Leos Klien said
Pellegrino, are you posting a character?

I am writing a character, however, I will also be playing chaos as needed to help drive things along. The story is everyone's though, so I want anything I create to also be at risk -- just as much as everyone elses' creations.

Got it, I must admit I'm pretty psyched for this roleplay now =P

Name: Perry Andalas Basquiat

Date of Birth: 22 October 2047

Physical Description: Perry is a darked skinned man of average height and slender build. His stomach is soft and pudgy, his chest loose, but his shoulders, arms, and muscular. His hair is black, curly, and trimmed short to the same length of his light beard. One can expect to see Perry in a casual, sand coloured blazer atop a loose black turtle neck, both of which worn at the edges. While his face is so often relaxed, the crux of Perry's brow always hints to the severe, curving lines produced should great fear or disgust strike. His mouth sits in a slight frown, his big eyes open in a curve, together, leaving him to appear as if somewhat afraid or simply timid.

Image:


Profession: Author, Painter, Illustrator

Background: Born a handful of years before the New Plague and Resource Wars, Perry lives fired by life. His father worked as a creative writer for Hubris Comics, his mother an artist. The family started strong and had all the luxuries that could be hoped for until food and fuel ran slim. Rationing changed things quickly and the family responded brashly. Luxury turned to frugality, and before Perry could appreciate the conveniences money might offer, they vanished. The family invested into Vault-Tec and severely cut their spending.

Perry grew up on the line between have and have-not. He felt unsatisfied with his family's paralysing fear, yet could not also stand idly by. Along with likewise thinking friends, the young began to experiment with marijuana, psychedelics, and graffiti-style artwork. He began tagging the cold, stone façades of local RobCos and REPCONNs with politically scathing haiku poems tearing apart what he called a 'people distracted by fear'. As years went by, Perry matured, and his message refined. Barely an adult, Perry is drafted shortly after China invades Alaska. He served as a grunt assigned to a support unit to assist smaller, specialized operators. During one such mission Perry and his squad were holding a position near a piece of Chinese artillery. Meanwhile, an American operative was prepping charges to disable the weapon. Without any warning the operative triggered the explosive with the support unit still danger close. The blast killed one and injured several, him among them.

After six months Perry was discharged, mostly healed, and without aim in the Pacific Northwest. He found a sense of calm in the prevailing bohemian of Portland, Oregon and planted roots there. As an adult he dabbled with minor drugs once more, this time, devoting his creative energies into saleable work. He earned a healthy salary as a columnist and artist for the local paper, as well as an author and freelance illustrator. Though he does not admit it, he owes his survival with so little due to the frugality taught to him early in life.

Personality: Perry is the type flow along with the world. He is passive, though quietly opinionated, choosing all too often to simply go along with the will of the group rather than a draw a line in the sand. As a creative he lacks the confidence to create freely -- a trait that rolls into the rest of his life. Perry's a strong willed and intelligent man, but he finds that although his ideas are very much coherent, they lack the power to regularly convince. As a result he expects rejection. He expects to be dominated. Years of going along in silence, thinking responses rather than saying them has given him a thick skin, calm demeanour, and a strength rooted somewhere other than in flesh and bone. Yet, despite his shortcomings, Perry believes in risks. He thinks quickly and knows that to reap the best product one must give more than a little blood. He sees life as an equation where if one desires a thing, one must sacrifice another. In his eyes sometimes getting what you want means taking a beating, to the ego or the body. Perry gets along by deflating his tensions with a bit of dope and a sketchpad regularly. He is aware of himself though, of his needs, his stressors, and, fortunately, he loves these qualities of himself -- more or less.

SPECIAL:

Strength 7
Perception 5
Endurance 9
Charisma 4
Intellligence 7
Agility 7
Luck 1

Looks good Pelligrino, I have to ask as well are we all starting in the same area or are we, at one point, going to meet up later on in the roleplay?
It's just that so far only you and me have specified our starting locations, you Portland and me in Washington.

Leos Klien said
Looks good Pelligrino, I have to ask as well are we all starting in the same area or are we, at one point, going to meet up later on in the roleplay?It's just that so far only you and me have specified our starting locations, you Portland and me in Washington.

Every character will begin in Vancouver-Portland Metro, whether they have to leave another city and arrive here by plane or simply start out in the area. We will begin centralized to encourage interaction, directly with one another, or indirectly through the ripple effect in the world.

Naturally we explain this Pre-Apocalypse.
That's okay then, I already had an explanation of visiting a Vault-tec conference in order to increase international support of the company.
So looks like it's been held in Portland :)

Wired: I understand you are still fixing things up, but Primo is accepted. I see no reason to deny the solid character. Yes, he's a Mafioso and some might call that cliché, but this is Fallout. You are era correct and you're bringing in some organization-power into the story. I like a living breathing world, despite things coming close to the Great War, so yes, he's in. I will also accept your other character simply due to my confidence in this one. Primo is by far the better developed in my opinion and seems to play off some of the same characteristics. I could see one being your primary and the other a NPC or secondary, but that's your choice.

Thanks Pellegrino, I'll probably just play Primo and leave Thomas out. Maybe he can make an appearance as an NPC bandit or something later on?

I added a couple of small weaknesses for Primo. I'm going to keep thinking on it and add more as they occur to me. I also changed up his SPECIAL a tad bit and added brief reasons for each of them being what they are.

Mostly finished my application, I've got the description to do but otherwise the backstory's finished. By the way, is it alright if my guy starts off in a suit of T-51b, given how they've been deploying it against the civil unrest? I figured it would make a nice explanation for how he survives the initial bombing, since I know the PA can to some degree protect the wearer from radiation exposure so long as it remains sealed.

To be honest Zombie dude if anyone is caught in the initial blast of radiation having lead skin won't save you, let alone armour, and the fact that you start off in one of the best armours available kinda gives you a really nice start, especially since everyone else is starting in clothes.

Again, please focus on the present when creating and guiding your characters. Zombie, you're free to start with the power armour so long as it's a T-45d model. It makes more sense to be suited in the same gear that was used in Anchorage than it does a model only released a year prior and probably dedicated to combat. Read up on some of the limits of the 45, such as mobility, areas of exposed circuitry, and energy consumption. Otherwise, you're good to go!

Expect an IC post tonight.

Wait, what about... this? There were T-51bs in Anchorage, standard issue in fact, if one was a member of the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment (otherwise, you wouldn't have power armor at all).

I really don't see the harm in letting him have one. In fact, it actually makes less sense to give him a T-45d suit...

After the Reclamation, the Army brought most of their combat troops back down into the U.S. (which at that point had annexed Canada), including their Mechanized Cavalry. If he was a soldier who would have access to power armor at all, it would be T-51b.

Hmm I personally don't think it operative for him start with it, he could start with the training and then find some armour later on.
But alas if you do start with it, you should take note of the weaknesses that come laden with it and that you also make yourself a rather large target, both pre and post apocalypse, there's a lot of people who'd want that armour, make sure you sleep with one eye open.

For the record, I know the limits of PA and I don't intend to stretch what's already been established in the games. Also, something tells me there's going to be a fair bit of tension or even a power struggle between Primo and Nate, assuming either of them wind up trying to assume a leadership role. Could be just me, but there seems to be a similarity to the two in that they're both willing to make hard decisions if the means justify the ends, and also how they seem to be a product of exposure to their surroundings. Will be good.

Fallout Wiki said
January 22, 2077: Power armor is used for the first time for domestic purposes within the United States by U.S. Army units deployed within American cities for crowd and quarantine control duties related to the growing resource shortages and outbreaks of epidemic disease. Units originally serving in China and on the Anchorage Front Line find themselves fighting fellow Americans at home as the disorders grow worse across the course of this year. Food riots increase, and many civilians are killed in fights with the military and police. A growing number of soldiers desert from the American military both in Canada and the United States. These deserters are captured when possible by military policemen and are sent to various military prisons across the United States. Some of these prisoners are later used by American military scientists in illegal human experiments at the Mariposa Military Base in California where the Forced Evolutionary Virus is first tested.

From the timeline, and...

Fallout Wiki said
The armor usually carries enough fuel to last for ten thousand years.

So, yeah, not an immediate problem. The guy's a power armored soldier. It's what he does. There's no reason to be so nervous about him "breaking the game", or being better than your character because he has it. If you want to make a power armored soldier, I'm sure you can.

Missed that second one there, but it was never really my intention to use the suit as an excuse to throw my weight around. I'll probably wind up giving myself an excuse for him to ditch the helmet, at least. Might help remove the impersonal doombringer element you usually associate with people hiding behind PA.

Imperfectionist said
Wait, what about... There T-51bs in Anchorage, standard issue in fact, if one was a member of the Mechanized Cavalry Regiment (otherwise, you wouldn't have power armor at all).I really don't see the harm in letting him have one. In fact, it actually makes less sense to give him a T-45d suit...After the Reclamation, the Army brought most of their combat troops back down into the U.S. (which at that point had annexed Canada), including their Mechanized Cavalry. If he was a soldier who would have access to power armor at all, it would be T-51b.

The T-51b was released in January of 2077, sure. But look at the reality of the military and a setting where armaments are spread on multiple fronts, not to mention stockpiling. For the purpose of the story it would make more sense for the T-51b suits to be secured for actual conflicts and older, more seasoned or re-fit T-45s as tools against civil disobediences. As with any "historical" tale, just because a thing existed at the time does not mean it was likely to be had. Otherwise, you're totally right and yeah, he should be able to have it technically.

Leos said Hmm I personally don't think it operative for him start with it, he could start with the training and then find some armour later on.
But alas if you do start with it, you should take note of the weaknesses that come laden with it and that you also make yourself a rather large target, both pre and post apocalypse, there's a lot of people who'd want that armour, make sure you sleep with one eye open.

It's not imperative, truth, but it's interesting. Throw a few people in a room where only one can leave and the story will draw an eye; throw a revolver with a couple rounds at the center and you have an audience. Zombie will take the weaknesses to heart as I told'em or chaos will knock him down. That's just how GMing works. Also, again, please do not think about the post-apocalyptic.

@Imperfectionist & Zombie: The T-45 has powering issues that require more energy cells. This will be the model Zombie is allowed to use if he would like power armour, so powering will be an issue that will factor into the plot. Consider that the world is on its edge right now, but structure still exists. Think Israel in World War Z. Nate will have access and the ability to charge his suit as needed so long as society holds, but should things crumble, obviously the benefits of being a part of the government might change. It's a fun thought to have a character with access to such power early on when you know the world is apt to change very soon and to see how that change ripples into their mindset. If Nate feels like a titan in his armour and eventually is cornered without energy running into it, imagine his psyche when he loses that deity-like strength. That's why I'm approving this. It's very much compelling and I believe Zombie can portray it fine.

-shrug- I'm just trying to point out that it's only GM fiat keeping him from having the T-51b armor, and not necessarily canon. The timeline specifically states that power armored troops were used against rioters and to enforce quarantines in U.S. cities. Just think about it: in Fallout 1 and 2, T-45d armor wasn't around at all. Everyone in power armor had either the Pre-War T51-b model, or the advanced Enclave Power Armor, developed after the war.

I never understood what the hell Fallout 3 was doing with its power armor... They have Enclave soldiers in Enclave power armor, but it isn't even as good as T-51b? Ridiculous.

New Vegas, on the other hand, is closer to the original two, and its Brotherhood wear T-51b to a one.

Admittedly it would be an interesting twist having a guy there in power armour, and I think Zombie dude is right, a power struggle would be inevitable later on, I know who I'd stand behind if and when it comes to that.
But once again I'm focussing on the post-game a bit too much.
In terms of T-51b or the T-45d, I don't think it really matters, the T-45d model is older the than the b, and has more flaws in it, for instance in game it provides a lower agility stat, where's as the b model does not.
So if you're going to be wearing the T-51b then it was provided to him during the war in anchorage, but since the year is 2077 and it was brought out in 2076 means that they aren't a lot of them around.
So it seems more logical for him to wear the T-45d because it's a great deal more common, however not as advanced.
And in turn I think that's why it was used in Fallout 3, they actually corrected themselves because there's a decent bit of the d model kicking around, but not many b models, this means replacing and repairing parts are very hard to do.

I agree, the sense of might and power early on can possibly be a great irony later on! Which will only add to the flavor of the story, which is the most important thing in my opinion. Every character is unique in their own way and I'm very interested to see which alliances, enemies, and deceptions form.