Very little is known about the war itself, including why and exactly how it was fought. A total of 20,000 warheads were used, and the war began with a limited exchange between two Middle Eastern countries - Iran and Iraq. After the initial exchange, other nuclear-armed nations began their response; The end result was a massive global exchange of nuclear weaponry over a brief span of time.

In the days following the nuclear exchange, the planet was transformed into a toxic dust bowl. Massive amounts of irradiated material began circulating around the globe, spreading throughout the atmosphere and blocking out the sun; the result was nuclear winter. The inability of plant life to maintain photosynthesis, coupled with severe radiation lead to the destabilization of the food chain, and the extinction or mutation of all plant and animal life. These changes in the Earth's biosphere lead to the surface air being unsuitable for human life. 20 years after the war, many areas are still irradiated, some so severely that only a few minutes' exposure is lethal. Only a few billion people survived the initial exchange, but given the surface conditions, most died shortly after due to radiation exposure or starvation, or may even have become Dark Ones.

The fate of the rest of the planet is unknown after the exchange. While the southern hemisphere of the globe was largely untouched by warheads, the infrastructure of every major nation was devastated, making the damage impossible to repair and leading to the collapse of all global superpowers.

This is the ultimate test of survival and will. This is... The Metro.


*This is a GURPS game.