The steps to create a campaign world for Unchosen should be relatively simple, but able to guide the creation of a variety of worlds and situations, all with fairly robust options. Obviously, much of this will rely on the players ability to engage creatively with the process, but the process itself should be able to reliably assist with creating compelling content.
So, the first thing to determine will be… What happened? What was the apocalypse that we find ourselves post? The most obvious is of course some sort of nuclear war or other such that left the world an irradiated wasteland, with mutants and other horrors lying in wait for the unwary. What are other options? Economic collapse is an underutilized cause of the breakdown of society, although it obviously fails to contribute to monsters and mutants. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it will create a different flavor of wasteland than others. What about an alien invasion that leaves the surface a ‘scorched earth’, with the few survivors and various alien beasties to contend over what few resources were left behind in the wake of the invasion. Perhaps it’s some sort of supernatural apocalypse, a la the Dark Tower novels, and the world has simply “moved on.” There are a number of other options, each of which will create a very different feel to your wastelands.
Next comes the question of… how long ago was the… whatever it was? It’s got to be enough in the past that it IS in the past, but are there still people who lived through it, or are the events of those days lost to myth and stories passed down through generations? This will also have a fairly profound effect on the flavor of your world. Have the people learned to adapt to the hardships of this new world, such that survival of the species isn’t so much in doubt, or are things still so rough that a hard-won niche carved out of the wastes could be wiped away in an instant? Perhaps it’s so long ago that things are beginning to recover, and places can be found where the veneer of civilization is deeper than just the skin.
Once you’ve answered those two basic questions, you’ve got the basis to begin hanging details on. Before we move on though, remember that post-apoc is usually flavored like a western in a lot of ways, though there are lesser and greater extents to which this can be true. Generally, settlements are rough and small. Resources are limited, even if they’re not downright scarce. Strangers aren’t necessarily unheard of, but an outsider is rarely welcomed with open arms. There are usually broad expanses of rough, dangerous and lawless terrain between these settlements. Bandits, restless natives and creatures red in tooth and claw roam these badlands, ready to take from anyone unlucky enough to be weaker than they. Sometimes there will be beauty, but it’ll usually be stark, dangerous beauty, the sort that is all the more rewarding for being both unexpected and surrounded by death. Men and women both are wary and can be treacherous. Trust is rare, but when it’s earned, it’s worth more than water or gold.
After getting a feel for the world, it’s time to nail down some specifics. Mostly what I’m talking about here is locations. There’ll be a list of archetypal locations, some of which simply will not fit in with what you’ve chosen for your setting. Obviously those options should be avoided in this step. What you’re going to be nailing down are locations that your characters have been to, maybe even where they’re from. You don’t necessarily want to create every little junktown and cluster of shacks that your characters may have passed through since beginning their journeys, but you’ll want to detail some highlights, such as important settlements where they may return, or places where significant events occurred.
Some examples of archetypal locations: A junktown, an abandoned Ark, a technological enclave, a slaver’s camp, an old military depot, the ruins of a once-great city, a slaver’s camp, the wreckage of a large vehicle, a trade hub, a tribal village. Some of these locations may be mixed and matched for more interesting locations. Several of them may even be used more than once, though obviously each should be unique in some fashion. If they’re not unique, there’s not much reason to detail them out. 3-5 locations should be good for most groups, though you should make sure that a origin location is included for each character. As you have not created any characters at this phase, this may be somewhat difficult. It’s perfectly okay to come back and create a new location if none of these feels right for a given character once they’ve been created.
Next, it’s time to start getting an idea for the Chosen. It’s likely that, having come up with these locations and possibly sketched out a few ideas as to events that occurred at these locations that you’ve already begun to form a collective picture of your Chosen, which is the intent. An important thing to keep in mind is that the Chosen is probably the most important aspect of the game that will be created before play, because he or she is the catalyst for everything that happens afterward. Your characters will be defined partially by their relationship to this powerful figure.
Where did the Chosen come from? It’s not important to have a solid location in mind, but it’s important to answer this question. Sometimes, the answer will simply be “I don’t know.” Perhaps the Chosen was secretive about their past. Perhaps you want the questioned to be answered in play. It’s also possible that the answer you come up with here will turn out to be an utter lie. The answer isn’t as important as the simple fact of addressing the question. Much of the rest of the background of the Chosen will be similarly defined. Other questions to answer are: What is the Chosen’s name? Is the Chosen a man, a woman, maybe even a child? What was their personality like? Was he the strong silent type? Did she have a silver tongue and use her beauty as a weapon? Was the Chosen death walking, or a negotiator who never missed an opportunity to solve some dispute or another? It’s a good idea to have someone take notes of all of the conclusions about the Chosen. Each person can and should take their own, but centralized notes will make it easier to keep a shared idea of who and what the Chosen was.
This next part is crucial: What was the Chosen’s quest? Every Chosen One to walk in out of the wastelands has some noble or personal goal by the time they start gathering followers. This quest will become a central theme during play, as the actions of the players will address it either by pursuit or neglect of the Chosen’s quest. A litmus test for a good quest is that it should inspire, either by being some grand vision that others can share, or simply by being a stand for something, something that can become a symbol for others. Canonical examples include saving their people from some disaster, vengeance for wrongs done, rescue of kidnapped loved ones, or to return some lost aspect of civilization. Even this may end up being a lie, but don’t decide anything about that during preparation. All efforts to address the quest should be done during play. It should be assumed that your character buys in to the quest in some fashion, be it grudging, fanatical, or anywhere in between.
That’s the final step of setting preparation that needs to be done before you start creating your characters. Many of the items sketched out here will be expanded upon during character creation, and that is by design. By the time you have characters and are ready to play, you should have a pretty solid idea of who the Chosen was, and some of the adventures you’ve shared with them.
