S.T.A.L.K.E.R. RP

[TheMadAsshatter]

Rebooting this shit, because S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a fucking underappreciated game/universe.

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Introduction:

23 April 1986 - The No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant violently explodes, sending hundreds of tons of radioactive material into the surrounding area. The nearby city of Pripyat is evacuated, and a 30 kilometer zone of exclusion is established. The only people allowed to enter the zone are so-called "liquidators," officials in charge of cleaning up the area and covering the gaping hole over the exposed reactor core. Hundreds of people die in the process to contain the center of the disaster, but eventually a massive concrete structure known as the sarcophagus is finished. It effectively seals off the reactor core and prevents any more radiation for leaking out, and the zone remains like this for two decades.

The quiet, empty land was violently shaken in 2006, when an impossibly bright light, seemingly originating from above the plant, illuminated the land for kilometers around. After several minutes the light disappears as quickly as it came, and those who observed the phenomenon are left without an explanation. A few days later the sky lights up again, only this time it is accompanied by a violent earthquake that shakes the entirety of the zone. A wave of energy emanates from the plant, killing practically everything within the zone which isn't in sufficient cover. Simultaneously, the landscape all across the zone becomes nearly unrecognizable, as land formations suddenly spring out from the earth, creating strange and unfamiliar landmarks. The zone's boundary is extended by 5 kilometers, and scientists all around the world flock to determine what happened. Few of them return, and those who do tell of a world which is practically alien compared to our own. Local flora and fauna are hideously mutated, invisible dangers are scattered all over the place, and strange objects called artifacts, said to possess powers beyond explanation, can be found in certain places.

Over the next several years, waves of people from all walks of life come to the zone. Some come to escape real life, some come in search of riches, some come to take advantage of the zone's lawless nature, and some come in search of the fabled wish granter. These people are called stalkers, and each one has their own reasons for coming to the zone. The zone represents not only great danger, but great opportunity. It is a new frontier to be explored and discovered by those who dare to brave it's hostile and unnatural environment.

This remained the status quo in the zone for years, but over time subtle changes began to reshape the zone. Stalkers began to notice emissions becoming more frequent and drawn out, reports of horrifying new mutants began to circulate throughout the stalker community, and new anomalies materialized all across the zone. Scientists within the zone scramble to figure out what is happening, even as the zone's borders continue to grow and grow.

8 April 2018 - Present Day: The zone's radius is estimated at 60 kilometers, giving it an area of over 10,000 square kilometers. The population of the zone reaches well over 2000, and continues to grow. Factions have come and gone, stalker camps have changed locations, and very few stalkers from the original waves are either alive or still within the zone's borders. Even to those who are, the zone is a whole new world, one that is constantly changing and growing. New legends have circulated throughout the stalker community about mutants, anomalies, and artifacts the likes of which have never been seen before. Some parts of the zone have become uninhabitable due to freak changes in anomalous activity, while areas previously deemed too hazardous to traverse are teeming with veteran stalkers eager to explore the newlands.

More people are signing on with Duty as the border of the zone comes closer and closer to Ukraine's capital city, Kiev, reinforcing the idea that the zone may one day swallow the entire globe. Freedom still exists, but their numbers are dwindling, and their mentality is shifting, since even they can't ignore the threat the zone poses to the outside world. The two factions have been in a cease fire for over a year, and talks are circulating about a possible alliance, combining certain aspects of both factions. Monolith has mysteriously faded into the realm of memory, and almost every mercenary squad has evacuated the zone, fearing the new dangers spawning into the ever-expanding zone. The former has been replaced by the Marauders who, as the name implies, attack any other stalkers without provocation or reason as far as anyone else knows. As a direct result of the emergence of the Marauders, a small group of highly skilled and experienced stalkers from every faction, calling themselves Sentinels, banded together in an effort to learn more about the Marauders and defend other stalkers from them.

Though the details in the zone change, the basics remain the same. Anything that isn't human will try to kill you, and even some fellow humans will try to kill you, and there are no rules. Every stalker has a thirteen percent chance of dying on day one. The average life expectancy in the zone is a month. Exceed six months in the zone, and you're either incredibly skilled, incredibly smart, incredibly lucky, or any combination of the above. Every decision you make in the zone will have an effect, and every action has it's consequences. One move can mean the difference between life and death.

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Foreword:

Before anyone continues reading, I would like to have a committed player base, that means no flakes. For anyone who is familiar with the stalker universe, this roleplay should be fairly straightforward to you, with some tweakage. Like I said in the above few paragraphs, the zone is in a state of flux, and things are changing. With the exception of the canonical storyline, most things in the original STALKER games will be included. Some have been removed, and several things have been added to it. I've already thought through a basic synopsis which I will be developing as the RP progresses, and I already have a decent idea about how it will end. Bear in mind, this RP does have a fairly linear progression of events starting at a certain point. Basically, it'll start out as a relatively open-world RP and then funnel into the endgame. In addition, it is highly likely that characters will start dying off near the end, and I don't just mean NPCs.

For those who are unfamiliar, STALKER is a pseudo-post-apocalyptic survival horror game that is based on the movie of the same name, and the science fiction book, Roadside Picnic. It takes place in the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, where a second catastrophe in 2006 killed everyone within the zone at the time, and expanded it's borders by five kilometers. From there on, the zone became a perversion of nature and an enigma of known science. Various plants and animals in the zone rapidly mutated into hardened, violent versions of themselves, and "anomalies" which have the ability to defy known physics and bend reality itself began to pop up all across the zone.

I will do my best to reveal information to you as time progresses, and I'll try to get the players who are more familiar with the STALKER games to help with that. As of right now, I will tell you a few bits of information about Stalker which may help you make your character. First of all, pretty much every stalker goes by an alias. Not all of them, but most. Second, women are pretty uncommon in the zone, and out of the handful that are in the zone, most are noncombatants. Female characters are not unwelcome, just know that yours will draw quite a bit of attention, unless you conceal your gender. Finally, for most of the beginning and middle portions of the RP, you don't necessarily have to work together, though collabs and small teams are highly recommended. Hell, you guys can partner or group up from the start if you want to. Whatever you do though, once we get close to the end, it will be all hands on deck. Everyone will know everyone, and we'll all be on the same team doing the same thing.

Regarding characters, basic shit applies, meaning NO GODMODDING, NO OP CHARACTERS, NO MARY SUES OR MICHAEL STEWS, ETC. As long as you follow a few restrictions I will put in place for the sake of the storyline and you follow the basic guidelines, your character should be alright. Your character must be a fairly experienced stalker, which is why I think it would be advantageous if you've played any of the STALKER games already (for those who haven't, you can download and play a free standalone mod for Shadow of Chernobyl called Lost Alpha from ModDB), and for this reason, if you haven't played it but want to join the RP anyways, I would like to call on my fellow stalkers to help me out in teaching you rookies as we go. One quick thing about CS's, if and when we get past the interest check phase, I would like those to be PM'd to me for approval and discussion before posting them.

Also, one more thing. For simplicity's sake, the events that transpired in all of the STALKER games never happened. Basically everything storyline related from the 2006 disaster to the present day is different. Furthermore, Ukraine is not at war with Russia, and no massive coup ever happened in Ukraine. Basically, let's say this is an alternate reality where Russia never invaded Crimea, Yanukovych never got chased out of Ukraine (or even elected to power), etc. Russia and Ukraine maintain relatively friendly relations, and they are two separate nations.

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Posting Guidelines:

My posting guidelines aren't particularly stringent. Proper grammar is a definite must, so make sure you proofread your shit before you post. Post length should have an inverse relation to the frequency of your posts, (example, 3 posts 4 paragraphs in length over a 1 week period, or 1 post 12 paragraphs in length over a 1 week period) and while that of course is subjective, this allows for a good bit of freedom in your pace. I would like a minimum of 3 paragraphs per post (unless fast-paced character interaction is taking place) and at least 1 post every two weeks. Like I said, you can either make short frequent posts, or long infrequent posts. Of course, I'm not going to enforce these with an iron fist or anything (I probably won't do it at all unless it becomes an incessant problem), but I do want it to be known that these are my expectations.

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Now, the part you all have been waiting for (I hope), the Character Sheets.

CS Format

Name: (Yep.)

Alias: (Highly recommended, but not required.)

Nationality: (Yep.)

Age: (Keep it from 16 to 65 please.)

Gender: (Yep.)

Physique/Appearance/Clothing: (Picture or realistic art for an image, please. Physical description as well.)

Spoken Languages: (Yeah, this is a thing. Stalkers come from all over the place, and it's reasonable to assume they all can speak many different languages. Being the two most common languages in the zone, every character must know either English or Russian. Maybe not fluently, but at least enough to provide for functional communication.)

Faction: (You may have ties with a faction, or be a former member of a certain faction, but every character must be a neutral stalker currently. If your character has ties with a faction, please state them here. I will only allow your character to have ties with/be a previous member of Freedom, Duty, Clear Sky, Bandits, or Sentinels.)

Personality: (I will let you decide whether you want to tell us your character's personality or not. As long as you yourself have a solid grasp on how your character behaves, you may chose not to fill this part out.)

History: (Same as the above.)

Reputation: (This is required and will make up for the last two parts. Almost every stalker who has been in the zone for a while has a reputation, and different people will see them differently depending on their reputation.)

Weapons/Ammo: (Be smart about this. Some ammo is more readily available than others. If you bring a .454 Casull, expect to be using it as a fancy paperweight a lot.)

Gear: (Backpack, medical supplies, etc. goes here.)

Stashes: (Stalkers tend to stash away gear, money, artifacts, or whatever and save them for a rainy day. If you have stashes, please list them here for the sake of not pulling a hundred stashes out of your ass throughout the RP. You only have to list the contents and the region they are in, for the sake of making sure no one else decides to dig up your stash. You may have a maximum of three stashes to start with, though you can make more as you go. I'll leave the limit of how much you have in each stash up to you, but don't go crazy. When in doubt, nerf it a bit.)

Strengths: (Anything that your character can do better than the average stalker. You can list any number of them, as long as it is no more than twice the number of weaknesses.)

Weaknesses: (Anything that puts your character at a disadvantage compared to other stalkers. You can list any number of them as long as it is no less than half the number of strengths.)

***Note: While I did say that there are "requirements" (eg. the age limit of 16 through 50, the strengths and weaknesses bit, etc.) I am willing to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Simply PM me if you want to do something different and I will work with you on how it can happen. Regardless, please PM me before posting your character.

Here is an example CS which I will also be using for my own character.

Example CS

Name: Jacob Taylor

Alias: Exile

Nationality: English

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Physique/Appearance/Clothing:



Exile isn't very big, standing at 5'9" and weighing only about 67 kilograms. His hair is light brown, and pretty long for a stalker, while his eyes are a faded green. You can tell he's not the strongest guy around, but his muscles are well toned at least. His clothing is somewhat... non-traditional for most stalkers. He wears a green woodland Battle Dress Uniform with a similarly colored shemagh over a black shirt, but his pants are a pair of thin dark blue jeans, and in place of the usual pair of combat boots he wears a pair of lighter, more casual-looking black canvas boots. He also generally wears black fingerless gloves, a watch on his left arm, and a necklace with a 7.62x54mmR casing.

Spoken Languages: English (fluent); French (functioning); Russian (rudimentary/circumstantial knowledge)

Faction: Loner. Former Freedom with ties to them and the Sentinels.

Reputation: Exile is known for practically being the namesake of a loner. Though he used to be in Freedom, it was mostly a gimmick title they gave him because they were low on men and he helped them out fairly regularly. Still, he does at least somewhat adhere to Freedom's ideals, in that he believes the zone should be open to those who wish to come, though lately, with the zone taking the strange turns that it has, his ideals have been shifting a bit. He still sees the zone as a wonder to the world which holds the key to solving many of humanity's problems, but he also recognizes that it's expansion, if gone unchecked, will put several people who want nothing to do with the zone at risk, thus he has left Freedom, though he has several contacts within Freedom.

Aside from his loyalties and ideals, he is known for helping stalkers in need and hunting people who give others a hard time, and a lot of people hold him in high regard for that. He has never failed to ask a passerby if they need an extra can of food, or a bandage, or something like that, and he has been known to give stalkers who are shot within inches of their lives that one bandage that stops them from bleeding out. He's a giver to those who need or deserve it, and a taker for those who themselves take. He's one of those people who are more likely to fight for a friend than for himself, and while that all sounds a little too idyllic, he does what he does, and he does it well. The only problem is that he's generally quiet and doesn't form very personal relationships easily.

There's only one person which he is known to maintain permanent contact with, and that's the person who came to the zone with him. No one really knows who he is, aside from the staff at the Sentinel base in Petrovsk.

Weapons/Ammo:
-AKS-74u w/PSO-1 scope (150 x 5.45x39mm rounds)
-OTs-33 Pernach (120 x 9x18mm rounds)
-Wakizashi Short Sword

Gear:
Backpack:

• 3 bottles of water
• 3 energy drinks
• 1 bottle of vodka
• 3 cans of food
• 3 loaves of stale bread
• 2 medkits
• 5 bandages
• 1 morphine auto-injector
• 1 small gun cleaning/repair kit
• 1 sleeping bag

On person:

• PDA
• Headlamp
• Several Bolts
• Respirator
• Geiger Counter
• 14,000 RU

Stashes:
-Old Cordon: 1x Makarov PM, 1x Sawed-off TOZ-66, 40x 9x18mm rounds, 24x 12x70 buck shells, 5,000 RU.
-Yantar: 1x VEPR 54R, 50x 7.62x54mmR rounds, 10,000 RU, 5,000 EUR.

Strengths:
Perceptive - Exile has always had a talent for picking up on things others might miss, and this can allow him to tell when something bad is about to happen.

Kalashnikov's Unrelated Son - Exile knows every AK-type rifle inside and out, and can easily diagnose and fix mechanical/maintenance issues if he has the right tools.

Quasi-Ninja - Exile is a regular practitioner of parkour, making him good at navigating abnormal terrain quickly.

Swordsman - Exile is one of the exceedingly few stalkers who uses a sword, and one of the even fewer who know how to use it. Despite what most may think, he is really good at fending off mutants with it.

Seasoned Shooter - Exile's aim with most firearms is not exceptional, but it's above par compared to a lot of stalkers.

The Twitch - As some stalkers do, Exile has developed a twitch which can alert him to an imminent emission.

Mental Map - Exile knows the zone quite well outside of the Red Forest, and is often employed as a guide.

Weaknesses:
True Loner - Exile rarely works in groups, making him somewhat enigmatic given his philanthropic nature. If ever he needs to ask for help, there's not many people he can reliably call upon.

Troubled Past - Exile's past is unknown to everyone except him and exactly one other stalker, and he will avoid the subject whenever it comes up. At least one stalker has taken note of a time in which Exile seemed to exhibit the "thousand-yard stare," suggesting that he may suffer from PTSD.

Mutant Bait - While most of the common mutants don't give him much problems, some of the rarer mutants will freak him out. Bloodsuckers specifically scare the shit out of him, not to mention any number of mutants he has yet to see for himself. If it's something he hasn't seen before, and it's ugly enough, you bet he'll turn and run before fighting it.

Anomaly fodder - Exile has never been artifact hunting, thus he never really learned how to navigate anomaly fields. He can avoid a lone anomaly easy enough, but he would find a field or cluster of them to be too dangerous to traverse without help.

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RP Information (will be updated over time):

Map

Feast your eyes upon my incredibly shitty map! :p

Locations

Cordon

With the expansion of the zone, the border has had to move several times. It is currently approximately 60 kilometers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and is in many ways the same as every cordon before it. It is constantly guarded by the military, who tend to be unfriendly towards stalkers and will capture anyone they think they can handle in order to deport them back to the outside world, though some can be bargained with. Every stalker has to have come through here at some point, and it is largely referred to as "the zone's antechamber." Mutant activity is minimal, and it's unlikely you'll find anything more dangerous than blind dogs here.

Prominent factions: Loners, the military.

Lowlands

For being close to the cordon, the area has a fairly large amount of anomalies, making it both a gift and a curse for stalkers. The military largely avoids the area, making it an ideal spot for Komarovo, which rests roughly in the middle of the Lowlands. Due to it's proximity to the cordon, and the military's reluctance to patrol it, getting weapons in and artifacts out through various methods is fairly easy in this part of the zone, making it arguably the most popular trading camp in the zone.

Prominent factions: Loners, Sentinels.

Nowhere Land

To be more specific, this area is in the ass-end of nowhere. The official border extends beyond this area, but anomalous activity and the mutant population are minimal in this corner of the zone, earning it the title of being the most boring place within the cordon. It is, however, a popular place to stash some basic supplies.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Plains

The new cordon is treated more like a DMZ than any of the others, meaning that rookies have had to move farther into the zone to avoid military intrusion. The Plains are where they decided to settle down. The Plains is really a massive area, covering almost a hundred square kilometers of mostly open grassland dotted with old dilapidated farmhouses, almost all of which are occupied by stalkers. Mutants here are a little more dangerous, with the worst known mutant being pseudodogs, though they're somewhat rare here. Bandits tend to harass rookies in this part of the zone as well, which doesn't make it the safest of places, but every rookie earns their stripes here, and most of them stay for at least a week until moving on.

Prominent factions: Loners, bandits.

Old Cordon

This is the area that was considered the cordon long before the zone began it's expansion. Several stalkers set up camps in this area, and by the time a rookie has made it this far, they're generally no longer considered rookies. The mutant concentration in this area is about the same as in The Plains, with the addition of the odd zombie here and there. This area is largely used as a metric to determine the "normal" rate of anomalous activity, since it contains a moderate number of the most common anomalies.

Prominent factions: Loners, bandits.

The Bridge

This area can be extremely safe, or extremely dangerous to cross. The Bridge is nothing more than a small canyon connecting the Old Cordon with Haven, making it not inherently dangerous by those terms alone, but it is a wildcard when it comes to anomalous activity. Every time an emission happens, The Bridge can undergo a massive change in the number of anomalies, from concentrations of absolutely none to being so saturated that it is literally impossible to cross. Mutants recognize this and avoid the area completely, and so do some stalkers. It's generally good practice to use one's PDA to ask the Sentinels if The Bridge is safe to cross, though they don't always stay up to date on it's status and can't always give an accurate answer.

Prominent factions: Loners, Sentinels.

Haven

Haven is an area controlled by the Sentinels, and regarded by many as being one of the safest places in the zone as a result. The Sentinels let pretty much everyone, with the exception of Bandits, Mercs, Military, and Marauders come through the area, and they make a point of keeping the place clear of mutants. On the Northwestern corner of this area lies Petrovsk; home to the Sentinels and several other stalkers. It is arguably the most heavily defended and safest place to stay a night in the zone, and it's proximity to the Cordon makes it particularly attractive to some newer stalkers.

Prominent factions: Loners, Sentinels.

The Great Swamps

Since Clear Sky's dissolution and later reformation in Yantar, the bandits in the area have pretty much taken control of the territory and use it as one of their largest bases of operation. Most stalkers avoid the area for that reason alone, though it's not the only reason to be avoided. The moist environment, combined with the many ponds of stagnant water, makes radiation an ever present hazard, not to mention the occasional pile of rubbish lying around. This is somewhat counterbalanced by the fact that anomaly concentrations are low, though mutants can be found in similar numbers compared to the Old Cordon.

Prominent factions: Bandits, The Exchange.

Darkscape

Though the name may sound foreboding, the area is not inherently very dangerous. While anomalous activity is roughly average, mutant concentrations are actually quite low, though rumors may occasionally circulate about some mine-dwelling mutant. Given the network of mining tunnels underneath a plateau that pushes through the middle of it, this is to be expected somewhat. Other than that, the area isn't used for much more than vehicular travel from the Old Cordon to the Dark Valley, and since there are very few working vehicles in the zone, it is hardly ever traversed. It is, however, rumored that a large Exchange operation may be going on there.

Prominent factions: The Exchange (rumored).

The Garbage

The garbage is where the Soviets dumped all of the radioactive machinery contaminated in the 1986 disaster, including vehicles and machinery contaminated in trying to contain the disaster. This makes radiation a bit of an issue in this area, though the road leading through the middle of it is generally safe to traverse. Roughly in the middle of the area, there is a train house which has passed hands several times and is currently under Freedom control. It used to be in one piece, but in an incident involving bandits, vodka, and an RPG, the Northeastern corner of the building pretty much completely collapsed, exposing the inside to the elements, and rendering the building unsafe for shelter from an emission. Anomalous activity is slightly above average in this area, and mutant activity is roughly moderate.

Prominent factions: Loners, bandits, Freedom.

Dark Valley

With Rostok having recently been abandoned due to increasing anomalous activity, Barkeep has moved his operation to the complex at the Northern end of the Dark Valley, thus the Northern part of the Dark Valley is fairly safe. Unfortunately, the Dark Valley itself is home to some of the more exotic mutants, all of which are more dangerous than your run of the mill boar or dog packs. Several different mutants, from bloodsuckers to fractures to zombies can be found here, making travel to the Southern part of Dark Valley inadvisable at best.

Prominent factions: Loners.

Agroprom

This area used to be a popular camp for stalkers, but the zone had different plans for it. The entire area is dotted with anomalies, making travel nearly impossible without someone who is really good at navigating anomaly fields. Due to the increase in anomalous activity, several buildings which may once have existed have now sustained heavy structural damage, or even been destroyed. Some say the underground facility has been untouched, though a rumor has recently circulated of a mutant unlike any other in the zone living in the underground facility.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Rocky Pass

With much of Rostok being overrun with anomalies, stalkers had to find a new way to get to the deeper parts of the zone, and where Rostok closed down, Rocky Pass opened up. It is in many ways the same as The Bridge, only it is somewhat more consistent in terms of anomalous activity. It's sole purpose is to act as a gateway between The Garbage and Yantar, and it's generally relatively safe to traverse, though some stalkers say they get an intense sense of paranoia going through this area, as though they are being watched.

Prominent factions: Loners.

Yantar

Yantar is a wide open area sitting at the bottom of a dried lakebed. There are some buildings dotting the outskirts of the roughly bowl-shaped depression, though one building, the scientists' bunker, lies in the middle of the lake, surrounded on all sides by a large chain link fence with razor wire lining the top. There are a few smaller buildings which serve as living quarters for some of the military guards and whatever stalkers may be assisting the scientists. There is also a military installation in the Northwest corner of the area, and while the military won't shoot you on sight, they'll definitely not be in a talking mood. Yantar is home to moderate anomalous activity and is populated by plenty of zombies, and snorks can occasionally be found as well.

Prominent factions: Loners, scientists, Clear Sky, the military.

Rostok

With The Zone fluctuating how it is, several areas which once were populated are now abandoned due to a sudden increase in anomalous activity. Rostok is currently the most infamous example. On September 12, 2017, one of the longer emissions gave birth to literally hundreds of anomalies around the 100 Rads and the surrounding area. A few stalkers were killed instantly as anomalies formed right where they stood. Some became trapped in buildings where anomalies had formed at the only exit, and many others perished trying to navigate out of the area. Of course, there were survivors, the 100 Rads' Barkeep among them. He, along with about 30 other stalkers, equaling roughly 1/3rd of Rostok's population, moved as one to the Dark Valley to form a new camp. Travel through Rostok is currently inadvisable.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Novy Rostok

Although Barkeep and several neutral stalkers relocated to Dark Valley, Duty decided to go their own way and formed Novy Rostok (literally: New Rostok). They currently use it as their new base of operations and control a large portion of the area, which is itself an old town which used to spawn a fair amount of anomalous formations. Fortunately, much of the anomalous activity in Novy Rostok has dissipated, and with Duty occupying the area, mutants are hardly a problem.

Prominent factions: Duty.

The Great Valley

Aside from the geography of the area, little is known about The Great Valley. Several stalkers who have been there claim that it is home to several strange anomalies and highly dangerous mutants. This area is only ever traversed by the very skilled, or the very lucky, and it is not unheard of for a stalker to disappear without a trace in this area. There is a single road that runs directly from the Dark Valley to Countryside, and as the saying goes "Don't stray."

Prominent factions: N/A.

Countryside

Though it is deeper into the zone than The Great Valley, Countryside is known to be somewhat more tame. Anomalies are plentiful, and several of the more exotic mutants can be spotted here, but they are kept in check somewhat by the Sentinels from the outpost by the lake. Everyone calls it Port because, well, it used to be a small port, and it is kept by a detachment of some of the more experienced Sentinels. The only bad thing is that it's in the far Northeast corner of the area, making it a hike no matter how you cut it. There is one landmark that is often visited by stalkers, and that is the now inactive Bloodclaw anomaly, which used to be a cluster of powerful gravitational anomalies which bent the Earth around it such that it looks like a collection of claws. Of course, while it was still active, several stalkers died trying to find artifacts in it's center, which is where the blood smeared on the claw formations comes from, hence bloodclaw.

Prominent factions: Sentinels.

The Badlands

The Badlands is an area that has been dried out due to anomalous atmospheric conditions. Rain hasn't fallen here in almost three years, and much of the atmospheric water has also disappeared in this area, making it generally uncomfortable for stalkers to travel through. It is suspected to be where the Marauders reside, though this has never been confirmed. Aside from them, there have been sightings of unknown mutants, and rumor has it there is a pseudogiant lair within the Badlands. The terrain itself is generally hilly and featureless, making it very dull and un-noteworthy, and anomalous activity is surprisingly low, though scientists theorize the whole place is a massive anomaly which prevents moisture from accumulating, thus displacing the common anomalies.

Prominent factions: Marauders (rumored).

Limansk

Limansk is the second largest abandoned town in the zone, right behind Pripyat. Limansk is a town shrouded in mystery, with an uncharacteristically low mutant and anomaly count, but nonetheless feared by many stalkers who have been in or near it. Everyone who has been there says that despite the relatively harmless facade of there being few mutants or anomalies, there is something bad about the town. None have seen anything definitive, but everyone reports having a feeling of intense paranoia, coupled with an overall oppressive atmosphere. Some curious stalkers have ventured into the town only to turn up dead some days later, though the cause of their death can never be determined with conviction. Scientists theorize that the cause of this could be related to psy-fields, but many experienced stalkers discount that, saying that the feeling is profoundly different.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Army Warehouses

Once used by Freedom as their HQ, this outpost met a similar fate as Rostok, though on a somewhat smaller scale. A far larger percentage of stalkers survived the sudden conversion from relatively-safe-and-anomaly-free to saturated-by-anomalies, though the Freedom base, and the enire surrounding area, was considered unsafe for travel, much less habitation. The Freedomers were forced to relocate to the Garbage, leaving the Army Warehouses unattended. Some stalkers have navigated the vast anomaly fields and discovered caches of equipment left behind by Freedom, but only the most foolhardy of stalkers try to go there just to get a shiny new gun.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Red Forest

The Red Forest is a vast area considered by many stalkers to be the most dangerous place to traverse. For anyone trying to get to Pripyat, or one of the rumored areas surrounding it, traversing this mutant-infested landscape is mandatory. Yeah, mutants are fucking everywhere in here, thus it is common practice for stalkers to either move in large groups, or move in midday, when many mutants are inactive. Either way, no stalker comes through here without carrying a small ammunition dump with them. There is, however, a diamond in the rough. The complex which used to operate the massive DUGA-3 radar has been re-purposed as a small camp, just a kilometer or so away from Limansk. It's small, and it comes under mutant attack often, but the stalkers there can hold their own.

Prominent factions: Loners.

The Tempest

Visible for several kilometers around, The Tempest is essentially a massive and ever-present storm system which is thought to be sustained by anomalous atmospheric conditions. It has the intensity of a fully mature supercell, constantly producing torrential rain, intense lightning, winds in excess of 100 kilometers per hour, hail, and even tornadoes. Fortunately, the shitty weather keeps mutants away from this particular area, though anomalies are far from uncommon. This area is largely unexplored, and many stalkers don't see a reason for it to be explored, though others argue that something important, something which could help solve the mystery surrounding the zone, is buried in here somewhere.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Pripyat

Before the first disaster, tens of thousands of people lived here. Within the timespan of a few hours, the city became completely abandoned, save for those working to contain ground zero. Nowadays it is explored by the most experienced of stalkers in the hopes of finding troves of artifacts, and it is generally known for being one of the most popular spots for finding these items. Unfortunately, since artifacts are spawned from anomalies, naturally there are a lot of them in Pripyat, as are there many mutants. There is a small camp known as The Gate nestled just on the fringes of Pripyat, which is considered the last stop to the center of the zone.

Prominent factions: Loners.

Paradise

A place which is only rumored to exist somewhere just beyond Pripyat. Some of the rumors differ, but some details remain the same. It is an area nestled comfortably between Pripyat and the lake, said to be completely absent of mutants or anomalies. A large open field, with a lone tree standing on top of a hill. Some say that it's all an elaborate joke made up by a group of stalkers. Others have formulated theories behind the possibilities of such a place existing. A largely accepted theory is that Paradise is a pocket universe caused by a space anomaly.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP)

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was once one of the largest and most powerful nuclear plants in the world before the 1986 disaster. Now it is considered the heart of the zone, and only a tiny fraction of stalkers have ever entered the plant and come out alive. Outside of the plant you can expect anomalies of every type scattered all around the area, though mutants are only found in certain areas. The inside of the plant is more or less empty, though many parts of it are flooded with radiation, making extensive radiation shielding a must. Beyond that, the interior is an extensively unsettling place which many stalkers consider a sort of "hallowed ground." One stalker who has been there says he has heard voices echoing through the halls, or maybe through his head.

Prominent factions: N/A.

The Darklands

This is the true frontier of the zone. The Darklands is so called because it has never been explored and nothing is known about it, aside from the fact that it is geographically very similar to the plains with some swampland towards the Northeast. There is a sort of primal fear that emanates from this place that no stalker has yet been able to explain, but it so far has kept stalkers from trying to breach it's borders. Everyone suspects something important must lie within The Darklands somewhere, but no one knows what. Some say that the CNPP is a ruse by the zone, and that somewhere in The Darklands lies the true heart of the zone.

Prominent factions: N/A.

Factions

Loners

Making up the largest percentage of stalkers in the zone, the term "loner" refers to any stalker who has no affiliation with any other faction, though most loners tend to have friends, and friends of friends, which creates a loosely connected network of neutral individuals. As a general rule, loners tend to not be hostile, though some have been known to cause trouble, giving them a poor reputation and leading to a general dislike of them by other loners.

Their loyalties tend to vary, due to the fact that loners are far from an established, organized group, thus you can find lone stalkers who may be friendly towards one group and hostile to another, neutral across the board, or whatever, but you can almost always rely on them to be hostile towards bandits and marauders.

Bandits

Arguably the second largest group in the zone, bandits are any stalkers who engage in hostile or criminal activities. Bandits can range from a lone individual with a penchant for causing trouble to large, organized bands of well equipped criminals; a group akin to a mafia, though very few of them are quite organized enough to be considered as such. Bandits tend to operate like typical bullies, only attacking groups or individuals whom they think they can easily overpower. Sometimes you can bargain with them, but most of the time they'll rough you up a little before taking your stuff and leaving you with pretty much nothing. If you're really unlucky, some of the more ruthless groups will capture you and torture you a bit before executing you.

With the exception of Freedom, who are effectively neutral towards bandits, and The Exchange, whom they tend to operate with, pretty much everyone hates bandits.

The Exchange

A particularly ruthless group of bandits, The Exchange is a well-established mafia with operations both within and outside of the zone. The head of their operations in the zone is known only as Kristoff, and he is known for killing pretty much anyone that he considers a danger to their operation. No one knows where exactly their HQ is, and those who have been specifically tasked with looking for it have ended up dead. Dangerous as they are, they are still "businessmen", and avoid unnecessary bloodshed when possible. Running into a single Exchange henchman or even a group of them rarely results in any serious confrontation. Stumble upon an outpost or an operation of theirs, however, and you've got three choices. Pucker up and kiss their asses and pray they let you go, run and prey they didn't see or follow you, or shoot and prey you kill them before they kill you.

The Exchange is only openly hostile towards those who piss them off, along with Sentinels and Duty, who have taken a pledge to interfere with their operation whenever possible. They often recruit from the pool of typical bandits, and they're on good terms with several groups of them. Their relations with everyone else are tense, but non-confrontational.

Sentinels

The Sentinels are a small, newly formed group comprised of highly skilled stalkers which actively work for the betterment of other stalkers. They will actively provide protection for individuals who pay for it, protect certain camps, and help those in need. In addition to their services, they tend to try to track and observe marauders in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of their movements and behavior, as well as kill them when necessary. They also partake in the hunting of bandits and Exchange members when they can, but their primary combative efforts are on marauders.

The Sentinels are well liked by most stalkers, aside from, of course, bandits, The Exchange, and marauders.

Duty

Duty is a group of stalkers who act as a sort of paramilitary organization within the zone, complete with a command structure and rank system. A lot of them are former military members, though not all, of course. Their mission entails the active attempts at suppressing the zone, which essentially translates into killing mutants and doing whatever they can to either halt the zone's expansion or destroy it completely. This puts them at odds with Freedom, which is currently larger and better equipped than Duty, but not by much. The opinions of other stalkers towards them tends to vary, though many loners find some of their tactics and operations heavy handed and somewhat harsh; their military attitude an impediment to the endeavors of some stalkers.

While formerly hostile towards Freedom, they have agreed to a tenuous ceasefire. Still, when no one is watching, squads of Dutyers will often muck around with those in Freedom, and vice-versa. Other than that, they are friendly towards Sentinels, scientists, and the military, Neutral towards Clear Sky and loners, and hostile towards bandits, The Exchange, and marauders.

Freedom

Freedom is a group of stalkers who are a sort of insurgent force within the zone. They believe that the zone is a gift to mankind, and that it should be open and free for anyone to come in and reap the benefits of the zone's power. They are comprised largely of "chill" like-minded individuals with a generally anarchist mindset. They aren't malignant, exactly, though some of what they do can be considered questionable. For instance, they are known to occasionally do business with bandits, though they do tend to try to avoid The Exchange. Some stalkers hold a resentment towards them for their relationship with bandits, but several stalkers tend to agree with their ideals that the zone can be a miraculous place.

While formerly hostile towards Duty, they have agreed to a tenuous ceasefire. Still, when no one is watching, squads of Freedomers will often muck around with those in Duty, and vice-versa. Other than that, they are friendly towards Sentinels and loners, neutral towards Clear Sky, scientists, bandits, and The Exchange, and hostile towards the military and marauders.

Scientists

Almost as soon as the zone was created, several scientists flocked to see what was happening, and more and more have kept coming in after the initial event. Scientists are the only group to have been given official sanctions granting their permission to be inside the zone for the sake of their studies, and are often guarded by small military units while inside the zone. Scientists tend to head their operations from small bunkers that they set up to shield themselves from the zone's hazardous environment, as well as conduct experiments in a controlled setting. There are very few groups of scientists currently in the zone, with only two bunkers currently set up. One in Yantar, and one in Countryside.

They tend to recruit the help of neutral stalkers in the zone, and duty and Sentinels often volunteer to help them as well. They also tend to work directly alongside Clear Sky, and will often collaborate on research projects. Since the scientists themselves are not combatants, they are effectively neutral towards everyone else, with the exception of marauders.

Clear Sky

Clear Sky is a fairly small faction that is an offshoot of the typical scientists. They are essentially a group of scientifically oriented stalkers who, while having access to research materials and whatnot, tend to consist of bona-fide stalkers as opposed to bona-fide scientists. They do, however, work closely with the scientists, often assisting them by way of field-testing equipment, acquiring artifacts and other exotic materials, and gathering data for research. They are also often the second choice in guarding scientists, right behind the military, since they are more combat oriented than the scientists themselves.

Clear Sky tends to be a secretive, but also neutral group of people. For obvious reasons, their closest allies are the scientists, with everyone else, save for bandits and marauders, maintaining a neutral stance towards them. Even the military tries to avoid conflict with them, knowing that their efforts tend to go towards helping the scientists.

The Military

When the zone first became populated by stalkers, the military was given orders to shoot trespassers on sight. Over time, their rules of engagement have changed a bit. They are no longer allowed to shoot stalkers on sight unless provoked, but they still maintain the cordon with a fair amount of force. If anyone is caught within, entering, or attempting to enter the zone, they will be captured, detained, then picked up by the Ukrainian Federal Police. Intra-zone patrols simply try to maintain order and avoid confrontation with stalkers in the few areas they control, though they will sometimes rough up stalkers who have been singled out. The units who guard the scientists are generally neutral to stalkers, but don't expect to get a friendly conversation out of them. There is one exception to their relative neutrality, that being their outposts. Stalkers found within a military compound can expect to be captured, interrogated, shot, or any combination of the above.

As a general rule, the military is neutral to most stalkers, with the exception of those who could possibly be called allies, them being the scientists, Clear Sky, and Duty. Those who they do consider to be hostile include bandits, Freedom, and marauders.

The Task Force

Spetsnaz Unit 202 (Спецназ блок 202), otherwise known as The Task Force, is a combined effort of the Ukrainian and Russian governments to gather information about stalkers and how they live in the zone. It is composed of operatives from the FSB, Berkut, SOBR, and the GRU of both Russia and Ukraine, and they were all inserted into the zone as undercover agents. An estimated 12 members exist in The Task Force, but there could be as many as 20. No one knows more than that, and no one has ever found any of their true identities. It's inspired a lot of paranoia among some stalkers, particularly with Freedom, bandits, and The Exchange. It is suspected their reasoning behind gathering intelligence is for the Ukrainian and Russian governments to stage a decisive assault on the stalker population, and given their no doubt extensive training, they are considered extremely dangerous.

Given the nature of their existence, The Task Force has no known allies or enemies, and it is not unlikely that, if given the order, The Task Force will become hostile to every stalker in the zone. It is advised that all stalkers be wary of what you say or who you keep close.

Marauders

The term "Marauder" is a term referring to a "tribe" of stalkers who have become maddened or brainwashed to the point that they've reverted to a savage, nearly feral state. Largely considered to be a de facto replacement to Monolith soldiers, they are even more crazy, and many many times more bloodthirsty. They don't even use conventional weapons, rather opting for swords, pikes, spears, all manner of savage weaponry meant to inflict the greatest amount of pain possible before swiftly taking the life of a stalker. Thankfully, their numbers are relatively few, and the farthest from the center one has been sighted or rumored to exist is the army warehouses. Still, they are incredibly dangerous and elusive, and not to mention cannibalistic. Groups of stalkers as large as 6 strong have turned up slaughtered and parts of their bodies eaten at their hands. Exceedingly few stalkers have ever gotten a good look at a Marauder, and as far as anyone knows, no Marauder has ever been confirmed dead at the hands of a stalker.

Their tactics tend to vary from strictly swift and stealthy ambushes to unrelenting amounts of terror tactics, including stalking (no pun intended), emitting piercing battle cries, and whispering within a few meters of a target, indicating that they sometimes enjoy toying with their prey before getting the jump on them. Contact of any kind with Marauders, be it in combat or otherwise, is strictly inadvisable.

Emissions

Emissions, also known as blowouts, are bursts of psy-energy emitted from the center of the zone outward. They are extremely dangerous, and anyone caught in an emission is almost guaranteed extreme amounts of pain, followed by death. The good thing is that they are generally easily avoided, and stalkers usually have anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes to find sufficient cover before an emission hits them.

Emissions also tend to cause anomalies to be spawned, moved, or removed, as well as spawn some artifacts. It is not uncommon for a path that was once traveled to go from completely safe to dotted with anomalies after an emission, or for an area that was once devoid of artifacts to become a small treasure trove.

As of recently, emissions have required categorization. There are two types of emissions that the zone experiences. The first type is known as a pulse emission, and it is categorized by anywhere between one and five pulses of energy emitted in no longer than a thirty minute timeframe. These are more common than the latter type, and for several years were the only type of emission to occur. The second type, known as a sustained emission, is characterized by a single, steady release of energy that can last anywhere from thirty minutes to a few hours.

Anomalies

Anomalies are hazardous objects, entities, and phenomena that have varying effects on their immediate surroundings. Most of the common ones are easy to spot, even without the help of an anomaly detector, but some of them can be extremely difficult to pinpoint without the aid of a detector, or some loose junk.

Common Anomalies

These are the most common anomalies you will find. They can spawn pretty much anywhere, be it in the open, inside a building, or whatever. Most of these anomalies are gravitational in nature, which makes them one of the least easy to see due to humans' physical inability to directly observe one, but they are relatively easy to spot with a bit of know-how.

Springboard - The springboard anomaly is essentially a bubble of unstable gravitational forces. This is the most common anomaly in the zone and can be easily detected by the lensing effect it has on light, known as gravitational lensing. They are easy to spot and avoid, unless you find yourself in a field of them. They're still relatively easy to avoid, considering you've got plenty of bolts and junk to plot a safe course out of the field. They aren't usually larger than three meters across, and when triggered thrust the triggering object outwards from it with varying degrees of force. Some springboards are weak enough to only cause bruising when triggered, while others are strong enough to punt you several meters across a field, causing anything from broken bones to internal bleeding, and sometimes instant death by whiplash.

Whirligig - Another common anomaly, though far more dangerous than a springboard, the whirligig acts through unknown forces, though scientists theorize it to be a mix between disturbances in gravity and the wind. It is characterized by swirling leaves and debris in it's vicinity, and depending on how many have blundered into it, circles of blood and various body parts are not uncommon to find. They have been recorded as large as 5 meters wide, and behave depending on the mass of the triggering object. A bolt will simply be deflected by the wind, while cars, animals, and people can potentially be pulled into the air and spun around at extremely high speed. If caught, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting off with some bad bruising, whiplash, and likely a broken bone or two, or you'll be pulled apart by the intense centripetal forces, various parts of your body being torn away and flayed around for several tens of meters.

Vortex - The vortex anomaly is very similar to the whirligig in terms of what it does, though it is purely gravitational in nature. It is characterized by disturbances in the air a few meters above the ground, along with bloodstains and body parts in the immediate vicinity. The main difference between a vortex and a whirligig is that vortexes can be larger, and are always more powerful. Vortexes have the potential to be triggered from up to 10 meters away, and when triggered will pull the triggering object into the center, putting pressures on the object akin to being many fathoms deep in the ocean before violently pulling in all directions. Depending on the strength of the object, it will either be relatively undisturbed or violently constricted and torn apart within the span of roughly three seconds. Humans, more often than not, fall into the latter category.

Burnt Fuzz - Less of an anomaly and more a mutated sort of plant, burnt fuzz is a vine-like plant that tends to hang off of certain structures which, for obvious reasons, is the most easily seen anomaly. Pipes and doorways tend to be common places for burnt fuzz to grow, though it can really grow anywhere that allows it to hang downwards. Burnt fuzz is possibly the only anomaly that will not react to anything that isn't organic in nature, which makes it moderately dangerous for people who are bad at telling certain plants apart from others. It is also probably the least harmful of all anomalies, unless you're not wearing some sort of eye and face protection at the time. It reacts to flesh by discharging a cloud of small, sharp, needle-like particles with mild skin irritants within them. If you're wearing proper clothes and protection, you may not even feel it.

Uncommon Anomalies

These are anomalies that, while they won't spawn exactly anywhere, are also not necessarily hard to find. Uncommon anomalies tend to spawn deeper within the zone than the common anomalies.

Electro - The electro is an anomaly that is extremely easy to see due to the many electrical arcs around it. It only spawns in areas that have above-average anomalous activity to begin with, and usually around metal objects, though that definitely doesn't mean it spawns on everything metal. None has been recorded as being larger than five meters across, but being electrical in nature, that doesn't mean it can't reach you if you're farther than that. They tend to act like capacitors, and when triggered cause a massive discharge on the triggering object, sending anywhere between 25 and 500 milliamps through the object. 100 milliamps is enough to kill a person. They do, however, need a couple of seconds to recharge after being triggered, so one could feasibly trigger one with a bolt, then run through it before it recharges. Still, it's far from advisable.

Burner - Burner anomalies are very small, localized anomalies that often spawn in clusters. It is relatively easy to spot a cluster due to the heat waves one can see, but pinpointing individual burners is fairly difficult without bolts or other disposable junk. When triggered, a burner will begin spewing a column of fire in one direction. These columns are generally about half a meter in diameter and anywhere between three and five meters in length. The ambient heat in these clusters alone is enough to singe stalkers if they're not properly protected, and triggering one of these anomalies tends to cause second to third degree burns, and often will set one's clothes on fire.

Fruit Punch - Fruit punch anomalies are essentially small pools of highly corrosive material, most often found in swampy areas, underground, or in already chemically active areas. They can range in size from three to ten meters across, and often spawn in groups, similar to burner anomalies. Still, they are relatively easy to spot by the lambent liquid that they tend to be composed of, making them particularly visible in dark environments, though if one spawns on land in a grassy area, it can be fairly difficult to see where it is. Fruit punch reacts to direct contact by spraying corrosive liquid upwards, often roughly up to waist height. Proper protection can ensure that fruit punch is all but harmless, but direct contact with the liquid can result in severe chemical burns, and if the material you're wearing isn't designed for corrosive materials, it can burn through your pants, and then burn you, though by that point it will have weakened.

Rare Anomalies

These are anomalies that are uncommon or have only just begun to grace the zone with their presence. In the case of the latter, the data found here may be incomplete.

Tesla - The tesla operates similar to an electro anomaly, with one difference; it moves. More often than not, a tesla will appear as a ball of lightning, and will typically move in a loop, back and forth, or some other distinguishable pattern, though they have been known to simply roam certain areas with no discernible path. Teslas are much more powerful and dangerous than electro anomalies, as contact with a tesla is almost guaranteed to kill you instantly, and they don't need to recharge.

Catapult - Catapult anomalies are fairly rare, and also quite difficult to spot. They are suspected to be gravitational in nature, but given their behavior it's hard to say. Catapults behave by launching anything that falls into it's radius anywhere between four and fifty meters upwards, away, or in any direction, really. None has been recorded as being larger than 7 meters across. Catapults can sometimes be identified by a nearby body that appears to have died from falling when there's nothing nearby to fall from, but that really is the best and only indication. Death is nearly guaranteed if you walk into one of these.

Magneto - Magneto anomalies are one of the newer documented anomalies, thus not much is known about them yet. From the few encounters stalkers have had with magnetos, they seem to behave by way of extremely strong magnetic fields. The only thing known about them for sure is that they don't behave like most anomalies, in that they always require a metal object to act through. Said object then becomes the anomaly itself, though the object may not necessarily have any special properties and will go back to simply being an object if and when the anomaly expires. Stalkers have reported having their guns fly out of their hands and holsters towards a nearby metal object and hit it hard enough that they were rendered completely broken and irreparable. The good news is that they aren't directly harmful to people, but if you're not paying attention you can find yourself without a weapon within the time it takes you to blink. Or, if you're unlucky, you can have one of your own belt buckles tear straight through you.

Hole - Hole anomalies are also a newly-discovered type of anomaly, though they seem to be somewhat more predictable than the magneto in a way. A hole anomaly is a spherical disturbance in space that behaves similar to a black hole, only it is transparent. It lenses light in a similar fashion as a springboard, though to a much greater degree, making them actually slightly more obvious than a springboard. They behave by simply sucking in whatever solid matter occupies the space it does. This includes human tissue and bones, bolts, guns, anything that is in a solid state. Once the hole reaches a certain "density" it explodes, releasing everything it sucked in as a fine cloud of dust.

Exotic Anomalies

Exotic anomalies are anomalies that are both exceedingly rare and have special properties not found in any other anomaly. These tend to behave far outside of the norm for most anomalies, and are typically extremely difficult to detect without proper high-end equipment. Very few exotic anomalies have been sighted very far from the center of the zone.

Space Anomaly - Space Anomalies are extremely rare, even among exotic anomalies, and are typically impossible to detect without specialized scientific equipment, and sometimes even then you won't know of one until you've already entered it. The term "space anomaly" is a broad term used to describe a wide variety of phenomena that seem to bend reality itself. Given their nature, they aren't typically directly harmful, but that doesn't mean you can't get trapped by one and slowly starve to death. They can manifest in many different ways. Pocket universes, parallel universes, time-dilation bubbles, and closed-loop regions tend to be the favored rumors about space anomalies. One such rumor even tells of a stalker who temporarily saw a future where the zone had spread across the globe and effectively destroyed civilization.

Wormhole - One of the only exotic anomalies that has been directly observed and documented by scientists; it would be considered a space anomaly if it weren't for that fact. Wormholes are actually very easy to see and identify due to their bright portal-like appearance, though they are only capable of spawning very near the center of the zone, or in a laboratory setting, as documented in research notes found at lab X-12. As their name suggests, a wormhole will simply transport you from one part of the zone to another instantaneously. It is unknown how or why they work, but all stalkers who say they've gone through one claim that the wormholes themselves are safe to traverse, though there's no way to tell what's on the other side. There is a variation of wormhole that is invisible, though it is generally considered to fall under the space anomaly category because of that.

Mind-Bubble - Mind bubbles are impossible to detect. Plain and simple. They are also the single rarest anomaly ever recorded- or, more accurately, rumored to exist. There are very few rumors about mind-bubbles, but of the stories that do exist, even those who claim to have been there don't quite believe them. One such rumor details a stalker entering The Gate after having gone into Pripyat, saying everyone he was with killed each other due to a collective bout of unexplained extreme hysteria, terror, and paranoia. Less than three hours later the bodies of his companions were found, and they determined the cause of death to be them suddenly turning on each other. Another such rumor involves a pair of stalkers suddenly fainting, only to wake up some hours later after having shared a strange dream. It is theorized that the cause of stalkers' unexplained aversion to The Darklands is due to a mind-bubble.

---

So yeah, I know that's probably a lot to take in all at once, but I just wanted to get what I have so far written down as soon as possible, so bear with me. That being said, this is going to be a pretty detailed RP, though that's not to say you're limited to whatever information I give you. As I said, the zone is in a state of growth and flux, and new shit is popping up fairly regularly. Anomalies, artifacts, mutants, whatever. Get creative (but clear it with me through PM first), and if you have any questions, go ahead and ask.

Also, if anyone sees this who was in my last S.T.A.L.K.E.R. RP, I apologize for being a shit-ass, getting bored, and letting the RP die. I'll try my best to not let that happen with this one, but that's part of the reason I went for an open-world execution this time, so that it isn't reliant upon me being there as much. If I disappear for a bit, you guys can go on.

One more thing real quick. While I do want interest, I don't want this to be, like, massive. I'm thinking probably ten people, tops.

So yeah, who is interested?

[Corsair]

I'm in.

Aquila

Name: Rachel Morgenstern

Alias: Aquila

Nationality: Israeli

Age: 30

Gender: Female

Physique/Appearance/Clothing:

Picture

Aquila is short and has a naturally slender build, but she is well-muscled, with a number of scars, mostly from knives and bullet grazes. Her hair is a pale blonde, and she wears it long, usually tied back into a ponytail with a baseball cap or scarf covering it. She wears old Soviet-era fatigues in woodland camo, heavily worn but kept in good repair, with a lot of stitchwork. On her hands she wears black gloves with weighted knuckles, and heavy brown combat boots that are starting to wear apart.

Spoken Languages: Hebrew (First language) Russian (Fluent) English (Bad, but she can get her point across)

Faction: Aquila has no real ties, but has a generally positive relationship with most of the major factions in the Zone.

Reputation: Aquila is generally regarded as being trustworthy. While she swears loyalty to no one if she partners with someone for a mission she will give every effort humanly possible to make sure they survive the mission and get their fair cut of the spoils. She'll help out a fellow STALKER in need, but it's known that she doesn't do it out of a sense of charity. She helps you, you owe Aquila a debt and you -will- pay it back someday.

Aquila doesn't really have any friends, anyone she routinely works with or spends downtime with. A lot of acquaintances, a lot of people who owe her debts, but no one who she really lets her guard down around.

There are rumors that sour Aquila's generally sterling reputation, namely that she isn't really a STALKER but something else, most popularly either Mossad or working for a nefarious organization within the zone, gathering intelligence. Where these rumors come from she has no idea.

Weapons/Ammo:
IWI TAR-21, with a mounted close-combat optic, with five mags of 5.56x45mm NATO rounds (150 rounds)
Micro-Uzi chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, with four 20-round magazines. (80 rounds)
Tomahawk

Gear: U.S. Army issue assault pack in woodland camo, with an attached camelback filled with water. Inside the pack she keeps three MREs, a thick camo poncho, a cleaning kit for her weapons, and an emergency medical kit containing a tourniquet, four large bandages, and two syringes - one morphine, one epinepherine, as well as a small bottle containing antibiotic tablets. In a small pouch attached to the side is a geiger counter, while the other side has a pouch containing a canteen of water.
Hanging at her hip is a small bag containing her gas mask and two replacement filters.
In thigh pockets on her fatigues she keeps a multitool, with the other pocket containing a ruggedized PDA.
In shoulder pockets on her fatigues she keeps a small flashlight, and in the other a wad of coins and other metal debris she uses for testing anomalies.
In her back pocket she keeps a rolled up wad of 5000 RU

Stashes: Dark Valley, there's a boarded up house, probably nice once upon a time. She found a spot where a dog had dug out a little tunnel into the crawlspace, just wide enough for her to squeeze through, then cut a hole through the floorboards. This is less a stash than it is her personal hideout. Besides the oven where she hides her funds - 1000 USD, 1000 Euros, and 10000 RU, she keeps 150 5.56 rounds in the pantry inside an old box of cereal, a loaded Makarov PM under her pillow, and about twenty cans of beans as well as a dozen MREs in various drawers around the house. She also has a collection of about thirty different kinds of batteries going on, just in case.

Strengths:
Military Training: It's generally accepted that Aquila served in the IDF, and it shows. She acts like a well-trained infantryman, very aware of her surroundings and often using military-style tactics on her missions.

Expert Rifleman: Aquila is a crack shot, which is probably how she got her name.

Slate-Cleaner: Aquila never forgets a debt, either that she owes or is owed to her. This may lead to some animosity when she tries to call it in, but it does mean she has a lot of people in a position where she can get what she needs out of them, and it also means that she can agree to owe someone a favor as payment for services rendered to her and have them not laugh in her face.

Hand to Hand Fighter: Bare-handed or with her tomahawk Aquila is extremely effective in hand to hand combat. Observers report that she uses Krav Maga, the brutal, utilitarian martial art used by the IDF and Mossad.

Weaknesses:

Bad Rumors: A horde of rumors follow Aquila - that she's Israeli Intelligence and gathering information on the factions, that she's working for some power in the Zone to a dark end. She can't track the rumors, but they are damned annoying and have soured more than a few negotiations.

"I hunt Men, not Beasts": Aquila is not good at fighting Mutants. While the small, dog-like ones are not so strange she can't handle them she has little experience engaging the more unusual ones, and defaults to tactics that work on Humans that are generally ineffectual - targeting center of mass is pretty useless when the target's torso has the consistency of a sponge.

[TheMadAsshatter]

I knew I was forgetting something. I'd rather CS's be PM'd to me for approval before seeing them in here. Not your fault, but I'll add that to the OP in a moment. Fuck it, this is an Interest Check. Bring on the characters!

@Corsair, with the exception of the formatting, or lack thereof, it looks good. The URLs are an eyesore, and make the bits that you put them in a bit difficult to read, so I'd like you to clean that up right quick. While you don't have to, you may get rid of the "personality" and "history" sections completely if you want to. I will say that if your TAR-21 breaks, spare parts will be hard to find. Other than that, it looks good.

Just out of curiosity, have you played any of the STALKER games before?

[Corsair]

D'oh, I knew I was forgetting to do something with the URLs. Fixing.

And yeah, I've played Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat, although never to completion.

I was originally not going to use the TAR, but the weapon is designed to be sturdy and reliable, uses similar technology to the AK series. But yeah, I was prepared for that.

[TheMadAsshatter]

Sweet. Now to wait for more interest... hopefully.

[Peik]

I remember you making a RP about this before, and me joining. Would you mind if I borrowed stuff from my old character?

[TheMadAsshatter]

Sure man, go for it. Make sure to look at the "stashes" section and add it if you want to.

[Komo]

I am interested, but I have not played any of the Stalker games before. Still cool?
And I'm surprised this had so little people in it. I guess the Advanced Section doesn't have much people..

[TheMadAsshatter]

Of course, no problem at all. I'd suggest you watch some gameplay footage or something, just to get an idea of the environment and whatnot, but it would be stupid for me to say no to non S.T.A.L.K.E.R. players.

Yeah, advanced doesn't get a lot of pull for some reason. Speaking of which, I should probably put up a section for post guidelines.

Also, just FYI, I'm changing the age cap from 50 to 65, because I realized that it isn't necessary for this story arc. It was relevant in my old one, but not this one.

[Komo]

I'm guessing it could be because advanced can be rather unwelcoming?
Have you ever considered trying out in the Casual section?

I mean, to get more players involved.

[TheMadAsshatter]

Honestly, I've done a couple of RPs in the casual section, and while they do tend to get attention, I still find it less enjoyable than advanced for a few reasons. A. RPs there tend not to last long, not that they tend to last long anywhere, B. They can sometimes be too fast paced for me to enjoy because by the time I've written a post someone else posted, which makes me re-write my post, and C. It really does feel like advanced just has a higher standard of quality than casual. Maybe I'm slightly elitist in that sense, but still.

I just like advanced better. All of my best RP experiences so far on this website have come from the advanced section.

[Komo]

Alright. Here is my CS.
This is my first foray into the advanced section, heh.

Vulture

Name: Laura Hedström
Alias: Vulture
Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 22
Gender: Female

Physique/Appearance/Clothing:

Vulture stands at one hundred and seventy centimetres and weighs around sixty-five kilograms. Her skin is fair and unblemished. While she may not be heavily-muscled nor possess a huge amount of strength, her physique is slender and athletic, her muscles well-toned from the amount of physical acitivity she had done out in the zone. Her hair is honey blonde and extends just beyond her shoulders. Her eyes are a shade of blue that reminded one of the depths of the ocean. She wears an aviator googles on her head on top of a leather bandada. Her inner wear is rather unorthodox, and is stictched together and assembled from different types of clothing. She has also crafted herself a shoulder pad with the use of leather and other similar materials. Her outer wear is just a rugged brown leather jacket. On her hands are a pair of brown leather gloves, equally rugged and worn with use. She completes her outfit with a pair of brown leather boots.

Spoken Languages:
English (Fluent), Norwegian (Functioning), Russian (Basic)

Faction: Loner. Has some friendly ties to Freedom.

Reputation:
Vulture used to be apart of the Sentinels, but was kicked out of the Sentinels after a rather heated disagreement with the leader of the Sentinels. She was cast out of the group, and left to fend for herself. Practically a loner since them, she has been wandering around the zone, looking out interesting things to scavenge while moving from place to place in the bid for survival. She is generally regarded as trustworthy and a loyal person. But her loyalty does not come easy. A helpful person by nature, she does often help out other stalkers whenever the need arises. She tends to hunt for bandits, a habit gained during her time as part of the Sentinels. She has known to give out her limited supplies to those that desperately need them, which can could be considered a weakness of hers. She mixes around with Freedom once in a while, and maintains good relationship with the majority of the faction.

Weapons:
G36C with red dot sight optic - 5.56x45mm rounds (150 shots)
SIG Sauer P226 - 9x19mm rounds (120 shots)
Kukri

Gear:

Backpack:
4 bottles of water
2 energy drinks
1 bottle of vodka
3 cans of food
6 energy bars
2 medkits
5 bandages
1 morphine auto-injector
1 small gun cleaning/repair kit
1 sleeping bag

On person:
PDA
Notebook with pencils and pens
Torch
Gask Mask
Geiger Counter
12,000 RU

Stashes:
Old Cordon: 4,000 RU , Beretta 92 Pistol, 9x19mm (80 rounds), AK-74 , 5.45x39mm (60 rounds), 6 cans of bottle, 3 bottles of water and a spare gas mask and a spare set of clothes.

Strengths:

Observant - A keen eye for detail, Vulture can usually spot details that most people would miss or would glance over. This has helped her many times in her hunt for bandits.

Fast Reflexes - Known to have really quick reflexes and aided by her agility, she is a versatile combatant, and go from running to shooting in hardly anytime at all.

Marksman - Blessed with an uncanny accuracy with guns, she hits whatever she aims to get, making sure that each bullet counts.

Close Quarters Prowess - Equally adept in fighting in close quarters, be it with her arms and legs or with her kukri, if her opponents think that she would be harmless without her guns, they would be in for a nasty and possibly fatal surprise.

Weaknesses:

Mutant Unfriendly - Vulture is more than capable of handling the simpler and more common mutants, but when the rarer and more dangerous species is concerned, she has no experience dealing with them whatsoever.

Emotional- Prone to being emotional, Vulture can get too emotional at times, clouding her judgement and affecting her decision making capability. She can also get too kind-hearted which can put her in some awkward situations.

Lonely - Although a loner, she is not one by choice, and is always on the lookout for company she bond and gel with. Not an easy task in a place and time like this. Until then, she will continue to remain lonely.

[Peik]

Friendly Neighborhood Mafia

Name: Sergei Kosygin

Alias: Fixer

Nationality: Ukrainian

Age: 56

Gender: Male

Physique/Appearance/Clothing: Sergei is a large person, standing about 6’1’’ tall, with a stern physique. He has a large, blunt head, nestled on top of his thick neck, with broad shoulders and tall arms further emphasizing his hard frame. While he doesn’t look very muscular in the sense of having defined muscles, his barrel chest, thick arms, neck, wide body and blunt, ragged face still gives off the impression of someone not to be messed with.

His face is crude, almost like it was built for warfare, with eyes sunken underneath his thick, wrinkly forehead. With his blunt forehead and flat nose jutting down from it as if it’s an extension, or rather, a handle, it’s not hard to resemble his upper head to a war hammer from comic books. This, alongside his sunken green eyes, perpetual frown and his fair buzz cut hair, kind of gives off the air of an 80’s American action hero, which is quite the opposite of who he is.

Sergei’s clothing is somewhat outdated, with olive drab coveralls, worn underneath a dark grey armor vest, probably surplus from the War in Chechnya, with a makeshift Yugoslavian paramilitary vest, made of tent fabric and stitched all over with ammo pouches, over the rest of his clothing to top it off. In colder times, he wears a winter VDV uniform left over from the Soviet War in Afghanistan.

Spoken Languages: Native Ukrainian and Russian. He has a fair grasp of English and Turkish.

Faction: Sergei is a Loner, though has strong connections to the Military, and often hangs around (and deals around) their installations, being more than accepted amongst the higher ups, thanks to having served alongside some of them.

Personality: Sergei is known for his quiet, calm, non-confrontational and professional demeanor that is usually considered to be rather contradictory with his stature. Sergei is a man of action rather than words, and prefers to speak in a rather passive way to keep people off-guard for his actions. He rarely insults people he doesn’t mean to kill in the following moments, knowing better than to keep a high profile. This has usually allowed him to get away from a lot of messed up deals he’s been a part of, with his neutral personality allowing him to get a ‘Nah, he’s a good guy’ from at least one of his attackers. Sergei is not a man of loose ends – having suffered from them once, he has taken his lesson.

History: Sergei ‘’The Fixer’’ Kosygin, the Monster of Odessa, or the Man Who Painted Kiev Red, had rather humble beginnings. Born in Soviet Ukraine to parents who had minor positions in government bureaus, Sergei had a rather average life set ahead of him. Like most of the children his age, Sergei attended school, earning himself above average grades through preparation rather than raw skill. One could trace his professional and clear cut attitude towards problems to this age. At the age of 21, he married a girl, Polina, he had fallen in love with in high school. She got pregnant with his son, Oleg, soon after. Being unable to provide for his wife and his parents in school, he dropped out of University, and joined the Soviet Army. After showing merit in training, was assigned to be a member of the VDV Airborne Forces. He was sent to Afghanistan in March 1984. Sergei first killed a man in Afghanistan. Sergei killed his first eleven men in Afghanistan.

Sergei’s platoon was not known for particular effectiveness in battle. However, thanks to sheer jinx, or perhaps thanks to the ire of a commander, his platoon was often sent right into the meat grinder. Sergei survived whatever was thrown at them, however, and continued to serve in the war until August 1986, when the Mi-8 he was a passenger of was shot down, and left Sergei stranded in the mountains of Afghanistan alone, wounded, and hunted by Afghans. All he knew was that he had to move south, and that he was probably as good as dead.

A week later, Sergei was found near Salang Pass with three bullet wounds in his torso, several bruises, lacerations, nine broken ribs, a broken nose, a burst right eye, an exposed skull, and a smashed left hand. He was sent to a hospital immediately, where he fell comatose for three weeks. After waking up, Sergei was questioned for a report, and was awarded with the Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, Second Class as a result of the following investigation. Sergei lay in a hospital to recover for the next two years. He would later learn that he had accidentally stopped an Afghan assault on his way back, and that his exploit had made him somewhat of a legend.

After getting out of the hospital in 1988, Sergei found himself unemployed. His pension for being wounded in battle was not enough to take care of his family, and as he found out, being a college dropout, a wounded one at that, in tough times for the Soviet Union meant it was quite hard to find a job. He managed to get employed thanks to one of the friends he had made in Afghanistan, but found the job rather lacking, and the clients insulting. Asking for his friend’s father for a more… profitable job, he ended up being a bodyguard for drug trafficking. It was certainly better for his family, though Sergei noticed that Polina had a slight idea of what he was up to. He didn’t care much, however, believing that providing for them was more important than being loved by them.

Sergei earned a reputation for reliability after saving a drug king, Ivan Stupka, from a deal gone wrong by taking down the king’s would-be attackers. He ended up becoming Ivan ‘’The Cossack’’ Stupka’s biggest enforcer after this event, and consolidated his position by destroying the (admittedly small but still formidable) Albanian Mafia set up in Odessa in a single day, which earned him the nickname the Monster of Odessa. Around this time, the Soviet Union dissolved, and Sergei found himself with the duty of rooting out the Russian Mafia from Kiev. He sent his parents, wife, and son to Turkey to save them from any repercussions that could occur.

The job soon provided itself to be too high profile, however, and Sergei ended up with an APB by the Ukrainian Police and the Russian Mafia after a long, drawn out shootout that ended with about 35 dead and 50 wounded thanks to an explosion in a building. Sergei, all out of men, wounded, and with a clear cut name as the Man Who Painted Kiev Red, escaped to Turkey to his family with whatever money he could put together before the Russian Mafia got him. Moving through Romania and Bulgaria, he was eventually reunited with his family, free from dirty work, at the year 1998. His son, Oleg, almost fifteen years old, seemed to be incredibly distant from him, so was his wife, Polina. His father was dead, and all he had now was the money he had grabbed on his way to Turkey. Sergei tried to live the straight life for about 10 years, finding work as a bodyguard once again.

He soon got fed up with it, however. His wife, Polina, hated him for leaving him on her own, his son knew of Sergei only as the man who came home at times and was the source of money and police knocking the door, and Sergei’s mother was simply smoking herself to death with the money he made. He started contacting his old friends from the military to learn of any jobs he could do back in the lands he was born. He eventually left for Ukraine once again, much to the ire of his family, in 2009. He entered the mafia business once more, this time with a new name and new modus operandi, as the Fixer, the man who kept everything to the lowest profile. However, after learning that the Russian Mafia still held a grudge against him, and wanted to get even, he decided to fake his death and escape to the Zone, a fertile land where he could make lots of money for his family, while also being able to stay away from them as well.

Inside the Zone, Sergei managed to thrive, thanks to his close connections in the Military and Duty. He started a business of smuggling in things like cigarettes and drugs, while smuggling out artifacts, working with his friends to keep it profitable and secure. While he still takes some field work provided the job isn’t risky and the pay is good, he’s been trying hard to get himself settled, like Sidorovich or the Bartender. He makes sure that his family gets a good portion of his pay, as he argues that he’s doing it all for them.

Reputation: Sergei is well known and well respected for his level headed and reasonable behavior, being the primary reason for his survival in the Zone for nearly a decade. Despite doing business that affects nearly everyone negatively, he’s still taken as a man of reason, someone who prefers negotiation rather than direct confrontation. He’s almost universally accepted by the Military, as most of the higher ups have worked alongside him sometime in the past, and his nice behavior towards the low-ranked soldiers, as well as his discounts, have earned him a good reputation amongst them. The Duty higher ups also respect him for reasons nearly the same as the Military’s. Freedom also likes him thanks to the fact that he sells drugs to them, but unbeknownst to them, he’s selling bad drugs at a very high price, a compromise he made with Duty and the Military to keep that branch of the business afloat.

Weapons/Ammo: Sergei has a 7.62x39 OTs-14 Groza, though for the grenade launcher he uses custom 40mm buckshot cartridges, bought from Duty, instead of grenades. His sidearm is a M1911A1 with a suppressor, an American gun that he’s not very used to. He still appreciates the gun’s quietness and stopping power, however.

Gear:
Backpack:
-Three days’ worth of MREs
-Three liters of water
-Two First Aid Kits
-One Medical Supplies Kit
-Three Anti-Radiation needles
-A box of 7.62x39
-A box of .45 ACP
-Two rolls of bandages

Person:
-PDA
-Flashlight
-Assorted nuts
-NBC Mask
-Anomaly-Radiation Detector
-8,000 RU

Stashes: Sergei has only two stashes, one in the Cordon in the Military Outpost containing passwords for a few bank accounts, his VDV clothing, military fatigues in case he needs to blend in, 20,000 RU, and a SVU-A with a suppressor, alongside two magazines. The other is in the Scientist Bunker, with information on a bank account, 10,000 RU and a NBC suit.

Strengths:
-VIP: Sergei has, through hard work and smart action, earned himself an important place in the Zone. He has connections he can rely on. He’s also avoided in action (the way he also avoids it), as his death would piss a lot of people off, since he runs some profitable operations.

-RU: Sergei makes quite a lot of money. He can arrange things to happen, or hire people who can arrange things to happen.

-VDV: Sergei once served admirably in the Soviet Airborne Forces. He has quite advanced military training (and his line of work allowed him to keep it practiced), not to mention pretty good health for his age.

Weaknesses:

-Beyond Cash: Sergei’s operation is quite large by Zone standards, and thus, doesn’t include a lot of cash flowing for the higher ups like him. He’d need some arrangements done to get important cash.

-Blood Ties: Sergei makes sure that most of the money he makes from the operation reaches his family. They’re gold rich by now, but that hasn’t stopped him.

-Old: Sergei is tough and hardy, but he is old. While he can outclass most stalkers, he’ll need longer time to catch his breath, or recover from wounds. His old wounds don’t help either.

[Lone Wanderer]

Might be interested.
So what have we got here... Looks like we've got three fighter types that are good with guns and in Close Quarter combat. But are all loner loners and don't get along with people, and don't do well against the larger mutants. And then we've got Fixer who has money and knows people. Hmm, guess i'll be a scientist type that knows all about Anomalies and mutants, probably Clear Sky, be abit more independent than those ecologists when it comes to survival.

Edit: On the topic of Clear Sky, in this zone have they been pretty much wiped out? I assume not if there's no Strelok to go to the Chernobyl NPP, so no reason for Clear Sky to be there during the blowout. But they still might have had reasons to go there anyway.

[Komo]

@Lone Wanderer

I get along well with people very much, thank you :)
It's just that some people tend to not like me, and those I shoot :)

[Lone Wanderer]

@Symphoni Ah, my apologies. ;)

[Peik]

Shooting people that don't like you isn't exactly good behavior, mate.

[TheMadAsshatter]

@Lone WandererClear Sky actually did get disbanded at about the same time it would have in the canonical timeline, though it was due to the bandit presence in the swamps as opposed to Strelok. They have since had a resurgence and currently reside in partnership with the scientists at Yantar. live in Yantar, though no one knows exactly where. Most likely the small factory north of the scientists' bunker.

I'm starting to think I should make a historical fact sheet to fill the holes.

[TheMadAsshatter]

Updated the OP with better structure and a posting guidelines section.

Also, just making sure everyone here is still on board.

[Komo]

I don't know about the rest, but I am.