Dawn of Fire

         "Dig hard, dig deep, go for shelter, and never look back." That has become a creed for all of mankind. Where once thriving civilizations stood of men and elves, and even of orcs and gnolls -- now the skies and the land belong to the dragons. Over the past year, the population of dragons has risen a hundredfold, and they have swept over all the nations of the world.

         Of the survivors, only a few remain. While dragons sweep the most inhabited portions, adventurous folk seek out the most remote and inhospitable underground structures -- taking with them the few other survivors whom they were able to rescue. Together, they seek to carve out a new life for themselves in the ruins and dungeons of the old world.

         Dawn of Fire is in many ways exactly like standard Dungeons & Dragons. The primary action will be exploring ancient dungeons and fighting monsters within them, gathering what resources can be found. However, the context of doing so is completely different. It draws on the post-apocalyptic genre: especially films like Reign of Fire and Dawn of the Dead, along with the Jeremiah series, the new Battlestar Galactica, and others. The focus will not be on dragonslaying, though dragons will be a real threat. Dragons are to be avoided at all costs, since they are so numerous and killing one could draw down more. Rather, the focus will be on forging and protecting a community -- the last of humanity -- within the dungeons.

         We will begin by creating standard mid-level adventurers (in the range of 5th through 10th level). Along with the PCs will also be generated a range of ordinary survivors: a dozen or two. Then we'll start just after the apocalypse with the PCs and NPCs meeting up as they approach the dungeon area.

Society and NPCs
The PCs will be the leaders and champions of a small group of survivors -- a few dozen. As far as they know, they are the only ones in the region who have survived. The PCs will be leaders of this group, but will also be responsible for them.
Good and Evil
All dragons (chromatic and metallic) have taken over the surface, respecting only other dragons in their sweep of the globe. Under the circumstances, the historic differences between humans and orcs (for example) pale by comparison. Good and evil still exist, but are not as important to the game. I expect there will be some alliances between good and evil creatures for the purpose of mutual survival.
Money
With the fall of civilization, money is now worthless. Gold and platinum coins will be tossed aside in favor of food and equipment.
Equipment
For many campaigns, the equipment rules of D&D are simply tedious. Characters regularly go back to the store to load up on arrows and such, checking off marks. In this game, however, there are no stores or cities to go back to. Thus, equipment will be valuable and justify the carefully tracking.

 

John H. Kim <jhkim-at-darkshire-dot-net>
Last modified: Mon Feb 6 16:29:56 2006