Hardcovers AND softcovers are now available! You can get them on my store!
Claim a Better Future!
In a ruined and terraformed world where most of humanity is under the yoke of a brutal regime, the former workers of a once-remote factory - now known as The Collective - have risen up to create a future of freedom from oppression. You are an Ace - a highly skilled pilot referred from a Division in The Collective and assigned a humanoid combat vehicle known as a Frame. You and your Strike Team of fellow Aces must take on The Collective’s greatest threats, ensure its survival, and carve a path for its continued success.
Frenetic action: Light, Medium, and Heavy Frames clash on the post-apocalyptic battlefield in a combat system based on LUMEN. Your Strike Team is ready and capable of carving through armies of enemies to fight for the Collective.
Customizable Mechs: The simplicity of the basic rules combines with a robust tag system and light resource management to provide any level of depth you might want. Extremely fast character creation and pre-assembled loadouts make it very simple to get started. Once a player has a grasp of the system, 9 Frames with unique traits and abilities combine with 18 Armaments and 18 Systems to allow players to customize as little or as much as they want. As time goes on, new tags can be added to any equipment, allowing players to mold any loadout to their exact specifications.
Varied Threats: Several enemy types and factions allow for a lot of flexibility in creating encounters. Face off against the iron-fisted Republic, the cunning Claw, or crafty Survivalists. Plow through Standard enemies, clash with more dangerous Prime enemies, or face a sprawling Colossus enemy - a multi-part monstrosity that can be a mission unto itself!
Session and Campaign Play: The game is satisfying when played as a one-shot, but it also supports lengthy campaigns. Tools for shaping the setting to players’ preferences, providing mission choices, and pacing different kinds of sessions over time, as well as two different kinds of player advancement, are provided help keep things interesting for everyone for many sessions to come. APOCALYPSE FRAME is also built for inclusion of outside material during play: its campaign loop contains explicit on-ramps for expansion, third-party, or homebrew content to be introduced mid-campaign.
Advanced Rules: This release also provides Advanced Rules that are intended to raise the stakes for players who are familiar with the system and want more to sink their teeth into. This includes more options for both players and GMs to expand the depth of the system at any pace.
Out Of Development: Featuring gameplay finely tuned by a year and a half of development, a new layout, a manuscript edited by Marx Shepherd, and art by Galen Pejeau and Mykell Pledger!
Want a quick overview of a development build of the game? You can check out dragonkid11's excellent video here!
Or Aaron Voigt's great overview here:
Soundtrack
The official playlist of APOCALYPSE FRAME is below!
Influences
I was most influenced by:
LUMEN/LIGHT, clearly!
Xenoblade Chronicles X (parts of it, anyhow) had a ton of influence on the concept and prospective missions and enemies.
Armored Core was an inspiration for the speed of play and modularity of Frames, as well as the moment-to-moment feel in general.
Battletech gave me the idea of using hexes and lent some inspiration for how initial/canonical Frame loadouts are laid out.
XCOM was an unexpected and unintentional (but ultimately welcome) influence for campaign flow.
Other content available
Ballad of Industrial Gods, an expansive mission, is out now! You can check that out here!
The Infected World, a 4-part season of content about exploration and dealing with other people, has concluded and is available here!
Licenses
This game is Illuminated by LUMEN, based on the LUMEN RPG system designed by Spencer Campbell, Gila RPGs. This game is in no way affiliated with Spencer Campbell or Gila RPGs.