Play the hero Play the spy Play the punk

The MADpunk Divergence

Sarajevo, 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand miraculously survives the assassination attempt and later becomes Emperor. The Great War never begins. Europe’s old empires endure, trapped in an uneasy armed peace and terrified of falling behind. For twenty-five years, they pour unimaginable wealth into military science, industry and technology, driving a second industrial revolution built for war. When World War finally erupts in 1939, it is fought with monstrous machines and firepower beyond imagination.

The war ends in atomic fire. Eight nuclear bombs devastate Berlin and the surrounding region, creating the radioactive scar that will become the Dead Zone. Europe’s old empires collapse. From their ruins emerge two new Hyperpowers.

In the West, the Free Fatherlands of Nova Columbia build a fiercely capitalist society powered by atomic energy, minimal government and immense corporate influence. Freedom, consumption and technological optimism become the promise of a new American Dream.

In the East, the revolutionary republics unite under the International Union of Revolutionary Republics, forging a communist superpower through industry, machinery and collective ambition. Soon enough, they build their own nuclear arsenal too.

MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION. The Cold War begins.

The FNC and the Blue Bloc

From the collapse of the old United States rise the Free Fatherlands of Nova Columbia, the world’s first great atomic power — a fiercely capitalist federation built on minimal government and immense corporate influence. Private companies assume many of the functions once reserved for the state, while prosperity, consumption and individual success become pillars of a new American Dream. Freedom is elevated into a national ideal, and Nova Columbia presents itself as proof that enterprise can build a better world. As its influence expands abroad, allied nations gather around it, forming the First World — increasingly known as the Blue Bloc.

Everyman heroes

The Everymen are the living heroes of the Nova Columbian Dream. The first was Liberty Vance, an ordinary factory worker transformed by radiation whose extraordinary strength helped LUME — the Labor Union of Managers and Entrepreneurs — overthrow the old government and pave the way for the Free Fatherlands. His image, “just an everyman,” became powerful propaganda: proof that an ordinary citizen could become extraordinary.

During the Great War, the name Everyman was extended to celebrated patriotic heroes. Years later, the Evolutionary Defense Office, working through Nobel & Midland Chemicals, learned to manufacture real superhumans through controlled radiation. Today, Everymen are heroes, celebrities and weapons of state power — living embodiments of freedom, individual greatness and the American Dream.

Second Men spies

The Second-Men are the elite of Nova Columbian espionage. Created after the FNC failed to foresee the development of weapons of mass destruction by its revolutionary rival, they are the best agents the Free Fatherlands can produce — trained in languages, combat, weapons, stealth, subterfuge, diplomacy and history, and equipped with the most advanced technology available, including EVERYMAN capsules. Their operational imperative is absolute: stop the Apocalypse at any cost.

Vol’framin

The Vol’framin are the atomic heroes of the Union — highly trained specialists selected for their unusual resistance to radiation and certified by the Atomic Academy to operate Core technology. The Core, one of the IURR’s greatest achievements, is a miniature nuclear reactor powerful enough to drive giant Mechas, Combat Suits and mechanical implants such as those of the Chelovenchiki — the Tin Men.

To survive prolonged exposure, Vol’framin follow the Tungsten Protocol: a strict combination of protective equipment, technical procedures and supplements — including the tungsten-powder pills from which they take their name. Even so, their lives are usually short and intense, spent mastering the Union’s most dangerous technology in service of the Communist Dream.

Sparrows

The Sparrows are the IURR’s most extraordinary spies — rare individuals trained by the Palace of Sparrows to exploit psychotronic abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, premonition and mind control. They are deployed against the Union’s most important targets, where infiltration and manipulation matter more than brute force.

Behind them stands the VKKB, the Union’s vast counterintelligence and security apparatus. Through the Palace, its Experts use hypnosis, altered memories and subconscious commands to create double agents — sometimes from ordinary civilians who never realize they have been recruited. This hidden network, in which many agents do not even know whom they serve, has made IURR espionage one of the most extensive forces in the Cold War.

Agencies & Institutions

Behind every government, treaty and crisis stands an institution trying to shape the outcome. Intelligence services, scientific institutes, international organizations and corporate agencies gather secrets, develop forbidden technologies and conduct operations that never reach the public eye.

From the VKKB and the Atomic Academy to the IIAS, EDO and countless classified programs, these organizations form the hidden machinery of the Cold War. Some protect the balance. Others are quietly trying to break it.

Unaffiliated groups

Not every force in the Cold War answers to a government. Terrorist, revolutionary cells, mercenaries, smugglers, clandestine networks and independent groups operate between the great blocs — pursuing ideology, profit, survival or simply their own agendas.

Some fight the Hyperpowers. Some work for them. Others sell their loyalty to the highest bidder. From the Dutchmen to the Berlin Guild and other unaffiliated groups, these actors thrive in the spaces where states lose control.

Hot zones

Some places matter far beyond their borders. Neutral capitals, free cities, fortress ports, atomic test sites and territories scarred by war have become pressure points in the global struggle between the Hyperpowers.

The District of Light in Tokyo, Bern, the free city of Cadiz, Bikairé, Jabal Alasid, Villa Esperanza and the Dead Zone each concentrate their own mix of espionage, political tension, hidden agendas and opportunity.

Figures of power

The Cold War is not shaped by nations alone. Generals, spymasters, scientists, oligarchs, industrialists and political operators can alter the balance of power through a single decision, secret or betrayal.

Some command armies. Others control intelligence networks, scientific programs, industrial empires or vast fortunes. Their decisions shape alliances, trigger crises and alter the course of the Cold War.

MADpunk is built for espionage and action, dangerous choices and consequences that can reach far beyond the mission. Characters are capable, but never invulnerable; power is tempting and violence is risky.

The Field Manual brings together the complete rules and the tools to run the game: actions, conflicts, powers and consequences. Everything you need to bring a retrofuturistic Cold War to the table.

Thrilling role-play

MADpunk combines dice rolls to resolve actions with poker hands for skill challenges and contests. The Agents’ abilities, their decisions and chance bring tension and excitement to the table.

Mutations, nuclear machinery and psychotronic abilities each have their own rules, resources and risks. Power comes with weaknesses, dependencies or a physical cost. Lasting injuries and radiation are built into the rules: surviving a confrontation does not mean walking away unscathed.

Handling agents

The Handler, MADpunk’s game master, sets the scene, applies pressure and keeps the world moving while the Agents decide how to act. The Handler reacts, keeps consequences coherent and adjusts the mission as the table evolves.

The Doomsday Clock is one of the key tools: actions, failures, victories and outside events can move the world closer to — or further from — Midnight, turning player choices into consequences that reach far beyond the immediate mission.

In MADpunk, Agents are the player characters — heroes, spies, smugglers, soldiers, magnates, scientists or almost anything else you can imagine. There are no character classes forcing you into a predefined role.

You build your Agent from who they are and what they have lived: age, background, profession, allegiance, skills, strengths, flaws and equipment. The system gives you the freedom to combine them into the character you want to play.

Choose your allegiance

Your allegiance shapes what your Agent can access — and what is expected in return. Serving the Blue Bloc or the Red Bloc can open the door to powerful technology, training, contacts and extraordinary abilities, but it also brings duties, scrutiny and limits on how freely you can act.

You can also stand outside the Hyperpowers: join an unaffiliated group, become a deserter or double agent, or remain completely independent. You may have fewer resources and less raw power, but far more freedom.

In MADpunk sometimes surviving on your wits is more useful than having the biggest power in the room.

Define your edge

Every Agent is defined by a combination of Fundamental Characteristics, Skills and Traits. Characteristics describe their core capabilities; Skills reflect training and experience; Traits are a combination of Advantages and Disadvantages that introduce strengths, weaknesses and complications that make each character unique.

None of this is locked at creation. Skills can improve through Experience, Characteristics can change through Modifiers and Events, and new strengths, weaknesses and consequences can emerge during play.

Your Agent will develop with the story rather than following a predetermined progression path.

Equip yourself

Gear can be almost anything: a weapon, a vehicle, a piece of armor, a surveillance device, an experimental tool or a machine powered by a Core. What you carry can expand what your Agent is capable of — sometimes as much as their own Skills or Traits.

Some equipment is common. Other Gear is rare, experimental, restricted or tied to a particular allegiance. Choosing what you have access to is another part of defining how your Agent approaches a mission.

Create your agent

Imagine who you want to be in MADpunk. Hero or villain. Loyal or treacherous. Ruthless, charming, brilliant, reckless — there is no predefined path and no single right way to build a character.

Freedom does not mean perfection. Strengths come with weaknesses, extraordinary abilities with limitations, and powerful allegiances with obligations. Build someone capable, flawed and entirely your own.

Then step into a retrofuturistic Cold War and discover who your Agent becomes. Experience, choices, relationships, injuries and consequences will keep shaping the character as the story unfolds.

In MADpunk, a Mission is the situation that brings the Agents into play.

The Handler — MADpunk’s game master — defines the objective, the forces involved, the pressure and what is at stake. From there, the players decide how to approach it: through espionage, negotiation, deception, careful planning or direct action.

Agents may cooperate, pursue different agendas or even serve opposing interests. There is rarely a single path to the objective, and what happens along the way can matter as much as whether the Mission succeeds or fails.

Mission: Plan R, for Romeo

Coming soon

Mission: The Broker

Coming soon

Mission: The Great Mutant Escape

Coming soon

Crowdfunding special: The Network Vol. I

A crowdfunding-exclusive collection of selected Community Chronicles (short stories only), Missions and Concept art.

Selected creators will be fully credited and will share in the proceeds from the book.

All submissions must follow the MADpunk community license.