WATCH THE WORLD DIE A collaborative apocalypse-generating game by As If Productions Version 1.1 | 12 May 2014 Copyleft 2014 by Tod Foley WATCH THE WORLD DIE is a collaborative narrative game allowing any number of players to create their own custom apocalypse. There are no winners, and everybody loses. Get ready to ruin everything. PHASE 1: What type of apocalypse do you want to portray? NOTE: This Phase is entirely optional. If players agree, an Apocalypse Type is chosen from the list below. APOCALYPSE TYPE (by consensus) - Conventional War - Climate Chaos - Flooding/Searise - Biological War/Plague - Desertification/Solar Radiation - Thermonuclear War - Methane Eruptions/Poison Atmosphere - Acid/Toxic/Disgusting Precipitation - Polar Reversal/Tectonic Chaos - Radioactive Fallout/Waste - Meteorite/Planetary Impact - Cosmic/Galactic Rays/EMF - Alien Invasion - Zombie Apocalypse - AI/Robot/Nano Revolution - Psychic Apocalypse/Singularity PHASE 2: History of the Apocalypse This Phase is where it all happens. To start, write down the year your apocalyptic history will begin (“2020” or whatever the group decides). After the year, write the word "Pressure" followed by the number 0 (in pencil). This is the world’s current “Pressure total”. Players will take turns clockwise, adding Events and Responses as explained below. On your turn: IF PRESSURE EQUALS ZERO: 1. Roll 1d6 to determine an EVENT TYPE (see table next page), and add the rolled number to the Pressure total. 2. Choose an Event of the type you rolled from the corresponding EVENTS LIST. Decide on a country or region to apply it to, and describe your Event by adding a few juicy details. If you need inspiration for your events, roll 1d6 on the EVENT MODE table and brainstorm accordingly. 3. Any Event of type 1 through 4 might trigger another Event, leading to a "Chain of Events". To see if this happens, roll 1d6 again and consult the numbers shown for your Chaining Roll. If you roll any of the numbers shown, a chained event occurs. Add your roll to the Pressure total as usual, and describe a new Event for it. This process may repeat any number of times. IF PRESSURE IS GREATER THAN ZERO: Decide whether you want to "MAKE IT WORSE" or "RELIEVE IT". TO MAKE IT WORSE: Follow all the steps above for "If Pressure Equals Zero". Your rolls will cumulatively add to the Pressure total. TO RELIEVE IT: 1. Roll 2d6 and add the current Pressure total to obtain the number of RESPONSE POINTS (RP) you may spend. See the SOCIETAL RESPONSES table. Each Response has an RP cost listed beside it, which is taken from your RP total. Create as many Responses as you want, subtract their costs as you go, and describe some details for each one. You don’t have to spend all the RP, but you must spend at least one point. 2. When you’re done creating Responses: - If there are any Response Points remaining, convert them to PRESSURE (replace the existing Pressure total). Play then passes to the next player, who will either Make It Worse or Relieve It. - If there are NO Response Points left at the end of your turn, the year has ended. Count the number of Events (not Responses) that have occured this year, and roll 2d6. If your roll is LOWER than the number of Events, "The Great Dying" has begun. Congratulations, you just destroyed the human race. You get to narrate how it happens, based on the timeline just assembled. If your roll fails to bring about The Great Dying, start a new year and pass the dice to the next player. ==== TABLES ==== EVENT TYPE TABLE 1 – Climate 2 – Ecosystem 3 – Resources 4 – Infrastructure 5 – Politics 6 – Special/Escalation EVENT MODE TABLE (OPTIONAL) 1 – Corruption 2 – Domination 3 – Perversion 4 – Nature's Wrath 5 – Devastation 6 – Scarcity (1) CLIMATE EVENTS LIST Extreme Heat/Drought Extreme Cold/Storms Extreme Humidity/Flooding Extreme Aridity/Desertification Toxic/Acidic Precipitation Freak Weather/Cosmic Event Meteorite/Solar Flares/Cosmic Rays -> Make a Chaining Roll. May lead to: 1 2 3 4 (2) ECOSYSTEM EVENTS LIST Natural Disaster Decay/Filth/Pestilence Species Growth/Overshoot/Mutation Epidemic/Plague/Parasite Mineral/Soil Depletion/Erosion Ecosystem Succession/Evolution/Collapse Industrial/Military Accident Radiation/Fallout/Toxic Waste Species Succession/Extinction -> Make a Chaining Roll. May lead to: 2 3 4 (3) RESOURCE EVENTS LIST Famine/Starvation Oil/Gas Shortage/Outage Medicine/Antidote Shortage/Outage Power Shortage/Outage Water Shortage/Outage -> Make a Chaining Roll. May lead to: 3 4 5 (4) INFRASTRUCTURE EVENTS LIST Highway System/Roads/Bridges Building/Monument/Landmark Water Treatment/Distribution Power Grid Internet Backbone Cellular/Satellite/Telephone Network -> Make a Chaining Roll. May lead to: 3 4 5 (5) POLITICAL EVENTS LIST Bribery/Scandal/Corruption Inflation/Deflation/Bubble Cronyism/Privatization/Nationalization Unpopularity/Impotence/Bankruptcy War/Embargo/Military Occupation Terrorist/False Flag Attack Criminalization/Curtailment of Civil Rights Surveillance/Biometrics/Drones Police Brutality/Militarization Declaration of Martial Law Incarceration/Interment/Camps/Slavery Corporatism/Fascism/Totalitarianism/Autocracy Coup/Revolution/Dissolution (6) SPECIAL/ESCALATION EVENTS LIST SPREADING: A previous Event spreads to another Region. SNOWBALLING: A previous Event is kicked up to a Whole New Level. THE CAUSE: - If you decided on an Apocalypse Type in Phase 1, think of a logical manifestation of that and apply it to the world. - If you skipped Phase 1, this option is ignored. Choose Spreading or Snowballing instead. - If this is the first move of the game, make another roll on the Event Type table and read a 6 as a 5 (Political). Create an Event as usual, but this Event will be global in scope. SOCIETAL RESPONSES TABLE (and Cost in Response Points) 1 - Food/Medicine/Aid/Charity Program/Shipment 2 - Security/Police/Peacekeeping/Militia Forces 3 - Reform/Austerity/Greenification/Protest 4 - Rationing/Conservation/Legalization/Illegalization 5 - Religious/Ideological Fundamentalism 6 - New Religion/Ideology/Subculture 7 - Racist/Ethnic/Class Segregation/Apartheid 8 - Rioting/Looting/Burning 9 - Hardening/Militarization 10 - Prepping/Caching/Hoarding 11 - Off-Grid/Intentional Communities 12 - Alternative Institution/Authority 13 - Alternative Resource/Currency 14 - Biospheres/Preserves/Vaults 15 - Shelters/Cryogenics 16 - Market/Currency Collapse 17 - Mass Migration/Evacuation 18 - Insurgency/Resistance/Occupation 19 - Civil War/Balkanization 20 - Luddite/Anticiv Movement/Action 21 - Regional Secession/Border Redefinition 22 - Societal Breakdown/Dark Age/Mass Insanity ==== COPYLEFT NOTICE ==== WATCH THE WORLD DIE is copylefted under attribution license by Tod Foley, and distributed by As If Productions. You are encouraged to copy, distribute and modify these rules to create your own derivative works; however all derivative works must also be copylefted and all that are published must bear this notice. # # #