Pirates of the Darkest Future

Rules System Used: d20 Modern

Books and Materials Needed: d20 Modern Roleplaying Game (book), d20 Apocalypse (book), d20 Future (book), dice set (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20), pencil, paper, a game master’s screen

Suggested Extras: d20 Future Tech (book), miniatures

Timeline: Future Sci-Fi

Location: Surrounding the Great Lakes

Number of Players Suggested: 4 - 8 (You want at least 4 people for this campaign and it can handle more.)

Rules Modifications: No modifications on the rules. Radiation and mutation rules from the d20 Apocalypse book are in full effect though.

Limitations on Characters: All player characters start in whatever class they see fit. Use all rules for character creation that are appropriate in the d20 Apocalypse book. Characters cannot select any high tech items from d20 Future or d20 Future Tech in character creation. The characters are free to select from the d20 Modern rule book or the d20 Apocalypse book though. High tech and advanced sci-fi weapons, armour and gear are treated as a form of "magic items" in this campaign. The characters are playing members of a pirate gang that are trying to survive and get one up on the competition. The players should be urged to take survival type skills and abilities where possible as it would be hard to get by without these. The players could either play good pirates with a Robin Hood style, neutral pirates like Jack Sparrow, or evil pirates who love to rape and pillage to excess.

Monsters and Magic: There aren't many monsters in this campaign, and there's no magic; well, technology is almost looked at as a form of magic because of it's rarity, thus making a prestige class like "Techie" looked at like a wizard of sorts. The only monsters should be things like mutants, plague ridden people (or plague zombies), and creatures created from radiation.

Style of Campaign: This campaign is all about the struggle to survive. There will also most likely be a large element of close combat just due to the fact that ranged weapons can either be hard to find, hard to maintain, or hard to get ammo for. The entire known world has been subject to a multitude of nuclear and biological attacks; resulting in radiation over most of the world, gigantic craters, biological hazards, toxic waste lakes, mutation running rampant, and whole new ecosystems being discovered or created. The bartering rules from the d20 Apocalypse book should be used. The world that the PCs are in (future Earth) previously had an extremely high tech rating. But thanks to massive International war, almost all of the advanced technology is in a derelict state or completely destroyed. To make matters worse, almost everyone that could repair or manufacture said technologies were either assassinated, or killed from the blasts or disease. This has resulted in high tech (like laser rifles, power armour, high frequency swords, etc.) being rewarded to the PCs much like magic items in D&D. There are even cults in the world that have been created recently that worship advanced technology much like a deity. These cults are extremely fanatical. I would run this campaign as the PCs playing the crew serving under a more powerful Captain (which explains why they have a water borne vessel); however, one of the PCs could be Captain if you wish, or they could run some sort of equal pirate commune if desired. In case of the latter; the PCs should be gifted a ship or boat, but it'll be much harder for them to get by as they will have to repair it and what not (all of that could be handled out of game by the Captain doing that as the PCs are out away from him searching for booty or fighting with rival gangs).



Introduction: You are on Earth. A world that is struggling with the aftermath of nuclear bombs, biological warfare, mutation, spreading disease, and starvation. This is a situation of International magnitude. New ecosystems are constantly being discovered; either a result of toxic waste, biological mutation, or discovered from the gigantic craters now pocking the surface from the multitude of nuclear warheads that assaulted the known world. Earth once had a vast supply of advanced technology. Mankind was even going to colonize other planets that were in entirely different galaxies. That is what started the war. The war known as the WWPD. World Wide Planetary Destruction. Now not much remains of our advanced technology. Nor the people who can maintain, never mind create such marvels. Earth is in a sort of dark age. This dark age has many threats. There are hostile mutants, starvation, radiation sickness, toxic sludge pools the size of lakes, bandits, disease-ridden people spreading plagues, and fanatical cults that have risen around the rarity of advanced technology. These cults revere the various technologies as deities. They hoard advanced technologies and are very aggressive in acquiring said technologies.

What do you think is the best way to survive? Try to help the diseased multitude? Find a far off land and barricade yourself in? Join a tech-cult?

Arrrr!!! It's a pirate's life for all you scurvy dogs! Sail the Great Lakes, pillage what you need, and fight off your competition!