(RPG) The End?

It's been 53 minutes since midnight, May 21st rolled around, 7 hour 53 minutes in Jerusalem, and unless I walk into an empty bedroom in a few minutes, the Rapture has NOT occured. Don't look too sad.

But all this talk about people just up and disappearing, reminds me of one of the never-played games laying in a box in the garage.

The End.

The premise is ridiculously simple. A modern interpretation of the Book of Revelations occurs. Nanotechnology, geneticly modified food, and a few well placed nukes turn the world into a chaotic mess with billons already dead. Then the Rapture comes at some point. Some ascend into heaven, others fall into the eternal lake of fire. God then essentially abandons Earth to interact with his faithful.

There's only one problem. There are still people left on the Earth. A small percentage, maybe 5-10% of the remaining people worldwide are indeed "left behind," but in this scenario there's no Kirk Cameron to save you. Those who couldn't make up there mind in the battle between good and evil, the meek, have inherited the Earth.

The first mission of the remaining characters is to find a steady source of supplies, perhaps some transportation, and finally, like-minded individuals. Lonesomeness is amplified on this God-less Earth. "The Blues" can affect you faster than any lone hermit goes crazy.

There's another problem. The Earth is apparently reverting itself back to it's Eden-like state. Quickly. A secret stash of supplies could spoil or even disentigrate in the matter of months. Activity in a library might stave off the books falling apart, but an abandoned library might already have most of its books turned to dust and the structure in imminent danger of collapse in just a few short months.

Not only is the Earth revolting against humans, but man has much less sway over plants and animals. Wild animals have grown bigger and much more dangerous than before. Think dire wolves on steroids bigger.

Despite all these problems, we still have each other, right? Oh, you naive 21st century thinkers. When the shit hits the fan the safest form of government is tyranny. Most compounds/camps/enclaves have individuals ruling with iron fists. Despite some ridiculous absolutist camps, there's some taboo running in each group. Cannibalism, slavery, sex slavery, relgious fanatcism (even with no God), and some eco-nuts for good measure. The true bastion of American left is in Boston (of course!) A small group of men and women train with a level of execution that would have made the orginal Minutemen take out the British, jump on ships, and conquer the British Isles. But this zeal is necessary. Troops continually pour out of the Washington D.C. area to conquer Boston. It ain't natural, and unless Boston gets help fast, it will be a war of attrition.

The game started with its own rules system (historically "Banned at GenCon" for art and theme issues), but the edition I picked up was for d20. As source material for any system, it was great. I always wanted a GURPS-Modern game under false pretenses and have Revelations kick in. Survivors would be more powerful than the characters seem to normally start in the game, but then they can be the ones organizing the camp(s).

I do believe this is only available in pdf forms through most reputable online dealers. So charge that credit card and enjoy some nice weekend reading. Worst case, we're either saved or screwed, so the credit card won't need to be paid. Best case, we're preparing ourselves for what-if the crackpot minister was actually part right, but still horribly wrong.