Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
I was inspired to run a game in the vein of
History: The Minimalist RTD. This game is set in the recent past, 2003 to be exact, and follows a group of diverse, intrepid survivors as they attempt to survive a in a new undead world.
1. This is my first RTD, so I'm still getting a grasp on everything. My preemptive apologies for any missteps I make.
2. By Semi Minimalist, I mean that this will be a fairly serious survival/worldbuilding game. I expect a minimum of a couple sentences for an action, and in return you can expect a paragraph minimum from me.
3. I will aim to post a new turn on a daily basis.
4. Player characters being in conflict is okay, it is one of the staples of the zombie genre. However, please do not make a character who is based around being entirely antagonistic or destructive. Those types do not function well in this type of game, and in all likelyhood have already died at this point.
5. Each turn represents the period of a single day. Player actions can thus be anything that can be done in this period of time. Repairing a door is an appropriate action, building an entire house is not. An action be consist of multiple parts, eg. "Go fishing in the lake, practice with the crossbow and then repair the truck." Note that the more parts there are in a single action, the riskier it will be as a single low roll could potentially impact the other parts.
6. Talking is always a free action.
7. Besides the zombie apocalypse, the key difference between this world and our own is that cell phone technology was never developed. In its stead, Walkie-Talkies became more advanced, accessible and commonplace. Everyone is assumed to have a Walkie-Talkie on them unless noted otherwise.
0<: Catastrophe - Either someone is dying (probably you) or something (a project, a relationship, etc.) is ruined.
0: Disaster - It's pretty much the opposite of what you wanted.
1: Poor Failure - It isn't what you wanted, and it makes the situation notably worse.
2: Failure - It isn't what you wanted.
3: Partial Success - It's kind of what you wanted. It's not satisfying, but it's not a setback either.
4: General Success - It's generally what you wanted, although something is either missing or a complication arises out of the success.
5: Complete Success - It ends with just the result you had in mind, without any complications or problems.
6: Excessive Success - It's more than what you wanted, to a problematic extent.
7: Boon - It's more than what you wanted, but you also have the tools or opportunities to make it even better than what you wanted in the first place.
8+: Triumph - Oh hell yeah!
Example: "Now that we know exactly where the old factory is, I head there by myself and search the inside to see if any functioning equipment is left."
0<: You open a factory door and a massive cloud of a brownish-red substance rolls out. Every inch of your body burns in agony.
0: There is no building equipment, though you open up one quadrant and find hundreds of zombies on the factory floor. They look like they had been dormant up to this point, but they all are alerted to you instantly.
1: The only thing this place has to offer are wandering zombies. You spot a quadrant full of hundreds of zombies, but they haven't noticed you...for now.
2: This place is deserted and rusted over. No useable tools, but no zombies either. It's just an eerie, desolate wasteland of metal, and you can hear each of your footsteps echo off of the ground.
3: After hours of searching in this quiet industrial wasteland you come across a mining pick that is only partially rusted. Not the level of tech you were looking for, but maybe you can do something with it?
4: After hours of careful searching you find an industrial jackhammer. As you observe it, you accidentally turn it on, its loud engine drawing the groans of zombies in the next room...
5: Your meticulous looting is rewarded when you find a closet containing a jackhammer, a toolbox, a fire extinguisher and 2 rolls of duct tape.
6: You find a massive box of industrial tools that has yet to be even opened! It's all locked inside of a massive, reinforced metal crate.
7: You find a massive box of industrial tools that has yet to be even opened! It's all locked inside of a massive, reinforced metal crate. Lying a few feet away you spot a blowtorch...
8+: After hours of not finding anything of significance, you lift open a serrated metal garage door and see a bulldozer inside. Besides a layer of dust, it looks no worse for wear. Getting inside the driver's section, you find the key on the seat and the gas gauge say it's still half full...
1. One day there weren't any zombies; the next, they were everywhere. It happened too quickly for any society to react, and so they all collapsed.
2. The virus appears to have originated from somewhere in Southern Europe.
3. Zombies are lumbering, unintelligent creatures. They do not need to eat, but are solely driven by the desire to do so. They can not be stopped by anything other than adequate brain trauma.
4. Anyone who dies, even if they are not bitten, will be reanimated as a zombie. The only way to prevent this is death resulting in brain trauma, such as a headshot or falling off of a 10 story building.
5. The zombie virus can mutate, but the causes and mechanisms of this are unknown. Two types of mutated zombies have been confirmed by multiple encounters:
Sprinters - Agile zombies that can run and are adept at climbing. Their attacks are much more quick and vicious than a normal zombie's. They still require brain trauma to be killed, however, it appears that they also experience pain. Frequency: 1 in 20 zombies.
Thinkers - Zombies that show a low level of situational awareness. These zombies have been observed wielding weapons crudely, avoiding hazards, and recognizing patterns. They have not been observed to be capable of speaking or understanding speech. Frequency: 1 in 100 zombies.
Non-mutated Zombies are referred to as Standards or Usuals.
6. Humans are the only known animals that reanimated after death.
The
Zombie Apocalypse has been raging for over 4 months now. You are a
Survivor. You have made it to the small rural town of
Edinburg, Indiana, U.S.A. You are here because you received a
Walkie-Talkie Transmission from another survivor by the name of
Walter Briggsby. Walter is a retired
Police Officer who has been sending out transmissions inviting any nearby survivors to come to
The Farmhouse he is currently occupying.
The game will start with the Player Characters reaching
The Farmhouse all around the same time.
Character Sheet:Name: Real name, nickname or pseudonym. Very odd names may draw untoward attention.
Appearance: Brief description of what you look like.
Item: Weapon/Tool/Medicine/Recreational/Barter. Choose the
type of useful item you would like to have on you when you first appear. The specific item itself will be randomly generated from your chosen type. You get a +1 to using this item, as well as any similar items you find in the future.
Occupation: What did you primarily
do before the Zombie Apocalypse? Usually a job, but doesn't have to be; housewife, class clown, party animal, etc., are all acceptable occupations. You get a +1 to all actions related to your occupation.
Nostalgia: In the precious moments of peaceful downtime that come far and few between, what do you miss the most?
Equipment: [Leave Blank]
Health: Normal
Name: Carl Brinks
Appearance: Big, beefy and barrel-chested, with dark skin and a neatly shaved fade. Dressed in a colored blue shirt and tan khakis.
Item: Weapon
Occupation: Armored Truck Driver
Nostalgia: Taking my children to the ice cream shop across the street from the beach, and then pointing out all the different animals in the clouds.
Name: Suzanne Jie
Appearance: Short woman with glasses and ponytail, rocking the academic blouse and skirt combination.
Item: Medicine
Occupation: Anthropology Professor
Nostalgia: Reading fantasy novels with a warm cup of coffee during a thunderstorm, while Mister Squiggles sleeps curled up on my lap.
Name: Tobey Lawshore
Appearance: Scraggly beard, worn sallow skin with sunken eyes. Dressed in an old soiled jacket, baggy pants and a torn baseball cap.
Item: Barter
Occupation: Hobo
Nostalgia: Going to the park for a free concert while drinking a cold beer given by a kind stranger.
Author
Topic: Roll to Rebuild - Day 3 [9/10] (Read 9365 times)