Resist Cthulhu in punk rock inspired RPG, No Future, available at 50% off next month
Clash and burn.
Fight against Cthulhu and the state in the punk rock inspired RPG No Future, which will be available at a 50% discount next month.
Separated into two issues, No Future is an RPG zine - or a small-scale roleplaying game, often created as a result of a game jam event - set during the UK punk music scene of the 1970s. A period of social, political and economic upheaval, the 1970s gave rise to a roster of punk bands, such as The Clash and The Buzzcocks, who would become the foundation of the music genre for decades to come. No Future combines the anti-establishment and intense nature of ‘70s punk music with the ominous rise of an otherworldly threat, by having players face-off against Cthulhu-esque enemies.
Designed for two to six players, the rules-light RPG uses the Cthulhu Dark gameplay system created by Graham Walmsley and published by Pelgrane Press, which is designed to provide a more straightforward version of something like Trail of Cthulhu. No Future features two separate scenarios, both of which are centred around the 1970s UK punk scene being invaded by unknowable entities.
In No Future issue number 1, The Five Techniques, the players take the roles of members of a punk band who are travelling to Northern Island for a funeral of one of their previous band-members. In memory of their deceased friend, the players are set to play a gig in his home-town, however, strange goings-on nearby disrupt their plans. The Buried Queen awakens, stirring up even more conflict between the British Forces and the IRA Paramilitary - an organisation that sought the independence of Northern Ireland from the UK - and forcing each remaining band member to suffer through their own personal nightmares. Alongside the campaign scenario, players will also gain access to an original punk song composed and recorded for the RPG, called Eyes Wide Open.
The second issue for No Future is entitled Career Opportunities and has players turning up for a gig they’re planning to play in North London. Situated at an old house, the player characters discover that their venue was once the site of sinister experiments in indoctrinating young minds into becoming ‘productive’ members of British society. After meeting with their fellow punk bands and friends, the player characters explore their venue’s disturbing past, play their gig and suddenly find themselves pursued by the government as the new victims of their indoctrination scheme.
As well as the two scenarios outlined above, players can gain access to a supplementary rules collection designed to help them create and roleplay their characters called Creating Your Punk.
Update: This article previously stated that the No Future zine would be avaliable at a discount on DriveThruRPG, the zine will actually be discounted on itch.io - this has since been corrected.
No Future was co-designed by Tom McGrenery and Josh O’Connor, with the zine being published by Pent-Up Press. Throughout next month, the No Future zine will be set at a 50% discount on itch.io for an unofficial event called Zine Month, which is set to take place during the time that Kickstarter’s Zinequest would usually have happened, before it was delayed to August 2022.