I recently finished archive-binging the excellent webcomic "Stand Still. Stay Silent", and I'm glad I did. It presents a rather interesting post-apocalyptic setting, and I believe something on its lines would make for a very interesting GURPS setting.
Warning: Spoilers to follow. If you haven't read the comic, maybe you should go over there first. You won't regret it.
In the prologue/backstory of the comic, a mysterious disease - initially called "rash disease" because of the rashes that are its first symptoms - is spreading around the globe. It is spread via the air, but doesn't survive for long outside of a living host (especially in sunlight), and quarantine measures are quite effective and known by the time the bulk of the comic takes place (90 years after the initial outbreak). It kills most of its victims outright. A minority is immune (though the descendants of the survivors have a higher percentage of immune people - 48% in the "frontier" regions). The rest are transformed into bizarre monsters (see here for some examples) which are hostile to humanity. They can't endure either sunlight or freezing temperatures (which is why they build "nests" during the winter). Furthermore, the plague also affects mammals (except for cats for some reason).
Most of humanity was simply wiped out. Iceland managed to isolate itself before the plague spread to its shores, while small regions in the other Scandinavian countries managed to survive. 90 years later, they managed to rebuild a civilization of sorts that is expanding outwards - but it is a slow process, since regions have to be carefully "cleared" by military forces consisting of immune people before they can be used safely for agriculture, forestry, or even settlement by the non-immune. Here is a map of the Known World - it is unknown if anyone survived elsewhere (long-range radio is difficult because of really creepy static). Some of the survivors also have learned how to harness magical powers, which also assist in spotting the monsters.
Obviously, this has a lot of gaming potential. I don't want to use the exact same setting - especially since a lot of secrets of "Stand Still, Stay Silent" are still unrevealed. So, instead of the Gigeresque abominations of the comic, let's say mammals (including humans) are transformed into more generic fantasy monsters. These should be very aggressive, but fairly mindless, with animalistic intelligence - they will attack any humans they discover, but they are not smart enough to make organized attacks on human settlements (unless humanity would have become extinct entirely). Instead of the powers shown in the comic, we might use standard GURPS Magic (or another GURPS-based magic system).
What stays the same is that humanity has been almost completely wiped out. There are surviving settlements which have rebuilt a civilization of sorts which (unlike in other post-apocalyptic settings) largely is not run by evil tyrants - while it is expected that everyone pitches in due to the desperateness of the situation, this is a civilization worth defending. The existing safe zones for the non-immune are largely stable, and slowly growing - but almost everything is still monster-infested wilderness.
Which means that there is plenty to do for "adventuring parties" in the setting. "Monster hunting" is likely the default adventure - but it doesn't have to be aimless. Vital trade routes need to be established and secured. Settlements have to be expanded. The ruins of the old towns and cities hold numerous treasures and technological items that could be useful for rebuilding - in fact, the "unofficial" goal of the protagonists in the comic is to find old books they can sell on the black market.
On the other hand, the monster-infested wilderness and the return of the supernatural have their own mysteries that can be explore. Magic is now a tool that is likely at least as important to survival as restoring the old technology, and learning more about it will create further adventure opportunities. Studying the monsters and their supernatural abilities will also yield vital information that humanity needs to survive and grow.
That's what I have so far. What are your ideas?
Warning: Spoilers to follow. If you haven't read the comic, maybe you should go over there first. You won't regret it.
In the prologue/backstory of the comic, a mysterious disease - initially called "rash disease" because of the rashes that are its first symptoms - is spreading around the globe. It is spread via the air, but doesn't survive for long outside of a living host (especially in sunlight), and quarantine measures are quite effective and known by the time the bulk of the comic takes place (90 years after the initial outbreak). It kills most of its victims outright. A minority is immune (though the descendants of the survivors have a higher percentage of immune people - 48% in the "frontier" regions). The rest are transformed into bizarre monsters (see here for some examples) which are hostile to humanity. They can't endure either sunlight or freezing temperatures (which is why they build "nests" during the winter). Furthermore, the plague also affects mammals (except for cats for some reason).
Most of humanity was simply wiped out. Iceland managed to isolate itself before the plague spread to its shores, while small regions in the other Scandinavian countries managed to survive. 90 years later, they managed to rebuild a civilization of sorts that is expanding outwards - but it is a slow process, since regions have to be carefully "cleared" by military forces consisting of immune people before they can be used safely for agriculture, forestry, or even settlement by the non-immune. Here is a map of the Known World - it is unknown if anyone survived elsewhere (long-range radio is difficult because of really creepy static). Some of the survivors also have learned how to harness magical powers, which also assist in spotting the monsters.
Obviously, this has a lot of gaming potential. I don't want to use the exact same setting - especially since a lot of secrets of "Stand Still, Stay Silent" are still unrevealed. So, instead of the Gigeresque abominations of the comic, let's say mammals (including humans) are transformed into more generic fantasy monsters. These should be very aggressive, but fairly mindless, with animalistic intelligence - they will attack any humans they discover, but they are not smart enough to make organized attacks on human settlements (unless humanity would have become extinct entirely). Instead of the powers shown in the comic, we might use standard GURPS Magic (or another GURPS-based magic system).
What stays the same is that humanity has been almost completely wiped out. There are surviving settlements which have rebuilt a civilization of sorts which (unlike in other post-apocalyptic settings) largely is not run by evil tyrants - while it is expected that everyone pitches in due to the desperateness of the situation, this is a civilization worth defending. The existing safe zones for the non-immune are largely stable, and slowly growing - but almost everything is still monster-infested wilderness.
Which means that there is plenty to do for "adventuring parties" in the setting. "Monster hunting" is likely the default adventure - but it doesn't have to be aimless. Vital trade routes need to be established and secured. Settlements have to be expanded. The ruins of the old towns and cities hold numerous treasures and technological items that could be useful for rebuilding - in fact, the "unofficial" goal of the protagonists in the comic is to find old books they can sell on the black market.
On the other hand, the monster-infested wilderness and the return of the supernatural have their own mysteries that can be explore. Magic is now a tool that is likely at least as important to survival as restoring the old technology, and learning more about it will create further adventure opportunities. Studying the monsters and their supernatural abilities will also yield vital information that humanity needs to survive and grow.
That's what I have so far. What are your ideas?
Post-apocalyptic setting inspired by "Stand Still, Stay Silent"
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