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| Illustration from izismile |
As a storyteller, when the setting is high fantasy, you need to concentrate on heroism. Epic battles, stupid, but powerful enemies make the game special. On the other hand, a space opera setting will need you to focus on the "conquest of the final frontier". Protecting humanity and yourselves against hostile aliens, unexpected events or space pirates - all of these can happen in one playsession.
A post-apocalyptic game is again something fundamentally different. A world where something terrible happened. A dead world, where civilization means much less than in our own. In this deserted environment there are only a few places where someone can find company (people who don't want to eat you, kill you, sell you, etc), and there are only a few humans who look further than finding the next meal. This is what you need to focus on, if you work on a post apocalyptic game: Memorable places and Iconic characters.
This is exactly what I found in the two Post Apocalyptic Toys issues I've got for review.
(I am not a professional reviewer, nor a paid pen. This whole thing started on Google Plus, when one of the guys I follow mentioned that he is looking for reviewers. As I am always open for new ideas, and like to help indie gaming - including tabletop ones - I pinged him, and promptly got an electronic copy of these.)
Nothing is perfect. After reading through the two documents, I've noticed two things I didn't like:
If you think now that these problems are far from serious, then I agree. What really matters, the content of the two issues are excellent, as much as you need, not more, not less.
The first one is about the Last Refuge. The issue starts with a generic description that gives the reader some personal context and an understanding of the place. Then, in the next section, there are a handful of ideas listed, together with certain different flavours of possible events - for example, if a new refugee arrives to the place, what kind of problems can that cause? After this, the main characters are described in the next section, providing the reader some deeper understanding of their history and motivations. Their relations to other important characters are also described, to provide a deeper understanding of the social status quo. In itself this issue is a good deal for less than a dollar, but if you take into consideration that based on this content it is really easy to come up with more new ideas, it is definitely a must have.
The second issue, while it basically contains the same sections, is not strictly about one place. A slave wagon is something that you can easily run into while crossing the wastelands. In a world without much electricity, and scarce supply of fuel, humans are the cheapest and most reliable workforce. You may be able accept that - until you, or some people you know are taken as slaves. A very controversial topic, but one that was expertly fit into this environment. In this issue, you can find even more descriptions of the local environment and a better overview of the different factions, and more content in general. It is sold for two dollars, which is still less than half of a Big Mac.
For those who are interested, here are the links:
This is exactly what I found in the two Post Apocalyptic Toys issues I've got for review.
(I am not a professional reviewer, nor a paid pen. This whole thing started on Google Plus, when one of the guys I follow mentioned that he is looking for reviewers. As I am always open for new ideas, and like to help indie gaming - including tabletop ones - I pinged him, and promptly got an electronic copy of these.)
Nothing is perfect. After reading through the two documents, I've noticed two things I didn't like:
- The font - It's either Comic Sans or very similar. Not really good for writing about grim things
- Typos - There were just a few, but still
If you think now that these problems are far from serious, then I agree. What really matters, the content of the two issues are excellent, as much as you need, not more, not less.
The first one is about the Last Refuge. The issue starts with a generic description that gives the reader some personal context and an understanding of the place. Then, in the next section, there are a handful of ideas listed, together with certain different flavours of possible events - for example, if a new refugee arrives to the place, what kind of problems can that cause? After this, the main characters are described in the next section, providing the reader some deeper understanding of their history and motivations. Their relations to other important characters are also described, to provide a deeper understanding of the social status quo. In itself this issue is a good deal for less than a dollar, but if you take into consideration that based on this content it is really easy to come up with more new ideas, it is definitely a must have.
The second issue, while it basically contains the same sections, is not strictly about one place. A slave wagon is something that you can easily run into while crossing the wastelands. In a world without much electricity, and scarce supply of fuel, humans are the cheapest and most reliable workforce. You may be able accept that - until you, or some people you know are taken as slaves. A very controversial topic, but one that was expertly fit into this environment. In this issue, you can find even more descriptions of the local environment and a better overview of the different factions, and more content in general. It is sold for two dollars, which is still less than half of a Big Mac.
For those who are interested, here are the links:
- The Last Refuge
- The Slave Wagon
- All the works of Occult Moon, the publisher
They are great for you, if
- you are GM for a post apocalyptic game
- you are working on a post apoc computer game
- or even a novel
Go, and grab it now!
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