Those Who Came After: A Solo Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Game

Those Who Came After The Old World is an Ancient Memory Once, centuries ago, humans roamed the Earth in this area known as “Nort Carlina” before the Great Event. Humans are now the lowest and least of the animals occupying the world. Advanced Animals of all shapes and sizes now rule. The Antlerborn, the Ursons, the Greycloaks, the Saltscale, and Hoardkin. This is their world. Some live alongside one another in peace and with treaties, while others openly engage in conflict. You wander this land as a nomad, trying to find your place in this new world. From the Outer Banks through the Piedmont, to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Your adventures will be numerous, and your fame, or infamy, will be known far and wide. In this new world, all creatures have developed opposable thumbs, intelligence, walk upright, and developed humanoid shapes. They now have complete and complex societies you must navigate. The Greycloaks, a mix of domesticated dogs and wolves, are the law enforcers of the land, filled with honor. The three-foot-tall Hoardkins, squirrels, and small rodents hoard technology from the ancient past. Antlerborn protect the forests and grasslands. Trashborn, raccoons with a thieving nature, control the black markets. The Urson, mountain bears, understand the past, the stars, and prophecy. The Fox Cabal uses illusion, A.I.’s, and technology in their magic. The Saltscale, evolved alligators rule the Outer Banks by fang, hook, claw, and seamanship. The Coil, snakes who have learned the knowledge of mutagenics, travel the land. Beavers control the power plants and distribute their energy for a price. Four-foot-tall Owls control the flow of knowledge far and wide. The Velvet Council, felines all, know secrets far and wide and offer their services as assassins, counselors, and confidants. Additionally, humans are mostly animalistic, dangerous, carnivorous, and deadly in groups. If you see three, five more are nearby. They are a blight on the land. Old, automated cybernetics may grant some humans the power of rational thought and speech, but rarely. Know the land, explore the land, but always carry a weapon. Materials you will need. You will need some simple items as follows: • A Standard Deck of Playing Cards (with Jokers): I own several decks with different face card themes. You can use a standard deck or a unique one to play solo games with themes. Every card will have a different meaning as you draw one. They produce the adventures to start you on your way, a side quest, a discovery, how your character may feel, or people or creatures you will meet along the way. • Paper and pencil, or a writing program: I prefer a writing program or a spreadsheet to log in order to enter your ideas as you travel the world. Now, before you begin, you have to decide who you are: 1. Are you a human awakened from cryo sleep, a wolf, a rodent, or some other species? What’s your gender? Humans offer the widest options of adventure, but if you chose another species, you should insert a human from the ancient past who has awakened from Cyro sleep to this new world for a better experience. 2. Choose Your Role: Are you seeking others like you? Are you an exile? What has made you wander? Any bad habits? A risk taker or risk avoider? What species do you prefer not to interact with? What weapons do you carry? 3. Prepare your Deck: Shuffle your deck of playing cards and place the stack face down. With your character’s nature made, your role in the story selected, and your cards ready, it’s time to start your journey. Gameplay: Each card creates a new event or discovery for your character; make sure to chronicle them in order. A series of turns of fate may reflect on the card you have, two cards later. 1. Draw a single card at a time from the deck. Begin by drawing a situation card, any Club suit, and it starts you on the adventure. Reshuffle the deck with the cards drawn before the first Club and continue. 2. The prompts below will tell you the card’s meaning by number and suit. Try to imagine the scene with all five senses. 3. Write your entry describing the moment using your senses. Imagine it’s a scene in a movie, comic, or novel, and play with it. Use that imagination! 4. After writing down your scene, draw the next card to continue your adventure. When you reach the end of the deck, you can either imagine going back to where you started or use it as a cliffhanger for your next story after you shuffle the deck. You just completed “Book One” of your adventure. 5. Even though this is a solo adventure, you can bring your friends along and have them as part of your group, and all of you write your part in the adventure separately. Careful, their character may not be trusted! Watch your back. Begin your adventure and create your worlds!