||| Nuclear Apocalypse + Break the Rules

THE WORLD AFTER THE BOMBS

A SURVIVOR'S FIELD GUIDE

CONTINENTAL EUROPE • NINE YEARS LATER

01 / THE WORLD TODAY

Nine years ago, nuclear war devastated civilization. Governments collapsed, power grids failed, supply chains disappeared, and billions perished in the destruction and its aftermath.

THE NUCLEAR WINTER: Years of darkness and extreme cold followed. That winter has finally begun to fade. Sunlight and warmer temperatures have returned, allowing vegetation, wildlife, and survivors to flourish again.

The world is recovering. Human civilization is not.

02 / NATURE RECLAIMS THE RUINS

❀ OVERGROWTH
Trees grow through abandoned streets, vines consume buildings, and entire neighborhoods disappear beneath thick vegetation. Some contaminated regions remain barren.

♧ WILDLIFE
Deer, wolves, boar, foxes, fish, birds, and feral animals inhabit the returning wilderness. Some species thrive, while others have declined.

⚠ DECEPTIVE BEAUTY
Greenery does not guarantee safety. Water, plants, animals, and soil may still contain harmful chemicals, pathogens, or radioactive contamination.

03 / WEATHER & ATMOSPHERIC DANGERS

☁ SMOG FRONTS
Enormous banks of ash-dark smog drift across the landscape. They can obscure sunlight, plunge temperatures toward freezing, and turn daytime into twilight. Smog is not automatically radioactive or lethal.

☂ ACID RAIN
Acidic rainfall varies from barely noticeable to dangerously corrosive. Severe downpours can burn exposed skin, damage shelter, and contaminate collected water. Not every rainfall is acidic.

⚡ STORMS & COLLAPSES
Ordinary storms, flooding, hail, and earthquakes are no more frequent than before the war, but ruined infrastructure makes them far more dangerous. Even minor disturbances can collapse unstable buildings.

04 / RADIATION & EXCLUSION ZONES

☢ BLAST ZONES
Nuclear craters and heavily contaminated regions remain extremely dangerous. Ordinary clothes, scarves, and simple masks offer no meaningful protection against severe radiation exposure.

⚠ FALLOUT & EXPOSURE
Radiation levels vary greatly by location. Contaminated food, water, dust, and salvage can cause serious illness. Symptoms may be delayed, and repeated exposure can have lasting consequences.

IMPORTANT: Most severe radiation exposure causes sickness, injury, infertility, or death. Mutation is exceptionally rare, not the normal result.

05 / MUTANTS

Extremely rare radiation events have transformed some humans, animals, plants, and fungi. No universal mutation mechanism exists, and transformations vary enormously.

◈ INTELLIGENT MUTANTS
Some altered humans retain their memories, intelligence, personalities, and self-awareness. Their physical differences do not make them inherently violent.

◈ FERAL MUTANTS
Others have experienced severe changes in cognition and behavior. Some become unpredictable, aggressive, or dangerously difficult to approach.

◈ MUTANT ANIMALS & PLANTS
Rare altered wildlife and vegetation may possess unusual physical or biological characteristics. Some are dangerous; others are harmless.

⚠ FEAR & PERSECUTION
Mutants are widely feared, rejected, and sometimes hunted. Even intelligent, peaceful mutants may be imprisoned, driven away, or killed on sight because of their appearance.

Being mutated does not automatically make someone a monster. Being human does not automatically make someone humane.

06 / THE DANGERS OF HUMANITY

⚔ RAIDERS & BANDITS
Armed groups may rob travelers, extort settlements, or attack vulnerable survivors. Their motives range from desperation and greed to deliberate cruelty.

⛓ SLAVERS & TRAFFICKERS
Kidnappers and traffickers exploit the collapse of law and order to capture, imprison, sell, and abuse vulnerable people. Sexual predators also exist.

☠ CANNIBALS & SADISTS
Uncommon but horrific groups may resort to cannibalism, torture, or extreme cruelty. Some are driven by hunger; others inflict suffering deliberately.

IMPORTANT: Most survivors are ordinary people trying to stay alive. Being armed, desperate, unfamiliar, or alone does not automatically make someone dangerous.

07 / THE REALITIES OF SURVIVAL

⌂ SCARCITY
Nine years of scavenging have stripped most accessible buildings. Food, medicine, ammunition, fuel, batteries, and functional equipment are increasingly difficult to obtain.

⚙ SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Survivors rely on farming, hunting, fishing, preservation, repairs, salvage, and trade. Every resource requires labor, maintenance, and careful management.

✚ MEDICAL DANGERS
Untreated injuries, infections, contaminated water, and ordinary illnesses can become fatal without reliable medical care.

➤ TRAVEL
Broken bridges, blocked roads, vegetation, unstable ruins, poor weather, and limited fuel make travel slow and unpredictable. Long journeys require preparation.

08 / SURVIVING COMMUNITIES

Scattered settlements have formed throughout the ruins: isolated farms, trading outposts, fortified towns, and small survivor groups.

Each community establishes its own laws, leadership, and customs. Some welcome travelers, while others require trade, labor, or proof that visitors pose no threat.

There is no functioning national authority. Protection, food, medicine, and shelter are never guaranteed. A settlement may offer safety without being fair, and harsh rules do not necessarily mean its inhabitants are cruel.

09 / A WORLD WITHOUT GUARANTEES

✦ PEOPLE HAVE THEIR OWN MORALS
Survivors possess independent beliefs, loyalties, prejudices, and motives. Trust, forgiveness, and cooperation must be earned.

✦ ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Violence, betrayal, illness, exposure, and mistakes can permanently change lives. Even experienced survivors can die.

✦ HOPE STILL EXISTS
Not every stranger is hostile, every journey disastrous, or every settlement corrupt. Friendship, kindness, ordinary pleasures, and peaceful days still exist.