The World Ended, Survive, Repeat
This serves as a setting overview for my D20-based campaign. It is HEAVILY based on the world of Vampire Hunter D with some changes to details here and there.
The First Downfall #
The year was 2050, and the world was pushed into the breaking point by ecological destruction and the ensuing political and social unrest. No one knows exactly why at this point, but the bombs fell. Nuclear fire covered most of the Earth.
What little remained had to survive in a new dark age, a nuclear winter. The survivors were pursued by mutants created by cosmic rays and radioactive fallout, on top of avoiding starvation and the cold.
Rise of the Nobility #
While the remnants of humanity fought for subsistence, little above animals, if they were being honest with themselves, something emerged from the darkness.
They were the Vampires.
Lead by greatest among them, they hid in their own nuclear bunkers just days before the first nukes were let loose. Being immune to the worst of the radiation, and sunlight being blocked by dust and fallout from the world-shattering explosions, The Vampires emerged upon a world reborn. A clean slate for their kind.
With their sights set on the future, they took up the title of Nobility, with their leader being given the title of Sacred King.
The Nobility ruled with ruthless efficiency all while pushing the boundaries of science, unleashing all manner of nightmares and horrors upon the world. But that was not all, they soon became masters of not only the physical world, but also of the mind and the worlds beyond. On pillars of flame and light, they even conquer the Earth’s gravity well to create new kingdoms in the eternal night of space.
Humans under the Vampire Regime #
The rise of the bloodsucking Nobility was no good news for the remnants of humanity, however. Every gift came at a cost:
Safety from the elements in the form of better construction automation in exchange for subservience.
Freedom from starvation in exchange for their blood.
Labor automation in exchange for their souls.
Humanity was kept as glorified livestock. But the natural urge of humanity to defy those that push them down kept coming back in waves upon waves of insurrections and rebellions. This is all despite the mental and even genetic conditioning the Nobles did to make their food source more docile.
Decline of the Vampire Empire, and the War in Heaven #
The Nobility’s inherent immortality and overwhelming technological might made any and all protracted wars of rebellion against them pointless. In the end, their eventual decline came from within.
Without seemingly any explanation, one after another, The highest echelons of the Nobility began retreating into their own castles and leaving their dominions to fend for themselves. Not even to feed.
Chaos predictably ensued as the remaining minor Nobility clamored to fill the power vacuum. A civil war of unknown proportions, fought with weapons beyond imagining, was waged for hundreds of years, called the “War in Heaven”. Even though a faction of the most ruthless and cruelest Nobility won, no one truly benefited from the violence and left the exhausted Nobility open to an attack from below.
The Three-Hundred Years Rebellion #
Humanity, which actually swelled in numbers under the Nobility’s reign, had always put up a resistance against their oppressors. When the War in Heaven broke out, countless slaves serving under the Nobility were mobilized as expendable cannon fodder, and fell victim to unspeakable weapons that the Nobility wielded against each other.
When the War in Heaven ended, however, an all-out revolution broke out under the leadership of deserters during the war and escaped servants under the Nobility. They united the people toiling under the different territories of the Nobles and prioritized attacking the castles of the dormant Nobility, amassing weapons and resources as they did.
After a three-hundred year Revolutionary War against the Nobility (Vampires), Humanity has finally broken free of the Vampires' 10,000-year long reign. Scars of the Nobility’s reign and the War in Heaven can still be seen upon the surface of the Earth, but now, retaking the land can now truly begin.
The Damned Wilds and The Frontiers #
Land on the outskirts of the Capital, recently occupied by settlers, is collectively known as The Frontiers. Life is tough and unforgiving, and with the Revolutionary Government stretched thin with dealing with the remnants of the Nobility and their servants, the brave colonists of the Frontier must learn to fend for themselves as much as they could.
Every day was filled with hard labor, and every night they had to remain vigilant against attacks from the various nightmares let loose by their former masters. People on the Frontier are all tough folk. Ask any one of them over a tankard of ale about run-ins they had with the denizens of the Damned Wilds and they’ll have enough stories to keep you company the entire night. At least, as long as you’re willing to pay for the round!
Hunters #
However tough the everyday Frontiersfolk may be, they are still no match for the most vicious of the Damned Wild’s denizens. In the face of these, they call for the services of Hunters. Armed with the best weapons and tactics available to mankind, they fight the evil remnants of their former masters out in the Frontier, expanding the reach of Humanity out further.
The greatest among them, however, are those that fight the remaining members of the Nobility themselves. Wielding tools forged of darkness to turn against the darkness, They are the Vampire Hunters.