Post Apocalyptic Events for Supers Campaign

[Christopher R. Rice]

So I'm working on a timeline for events for my ongoing mass-collaboration supers campaign, Aeon. The portion of the timeline I'm working on at the moment is for my D-Team in the far flung future dealing with the after effects of some apocalyptic event that put the world in the toilet. So what sort of events might be fun to use in a post-apocalypse world?

Some quick history: Aeon is a supers setting with varying power scales.The high-powered types can be utterly terrifying (like the hero Artillery who is invulnerable to just about anything up to a nuke and can punch through tanks) to seemingly silly (the Milk who can control...diary products). Powers persist in after the apocalypse, but are hated and feared by most folks. There is a phenomenon called "Dark Fog" that appear to be spatial and temporal tears in reality causing timelost beings, places, or things to appear randomly (like the lost colonies of Roanoke and Vinland). It also leads somewhere else...where things (Cthulhu-esque beings) enter into our world and murder, kill, and ravage until they are put down.

I've got a couple of groups...

• Savoirs of the Heartlands: The Saviors control the territory that was once the American States of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky. Extremely religious (a blend of Baptist, Dominionism, and similar extreme Christian teachings), they preach their theology at the edge of a sword (or gun). Since the Saviors keep the vampires in check on the southern border most view them as a necessary evil.
• Croatoan Coalition: The remains of Roanoke. Unlike most other communities, they remained isolated for years until a terrible disease nearly wiped out the community. A stranger came in the night and cured the disease and eventually became their leader. Calling himself “Jonathan la Croix” he used his apparently supernatural powers to conquer much of North Carolina, South Carolina, and parts of Georgia near the coast forming the Croatoan Coalition. Since then the Coalition has become a refuge for anyone with metahuman abilities as long as they are willing to use them for la Croix’s cause . . .
• Librarians Militant, The: A organized paramilitary of academics, librarians, and other learned folk operating out of the old New York Public Library (which they fortified along with Bryant Park). The Librarians are nominally the advisors to the leaders of the Free City of New York.
• Vinland: Vinland disappeared over a millennia ago and was lost to history until it reappeared in a Dark Fog (p. 00) 10 years after the world ended. The people of Vinland took in many of the survivors who became part of their community.

There are also a ton of "freeholds" all over the place ruled by this or that warlord and probably larger groups still, but this is what the PCs will be dealing with at ifrst.



So events would look like this...

1999 – An energy pulse emanates from the deep Atlantic Ocean that knocks out every electronic device active at the time including most power plants and electrical grids. The damage is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. Within the year reports of strange goings on all over the world begin, but especially in areas bordering the Atlantic. The news media quickly come up with a catchy name: the Transatlantic Pulse or TAP.

Or this...

2013 – Russia’s “enhancement” program yields fruit: A being capable of controlling gravity accidently loses control and pulls passing space debris closer to the atmosphere. This results in a meteor exploding over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring hundreds and causing massive property damage.


Any help is appreciated even if it's not for the after apocalypse (timeline is about 40 years worth of time). Thanks ahead of time.

[aesir23]

Seems like a really fun setting!

What year/years does the actual apocalypse take place?

[Anders]

2015 - a raging firestorm devours large parts of California. When closer examined, it turns out that there are fire elementals living in the firestorm, causing a neo-pagan group to decry any attempts to put out the fire as threatening endangered animals, alt. genocide.

[Phantasm]

2012 - A group of super-powered eco-terrorists destroy several dams, including Hoover Dam, inadvertently flooding the areas downriver causing massive property damage as well as causing places like Las Vegas and Phoenix to lose their drinking water reservoirs. Within several years, the cities are abandoned as they cannot sustain their populations.
- That same year, an international incident between two nuclear powers with ballistic missile submarines stationed above the arctic circle ends with both subs firing their missiles into the ice cap. The resultant explosions melt a measurable percentage of the ice, resulting in the raising of the ocean level and flooding many coastal cities.

[aesir23]

2006: A super-powered American is caught using Mind-Control to influence government officials in Iran. The US government denies any knowledge, despite wide spread rumors that he was an active CIA operative. The American dies in custody before he can be brought to trial for espionage.


2021: A god-like super-being (who's human identity is never revealed) lays claim the moon. He hasn't communicated with Earth since, and it is unknown if he still resides there. His giant polished stone palace that can still be seen with a telescope, however.

[whswhs]

Do you want to have the apocalypse be a result of the presence of supers, or do you want to have two separate extraordinary events in your setting? The two have different implications thematically. (There is the third option of the apocalypse being primary and the supers being epiphenomenal, as in Case Nightmare Green.)

I find it odd to see Baptists and Dominionists both being referred to as adhering to "extreme Christian teachings." Baptists are one of the biggest US denominations, and millions of people grew up as adherents without being theological or ideological fanatics, and sometimes without even particularly following the moral teachings of their churches. Sociologically they don't seem comparable to the Dominionists, who definitely are ideological. Of course you could have a Dominionist Inner Party within a Baptist Outer Party.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Seems like a really fun setting!

What year/years does the actual apocalypse take place?

Thanks! Between 2020 and 2025 - I'm leaving it ill-defined because I have several games going on right now and I want to have some surprises.

Originally Posted by whswhs

Do you want to have the apocalypse be a result of the presence of supers, or do you want to have two separate extraordinary events in your setting? The two have different implications thematically. (There is the third option of the apocalypse being primary and the supers being epiphenomenal, as in Case Nightmare Green.)

Pretty much. The world went into the toilet because of uncontrolled superhuman powers and some other factors like a virus that causes "vampirism" that spread too quickly and was left unchecked.

Originally Posted by whswhs

I find it odd to see Baptists and Dominionists both being referred to as adhering to "extreme Christian teachings." Baptists are one of the biggest US denominations, and millions of people grew up as adherents without being theological or ideological fanatics, and sometimes without even particularly following the moral teachings of their churches. Sociologically they don't seem comparable to the Dominionists, who definitely are ideological. Of course you could have a Dominionist Inner Party within a Baptist Outer Party.

This is definitely the more "fringier" of Baptist teachings - of which there are quite a few. They tend to project a more friendly face, but more or less on the inside they are all about spreading their beliefs (through violence if necessary).

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Anders

2015 - a raging firestorm devours large parts of California. When closer examined, it turns out that there are fire elementals living in the firestorm, causing a neo-pagan group to decry any attempts to put out the fire as threatening endangered animals, alt. genocide.

Hmmm. Works.

Originally Posted by Phantasm

2012 - A group of super-powered eco-terrorists destroy several dams, including Hoover Dam, inadvertently flooding the areas downriver causing massive property damage as well as causing places like Las Vegas and Phoenix to lose their drinking water reservoirs. Within several years, the cities are abandoned as they cannot sustain their populations.
- That same year, an international incident between two nuclear powers with ballistic missile submarines stationed above the arctic circle ends with both subs firing their missiles into the ice cap. The resultant explosions melt a measurable percentage of the ice, resulting in the raising of the ocean level and flooding many coastal cities.

I like the first part of this, but not the second. Thank you.

Originally Posted by aesir23

2006: A super-powered American is caught using Mind-Control to influence government officials in Iran. The US government denies any knowledge, despite wide spread rumors that he was an active CIA operative. The American dies in custody before he can be brought to trial for espionage.

Oh, heck yes. Totally sold.

Originally Posted by aesir23

2021: A god-like super-being (who's human identity is never revealed) lays claim the moon. He hasn't communicated with Earth since, and it is unknown if he still resides there. His giant polished stone palace that can still be seen with a telescope, however.

Hmmm. Maybe. It's a cool idea, but I'm not sure if it'll fit. Lemme think about it. Thanks!

[Refplace]

2021: A Super calling himself City Killer blackmails several cities on the West Coast and MidWest. Uses extreme weather powers to create floods, droughts and terrible storms unless a ransom is paid. Significant infrastructure damage is caused.
2020: A meta called BioHazard was a drug addicted teen who gained the ability to create drugs in his system and pass them to others using his blood or saliva, including a powerful spit ability that acted like a contact poison.
Ran rampant in Southern Oklahoma addicting people to all kinds of things so they too could "See the light".

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

...
This is definitely the more "fringier" of Baptist teachings - of which there are quite a few. They tend to project a more friendly face, but more or less on the inside they are all about spreading their beliefs (through violence if necessary).

My grandfather was a Southern Baptist and held nearly every nasty -ism you could imagine. I literally cannot think of a nice thing to say about him other than he never spent any real time in jail or killed anyone that I know of.
Humans can take any ideology and turn it evil even those that started out altruistic.