The theme of a campaign is the underlying subject or focus of all the adventures. It isn’t strictly necessary to have one, but a campaign without a theme may seem disconnected and unfocused. For example, a High Post-Apocalyptic campaign may focus on the theme of the value of knowledge. Over the course of the campaign, the PCs may encounter many different characters and situations, triumph over adversity, suffer setbacks. But regardless of the type of adventures they or the outcome of those adventures, the underlying theme remains the same: the heroes have to keep striving to attain or regain knowledge.
It’s possible to have more than one theme in a campaign. Adventures can cycle among a couple of different underlying subjects — the exploits of a group of road warriors could alternate between the perils of technology and preserving civiliza- tion. You shouldn’t get carried away with multiple themes, though, since having too many isn’t much better than having none at all.
Be careful not to confuse theme with message. “Knowledge has value” is a theme; “people can do bad things with knowledge” is a message. You can return to a theme, look at it from various angles, and develop it in depth. But once you’ve stated a message, the only thing to do is state it again.
Common themes in Post-Apocalyptic
Hero include:
CIVILIZATION AS A VIRTUE
One of the strongest themes running through much Post-Apocalyptic literature is that civilization has value, and that men must be civilized beings or else they’ll be little better than beasts. Even though people know that society once rose to such heights of power that its power destroyed it, they still want the benefits that civilization can bring. They attempt, in whatever crude ways they can, to rebuild what was lost and improve their lives. Even when perils aplenty confront them, they cling to their dream... though they may have to move to a safer place to keep pursuing it.
THE COST OF SURVIVAL
John said, “I think we might take [Davey’s best friend with us].”
Something of Ann’s expression reminded him of what he had seen in the headmaster’s; not the fear, but the guilt.
She said, “No, it’s ridiculous. ... When you told me — about Miss Errington, I thought it was dreadful. But I still hadn’t realized what was happening. I do now. We’ve got to get to the valley, and get the children there as well. We can’t afford any extras, even this boy.”
—John and Ann Custance debate the
morality of charity in No Blade Of Grass Survival is a major aspect of most Post- Apocalyptic stories — characters work hard to find enough food, fuel, and ammunition to
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keep themselves alive. But beyond that practical, elemental issue lies the question of what a char- acter will do to survive. Will he kill an innocent person to steal that person’s food? Will he fall in with a group of cannibal mutants to share their repugnant feast rather than starve to death? Will he turn his back on people in need because he has a better chance of making it out alive on his own? In short — how much of his humanity is he willing to sacrifice just to stay alive?
THE PERILS OF TECHNOLOGY
“Yes,” [Sherman] said. “Atomic power. That con- crete wall is the outer face of the shield. Behind it is the reactor.”
Silence again, except for the throbbing of that great voice that never stopped. The concrete wall loomed up like the wall of hell, and Len’s heart slowed and the blood in him turned cold as snow water.
Behind it is the reactor.
Behind it is evil and night and terror and death. ...[H]e shouted at them, “Wasn’t one burning of the world enough? Why did you have to keep this thing alive?”
—Len encounters the world’s last working
nuclear reactor in The Long Tomorrow While they may seek it out because it’s so useful, Post-Apocalyptic characters often realize (or
discover) that technology can be as perilous as it is beneficial. On a personal level, the technology they recover or learn to use may in turn be used against them, forcing them into an arms race where they have to find better and better technology to cope with the enemy. And looming over the setting like a dark cloud may be the question of whether devel- oping or recovering too much technology could lead to another apocalypse....
THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE
“You can’t destroy knowledge. You can stamp it under and burn it up and forbid it to be, but somewhere it will survive.”
—Sherman responds to Len
in The Long Tomorrow Underlying much of Post-Apocalyptic litera- ture and film is the belief that knowledge has great value and must be preserved, whatever the cost. Characters go to great lengths and put themselves in mortal danger to learn what to the reader/viewer are trivial facts — because knowledge is a Good Thing in and of itself, whether it has practical value. They go on adventures to track down rumors of a surviving copy of a play by someone with the strange name of Vil Shaikspeer, fight their way into a cannibal cult’s stronghold to steal the cult’s obscure, water-damaged copies of old technical manuals, and explore dangerous ruins in the hope of finding readable books.
68 ■ Adventure Among The Devistation: Gamemastering Post-Apocalyptic Hero System 5th Edition Revised