Cinders of the Cataclysm
Die Hard meets Blade Runner meets Fifth Element meets Fallout/Wasteland. Cinders of the Cataclysm is a science fantasy cyberpunk adventure in a dystopian, postapocalyptic world where the only surviving civilisation is in one megacity. And this time you play the action hero!
Die Hard meets Blade Runner meets Fifth Element. Cinders of the Cataclysm is a science fantasy cyberpunk adventure in a dystopian, postapocalyptic world. Only this time you play the action hero!
CotC blends "action hero" with "slice of life" virtually seamlessly. The characters are larger than life heroes, but in the grand scheme of things, they're still people. Common sense and a solid amount of careful planning is necessary to survive this neon dystopia!
This Worldanvil site is the RPG codex for the CotC setting. Here-in you will find a plethora of characters, factions and plots. This is your one go-to location for all things Cinders of the Cataclysm. You want to deep-dive into this strange world filled with mystery, intrigue and horror? This is your place!
They say that the gods used to watch over us and the world was a peaceful and prosperous place. They say it used to be green and full of life, until we turned our backs on the gods and "embraced the Shadow", whatever that means. The Cataclysm scorched and scarred our world. In one gigantic, apocalyptic event everything we knew was turned into a barren, toxic wasteland. In the blink of an eye, there were suddenly no more nations, varying cultures or languages. All of it, wiped out in searing fire. On top of the shitpile that is this world is Fusion City, the single surviving spec of civilization. A monument to our greatness as a civilization. It's a trash heap full of opportunistic, greedy people clawing their way to the top of the food chain just so they can stomp on others. I say it's fucking bullshit. There are no gods and if there ever were, they abandoned us. So fuck 'em! I'm just trying to survive and fight against the tide to make the world a better place for everyone.
In a world without humans, numerous species form the remnants of civilisation, devastated by a cataclysmic disaster. Most live inside Fusion City, a domed megacity, climbing on top of each other to reach the top of the societal ladder. The city is a web of intrigue and corporate oppression where the wealthy live off of the backs of the poor, who struggle to survive midst this abundance.
Outside the city in the barren wasteland a few scattered settlements harbor the few survivors of the Cataclysm, those that did not have the luxury of living in the protected city. Mutants toil to earn their value under the elitist non-mutated survivors, tensions rising day by day as raider attacks become a growing problem.
What will you be in this world of wonder? A kuna investigative journalist, working to uncover the latest corporate atrocity? A dulzuun street-goon fighting for his gang? An illim police officer struggling with meager pay and an overwhelming crime rate? Or perhaps a vindral wasteland wanderer, seeking the freedom to live as you please?
In Celenia: Cinders of the Cataclysm, you choose what and who you want to be. The adventure awaits!
Where to start?
If you're eager to dive in but don't know quite where to start, the Comprehensive Guide to Cinders of the Cataclysm is a great place to get situated. It will explain the setting on a surface level, getting you familiar enough with it to understand any future articles you choose to dive into. Remember though that it is surface level information. It won't dive too deep into each subject as to keep things brief.Health and life
Life is hectic as all hell, but right now some of the most stressful shit I've had to go through, and which has been a year-long anxiety-spike, is behind me.
Medication is starting to stabilize and my mental health is better than in a long, long time.
Unfortunately, I've been temporarily reassigned at work to deal with the investigation of the riots here in Sweden. Which means I'm working out of town and have an insane workload right now. This will be the case likely until after summer, as this investigation is expected to take a long time.
This, in effect, means virtually zero energy for anything else, so my production pace on anything that isn't work has been ground to a sudden standstill. My body has also taken a real toll from the 2.5 hour commute every day.
CD10 1e
Aside from a couple of guides to write and instructional videos to create, CD10 is done. The system and all it's rules are available on Worldanvil, but as I said, the guides aren't done yet, so some things might need more explanation. I'll be working on that whenever I have time/energy.
CD10 2e
Second edition has entered the design draft stage. So far, I have basic RNG resolution laid out, but it's not even close to a testable system yet. First edition takes priority so I can get it done before I devote significant time to second edition.
Second edition will be a purely narrative system that completely forgoes any simulationist mechanics in favor of keeping a top-down, narrative perspective on things. It'll provide narrative guidance through dice and mechanics, but any details will be left to be narrated either by the Keeper or by the players themselves.
Since I can't shut up about 2e, expect to hear lots about it in my various channels in the future.
Foundry
With the sudden life changes, Foundry has also been ground to an ugly and sudden stop. I've had no progress in the last few weeks on the Foundry system module for CD10 and this will likely remain so for a few months at least.
I have made great strides and progress compared to the version that is currently live, but that's stuff I had already done before being reassigned at work. After that, nothing has progressed at all.
Settings
Not much has been done on the settings. I've posted the Singleton article for Cinders of the Cataclysm, covering hyper-advanced service droids and how they interact with virtual intelligence, as well as my River Challenge article, the River Kek in Dark Shadows. Both articles are available on Worldanvil, and if you follow me there, they should be in your notifications.
Celenia now has a unified place to access all the things with the url: www.celenia.se. It leads to the primary setting of Cinders of the Cataclysm, but the navbar can take you anywhere within the Celenia universe!
Support and Social MediaYou can support Celenia on Ko-Fi and get access to all the behind-the-scenes content available, get unique discord ranks and much more! Remember that CD10 Core is free to use, but that pledging on patreon gives you access to the advanced modules as well!
You can follow CD10 and Celenia on Twitter, join the official Beyond Reality Discord server as well as me on Twitch.tv where I share the worldbuilding and RPG-designing openly with you. (Stream currently on extended hiatus)
Want to support Celenia? Head on over to Ko-Fi and have a look at how you can help make Celenia a published and printed game and what rewards you can receive for supporting the development!
If you prefer Patreon, you can click the button below instead!
Celenia is a tabletop roleplaying game universe with a number of games/settings in it, most taking place on the world of Dunia, a firmament flatworld floating in an endless abyss of water. Celenia, as a tabletop setting, has been in development for over 18 years, primarily in the shape of Celenia: Dark Shadows, a dark fantasy setting with folklore-like magic and mystery.
Celenia: Cinders of the Cataclysm (CotC) is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk sci-fantasy table-top roleplaying game set in the same world as Dark Shadows, only in a near-future setting. CotC uses the narratively focused CD10 RPG system.
Useful links
Celenia - The greater narrative universeDark Shadows - The Prequel to Cinders of the Cataclysm
Celenia D10 RPG System - CD10 Systems Reference
To get a quick start into CotC, the Comprehensive Guide to Cinders of the Cataclysm will help you find your footing quickly!
A one-shot adventure played in this world is available below, courtecy of the team behind How to be a Great GM's series, "Adventures of the Windswift". The adventure uses the Celenia D10 RPG System, developed for Celenia settings.
Please note that this adventure was played long ago and significant changes have been made to the system since then, but the core experience is the same.
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Celenia and Cinders of the Cataclysm © 1998 - 2022 Tobias Linder. All rights reserved.
Any art displayed on the page is credited to the original artist and belongs to them, with the exception of art created by Nina Lanfer and Mizomei, which are specifically commissioned for the CotC project and are © 1998 - 2022 Tobias Linder.