ultramoron
New Member
Greetings and well met. Now - let's get right down to business to defeat the huns err.. i mean to explain the premise of this RP, shall we, good sirs and madames? It is a "guided" survival/adventure RPG. "Guided" meaning that there will be a GM or a DM, whichever term you prefer, in charge of forwarding the plot and managing all the trials and tribulations that you will come to face. It will not be a linear railroad, but there is a central plot in mind. Speaking of which...
The year of our Lord 2012. Nearly a week's worth into the aftermath of the Outbreak, the once glorious civilization of man already grinding to a complete halt. The first signs of this calamity were met with pompous sensationalism, with the media overblowing the news of this new "plague" out of proportion in hopes of boosting their ratings. The fear dollar was a big dollar afterall. Just another consummate armageddon slash doomsday scare.
It did not occur to you how bad it really was - until the man on the news channel reassured you that everything was going accoring to plan. There is no reason to panic. The Outbreak was under control, and you are to remain calm and stay indoors.
And then - the news anchorman was no more, as the TV sets either displayed static or a notice that the program will return shortly due to technical difficulties. Soon, the power went out. Along with the gas lines, water, public transportation, police, military and all those other fringe benefits of civilization. But at this point, you needed no more briefing. It was clear to you that you were facing...
A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.
Now. You might have guessed already that this RP will contain zombies. You are correct. Brush up on those survival tactics, because you will bloody well need them. First things first - Let's explain how this will work in detail. The GM will occasionally (well... frequently) make posts that describe the actions of the NPCs, the environment and events in general or pertaining to the entire party. This narrative is what will lead the plot forward. I have the tendency to refer to them as "macro". A few qualities to be kept in mind:
¤ Storymode posts are applicable to and valid for all players. They describe the objective reality.
¤ Onto the second note - they cannot be directly altered by the players themselves (ever seen a character question his script in a cheeky act of leaning on the fourth wall? Well you might have. But in that case it was all a part of the script.)
¤ Players, however, have limited privileges to make their own storymode posts. They cannot directly contradict or derail the central plot + a few other quid pro quos and limitations that you will find out about later.
Following so far? Ok. Some GM posts will concern only specific players. It will be marked appropriately. Sometimes, the posts wont contain any story info, but rather directly assume the control of a NPC or a monster (e.g. a zombie). Both of the latter scenarios are referred to as "micro". So you have the macro (story) and the micro (characters, NPCs). The players get to respond to the macroposts and those microposts that concern them. But here's the catch. It isn't always completely freeform. You see - this aint no Burger King. You dont always have it your way. (It's McDonald's - you'll be loving it). To be more precise:
"FREEFORM" ¤ Normal RP rules apply and players may do whatever they wish. With curcumstances that follow. All GM posts - macro and micro, unless marked otherwise, are considered "freeform" posts, meaning players are free to form their own riposte and story posts until stated otherwise.
"MULTIPLE CHOICE" ¤ In the post (which can be either micro or macro), the GM will offer several options. The corresponding players MUST choose one out of the set of available options.
"SUGGESTION" ¤ The GM offers you a solution / course of action. You may or may not apt for it.
"INVOLUNTARY" ¤ You are godmoded by the GM. You cannot reverse or negate anything in an "involuntary" post. Sucks to be you, Broseph. But fear not. Those events are exceedingly unlikely. Note that this ISNT exclusive with suggestion and multichoice. It can happen that you get an involuntary suggestion or multichoice (you just choose what, the gm does it)
Bet you're feeling down under the weather already. But but but daddy GM.. what happened to creative freedom? Dont i have lordship over my own character? T.T You're a meanie, daddy GM! ... Allow me to kick you while you're down and present the requirements for being even eligible to participate on the RP. Up up, and away!
R E Q U I R E D ~ [ M U S T ]
>
Quality writing and commitment.
I Plan on this being a long-term RP.
>
One post per day on average.
Period. No excuses and bullshit tossed around. It just doesn't work
that way. A structured RP would just take way too long and there are other logistics at work (posting order and dependency) if you post every sunday if you're feeling like it.
>
Be willing to cooperate and colaborate with other players to make combined posts.
>
Be OK with the way this RP will be conducted and concede to occasionally have less than complete control over what happens to their character.
F O R B I D D E N ~ [ M U S T ' N T ]
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Godmode other players or GM-micro'ed NPCs or monsters.
This goes without saying.
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Try to derail plot with nonsensical bullshit, troll or have fun in any shape or form that goes at the expense od others.
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Extreme powerplaying.
This is actually impossible to pull off as the game will keep you in check [coming soon] but it is nonetheless a major **** move towards other players.
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Speedpost.
Seriously. Work together (PM) to solve those trivial dialogues / acknowledgements and post them together.
>
Ditch the RP.
2-3 days without activity and you're out, your character killed or ceded to someone else. If you make a reasonable explanation for your absense [inb4 cats in microwaves], this can be extended a bit.
>
Be a zombie.
Seriously. A zombie apocalypse survivor being played by a zombie? I dont think so. I see what you did there. You gonna sabotage the party's efforts by leaking info to your zombie comrades. I dont think so, buddy. Shoo.
Oh. And there's one more thing. As you might have noticed, the RP isnt quite freeform. In addition to that, you have one more [key] limitation. The actions of your characters should remain within the accepted realistic bounds. The realism bar is usually set very low, meaning you cant get away with going super saiyan or forcing weird and unlikely plot twists. The story, however, callously ignores this limitations and will do PRESICISELY THAT. Let's face it.. your chances of surviving this, a mere untrained and underequipped civilian as you are.. against THOSE odds.. But but but.. Daddy GM ~~ no. No. Now you're just ******* with me, right? I mean that's just ... Hold your horses, Silver! There is a little quirk in this RP that will put the "G" into it. One little unique turning point that negates this massive disadvantage the ragtag group of survivors are put in. Those shiny little shields. They represent the acceptable suspensions of disbelief and deviations from the standard, both in terms of plot convenience for your characters and their performance. In other words..
Your personal powerplay gauge.
Allow me to elaborate further.. you have a certain amount of shields available. You start with 10. They will be deduced automatically when you, as a player:
View attachment 5911 Make a positive assertion [claiming that something exists or did happen] about your character's acts that are above the "realism" bar. {e.g.
}. Autohitting is included in this, when the power difference in obviously not in your favour.
View attachment 5911 Make a positive assertion about the plot, the environment, the NPCs that isn't quite congruent with the plot or is juuuust a bit too convenient for you [trust me, i'll know when you're leading me on. I've been doing it for nearly a decade]. {e.g.
"I looked around and found a fully gassed up, working condition chainsaw in the corner of the alley"
}
View attachment 5911 You are automatically protected from something that would otherwise kill or incapacitate you. The shield stands for something, you know. It's your plot armor. Your script immunity if you will, since you are, after all, the protagonist of this show. {e.g. "The .50 cal missed your neckline by a finger's width, even though the marine sniper fired nearly from point blank. Lady luck must be smiling on you today."} The story will invoke this automatically when needed.
> Shield usage is a core mechanic of the RP and since it is a metagame concept, metagaming isnt merely forbidden, but required.
> Find your center. Know that with zero shields, your character is a generic stormtrooper. A redshirt. A random bystander in a zombie apocalypse. Nearly anything kills you in one go, and you will have no second chances.
> Find your center. With full shields, your character is the "protagonist". However, if the other party members die, you will be alone against insurmountable odds. If you do not forward the plot or complete objectives, you will never advance. And if you are surrounded and unarmed because you hoarded shields to the last possible moment, well.. that bar will only delay the inevitable. For a little while.
> Make sure you dont send a shieldless player to complete a very random or dangerous objective, for obvious reasons.
> It is possible to get shields back. How? The more plot involvement and the more objectives you complete, the more shields you get [but none of this can be accomplished without first wasting some.]
> PvP agression is a terrible idea, because you will both, particularity the offender, lose a great amount of shields. It is, however, not outright forbidden.
> Shield cost is proportional to the effect. THE MORE YOU USE A CERTAIN ACTION OR CATHERGORY, THE LESS SHIELDS IT WILL COST.
> Let us ruminate on that for awhile. if you, say.. tend to always absorb lots of hits that trigger your shield protection, it will eventually cost less and less, letting you effectively step in the line of fire to cover other teammates that would otherwise lose far more. Like to use improvised weaponry in an all-or-nothing risky attack move? The more you do it, the more dangerous and reliable (not to mention cheap) your moves become. My personal favourite: What would happen if you dont focus on fighting at all, but instead work your shields on the plot, environment and interaction.. it would eventually mean you could easily "bend" the circumstances to your favour without los.. whoops. Cant say too much.
Awright you zombiecidal maniacs. You grabbed your pillz and the autoshotty, you have a chainsaw grafted to your right arm and you've memorized all the quotes from George Romero's movies. When do we start? We start now. In order to apply for the actual RP, you have to.. survive long enough for the actual RP to begin. You see - this is just a preliminary round. What you have to do is survive it. And that's it. Well plus make it to the designated (in-game) evacuation area. Because if you die or dont make it, well then you will kinda be unable to participate.
¤ How well you've read and understood the rules, and how well you apply this.
¤ Quality and believability of your writing and character.
¤ How prepared and knowledgeable you are for these types of scenarios.
¤ How quickly you respond - more prep time obivously gives you more to work on.
¤ How much shields you've wasted. The less being the better obviously.
PM me if you've got any questions. Make sure to mark OOC chat. The player slots are limited. Only the best FIVE will make it out to the actual RP.
> Find your center. Know that with zero shields, your character is a generic stormtrooper. A redshirt. A random bystander in a zombie apocalypse. Nearly anything kills you in one go, and you will have no second chances.
> Find your center. With full shields, your character is the "protagonist". However, if the other party members die, you will be alone against insurmountable odds. If you do not forward the plot or complete objectives, you will never advance. And if you are surrounded and unarmed because you hoarded shields to the last possible moment, well.. that bar will only delay the inevitable. For a little while.
> Make sure you dont send a shieldless player to complete a very random or dangerous objective, for obvious reasons.
> It is possible to get shields back. How? The more plot involvement and the more objectives you complete, the more shields you get [but none of this can be accomplished without first wasting some.]
> PvP agression is a terrible idea, because you will both, particularity the offender, lose a great amount of shields. It is, however, not outright forbidden.
> Shield cost is proportional to the effect. THE MORE YOU USE A CERTAIN ACTION OR CATHERGORY, THE LESS SHIELDS IT WILL COST.
> Let us ruminate on that for awhile. if you, say.. tend to always absorb lots of hits that trigger your shield protection, it will eventually cost less and less, letting you effectively step in the line of fire to cover other teammates that would otherwise lose far more. Like to use improvised weaponry in an all-or-nothing risky attack move? The more you do it, the more dangerous and reliable (not to mention cheap) your moves become. My personal favourite: What would happen if you dont focus on fighting at all, but instead work your shields on the plot, environment and interaction.. it would eventually mean you could easily "bend" the circumstances to your favour without los.. whoops. Cant say too much.
Awright you zombiecidal maniacs. You grabbed your pillz and the autoshotty, you have a chainsaw grafted to your right arm and you've memorized all the quotes from George Romero's movies. When do we start? We start now. In order to apply for the actual RP, you have to.. survive long enough for the actual RP to begin. You see - this is just a preliminary round. What you have to do is survive it. And that's it. Well plus make it to the designated (in-game) evacuation area. Because if you die or dont make it, well then you will kinda be unable to participate.
So you are this guy/guyette caught in a zombie apocalypse and you have to make your way to the evac area. Seems easy enough. I will occasionally make microposts to lead the participants forward. Your role is to survive and make it to the designated evac area. ALL THE RP RULES ALREADY APPLY. Post in this thread. Those two spoilers that i made count as macroposts. For all intents and purposes - you are already participating. The RP has begun. You are also free to make macroposts yourself, and have temporarily elevated privileges to MICROPOST OTHER PLAYERS [remember the rules though!]. Your character design, inventory, status, background etc, .. are free to choose [sO LONG AS YOU FOLLOW THE RULES!]. You may also use your microposts and even shield-boosted actions to DISADVANTAGE OTHER PLAYERS [remember the rules!] Your performance and final score depend on
¤ How well you've read and understood the rules, and how well you apply this.
¤ Quality and believability of your writing and character.
¤ How prepared and knowledgeable you are for these types of scenarios.
¤ How quickly you respond - more prep time obivously gives you more to work on.
¤ How much shields you've wasted. The less being the better obviously.
PM me if you've got any questions. Make sure to mark OOC chat. The player slots are limited. Only the best FIVE will make it out to the actual RP.