In the wake of the Second World War there was no peace. While much of the world refused to align itself, the superpowers erected a wall between themselves along ideological lines, dividing themselves into the East and West. This Cold War was imagined as a struggle for the future of humanity. For forty years both sides prepared for the inevitable third world war. The East and West constructed mighty arsenals of nuclear weapons and devoted innumerable resources to developing technologies which would end the war.

The arms race did not end with bigger bombs and tougher tanks. Secretly both sides toiled at bringing autonomous machine warriors and psychotronic powered soldiers onto the battlefield. With robot soldiers, fewer humans would have to sacrifice themselves to the cause of democracy. With clairvoyance or telepathy, communism could win the fight without a single gun. Or at least, that’s what the superpowers thought.

In the final months of 1984 both the East and West were successful in their endeavors. The Atomic Drones, nuclear powered robots of war, were brought online, ready to serve. On the other side of the world, psychotronic wielders uncovered the source of their power, a realm known as the Veil. The Veil is a realm without identity or form, but it is not empty. Something reached out and tore open a permanent hole into reality. An entire military complex in Siberia was swallowed. It was an event the West mistook for a missile launch.

Judgement Day. The world became hell. Nuclear fire rained upon the northern hemisphere. And in its wake more portals into the Veil were opened. What emerged from the Veil were beasts beyond comprehension.

Now humanity wages war against the forces of the apocalypse, hanging onto survival.

The Forces of Humanity

Psycho Corps

The Psycho-Corps is an international fighting force made up of Veil-touched soldiers capable of wielding the psychotronik energies which now plague the Earth. These soldiers are taken as children and taught how to harness their powers without succumbing to the Veil’s destructive tendency. Regardless, psycho-soldiers still take caution and wear brain-wave modulator helmets to assist. For the surviving nations of the southern hemisphere, the Psycho-corps is the last line of defense against the coming end.

Cold Warriors

Before Judgement Day, the nations of the world, even those not divided into the East and West, maintained large armies ready to serve their country’s interests at a moment’s notice. Those formations which survived past Judgement Day are referred to as Cold Warriors. They retain the strict military training of a time nearly forgotten and use technological marvels that are nearly impossible to replace in the northern hemisphere’s desolate lands. These Cold Warriors exist in many different parts of the world, and they commonly consolidate power and old technology to fuel their desire to preserve the past.

Atomic Drones

In the years preceding Judgement Day, DARPA and U.S. weapons companies combined efforts to design and build the ultimate soldiers: autonomous machines of war. This massive network of drone warriors survived Judgement Day and began mass producing new models to fight the war. Luckily, for humanity, the drones viewed the existential threat of the Veil and the forces of apocalypse as its target. Now these machines, once nuclear powered, seek out enemy psychos and Veil Born to harvest their energies for their Psychotronik Engines.

Remnant Militias

While most of the northern hemisphere is desolate wasteland, there are pockets of survivors of Judgement Day. These small Remnant Towns, trying to rebuild and survive, protect themselves through militias of volunteers. They are rowdy, poorly trained, and scrap together what ammunition and ordnance they can find to protect themselves against apocalyptic forces.

Sea Lords

Upon Judgement Day thousands of ships at sea became nationless. Instead of fleeing to the southern hemisphere, many of these navies formed their own floating nations. In the years since, these sea lords have restructured their society and placed the lowest among their ranks on the bottom decks, to never see the sun. The aristocratic officer corps rule their ships with an iron fist.

Divine Chosen

As nuclear armageddon rained upon the Earth, the faithful of the world prayed to their gods for salvation. It would seem that the various different gods both answered their prayers and imbued their followers with divine power to fight back against the forces of apocalypse. Buddhists, Hindu, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and the many other faithful of the Earth all claim to have been imbued with power behind the mortal coil. And now these powered individuals take to the battlefield to fight on behalf of humanity.

Gas Knights

Discharged from Cold Warrior formations for dishonorable conduct, or left behind by their Remnant Militia comrades, errant soldiers slowly trickle into the ranks of the Gas Knights. These warriors, common to North America, are held together by the ideals of chivalry and nobility. They meld the calculated determination and regimes of the Cold Warriors with the creativity, ambition, and resourcefulness of the Remnant Militias. These knights fancy themselves Robin Hood’s Merry Men, raiding and ambushing bandits, slavers, and wild gangs.

Craglings

It is believed that the Craglings were once humans who bunkered underground when the world burned around them. Now these tiny creatures, who speak in quick high-pitched gibberish tones, scavenge the wasteland and construct terrifying contraptions. Their underground lives are dominated by veil shards, which they use to drill new burrows and to create strange homes. Most who run into the Craglings describe them as intensely curious and lacking social boundaries. Despite their eccentricities, the Craglings have proven chaotically capable warriors.

The Forces of Apocalypse

Veil Born

When Soviet scientists broke through the barriers hindering their psychotronik research, they stumbled upon the Veil. It is a realm where there is no identity, no ego, no concept of person. But it is not uninhabited. From their door into the Veil came beings born without form: the Veil Born. Now these creatures, who cling to shape as poorly as water to glass, invade the Earth. Their goal is uncertain, but their march is persistent.

Psychotronik Cults

When the apocalypse arrived, some chose to fight against it. But some people are weak, and fight on behalf of apocalypse, believing they will live by embracing the change. Those who have allied themselves to the Veil Born are known as psychotronic cultists. These fanatics have their prayers answered in part by the Veil Born and are granted boons of power for their dedication.

Accursed

Pestilence, radiation, and psychotroniks have merged to create a warped and twisted image humanity. The Accursed are afflicted with zombism and have become rabid husks consuming anything in their way. They are dangerous, infective, and entirely too smart. Unlike the zombies of horror, these ones will plan a way to destroy you and will execute it with viciousness.

Undying Legions

While the Soviets researched psychotroniks, and the American perfected autonomous war machines, on both sides of the Iron Curtain the Europeans turned to the occult. Their desperation drove them to carve ancient runes onto volunteer soldiers and cast long forgotten spells to create warriors who wouldn’t die. Now, without a nation to call home, and in a world where their purpose has been lost, these soldiers roam the lands in warbands, killing anything they come across. These grief-stricken soldiers, crazed by their destiny, seek to subject the survivors of Judgement Day to a fate worse than death: hopelessness.

The Hive

For decades the Hive hid among humanity. According to collected intel, the Trinity Test interested them, and they observed humanity while it plunged itself into the Cold War. But on Judgement Day, the Earth’s connection to the Veil became a top priority for the Hive. Those stationed on Earth to observe called upon others to come and solve this issue. In 1988 the ships arrived, and the Hive sent platoons to the surface to begin closing veil gates and eradicate any who stop in opposition. Upon arrival, they broadcast a single message in multiple languages: “You have broken the seal. This planet will become uninhabitable. The Veil is too dangerous.”

Refracted Beasts

Where psychotronik energies lay reality is warped, identity—physical definition—is often destroyed. Things become merged. Things become separated. Animals and plants become undone. Reshaped. Transformed. They become haunting amalgamations of their constituents. They become ghastly fractions of their former self. These are creatures utterly transformed by psychotroniks into creatures with power and intelligence, but still bestial.

Enlightened

Created by Veil Mother Oriana Thorne, the Enlightened have since grown in power and size since their inception. In unholy matrimony with the forces of the Veil, its members are often seen as disposable, useful only for the aims of the cult’s Veil Born leaders. Despite this, its membership seems only to grow. They tell tale of a song which only its members can hear, one which reverberates off the Veil and will usher in the Veil Born’s triumph.

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