[design sketch] apocalypse now

[anonymouse]

This is a design sketch. I don't have any mechanics in mind right now, just have a stumbling block at the moment.

so, I was watching this special on International Film Channel, called "American Nightmare"; sort of a documentary/conversation piece about how the events of the 60s and 70s influenced and still influence the horror movies of the day (and today).

One of the lines, towards the end of the film, was (paraphrased) something like: "These movies are not about how the apocalypse is in the future; the apocalypse is now, is always happening, and there's no way to imagine a time when the apocalypse wasn't happening; and there's no way to imagine a time when the apocalypse would end."

Yay game design spark!

Scenario: The apocalypse has actually been happening for a few thousand years, but it's been happening too slow; at this rate, humanity will be ground down not with a bang, but a whimper.

Goal of play: Make it a bang. Bring about the climax, and do it soon, so that humanity can have a chance to recover.

So of course the mentioned stumbling block is: what kind of apocalypse? Should it be pre-determined or left up to playgroups, a la the Master?

At the moment, I'm leaning towards something supernatural, just because it makes things more interesting. Releasing a super-virus in an airport, or hitting a few buttons for a nuclear strike, is pretty boring. But doing a lot of demon-summoning, or turning individual humans into some kinda batteries for a magic meteor spell, seems like it'd give more long-term campaign play, which is what I'm looking for.

Plus, super-virii and nuclear wars seem very obviously like they'd get too out of control. The characters should have the idea that what they're doing is something they'll be able to control, something physical that they can fight.

Anyway, looking for thoughts on apocalypse scenarios and such. I'm not entirely sure this should be made into its own system, so if anyone's got ideas for a system, lemme know.

[erithromycin]

Sorcerer would be my first port of call.

Certainly there's something in the idea that summoning things from 'not-here' (see various threads in the Adept Press forum) removes parts of 'here' whenever it occurs.

Then there's a race between stopping sorcerers from unmaking the universe one summoning at a time and aiding the efforts of NASA et al who are discovering more bits of it day by day.

Throw in some Heisenberg stylee 'role of the observer' mumbo-jumbo and you've got yourself quite a gritty game, I'd think.