This seems like really basic information, but has the year of the cataclysm and the year of the formation of the Imperium ever been stated? I wasn’t able to find it either in the quickstart rules or by doing a general search.
The quickstart states it’s year 847 of the Imperium, so was the Imperium founded 847 years ago? When did the cataclysm happen?
For some (probably foolish) reason I’m assuming the Cataclysm was Year 0…
It was just long enough ago that finding someone who knows how good it used to be is rare; as with any bad event in a noir game world history.
I run it like the Cataclysm resulted in the formation of the Imperium? I just really dig that idea.
IIRC, John Harper had a World of Dungeons group. That party had a wizard. That wizard had a dagger. That dagger broke the gates of death, caused the cataclysm that ended the campaign and gave birth to the BitD setting. Fast forward from that cataclysm and if you assume that the Wizard is now the immortal emperor. I wonder how long it took him to ascend?
The setting information in the quickstart states that “It is the year 847 of the Imperium which united the shattered islands of the cataclysm under one rule”.
So yes, the imperium was officially founded 847 years ago, and the cataclysm happened before that.
I think John Harper mentioned somewhere that the cataclysm happened a thousand years ago and that both the Emperor and Lord Scurlock know the world from before.
But let’s face it: the average scoundrel is hardly interested in this kind of stuff. There isn’t really a reason to flesh it out, unless you want to play a “Save the World” D&D campaign 🙂
Maybe the “Broken Crown” playset will provide this kind of background information.