5 Setting Details About Degenesis, The Primal Punk RPG

What happens when an art studio is looking for a product to sell, but decides to think outside the box? Degenesis! That’s what!

The German art studio SIXMOREVODKA (WARNING: link may be NSFW!!) decided that the best way to sell their art would be to attach it to a roleplaying game. Because if we’ve learned anything from Invisible Sun, it’s that hundreds of dollars for an RPG is not only a price your average gamer won’t balk at, but will in fact vehemently defend.

So for those of you willing to pay a premium for RPGs, I present to you for your reading pleasure: 5 Setting Details About Degenesis, The Primal Punk RPG!

1) Post Apocalypse World
Degenesis takes place 500 years into the future, after an incident involving meteors raining down on earth. The meteors were numerous and large enough to disrupt and destroy modern civilization, but not enough to wipe out humanity. This world comes complete with all the trappings one could expect from a post-apocalypse: societies have begun to rebuild, sometimes atop the ruins of the old world, sometimes by striking out on their own.

Despite humanity coming back together, fresh food and water can remain scarce, and for anybody who dares to brave the wastelands, the environment is very inhospitable. And of course, the inhospitable nature of the land can easily bring out the worst in people. Those brutal and violent people can quickly become jealous of the people living the high life in the cities, and seek to integrate themselves in the only way they know how. (Violence. The implication is violence.)

2) The New Threats To The World
Degenesis shares some characteristics with Fallout and Fist of the North Star: violent maniacs roaming the wastes, while under the earth’s surface, the ruins of the old world still harbor ancient machines capable of wondrous feats, or untold destruction. (Some of which may still be active, but out of control!)

However, Degenesis adds something else to post-apocalypse formula. A new species is seeking to claim the top spot of the food chain that humanity has held onto for so long. A fungus that they call Sepsis has emerged. It’s everywhere, and it’s absolutely sinister.

Sepsis propagates by infecting humans and other animals by releasing spores into the air. A brief exposure is not enough for somebody to worry about. However, past a certain point, Sepsis begins to take over the host’s mind, and fills them with thoughts of wanting to aid the propagation.

An easy task, when you consider that pods of the spores can be ruptured and inhaled for their hallucinogenic and narcotic properties. One of the ways that human society has managed to rebuild in this world, is through illicit trading of these spore pods to people desperate for some solace from the brutal reality of the world. Sepsis is more than willing to not only provide this feeling, but also to show those that are infected where they can find more.

The results of what happens when somebody “overdoses” is not pretty, by the way. Obviously, they become more fungus than man past that point, and no matter how much they may resemble their former selves, that person is long gone, and may as well be dead. (Last of Us fans, eat your heart out.)

3) Various Ways Society Has Managed To Rebuild
With the myriad problems and opportunities of this new world, and the countless generations that have been able to pass since the calamity, it’s no wonder that people have banded together around many different causes and ideologies. These are the Thirteen Cults; despite the modern connotation of the word “cult,” they aren’t necessarily religious in nature. (Though some certainly are.)


Here, cult uses its more classical definition, referring to the cultivation of an ideal. Such as the removal of Sepsis from the world, or using the ruins of the old world for the betterment of the new.

4) Numerous Conflicting And Coexisting Ideologies
The ideals of the cults are as varied as their methods. While two cults could share the same ideal, they may approach it in wildly different ways. For example, both the Spitlans and the Anabaptists wish to remove Sepsis from the world, but their philosophies are very different. The Spitlans are of a paramilitary groups of scientists and physicians, while the Anabaptists are a religious order of knights and farmers.

And their missions are often at odds with the Apocalyptics: globe trotting pirates who make their way in the broken world by getting people whatever it is they’re willing to pay for: including spore pods.

Meanwhile, there are also the Chroniclers, technology fetishists who seek to bring the old world technology back to its former glory, while also spying on all the other cults and playing them against one another to ensure the Chroniclers are left alone.

5) It’s Our Own World
The kicker of all this is that Degenesis takes place in our own world. The landmasses remain mostly the same, but, with the old world fargone, the political boundaries are little more than a formality. However, this means that contemporary media could make an appearance. Contemporary as in media that you, me, or my editor who has already read this, would be familiar with.

In fact, there’s a faction of the Clanner Cult (a catch all for any cult not large enough to be a global force) in the region of Franka called the Resistance that resides in what we would know as France. They’re the enemy of the Pheromancers, people who have given themselves over to Sepsis.

The Resistance have a fanatical devotion to classical French literature and visual art, which they use as a psychological defence mechanism against the temptations of Sepsis. For them, it is a reminder that humanity has their own culture, and their own things that can bring them together without the help of soul stealing fungus monsters.

This is all just scratching the surface. Degenesis is a very lore rich game; it’s initial release comes in two books, each breaking 300 pages in length. One covers the game’s setting and the other its mechanics.

Though with how intertwined the setting is with the mechanics, it’s a game for which you’ll spend quite a bit of time reading about the setting before you may feel comfortable making a character.

Assuming the artwork doesn’t scare you off, first!

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Aaron der Schaedel loves games with steep learning curves, be they because of lore or mechanical difficulties. (Though he prefers the latter.) He likes to break these games down for the benefit of other people on his YouTube Channel.

Picture Reference: https://www.geeknative.com/62768/degenesis-rpg/