ARTICLE:

AFTER THE APOCALYPSE
THEY SAID IT COULD NOT HAPPEN HERE!
©1996 B. Vince Heuschkel

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:
freely ye have received, freely give.   (Mat 10:8)

Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword.  (Mat 26:52)

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.     (Mat 8:12)

Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the
son: and children shall raise up against their parents and shall cause
them to be put to death. (Mar 13:12)

A subgenre to science fiction, which has been increasingly popular, is
the post-apocalyptic setting: The stories of what happens after the
nuclear war, after the depletion of the ozone layer, or any other
disaster which at best indicate a significant change of civilization as
we know it, and at worst, all but the end of life on Earth. The
post-apocalyptic setting requires, obviously, a disaster, but primarily
it is the scene for the stories of what happens after that disaster.

In this article I try to look into some of the needs and challenges of
the post-apocalyptic setting. 

FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS

The post-apocalyptic genre sets a few standards that should be met in
order to provide the real foul smell and sticky feel. These are most
commonly either things that aren't there but which are in high demand,
or things which indeed are present but of which the presence is
undesirable.

WATER! WE NEED WATER!

The absence of one or more substances required to sustain organic life
is a long-time classic. A broad variety of films use the dry
no-more-ozone-layer-folks desert as their backdrop. This is a good
incentive for the characters to earn their own living, because if they
fail to find water, they're dead. Various other resources can be used
instead of water, or together with it, most commonly pure air,
unpolluted soil, and other basic requirements necessary to sustain
human life.

Water, and other natural resources,  probably is the most powerful
asset the master can hold against the characters. In a hot, dry world,
water may have become the only stable form of currency, possibly siding
with batteries, ammunition and medical supplies operating as small
change.

A variety of this basic need is when the natural resources indeed are
present, but polluted, or possibly polluted: Standing in front of a
pond of fresh water is no good if your geiger goes off like crazy, nor
is standing there without any geiger at all, but knowing that maybe,
just maybe, this water is drinkable. But if it isn't, you may have the
luck to just throw it back up and get a little sick, or you may be dead
in four hours. Time to begin some serious coin-flipping.

Then its back to the trusty old bow-and-arrow routine, I guess

Following the breakdown of civilization, and its production plants in
particular, the survivors eventually will run out of ammunition. This
comprises a set of small-term scenario options, covering the characters
attempts to obtain more ammo, and after some decades or so, how to
replace modern firearms with primitive weapons. A grenade launcher
firing tomatoes doesn't do much to scare off an enemy.

Are you SURE four leaf clover wards off appendicitis?

The rapidly developing need of medical supplies, not to mentation
trained medical personnel, will quickly become a problem, especially in
a small community. All kinds of healers and followers of alternative
medicine that were spurned before the apocalypse suddenly will have
become authorities on medicine, because they may be the only nurses and
doctors around. 

The individual skills of these herb-mongers, wiccans, gypsy fortune
tellers, charlatans, tribal shamans, and crystal sellers will obviously
vary. Some really do know their trade, even if it was never recognized
by Western medicine; some will not. Some will take advantage of the
needy, some will be post-apocalyptic Florence Nightingales, and some
will be nutcases who really think their potions do good.

Any disease or ailment presently considered all but harmless in modern
medicine suddenly may be fatal. Pneumonia is a sure killer, as is
appendicitis and other, similar afflictions which presently are
relatively easy to cure, on condition they are recognized in time.

Sorry, my Zippos out of gas.

Once society has broken down and the characters are traveling through
the ruins, they are going to encounter a problem that is very
fundamental if they are survivors of the actual disaster (if they are
descendants of the survivors, this problem will already have been dealt
with, at least to an extent): Lost skills and equipment.
Getting your hands on a Trans-Am isn't much good if you have no gas
(except it may provide shelter from the rain and fallout). Finding a
shortwave radio doesn't get you in touch with Moscow if you have no
power. Wooden furniture and garden trees provide no heat if you have no
fire; and while many people carry pocket lighters, these eventually
will run dry of gas. Skinning a cow provides a stinking, greasy hide,
not a new raincoat.

Obviously, the most basic survival skills of all have to be relearned.
Modern man has to go back and do what the cavemen did, finding out how
to make his own fire, his own clothes, ¿ and his own solar power
station, but that may take some time. Boy scout leaders, previously
subject to some ridicule, will find themselves in very high demand, as
will many residents of reservations and nature preserves worldwide.

Fundamental challenges

Just as the post-apocalyptic setting commonly places a select number of
substances, technology, or supplies in high demand in order to induce a
survival drive in the characters, it also has its challenges that they
must face up to.

Mutations and new life forms

Wherever radiation and/or biological warfare is concerned, altered
life forms may come onto the scene. This may be used to provide a
sensation of slithering unpredictability in the natural wildlife (say,
did that snail really weigh 150 kg?), or in a more dread manner,
through a high rate of mutated children being born.
With a fairly humoristic approach, mutations mean, roughly, that the
master may use just about anything that can slither, fly, creep or
crawl from one game system to another as an encounter. Dragons, giant
beetles, man-sized mosquitos, whatever. In essence, this approach
provides a setting with a streak of high fantasy, because though the
critters are not magically altered, for game purposes they might as
well have been. To truly maintain the sinister and dark spirit of the
post-apocalyptic setting, though, mutations should probably not be used
too extensively in this manner.

Wherever radiation gets to tamper with chromosomes and DNA, the results
can be disastrous. In a post-nuclear setting, it is not unlikely that
half or more of all children born are mutated or otherwise malformed as
the result of the parents exposure to the poisonous climate. Mutations
in this respect does not mean X-ray vision, handy super powers, or
fancy costumes. It means infants, either with two heads, surplus limbs,
terribly weak healths, sterility, short life spans, low intelligence,
added vulnerability to common diseases, or all of the above. 

In any form of structured society, a choice has to be made as regards
these children: Should they be allowed to live, or should they be put
to death as soon as their mutation is evident?

This is a powerful quandary to throw at a group of characters, because
it has very long ranged effects. If these disabled children are allowed
a chance to reach maturity, a great effort must be made to care for
them. People, who otherwise would have been productive, have full-time
occupation with child care. Medical supplies and provisions must be
obtained.

On the other hand, an environment which has taken permanent damage as
the result of nuclear or biological warfare, may never recover. At
least not recover as we would recognize the term; it may recover to
form a whole new ecological balance. This balance would be radically
different from the one humanity evolved from, however, and this means
that only if mutated children are allowed to live to maturity does
mankind have a chance to change with its environment: Some day or
other, one of the new mutations is going to a) change to suit the new
environment, b) breed true. But it may be a very long wait.

In the long run, good old Charles Darwin, though no one will be around
to remember his name, may be far more right than he'd ever have wanted
to be when first publishing his survival of the fittest concept.
Personally, my votes on crickets and rats as the winners of the race to
survive in the really messed-up post-apocalyptic world (did you know
that if you cut the head of a cricket, its body eventually will die
from thirst in several days?).

Bad guy technocracies

New forms of governments may have come into existence since the Day.
While some of these may work, providing safety and supplies for their
subjects, some probably will not work in a satisfactorily manner (and
these are the interesting ones, from a scenario writers point of view).

The new governments may range on a scale from the local gang
controlling a communities water supplies and making people slave for
them, to large established city states complete with armies and domed
arcologies. Game technically, any bad guy government exists to be
overthrown by the characters. Small settlements controlled by vicious
bikers are easier to deal with than established governments. This means
that in the first case, this may be merely a short adventure being part
of a greater storyline, whereas defeating a villainish government may
be the greater storyline.

Fighting against a rigid technocracy may comprise a strong flavor of
the cyberpunk setting, particularly if the storyline is set ahead in
the future. Magnetic planes, mechs, and fancy plasma rifles may not be
out of line here. Question just is, which side has them?

Jesus and Charlie save us!

A major obstacle to be thrown into the characters path is that of new
religions rising to explain the Apocalypse. These new faiths may
involve new sects of existing faiths, such as hardcore Christian
flagellants, or fundamentalist sects of just about any religion ever to
have existed. In cases where a community has been isolated for some
time, entirely new religions may evolve, probably based on some
pre-apocalyptic text or prophet or other. In his Worlds trilogy, Joe
Haldeman comprises a new religion based on the writings of Charlie
Manson. It isn't friendly.

Psychological development and/or decline

One major factor to be heeded wherever large masses of people are
involved, is psychological development. The human mind per se always
will attempt to explain the inexplicable, comprising a whole new range
of theories, religions, and policies to rise from the ashes. Any
separation of one community from another, whether geographical or
political, will produce an individual set of beliefs, faiths, and
constitutions. If long time has passed since the disaster, these new
faiths may be very set, taking on a resemblance to tribal religions and
taboos. 

Creating systems of belief and science for communities that have been
separated from the rest of the world for a couple of generations or
more is actually not much different from creating social structures for
a primitive people of any fantasy setting. You have to name the good
and bad things of the religion, the dos and don'ts, the reward for being
a good boy and the punishment for not, and any other idiosyncracies
that you find relevant.

Humanity does not require long time to adapt to a new situation,
however. Just hours after the bomb fell, the survivors are going to
begin thinking about how to go on surviving. Adults are bound to
realize very shortly (or never at all) that if they want to live
another week, not to mention a decade, they have to cope with the fact
that the rules of human existence just changed, and that drastically.

Any community that finds itself to still exist after the apocalypse,
but cut off from the rest of the world, are going to agree on a couple
of primary needs: These typically include food distribution, preserving
gas and fuel, and getting touch with whomever else is still around. The
community may succeed more or less efficiently in cooperating, at least
for the first couple of weeks. Meanwhile, there are going to be a
number of hysterical breakdowns and acute cases of paranoia, which
society has to cope with, along with more mundane problems.
After some time, people will begin to make up new rules, abandoning old
ways. Some will be orientated towards group survival, retaining their
sound senses and keeping a calm overview. Some wont. Some will go
rampaging through the countryside with the biggest gun they could find,
feeling that nows the time to have a monster of a party and go down in
a blaze of glory. For obvious reasons, the latter can be disastrous to
individuals  who run into them, not to mention communities being
attacked by groups of them.

When you're trying to map out the psychological developments and
declines of any or other community of your storyline and cant get an
idea, don't be embarrassed to pirate from other writers (they'll never
know, unless you intend for your scenarios to be published). So much
has been written already of the results of disaster of various kinds
upon the human psyche that writing something new and revolutionizing
actually is quite a challenge. Find something in one of thousands of
science-fiction and/or disaster and/or trapped on the lonely island
novels, give it a change here and there, and put it in. 

Wherever long-distance communication is down, almost anything goes. If
you need a good fright, listen to a political extremist for ten
minutes, then try to map out the physical and psychological
consequences of a community taking him literally: 90% of the times,
this is really, really bad, and probably more fictional than anything
your players would have expected you to come up with.

Do unto others...

Winning and losing in the post-apocalyptic setting

Take care to make it hard on your players, but not too hard. If their
characters wind up feeling that no matter what they do they don't change
anything, nor does their situation improve at all, they will draw the
logical conclusion: Lifes not worth the effort. While this probably
does not mean that the characters are going to commit collective
suicide, it might mean that they stop striving towards a better
tomorrow for themselves and the rest of mankind.

Maintaining the right balance between problems and rewards is not easy.
Somehow you have to work out the right mix of trouble and happy endings
required to keep your players feeling that their characters are getting
anywhere, without compromising the hardships and collective desperation
that form the trademarks of the post-apocalyptic setting. 

I suggest giving the characters reason to care about a greater goal,
which in order to be reached, comprises overcoming a long range of less
major obstacles. For example, if the characters develop a sense of
responsibility towards a community, they may easily be made to work
towards better health, prosperity, and stronger economy of that
settlement. That would be the overall goal. 

The lesser obstacles might include raids (from gangs, packs of
scavenging losers, from one or more governments all attempting to
establish their authority, tax collectors (authentic or not), religious
sects, etc.), internal conflicts (domestic, political, and
proprietorial), failing water supplies, accidents, demands for
technology, batteries, medical supplies, power cells, ammunition,
vehicles, etc. 

All of these form small storylines that each may be concluded within
one to three game sessions, to provide a sensation that the characters
do win. It just takes a lot of time and effort.

Introducing the post-apocalyptic setting to your innocent present-day
or science fiction players

The best thing about the post-apocalyptic setting is that it can be
brought into any kind of modern or future setting with about six
minutes notice (that's as long as I guess it'll take for a man to misread
a data screen, say a prayer, and press the button).Bringing the world
back to normal afterwards is an altogether different matter , of course
(albeit time travel isn't unheard of in science fiction storylines).

Essentially, anything that could go wrong in the world as it presently
is (outside of the game room), can go wrong in your storyline as well,
initiating the apocalypse; those of your regular character group who
are still alive afterwards, now are the main cast of your
post-apocalyptic storyline. You may have some fun out of raising the
tension gradually, letting the characters experience some minor crisis
development into global war, and then, the final all-out disaster; this
will also give your characters a chance to prepare themselves (and
hence be alive to become the main cast).

Live long and - well, try to stay alive a little longer., and may you
come upon a friendly village.

Fundamental needs

Water: Frank Herberts Dune, the film Sallows Heroes: Hot and dry
setting in which securing a steady water supply  is the primary concern
of every person alive. Other natural resources may be substituted, or
the quandary may be whether the resources present are too polluted to
be safe.

Ammunition: The film Tank Girl: Battle for military weapon storages,
black market operations, return to primitive, more reliable weapons.

Medicine: Joe Haldemans Worlds Apart: High mortality rate, all kinds of
charlatans and charm peddlers, battle for penicilline supplies.

Technology: William Goldings The Lord of the Flies: Obtaining fuel,
power, fire, clothes, tents; Relearning basic skills of survival;
Psychological decline: Who's in charge, the scientists or the
pony-bikers with the guns?

Fundamental challenges

Mutants: Frank Herberts The Ascension Factor: High infancy death rate,
medical supplies required, very nasty moral quandaries.

Goverments: The film Judge Dredd: Military, bady guy  technocrats,
corruption, hidden files, a flavor of cyberpunk.

Religion: Joe Haldemans Worlds Apart: Religious fanatics, tribal
taboos, superstition with or without a core of truth, diplomatic
entanglements.

Psychological Development: The film The Last Testament: Individual
beliefs, faiths, and constitutions for individual settlements, tribal
religions and taboos.

(END OF ARTICLE)

FANTASY FAIR is a small Danish company which, among other things,
publishes FAIR TIDINGSª MAGAZINE (on roleplaying games generally). This
article was featured in FAIR TIDINGSª MAGAZINE 17, May  1996. All
rights preserved, reprint with written permission only.

FANTASY FAIR
B. Vince Heuschkel
Bjergegade 64, DK-7000 Fredericia, Denmark
Tel./fax +45 75 91 35 65
e-mail: fantasy@post2.tele.dk