Category Archives: Barbarians of the Aftermath

BotA Character: Vandraj Takesh

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Barbarians of the Aftermath character he put together as an NPC for use in his own Narakam setting. More will follow at highly irregular intervals.

Vandraj Takesh is a young Varna noble who makes his home in the city of Bai. Like his father before him, Vandraj serves as a physician to the wealthiest families in the city, but this is only a means to an end. Vandraj seeks to understand as much as he can about the world outside of the safety of civilization – both about the people who live in the Wilds as well as about the history of the time before.

Young, brave, and foolhardy, Vandraj has ventured into the Wilds on more than one occasion in an effort to find material to study. On one of these trips he glimpsed the beautiful Pariah warrior Na’ilah Baras as she single-handedly fought off more than a dozen Varna soldiers sent by his uncle, Karjesh Jit, to bring back subjects for vivisection. Ever since that day – when no one noticed the stray light pistol shot that felled the soldier who almost got his net about the savage woman – Vandraj has been scheming on how to make the untamed and enthralling creature his own.

Genotype
Varna (Standard Human)

Essences
Lifeblood 10
Hero Points 5

Attributes
Strength 0
Agility 1
Mind 3
Appeal 0

Combat
Brawl -1
Melee 0
Ranged 2
Defense 3

Careers
Noble 1
Medic 1
Scholar 2
Chemist 0

Boons
Determined
Passionate (about Na’ilah Baras)

Flaws
Debilitation: Arrogant

Languages
Varna, Deva, Buddha, Hanumani, Pariah, Naga

Equipment
Light Pistol, d6
Very Light Armor, d3-1

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

BotA Character: Na’ilah Baras

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Barbarians of the Aftermath character he put together as an NPC for use in his own Narakam setting. More will follow at highly irregular intervals.

Born in the Wilds of Narakam, Na’ilah Baras is a pure-blooded barbarian badass who would just as happily slit your throat as seduce you, depending upon her mood and needs at the time you happened across her. She is as untamed as the wind and woe be unto the man or mutant who tries to claim her as his or its own.

To the people of her village, though, Na’ilah is nothing less than a savior. Single-handedly, or leading the few brave enough to join her, she has defended her people from numerous attacks by other tribes of pariah as well as raids by unscrupulous Varna scientists searching for research subjects.

One particular Varna, the young noble Vandraj Takesh, has developed a particular interest in Na’ilah and is willing to pay handsomely for her capture. The trouble is, no one foolish enough to undertake the endeavor is still alive…

Barbarian Woman

Consider this friendly lady from p. 52 of the BotA rulebook a good representation of Na'ilah.

Genotype
Pariah (Wastelander Human)

Essences
Lifeblood 14
Hero Points 5

Attributes
Strength 2
Agility 2
Mind 0
Appeal 1

Combat
Brawl 0
Melee 2
Ranged 1
Defense 1

Careers
Barbarian 2
Assassin 1
Courtesan 1
Beast Master 0

Boons
The Strong Survive
Hard-To-Kill

Flaws
Savage

Languages
Pariah

Equipment
Sword, d6+2
Dagger, d3+2
Bow, d6+1
Very Light Armor (Chainmail Bikini), d3-1

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Barbarians of the Aftermath

So I’ve noticed that I’m getting a fair amount of traffic for the search term “Barbarians of the Aftermath” even though I haven’t really posted much content for that particular game. This makes me feel guilty. So I’m going to post a couple of BotA NPCs here in a minute just to assuage that guilt.

If I keep drawing traffic I’ll keep doing more. Of course, posting more content almost guarantees that I’ll draw more traffic, which means I’ll need to post more content, and so on. It’s a vicious circle. Or cycle. Whatever.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

BotA Character: Lodan Triplex Marveen Dodd

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Barbarians of the Aftermath character he put together as an NPC for use in his own Narakam setting. More will follow at highly irregular intervals.

Born to a non-mutant Pariah family in the Wilds of Narakam, Lodan Triplex Marveen Dodd nevertheless displayed a number of… genetic drifts, which lead his father to accuse his mother of being unfaithful. Though the family unit held together in the end, Lodan Tiplex Marveen Dodd never felt like he belonged and left his village as soon as he was old enough to survive on his own. He has traveled far and wide, learning as much as his quick mind would absorb. Because of its detriment to himself, he keeps his mutant healing ability under wraps in almost all circumstances.

Genotype
Mutant

Essences
Lifeblood 10
Hero Points 5
Psychokinetic Power 12

Attributes
Strength 0
Agility 1
Mind 2
Appeal 1

Combat
Brawl 0
Melee 0
Ranged 1
Defense 3

Careers
Mutant 2
Scavenger 1
Wise One 1
Mek 0

Boons
Sneaky Git
Bottom-Feeding Git

Flaws
Mutation Flaw (self-damaging healing, see below)

Mutations
Physical: Possesses a 3rd arm, growing from below “normal” left arm
Offensive: Ranged “green light blast” from hand on 3rd arm, d6 damage (as Light Pistol)
Mental: Warped Appeal: Extreme Reactions: Adroit +1 (big watery eyes that make people go “Awwww”)
Psychic Ability: Pink Healing Light from hand on 3rd arm (equivalent to First Magnitude) – costs himself 1d3 LB & reduces Defense to 0 when used

Languages
Pariah, Varna, Naga

Equipment
Knife, d3
Shield, 1 pt armor

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

BotA Hardback In My Hands

In ironic honor of today’s significance in history (and with absolutely zero disrespect intended) look at what I just picked up from the local gaming store… It’s the absolutely gorgeous full-color hardback of Barbarians of the Aftermath!

The pictures don’t really do this baby justice. It’s pricey, to be sure, but it seems to be every bit as good quality as any other hardback RPG and the full-color art is sharp as can be.

I do wish the full BoL rules could have been worked into this somehow, because it would be awfully nice to have everything in one book. But that aside, I’ve got no complaints. Well, other than the fact that, as previously noted, my players just aren’t ready to go for a system as light as BoL/BotA. But I’ll get them there eventually. Narakam awaits, after all.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Narakam: The World After

Using Barbarians of the Aftermath I rolled up an alien invasion that I worked into the following:

In 2014 a limited nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan results in the destruction of a sacred Hindu temple that was actually a beacon sending out an “All’s Well” signal to the stars.

While the rest of the nuclear-armed countries decided “Hey, the missiles have started flying, we don’t want to pass up a chance to lob a few ourselves” a group of aliens, who bore a distinct similarity to certain Hindu deities*, dropped in to see why their signal had been cut. All hell then proceeded to break loose as the non-Hindu portions of the world interpreted their arrival as an invasion and went to absurd lengths to drive them off.

The aliens, allied with India and other Hindu cultures, fought back. Between their advanced technologies and the destructive power of a “cornered” Earth, pretty much everything was messed up beyond belief.

Now, 800 or so years later, you have a small pulp science portion of the world that is loyal to the aliens (known as the Deva) and the rest of the world in proper Thundarr-style ruin. The Deva have used their super science to uplift a number of monkeys, elephants and birds (BotA Awakened Animals – called the Hanumani, Ganeshani, and Garudani) to help support their “chosen people” – called the Varna (BotA “standard” Humans).

At the same time (whether due to normal radiation or some effect of the Devas is unclear) a small group of humans have evolved into the Buddhas (BotA Adonai), who do their best to live apart from both the control of the Devas and the strife found in The Wilds. Speaking of the Wilds, that region (which is actually much of the Earth) is populated by the Pariah (BotA Wastelander Humans as well as Mutants, no distinction is made in the eyes of the Varna).

Also, at some point, an offshoot of the relatively benevolent Devas showed up (the Varna call them Rakshasas). They, too, have done a little animal awakening themselves (particularly snakes, called the Nagas) and are generally the antagonists of the setting.

The setting, as a whole, is named Narakam, which is the Sanskrit word for “Hell.”

I hope to do something with this, someday. But even if I don’t, it was big fun to create. I love the BYO Apocalypse tables in BotA.

* Just to be clear, no offense or disrespect is meant towards Hinduism by this. I’m just drawing on the old “Ancient Astronauts” concept and running with it in the name of post-apocalyptic adventure.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email