IdleChatter
Member
"Where were you when the nation crumbled?"
The Premise
As We Know It is a semi-apocalyptic, post societal roleplay. It contains elements of slice-of-life, action, horror, drama, and realism in it. The world is ending...at least the world of anyone unfortunate enough to be in the United States of America when it begins. What is "it", exactly? Well, "it" is when North Korea began dropping bombs along the entire eastern coast. It started in Maine, with sirens screaming and people wailing in panic. They hit the capital next, decimating Washington D.C off the map. Florida was their third target, and then Texas. After that, it seemed random across the east. No one could predict where the next bomb would land. The first thing to drop were EMP bombs onto any and all major power plants, effectively destroying the power grid. Next came the hydrogen bombs, which lit the very air on fire as it spread for miles and miles.
The Premise
Anyone that could, if they got the warning in time, took shelter in various forms. In basements, cellars, the downstairs of split level house, anything even remotely underground that they could reach. More than a few escaped the fiery wave of the hydrogen bombs. However, no one expected the side effect of from the EMP pulse bombs hitting the power plants. A momentary but exceptionally powerful spike of pure electrical energy shot out, riding the pulse wave of the bomb. It altered the brain function of every living thing it touched with varying degrees depending on how close the creature was to ground zero.
Four young adults are lucky enough to survive the bombs simply because their cellar went deeper than ten feet into the ground, although at this time, they do not know that this is the reason for their survival. They spend a cautious, tense week underground before emerging. The world looks the same but they will soon encounter the horrors that await them on their journey.
The Setting
This starts out in Moorefield, West Virginia. It's a small town, less than a pin prick on the map with not much to boast of. The town is simple. Most of the buildings that reside there were built from the late 1800's to the early 1900's with only a few modern buildings. It sits nestled in the mountains. The roads leading in and out are woven around the mountains, and even some of the houses just outside of the town are adapted to suit the land. A single river, the Potomac, cuts through the land with farms built along it.The four young adults previously mention live together in four bedroom house that they rent. Rent is high, so it is easier to just have four housemates rather than living on their own.
Floor Plans for the house:
Bedroom One and Bathroom got switched around v.v I apologize for the mistake.
Rules & Guidelines:
1. No play-games-for-a-living, lungs-of-a-smoker type characters. This is the end of your character's world as they know it. There is DANGER that they will have to run from. They will need to have some physical fitness, at least be able to hustle fairly often and fairly fast. Strength is not required but could be a huge asset. Endurance can be gained over time and is not required at the beginning.
2. No mutations. Your starting character will not be effected by the EMP pulse blast. Other than normal problems that every day humans can have, there will not be mutations or any other side effect of the bombs. This is non-negotiable. Secondary characters, which we will cover in a bit, can carry effects from the bombs.
3. Your starting character must be between 19 and 28. It starts with four housemates. Housemates are generally within the same age range. Age is also effected by the blasts, so please your starting characters in the appropriate age gap.
4. GUNS WILL KILL YOU. Well, not necessarily. Your character is allowed to own a gun at the start, but they must have a reason for owning the gun. You will be required to tell why in your character profile. Same with any other weapon aside from common kitchen objects (knives, scissors, etc). Certain types of guns increase your risk of being killed off. Choose wisely.
5. No more than two characters at a time. Sorry, but it gets too clustered and confusing after two. If you want to only play one character but want a different one, PM the GM (me!) and it will be arranged to have your original character either leave the group or be killed off.
6. Characters can and will DIE. Surviving in this world is not easy. If your character doesn't have what it takes, there is the risk that they will die. Some events are determined by a dice roll while others are my decision. It will not be announced which. Please be courteous of the decisions.
7. Just because your character dies does not mean you are kicked out of the roleplay. If your character dies, then you are more than welcome to create another one. Just no more than two at any point.
Gameplay
Your character will have stats given to them by the GM (me) based on their history, job, eating and excising habits, etc. I will PM you the stats of your character after looking over their sheet and keep a copy for myself as well. You can add to the stats as your character progresses. The stats include:- Agility = Speed.
- How fast your character can run, how well they can dodge, their balance
- Constitution = Physical fitness.
- How strong your character is, includes immune system
- Dexterity = Hand-Eye coordination.
- How well a character can handle a weapon, can learn new weapons, whether they are the first to reach the top of the tree or the last
- Intelligence = Ability to think.
- How well your character can solve puzzles and problems, how well they can formulate a plan, how high or low their common sense is.
- Charisma = Ability to charm.
- How well they can talk their way, or the group's way, out of a bad situation. How well they can convince others to do things for them. How charming they are...or not
- Endurance = Resilience to trauma, wounds, fatigue, etc.
- How long before your character tires (your constitution does effect this, better constitution does give your endurance a boost), how well your character copes, how high their pain tolerance is
- Perception = Awareness of surrounds.
- How well your character can remember things. How likely your character is to notice lies. Is not affected by Intelligence.
- Luck = How lucky your character is.
- Whether random chance will smile upon them or kick them in the teeth.
Dangers:
Although the hydrogen bombs were devastating, burning swaths of land, the lasting threat are the EMP bombs. The spike waves coming from them only lasted roughly a day before dropping back down to normal. The electrical waves stimulated the amygdala of your brain while under stimulating the prefrontal cortex to the point of mutation. How? Well, the electrical currents that your brain sends out are disrupted and redirected on a completely different path. Basically, the EMP spike waves rewire your brain. The severity depends on the distance. It increases the activity in the part of your brain that controls fear and violent behavior (the amygdala) while decreasing the activity in the part of your brain that controls reasoning and decision making (the prefrontal cortex). The results are a highly aggressive creature who's only drive is to destroy anything living.- Savages are the creatures that were closest to the EMP sites.
- Savages are incredible volatile. They have no self preservation and will attack anything that moves, whether it is alive or not. If there is nothing in sigh to kill, they will begin attacking themselves. They can and will rip themselves apart until they die.
- Tweakers are the creatures that were where the waves were starting to fade.
- Tweakers are still incredible violent. They have slightly more self survival instinct, but they will still attack anything in sight. However, they have the intelligence to discern between living and non-living. They twitch and jerk spastically and will pick and claw at their own skin. They will sometimes attack each other but have the awareness to stop fighting to attack something together. They also have the ability to learn as time goes on. A few of them retain the ability to speak basic words and phrases.
- Radioheads are the creatures along the fringes of the waves.
- Radioheads may seem like they are normal at first. They look and talk like a normal healthy human. They tend to drive around on motorcycles and loud trucks. This is in order to draw anything living to them. They kill things for the thrill of it and will deliberately place themselves and others in danger.
Character Creation
I have a premade sheet for your character creation. Please fill it out and either post it below or PM it to me. I will review them and message you if they have been accepted or not. Any and all types of characters are welcome as long as they fit within the above mentioned stipulations. This includes: POC, LGBTQ+, Characters with disabilities (as long as they can function well enough to survive), and more. I like diversity, so let's have some. No mary-sues or gary-sues.If you've made it this far, thank you for at least reading it through. Here is the link to the character sheet.
Also, I'd just like to conclude this with: I have no military experience. Almost all of this is what I learned from searching for five minutes on good or came up with on my own. I expect a certain amount of realism in this, but it is a roleplay. I'm here to have fun. I can let a few things slide when it come to realism.
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