed forces before it broke out into open war.
Attitudes and government in communities varies widely. Some are a type of democracy, others are military dictatorships or even religious enclaves, filled with the devoted who are still waiting for God to come for them. Each community poses its own potential threat to travelers, as there is no telling what may be against the law, or even punishable by death, from one settlement to another.
Those most at risk are those visibly non-human. In some rare towns they are welcomed, as they sometimes have much-needed skills or powers. In many, however, they are seen as living icons of the "wrongness" of the post-Apocalyptic world, and may receive bad treatment ranging from being overcharged by surly shopkeepers to being killed by torch-wielding lynch mobs.
This hysteria is actually getting more intense as time goes by, not less. In part this is because communities often need to be paranoid about strangers for their very survival -- there have been whole towns wiped out by voracious non-humans. It is also because people are becoming more worried as time passes, because the world is beginning to wind down.
The laws of physics that govern the material world are beginning to come unraveled, like a machine starting to break down due to lack of maintenance. For example, the sun still rises in the east...usually. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t. Eclipses are now no longer predictable via orbital mechanics, and one can no longer depend on something falling down when thrown. Oh, it still does 999 times out of 1,000 but those times when it doesn’t remind people that what little of the world remains is crumbling around them. Most see this as proof that God and the Devil have turned their attention away from the material world -- that it has served its purpose and has been discarded. This is not a comforting thought for those who remain behind.
Magic and many other strange Powers are at work in the world as well. In some cases the breakdown of natural law is a boon to those who wield those Powers, as it is easier to work a change in the world if the ties that bind it together are a little loose to begin with. On the other hand, since magic tends to obey its own laws as well, it is not unknown for previously-reliable spells to fail or malfunction due to the fundamental structure of reality fraying.
This evidence of continued decay of the physical universe has spurred many to try and attract the attention of the Divine or the Infernal -- and some don’t care which. These people just want out of a fading, fraying world and are willing to do anything to obtain that way out. The methods vary from individual to individual, but all are united by their utter lack of success to date.
Others seek a more mundane solution to the problem. Some still-functioning starships have been taken out by their pilots, who are seeking the remains of other inhabited worlds elsewhere in the universe, or perhaps a part of the universe that isn’t breaking down. So far, none of these exploratory missions have returned.
Most people, though, are through putting their faith in "higher powers" and simply strive to live from day to day. Only time will tell whose approach is the correct one.
Death and Dying
Yes, it is still possible to die in the world after Judgment Day...but what happens to the souls of the newly dead? The events of the End of the World made it plain that the Catholic view had most of the salient points correct, and the souls of the dead had an afterlife awaiting them. But what happens to those who die after the afterlife has been closed?
The truth is, no one knows. Some suspect that simple and utter nonexistence is the fate of those that have died since Judgment Day. Some believe those who have died after the Apocalypse are awaiting a sort of second-round draft pick, in which the Divine and Infernal forces return for more souls.
Then there are those few, those very few, who claim to have lived through Armageddon, died in the time after the End of the World, only to wake up again, an unknown time later, far from the place they died. Are they telling the truth? Will you wake up again, in the ruined world, if you die here? Don’t bet your life on it.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.0 Copyright © 2012 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.