The Apartment Building
A Survival Horror Roleplay Where Every Decision Has Concequences
Building Status:
Power: Out
Water: on
Zombies: 20-30, surging up the stairs.
Rogue Humans: John Marcel (NPC)
THE DEAD WALK! ! !
Owing to a botched experiment involving nano-technology by a secretive branch of the Chinese military, the world has crumbled in the face of a virus that reanimates and mutates dead tissue. This nano-virus, officially named by the U.S Government as Type 9284, is spread by contact with infected bodily fluids. Once a human or animal has contracted the virus, they are overwhelmed by a fever within an hour, and reanimate as a primitive and highly violent form of their previous selves.
Over the course of weeks, the host’s body mutates, giving them super-human strength and speed. Suffice to say, China’s military was not quick enough to act, and its government held back the truth until it was too late for other nations to take measures against the virus. By the time the World Health Organization grasped the situation, there were cases of Type 9284 erupting all over Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Some nations fared better than others, but inevitably, there’s only so much that fighter jets, armored columns and sandbag road blocks can do against the surging tide of sprinting, reanimated bodies of the infected.
As the United States wages a bitter struggle for its very survival, with cities being lost to the spread of Type 9284 quicker than the military can consolidate, our story switches to a group of miss-matched strangers living in an apartment building in a virus-riddled city.
The emergency services are crumbling under the strain, the national guard are shooting first and asking questions later, and roaming gangs of desperate survivors are emerging as a particular concern to everyone’s survival.
With supplies running low, and the power grid beginning to fail, the inhabitants of the apartment block must use their wide pallet of skills to survive the coming storm.
This is their story.
Roleplay Summary
Hello, and welcome.
This is a gritty RP, focused on survival, where bullets and weapons count for little, but subtlety, food and water is everything. Characters will be going up against the daily horror of avoiding detection by the infected, barricading the building’s entry points, and dealing with random emergencies created by the GM.
The GM will also create impromptu missions depending on the needs of the group, which any character can undertake – alone or with friends – that will yield certain rewards.
However, outside of these little side plots, the overarching objective of the RP is to stay alive. It will not be easy however, as the GM will frequently challenge the characters with ever increasingly volatile dilemmas. From dealing with a band of looters, containing infected incursions, evading military death squads to deciding what to do with a mother and her infected but not yet turned child.
Rules
- Your character is not invincible.
- Some things happen in this RP that are beyond your control. Accept the cards you are dealt.
- There is no winning in this RP. There is only the story that needs to be told.
- No bickering.
- I am not above booting out people with crappy attitudes.
- As has been seen before, I am also not above killing off child characters, so don't think playing a child will spare you from the Hand of God.
- The RP may feature dark themes that should be handled with maturity.
- I haven't got a problem with characters developing romantic relationships, and in fact, encourage it! However, sexiness needs to be faded to black or consigned to your smutty PM box ;)
- I wont ask for how much ammunition your minigun has. However, I will put rambo characters under a magnifying glass and try to murder them at every opportunity if I sense they're trying to "win the RP" by being OP.
Role of the GM
As GM, I will not be taking a direct part in the RP, but will rather be consigned with controlling NPCs, creating situations for the survivors to deal with, moderating character behavior and killing off those characters that do things that I believe would get them killed. I will also fast forward characters who are dragging their feet, to speed things toward their conclusion. I do this, to prevent lulls - its actually pretty effective.
Any posts I make, and the details within, are considered written in stone. There can be no arguments against them, or squabbling.
I was once known as TomeBinder, before personal reasons led to the loss of my account and the unfortunate abandonment of my - at the time - successful RPs. Those who remember me, will be very familiar with how I do things, and hopefully vouch for how fun it is.
Character Mortality
The GM may step in at certain times, to injure or kill your character. If this happens, then it is nothing personal. The best way to avoid your character being killed off, is to ensure they do not do anything stupid, or are left AFK.
Moving quickly through a building, without checking side rooms and behind doors etc, would give me good cause to have an infected jump out on them from nowhere. Discharging a loud weapon in a street, might end with me narrating the appearance of a horde on your character's doorstep!
Caution at all times! And think about the possible consequences of your actions, because I sure as Hell will be!
Once I've narrated your character's death, there can be no arguments - it has happened. You will not be ejected from the RP however, and are free to rejoin as another character.
The Infected
The infected evolve over a period of time, becoming stronger and more dangerous with each stage of evolution. The quickest way to kill them, is to destroy their brains, thereby denying the virus the ability to control the body. However, even when incapacitated in this fashion, the virus is still very much alive and will repair the brain over time. Fire or decapitation therefore, is the only way to put them down permanently.
Stage One Infected: A shambling corpse, which retains some memories of its previous life. The virus is still establishing itself at this stage, and so the host is clumsy and weak but nevertheless dangerous. It will typically try to grapple and bite people. Stage One Infected navigate by smell and sound, but their eyes are of little use to them.
Stage One lasts typically between 1 and 7 days of infection.
Stage Two Infected: By now, the virus has gained full control of the body and is beginning to mutate. Muscle structures are being reactivated, organs are being re-purposed. A Stage Two Infected is capable of running without tiring, but is still clumsy and lacks basic motor skills. They are as strong as an average human, and can bring their pray down quickly. Their eyes are starting to develop, giving them somewhat better coordination than Stage Ones.
Stage Two lasts typically between 7 and 21 days of infection.
Stage Three Infected: The dead, putrid flesh of the reanimated corpse is beginning to blacken as the virus starts to manifest on the skin. The host's muscles have been restructured and enhanced, allowing for greater speed and strength. Their eyes now work with 20/20 vision, and their sense of smell is on par with a canine's. Their bone mass is riddled with hardened tumors that enhances their vitality, making them hard to kill with blunt weapons. However, they have now lost their human memory, and so places they frequented in their living existence are now lost to them - which is handy.
Stage Three lasts typically between 21 and 48 days of infection.
Stage Four Infected: The virus is now in a very advanced stage of evolution. The host's hands have morphed into spindly talons, and its spine has extended itself an extra couple of feet, causing it to double over in a gorilla like posture. Stage Fours are very strong, able to tear a man's arm from its socket with ease. Their bone structure is now almost impervious to melee attacks, and even ordinary bullets will struggle to bring them down. The host's head has thickened, resulting in 3 inches of solid bone with which to protect the brain. They also have very well developed night vision when in the dark.
The most damning part of stage fours, however, is their talons. They are primed with infection, and if they pierce the skin of their victim, then transmission is assured.
Professions
You can make your character whoever you want. Whether they're a OMFG Navy Seal living a grizzled existence of bad ass whiskey drinking, or a postman with a crowbar-to-head-complex, I'll adjust the RP's "difficulty" to accommodate the group's strengths and indeed, weaknesses.
The Three Towers Apartment Complex
The players start in Tower 1, a seven storey - six rooms a floor - apartment building. Tower 2 and Tower 3 stand diagonally to it's left and right, further south, about 300 yards away.
Party Control
Party Control is a simple concept, designed to allow for smoother post-flow. In essence, a character that is party control enabled, can be controlled by other players in a minor basis during their posts.
Let's say I was making a post about being attacked by a zombie, but my character needed some help. I'd write something like this:
"The infected lunged at Jack (my character), pinning him against the wall. He fought back with all his strength, kicking at its shins and smashing it in the face with his head, but it would not relent. As his arms started to give way, and the infected's impossibly wide jaw opened to take a chunk out of his face, Susi (someone else's' character) appeared behind it and shoved a screwdriver into its skull. The infected fell back lifelessly, and Jack collapsed in likewise fashion."
Now, when controlling a party control enabled character, you do NOT involve any THOUGHT PROCESSES in their actions. You simply narrate these actions. They are not your character, so therefore, you don't know how they would think.
You cannot kill or injure a party control enabled character.
AFK
I auto-kill characters that are AFK for longer than 72 hours (3 days). Although, this time frame may be altered depending on how frequently the players can post. If you're going to be away longer than 3 days for any reason, warning me in advance will grant your character immunity from death until your return. They will then be controlled either by the GM, or by the players if they have party control enabled.
If you must leave the RP indefinitely, but believe that you will return at some future point, but then I will put them in stasis. This usually entails me narrating them being separated from the group and presumed dead, allowing them to resurface out of the blue later on in the story when their player returns.
Alts
Initially, I allow only one character per player at a time. However, if you're really itching to have a go at playing two at the same time, then make your interest known to me. Alts or secondary characters will be placed in a separate environment, but will in some way be connected to the original plot. This will prevent you from having your two characters interacting exclusively.
Character Sheet
Please post your sheets here, in the OOC, so that I can go over them. Once approved, please move them to the character tab. Many thanks.
Part One: Information and Cosmetics
Profession:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Backstory: Optional.
Part Two: Skills and Equipment
Skills: Must be applicable to your profession.
Starting Equipment: List any and all items of interest.
Starting Weapons: List any offensive weapons your character has. Must relate to your profession. A student won’t have an M4A1 assault rifle, for example. However, as this is set in America, I will allow for characters to own personal defence weapons, such as pistols.
Part Three: Personality, Psychology and Physiology
I will use these to decide what happens to characters in any situations that I intervene in. For example, if your character is weak and is pounced by an infected, I might have them lose the fight. However, outside of those events, they do not need to be character defining.
Bravery (1 – 10): 10 = BRING IT ONNNNNNNNN! 1 = PLZ DON’T HURT ME
Psychological Stability (1 – 10): 10 = Everything is fine. I mean, my leg is turning green, but everything is fine. 1 = OHHHHHHH MY GOD WE’RE GONNA DIE!!!!!!
Reaction Speed (1 - 10): 10 = Bruce Lee aint got nothing on me. 1 = W... h... a... t...?
Physical Strength (1 - 10): 10 = THIS. IS. SPARTA!!!!! 1 = I sprained my wrist picking up a pencil.
Constitution (1 - 10): 10 = I survived a shark bite to the head. 1 = If I catch a cold, then I'ma die :D
Party Control: Yes/No - If yes, then you are allowing other players to control your character in their own posts, although this will be limited to minor actions and aimed only at speeding things up in certain situations, or if you have gone AFK. If no, then only the GM will be able to take control if the need arises.
