BROKEN EARTH

WORLD PREMISE

Five years ago, the world ended quietly.

It started with The Dim Event — every electronic device worldwide shut down simultaneously. Cars, planes, satellites, medical equipment, grids… everything went dark. Within 72 hours, society collapsed.

Then the supernatural began leaking in.

• People started hearing whispers when alone.
• Shadows moved where light should fix them.
• Certain survivors gained strange “side effects”: hallucinations, enhanced senses, prophetic dreams, or worse.
• The dead didn’t always stay dead.
• Creatures that shouldn’t exist roam abandoned cities.

No one knows why the Dim happened. Some say the world overlapped with another dimension. Others blame government experiments. Religious groups swear it’s the end times. No explanation matches everything.

Humanity now lives in walled settlements, scavenging ruins and avoiding the dark.

Tone:

• Harsh survival
• Psychological horror
• Paranoia
• Realistic human conflict
• Supernatural elements that feel wrong, not heroic

1. The Scrapper

Background: Mechanic, scavenger, ex-con

Strengths: Improvised weapons, trap-making, metalwork

Supernatural Twist: Can “feel” nearby machinery even though none works normally

2. The Watcher

Background: Journalist, conspiracy theorist, investigator

Strengths: Perception, tracking, interrogation

Twist: Sees shapes in reflective surfaces before they appear in reality

3. The Relic

Background: Ex-soldier, paramedic, firefighter

Strengths: Combat, tactics, survival training

Twist: Doesn’t sleep — something else dreams in their place

4. The Echo

Background: Psych patient, cult survivor, trauma victim

Strengths: Instinctive awareness, uncanny luck

Twist: Hears voices that provide warnings… usually

The Hollow

Humanoid shapes with no features, drawn to emotion and sound. They try to “copy” survivors but poorly.

Glass-Eyed Animals

Dogs, deer, birds — their eyes reflect no light. They behave… intelligently.

The Murmurs

Invisible entities that influence thoughts. Make people violent or despondent.

Dim Children

Rare. Survivors twisted by the Event. Can manipulate shadows, illusions, or people's memories — but deteriorate mentally.

The Lantern Commune

A peaceful settlement obsessed with light. They keep generators running 24/7. Terrified of the dark. Rumor: Their leader hasn’t blinked in months.

2. Blackwater Regiment

Remnants of special forces. Militaristic, strict, effective. But some members can’t be trusted — too many have returned from patrols “changed.”

3. The Arcanum

A cult claiming the Dim was a “correction.” Their rituals actually work sometimes.

4. Free Wanders

Nomadic survivors who know hidden supply caches and avoid supernatural areas. They are terrified of a place called The Signal Pit but won’t say why.

Something is trying to break fully into our world. The Dim was just the moment the door cracked open.

Every supernatural event is a symptom.

The players will discover clues that point to:

A hidden government facility researching dimensional physics

An electromagnetic anomaly beneath a major city

A cult performing rituals to “welcome the new world”

Survivors showing signs of not being entirely human anymore

A countdown to a Second Dim, which might finish the job