Damiann47 said
We wear the gear outside of the domes, inside its all good you can around naked and not die. Another thing is generally it seems that the rest of us have packed food for extended trips outside, so just another thing to think about when getting equipment together.

Thank you. That makes more sense.

Mortalbean said
Hey mono, care to take another sweep of my CS, particularly the back story and personality. It's late right now but it might be nice to have some suggestions to work on for tomorrow.

You're good!

Razboinic said Jessica Deckland

While the character certainly fits, there'll be a good deal of adventuring around the wastes and such, and while obviously you don't technically need to leave the dome (most people don't), we almost certainly will, and I'd like to make sure the character might have some reason for doing so. A lot of our characters are scavenger types or mechanics, and as such their motivations for venturing out into the wastes are relatively easy to imagine. Even something such as having heard a rumor about experimental drugs to cure some illness that might be hiding away in some nearby hospital would be enough.

Sure thing! Also she could probably test the toxicity of the air and be looking into its properties and how it attacks the body. Or if one of the people that leaves the dome gets badly hurt she could help. I think there can be lots of uses for her. :)

What is the toxic air made up of? More specifically if exposed to fire will it explode and what are the side effects of your skin being exposed to the air

Razboinic said
Sure thing! Also she could probably test the toxicity of the air and be looking into its properties and how it attacks the body. Or if one of the people that leaves the dome gets badly hurt she could help. I think there can be lots of uses for her. :)

That's actually a pretty good idea, a'ight, you're good!

And as far as what makes the air toxic, originally it was to be hydrogen sulfide such as in the permian-triassic extinction event, but the main flaw with that (as someone pointed out to me, because I'd managed to forget) is that hydrogen sulfide is corrosive, explosive, flammable, toxic, etc, and would completely negate any reason to go outside, not to mention it reacts with oxygen. The gas used is something I haven't come up with a name for, but it is fictional. It has many properties not unlike hydrogen sulfide, such as its method of attacking the body (blocking cellular respiration) and can be absorbed through the skin, but it lacks the corrosive and combustive properties of the former. I know it's a bit of a cop out, but I felt other than that the idea was sound and so rather than have a nervous breakdown (I did, actually), I went with the option of simply creating my own gas for the purposes of the RP. I will however try to keep things scientifically accurate save for that, so don't expect a plasma rifle to do anything but turn into a short range flamethrower and cook you alive.

Monochromatic Rainbow said
rather than have a nervous breakdown (I did, actually)

Please tell me you meant this as a figure of speech, otherwise I think my feelings just got kicked in the groin.

Mortalbean said
Please tell me you meant this as a figure of speech, otherwise I think my feelings just got kicked in the groin.

Unfortuately no. Don't worry, you didn't have anything to do with it, and I'm perfectly fine now, and a lot of it had to do with all the irl stuff happening all of a sudden.

Hello. Me again. So pretty much I can light a fire without worrying about blowing myself up. Do the gases make it hotter/colder or foggy? Does it effect plants / buildings? Sorry I just would like to know what it'll be like outside said dome :)

Here is my personal take on the setting, not official or anything but I thought I would share as it seems relevant right now.

The Sky:
The sky would still be the same blue that we recognize, maybe a bit darker but in general it would be the same color. This is because the sky's color has more to do with the angle of the sun's rays than anything else. It would of course vary based on the time and other factors but all in all I imagine it would look more or less the same. Gases are mostly clear so the new gas wouldn't really look like much. The water cycle would probably still be fully functional, so there would be the white billowy clouds you are used to although I imagine each cloud type being much more "extreme" and more well defined. The real question is does this new gas change to a liquid at temperatures found here on earth? If so there could be a whole new cycle of this new gas, which would have it's own clouds and weather patterns which brings me to:

Weather:
Would most likely be the same but much more extreme, hotter summers and colder winters. All your normal global warming stuff. If the new gas turned into a liquid at earth like temperatures there could be independent events. Fog would probably be much more common along with smog due to temperature inversions. The air would be a bit more humid as well and I could see, especially in the desert, you waking up each morning to a nice layer of frost on everything.

Plants:
Larger plants would most likely die off, they tend to be less adaptable to sudden changes in climates than smaller plants. The soil wouldn't really be affected by most of this stuff however what really matters is the corrosive properties of the new gas. Just because it can damage flesh and lungs doesn't mean it would affect plants much or at all. I can't think of any plants in particular but after 16 years I could see annual plants evolving a very strong resistance to this new gas considering the high selective pressure it would have exerted combined with their relatively short generations.

Buildings:
Buildings would be mostly gone, even without severe atmospheric changes buildings tend to require constant upkeep to prevent them from falling apart. This wouldn't happen right away but 16 years after everyone left them to rot most wood beams would be in advanced stages of rot(as bacteria and fungi would develop a resistance to the new gas even faster than the plants). Steel buildings would be around and pretty sturdy. The more extreme temperatures would slowly cause them to break as the steel shrank and expanded over time but all in all there isn't much that occurs in nature that would destroy steel. Any glass or other stuff would most likely be shattered or warped.

I can't think of anything other factors and I could have missed a bunch of stuff that would cause or prevent decay but this is my best guess.

Razboinic said
Hello. Me again. So pretty much I can light a fire without worrying about blowing myself up. Do the gases make it hotter/colder or foggy? Does it effect plants / buildings? Sorry I just would like to know what it'll be like outside said dome :)

Oh, no, it's perfectly fine! You all can ask much better questions than I could try to anticipate. So ask away!

While the gases themselves do not cause the air to be hotter, they are a symptom of a higher atmospheric temperature. While the gases certainly affect a good deal of the plants on Earth, not all of them have kicked the bucket so there are plenty of superweeds laying about, as well as things like lichens and of course the algae. If we're talking about the big oaks and other nicer plants, unfortunately those are dead. As to buildings, the main effect is simply the lack of maintenance, overall humidity is up, so rot sets in quicker and many wooden framed houses will have indeed collapsed from lack of support by now, like Mortalbean imagined.

That being said, I did forget to mention that there are small anomaly type areas where the gas doesn't reach, and while they vary widely, (in one case I have in mind for example: there is a cave where the interior is set higher than the entrance, almost like the entrance in an igloo, as the gas is heavier than air it collects down by the entrance while the cave itself is clean. There are other anomalies like this and those are where you are almost guaranteed to find either a group of bandits or someone else.)

Mortalbean said
Here is my personal take on the setting, not official or anything but I thought I would share as it seems relevant right now.

Yes actually, that's kind of freakishly like what I had in mind. Many bacteria and fungi would simply ignore the gas outright, and some chemical extremophile microorganisms will be thriving in the more damp and warm conditions.

By the way, I want to apologize to all of you for taking you so long. I'm a very disorganized person and it probably shows >.<
I'm working to sort some things out as quickly as possible, so y'all don't have to wait so long.

Still around, just haven't had anything to say. Anyway looking forward to get started, partly since Riley is my first female character, as a guy myself I just make men so should be a new experience.

Damiann47 said
Still around, just haven't had anything to say. Anyway looking forward to get started, partly since Riley is my first female character, as a guy myself I just make men so should be a new experience.

Ah, well, I'll do my best to make that wait as short as possible.

Monochromatic Rainbow said
Yes actually, that's kind of freakishly like what I had in mind.

Looks like putting all those points into mind-reading finally paid off.

Damiann47 said
Still around, just haven't had anything to say. Anyway looking forward to get started, partly since Riley is my first female character, as a guy myself I just make men so should be a new experience.

As a guy I've actually never really done a female character(did a few but their RPs usually died pretty fast). Tell me if it's any fun to pretend to be a girl on the internet.

Monochromatic Rainbow said
Ah, well, I'll do my best to make that wait as short as possible.

It's fine, we'll just sit here crashing the guild by spamming F5.

Mortalbean said
As a guy I've actually never really done a female character(did a few but their RPs usually died pretty fast). Tell me if it's any fun to pretend to be a girl on the internet.

That's silly. Everyone knows there are no girls on the internet. It's all just pretend.

Ragnarok said
That's silly. Everyone knows there are no girls on the internet. It's all just pretend.

Dude, not cool, this is 2014 of course there are girls on the internet. Just do a simple google search for "cam girl."

Mortalbean said
Dude, not cool, this is 2014 of course there are girls on the internet. Just do a simple google search for "cam girl."

Just because of some fancy magic displaying woman doesn't make them real :P

Ragnarok said
Just because of some fancy magic displaying woman doesn't make them real :P

Well, what happens when they find out about the internet? I mean there is wifi in kitchens these days.

Stupid double post

Mortalbean said
Well, what happens when they find out about the internet? I mean there is wifi in kitchens these days.

We shall cross that bridge when it comes. till then. We must band together to stop them from discovering the internet. For all of our masculinity.

Ragnarok said
That's silly. Everyone knows there are no girls on the internet. It's all just pretend.

I suppose that means I'm a dude with boobs?

Interesting.

Veeeery interesting.