31 Flavors of the Apocalypse

31 Flavors of the Apocalypse

31 Flavors of the Apocalypse

So, Richard Rogers talking about his new game got me all nostalgic for the first Apocalypse World game I played (and which he ran), so I started listening to Adam Koebel ‘s season 2 AW game and I really want to play again! And that got me thinking about the different types of Apocalypse which might serve as your setting. Which are your favorites, Gauntleteers?

I’ll start with some of mine, and give some media references. Add more references if you like.

Here we go:

1. Post nuclear desert-pocalypse – the classic that never goes out of style (Mad Max Fury Road, the Road Warrior)

2. Snowpocalypse – Started snowing and hasn’t ever stopped.this was the game I played with the Gauntlet. (John Carpenter ‘s The Thing)

3. Rain-pocalypse – Started raining and only rarely stops.(Adam Koebel’s first AW game)

4. Blackout-pocalypse- electricity failed and hasn’tcome back. (NBC’s Revolution, SM Stirling’s Emberverse books)

5. Toxic Jungle-pocalypse- fungal plants and giant insects! (Nausicaa Valley of the wind)

6. Zombie-pocalypse- “Brains!” (Walking Dead, too many things to list here)

7. Dragon-pocalypse – Dragons rule the earth (Reign of Fire) and it’s cousin, Dino-pocalypse (Jurassic Park franchise)

8. Pacific Northwest-pocalypse- yeah, running out of good names. Basically takes place in mountain/forest terrain (The 100, The Road… maybe?)

9. Robo-pocalypse- Sarah Connor? (Terminator franchise, Fred Saberhagen Berserker books.

10. Alien-pocalypse- they ain’t phoning home… (Independence day, Defiance)

So, there must be at least 21 more flavors. Add your own, or add media recommendations for these!

54 thoughts on “31 Flavors of the Apocalypse”

  13. 17. The quarantined apocalypse, behind huge walls you know or at least the elders tell you civilisation still goes on and every day your resources dwindle. (Trying to remember the name of that Neil Marshall film, about a group going into a quarantined post apocalyptic Scotland)

  14. 17. The quarantined apocalypse, behind huge walls you know or at least the elders tell you civilisation still goes on and every day your resources dwindle. (Trying to remember the name of that Neil Marshall film, about a group going into a quarantined post apocalyptic Scotland)

  19. 19. Reality broke. See the recent marvel comics event secret wars, specifically battle world. Multiple realities smoothed together into/over and through each other. ‘You want to trade with those gorram metal men, are you sprung. That means crossing dinosaur and zombie territory!’

  20. 19. Reality broke. See the recent marvel comics event secret wars, specifically battle world. Multiple realities smoothed together into/over and through each other. ‘You want to trade with those gorram metal men, are you sprung. That means crossing dinosaur and zombie territory!’

  33. Here are a couple I wouldn’t mind seeing.

    21. Opverpopulation-pocalypse AKA Soylent Green

    22. Utopian-pocalypse AKA Aeon Flux

    23. Totalitarian-pocalypse AKA 1984, Handmaid’s Tale or Brave New World

  34. Here are a couple I wouldn’t mind seeing.

    21. Opverpopulation-pocalypse AKA Soylent Green

    22. Utopian-pocalypse AKA Aeon Flux

    23. Totalitarian-pocalypse AKA 1984, Handmaid’s Tale or Brave New World

  35. Revelation: Demons and psychopaths now run rampant (This is the end).

    Animal-pocalypse: Animals have grown tired of our shit (Zoo)

    Ape-ocalypse: Those damn, dirty apes got too smart! (Planet of the Apes movies)

    Fungi-pocalypse: A mind controlling fungus turns people into mindless killers (The Last of Us)

    Virtual-apocalypse: Machines, aliens, etc are using us for fuel while we are none the wiser (The Matrix)

    Kaiju-pocalypse: “We thought we were the lords of the Earth. That is, until they came. Like titans rising from the sea, tearing through our great monuments as if they were made of paper. Talk about a reality check…” (Godzilla, Pacific Rim, Monsters)

    Magi-pocalypse: Something awakened magic and opened the door for all manner of things we weren’t prepared for into the world. (Not sure of an example, but ran a game where Pandora’s box was found on the moon, brought back to Earth and this is what happened when it was opened)

    Cthul-pocalypse: Cultists and unspeakable horrors are this world’s bread and butter. Oh, and tentacles. Lots of those. (Lovecaft, vision of the future in Hellboy, The Mist, World War Cthulhu?)

    Alter-pocalypse: Something happened in this world’s past that didn’t in ours (Y2K, Nazi’s won, we found life on the moon and it came back here unfortunately, Aztec priests summoned Quetzalcoatl to fight the white man and it decided to stick around, etc)

    Were-pocalypse: Science found a way to make werewolves. It seemed like a good idea at the time? (Project Metal Beast)

    Ghost-pocalypse: the dead came back, but not how you expected! How do you kill so many ghosts? (Not sure of an example)

    Exodus-pocalypse: You are on a ship hurtling through space in an effort to escape earth’s destruction. But that isn’t your only problem… (Aliens, Earth 2, Pandora)

    Weird-pocalypse: A comet flew between the earth and the moon, causing cosmic devastation and… is that a wookie casting spells from his blaster rifle? (Thundarr the Barbarian)

  36. Revelation: Demons and psychopaths now run rampant (This is the end).

    Animal-pocalypse: Animals have grown tired of our shit (Zoo)

    Ape-ocalypse: Those damn, dirty apes got too smart! (Planet of the Apes movies)

    Fungi-pocalypse: A mind controlling fungus turns people into mindless killers (The Last of Us)

    Virtual-apocalypse: Machines, aliens, etc are using us for fuel while we are none the wiser (The Matrix)

    Kaiju-pocalypse: “We thought we were the lords of the Earth. That is, until they came. Like titans rising from the sea, tearing through our great monuments as if they were made of paper. Talk about a reality check…” (Godzilla, Pacific Rim, Monsters)

    Magi-pocalypse: Something awakened magic and opened the door for all manner of things we weren’t prepared for into the world. (Not sure of an example, but ran a game where Pandora’s box was found on the moon, brought back to Earth and this is what happened when it was opened)

    Cthul-pocalypse: Cultists and unspeakable horrors are this world’s bread and butter. Oh, and tentacles. Lots of those. (Lovecaft, vision of the future in Hellboy, The Mist, World War Cthulhu?)

    Alter-pocalypse: Something happened in this world’s past that didn’t in ours (Y2K, Nazi’s won, we found life on the moon and it came back here unfortunately, Aztec priests summoned Quetzalcoatl to fight the white man and it decided to stick around, etc)

    Were-pocalypse: Science found a way to make werewolves. It seemed like a good idea at the time? (Project Metal Beast)

    Ghost-pocalypse: the dead came back, but not how you expected! How do you kill so many ghosts? (Not sure of an example)

    Exodus-pocalypse: You are on a ship hurtling through space in an effort to escape earth’s destruction. But that isn’t your only problem… (Aliens, Earth 2, Pandora)

    Weird-pocalypse: A comet flew between the earth and the moon, causing cosmic devastation and… is that a wookie casting spells from his blaster rifle? (Thundarr the Barbarian)

  37. Thundarr was always a favorite.

    Tecto-calypse: The fault lines were always unstable, but now everything’s been thrown around. The only thing between you and a hot dark abyss is the small chunks of land still floating in the air (Bastion)

  38. Thundarr was always a favorite.

    Tecto-calypse: The fault lines were always unstable, but now everything’s been thrown around. The only thing between you and a hot dark abyss is the small chunks of land still floating in the air (Bastion)

  45. #8 can also be called the wet-apocalypse where it constantly rains (pacific NW, hawaii or other tropical rainforests)

    Example for the ghost-apocalypse would be Spirits Within.

  46. #8 can also be called the wet-apocalypse where it constantly rains (pacific NW, hawaii or other tropical rainforests)

    Example for the ghost-apocalypse would be Spirits Within.

  47. Bayou- pocalypse – What life was like in Houston and New Orleans after their respective hurricanes with no outside help coming. Isolation is a major theme, Beasts of the Southern Wilds is a good taster.

    Solar-pocalypse – Borrowing from the Mad Max Wasteland, the characters are Parliament Funkadelic rolling around in solar-powered Cadillacs. Night has been completely banished and there’s no clouds in the sky. Vehicular combat ensues.

    Gonzo-pocalypse – all the collapses have happened,; ecological, economic, genealogical, etc. And there’s Grays raiding your settlements.

  48. Bayou- pocalypse – What life was like in Houston and New Orleans after their respective hurricanes with no outside help coming. Isolation is a major theme, Beasts of the Southern Wilds is a good taster.

    Solar-pocalypse – Borrowing from the Mad Max Wasteland, the characters are Parliament Funkadelic rolling around in solar-powered Cadillacs. Night has been completely banished and there’s no clouds in the sky. Vehicular combat ensues.

    Gonzo-pocalypse – all the collapses have happened,; ecological, economic, genealogical, etc. And there’s Grays raiding your settlements.

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