A tabletop science-fiction roleplaying game of memetic horror.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Expansion Book 1: Law and Disorder
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Mar 03, 2021 at 01:52:04 AM
Hello Polvan Survivors!
I hope that you and yours are coping as well as can be expected in this time of pandemic and strife. We have been busy at work over at Genesis of Legend Publishing Inc. and wanted to let you know that we have some brand-new content for After the War!
Law and Disorder is the first expansion book for After the War exploring legal and criminal aspects of the setting. In this book, we explore the tumultuous first years on Polvo after Songfall. We provide a robust system for creating your own settlement charters including the forms of government, community values, and how the laws are enforced.
This product also provides a series of useful tools for a gamemaster including a quick criminal scheme generator, and an optional system for resolving dramatic trial scenes during play. We round things off by establishing the new “Outlaw” profession category for player characters, so that you can play bandits, tech-hawkers, vice-dealers, muscle, or even musicians!
And of course, what use would these rules be without a handy den of scum and villainy! That’s why we provide you with the vast “Mount Urashtu Complex” including a space-elevator and a colossal shanty city at the mountain’s foot.
Even more importantly, this product is for a good cause. John Adamus, the editor for After the War designed his own crime-based PBTA roleplaying game titled “Noir World” in 2017. A financial and medical crisis has prevented him from printing all of the copies necessary for backers, and we want to help correct the problem. All proceeds of the sale will go towards fulfilling outstanding kickstarter rewards for the Noir World project.
You can pick up a copy of this brand new expansion, and help us put more books in people's hands.
Thank you for your time and attention. I will see you in the Complex!
Jason Pitre, Genesis of Legend Publishing Inc.
After the War – The Horizon
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Dec 06, 2020 at 06:56:49 PM
Hello everyone!
Time has no meaning during a period of perpetual crisis, and that’s never been so evident as in 2020. While I have been investing a lot of time into my new game (Sig: City of Blades), I have also been working away on some additional content for my Polvan friends.
I am very happy to share some brilliant recorded actual play campaigns of After the War for you from backers and fans. If you want to see some solid examples the game in operation, I would encourage you to queue these pieces up.
Actual Play: Christiana Ellis
Christiana Ellis ran a brilliant short campaign with the setup process and three full sessions of play for you to discover. You can watch the full series of these over on youtube by following this embedded link!
Jess Go is currently in the process of administering a brilliant and thoughtful 3-shot campaign up on twitch. The session zero set-up process along with the first two sessions are currently up on youtube linked below. I would like to explicitly give them a shout-out of appreciation for their robust use of safety tools and a diverse cast of badasses.
More excitingly, their finale will be tonight, at 8pm Eastern time, 5pm Pacific Time. You can follow along over at https://www.twitch.tv/go_jg and watch this come to an emotional close. If you are busy during that time, it will also be available over on youtube afterward.
Law and Disorder Supplement
After the War has not yet been fully explored, and we are developing some additional rules, setting information, player options, and missions for folks to enjoy. The first of these new products under way is titled “Law and Disorder” which explores law, governance and crime on Polvo. It includes…
An explanation of how the world stabilized during the Silence.
The old laws of the Union and how they apply.
Settlement law development and enforcement.
A crime-drama generating toolkit for the GM
A new Profession category of Outlaw with five new options for your player characters.
A new playable settlement called The Hive
A new adventure for your group.
While everything above is subject to change, I am excited to pull this together and give you more support for this game so close to my heart.
Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing
Recovering from Chaos
almost 4 years ago
– Sun, May 03, 2020 at 07:58:46 PM
It's been a few months since I last got in touch with you fine backers, and I have been thinking a great deal about the underlying purpose of After the War. Our fine contributor Jacqueline Bryk inspired me to start a long twitter thread unpacking some of these ideas and I thought you may be interested in hearing about it.
When I originally designed the game with Alasdair Stuart, our original inspirations were how a game about what kinds of horror settings could be aligned with a game system of changing your beliefs. Our first concept related to replicating the feeling of Europe after WWII. We were thinking about farmlands ravaged by trench warfare, farmer's fields cratered by mortarfire, and forests too dangerous to enter. We thought about Spanish Influenza and famine. We thought about the pervasive trauma that literally soaked the ground on the western front. We thought about how a world of broken, bleeding, and grief-ravaged souls who still mustered the strength to restore Europe to a place where peace could find root. Homes were rebuilt, farms reclaimed, and an economic union formed that lasts to this day. We thought about hope in the face of horror.
In After the War, we fought an external, conquering force and unleashed equally devastating weapons that killed untold masses. Ten years have passed since that date and people struggle to recover. The old enemies of totalitarian fascism and murderous anarchy still remain in the minds of the survivors and seek to weaponize the trauma in their minds.
Someone sitting in the ruins
We were finishing the text when November of 2016 came around and the world began to come unraveled. Our secret hope was that this game would help people learn how to cope with the trauma and horror that seemed inevitable given the explosion of xenophobia and global fascism. Since the game was released, the world has continued to spiral out of control and we have faced increased challenges which make it even more relevant to our daily lives. We have seen democratic norms eviscerated, a paramilitary police force kidnapping immigrants and concentration camps established. We have seen economic warfare against the poor and a brutal pandemic which strikes down the most vulnerable members of our society.
After the War was designed to give people the tools to understand and cope with a world on fire. We wanted to teach people how to form lasting, peaceful communities despite the trauma that many of us are suffering during this chaotic time. We wanted to demonstrate that there is always hope for a brighter future if we work together. We can We can be gentle with ourselves. We can fight for justice and demand that powerful be held to account. We can make a better world for those to come.
We hope that you and yours are safe in these turbulent times. We will get though this, together.
Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing
The Final Stretch Goal - Recordings from Earth
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 02:09:59 AM
Hello everyone!
Recordings from Earth
Alasdair and I have been working away on our final stretch goal for the "After the War" kickstarter campaign, and we are very pleased to announce it has been completed. We have put together a 20 minute video to help your group start playing. This includes a walk-through for character creation, explaining settlement creation, and teaching the basics of the rules.
If you want to start your campaign of After the War, this video is for you. We hope you have a blast.
More on the Horizon
While this may be the final stretch goal, there is more exciting content to come over the coming year for this game of memetic horror. We are currently developing a set of three adventures with pregenerated characters so folks have plenty of options to run the game. We will absolutely let you know when it's ready!
Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing
Recordings from Earth - Under Way
about 4 years ago
– Sun, Feb 02, 2020 at 04:46:27 PM
Hey folks!
I just wanted to touch base and let you know that we have had some progress on the final stretch goal for "recordings from earth" stretch goal. This will be a narrated introduction to the game which will teach you how to make characters and play. I have written the script and sent it off to Alasdair, who has extensive audio narration experience. We will then use that to prepare a video presentation (for youtube) as well as sharing the MP3. You will be able to play this for your group during your first session so that we can teach you how to get stated.
Missions on the Way
We are also currently developing a handful of standard adventure missions with pregenerated characters as a helpful tool for folks to get started. We have most of the first mission complete (Black Hole Sun) and have outlined two others.
While I am at it, I also wanted to let you know that I have just launched my kickstarter for Zinequest and I am super excited about it. It's a game about a teenage princess who is fleeing a palace coup with the aid of unlikely companions. It's inspired by games such as Dream Apart / Dream Askew, Kagematsu, Archepelago, and Witch: Road to Lindisfarne. If that strikes your fancy, I would invite you to take a look at this small (and affordable) game. Link is here!
