Roll an Apocalypse

Roll up an apocalyptic setting.

First determine what type of apocalypse toy are dealing.

1d20	What Happened?		Table II Roll	Loot Modifier
1	Nuclear War	Somebody drops the bomb, likely a whole lot of bombs. Vaporized/melted cities, radiation sweeps the world, and even clouds of dust causing nuclear winter.	1d12	-20
2	War	Conventional war gone wild inflicting casualties and absorbing the resources of the world until not only is war impossible but so is the civilization that once fought the war.	1d8+14	-15
3	Plague	Disease sweeps the world decimating the population. Wether it was germ warfare by organized states, terrorism, or random chance matters little at all to the few survivors left in an empty world who must get on without the support once provided by civilization and worry if the disease is bound to return.	1d20	0
4	Famine	Crops failures of epic proportions cause civilization to unwind in quick order. Sure there were resulting wars and pandemics among starving populations but the lack of food is what did in the world.	1d8+14	0
5	Impact	An asteroid, comet, or other cosmic wanderer slaps into the earth. The widespread destruction caused by the impact alone may be all it takes to end the world but the panic before the end may make the actual event a blessing. In the end the seas or air itself may have been poisoned and only the lucky sheltered or remote few have survived.	2d8	-5
6	Ice Age	Cool Winters for a year or two, followed by a year with no summer, and then the ports of the world are iced in as the snows build year after year. Mass migrations drive many to the equator where overpopulation does them in leaving behind isolated bands of survivors picking over what was left behind, struggling animals, and preying on each other.	2d12	-10
7	Hot House	The climate warms, the seas rise, the and the air grows heavier. Civilization is destroyed leaving behind a seething overgrown tropical hell or superheated parched wasteland.	3d20	-10
8	Solar Irregularity	The sun goes wild, millions are roasted alive by the sun; to go out in the day unshielded means blindness and skin cancer. Electomagnetic pulses have destroyed our fragile electronics and the civilization that depend on it. Plants wither when the suns rays have shifted from their norm and even the soil is scoured clean by radiation and ionization.	1d12	0
9	Mutation	We changed and not consistently or for the better. Civilization is unable to continue with so many people are no longer people at all. Is it evolution gone wild, genetic warfare, or defective rogue nano-cosmetics…will there ever be a new normal?	1d20	+5
10	Seismic Doom	The continents are drifting and shifting all the time, we don’t even notice this constant activity except for when centuries of change occur in moments. Cities are shaken to their foundations, tsunamis sweep the world, and volcanoes both old and newborn burn and choke all nearby. Survivors struggle in a world of shifted rivers, displaced seas, and newly risen mountain ranges.	1d10	0
11	Pollution	Civilization comes undone as it posions the air, water, and soil of the  people it was meant to serve. Not enough was done to stop the floating islands of junk, the toxic municipal water supplies, and the acid rains until things had reached and toppled over the tipping point.	1d8+16	+10
12	Zombies	The dead walk and are hunger for your flesh. Call them zombies, ghouls, or vampires they have returned and attack the living with a vengeance.	1d12	0
13	Alien Invasion	Ruthless aliens have attacked the earth.  Entire populations have been eliminated, cities razed and landscapes turned over to alien use. Mankind either forgotten, herded into containment zones, enslaved, or hunted as vermin. The earth is no longer ours.	1d10	-10
14	Robot Uprising	The machines have turned against us. It makes little difference to survivors if the machines meant to save us or eliminate us they are now masters of the earn and her resources and little of their plans seem are carried out with mechanical indifference.	1d20	-20
15	Religious/Mythic End Times	The Tribulations, Ragnarok, or other traditions are true and happening or happen with an unexpected vengeance. Wether if it’s demons possessed legions serving the anti-christ, Frost Giants and Epic heroes battling across the world civilization cannot go on in the face of this destruction.	1d6 (1d100)	0
16	Engines Run Down	The machinery, tools, and devices of civilization become so integrated and so complex that when they inevitably fail (or run out of fuel) the people that depend on them are no longer able to maintain them when they break down. Nations are left to starve with no food begin delivered, cities choke in their own waste, water no longer flows through the pipes the number of breakdowns cascades beyond containment until it’s all over.	1d20+10	0
17	Animal Uprising	Sure animals can be dangerous but mankind has mastered them for thousands of years or so we thought until they turned on us en-masse. Flocks of birds ripping the unwary apart, pets turning on their owners and zoo animals seemingly coming together to escape and seek revenge.	1d12	+10
18	Magic Returns	Magic has crept back into the world with a vengeance.The civilized technological world can’t function in the face of the chaos wrought by individuals able to shape the weather, bend the landscape and transform matter. The few able to make use of magic are not the only menaces to ravage the world as magical energies change the nature of physics itself and reality bends and shifts to a new order.	1d20	0
19	Temporal Disjunction	Time comes crashing in on itself. Dinosaurs and horrors from far in the future walk the land, forests choke cities to a stand still and oceans shift to where they were in ages past.	1d10	-20
20	Overpopulation	The wonders of the modern world extend our lives and allow more children to survive each year. But the resources are limited and the population becomes so great it is just simply too large to shelter, feed, or police. A tide of humanity washes over civilization like a plague of locusts tearing it down.	1d20+12	+10

For greater variation mix or match 2 or 3 of the above as many can easily go hand in hand.

How much warning did civilization get?
This will impact the likelihood of finding cached supplies and if the big-wigs got to their secret bunkers in time.

Score	Warning?	Loot Modifier
4 or less	Suddenly/Overnight the end came. None were prepared.	+10
5-10	Days of chaos with few ready or capable, the panic and disarray only served to reduce the number of survivors.	+5
11-15	Weeks or warning only served to accelerate the destruction of civilization as forlorn populations went mad and turned against their neighbors. A few isolated areas maintained a semblance of order as the end approached but even fewer endured.	-10
16-18	Months of warning undid thousands of years of civilization as populations and nations unrestrained by the need to cooperate ripped each other apart prior to the end. Only well supplied and remote enclaves could endure.	-20
19 or more	It took years for things to end, people had even adapted to a new normal thinking they would survive; most were wrong.	-10

How long ago was the apocalypse?
What remains and how meaningful the end of civilization is to the characters has a lot to do with when if all happened.

1d20	How long ago?	Loot Modifier
1-3	Ongoing, it isn’t over yet.	+10
4-7	Weeks/Months, people are crawling out of the debris shocked and unsure of where their next meal will come from.	0
8-9	1-3 years, isolated pockets of civilization struggle to remain as survivors battle over the remains of civilization.	-10
10-11	10 years, old institutions are forgotten and politics from before the apocalypse meaningless in the struggle to survive. Isolated pockets have endured or grown up among the ruins but the situation is dangerously fragile.	-20
12-15	30-50 years, children have been born and had children of their own that have only known the ruins of the old world. Stable pockets of civilization are just one petty war, plague or famine away from destruction.	-30
16-17	100 years, communities have come together that did not exist before the apocalypse. Few if any are alive that lived in the world before. New social traditions have risen that are replacing those of antiquity.	-50
18-19	Centuries on, new nations have risen in the howling wilderness left by the destruction of civilization. History of the world before is incomplete and the achievements are not fully reclaimed. Languages have changed enough only the well educated can comprehend old writings.	-75
20	Millennia into the future, it’s a whole new world where knowledge of the old world is lost or considered mythic. Civilization may have had time to rise and fall yet again before establishing a brave new world. Few if any records of the past can be deciphered.	-90

What was the world before like?
The world before the apoclaypse can be different to shake up player expectations.

1d20	The World Before
1	18th century or earlier, vast rural populations survive initial destruction with some areas untouched and by the initial calamity going on for many years on their own as if it never happened.
2	19th century or earlier, vast rural populations survive initial destruction, some areas may go on for years untouched by the initial calamity.
3	Napoleonic Empire dominates Europe and the colonial world. As 19th century above but Napoleon and his successors are in power. Different laws and language will remain after the fall.
4-5	Early 20th century, rural populations can remain sheltered for years but the inevitably suffer from the lack of material support form the now defunct civilization.
6	Confederate Colonialism, The Confederate States of America (having prospered after the the civil war ended in a peace treaty favoring the south) dominates a far flung range of colonies.
7	Kaiser Triumphant. Germany was victorious at the end of WW-I. The Nazi’s never rose to power and the multi-national colonial struggle endured.
8-10	Mid 20th century, remote areas could have avoided the initial clarity but will inevitably fall victim to secondary and tertiary die-offs.
11-12	Hitler Victorious, the Axis won WW-II and the politics reshaped as the Axis powers adjust to victory. Communism expunged, Nazi science unchecked.
13	Oceania has always been at war. The world was dominated by large super-states always at war with each other.
14-18	Late 20th century/Early 21st. Every corner of the world will be involved in some manner. Remote populations must adapt or quickly wither without material support from the outside world. Even areas seemingly untouched by the initial calamity will suffer greatly from population densities far in excess of their carrying level.
19	Near Future. Every corner of the world will be swept up some semblance of normal might the possible in isolated pockets that have attempted to become self-sustaining.
20	Far Future. The solar system is swept up on the calamity with only the remotest corners untouched and able to endure.

Clearly some of the World's before don't fit with each Apocalypse but with a little creativity most can be adapted.  The table above is brief and only scrapes the alternate history backgrounds that could be used to add a flair to your post-apocalyptic campaign.


Don’t forget loot scavengers can find.
Check each area to see how common specific classes of loot may be. Some backgrounds will have an impact on a class of goods not accounted for here.

	Very Rare	Rare	Uncommon	Common	Plentiful
Storred Food	30 or less	31-70	71-90	91-99	100+
Firearms	0 or less	1-60	61-90	91-98	99+
Ammuniiton	10 or less	11-70	71-95	96-98	99+
Vehicle	0 or less	1-60	61-80	81-98	99+
Fuel	20 or less	21-85	86-95	96-99	100+
Consumable Luxury Goods	-40 or less	-39-75	76 to 90	91-99	100+
Clothing	-10 or less	-9-10	11 to 80	81-95	96+
Medicine	0 or less	1-75	76-97	98-99	100+
Tools	-10 or less	-9 -10	11 to 90	91-97	98+
Building Supplies	-30 or less	-29-0	1 to 85	86-95	96+

If civilization is up-and running in a region the availability of goods will be based on the standards and economy of the new civilization not on picking thru the remains of the past.