I've been working on a setting for quite some time named Mutants & Barbarians which is (roughly) a mix of conventional S&S, Post Apocalyptic and swords & planets genres.

It takes place in the Blasted World which has suffered several global cataclysms called Hécatombes (didn't really thought of a proper english translation for now) which have wipped out civilisations after civilisations but every single time Mankind managed to survive with new strains of "humanity" appearing here and there. But the Hecatombes were not mere physical destruction : the biggest of all which is known as the Great Hecatombe was the starting point of the known history and the myths of the Forgotten Past, era of the Arkhescients, the godlike ancestors of nowaday humanity who managed to cause such a serie of cataclysms that they altered somehow the fabric of reality and open breaches between the Blasted World and some other dimensions where unspeakables things dwell.

Today the Blasted World has somehow recover from the last Hecatombe even if most of the lands are still empty barrens or unknown and mortal territories where Man is no longer welcome. However, civilisation made its way back from the radioactive craddle whence Mankind rose up again : new cities were built on the ruins of old and with them a new thirst for power. From the bright and delicate towers of the forever ennemies Ur-Zankar & Ur-Kanzar to the Golden domes of the unscrupulous and rich Qwazar and the impregnable walls of Mekantis, man started one more time to grow in numbers, to look for better places to live and eventually to take what he needs from his neighbour. This is a new era of wars and conquest, of pillage and glory, of adventure...and doom.

It's a world where bloodthirsty barbarians from the Desert of Metal fight savage Mutant Hordes swarming the civilisations heiresses of the Forgotten Past, where screaming blades clash with singing axes and light-lances, where daring adventurers explore forgotten ruins of the Forgotten Past protected by amour-clad guardians of old and where demons from other dimensions lurk.


I'm currently running my second adventure so far and I was very glad that my PCs love the fact they might fight robots or real monsters, that they can have cybernetics (well if you come from Mekantis) and still wielding a sword or a spear at the ennemy while others shoot at each other using laser like weapons as well as arrows or even stones perhaps! I built the world so that the feeling is more closer to a sword & sorcery setting with chunks of futuristic post apo, where Conan meets Mad Max meets John Carter and it worked pretty well so far.
As for magic I kept everything from original BoL but instead of being only "magic" I changed the decorum so that you can play a Magus using the Hypersciences of the Arkhescients from the Forgotten Past by the mean of pieces of technology to achieve the same results as a Sorcerer who is able to communicate with the other dimensions and allow parts of their realities to come into the Blasted World but always respecting the canons of S&S genre so that you won't be able to see fireballs at every corners.

So I couldn't think of the better system than BoL to bring all of this to life.

Well just wanted to share it with you guys and will very gladly appreciate some feedback! I have written around 20 pages of background so far so if you want to know more feel free to ask.

Last edited by Egregorein (4/16/2015 5:38 am)