INVASION APOCALYPSE!!! Campaign

In the summer of 2016, a massive alien vessel entered Earth orbit, shorting out all electronics in a 5,000 mile area as it passed overhead. The United States and other nations launched coordinated attacks but their missiles and aircraft fell from the sky before they could even approach the alien vessel. The alien vessel took three days to orbit Earth, soon leaving the entire planet without electricity. The sudden appearance of powerful extraterrestrials and the loss of electricity were too much for human society to bear. Populations rioted, cities erupted in flame, and governments fell as human civilization descended into conflict and chaos. Thirty years later, the tattered remnants of human civilization endure numerous hardships as they struggle to survive and prevail. The giant ship now known as The Visitor continues to orbit, its purpose as mysterious as they day it arrived.

The End

The page references below refer to After the End 2: The New World.

Primary Cause: X-Factor (p. 7).

Secondary Effects: Bombs Away! (p. 4), Mega-Virus (p. 5), Things Fall Apart (pp. 6-7).

Tech Level: 8

When: 40 years ago.

Appropriate Hazards (in order of significance): Disease (pp. 13-15); Gangs (pp. 15-17); Paramilitaries (pp. 23-24); Mutants (pp. 18-21); Radiation (p. 25); Aliens (p. 20).

Campaign Background

Campaign name: INVASION APOCALYPSE!!!

Starting year: Approximately 2057 CE.

Genre: Alien invasion.

General theme of campaign: Post-apocalyptic survival.

Campaign World: Earth

Campaign’s base city, nation, empire, or planet: Southwestern United States

Society/government type: Anarchy

Control Rating: CR0

Exceptions to general CR: Towns and villages are generally CR1 or higher, with the occasional CR6 dictatorship. Military enclaves are CR4 or higher.

Tech level: 8*

Exceptions to general TL: See GURPS After the End 1: Wastelanders, p. 29, for information regarding post-apocalypse technology and equipment costs.

Brief description of important neighboring powers, political/economic situation, etc.: Humanity has been reduced to perhaps two billion people worldwide, and the decade-long electrical interruption has caused most of the world to slip back to TL5 at best. Steam power, windmills, and water wheels can be used to power simple machines, but anything with wires will be shorted out when the Visitor gets within 5,000 miles, dashing any hopes of making long-term electrical devices or using the ones they find in good condition. Even simple flashlights fail when the Visitor comes back into range. See INVASION APOCALYPSE!!! FAQ for more information.

Information for PCs

Note: Player characters are a group of wandering adventurers who have joined forces for survival. Use of templates from After the End 1: Wastelanders is strongly suggested!

Starting point value allowed for PCs: 150

Disadvantage limit (including Quirks): -50 w/additional -2 for Quirks.

PC races allowed: Human

Especially appropriate professions: Doc, Scavenger, Tech, Trader.

Starting Wealth: $500. Up to 4 points may be sacrificed for additional funds (Ate1 28).

Languages available: English & Spanish are commonly spoken throughout the region.

Cultural Familiarities available:

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills

Required advantages, disadvantages, and skills: Use of templates from After the End 1: Wastelanders is strongly suggested!

Especially appropriate Advantages:

Especially appropriate Disadvantages:

Especially appropriate Skills: Games (Deathball), Scrounging, Sport (Deathball), Survival.

Disallowed advantages, disadvantages, and skills:

Appropriate Patrons, Allies or Contacts: Allies and Patrons may be developed in-game. Players are allowed to start with up to three individual Contacts or one Contact Group.

Special Abilities Allowed for PCs

Exotic/supernatural traits: N/A

Cinematic skills: N/A

Are PC mages allowed? No.

Are PC psis allowed? No.

Are PC gadgeteers allowed? Yes.

Are there special limits on gadgeteering? None other than those obviously implied by scarcity of supplies and resources.

Unusual Background cost(s) for these abilities: Gadgeteer requires Unusual Background (Gadgeteer) [5]. Quick Gadgeteer requires Unusual Background (Gadgeteer) [10].

Legal or social restrictions on these abilities: Some communities frown on the use of alien technology and may seize or destroy alien-based equipment.

Rulebooks and Resources

GURPS 4th edition Basic Set (B). Required.

After the End 1: Wastelanders (AtE1). Required. Includes templates, gear lists, and other information necessary to survival.

After the End 2: The New World (AtE2). Essential. Contains descriptions and survival information for a variety of hazards. Forewarned is forearmed.

Pyramid Magazine: Venturing into the Badlands, Issue 3/3 (January 2009) (P3/3). Post-apocalypse issue. Description and rules for DEATHBALL, which may also be downloaded here (link to PDF). Also contains the original article ("The Day the World Broke") that inspired this campaign.

Pyramid Magazine: The End is Nigh, Issue 3/88 (February 2016) (P3/88). Post-apocalypse issue. "Post-apocalyptic Guns," by S.A. Fisher and Hans-Christian Vortisch, contains excellent non-rules information about firearms, and the rules found in "Better Improvised Weapons," by Peter v. Dell'orto, are applicable to this campaign.

Pyramid Magazine: After the End, Issue 3/90 (April 2016) (P3/90). Post-apocalypse issue.

See also

• The Blood of Heroes. Post-apocalyptic action adventure starring Rutger Hauer and centered on a game not unlike Deathball.