The Apocalypse: a Setting

                                                                     The Apocalypse

Apocalypse derived from the Greek word ‘apokálupsis’ meaning revelation, originally a Judaic literary term it has expanded beyond its origins. In this blogpost, apocalypse refers to the acceleration towards the end of the world. With the decline of the American Empire, the rise of techno fascist feudalists and an era of instability one can argue that we are already in the early stages of an apocalypse. And what better way to talk about this than through sci fi.

In tabletop space games set during the apocalypse are much rarer than games set either in a post-apocalyptic setting or in a world not experiencing one. This is a space that should be explored more, with rich opportunities for setting and emergent storytelling to come to life.

Halo, Pacific Rim, Evangelion, Godzilla, Cthulhutech, Mass Effect all settings in which an event has happened that has rapidly changed the course for humanity and in which the end of everything sits at the end of tunnel. Alien extermination, Radioactive Kaiju and more are all causes of the apocalypse, but they don’t tell the whole story. How does a society taking loss after loss cope? How do people fighting and trying to survive live at home? How do governments try to maintain stability in the face of annihilation? All are questions that can have deep answers and opportunities for storytelling.

Let’s compare and contrast; in a post-apocalyptic setting ala fallout you the PC/Player/Party are tasked with rebuilding and repairing an already destroyed world. Things cannot get much worse, the Mojave in Fallout is a radioactive hellhole with slavers, raiders and corrupt governments committing crimes against humanity daily. As players anything you do that isn’t needless sadism will improve the world or at least not make it overall worse. In an inter-apocalyptic setting, there is still the chance for things not to improve. The grey areas are what become much more prevalent, and morality can become complex. What human rights are acceptable losses in the face of extinction? Does long term environmental stability even matter if we are all dead in 5 years? Halo, beyond the shoot the aliens’ bits, has these questions in there and more. Is it acceptable for a military junta to effectively takeover when an alien race is exterminating you? Are child supersoldiers acceptable if they can achieve strategic objectives and constant tactical victories? Is mass surveillance via intelligent AI okay if it means preventing hinderance to a weakened humanity? These are just examples of questions to throw at players and see how they interact with them in a fictional setting.

One of the most fascinating things about people is the near universal belief in order triumphing over chaos, good overcoming evil, the underdog winning against impossible odds. All of these are prevalent in storytelling, mythology, religion and more. Tabletop Roleplaying games are just emergent collaborative storytelling within a set of defined rules. When the setting is during the apocalypse the stakes are higher, the win and lose scenario a more severe dichotomy. Every win and loss is set against a ticking clock with extinction at the end if they fail. The victories are sweeter while the losses are that much more bitter.

This blogpost is not to disparage on post-apocalyptic settings, this is just designed to help with creativity and to give a different perspective on settings and genre in the space.