The Day After Ragnarok: The Good, the Bad, and the Serpent
Know, O Prince, that between the years when the Serpent
fell and the oceans drank America and the gleaming cities, and the rise of the
Sons of Space, there was an Age undreamed of, when nations guttered low and
flared brilliant across the poisoned world like dying stars – California and
Texas each claiming the flag of the West, France torn asunder and facing the
desert, harsh Mexico, slumbering Brazil, Argentina where the seeds of Thule lay
waiting, ancient lands of Persia and Arabia and Iraq between two empires, the
coldly clutching Soviet Union whispering behind its Wall of Serpent, Japan
whose warriors wore steel and silk and khaki. But the proudest kingdom of the
world was Australia, the last green and pleasant land, ringed around by its
dominions and bulwarked by the sea.
Welcome to the world at the end of the world. The skies
are shrouded with burning, oily smoke, the Earth groans under a poisoned
corpse, and the only way out may be deeper into the belly of the beast. It’s a
world nearly killed by the death of wonder, although far from all the wonders
are dead. Put the “grim” back in “grime” and see the world outside the smeared
Perspex windscreen.
See it smolder. See it burn. See if you can save it.
The Day After
Ragnarok, p. 1
The Elevator Pitch
Two-fisted heroes in a fantastical, post-apocalyptic world,
circa 1948; or Conan with a girl in one arm and a submachine gun in the other,
facing off against an insane Serpent worshipping sorcerer in a Tiger tank.
The Setting
In 1945, the Nazis summoned the Midgard Serpent, heralding
the start of Ragnarok. The United States, however, killed the Serpent with an
atomic bomb to its left eye. The Serpent's body fell over the earth, covering
huge swaths of Africa and Europe, its head resting on what used to be Egypt. A
huge tidal wave wiped out the east coast of North America, as the water crashed
inland all the way to the Appalachians. Venom and radioactive fallout spread
across the world. The Serpent's rotting corpse, 250 miles high, now taints the
earth with its ichor.
The summoning of Jörmungandr awoke or created creatures from fairy tales and monsters
from nightmares. Magic is real.
The campaign starts in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 21,
1948: the three year anniversary of the Serpentfall. Most people hope to
rebuild a devastated world. Others have a darker agenda. Your characters have a
chance to make a difference.
Themes
The Good
As with most campaigns, the PCs are heroes. You don't have
to be a goody two shoes, but you are most definitely not evil. You don't take
advantage of the weak or hurt the innocent.
The Bad
Monsters are everywhere. Giants walk the earth, giant worms
burrow below it, and dragons fly above it.
It's a post-apocalyptic world. It’s survival of the fittest.
Life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Hundreds of millions of people have died in the last three
years. Resources are scarce. Bullets and cigarettes are the monetary standards,
not dollars.
The Serpent
The rotting, poisonous corpse of the Serpent dominates the
world. Governments and soulless corporations use the body parts taken from the
Serpent to create strange and wondrous devices that don’t follow the rules of
normal science.
Serpent cults are everywhere. Some want to finish Ragnarok.
Some use the power of the Serpent for evil and nihilism.
No comments:
Post a Comment