Lo Pellegrino said
When I answer questions it's good for everyone. So I'll address who asked, but please, don't ignore the information!The setting is going to be a general city in the Western world (US, Europe). I'll give us a vaguely geographic location later, but for now, generalities mean you can use your imagination a bit more.

Hmm... being located in Australia all my life means that I'm not familiar with the US states. I guess I'll just have to rely on scenes I've seen in movies. Seattle sounds like a good place - with skyscrapers and residential areas.

Lo Pellegrino said
If you know about a technology just nearly ready to surface, say like the Myo arm band or Oculus Rift, I'm open to creative ways of integrating such. In those cases my expectation is that there's a good reason your character has it, like they're a beta-tester of some sort, which obviously would feed into background and/or occupation.

No comment on the technology. Mark's fanciest piece of tech would be his mobile phone.

Lo Pellegrino said It is Fall and nearing Winter. While we are staying general with the exact location, expect weather like you'd see in the Pacific Northwest (lots of rain) with harsher winters. The roleplay is beginning the minute the Outbreak begins, so, it's really not. Chances are the only structural changes are military/law enforcement checkpoints and a heavy presence. Things will change as we go probably, you can expect the city to degrade with time definitely, but there won't be collapsing buildings unless someone takes the time to do some bombings.

Okays, thanks - noted. With timeskips, are they applied to all characters at one time? If not and each character is on their own timeline, should we post something like (Character Name - Day 5) at the top of each of our posts?

Lo Pellegrino said
Stage 1 will allow for small time jumps (up to 9 months) as required, but will largely be the immediate reactions to this big change. This is not a post-apocalyptic game, it's very much apocalyptic, and the biggest dangers are coming from fear and paranoia. I'd like us to explore that as much as we can. Any time jump at this point would simply be to allow larger plots to develop, but we'll all have a say in that. Stage 2, as I see it now, would be a longer jump of about 10 years. We would really only hit once the immediate chaos 6 months out of the beginning had settled and whatever new structures of society were established. This means that characters can be influential into how the world is shaped or can see to it progress in certain areas is dampened. Up to you. Don't think too far ahead though. There is an immediate danger and if your head is in the clouds, don't be surprised is someone takes it.

Ah I see - I'll ditch the idea of ghosts and corpses. I guess I'll have to decide on my Stage 2 character when it comes to it (and I when I'm more familiar with the setting).

Lo Pellegrino said @SilverRain specifically: Your CS is written from the perspective that sometime has passed since the Outbreak. It has not. Things are just now surfacing as wrong, nobody knows just how bad the situation is, or if it's just a prank for that matter. Many are acting poorly though and that likely will worsen. It'd be good to update your CS according to that. Speak about his life as it is normally. Chances are the gang he runs with are still in town, if they weren't actually with him at the start of the RP.

Okays - I'll have it so that the gang's still there. Maybe Mark's first scene would be all of them watching the news and poking fun at the cops. The boss might not laugh as much though - after all, many cops might take this chance to fire at anyone they feel like.

Lo Pellegrino said
If he has any deep connections in the gang the Background should cover that, and it's probably worth considering how well-known he is in the city (if at all). One thing to think about too is just what kind of criminal Mark really is and that's something we should feel and know from the background. Was he driven to crime due to a lack of opportunity, or did he just not take anything seriously enough, so he took the first chance to make big money -- often illegal. Is this a guy who started stealing because he was impoverished or homeless, or does he fancy himself something better? I see he's a gang member, so what kind? The southern California type or something more mafia style (sounds like the former so far). My point is here that you don't want to leave big areas up to assumption, because this is character, and should be making those decisions.

* I can say that Mark's not well known. He's just your usual thief, one of those shadows that hangs out at dark street corners. He has a criminal history for theft and vandalism and has served a year in jail for theft.

* He entered the life of crime because he wasn't serious about life. It seemed better than being constantly looked down and bullied by the petrol station boss. He hated working shifts and pretending to be all smiley-face with other employees and customers. He felt that he had some sort of equal standing in the world of thugs. He was useful there. That first pat on the back by his crime boss was the happiest he felt in many years. Also, by breaking into homes and getting his hand on nice things, Mark feels a sort of excitement - he could actually get his hands on something that he could otherwise never touch.

* I would say he's the southern California type/Grand Theft Auto inspired. The Mafia/Yakuza/Triads are cool too, because they have strong, brotherly bonds, but sadly Mark's personality is probably a bit too wild to fit in. On the outside, Mark is everything I'm not. He's the bold side of me that never gets to see the light. But on the inside, he's just me struggling to make a stand in the world.

*I'll be editing Mark's profile to reflect this post. Thanks for answering my questions and giving me pointers. :)

Here's Mark's updated profile. In particular, I rewrote the psychology and history parts.

Name: Mark 'Scrapper' Winters

Age: 35

Occupation:
Looter, vandal, cage fighter, racketeer, loiterer

Hobbies
*His Ducati
*Scanning newspapers for his crimes

Psychology
Mark's a wild, brash and cocky guy. Cynical too. After all, who wouldn't be in this world? It's hard to say how he'll react in situations because they're all different. He's stubbornly bold initially because he wants to prove himself as being right. Then when it gets too intense, he'll flee (well, not before taunting the enemy first). That being said, he has been called stupid because so.

From a more light hearted perspective, Mark is a prankster at times. He'll throw rocks at cops and then laugh in their face before running from the scene. He likes beating the crap out of opponents because he gets a thrill from being superior. He hates being proven wrong or called an imbecile.

Mark does tend to over think things at times and that tends to put him in sticky situations. He's also not too good at being sociable, hence why he likes to act alone. If he runs into a problem he can't fix, he'll just let it fester and not care about it. If it blows up in his face, so be it. As long as it's not him being beheaded, he'll live.

Mark loves to play the cool, tough guy, so when it comes to relationships, well, he just not romantic. Women bicker too much and it's like everything he does is wrong. He hates having to make them happy. He likes being single because it means he has control over his own life. He gets to do what he wants to do, not what he has to do. As for children - bleah with a capital B. Kids are downright annoying and he'll stay away from them as much as possible. Bleah.

Additonal info:
Link to video which shows his tone and personality well. He's based off the red-head named Renji.
His favourite radio station

Brief History
His criminal record's probably a good source... Anyhoo, Mark's mainly been in the stealing and looting business. He's part of a gang called "Pincer" - the gang's name has been mentioned in the local papers every now and then, although their reach does not go beyond the poorer suburbs. Mark's been in jail before for theft and he still chucks an angry fit every time he thinks about it. Right now, he's just still in the looting business, but is trying out the racketeering field.

Background

Mark's first job was working at the petrol station. The owner was abusive and insulting and Mark had enough. Racketeers would come to collect every now and then, so Mark worked with them to stage a robbery. It was successful and Mark was happy. From there he moved joined a group of vandals, spraying graffiti around the poor parts of town. Needless to say, the petrol shop owner's name was part of every insult Mark could think of.

Not wanting to be governed by a boss, Mark went into cage fighting and found that he could make a decent amount. But every floor has a ceiling and eventually he met with those who were stronger than him (or at least so arranged by the arena owner). Like many other cage fighters, he fell from the ranks. It was part of the deal.

And so Mark resorted to theft - it gave him a thrill each time to get his hands on things that he otherwise could never touch. He sold everything he stole. Heh, it was fun to see the owner's shock when they arrive home. Mark never had much of a demand in life - so as long as he could meet the rent and had a TV, things were fine. Eventually, cops came into the picture, but since he didn't pay the cops any bribe money, he was thrown into jail.

When he was released, things were mostly the same for someone in the slums. That was until our criminal coming across a mistreated Ducati that was impounded. After stealing it, he used his savings at every chance he had, slowly bringing it back to life. To achieve such a feat though, Mark needed to join a gang.

In the Pincer gang, Mark was your bottom rung thug. But even though he had a boss, it didn't feel bad. The boss treated him not as trash, but an equal - one of them. He was accepted for who he was. There was nothing wrong with him. Stealing was his job and his performance was decent. The boss liked his style. There's the opportunity for him to move onto racketeering, though for that to work, Mark needed to have a suitable partner.

Mark isn't too sure about the racketeering business. There's the matter of all those cameras and how people might recognise him (especially with the tats on his chest and back). He finds it more comfortable staying in the looting business. Okays, so he's still a bottom rung thug, but hey, everything's just fine.

Skills
*Looting/breaking and entering - it's in his line of work. Whilst he can't get past those dang security systems, your usual household is enough to get him by. All it would have are just a few faulty shutters and at most, a rabid dog. The solution? A crowbar and dog munchies. To make things easier though, Mark does a little surveillance to ensure the homeowners aren't there when he's looting.

* Fighting - Mark's about 188cm tall with a broad muscular build, giving him an advantage over most. He makes some money through illegal cage fighting and has sent people into hospital on some occasions. To him, anything can be a weapon. The reason for his fighting prowess? He loves it when he wins. It makes him feel successful. He's not trash! Not trash!

Weaknesses
*Paranoia - he's suspicious of everyone. Not to the point of turning into a serial killer, but enough to make even the right things go wrong. Mark trusts only himself. As do many of us.

*Alcohol - Mark gets inebriated rather quickly. He'll start talking to walls and stagger around like a looney. Then he'll pass out flat on the ground. He tries to avoid alcohol, but sometimes it can't be avoided. His boss still affectionately makes fun of Mark about it every now and then. Well what? It's rare to see the boss laugh.

SilverRain, KingFisher, and Astar are all accepted. Expect more information the IC soon.

Lo Pellegrino said
SilverRain, KingFisher, and Astar are all accepted. Expect more information the IC soon.

Muchas Gracias :) I'll start brainstorming my first post.

Looking forward to the IC~! :)

Now that the IC is up are we good to post away?

Absolutely!

Lo Pellegrino said
Absolutely!

Okie dokie! First post is up, let me know if anything needs changing.

Is this RP still open?

Ink Blood said
Is this RP still open?

We are still open. Because of the nature of this roleplay we are beginning now, but I don't think being a little behind will be detrimental. We will be happy to give you the speedy version to get you up to date if need be.

Am I far behind at all? There are only two posts in the IC so far. Or have I missed plot discussion in the OOC?

Ink Blood said
Am I far behind at all? There are only two posts in the IC so far. Or have I missed plot discussion in the OOC?

I simply meant that the time it my take for a CS to be created, reviewed, and accepted can give some anxiety that they'll be 'too far behind'. I'd say you've arrived at a perfect time and look forward to seeing what you create.

Alright. Thank you very much. I'm thinking of making a Professor of Literature.

My post for Mark is a little optimistic, but that's because as a thug, he sees the evacuations as opportunities. Then it'll slowly dawn on him how bad things really are. He's currently heading off deeper into the West side of town.

I'm stuck on my character. I'm torn between making a Professor of Literature, a gunsmith, an old and grizzled veteran, or a combination of the last two. Any suggestions?

my vote counts for nothing but I'd go for lit professor (I don't want to be the only scholar). Otherwise a grizzled -old- veteran could be cool...everyone is pretty young and that would balance nicely. That being said my post should be up this evening or tomorrow morning.

Ink Blood said
I'm stuck on my character. I'm torn between making a Professor of Literature, a gunsmith, an old and grizzled veteran, or a combination of the last two. Any suggestions?

The last two are predictable for any apocalypse setting. I'd suggest emphasis on the first, and would suggest the possibility of a veteran was not combat oriented for the sake of originality.

Thank you for the input, Astarael. That's why I'm considering the old veteran, because everyone is pretty young so far. True, Lo. Maybe a naval veteran or an air force veteran?

I'd just recommend someone non-combat in general. It doesn't matter what branch to me, but it'd be far more interesting to explore someone not schooled on our to murder to and defend themselves and instead see a person who only now have to face such moral blocks.

I went with a middle-aged Rare Book Collector/Part-time Professor of Literature.