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Apocalisse - John's Guide to the Armageddon 5e
260 pages, Hardcover
Published October 31, 2024
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September 7, 2025
Introduction
This is a game setting that is inspired by the Book of Revelation and uses the 5e game mechanics. It is a setting that I was very interested in and I was happy to back it (and this accompanying setting inspired by Dante’s Inferno) when it was announced on Kickstarter. This book is a mix of a player’s guide and a Guide’s (gamemaster) guide. There is a brief history of the End Times as described in the Book of Revelation, several sections on creating characters for the End Times (referred to as the Apocalisse), setting information, adventure ideas, a selection of Apocalyptic Relics (i.e. magical items) and a sample adventure.
Character Creation
There are about 100 pages (of a 257-page book) dedicated to character creation options for the setting. Players first choose an origin (which is in place of your traditional Race option) for their characters and each choice. Did your character survive the destruction of the Old World, were they born after the Old World’s destruction. Perhaps they were reborn after being brought back to life after existing in Hell of Heaven. Each of these options provides Ability Score Increases, Skill Proficiency, starting equipment and additional talents/abilities.
Characters also start with a Sin and a Virtue. Each Virtue will provide advantage on a certain saving throw and resistance to a certain damage type. For example, choosing the Fortitude Virtue gives a character advantage on Strength or Constitution saving throws and resistance to force damage. Sins provide a roleplaying guide based on the sin and have situational bonuses, for example Envy gives a character advantage on saving throws to resist or end the Blinded and deafened conditions, but your Envy would cause some roleplaying complications in situations where your character feels slighted or deals with people that they believed have more than themselves.
There are several Apocalyptic Archetypes, one for each standard class. All are themed around the end times, with powers/abilities to match. Some work better than others, for example, the Paladin of End of the World has an intriguing background, but I found their powers/abilities to be rather weak and when compared to the standard Paladin options (their Paladin Aura was disappointing in my opinion). Likewise, the Wormwood Specter (Rogue) also had some cool lore but some of their abilities were not that great or posed as a hinderance to both the enemy and the character’s allies that I thought their use might be limited. I did like the Furioso (Warrior), a giant sword-wielding fighter wearing little to no armor that could wade into foes and unleash destruction and death, and the Monk of the Seven Seals (which had art that reminded me of Kenshiro from “Fist of the North Star,” but with different powers), who provides a lot of different damage options. All of them were very fitting for the setting and overall, I liked the options presented.
Marks are another option for characters. Each of the three main factions in the setting, the Lord, the Beast and Enoch (a third faction based in the city of Babilona that is interested in the survival freedom of humanity away from the influence and power of the other two factions) has a Mark that it can grant to its greatest of champions/agents. These are not automatically given, and characters must take on quests to prove their worth to gain a Mark. A Mark displays a character’s allegiance to a faction and provides a game mechanic, called Mark die, that can be used a limited number of times before being restored by a Long Rest, that provides a bonus die to a roll. The types of rolls that can be adjusted by a Mark are based on the Mark (example, a Mark of the Lord allows a character to spend a Mark die to provide a bonus on an ally’s attack roll). This die starts as a d4 and increases up to a d12 based on a character’s level. It works like an Exploding Die mechanic where if the max result is rolled on a die, you can keep rolling, but if the first Mark die (and only the first) rolls a “1” then that number is not added to the roll and the character must roll the die again and consult a chart for a Fatal Retribution. Each Mark has its own chart, and the results are all bad, with the higher the number (like rolling a “12” on a d12) the worse the Retribution is.
The Setting
The setting section offers short briefings on the various domains and areas that the player characters might adventure with short sections on locations of note. Each domain section also contains a d12 random encounter table and, if applicable, rules for surviving and navigating an area. There are domain descriptions for each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (who have all been released and have taken claim to areas around the Plains of Armageddon), the Abyss (where the Adversary’s forces are based), the Throne (where the Lord’s forces are based), Babilona, the Plains of Armageddon, a few others. If you have Acheron’s Dante’s Inferno setting, this book provides ideas to incorporate that setting into this one for further adventure ideas. Each of the main locales have great two-page maps that note areas of interest.
Apocalyptic Relics
This section offers thirty-seven relics (magical items). You could also incorporate those in Acheron’s Dante’s Inferno setting. You’ll find notable items like the Ark of the Covenant, the spear that pierced Jesus’ side (the Lance of Longius) and Horseman of Death’s personal weapon, Death’s Scythe. All are accompanied by great illustrations. Some have unique and setting appropriate rules and I believe that all are great offerings for this setting and non-Apocallise settings. I will admit that I was a little underwhelmed by the powers of some of the more powerful artifacts, such as the Sword of the Taxiarch (the Archangel Mikhael’s personal weapon) and the weapons of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These had great standard powers/bonuses, but their once a day powers seemed too limited. Why only once a day? Why not use limited to proficiency bonus or some other mechanic. Just seems odd to me that a character (or Archangel Mikhael) is involved in some epic end of the world battle against thousand, millions, trillons? of foes and that’s all the sword has for laying waste to the masses of enemies. I’m sure this was deliberately done to tone down some power creep or create a sense of balance, but we are talking about some major powerful (un)holy relics here, so I think going near-Infinity Gauntlet level on some of these would be appropriate.
Making Adventures
The section of making adventures contains some decent ideas on how to make adventures for this setting, which leans more towards post-apocalyptic rather than traditional fantasy settings. The default setting takes place twenty years after the Seven Seals have been opened and all the survivors and factions are preparing for the final battle of the End Times to come. It offers some quest ideas that are neutral or faction specific and includes some named non-player characts that could be introduced. The included adventure only takes up 13-pages of the book and it’s not bad, but not spectacular either; I think it’s an average find and grab adventure that introduces the setting to give players a feel for what they are getting into.
Summary
Overall, I liked what this book has to offer. The way the lore influences the character options and the setting is prominent. The art is amazing and there is a lot to provide inspiration. I will admit that I was disappointed that there was not a section to outline if a campaign was to progress through the various calamities as each Seal was opened or notes on running a campaign after a certain number of Seals were opened. I thought that having a campaign where player characters went through the opening of the first Seal (or maybe started after additional Seals were opened), and the decisions and actions to survive the destruction of the known world and how that progressed would be a dark, but interesting concept. Someone versed in Book of Revelation, or using the content in this book, could probably come up with this and take some creative liberty to flesh out some of the undefined parts.
This is a game setting that is inspired by the Book of Revelation and uses the 5e game mechanics. It is a setting that I was very interested in and I was happy to back it (and this accompanying setting inspired by Dante’s Inferno) when it was announced on Kickstarter. This book is a mix of a player’s guide and a Guide’s (gamemaster) guide. There is a brief history of the End Times as described in the Book of Revelation, several sections on creating characters for the End Times (referred to as the Apocalisse), setting information, adventure ideas, a selection of Apocalyptic Relics (i.e. magical items) and a sample adventure.
Character Creation
There are about 100 pages (of a 257-page book) dedicated to character creation options for the setting. Players first choose an origin (which is in place of your traditional Race option) for their characters and each choice. Did your character survive the destruction of the Old World, were they born after the Old World’s destruction. Perhaps they were reborn after being brought back to life after existing in Hell of Heaven. Each of these options provides Ability Score Increases, Skill Proficiency, starting equipment and additional talents/abilities.
Characters also start with a Sin and a Virtue. Each Virtue will provide advantage on a certain saving throw and resistance to a certain damage type. For example, choosing the Fortitude Virtue gives a character advantage on Strength or Constitution saving throws and resistance to force damage. Sins provide a roleplaying guide based on the sin and have situational bonuses, for example Envy gives a character advantage on saving throws to resist or end the Blinded and deafened conditions, but your Envy would cause some roleplaying complications in situations where your character feels slighted or deals with people that they believed have more than themselves.
There are several Apocalyptic Archetypes, one for each standard class. All are themed around the end times, with powers/abilities to match. Some work better than others, for example, the Paladin of End of the World has an intriguing background, but I found their powers/abilities to be rather weak and when compared to the standard Paladin options (their Paladin Aura was disappointing in my opinion). Likewise, the Wormwood Specter (Rogue) also had some cool lore but some of their abilities were not that great or posed as a hinderance to both the enemy and the character’s allies that I thought their use might be limited. I did like the Furioso (Warrior), a giant sword-wielding fighter wearing little to no armor that could wade into foes and unleash destruction and death, and the Monk of the Seven Seals (which had art that reminded me of Kenshiro from “Fist of the North Star,” but with different powers), who provides a lot of different damage options. All of them were very fitting for the setting and overall, I liked the options presented.
Marks are another option for characters. Each of the three main factions in the setting, the Lord, the Beast and Enoch (a third faction based in the city of Babilona that is interested in the survival freedom of humanity away from the influence and power of the other two factions) has a Mark that it can grant to its greatest of champions/agents. These are not automatically given, and characters must take on quests to prove their worth to gain a Mark. A Mark displays a character’s allegiance to a faction and provides a game mechanic, called Mark die, that can be used a limited number of times before being restored by a Long Rest, that provides a bonus die to a roll. The types of rolls that can be adjusted by a Mark are based on the Mark (example, a Mark of the Lord allows a character to spend a Mark die to provide a bonus on an ally’s attack roll). This die starts as a d4 and increases up to a d12 based on a character’s level. It works like an Exploding Die mechanic where if the max result is rolled on a die, you can keep rolling, but if the first Mark die (and only the first) rolls a “1” then that number is not added to the roll and the character must roll the die again and consult a chart for a Fatal Retribution. Each Mark has its own chart, and the results are all bad, with the higher the number (like rolling a “12” on a d12) the worse the Retribution is.
The Setting
The setting section offers short briefings on the various domains and areas that the player characters might adventure with short sections on locations of note. Each domain section also contains a d12 random encounter table and, if applicable, rules for surviving and navigating an area. There are domain descriptions for each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (who have all been released and have taken claim to areas around the Plains of Armageddon), the Abyss (where the Adversary’s forces are based), the Throne (where the Lord’s forces are based), Babilona, the Plains of Armageddon, a few others. If you have Acheron’s Dante’s Inferno setting, this book provides ideas to incorporate that setting into this one for further adventure ideas. Each of the main locales have great two-page maps that note areas of interest.
Apocalyptic Relics
This section offers thirty-seven relics (magical items). You could also incorporate those in Acheron’s Dante’s Inferno setting. You’ll find notable items like the Ark of the Covenant, the spear that pierced Jesus’ side (the Lance of Longius) and Horseman of Death’s personal weapon, Death’s Scythe. All are accompanied by great illustrations. Some have unique and setting appropriate rules and I believe that all are great offerings for this setting and non-Apocallise settings. I will admit that I was a little underwhelmed by the powers of some of the more powerful artifacts, such as the Sword of the Taxiarch (the Archangel Mikhael’s personal weapon) and the weapons of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These had great standard powers/bonuses, but their once a day powers seemed too limited. Why only once a day? Why not use limited to proficiency bonus or some other mechanic. Just seems odd to me that a character (or Archangel Mikhael) is involved in some epic end of the world battle against thousand, millions, trillons? of foes and that’s all the sword has for laying waste to the masses of enemies. I’m sure this was deliberately done to tone down some power creep or create a sense of balance, but we are talking about some major powerful (un)holy relics here, so I think going near-Infinity Gauntlet level on some of these would be appropriate.
Making Adventures
The section of making adventures contains some decent ideas on how to make adventures for this setting, which leans more towards post-apocalyptic rather than traditional fantasy settings. The default setting takes place twenty years after the Seven Seals have been opened and all the survivors and factions are preparing for the final battle of the End Times to come. It offers some quest ideas that are neutral or faction specific and includes some named non-player characts that could be introduced. The included adventure only takes up 13-pages of the book and it’s not bad, but not spectacular either; I think it’s an average find and grab adventure that introduces the setting to give players a feel for what they are getting into.
Summary
Overall, I liked what this book has to offer. The way the lore influences the character options and the setting is prominent. The art is amazing and there is a lot to provide inspiration. I will admit that I was disappointed that there was not a section to outline if a campaign was to progress through the various calamities as each Seal was opened or notes on running a campaign after a certain number of Seals were opened. I thought that having a campaign where player characters went through the opening of the first Seal (or maybe started after additional Seals were opened), and the decisions and actions to survive the destruction of the known world and how that progressed would be a dark, but interesting concept. Someone versed in Book of Revelation, or using the content in this book, could probably come up with this and take some creative liberty to flesh out some of the undefined parts.
December 30, 2025
The dedicated authors created a DnD setting out of the book of Revelation. It’s a brilliant idea and has my imagination running. I doubt I’ll ever get to play in this setting, but I want to read everything about it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews