BFRPG Apocalypse Setting

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SmootRK
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BFRPG Apocalypse Setting

Post by SmootRK »

[edit] attached is a draft of what I have written so far.

After years of wishing for additional settings to use with BFRPG, waiting for others to do the work, I have finally decided that I will develop a setting to utilize with BFRPG myself.

Rather than simply making another Fantasy Setting where one has some different elves or halflings are called hobbits, or whatever. I have decided to go Post Apocalyptic to an extent. A lot of the basic fantasy stuff will be there, but given to alternate origins. Plus the GM will be able to sprinkle in some ancient tech-wares when desired. The idea is to make a hodge-podge of concepts such as John Carter, Planet of the Apes, Conan (or more properly Thundaar), even Lovecraft.

... the ability to be high or low with magic, high or low with Tech, or whatever mix feels right.

Sound fun?
The main feature that I will be trying to incorporate into the writing is a sense of modularity of the ideas.
Want "no magic"? No Problem. Want "Ookla and Thundar"? OK. Pure "Planet of the Apes"?, well, I cannot call it that or clearly I would be sued, but yeah, that's the idea. Don't like the choice of races? drop in your own or change the ones that are included.

The idea is to be simple as the core rules, just giving some alternate background material to use instead of pure fantasy.
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MedievalMan
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by MedievalMan »

Sounds interesting.
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Dimirag
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by Dimirag »

A Thundaar-like setting sounds really appealing (I have all the episodes).
I never like it when someone presents a different "setting" and all it has its bearded elves that lives on mountains and forest-loving dwarves so I'm glad to see someone taking a really different approach :D
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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SmootRK
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by SmootRK »

Dimirag wrote:A Thundaar-like setting sounds really appealing (I have all the episodes).
I never like it when someone presents a different "setting" and all it has its bearded elves that lives on mountains and forest-loving dwarves so I'm glad to see someone taking a really different approach :D
Agreed.

The main races I have in mind are:
Human with Cavemen to represent devolved varieties like morlocks, Mutants (nearly human, weak and disfigured - but better mental stats).
Ape-men (ala planet of the apes, with 3 flavors, and more like the original movies being almost human in size/ability regardless of species)
Small Race (like Halfling/Kobold size), but re-skinned as little rat-men, inspiration taken from Rats of Nihm.
Perhaps one more, tbd.

Classes: Fighter & Thief largely unchanged.
MU - most abilities re-skinned as mental/psionic in nature, some given to Lovecraftian extra-planar origins.
Clerics - thinking only druid-like (drawing on the planet life-force)

Most Monsters are redesigned as mutations of the normal animals, or in the case of most races of Goblins/Orcs/etc. devolved human/mutants. Some creatures are given to aliens from beyond (ie. Lovecraftian, Nazgorian). Much magical ability is re-skinned as Mental/Psionic/Mutational in origin, some is strange-dimension origin (cthulhu-esque, 'from beyond', etc.)

More ideas to come.
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Dimirag
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by Dimirag »

Some new quasi-classes could be:
Technos: Those that have the lost knowledge of ancient technology (which would be our future technology).
Scrapper: Those that earn a living by creating stuff out of pre-appocalyptic garbage.
Even psiquic and mutes can enter as quasi-classes
Last edited by Dimirag on Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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MedievalMan
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by MedievalMan »

So I have been thinking about this setting some and I thought I would throw some stuff in.

First off if you guys haven't watched Korgoth of Barbaria, I would recommend watching it (it can be found easily on Youtube). This setting idea sounds almost exactly like Barbaria (except their is magic in that setting, though it could be psionics incognito). Though it is a bit violent at times so fair warning.

Second I had an idea for a post-apocalyptic mega-dungeon. It is essentially a giant pyramid where some mega-corporation of the future tested all of its stuff. One of the better ideas I had for it was that their are essentially 3 groups inside the complex. The first group are people who were cryogenicly frozen to be used in future testing that occasionally get unfrozen for whatever reason. The second group are the descendents of those who have been unfrozen and have lived their entire lives inside the complex. And the third group were outsiders who loot the place like proper adventurers.

Anyway their are a few ideas for ya.
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SmootRK
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Re: BFRPG Setting

Post by SmootRK »

Here is some of the introductory fluff I am writing for the new setting:

The Fall of Mankind

In the not so distant future, the cultures of mankind had hit their peak. The major countries of the world fought each other continuously through economic means and control over limited resources. Third world countries struggle internally and against foreign influence. Even through all the social and economic turmoil, scientific discoveries are uncovered at an astounding pace. Despite various ethical and moral objections over the application of various new technologies, the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, genetic manipulation, quantum physics, dimensional exploration, and many others continue to be developed at ever-increasing rates.

Exactly what events happened during this era has been lost to antiquity. While only conjecture, it is hypothesized that mankind suffered significantly to plagues and diseases while at the same monstrosities both genetically engineered as well as alien intelligences spread across the world. Wars raged, cities burned, famines ensued, and various catastrophic natural disasters coincided to nearly wipe out man-kind.

Fast forward several millennium; no one even knows exactly how much time has passed as there are no surviving records. The planet is barren and only sparsely populated. Zones of pestilence, radiological hazards, and extra-dimensional leakage separate cultures and species from each other. But the planet seems to be healing, even if only haphazardly.

New types of civilizations are beginning to appear, however many are not those of mankind.

New Era Begins

Rising from the ashes of this world, are new civilizations. Some regions host vast arrays of intelligent species, while other regions host very few. Some areas have only man and near human mutants. Magic has been rediscovered in some areas, while rudimentary technology rules other regions.

For the most part, technology has risen back to that of a pseudo-medieval level, although there exceptions and variations in both the level of technology as well as its distribution. Magic plays a role in many societies.

Outside of these fledgeling civilizations, new exotic creatures roam the world, some benevolent and many more which are deadly. Creatures thought to be only legend seem to have made reappearances.

The Setting and Rules

The BFRPG Apocalypse setting is similar to that found in the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game core rules, at least in the nature of how the game is played. One can still find fantastic creatures to battle, strange civilizations to visit, dungeons and ruins to explore, and all the other trappings one finds in typical role-playing games.

So, what is different?

Most of the differences are in the setting and not the rules. On the player side of things, there are a variety of different races to use, some changes to classes, different choices in equipment, and other minor changes here and there. Expect to battle monsters, acquire treasures, and all the other things one does in fantasy adventures.

For Game Masters, the changes are mostly cosmetic, for instance monsters are given to alternate origins and may look differently. The GM is free to guide his players into themes of exploration of the past, interactions among the new civilizations, dealing with monsters both familiar and new, or any other gaming style preferred. The setting can be relatively light with magic or supernatural themes or as deeply involved as the GM wants it to be. Technology can be introduced as necessary or can be kept very primitive. Only the basics are provided so that the campaign can move as you desire, using the elements that you decide should be included.

The idea is to be as inclusive or exclusive to different themes as the Game Master and Players want the game to be. The Game Master is free to include or exclude portions as he or she sees fit, and the BFRPG Apocalypse setting tries to make it relatively easy for the GM to make such choices.
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begin player character section
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SmootRK
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Re: BFRPG Setting

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Here is the material for the devolved branch of humanity, based very closely on Cavemen from the Monsters as Characters Supplement. This race will work well for a game stylized after Planet of the Apes, or in the case of Morlocks, a H.G.Wells version of the future.

Mutes & Morlocks (Caveman)
Mutes are closely related to humans, being a kind of devolved branch of the species; they are stockier and much more heavily muscled. They live in primitive bands or tribes, often with little real culture. In some BFRPG Apocalypse regions, they are treated as no better than other animals. In a few regions, they are more subterranean or dwelling in the shadows and often referred to as Morlocks. Whether they are actually less sentient than “normal” humans is a matter of debate, but it is true that they do not have the facility for language that other human and humanoid races have. However, they do seem to be able to communicate basic information amongst themselves through complex grunts and vocalizations not too unlike what one might hear from normal great apes.

Restrictions: A Mute may become a Fighter, Cleric, or Thief. Mute Clerics are called Shamans by other races, although such spell casters vocalize their spells in peculiar ways that are unrecognizable by other races. Mutes are wise in the ways of nature, and when permitted by the Game Master, Mutes may be allowed to advance in certain optional classes, especially those associated with nature. Likewise, a Game Master may exclude certain choices. A Mute character must have minimum Strength score of 11 and scores of 9 in both Dexterity and Constitution. Mutes are limited to a maximum of 15 in both Intelligence and Charisma, generally accounting to their lack of ability to communicate or understand advanced concepts. A Mute can 'learn' languages, but only rudimentary concepts are understood. In any case they cannot verbalize normal languages of other men or humanoids.

Special Abilities: Mutes are very attuned to their surroundings, and like the core rule elves, are seldom surprised, reducing the die roll range for surprise by 1 point. Therefore in normal situations, a Mute is surprised only on a roll of 1 on d6.

Morlock varieties prefer dark environs such as underground, deep ravines, or dark forested areas. They have 60 ft darkvision, but they suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls in bright sunlight or within the radius of light effects. Some regions have completely subterranean varieties that have superior darkvision (90'), but suffer double penalties (-2) in bright lights (as described previously), and even typically lit areas gives them trouble (-1 penalty as described).

Thief Ability Adjustments: Mute Thieves have a +20% bonus to Climb and +10% when Hiding or Moving Silently. They suffer -10% penalties with Open Locks or Find/Remove Traps. Mutes with Tracking skills have a +10% bonus.

Saving Throws: Mutes gain no special bonuses to their saving throw rolls.

Initial Levels: Mutes or Morlocks begin play at negative 1500 experience points with 1d8 for hit points and an attack bonus of +1. While in this immature state they can only utilize leather or hide armor and make saves as 1st level fighters. Upon achieving zero experience points, they must choose their career path (class) as a first level character and begin to abide by various class based restrictions. They roll using their new class-based hit die but retain previous hit points and attack bonuses (+1 bonus is added to attack bonus). When subjected to spells or effects where level or hit dice is a consideration, add one to their effective level.

Thus, a Mute with his first class level has 1d8 hit points and +1 Attack Bonus in addition to that granted by his chosen class. He is equivalent to a 2nd level character.
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SmootRK
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Re: BFRPG Apocalypse Setting

Post by SmootRK »

fyi - I put an actual draft of the document I am working on in the first post of this thread.
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billiambabble
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Re: BFRPG Apocalypse Setting

Post by billiambabble »

I've just written a long post and yet again my iPad has deleted it. pfft.
quick summary: really loving this. Sounds great, better than just another Gamma World clone, really interesting settings. Reminding me a little of Metamorphosis Alpha which combines pan-tech-level rules with surreal settings. Also EPT and that white plume mountain module for D&D - when space tech collides with fantasy. Also with Carter style settings I recommend mining some of the OD&D adapted material ( which I found myself babbling about here:
http://adventuresandshopping.blogspot.c ... -plus.html )
Would you be scaling the rules, or will new equipment and races be usable in other BFRPG settings?
Again, this is all great stuff, familiar and yet fresh.
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