Another game inspired by Simon Stalenhag and created by Free League. On their site, the hardbound rulebook is selling for $48.48 and states it comes with a copy of the pdf which gets sent to you by an email from DTRPG with a link to download it. On DTRPG for just the pdf it is $24.99.
As to the setting, it’s an alternative 1997. Civil War started in the US in 1975 and ended in 1984 with a ceasefire. The US was basically torn apart, with new “nations” being created and even affecting how things are done in Canada and Mexico. And it isn’t just North America that is affected, but also the rest of the world. The world has become more isolationist and less globalist as countries don’t deal with each other more than they have to.
It’s part post-apocalyptic and part Matrix. Neuronics is a thing as are neuroscapes. One dons a neurocaster and gains access to a digital network that can be local or global, normal or bizarre. The main problem is the immersive nature of the neuroscapes is addictive and many have become so entrenched in the neuroscapes and the experience that they never unplug from the system and end up dying from dehydration or lack of food.
The main nation in the game (at least where you start and where the map is of) is Pacifica, formerly California. A decent sized map is included as an insert and can be used as a prop as needed. Dice rolls are going to be the same as Tales From the Loop: grab a couple d6 and try to roll a 6 on at least one of them.
Chapter 2 goes into the history of Pacifica, the events leading up to the civil war, and the reshaping of America and the world. Also included is information on the other nations in America and all the corporations that survived the apocalypse (my word, not the game’s).
Chapter 3 is character creation. There are 10 choices for your traveler, including: outsider, runaway kid, investigator, and artist. Tension is an interesting addition to the game. You have Tension 1 with one or two PCs and 0 with the others. Players discuss what that tension is and it’s something ever changing during the course of the Journey.
Chapter 4 is combat and neuronics. Combat is pretty straight forward and the concept and use (and dangers) of neuronics are fleshed out more.
Chapter 5 is all about the Journey, or Campaign. Instead of an “adventure” there is a “stop.” There aren’t a shortage of tables in the chapter to help create stops by either randomly picking or rolling a d6 or d66 (2d6 where one is “tens” and the other “ones”).
Chapter 6 talks about the different threats one can come across, such as: violent, personal, or past sins.
Chapter 7 is a sample Journey titled Into the Dust. There are 3 stops, each with a different objective to complete and advance the overall plot.
Chapter 8 is about solo play and how to navigate the rules.
Overall, it’s a pretty rich world and I have only scratched the surface of what there is (to the point that I don’t feel I really do it justice). There’s enough to do a number of different types of storylines. Free League have many other games out aside from this and Tales From the Loop that I don’t own but have played vicariously by way of YouTube actual plays. Two of the more well known games would be Blade Runner and Aliens.