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Post by Matt on Oct 10, 2011 23:32:56 GMT -5
Skyscrapers are falling with a groan into clouds of dust and rubble, their skeletal support structure finally giving in to centuries of neglect. The last of the satellites that once connected billions of people are burning in re-entry, lighting the night for the few million human beings that have survived the Dark Times. These may sound like portents of Armageddon, but to those that come from a long line of survivors, they are signs of resurgence and hope were there has been none for centuries.
The Reclaimers sift through the rubble of a lost civilization, bringing back forgotten technology to be examined in their data havens, magpies bringing back trinkets to a nest of wires and circuitry. They worship a many-faced god of inspiration and invention, seeking to bring mankind to its zenith by understanding and improving upon the technology of communication, engineering, and war littered throughout the land.
The Stakers are hardy survivors, few generations removed from the hunting and scavenging forced upon their ancestors during the Dark Times. The concept of the home is still fresh and vibrant in their minds, and the resurgence is now making community a possibility, and one worth dying for. The Stakers are people with fresh blood on their hands, many of them looking for absolution through the formation of a new society, one where their children can undo the wrongs their predecessors had no choice but to make.
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Post by Matt on Oct 10, 2011 23:48:46 GMT -5
Writing the timeline for society's collapse has been pretty entertaining, and a bit stressful. With Wreck-Age, we are attempting to skirt the line between plausability and fun, which is a difficult balance to strike. All dates are approximate and details are subject to change and may be slightly different when the rulebook launches in 2012. Hope you enjoy-
Present Day- The world is already showing signs of climate change, although initially, they are mild. Slight stabs at 'green energy' are made, but these efforts are generally underfunded and almost all are abandoned after a few decades.
2033- The first ‘vat-grown’ organ is successfully implanted into a host. In the next few years, most of the hundreds of thousands of people in need of donors are successfully implanted with kidneys, lungs, hearts, or whatever organ they may need. For a price, vat-grown organs can now be used to extend the lives of the wealth--a trend that quickly becomes embraced by the burgeoning plastic surgery community. Human brains can be vat-grown, but consciousness is unable to be transferred from one brain to the next. Subsequently, dementia among the rich and powerful becomes the last true sign of age. 2175- After decades of argument, the scientific community determines that a catastrophic ‘pollution event’ is inevitable in the next half century. Seeing no way to remedy the sins of the past (as the world now views pollution), government and corporate leaders begin to focus on their abandoned space programs in hopes of escaping the planet entirely. For the first time since the 1960s, several nations engage in a ‘space race’, each with the goal of staking a claim to the scattered planets and moons that could perhaps sustain life. In the United States, Houston and Seattle flourish, while many other metropolitan areas dwindle due to neglect from this flux of industry. 2220 - A lottery for the United States Exodus is announced, with the unveiling of three phases: Phase One is designated for the vanguard--leadership, engineers, doctors, and others who are determined necessary to a new societies infrastructure; Phases Two and Three are to consist of randomly selected people, with families left intact wherever possible. Nuclear plants are stripped of refined radioactive materials for the Exodus, computers and data are removed and packed for their long journey's to their new homes. 2225- “Exodus of Man” - Ships leave in several large flotillas. Unexpectedly, a few unfortunate vessels crash back to the Earth in a fiery display of re-entry. The worldwide fanfare that accompanied the seed ships' departure quickly turns to violent uprisings. Slowly realizing that the additional exodus waves, Phases Two and Three, were nothing more than carrots dangling from a stick, Earth's remaining inhabitants begin to fully comprehend the scarcity of remaining resources. Space junk from the exodus creates a huge barrier of pollution, destroying many satellites left in orbit. The remaining satellites begin to transmit packets of information, which corrupt the remaining servers across the planet, resulting in an global internet crash... bank records are erased or transferred into the hands of the banks themselves (who are quickly seeing Earth shrink in their rear-view mirrors) with the original owners are declared as “deceased with no living relatives."Despair sets in for many once they can no longer connect with the rest of the world in the ways that were previously customary. The net, wire, cable, and most forms of entertainment disappear literally overnight, leading to mass suicides by people who had no idea how to cope with the concept of losing their main lifeline to the rest of humanity... The “lost year” is a period of complete turmoil and despair, with nearly a quarter of the world’s population lost to violence, strife, or suicide.
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