[GAME] After the End, Worldbuilding

[TGLS]

Question 34
As mentioned before (A18), there were a billion uplifts by the downfall (being which year?)
How did the uplift population boom so quickly?
(d6: 3 sentences)

Answer 34
There were two key reasons why the population of Uplifts increased at such a rapid pace; fashion and space labour. The first uplifts created became exceptionally popular, and mass purchases led to a significant Earth population. In space, numerous laws existed to for the protection of Humans, but none existed for Uplifts, and cost-cutting managers preferred one or two human professionals ordering around dozens of Uplifts (Robots had radiation vulnerable computers).

Answer 32D
The Downfall happened in 2097, when the Summer Wars moved from conflicts localized to North America, to general global conflicts. Most historians argue the triggering event was the failure of the Kolkata Accords following a terror bombing.

Question Roundup II

Question 21
Should we focus on building up one particular locale? Where?
(d6 roll: 4 sentences)

Question 24Bis
Has trade re-emerged? Is it all barter? (2 Sentences)

Question 25
Are there any sophisticated governments (as in, not just stationary bandits)? Are they surviving remnants of governments, or did they emerge after the catastrophe? (5 Sentences)

Question 32 [Continuous, now onto E]
What other events not mentioned fit in the timeline?
(4 sentences a piece, 1 at a time)

Question 35
What's the distribution of the off-world population of 1 billion, across Earth orbit, Luna, Mars or other locations?
(d6: 5 sentences)

Question 36 [Name 5]
What are 5 examples of the weirder cults or cult leaders peddling various superstitions?
(d6: 3 sentences per answer)

Question 37 (NEW)
What was being negotiated at the Kolkata Accords? Why was there a terror bombing, and who caused it?
(d6: 3 sentences per answer)

Question 38 (NEW)
Was there any overarching global conflict during the Summer Wars, or was it several unconnected wars that happened at roughly the same time?
(d6: 6 sentences per answer)

Question 39 (NEW)
What happened to the AIs after the Summer Wars ended? Are they still around?
(d6: 3 sentences per answer)

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

Comment: It has occurred to me, that as a setting, a group of PCs could be inhabitants of orbital habitats, Luna, Mars, etc. A campaign could centre around landing on Earth, recovering some examples of a target biota, and then successfully making it back out of the gravity well.

I've played in that campaign... the apocalypse was weird temporal problems (time slowing, speeding up, stopping, rifts to the past/future) that were created in and strongest in mass generated gravity wells. So micro and inertia generated gravity were the only safe locations for large human populations. We were fortune hunters dropped from the orbital colonies to scavenge the time wracked cities of the Earth for treasures...

[(E)]

Question 35
What's the distribution of the off-world population of 1 billion, across Earth orbit, Luna, Mars or other locations?
(d6: 5 sentences)

The vast majority of the off world population is on Mars and 99% of that is made up of a heavily modified uplifted species known as .... Martians. The Martians were created to exclusively terraform Mars and have a biological makeup that is suited to the conditions they are expected to deal with.

The Moon has the highest concentration of offworld humans with about a hundred and fifty million present. Most of the rest of the human population, a few tens of millions of people is in various orbital habitats.

Question 40
It seems that, with the probable exception of the orbital habitats most offworld humans live in a low gravity environment. Is this the case? And if so what are some of the knock on effects of this?
(D6: 4 sentences for the answer)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by TGLS

The Colonies had a half billion, with a higher proportion of uplifts and GM humans ... The Colonies have seen their population swell to over a billion people, mostly the rich and their staff.

Originally Posted by (E)

The vast majority of the off world population is on Mars and 99% of that is made up of a heavily modified uplifted species known as .... Martians.

I don't know if this agrees. I've stated that about half the population off-world emigrated from Earth after The Downfall. You've stated the vast majority of the off-world population lives on Mars and are Uplift constructs. I think the most agreeable solution is that the vast majority of pre-downfall colonists are as you described, and there are tons of huddled masses coming in relatively recently.

[(E)]

How about something like this?

Originally Posted by (E)

The vast majority of the off world population is on Mars and 99% of that is made up of second class citizens, the humans who left earth later and the heavily modified uplifted species known as .... Martians. The Martians were created to exclusively terraform Mars and have a biological makeup that is suited to the conditions they are expected to deal with. The partly terraformed planet has conditions that (barely) support human life while the Martians being adapted to the conditions do better.

[TGLS]

Works for me!

Question 36 [Name 5]
What are 5 examples of the weirder cults or cult leaders peddling various superstitions?
(d6: 3 sentences per answer)

Answer 36A
In the land known as West Dakota, there's an odd cult that fetishizes gold. Members of the cult seek to maximize their contact with gold as much as possible, and refuse to trade for anything but gold. This leads to weird constructs, where members trade something for an amount of gold, then trade the gold back for something else.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

Comment: It has occurred to me, that as a setting, a group of PCs could be inhabitants of orbital habitats, Luna, Mars, etc. A campaign could centre around landing on Earth, recovering some examples of a target biota, and then successfully making it back out of the gravity well.

Anyway, as you were...

The key aspect of an apocalyptic setting is the collapse of society. The key aspect of a post-apocalyptic society is the need to somehow survive after the loss and ruin of what came before.

The key concept is "loss" and "ruin," and that assumes certain things -- including the loss of industry that makes modern society possible, and the infrastructure that supports that industry.

If industry and infrastructure exists anywhere in a setting, then it's not an apocalyptic one.

The presence of space habitats presupposes the existence of the massive, sophisticated infrastructure needed to support such complex systems.

And that means this is not a post-apocalyptic setting. It's a dystopian sci-fi setting in which the gap between the haves and have-nots is truly vast.

Essentially, we've largely re-created a version of the setting of the film, Elysium, albeit with some of our own twists. That was a good movie, but it wasn't a post-apocalyptic survival setting.

Under the circumstances, the obvious campaign that most players would want, in this setting, is the one Luke describes. The only reason people struggle to survive, in this world, is because the space habitats refuse to help as much as they might, and not because "society has collapsed."

Alternatively, they could play the rebels who want to overthrow a corrupt system.

Basically, Earth is a third-world war-zone -- Mogadishu writ large -- while the habitats are the major powers that call the shots.

That means any decisions made by characters on Earth are only meaningful because they're rebels with a chance at success, or because the GM chooses to ignore the fact those who control the habitats have all the power, and therefore the vast majority of the agency.

[Johnny Angel]

I had an idea, but it's something that a GM would need to keep secret from players.


I think it would be interesting if the offworld colonies were on Mars, and people on Earth had some fantasy of getting there for a good life, but the reality would be that the offworlders mostly left the solar system a long time ago.

[Johnny Angel]

Question 36 [Name 5]
What are 5 examples of the weirder cults or cult leaders peddling various superstitions?
(d6: 3 sentences per answer)


Answer 36B (2 of 5) (partially related to the AI question)
It's been partially confirmed that stories of "A-Isengard" being somewhere on the continent of Africa are true (with many stories pointing toward what is known as "Kenya" on old maps). Many details are vague, but apparently an old AI was somehow damaged and developed the delusion that "he" is a powerful evil wizard from a fantasy movie. The details which are believed to be most true are that he (and his followers) have built some manner of tower to serve as a base of operations; he has found some way to experiment with human and pig DNA to create an army of "Porcs," and he is planning -at some point in the future- to invade surrounding areas, so as to conquer and subjugate them (with the desired end goal or purpose currently being unknown).

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

The key concept is "loss" and "ruin," and that assumes certain things -- including the loss of industry that makes modern society possible, and the infrastructure that supports that industry.

If industry and infrastructure exists anywhere in a setting, then it's not an apocalyptic one.

The presence of space habitats presupposes the existence of the massive, sophisticated infrastructure needed to support such complex systems.

Unless it is lost. The existing habitats can go on for a while on things that last a long time and spares but certain critical parts need industry and supply chains that don't exist anymore. So the populace as a whole might not know or refuses to believe but they need to rebuild that base desperately. Things like the main engines on the ships that mine comets and asteroids for replacement air and water because some does leak from a hab. You are fine for years but N thousand hours of thrust and they'll need replacement and you can't build them.