It's disorganized and if you want to get in my face and try to start an argument for some reason, be my guest.
I'm talking about in the sense of us just deciding what happens on our own. There is no clear cut way that the turns work. If there is some time limit. How it's actually determined. To give you a straight up example, Theodorable's RPs are typically pretty clear. Things get moved forward usually expediently. The world moves on with or without the players. This is an exotic planet and we're supposed to just make animals and plants up? I am expected to know how this mining worke? I'm expected to assume ore is even found? This kind of RP does not function well when what happens is driven purely by the players. This is the GM's world. It is his idea. His baby. He, and only he, can determine how everything works because he himself designed the mechanics and lore.
I simply feel that more leadership and direction should be provided if this type of NRP is going to be made, because it has stats, it is similar to an actual game. Googer is acting as less of a GM and more of a player as far as I can tell. Deciding to let us determine if bad things happen. Not assuming direct control of NPCs. The role of GM is vastly different from player. And a player is definitely what he appears to be from what I can tell.
I am not putting either of you down. I simply feel the RP lacks direction, leadership, organization, and probably lore. I do not want to write a post and say something works one way and infringe on Gorgen's ideas and world. The same goes for creation of animals and plant life. But perhaps my concept of GM is just vastly different than either of yours.
February 18th, 2017. High of 84 degrees Fahrenheit, fairly mild for the practical swamp that is Houston. A day unlike any other, save for the whole recent inauguration of President Trump which has rustled numerous jimmies. People wake up casually in the morning, sip a cup of coffee, suffer through Houston's god-awful morning traffic (and god-awful traffic in general), and promptly get to work. Another dollar, not nearly enough of another dollar. But this peace and serenity will not last. For February 18th, 2017, is the beginning of the end. We were completely unprepared.
Hello, and welcome to Outbreak: A Pandemic Survival with Stats. I want to be very upfront that this RP does involve a series of random number generations or dice rolls if you'd prefer to call them that, rolls that will compare against your character's stats. They do not always happen. Almost anyone can open an unlocked door, but not everyone can bash down a dead-bolted wooden door. Your character's stats are essentially the secondary determining factor that will decide whether they live, get injured, or die, the primary being your own choices as to what the character will do. And I absolutely mean that. Characters in this RP can, and almost certainly will, die and get hurt. If a character dies though, I have no issues allowing you to make another, and encourage it. By the way, just use Google Maps to see Houston. Boom, the RP has a map.
How This RP Runs
You write your own posts, but this RP shall make heavy use of Discord/PMs, as you must let me know what you plan to do so I can determine if rolls are necessary. Searching for food is likely a roll unless you're in a grocery store that hasn't been completely raided yet, for instance. Firing a gun is absolutely a roll, even point-blank sometimes. Climbing a ladder carefully probably is not. Climbing a ladder under duress will likely be. Context applies as does your wording of what you wish to do. You let me know what you want to do, I tell you the result, you write that in your post. A single post may contain numerous decisions, especially in the beginning when characters are isolated from one another and shit is starting to hit the fan. I'll be basically collabing with all of you in the beginning.
This RP requires a good bit of thought, caution, and consideration in order to survive and potentially thrive for as long as possible. People need food. Water. Shelter. Sleep. Your characters are the same. NPCs are the same. There is also a healthy level of realism - someone that has never shot a gun before is unlikely to be able to hit the broad side of a barn on their first shot. Okay, that's an exaggeration, we've all seen people shooting guns in movies before, but the reality of doing it is quite a bit different. It is nearly impossible to hit a fast moving, distant target as an untrained person. Beyond this, things like potential infection apply. Broken bones. Eating things that should not be eaten. Characters can only carry so much, especially without packs or other places to store items. Etc.
The Disease
Without spoiling anything, this RP involves a highly virulent 'disease', the exact characteristics of which will be revealed throughout the RP. It is not zombies. As to why characters in the RP do not have prior knowledge of the disease, that is due to the action of governments in an attempt to keep it heavily under wraps and address the problem before it spirals out of control, and spiral out of control it will.
The Possibilities
There is every possibility of this RP running for a significant amount of time; days, weeks, months, maybe even years into the outbreak. Your characters may become leaders of survivor settlements, or members of them. Perhaps your characters turn into raving lunatics who raid those who cannot defend themselves. Perhaps the government will never fall apart in the first place and actually mount something of an actual response. Who knows. It is not necessary at all that characters come together. As GM, it is my job to supply ample opportunity in the form of NPCs if you choose to intentionally avoid other PCs. Of course, I may drive PCs together for fun. At the same time, you are welcome to organize together and combine forces. There is strength in numbers. But there is also strength in finding and organizing NPCs.
Expectations
I have a full college schedule. Other people have jobs. I'm fully aware of that, and real life comes first. This RP is in a unique position in that characters can simply be killed quite easily as necessary if someone leaves or is disruptive in OOC. I personally hope that players can post at least once a day to a few times per week. I also expect that people chill the fuck out in the OOC. Minor debates and squabbles about realism or something in the RP are fine. But IC does not equal OOC. There is the very real possibility that PCs might kill other PCs, and you need to be cool with that. You also need to be cool with the fact that shit happens, people die, rocks fall, and sometimes a character knocks a task out of the fucking park.
Character Creation
This RP makes use of the Fallout SPECIAL System. If you do not know what that is, no problem, here is an explanatory list despite the names probably being clear;
Strength:"Do you even lift, bro?" Governs how much your character can carry and things like how hard they can punch. Musculoskeletal stuff, basically.
Perception:"I can see clearly now..." Governs things like ability to spot loot, involved in ranged aiming, situational awareness, etc.
Endurance:"Run Forrest, Run!" Do you too wish to be a handicapped man who can run long distances? Then invest here! Seriously though, deals with ability to endure stress/physical punishment.
Charisma:"Bond, James Bond." Used in all manner of manipulation, charm, leadership, etc.
Intelligence:"I'd like to protonate your base..." Governs ability to learn new tricks or skills, and general ability to not be a moron.
Agility:"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge-." Involved in ability to get the fuck out of the way, as well as climb or do fancy parkour shit if your character is into that. Parkour not recommended to attempt.
Luck:"Damn. Lost another tree fiddy." Involved in damn near everything that I decide it applies to. Might be the saving grace that keeps your character from death. May also result in death.
What is not the same as in Fallout though, is that this system is normally distributed from 0-10. What that essentially means is that higher and lesser numbers are significantly less prevalent in the population. For instance, only 0.45% of humanity is considered to have a zero in agility, while 23.5% would be rated a five in agility. If you want to know the exact percents, check the following hider. If you'd rather logic it out, consider a zero in agility to be basically a damn near wooden person who can barely move their limbs. That, or they're just god-awful at dodging. For those of you who are less mathematically inclined, a character with nine points in Strength is essentially in the top 2% of the entire human population.
With the SPECIAL System now explained, I shall provide the character sheet that all characters play by:
Name: Age: (18 minimum, please. Careful about this choice. SPECIAL stats are also in comparison to people of similar age.) SPECIAL: (Start with 5 points in all categories. You get 5 free points. Points may be subtracted from one category and added to another. The initial minimum for any category is 4. The initial maximum is 8. The purpose of these minimums and maximums is that your characters are normal people, not freaks of nature. Plus your character would likely die very quickly if they had a 3 anywhere. If the RP goes on long enough, it is possible characters will earn points in SPECIAL categories. Characters may also lose points due to... problems. PM/Discord DM THIS PART OF THE SHEET TO ME, DO NOT POST IT IN PUBLIC. Your SPECIAL stats are a secret.)
Strength: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 5
Agility: 5
Luck: 5
Pre-Outbreak Occupation: (I will allow only one character with military training and one character with police training. The military training cannot be special forces. The Pre-Outbreak Occupation heavily influences what a character can reasonably do in terms of skills.) Description: (Give us a description of them. Photos are acceptable, but no anime. Lend some insight publicly into your character's SPECIAL stats here. Let me also know if your character is married, has kids, etc. Those are all NPC possibilities and fantastic motivations for when the outbreak begins.) History: (What it says on the tin.) Fluff Starting Inventory: (If you want your character to have things like trinkets, maybe a watch if they're some snob or Apple lover, those go here. Things that won't really influence the number-crunchy side of the RP that I run as GM. If your character gets to start with something useful, I will specifically tell you. It is assumed that all characters have cell phones. Good luck using them eventually though.)
I've spent a good bit of time reasoning on this, so I hope it garners some interest despite the tendency among forum RPers to avoid stats and rolls. It is my hope that this RP will be highly successful and long-lived, as well as extremely interesting and fun! If you have criticisms, concerns, or questions, feel free to post them here or contact me on PM/Discord. I will now start reviewing applications posted in OOC. Those accepted will receive a like, else I'll post some concerns or thoughts.
6 potential interests is pretty good. I just got done with a 12 hour day at college and physical chem test so I'm going to chill and let things sit for a little while, see if there is more interest. Honestly, the OOC would basically be just that post though. I invite all of you to go to the Discord if interested.
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