Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

Struggle to survive. On the individual level, the search for food, water, and other resources, and protection from nature (heat, storms, mutant zombies, whatever). On a society-wide level, people are attempting to rebuild civilization with limited resources and little or no preexisting culture, legal system, etc.

Juxtaposition of different technology levels. Scavenging and jury-rigging. Postmodernism; a PA society is free (perhaps even required) to reuse and reinterpret modern technology and culture in ways that we would not. Stop signs as shields. Corporate logos as design motifs.

Desolation and isolation are important elements, but shouldn't be omnipresent. Likewise, Man vs. Man has a lot of story potential, but people who are struggling to survive generally don't have a lot of time to fight.

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

A common theme of post apocalypse fiction seems to be a man (or women, usually a man) overcoming things that may limit his will or freedom. The idea that without the petty constraints of society men can be men, free to live by their strength and cunning. Often villains are dictators trying to unify the land under their rule. Like the villian from the mail man.

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

There is a fair bit of the Frederick Jackson Turner thesis in PA stories, true. But do gamers focus on that bit more than just killing radioactive beasties with a giant throwing star?

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

You mean the Postman right?

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

Rebuilding

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

If you were to pick up a 50-page GURPS book on this, what would it look like?

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

What I really want is Aftermath with more comprehensible rules.

Bill Stoddard

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

I'm sorry, I'm not that familiar with Aftermath and its rules.

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

Aftermath was originally produced by Fantasy Games Unlimited.

http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?o...ok&bookid=2973

Aftermath has been digitized and is sold by one of e-23's competitors. It is presently on sale as part of their GM's Day (well, week) sale for about one-third of their normal asking price.

I GM more than I play, because I'm much better as a GM than as a player. In my experience, GMs care a lot more about things such as the Turner thesis than players because for the GM part of the fun is building the world. GURPS players seem somewhat more interested in ideas than other players but the key to a good game for most players in my experience is their ability to exert their dominance. That's very Turnerian, but unless you've got builder players they'll just be throwing ninja stars at the mutants/zombies/cannibals/other tribes on the frontier and not engaging in community-building, the part of the Turner thesis that won him his place as one of the great historians.

For a fifty-page setting, I would want an apocalypse to have:
a. brief to moderate length metaplot for the GM that explains how and why the apocalypse happens and explains the new world demography (if a toolkit, provide a metaplot as example and briefly cover other metaplot options)
b. a few clearly defined locations with maps (could be generic if you're going for a toolkit book) for PCs to adventure in
c. a great deal of guidance on how to run the setting, along the lines of the excellent discussion of superheroes in GURPS Supers 4e (if it's a toolkit, more generic is fine)
d. the new economy: how to handle scrounging for goods and how trade would work in this new setting. Also, some gear that would be common
e. GM and player advice of the player vs. PC survival skill conundrum in a post-apocalypse game
f. New perks and advantages and suggested perks and advantages appropriate for the genre

The real question is whether to go for a campaign setting specifically or do a toolkit book. Either of those would be valuable to GMs; good settings are hard to find. Toolkits tend to be more useful to DIY GMs, so that may be more saleable.

Re: Post-Apocalypse Campaign
 

I have a method in mind for this. Would folks want to deal with this--as players--by accounting with the typical GURPS $, or some other symbol? The Fallout series uses bottle caps, for instance.