The games I wished I owned are the announced, but never published, supplements for The Day After Ragnorak.
I loved Ken Hite’s “Conan the Barbarian: 1948” setting when it came out in 2009 (a tagline I stole from an RPGnet review at the time; it’s accurate).
The basic setup is that in the waning days of World War II, the Nazis summoned the Midgard Serpent into the real world.
The Americans, as Americans are apt to do when faced with a nation-devouring threat they don’t understand, nuked it.
In their defense … there probably weren’t a lot of better options.
The Serpent died and its corpse fell to Earth, causing massive tsunamis that drowned much of the world. Its body became a new mountain range which disrupted weather patterns around the planet.
It’s great stuff in a Conan meets Sci-Fi 1950s sort of way. The setting had a number of small PDF releases, but the two sourcebooks I wanted most were never released:
Memphis: Gateway to the Poisoned Lands (2018)
Blurb: “After the Serpentfall, floods and horrors rise all along the Mississippi valley. Only the Bluff City survives, kept alive by hard choices and harder men. Strangers come to Memphis from deep in the dark, from out in the wild, from all over. They set out for the Delta, or for the wild Poisoned Lands, ready to kill or to heal, but most of all ready for trouble. Because we’ve got trouble, right here in the River City “
The Speleoherpetologist’s Handbook (2018)
Blurb: “The Speleoherpetologist’s Handbook opens up the biggest, deadliest, most poisonous dungeon ever — the 2,500-mile long body of the dead Midgard Serpent — to adventure and horror. Loathsome new monsters, deadly ophi-tech, and complete adventure support in The Day After Ragnarok style all wait for you … inside!”
Searching for Games That Exist
In terms of things that saw the light of day, I’d love to pick up more of the Amberzines by Phage Press (publisher of Amber Diceless). I got a few back at GenCon when Phage Press was still around, but I was focused on Zelazny short stories (a few of which appeared in the zine) rather than game content.
Finally, there is The Labyrinth, a sourcebook of factions and NPCs for Delta Green. I had a chance to buy the hardcover version at GenCon 2023, but passed, figuring I could get it later on at the con.
I was wrong, and the book appears to be sold out online (again). It’s the book I’ll actively be searching for later in 2023 and 2024.
- This post is part of the RPG a Day 2023 event. Catch up on Nuketown’s posts via the project page and learn more about the event at its community page on Facebook.
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Cover art for The Day After Ragnorak. Credit: Atomic Overmind