[Intro! Skip the first paragraph if you've read the book.]
The year is 1984. Most have lost track of time, but for the past several decades the world has been divided into 3 superpowers fighting an endless, futile war. They are Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. No one knows about life elsewhere, but here in Oceania, Big Brother is all-powerful. Everywhere there are screens which simultaneously broadcast propaganda and transmit surveillance back to the government. Everyone, except the working-class proles (considered beneath notice), is constantly watched. Even the smallest involuntary twitch suggesting nothing less than complete contentedness and fanatic loyalty is cause enough to bring in the Thought Police, who ensure the orthodoxy of everyone. History is completely revised every day, so that proving Big Brother wrong is impossible, and no one except the oldest (who are mostly exterminated) knows that life, in fact, does not get better every day. Worst of all, nearly everyone has been conditioned to make themselves forget when they see an inconsistency in the false reality pulled over their eyes.
However, all hope is not lost. Since the dawn of history, there has been a secret order which safeguards the truth and seeks to protect mankind from soulless order. They know the truth behind the rise of the Party. They know how to remain unseen, at least long enough to do their job. They work in the dark to serve the light. They cut power grids to bring down telescreens, murder patrols, and disrupt the machine however they can.
You remember how you came to join them, that one day when you found the alleyway. The Party poster, with the slogans WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. And the graffiti scrawled below: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."
Character:
You are an initiate into the ancient order of the Assassins. You either began as:
A prole: the working classes of Oceania. They compose most of the population, and are not considered a threat. As such, the most government suspicion they receive is the Thought Police eliminating the most intelligent ones. The Party relies less on telescreens and more on patrols to keep an eye on them. Easier to hide, but not much access to government facilities.
An Outer Party member: the drudges of the government machine, who do minor office, secretarial, and bureaucratic work. They are the most heavily scrutinized, each living in a small apartment with a telescreen. Very difficult to hide, but has access to the Ministries. You may choose to remain as a sleeper agent, or you can erase your records, becoming an unperson, and hide amongst the proles.
Bases:
Most of the order's safehouses are hidden in the slums, where there least scrutiny (aside from the countryside). You must shake any pursuit before you can return to one, for risk of exposing the order. However, as Oceania is always at war, every 5 turns a rocket-bomb falls on London. A roll of 1 or 6 destroys a safehouse or cache. You can establish new ones, though.
Equipment:
You begin armed with a hidden blade and 5 cyanide capsules. Anything else must be scavenged.
Goals:
Sabotage the Party in any way you can think of. There are 4 ministries: Truth, Love, Peace, and Plenty, each concerned with the opposite of their name. Love is the most heavily guarded, being the headquarters of law enforcement. Inner Party members are the brains of the regime, and some of them have vital functions.
Death:
Most likely, the Thought Police will want to capture, interrogate, and brainwash you first. You have already submitted to deep conditioning from the Order to make yourself useless in this event, but just in case, you must try to commit suicide.
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Topic: Roll To Dodge The Thought Police (Read 5604 times)