I’ve been working steadily on Lonely World. I’m at a point where I can toss it out there and see what kind of feedback I get. The game is nearly complete; it just needs some playtesting and some tweaking. But it’s otherwise playable.
Today im posting a list of all the playbooks. I don’t mind posting the playbook itself; if there is one that anyone wants to see closer
Best Friend: you and your bros have made it through this thing by sticking together and watching out for the group. It’s great to have buddies, but you’re not much without them. Keep them close and they will save you.
Blanket: you’re not a killer and your skills aren’t much use anymore. The system you depended on is all gone. It sounds bleak, but you are above it. You have the ability to show unconditional compassion, understanding, and love.
Compass: you always know the way because you always know where to look. You can see the true path and you can help others who have strayed from it. You can find lost things: people, trails, truths.
Deviant: Not much has changed for you. The real demons, the real destroyers of worlds aren’t in the streets. They are on the inside, aren’t they? Inside you. Bubbling right beneath the surface.
Escapee: Weee! Fuck work, fuck taxes, fuck the law! I’m loading all the booze, guns, drugs and girls in the nicest car I can steal and I am setting this town on FIRE TONIGHT.
Falling Star: The end of everything hit you even harder. These…normal people all around you only lost their homes, families, crappy jobs, and meager possessions. You lost the power. The glory. The fame. The life.
Gravedigger: Fuck the Invader. Seriously. Invader ain’t so tough. They use violence on us? That’s fine. You know violence.
Holdout: Ignorant savages all around you. Fools, with their reality shows and smartphones and garbage culture. They didn’t know what was coming. But you did. You prepared. You don’t need to scrounge in the dirt and fight with the Invader. Your bunker is safer than any place else. You’ll wait them all out if you have to.
Homesteader: If a man wants to survive in the long term, he has to have land. He has to work it and tend to it if he wants it to provide for him. A man can provide for others, too, if he wishes.
Machine: If you’re going to make it for very long, you’ll need stuff. And things. Things gotta get done. Can’t sit around all day, or things won’t get done. Gotta do the things to get the stuff. You get the stuff, you can keep living. Got it?
Nobody: Hey, you’re nobody. If you don’t always want to be that way, then step up.
Shining Armor: People look up to you. You don’t know why, but they always have. They look to you for answers, for action, and inspiration. And from you, they don’t need flowery speeches or swagger. You don’t need to pretend you’re smart or tough. Just be real with them and they’ll trust you with their lives.
Slinger: The Invader put you in a survival situation. Real world shit. Kill or be killed; that kind of shit. You can make it. Be smart, be quick, and never hesitate.
Sub
what is sub?
Sorry, just to receive notice of any comments. What is lonely world about?
it takes place in the recent-apocalypse, caused by an “Invader” that the group puts together in the first session. The characters are survivors who are relying on each other and the remnants of civilization to get through another day.
Think: The Walking Dead, Mars Attacks, Survivors (BBC), but with a different monster every campaign
but here, this is from the manuscript:
Lonely World is survivalist horror. Try to imagine the day when you knew it was all going down. What they were talking about on the news; at first it seemed like bullshit. You went on like normal: going to work or school, doing the laundry, getting the car worked on, trying to squeeze in some time to devote to your hobbies, passions, and social circles, or maybe just lazing the day away in content idleness. As the days went on, they talked about it more and more. Every day, it was on the news. Front page in the paper. Internet couldn’t shut up about it. Every day, new stories, new pictures, new first-hand accounts. At first from across the world, then in isolated cases in some major cities here at home. And every day it got closer and closer to you.
One day, it wasn’t on the internet or in the news, it was on your street. It was climbing in your windows. It was breaking down your doors. The pictures were of you and your family. The accounts were your own. And whether you fought or fled, there was always more of them. The ones everyone was blaming. The ones who started it. The Invader.
The Invader didn’t stop when they burned down your home. They didn’t stop when they killed and ate your neighbors right on the freshly-mowed lawn. They didn’t stop after dragging the whole block from their homes and murdering them in the streets. They didn’t stop because of the screaming wives, the shouting men, the sobbing children, the barking pets. They didn’t stop when the gun nuts showed up and tried to fight back. They didn’t stop when they were bombed by the army. They didn’t stop because of tanks and planes and ships. They didn’t stop when nuclear fire reduced the great cities to ashes. They didn’t stop when humanity fought to the last man. They didn’t stop. They didn’t stop. They didn’t stop.
Historically, civilizations have risen to greatness one at a time, the people inside of them living out their lives to the best of their abilities. And one by one, these civilizations fell to invaders. They may have been conquered by superior foreign powers outright, or maybe they were weakened first by plagues, famines, economic depression, revolutions, cataclysms, and so on. In the end, the result was the same. The old civilization toppled and was replaced by the new one.
Lonely World picks up at the tail end of our own civilization; the one you and I live in every day. The way of life we had been accustomed to is gone forever. Our species is threatened with extinction. The Invader hit us too fast, with overwhelming force and reach, and proved to be unbeatable. By this point, the Invader has won. If there was a war, it is over. The great culling of mankind is nearly complete.
So what is left to fight for? Why go on? Truth is, the Invader couldn’t get everyone. They got nearly everyone, but humans are still around. Running, hiding, striking back when they can. The Invader has the numbers, but they are not as clever as humans are. They can be outwitted. The Invader is slow; they can be outrun. The Invader is bumbling; clumsy and heavy-handed. Their methods are sloppy and crude. Humans, by comparison, are crafty and swift.
Then, there is the signal. Before the end of everything, a grand sprawling network covered the globe, reaching out to even the most remote of places. All of mankind’s collected knowledge and digital social apparatus hovered in the ether all around. And you could connect to it with a just a phone or small computer. It was all out there, and all you had to do was touch it. The signal remains, though it is weak and spotty. It lets you stay in contact with each other, and it proves that although there may not be another living person for a hundred miles, you are not alone. The Invader ignores the signal. They don’t need it, don’t want it, and can’t use it anyway. But with the right devices and a bit of fortune, you can have access to all the information you’ll ever need to survive.
Possibly, mankind’s greatest asset is itself. See, the Invader is unconscious of its greater self. The Invader has no sense of community. The Invader does what it does because it is what it is. It doesn’t grow, or learn, or adapt. People do. People can rely on each other. They form friendships, partnerships, and families. People are not perfect, and their ambitions and insecurities will get in the way sometimes, but by and large what holds them together is trust, faith, and love. Because of that, they can survive and thrive in this lonely world.