A World Remade
Wreck and Ruin takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, many decades after an unexplained catastrophe reshaped the planet. No one alive can say precisely what happened. Humanity came close to extinction, and the world that survived became known as the Wastes.
The Wastes
Beyond Ruin’s walls lies a harsh, mostly barren landscape. The remains of those who were unprepared are scattered across it, while the achievements of the old world have largely vanished beneath the passage of time. What structures and relics remain are only traces of what they once were.
Old roads can still offer a route through the desert, but shifting sands often cover them again. Travelling on foot is perilous, so vehicles serve as both transport and shelter. Communities have formed into nomadic factions, always on the move as they struggle to endure.
The land itself is a threat: unforgiving terrain, dangerous weather and wild creatures all make survival uncertain. Other factions may pursue your supplies and vehicles—or simply take pleasure in the chase.
Ruin
The city of Ruin began as an unfinished army bunker, built before the world changed. It remained abandoned until a passing convoy, seeking shelter from an approaching ion storm, stumbled upon it. Its solid concrete construction, generators, space and stored supplies offered the travellers a chance to survive.
They made the bunker their home and began uncovering the secrets held among its old-world relics. More drifters arrived over time and joined them. From that gathering, the city of Ruin grew.
Today, its people live beyond the original bunker as well as within it, and the city’s boundaries continue to expand to shelter refugees from the Wastes. A substantial concrete wall and the Ruin army protect its inhabitants from regular bandit raids and the occasional hungry or curious beast. In a world this unforgiving, every survivor matters.
Wildlife
Plant life is scarce across the Wastes; many species have adapted by growing underground. The animals that remain bear little resemblance to the creatures described in the old libraries. They look more like dinosaurs than the animals once kept in the old world’s zoos, shaped by generations of life in a hostile environment.
Wulfhounds resemble enormous dogs, while Rhinax are armoured giants capable of overturning vehicles with their heavy skulls and sharp horns. People and wildlife have learned to share the Wastes with limited contact, but attacks still happen.
Salvage
Burnt-out vehicles litter the Wastes, and buildings that remain standing may hold forgotten technology. Money has no place in this world: people trade the useful things they find. These goods are known collectively as salvage.
Nothing is simply rubbish. Items can be repaired or repurposed into powerful equipment, ready to help their owners face the dangers of wasteland life.