A world where the end is always coming and never ending. The recursion is just like modern day earth with the exception that multiple apocalypses are going on at once, from alien invasion to natural disasters to anything else that could or would bring about the end. (Any given apocalypse is treated as a level 8 survival scenario, players are unable to stop it and as such must simply do their best to survive, or die horribly).
Notable differences:
Atlantis is rising (And has been for a while) and upon this continent within a desert region there can be found a phenomenon known as the Colar Vortex, in reality a gateway to The Strange, which has been known to spew Violet Spiral, Cyphers, random creatures from The Strange, and on one memorable occasion a Planetovore, but since this world is constantly ending not much actually happened and the Planetovore (Called Destronaught) has become a regular occurance.
There is a large hole where Nevada should be.
Russia doesn’t exist, instead it’s the USSR. Alaska is part of the USSR.
Iceland is in fact populated solely by vikings.
Dogs are an endangered species, so are cows.
Fun Facts: Japan has never been beset by Kaiju, but Argentina has. Sandwiches don’t exist.
Guns, Electricity, the laws of physics themselves, are spotty at best and sometimes utterly fail to work. (See entry* in Entropic Physics section.) Yellowstone (When not constantly erupting) is a rich source of a unique element (GM discretion).
The Angels are your enemy, the Daemons are your friends. As such anyone affiliated with a church is looked down upon as a traitor. Mostly they get burned at the stake a few times as a warning.
Odd things and places: Telwark, New Jersey, USA: Home of a unique species of rose that has thorns which secrete a very potent aphrodisiac.
Longview, Washington, USA: Home of a breed of carnivorous pink squirrels.
Ontario, Canada: Home of the world’s largest gateway to hell. Nabesh, India: Home of the Ultan Cascade, a geyser of precious gems, unfortunately mixed in with radioactive wastes from previous apocalypses.
San Juanito, Brazil: Home of the world’s only functioning copper mine.
Sedgewen, Switzerland: Home of only working chocolate factory.
Nolatyev, USSR: Overrun by Rabbits in 1956, they have since evolved into a humanoid race who worships a giant Carrot called Romac Torrv who is actually an orange Kaiju.
The North Pole: Inhabited by Evil Elves who make weapons for dictators, or perhaps players willing to pay their exorbitant prices.
Auckland, New Zealand: Inhabited solely by sheep and a single terrier named Luxie.
Jumak, Australia: The whole town is surrounded by quicksand inhabited by Giant Scorpions and Spike Wurms.
Beyong Xiang, China: Home of the Killer Woks, an elite fighting team of street vendor monks. Their food is to die for (Sometimes instead of asking for payment they may simply enter into a light sparring match, to the death of course.)…. Vendor is a level 6 Martial Artist: Health 15, all attacks deal 4 damage, if using cutlery or their fabled Cast Iron Wok attacks deal 6 damage with chance to grievously wound.
Cairo, Egypt: Often beset by plagues of kittens.
Paris, France: Invaded by aliens every Saturday at precisely 6 pm. Kaiju every Wednesday at 3 am and of course volcanoes erupt every Monday at 5 pm. Also the baguettes are amazing.
Glasgow, Scotland: Renowned for the Miracle Pond, which, if bathed in, cures foot fungus.
Heresy, Australia: Home of the big rock candy mountain, also there’s a mountain made of rock candy.
Woodlawn, Transylvania: Home of the planet’s best dance club. Also there are rumours of Vampires, Werewolves and Churchgoers.
Brussels, Germany: Population consists mostly of Thorn Elementals and spirits.
Rumours and Here-say: Somewhere in Europe there can be found a man known as “The Snark” who can grant people who find him a single wish.
In Tibet, atop a mist shrouded mountain there is a monastery in which resides an alien being who imparts knowledge to those who seek it.
In the Nevada Wastes (The hole where the state of Nevada should be) there is a safe haven where the world isn’t ending called Jericho, but the radiation levels surrounding make it near impossible for anyone to reach it.
Within the sewers of any given city or in the wilderness surrounding them you can find a race of Mutants born of the various plagues, radioactive fallouts and mutagenic wastes to be found on Apocnarokegeddon, and since there are Mutants living amongst the Humans in most cities these rumours are something of an anomaly.
Once a week, in Trafalgar Square, there is a Phenomenon known as “The Ascent” in which a monolithic structure rises out of the ground and radiates blue light which reveals glyphs on the ground for a few moments before descending again. Although nobody who lives there will admit to knowing about it.
Somewhere in South America, in Brazil or Columbia perhaps there is a native american ruin in which can be found an artefact that grants the user absolute power over the Daemons, but consumes the user’s soul in the process.
Those who Die Horribly are not the same person they originally were before their first death, but hollowed out copies that can be taken over by any spectral entity with relative ease.
The big rock candy mountain in Heresy, Australia is actually made of a strange substance, which, when imbibed creates effects similar to that of Spiral Dust…. Also the mountain made of rock candy is just made of rock candy.
Entropic Physics may present a method of stopping Planetovores as Destronaught has been noticeably weakening since it’s arrival in Apocnarokegeddon. (Destronaught attacks are still level 7 survival scenarios).
Laws of Entropic Physics: Entropic Physics is a variation of Standard Physics in which, rather than Evolution (The natural order of the universe moving towards increased order) the recursion is dominated by Entropy (The natural state of the universe to slide into a state of increasing disorder). All things are being destroyed, but due to Life being present cannot do so as Life itself, by it’s very presence, creates new energy, which in turn creates new matter and complexity which Entropy struggles to tear apart. Thus inhabited worlds dominated by Entropic Physics are in a constant state of destruction.
*The normal laws of physics themselves are spotty at best and sometimes utterly fail to work. As such Gravity, Time, and various other physical forces we take for granted may suddenly stop working, work in reverse, or become supercharged for short periods of time. (Although if time stops the characters may utterly fail to notice if they are in the zone of effect when time stops, for those players, when time resumes, no time will have passed although they may notice it flowing faster. For players outside the area of effect, they may enter the affected area but the time that they bring with them will run out after 5 minutes.)
Within Apocaroknegeddon this (Due to fictional bleed from various End Times Tales) takes the form of every apocalypse ever imagined going on at once. Since the recursion is populated it can never actually end and is thus forever stuck just on the cusp of destruction.
Use in campaign:
As a and pretzels setting it works great, as for more serious gameplay, a little less so…however it can serve a more serious purpose with a few tweaks: 1: Not every apocalypse is happening at once, just pick your favourite.
2: The apocalypse is not constant, rather it starts at some point after arrival and lasts 1d6 hours (This can make for an excellent chase).
3: Toning down the lunacy can get you very far.