TEXT: EN World EN5IDER | It’s Never Over
  EN World EN5IDER | It’s Never Over
  I
  n conventIonal fantasy roleplayIng, It’s often 
  that the heroes must inevitably confront a world-shattering 
  threat; as is the case with such scenarios, the threat is usually 
  defeated and the heroes consequently receive their just rewards. 
  This stands true especially for high-level characters, whose 
  power and influence affect the fate of potentially millions of lives.
   Few games, however, would dare allow for characters to fail in 
  their quest to save the world, especially after all they may have 
  been through to get to that point. When the heroes do fail to thwart the grand destruction that would 
  befall the world they have sworn to protect, it stands to reason that their story ends there and then (and 
  the grim repercussions never perhaps to be spoken of ever again); the game, to put it bluntly, is over. 
   Of course, it doesn’t have to be. What if the heroes fail to save the world, yet the story continues?
  It’s Never OVER
   Plot seeds for the end of the world
   
  writing Dion Fernandez
   
  art Sade
   
  editing James J. Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  
  It’s Never Over | EN World EN5IDER
  It’s Never Over | EN World EN5IDER
  Game Masters: 
  Emphasizing the End
  The first question that a Game Master may ask is, 
  “Why go on? What’s the point of saving a world 
  that’s already met its end?” Keep in mind that the 
  world is not dead yet; certain factors still keep 
  it from collapsing into total oblivion. This small 
  window of opportunity, from the start of the 
  campaign to total global annihilation, is when the 
  heroes must act and turn things around; it’s quite 
  literally their last chance to save the world.
   Begin the game with player characters 
  exploring their new reality, but emphasize that 
  the world as it once was is gone. If the player 
  characters had lived before the End, describe the 
  extreme contrasts between what was then and 
  what is now: where proud cities and endless 
  forests may have once stood, there now remain 
  only salt-encrusted ruins and a toxic jungle that 
  poisons anything wherever it spreads. Food, wa-
  ter and shelter most likely would be scant, while 
  commerce and industry would be rudimentary (or 
  nonexistent). Among other survivors, there may 
  be an acute sense of resignation and despair. The 
  player characters, who may very well have caused 
  the End, might even be confronted with spite.
   As they explore, drop subtle hints that the 
  world can be revived, and that only they possess 
  the abilities to do so. Anomalous time rifts might 
  allow them brief yet insightful glimpses into 
  the past, or legends of the childlike avatar of a 
  long-dead god wandering the wastes may make 
  their rounds. Perhaps rumors of a nomadic tribe 
  immune to the Great Contagion are passed on 
  from one dying town to another, holding the 
  key to ending this punishment from the gods. 
  Meanwhile, the effects of the End begin to acceler-
  ate and spread faster than before; if you chose 
  one of the possible game effects presented below, 
  you may combine it with another (or increase the 
  magnitude of the first one) and then add more as 
  the story progresses to its climax.
  How Did the End Arrive?
  Below are some ideas on how to set the backdrop 
  for a world after the End, as well as certain game 
  effects that would drive home the point; you may 
  use them at will or modify them as is necessary.
  The Omnipotent Tyrant
  The easiest way for the latter days to have been 
  ushered in is to introduce a seemingly unstop-
  pable villain wielding immense power: a wrathful 
  god bearing a twisted decree of final judgment; 
  an Elder Evil that has risen from the dark depths, 
  rampaging across the land leaving madness and 
  desolation in its wake; or a vengeful demon lord 
  who has brought along his infernal legions for 
  the ultimate conquest. Maybe a mere mortal has 
  consolidated vast resources to subjugate nations 
  and exterminate entire peoples in his quest for 
  power. The impact of a single being successfully 
  imposing its all-powerful will upon the world is 
  no doubt fertile ground for testing the mettle of 
  what heroes are capable of, especially if that being 
  has already achieved victory.
  Possible Game Effects
   
  ▶ Ever since the Darkblight, magical healing 
  from spells and magic items no longer work.
   
  ▶ All children born after the Global Annexation 
  possess telepathy (30 ft.) but are unswerv-
  ingly beholden to the overlords.
   
  ▶ The New Order has long since outlawed 
  reading and writing, and characters start 
  the game illiterate and without solid lexical 
  resources (no scrolls, books, journals, etc.).
  The Destabilization of the World
  The world’s position in the cosmos may have been 
  thrown off-balance. Perhaps the fabled Heart of 
  Creation has ceased beating, and as a consequence 
  has stopped the flow of live-giving energies across 
  the world’s system; or the Crystal Sphere that 
  protects the world from the dark void of space 
  
  EN World EN5IDER | It’s Never Over
  EN World EN5IDER | It’s Never Over
  has cracked open, and strange cosmic forces 
  have seeped inward. The effects are catastrophic: 
  volcanoes erupt all at once, land and sea exchange 
  places, giant winter storms blanket entire conti-
  nents. Without a tangible “villain” to face, heroes 
  caught in the middle of a fundamental shift in the 
  order of all things may have found themselves 
  unable to stave off nature’s rage.
  Possible Game Effects
   
  ▶ Due to shifts in the day-night cycle, long 
  rests now take 50% more time to finish. 
   
  ▶ The world is constantly pummelled with 
  star stuff. Once a day at a certain time, there 
  is a 10% chance of a fiery meteor strike (as 
  the spell meteor swarm) occurring wherever 
  the characters are.
   
  ▶ Stranded on the Material Plane by the sud-
  den upheavals, the souls of the dead seek 
  revenge against the living, and any contact 
  with them is met with open hostility.
  Unknown Powers Unleashed
  Mortal hubris could have sealed the fate of the 
  world. Perhaps a cabal of sorcerers created a 
  complex magical artifact to benefit the world, 
  but were overwhelmed by its colossal power. 
  Or their motives might have been malevolent, 
  and they created a doomsday device that, when 
  finally used, annihilated entire cities in the blink 
  of an eye. Planar rangers* exploring the Outer 
  Planes may have returned with a strange disease, 
  resulting in a pandemic with no known cure; or a 
  fanatical death cult may have torn open the fabric 
  of reality to the Plane of Shadows, causing corpses 
  all across the world to instantaneously rise from 
  their graves. Such scenarios may not even have a 
  prophetic precedent: they could have happened 
  without warning, and characters caught in a 
  sudden unleashing of otherworldly forces would 
  almost certainly have suffered the dire effects as 
  much as everyone else.
  Possible Game Effects 
   
  ▶ When a spellcaster casts a spell of a par-
  ticular school, all plant life smaller than the 
  caster within a radius in feet equal to 5 × the 
  spellcaster’s level turns into an inorganic 
  substance such as chalk or bismuth. 
   
  ▶ The air is tainted by toxic spores or arcane 
  gases; special equipment or magical items 
  are needed to breathe it.
   
  ▶ Any corpse that isn’t cremated within ten 
  minutes after death rises as a ghoul or 
  another undead horror.
  Players: Survivors 
  and Redeemers
  Your character begins at a significant disadvan-
  tage. In this doomed world, resources are scarce. 
  People keep only to themselves, struggling 
  against what they see as the inevitable dissolution 
  of all existence. 
   Allow your character to explore this brave 
  new world at will, but be aware that the dangers 
  around her are magnified: the gods—if they still 
  live—no longer care about their spoiled creation, 
  and whatever forces have taken their place are, at 
  best, indifferent to whoever’s left.
   Did your character cause this misery? If so, she 
  might be the focus of all the blame, especially if 
  the reason is that she failed in her world-saving 
  duty. Chances are, her fellow survivors might 
  pour out their scorn on her every chance they get. 
  How would she react to this, and how could she 
  right the wrongs of the past?
   To answer these questions, your character 
  might need to search for ways on how to turn 
  things around. The more she discovers that hope 
  still exists, the greater her resolve must be into 
  proving others wrong. Redeeming the world, as 
  it is, may require her to divest preconceived no-
  tions of defeat. In a way, it also means redeeming 
  herself.
   The following background can hopefully assist 
  you in creating a more fleshed-out character find-
  ing her way in a dying world.
  *   Anthony Jenning, “Explorers of the Multiverse,” EN World EN5ider, 
  https://www.patreon.com/posts/explorers-of-3910056
  
  It’s Never Over | EN World EN5IDER
  It’s Never Over | EN World EN5IDER
  Survivor
  You bore witness to the end of the world and 
  lived. You have experienced the shock of seeing 
  everything you know and love collapse into 
  ruination in mere instants. 
   Alternatively, you may have been born within 
  the first tumultuous year after the apocalypse 
  wracked the land, giving lie to the premise that 
  there is no hope in a world fated to die. Either 
  way, as you eke out a way to survive in this new 
  reality, the fallen world beckons to you through 
  forlorn memories or stories told by your elders.
  Skill Proficiencies: History, Survival
  Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools.
  Equipment: Backpack, waterskin, a cheap trinket 
  that serves as a memento from the old world, 
  a set of traveler’s clothes, and a rat-skin pouch 
  containing 5 gp.
  Feature: Hideaway
  You possess a secret space unknown perhaps 
  even by your loved ones. Away from the tumult 
  of a world in its death throes, this place serves 
  as a sanctuary which you could use as you see 
  fit. It could be a small stone chamber beneath the 
  ruins of a building, an abandoned stone circle 
  overgrown by thick bush, or maybe a spacious 
  air pocket beneath the waters of a newly-formed 
  lake. Having a secluded space of your own is no 
  guarantee against it being discovered by adversar-
  ies later on, or even of the structure’s integrity. 
  Suggested Characteristics
  If an apocalypse could spare a survivor (or give 
  birth to one), then they are proof that the desolate 
  world could still be returned to life. This may give 
  hope to other survivors, but it may anger those 
  who sought the world’s end in the first place. A 
  survivor may feel otherwise if the arrival of the 
  end times was in part his doing; the guilt that he 
  may feel is a burden that he may never overcome.
  d8 Personality Trait
  1
  I talk less and observe more.
  2
  Alone in the wilderness, I gain emotional strength.
  3
  I find little value in material possessions and wealth.
  4
  Mementos from the world-that-was fascinate me, and I 
  collect them wherever I find them.
  5
  I am quite stingy with food and water.
  6
  There’s nothing I hate more than people living sinful, 
  wasteful lives.
  7
  I feel uncomfortable around strangers.
  8
  I often feel that the spirits of the old world speak to me, 
  and I respond when I can.
  d6 Ideal
  1
  Final Judgment. When the time comes, you are either 
  with me or against me. (Evil)
  2
  Completion. Every beginning has an end. Nothing lasts 
  forever. (Neutral)
  3
  New World. The old ways have passed, and all has been 
  made new. (Chaotic)
  4
  Fellowship. We face our fates together. (Good)
  5
  Revival. This world will be reclaimed, one step at a time. 
  (Any)
  6
  Prophecy. These latter days must run their course, as 
  was planned by the gods. (Lawful)
  d6 Bond
  1
  Legends tell of an artifact that may reverse the world’s 
  devastation and I must find it.
  2
  Friend or foe, I vow to offer aid to whoever needs it.
  3
  My adopted tribe is dearer to me than blood.
  4
  I made a promise to someone who died in the apoca-
  lypse; I intend to keep it.
  5
  Someone I love is out there, alive in the wastes. I know it.
  6
  This relic from the old world is the last thing we as a dy-
  ing people can call our own.
  d6 Flaw
  1
  My lack of proper hygiene should be the least of anyone’s 
  worries.
  2
  Resources are precious. Do not waste them, or bad 
  things will happen.
  3
  The guilt I feel for failing to thwart the End often keeps 
  me (and others) up at night.
  4
  Delving too much in the past sometimes makes me 
  ignore what’s happening now.
  5
  My mind becomes jumbled when disaster strikes.
  6
  The apocalypse left me damaged, and I’m physically un-
  able to do certain things.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 058 - Its Never Over.pdf