Introduction:
23 April 1986 - The No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant violently explodes, sending hundreds of tons of radioactive material into the surrounding area. The nearby city of Pripyat is evacuated, and a 30 kilometer zone of exclusion is established. The only people allowed to enter the zone are so-called "liquidators," officials in charge of cleaning up the area and covering the gaping hole over the exposed reactor core. Hundreds of people die in the process to contain the center of the disaster, but eventually a massive concrete structure known as the sarcophagus is finished. It effectively seals off the reactor core and prevents any more radiation for leaking out, and the zone remains like this for two decades.
The quiet, empty land was violently shaken in 2006, when an impossibly bright light, seemingly originating from above the plant, illuminated the land for kilometers around. After several minutes the light disappears as quickly as it came, and those who observed the phenomenon are left without an explanation. A few days later the sky lights up again, only this time it is accompanied by a violent earthquake that shakes the entirety of the zone. A wave of energy emanates from the plant, killing practically everything within the zone which isn't in sufficient cover. Simultaneously, the landscape all across the zone becomes nearly unrecognizable, as land formations suddenly spring out from the earth, creating strange and unfamiliar landmarks. The zone's boundary is extended by 5 kilometers, and scientists all around the world flock to determine what happened. Few of them return, and those who do tell of a world which is practically alien compared to our own. Local flora and fauna are hideously mutated, invisible dangers are scattered all over the place, and strange objects called artifacts, said to possess powers beyond explanation, can be found in certain places.
Over the next several years, waves of people from all walks of life come to the zone. Some come to escape real life, some come in search of riches, some come to take advantage of the zone's lawless nature, and some come in search of the fabled wish granter. These people are called stalkers, and each one has their own reasons for coming to the zone. The zone represents not only great danger, but great opportunity. It is a new frontier to be explored and discovered by those who dare to brave it's hostile and unnatural environment.
This remained the status quo in the zone for years, but over time subtle changes began to reshape the zone. Stalkers began to notice emissions becoming more frequent and drawn out, reports of horrifying new mutants began to circulate throughout the stalker community, and new anomalies materialized all across the zone. Scientists within the zone scramble to figure out what is happening, even as the zone's borders continue to grow and grow.
8 April 2018 - Present Day: The zone's radius is estimated at 60 kilometers, giving it an area of over 10,000 square kilometers. The population of the zone reaches well over 2000, and continues to grow. Factions have come and gone, stalker camps have changed locations, and very few stalkers from the original waves are either alive or still within the zone's borders. Even to those who are, the zone is a whole new world, one that is constantly changing and growing. New legends have circulated throughout the stalker community about mutants, anomalies, and artifacts the likes of which have never been seen before. Some parts of the zone have become uninhabitable due to freak changes in anomalous activity, while areas previously deemed too hazardous to traverse are teeming with veteran stalkers eager to explore the newlands.
More people are signing on with Duty as the border of the zone comes closer and closer to Ukraine's capital city, Kiev, reinforcing the idea that the zone may one day swallow the entire globe. Freedom still exists, but their numbers are dwindling, and their mentality is shifting, since even they can't ignore the threat the zone poses to the outside world. The two factions have been in a cease fire for over a year, and talks are circulating about a possible alliance, combining certain aspects of both factions. Monolith has mysteriously faded into the realm of memory, and almost every mercenary squad has evacuated the zone, fearing the new dangers spawning into the ever-expanding zone. The former has been replaced by the Marauders who, as the name implies, attack any other stalkers without provocation or reason as far as anyone else knows. As a direct result of the emergence of the Marauders, a small group of highly skilled and experienced stalkers from every faction, calling themselves Sentinels, banded together in an effort to learn more about the Marauders and defend other stalkers from them.
Though the details in the zone change, the basics remain the same. Anything that isn't human will try to kill you, and even some fellow humans will try to kill you, and there are no rules. Every stalker has a thirteen percent chance of dying on day one. The average life expectancy in the zone is a month. Exceed six months in the zone, and you're either incredibly skilled, incredibly smart, incredibly lucky, or any combination of the above. Every decision you make in the zone will have an effect, and every action has it's consequences. One move can mean the difference between life and death.
Foreword:
Before anyone continues reading, I would like to have a committed player base, that means no flakes. For anyone who is familiar with the stalker universe, this roleplay should be fairly straightforward to you, with some tweakage. Like I said in the above few paragraphs, the zone is in a state of flux, and things are changing. With the exception of the canonical storyline, most things in the original STALKER games will be included. Some have been removed, and several things have been added to it. I've already thought through a basic synopsis which I will be developing as the RP progresses, and I already have a decent idea about how it will end. Bear in mind, this RP does have a fairly linear progression of events starting at a certain point. Basically, it'll start out as a relatively open-world RP and then funnel into the endgame. In addition, it is highly likely that characters will start dying off near the end, and I don't just mean NPCs.
For those who are unfamiliar, STALKER is a pseudo-post-apocalyptic survival horror game that is based on the movie of the same name, and the science fiction book, Roadside Picnic. It takes place in the Chernobyl Zone of Alienation, where a second catastrophe in 2006 killed everyone within the zone at the time, and expanded it's borders by five kilometers. From there on, the zone became a perversion of nature and an enigma of known science. Various plants and animals in the zone rapidly mutated into hardened, violent versions of themselves, and "anomalies" which have the ability to defy known physics and bend reality itself began to pop up all across the zone.
I will do my best to reveal information to you as time progresses, and I'll try to get the players who are more familiar with the STALKER games to help with that. As of right now, I will tell you a few bits of information about Stalker which may help you make your character. First of all, pretty much every stalker goes by an alias. Not all of them, but most. Second, women are pretty uncommon in the zone, and out of the handful that are in the zone, most are noncombatants. Female characters are not unwelcome, just know that yours will draw quite a bit of attention, unless you conceal your gender. Finally, for most of the beginning and middle portions of the RP, you don't necessarily have to work together, though collabs and small teams are highly recommended. Hell, you guys can partner or group up from the start if you want to. Whatever you do though, once we get close to the end, it will be all hands on deck. Everyone will know everyone, and we'll all be on the same team doing the same thing.
Regarding characters, basic shit applies, meaning NO GODMODDING, NO OP CHARACTERS, NO MARY SUES OR MICHAEL STEWS, ETC. As long as you follow a few restrictions I will put in place for the sake of the storyline and you follow the basic guidelines, your character should be alright. Your character must be a fairly experienced stalker, which is why I think it would be advantageous if you've played any of the STALKER games already (for those who haven't, you can download and play a free standalone mod for Shadow of Chernobyl called Lost Alpha from ModDB), and for this reason, if you haven't played it but want to join the RP anyways, I would like to call on my fellow stalkers to help me out in teaching you rookies as we go. One quick thing about CS's, if and when we get past the interest check phase, I would like those to be PM'd to me for approval and discussion before posting them. Also, any proper names that you can come up with for this RP would be greatly appreciated. :p
Also, one more thing. For simplicity's sake, the events that transpired in all of the STALKER games never happened. Basically everything storyline related from the 2006 disaster to the present day is different. Furthermore, Ukraine is not at war with Russia, and no massive coup ever happened in Ukraine. Basically, let's say this is an alternate reality where Russia never invaded Crimea, Yanukovych never got chased out of Ukraine (or even elected to power), etc. Russia and Ukraine maintain relatively friendly relations, and they are two separate nations.
Posting Guidelines:
My posting guidelines aren't particularly stringent. Proper grammar is a definite must, so make sure you proofread your shit before you post. Post length should have an inverse relation to the frequency of your posts, (example, 3 posts 4 paragraphs in length over a 1 week period, or 1 post 12 paragraphs in length over a 1 week period) and while that of course is subjective, this allows for a good bit of freedom in your pace. I would like a minimum of 3 paragraphs per post (unless fast-paced character interaction is taking place) and at least 1 post every two weeks. Like I said, you can either make short frequent posts, or long infrequent posts. Of course, I'm not going to enforce these with an iron fist or anything (I probably won't do it at all unless it becomes an incessant problem), but I do want it to be known that these are my expectations.
Now, the part you all have been waiting for (I hope), the Character Sheets.
Here is an example CS which I will also be using for my own character.
RP Information (will be updated over time):
