Battlelands Trailer Reveals Aftermath's Playable Factions and Taser Raccoons

Plaid Hat Games is building a brand new world for players to get lost in with Aftermath, their new adventure book game coming later this year. You'll be playing the role of hero faction The Hoodies in that adventure, but they are also releasing a card-based game called Battlelands, which will allow you to play as any of Aftermath's 5 factions. Now we've got more details regarding each of those factions thanks to a new trailer featuring Aftermath and Battlelands Game Designer Jerry Hawthorne and Head of Plaid Hat Games Colby Dauch, which not only reveals more details about the characters but also introduces fans to taser wielding Raccoons called Shockoons, and the fact that we live in a time where I get to write that sentence is really something.

First up though are the Lizards who are also called the Scaled ones. "They live in this big greenhouse arboretum and that's their little realm, and they are fast and dangerous," Hawthorne said. "They don't have the same supply chain issues that the other factions have because they live off of bugs and plants and stuff like that."

The complete opposite of the Scaled Ones would be the Junkers, who are like animals meet Mad Max.

"There are the Junkers, and these are kind of the most kind of classic post-apocalyptic fiction villains and enemies," Dauch said. "They take all the junk of the world and form all these new contraptions. They're led by the Rust Lord who is this villain that wears all this armor and he's got one hand replaced with a swiss army knife with its different contraptions out. These are the Mad Max villain type of guys."

"And then you have the Hoodies which are the little good creatures that escape the pet shop," Hawthorne said. "They set up a little colony in a Brownstone on Abigail lane. Those are the good guys that you play when you play Aftermath, but in Battlelands they're are their own little faction. They're really good at utilizing ingenuity and they're strong hero characters."

The next faction is one of the more mysterious ones, but they are also one of the most intriguing. "There's the Blighted and they're the creepiest faction and we learn the least about them in this set but there's going to be a future set devoted to them," Dauch said. "Their origin is that they were lab rats and lab animals that were tested on and when the calamity happened they broke out of the lab and retreated to the sewers and now have set up this mysterious underground world.

Last but certainly not least you have the animals that call the night home. "And then you have the Nocturne animals that come out at night," Hawthorne said. "They make the nights very dangerous and you have these Raccoons who have discovered some technology."

"Shockoons. They're raccoons with tasers," Dauch teased. "Yeah, that's a real thing."

You can check out a look at the Shockoons above, and they are just one more reason why we can't wait to check out this crazy world.

Battlelands is up for pre-order now for $14.95 and is set for release later this year. Aftermath will also hit later this year for $84.95.

What do you think of Battlelands and Aftermath? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Tabletop!