Building a post-apocalyptic setting - Could use some input

Indigar · 09-15-2010, 09:46 AM

I've convinced some of my gaming group to give GURPS a try instead of D&D, and have decided to go with a post-apocalyptic setting. I've Googled around a bit, but am still looking for some specifics about what kind of things would survive in the medium-long run, and would also like any other ideas you had :).

Goals for this setting are as follows:
- Post apocalyptic setting, so that characters have a lot of freedom to wander (and get into trouble). We have several fans of Fallout and such, and specifically did not want a standard fantasy setting.
- Magic. Because the tech level will be limited but we'd still like effective healing and such. In addition, I'd like to have some familiar elements for my players, and think I could do some interesting things with magic.
- Lower-than-modern general TL, but some access to up-to-modern tech and especially ideas.

With these goals in mind, I decided on the following:
Somewhere in the universe, there is a very Earthlike world. Unnoticed to anyone on Earth, there have been occasional 'Banestorms' exchanging creatures, and even pieces of landscape, between this world and Earth. (In fact, this is why it is an Earthlike world.
Early in the development of humanity, some protohumans where dropped there, which proceeded to develop in two different directions, becoming 'Elves' and 'Orcs'.
'Elves' are long-lived (300-400 years max.) but not physically impressive, but are innately magical.
'Orcs' are not too bright but very strong and aggressive.
In due time, the Elves and Orcs came into conflict. While the generally greater skill among the Elves helped, eventually it became clear that they were losing.
In secret, a small group of Elves came up with a plan: they would, through a great magical ritual, trigger a small Banestorm centered around each Orc in the world. They didn't know where Banestoms led of what happened to things caught in them, but they did know they were taken away, which was good enough for them.
The ritual worked, though somewhat better than planned: the Banestorms were larger than anticipated, exchanging things for up to a mile around each Orc in the world, including some number of Elves. Still, the world was saved.

On Earth, over the course of less than a day, in thousands of places around the world, chunks of landscape changed suddenly, bringing with them a large number of brutish, primitive, aggressive barbarians.
Though this was a disaster, mostly because the Banestorms often took chunks out of cities, it would have been survivable.
Even the fact that some of the Orc shamans had working magic (mostly of the fireball-hurling and cursing kind), though baffling, would have been no match for modern militaries.

However, the Orcs also brought with them the Plague: to them and to the Elves a minor childhood ailment, to humanity, without any built-up immunity, it was a highly contagious, deadly disease.
Over the course of several weeks, half the population died of pneumonia-like symptoms.

<Massive handwaving> No one is quite sure why, but some time during the chaos, several nations launched nuclear weapons. Some may have been intended to destroy too-large cities of Orcs, some to destroyed diseased areas, and some launched as opportunity attacks against old enemies.</handwaving>

In the wake of all this, much of civilisation collapsed and only slowly began to rebuild.

It is now ~100 years later. Some of the old cities are still barely standing, overgrown with vegetation. Some have been occupied by the decendants of survivors. The banestorms brought with them raw mana, increasing Earth's level from none to normal mana, with pockets of higher levels.
Some of the Elven communities that were transported have survived, and are cautiously allying with nearby human settlements against the still-roving Orcs.
Some humans have learned magic.
The general level of technology is at TL5, TL6 in larger settlements, though the general understanding is at TL7-8; there simply aren't enough resources or people to support a higher TL. There are some surviving examples of technology up to modern TL8.
The radiation has mostly died down, and civilisation is slowly rebuilding, hampered by Orcs and other creatures brought by the Banestorms.

I intend to start the PCs out in a small community living in several surviving skyscarpers, by a city park that has been converted to farmland. The impetus for the campaign will be the discovery that the buildings are, slowly but surely, failing and will soon collapse. The initial goal will be to find a new defensible home for the town's population.

With all this in mind' I would like some advice on a couple of matters:

- I've decided to start everyone off at TL5 levels for wealth and item costs such, though skills can be bought up to TL7.

- What kind of stuff could I defensibly let characters find that has not yet decayed to uselessness? Guns, ammo, gasoline, canned food, etc...

- What would the effects be of using black powder rounds in surviving modern weapons?

- How likely would it be that some pre-Storm vehicles could still be running, and how hard would it be to fuel them?

- What should I watch out for in interactions between magic (from the 4E Magic book) and higher technology?

- Any other advice on helpful rules or sourcebooks.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Trachmyr · 09-15-2010, 10:55 AM

Your campaign idea has a wide mix of setting themes, so much in fact that you could probably justify tech you actually WANT the characters to have.

First a question, are you using the 3e or 4e TL scheme... modern day in 3e is TL7 while in 4e its TL8.... it makes a big difference.

For instance... if the characters still possess relevant skills (and assume they will since you are allowing them to buy up to TL7 skills), and with access to just the "Making & Breaking" school of magic, there really is no reason why many pieces of tech wouldn't be in pristine condition... and watch out for communication tech, it will change your entire theme, you'll have governments again with organized military.

Without magic, after only a hundred years, you will still be able to find guns, cars, walkie-talkies, etc. It's the consumables that you have to scrounge for, and most cities would have already been picked clean years ago. But again with the right skills (or magic), you can make biodieseil, repack you shell casings, convert and repair solar cells and can your own food.

Also I want to ask, why the nuclear holocost if it's little more than window dressing for the backstory... and you're not even sure of the reasons that caused it?

As for magic-tech interactions, you'll want to decide in advance about access to tech magic... in fact you might want to limit magic considerably, make it VERY rare or require hard to find components, or you'll be handwaving a lot in order to maintain the post-apocolyptic feel of the game.

Akicita · 09-15-2010, 03:05 PM

There's relevant info in GURPS Y2K, and Pyramid 3/3 was dedicated to Post-Apocalyptic gaming.

Indigar · 09-16-2010, 08:33 AM

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