The five "Wrath" scenerios.

By Bornite, in Wrath of the Gods

Looks like they've got five interesting scenarios for Wrath of the Gods.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/2/24/wrath-of-the-gods/

Your starting place and hometown may remain the same between games, but each of the five scenarios in Wrath of the Gods offers a very different look at how the supernatural might end civilization. The ancient Mayan apocalypse may come to pass, along with the return of the Mayan people and the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. You may find the events foretold in the Book of Revelation unfolding around you as the Four Horsemen ravage the world. Earth itself may reject humanity, causing animals to turn on their masters and plants to grow at unbelievable speeds. The Norse gods may return to the world to meet their fated opponent as Ragnarök explodes around you. Finally, Cthulhu may rise from his resting place in the heart of the Pacific ocean, heralded by cultists and Deep Ones and bringing untold terror and insanity to every inhabitant of Earth.

Mayan Apocalypse (guess 2012 was a little off), Ragnarok, Book of Revelations, Cthulhu, and Nature's Uprising. Out of these the only one I'm not really interested in is Cthulhu. Chaosium still has that sewn up. but the rest could be a lot of fun.

Ragnarok and Revelations appeal to me the most. Which is odd because I'm an atheist. LOL! I love mythology though.

2012 could still be the year the Mayan Apocalypse takes place. I for one don't consider Age of Aztec an obsolete book any more than I consider Evangelion an obsolete anime. Alternate histories are totally fine, yo.

I am cautiously hopeful for the Revelation scenario. Ever since reading a certain book series (not Left Behind, but naming it in this context is a bit spoilery) I've wanted to run a campaign set in the biblical End Times, where the Beast and his False Prophet command global worship, and believers must either bow down and worship the Beast and take his mark, or remain true to their faith and risk falling to the sword. And since you play yourself in this game, your "character" might not even believe in God when the game begins. Hell, however, will quickly win you over as the world falls apart in the wake of the Rapture.

Edited by MarthWMaster

2012 could still be the year the Mayan Apocalypse takes place. I for one don't consider Age of Aztec an obsolete book any more than I consider Evangelion an obsolete anime. Alternate histories are totally fine, yo.

I was actually making a joke about the (in)accuracy of the Mayan calander. And I don't consider it a obsolete book or scenario, not sure where you got that.

I am cautiously hopeful for the Revelation scenario. Ever since reading a certain book series (not Left Behind, but naming it in this context is a bit spoilery) I've wanted to run a campaign set in the biblical End Times, where the Beast and his False Prophet command global worship, and believers must either bow down and worship the Beast and take his mark, or remain true to their faith and risk falling to the sword. And since you play yourself in this game, your "character" might not even believe in God when the game begins. Hell, however, will quickly win you over as the world falls apart in the wake of the Rapture.

Yeah, Revelation could be a good one. Luckily there are lots of varied sources out there for inspiration, from movies to novels.

I got it from your comment. I didn't read it as a joke, sorry.

Edited by MarthWMaster

Revelation provides much of Stephen King's the Stand...

Mayan apocalapse might have begun in 2012 and just be a slower burn than expected, or the campaign could be backdated to then, or our calculations and translations might have been wrong. Or the Mayans might have got it wrong...

A fun thought is to spring more than one apocalypse. What happens when rival pantheons go to war?

<SNIP>

A fun thought is to spring more than one apocalypse. What happens when rival pantheons go to war?

It might look something like this

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5AFmIyOmc

I counted three "Wraith," an "Alien Invasion," and a "Machine" scenerio in there in addition to others. The only thing missing is a zombie hoard and it would hit all four. If one of my players went for a Silverado and box of Twinkies, I would give them some kind of bonus. ;-)

Edited by Bornite

The thing about the Mayan calendar is that it was incorrectly translated over to a modern calendar; the date the 'Long Count' calendar ended could have happened fifty years ago, or it could have yet to happen, which would allow people using that scenario to set it now. I'm a bit surprised they used that one, as the Mayans didn't actually have an end of the world scenario in their religion; some guy in the early 1900s came up with it as a way to sell books. For a good look at what warring pantheons might look like, there is an excellent comic book series called "God is Dead" that deals with returning pantheons, and their eventual fighting over earth (as well as a host of other topics); it often tends to be NSFW though.

Mayan apocalapse might have begun in 2012 and just be a slower burn than expected, or the campaign could be backdated to then, or our calculations and translations might have been wrong. Or the Mayans might have got it wrong...

Or it was just the end of the Mayan calendar. As a friend of mine once put it: "Oh no! My calendar says the world will end on December 31st!"

The idea that the Mayan calendar coming to an end somehow implies a global apocalypse is a very modern idea. To the ancient Mayans, this would have been a time for celebration, not panic.

Mayan apocalapse might have begun in 2012 and just be a slower burn than expected, or the campaign could be backdated to then, or our calculations and translations might have been wrong. Or the Mayans might have got it wrong...

Or it was just the end of the Mayan calendar. As a friend of mine once put it: "Oh no! My calendar says the world will end on December 31st!"

The idea that the Mayan calendar coming to an end somehow implies a global apocalypse is a very modern idea. To the ancient Mayans, this would have been a time for celebration, not panic.

It was merely the end of the Long Count calendar, but there were other calendars found that had longer cycles; one that I remember extending past the Long Count calendar was on a 10,000 year cycle, although I'm not even going to try and spell the Mayan city's name where it was found.

Yes, the media seemed to forget that Mayan time was cyclical. It was not even the end of the of the calendar, just the end of that particular Long Count cycle. Time was expected to carry on. But the calendar just ticking over to a new cycle makes for a boring game. I wish I knew more about Mayan mythology for this scenario.

On slightly different note, my vote for most instantly dated Post Apocalyptic game goes to Palladium Books for Systems Failure. This game was dated the moment it hit the shelves. It possited that the Y2K bug was real - in the form of actual "bugs" of energy that infested the grid and brought about the end of the world as we know it. A really fun premise, but Y2K had already not happened. ;)

Yes, the media seemed to forget that Mayan time was cyclical. It was not even the end of the of the calendar, just the end of that particular Long Count cycle. Time was expected to carry on. But the calendar just ticking over to a new cycle makes for a boring game. I wish I knew more about Mayan mythology for this scenario.

Yeah, that's the media. Let us remember that these are the folks who refer to ANY ship that has guns as a "battleship, and any armored vehicle with treads as a "tank."

Lucky for me, one member of my gaming group has a Masters in Pre-Columbian studies, so info on Mayan, Incan, and Aztec stuff is easily available, especially pronounciation.

On slightly different note, my vote for most instantly dated Post Apocalyptic game goes to Palladium Books for Systems Failure. This game was dated the moment it hit the shelves. It possited that the Y2K bug was real - in the form of actual "bugs" of energy that infested the grid and brought about the end of the world as we know it. A really fun premise, but Y2K had already not happened. ;)

I remember that, and you are very right. At least GURPS Y2K covered so much more than the Y2K bug and did come out before the "incident." That book would be well worth getting a copy of as a resource for other PA games.

Earth itself may reject humanity, causing animals to turn on their masters and plants to grow at unbelievable speeds

I don't know if it's the simplicity of it, but I'm super excited for this scenario.

Earth itself may reject humanity, causing animals to turn on their masters and plants to grow at unbelievable speeds

I don't know if it's the simplicity of it, but I'm super excited for this scenario.

This is the scenario I am most curious about. I really am not sure how they are going to make a PA game scenario out of this one. I'm don't feel a lot of interest in running it, but I am very curious as to how it works.

Earth itself may reject humanity, causing animals to turn on their masters and plants to grow at unbelievable speeds

I don't know if it's the simplicity of it, but I'm super excited for this scenario.

This is the scenario I am most curious about. I really am not sure how they are going to make a PA game scenario out of this one. I'm don't feel a lot of interest in running it, but I am very curious as to how it works.

I'm betting there will be at least one scenario in each book I'll find little interest in. In ZA it was the voodoo scenario. I'm sure it will be the animals and plants scenario in WotG.

Nature's Uprising? This better not be The Happening!

A fun thought is to spring more than one apocalypse. What happens when rival pantheons go to war?

RISK Godstorm? :)

But yeah i love that idea. I'd be sitting in my comfy chair eating chips and watching the fight until i'd be killed by a stray thunderbolt or something.

Donar vs. Thor! Apollo vs. Amaterasu! Typhon vs. Yormugander! Neptune vs. Poseidon! Toth vs Yog-Sothoth!

Ps: My money is on Donar.

Ragnarok and Revelations appeal to me the most. Which is odd because I'm an atheist. LOL! I love mythology though.

I like revelations to. Those four horsemen aren't that tough. ;)

In Deadlands the Apache manged to drive off War itself and somebody shot down Famine's horse!

Ha! so much for four horsemen! :D

Nature's Uprising? This better not be The Happening!

I'm thinking more along the lines of that Will Smith SciFi movie, After Earth, where aliens had evolved the planet's entire ecosystem so that everything tried to kill you. In this case it's more of Gaea having had enough of us, I guess.

Ragnarok and Revelations appeal to me the most. Which is odd because I'm an atheist. LOL! I love mythology though.

I like revelations to. Those four horsemen aren't that tough. ;)

In Deadlands the Apache manged to drive off War itself and somebody shot down Famine's horse!

Ha! so much for four horsemen! :D

The Three Horseman and the Dude that has to Walk?

Yup! Oh and by the way...Famine is a She. (In the Deadlands Hell on earth Reloaded setting) :D

Earth itself may reject humanity, causing animals to turn on their masters and plants to grow at unbelievable speeds

I don't know if it's the simplicity of it, but I'm super excited for this scenario.

This is the scenario I am most curious about. I really am not sure how they are going to make a PA game scenario out of this one. I'm don't feel a lot of interest in running it, but I am very curious as to how it works.

For post apocolypic I can see stuff like fruits, vegies, grains, and just basic stuff to make food becomes poisons to humans and only humans. Resulting in savaging for canned goods to no end. Like one can of beans is pricless because it'd be so hard to find.

Or if hunting parties go out, the soil pushing itself up to hide animal tracks, making it extremely hard to hunt for food.

I hate the system, but I love the way they depicted the four horsemen in Rifts. Deadlands is awesome too!

Famine is a She.

I blame fashion magazines.

Famine is a She.

I blame fashion magazines.

I'm picturing a 90's Kate Moss. Ribs and all! LOL!