Fantasy Flight Games apocalypse RPG system, where you and your friends play as yourselves and attempt to survive through 4 apocalyptic world ending scenarios.
- Revolt of the Machines
- Wrath of the Gods
- Zombie Apocalypse
- Alien Invasion
If reading isn’t your jam, Click here and listen to the podcast for an idea of what the game is like!
Set up is relatively easy, your character sheet is a representation of yourself. You have a total of 10 points to put into 6 categories: Dexterity and Vitality which represent your Physical abilities, Logic and Willpower (Mental), and lastly Charisma and Empathy (Social). Each section (Physical, Mental, Social) also has a features section, which you put a positive and negative into each to describe as simply as possible, who you are. All of these factors will come into play as you make your way through the apocalypse. The book likes to recommend that you sit with your friends and go over and vote on each other’s characteristics, for the sake of efficiency, we didn’t do that this time.
When it comes time to call upon these traits, it is simple enough to pass a test. Just roll below your attribute number and you pass. If the GM decides to add a negative die to your test, you may end up with two out comes. You take a strain while doing the thing, or you get two of the same number, fail the test and do not do what you intended on doing. It is the apocalypse after all, you’ll probably die trying.
Interestingly enough, gear isn’t doled out from the book itself. If you were hoping to have a machine gun, or a sword and run around being a bad-ass, you’d better hope that the home you’re playing in has those things as well. As this is a real world RPG, you will be finding equipment that is readily available to you in the moment. You could take an axe from your shed if need be, but if you don’t have any guns in the home and were hoping to use that, you’ll probably need to go hunting for that out in the world.
Running the game, can be a little tricky if you have a bunch of friends who are secretly murder hobos, but fear not, the apocalypse has enough complications and interactions to keep them in line. Running the game is more about creating a world that is lived in by people surviving whatever terrible situation they are in (we did things a little differently), so a final outcome in a single session isn’t really how it should work. Players should come up with ideas as to how they would deal with a scenario and a GM will play to that with tests and encounters. The story will evolve as both players and the GM make their way through days, weeks and months, if they live that long, and come to a point where they are now living after judgement day.
With the above in mind, its important to note that there really isn’t any questing happening here. Its all about interaction with the world and creating a place to survive. The option to create allegiances within this world is out there, interacting with people can lead to new allies or enemies based on how everything might go. You might be sleeping with one eye open or you’ll be sleeping soundly with people you trust.
If you’re looking for a change of pace, and a collaborative experience this is for you. It might not be the best for new inexperienced RPG players but it can be adapted to fit any level of experience with a little bit of work. We all enjoyed playing The End of the World together and recommend giving it a shot.
Key items to play the game:
- One of the 4 books (each book had the rules, so you don’t need a base core rule book and 4 settings)
- Someone to run the game, two people to play
- 3-4 hours to run a session
- 6 sided dice, different colors or styles is important
- Copies of the provided character sheets
- Pen/Paper
Interested in listening to how its played? Click here
Check out our quick sheet!
