EarthAD: Post-Holocaust Adventures

Game: EarthAD: Post-Holocaust Adventures
Publisher: Politically Incorrect Games
Series: genreDiversion
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 8th, June 2004
Reviewer’s Rating: 8/10   [ Really good ]
Total Score: 8
Average Score: 8.00

EarthAD is a Politically Incorrect Games’ genreDiversion game. It’s the roleplaying equivalent of a short story: EarthAD is a professional and compelling but short RPG. If you’re expecting a fully fledged game then you’ll be disappointed. The genreDiversion line is a favourite of mine because they do what they set out to do – and they do it so well. If you just fancy a break from your usual campaign or you have visiting roleplaying friends you need to entertain for a weekend then genreDiversion is just the thing. The games are long enough to offer up the slick and easy mechanics, give some sample characters, adventures or adventure ideas and, of course, conjure up enough flavour for the genre. EarthAD is the post apocalyptic offering to the genre collection; it has a lot to live up to and meets all expectations easily. EarthAD lines up alongside Vice Squad as one of the best in the series.

GenreDiversion mechanics are great. They really are simple but they’re catching. The bonus and penalty dice are such a great success because they’re so tactile. Twice the number of dice in your hand than normal for a roll is very much more meaningful than some “+5” modifier. You want to roll under your ability score on 2d6. If you’ve a penalty dice then you’re rolling 3d6 and adding up the highest two (making it less likely to roll under your ability score) and, needless to say, if you have a bonus dice then you roll 3d6 and get to add together the lowest two.

There are just a handful of stats; fitness, empathy, reasoning and willpower. These are just what I’d want for a post apocalyptic game but these are standard for a genreDiversion game. The primary traits lead into secondary traits and the system uses skills too. Skills are product specific. In EarthAD, for example, we have Ancient Languages, Seduction, Old Earth Lore and Scavenging. It is important that the skill set manages to convey as much of the genre, to get the flavour and style of the game play, as space is a premium in the 34-paged PDF.

It is likely that your EarthAD game will be chock full of mutants – but that’s not essential. Similarly, as the game runs through three “races” of mankind it projects a default but not compulsory world setting. I quite like it. Pure-Strain Humans are decadent and paranoid. They are also still quite advanced and mean. Mutants captured by the Pure-Strains are likely to be turned into cyborg-like creatures known as Radio Operated Mutants (or ROMs for short) and used to hunt, kill or capture other mutants.

The cybernetics enhancements of the ROMs and the mutations of the mutants work nicely in the genreDiversion system. Muscle Enhancements, for example, is a cybernetic enhancement which gives 2 bonus dice on strength related rolls. The chances of rolling four 1 results is tiny, but possible and therefore far more interesting than a stat modifier.

There are quite a lot of mutations too pick from. There are certainly enough mutations when you remember EarthAD is designed to produce quick adventures and not year long campaigns. If I was going to add anything to the game then it would be a random table for the mutations so I could quickly whisk up generic NPCs or even encourage quick character creation from indecisive or slow-to-be-inspired players. For every helpful mutation you pick it must be counter balanced with a hindering mutation. There aren’t so many hindering mutations and they all seem so dreadful that I would be hard pressed to settle on one. This is a fairly common problem in post apocalyptic genre and, of course, EarthAD is only there to provide the genre for a quick game or two.

EarthAD is a post apocalypse game. We have a suggestion as to what life might be like now but what caused the apocalypse. Sometimes the reason behind the end of the world is a mystery or shrouded in mystery – I happen to prefer that option – but that’s easy to do, you just need to have a vague idea and flesh it out as you go on or not worry about it at all for a short genreDiversion game. Alternatively, if the why-fors and how-comes of the end of the world is important then EarthAD gives you seven options to pick from. There’s a second Big Bang, of sorts, a religious Judgement Day (welcome to Hell, its Earth), the return of an Ice Age, problems with I, Robot, impact from Lucifer’s Hammer, an Outbreak or a Jurassic Park megablast in the form of the Resurrection.

The final two chapters in the PDF are what you’d expect and what you’d need from a genreDiversion PDF. You’ve fleshed out scenario ideas and a bunch of character archetypes.

So, in summary – a quick jolt to the end of the world is all you need to liven your day. Mass death on a global scale is good fun.