Terminator Terror III

The war against Skynet and its rise focuses on three time periods. The first is the morning in America of Ronald Reagan’s nineteen eighties as Kyle Reese tries to protect Sarah Connor, whilst the second is the New World Order of Bill Clinton’s nineteen nineties as the rogue T-800 tries to protect her and her son, John, as well as target the Cyberdyne Systems Corporation. The third is the Dark Future of the twenty-twenties and beyond, as John Connor leads the Resistance against the robotic forces of Skynet in a post-apocalyptic future decades after Judgement Day. These periods have been explored in the campaign, The Terminator RPG: Campaign Book and Terminator 2: Judgment Day – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG for The Terminator RPG from Nightfall Games. Yet there is a fourth period, one which has not been explored in the roleplaying game to date, that of the years following August 29th, 1997—Judgement Day. This is a period when mankind finds itself reeling from the nuclear strikes from both the USA and Russia, from the disintegration of society and collapse of civilisation, from the years of nuclear winter that followed, and eventually, from the realisation that what had been really responsible, had not been the various nation’s governments, but the machines they had put in charge, machines that were hunting them, killing them, herding them, and ultimately, attempting to manipulate the timeline that ensure the survival of Skynet.

The Terminator RPG: Resist! – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG is a slim supplement that explores the years leading up to Judgement Day and the opening years of the Dark Future. This is not wholly confined to the USA and Russia, for it also explores the fates of numerous countries and the histories of the numerous Resistance forces that rose from the ashes, and in doing so, it visits some unexpected locations. Plus, in addition to exploring the rise of MIR and the Resistance in Russia, the supplement provides rules for creating Spetsnaz Player Characters and describes the equipment used by the Spetsnaz and the Russian Technocratic Union, the machinery fielded by MIR, and Skynet’s early assets that crept out onto the battlefield. Lastly, there are rules for survival and scavenging for survivors picking over the bones of the civilisation that once was. Depictions of this Dark Future in The Terminator franchise, right from the opening moment in The Terminator when the foot of a T-800 steps on and crushes the skull of one poor victim amongst a pile of skulls, have always been grim. Make no mistake, the depiction of this Dark Future in The Terminator RPG: Resist! is equally grim.

The supplement opens with a dismantling of the nuclear doctrine that arose with the involvement of Skynet as third, if secret, antagonist. So Mutually Assured Destruction is no longer a deterrent, military and industrial targets are no longer a priority, and of course, it is no longer an exchange of fire between East and West because Skynet and MIR have thoroughly penetrated the command-and-control networks. The latter means that missiles are being fired at targets within their own country of origin; that Skynet targets sites where biological and chemical weapons are stored—including gaining control of the Centre for Disease Control in the USA; and then using the means and protocols for handling disasters, such as those established by FEMA in the USA, to effectively herd survivors and disaster management teams together and then specifically target them! Beyond these Dark Years, this desire to control continues as Skynet begins fielding Hunter Killer units and the first Terminators that herd the survivors into camps. Parallel to this, John Connor remains in hiding, often with many other survivors covering for him, but making broadcasts that begin to spread the truth about the threat that many survivors as yet remain truly unaware of…

Also discussed are the groups that do survive, some surprising, some not. Of course, the Doomsday Preppers and the Militias, though their individualistic streaks mean they are ill suited to co-operation when the Resistance begins building networks. The Mormons are better prepared to survive, but not to face the raiders, whilst the isolated nature of the Amish, Indigenous, and similar communities mean they are all but ignored by Skynet and often build nations that would survive beyond the Dark Years. US survivors would also flee north and south. In Mexico, this would trigger the Second Mexican-American War, which ultimately leave the country in the hands of the drug cartels who had transformed themselves into feudal war and slave lords, whilst in Canada, the survivors have been firmly driven out of the cities and the oil fields of northern Alberta turned into a hellhole supplying Skynet with petroleum resources.

As damaged by Judgement Day and what followed next as much as North America, the situation in Russia is different because there is not one single controlling A.I., but several, each one a separate node of MIR with a different attitude towards humanity, and also towards Skynet. This includes nodes which actively favour humanity, others that manipulate it, and some which want to destroy it, and like some Soviet-era collective, the nodes do not always agree on what action to take. So, there is likely to be a more erratic overarching feel to any campaign set in Russia, whilst still being organised on the ground with the rise of the Russian Technical Union, which claims, but does not hold all of the territory that was once the Warsaw Pact. The background, politics, and capabilities of the Russian Technical Union are backed up with the means to create Spetsnaz Player Characters. They are much more of an organised military than the Resistance in North America, and to reflect that, Spetsnaz Player Characters receive extra training represented with Supplemental Training Plans, including ‘Contact and Outreach’, ‘Long Range Reconnaissance’, ‘Refugee Support Training’, ‘Repair and Salvage Operations’, and ‘Opposition Sabotage’.

Details of what happened in the wake of Judgement Day for several other countries are also given. France managed to hold out initially due to the fact that its military infrastructure was not tied to Skynet via NATO, but eventually biological warfare followed by direct assault with Hunter Killer units from England via the Channel Tunnel saw first Calais captured and then the rest of France. What remains of any resistance in Germany hides out in the dungeons below the ruins of Castle Drachenfels(!), its leader rejecting contact with the American Resistance and blaming John Connor for Judgement Day.


The future of the United Kingdom—or the ‘Dis-United Kingdom’—is also detailed. In some ways, this feels the most traditional of post-apocalyptic futures in The Terminator RPG: Resist! in that the government is re-established in Birmingham following the destruction of London and Manchester. A chemical gas attack by Skynet followed by attacks by Hunter Killer tanks forced the survivors to flee west, first through Wolverhampton, and then where Brummies traditionally went on holiday—Wales. The survivors of the United Kingdom have fled where they always have when invaded—into the fringes of the country. The survivors in Scotland are cut off from the rest of the country the irradiated Lowlands, whilst in Wales, the survivors reopened, hid in, and expanded the country’s old coal mines. The resistance is a combination of remnants of the British Army, Welsh nationalists, and surviving elements of the IRA, with the frontlines being the fringes of Birmingham. Called Glyndwr, the slightly fractious resistance has one secret weapon—the Welsh language!

Perhaps the most interesting countries detailed are Ghana and the Philippines. Although West Africa was scarred by the effects of Judgement Day, it was not specifically targeted by Skynet. It took a decade for the region to begin to recover and be targeted by the machines. Skynet has occupied Ghana’s Volta region for its hydroelectric plant and begun strip-mining the region for its resources. In response, the West African Coalition of former states in the region, originally established to provide humanitarian aid, has transformed into a resistance movement. Communication between the resistance groups is maintained by Runners who carry messages and distribute information. This is the basis for a different type of campaign, focusing on the Runners and their movement and journeys. The Athletics, Endurance, and Stealth skills are strongly recommended for Player Character Runners, as are language skills given that some ninety are spoken in the region, but they can be anything beyond that. To this are the new skill, ‘Lore: Region’ and new Traits, ‘Forced March’ and ‘Regional Polyglot’. The latter enables a Player Character to better learn and understand the numerous languages in a region. That said, a list of some of the languages spoken in the region would have been useful, but the Director will definitely want to do more research for any campaign run in the region, and that would include languages.

In the Philippines, the hope for survival is tied to the Pag-asa, literally ‘hope’ in Tagalog. The Pag-asa is actually a former Ohio-Class submarine about to be decommissioned when Judgement Day occurred and since it was not armed with nuclear missiles, overlooked by Skynet. Instead of returning to fight and likely die for the USA, the crew elected to support the Philippines and now it spearheads the Resistance all across southeast Asia. Similar treatments are given for Oceania, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, as well as Central and South America. These are broader treatments, and not quite as interesting as the write-ups of the other countries.

Besides expanding the setting of The Terminator RPG into an immediately dark and nasty era, The Terminator RPG: Resist! provides rules and mechanics for prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs and for surviving in the wastelands of the Dark Years and beyond. These cover scavenging, the use of toolkits, finding ammunition from bullets to bombs, armour and clothing, and more. It includes the finding and fixing up of a dwelling, especially in the face of apocalyptic weather, and notes on foraging and hunting in the deadly new era. In terms of support, descriptions and stats are provided for Skynet’s early war forces, such as the RTAV Robotic Tracked Attack Vehicle and the RV-12 Dart Microdrone. Also given are Skynet’s post-millennial forces, such as the Cyberdyne Systems Series 100 Robotic Infantry Unit, and the forces of MIR and some of the equipment field by the Spetsnaz.

Physically, The Terminator RPG: Resist! – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG is a good-looking book. The artwork is excellent and the layout clean and tidy. However, the book does need an edit in places and feels slightly rushed.

The Terminator RPG: Resist! – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG is a slim book and perhaps a few more pages could have been included to round out its content with some scenario hooks or campaign outlines or something similar. More so for the descriptions of less familiar places such as Ghana or the Philippines, which would make their details easier for the Director to use and develop. Nevertheless, there is a lot of good content in The Terminator RPG: Resist! – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG, expanding the scope of The Terminator RPG in both interesting new regions and theatres of action and a truly horrifying and grim period of the setting’s future. It would be interesting to see actual campaign content for all of these new settings, but The Terminator RPG: Resist! – A Sourcebook for The Terminator RPG provides a very scary starting point for the Director to develop her own scenarios.