@Vermillion
So handcrafted weapons, even if they are crude imitations of past weapons, are okay? Not like guns or anything, because I just threw that in there as a general question, but using any resource found to make a long wooden spear, or bow and arrows out or wood and sharpened rock?

I'd like a .357 revolver. Seems reasonable, since it doesn't fire fast and I don't have to hunt for spare magazines. And it makes me way less likely to get into a firefight.

Anyway. Ask yourself: if everything went to crap, and you were in a destroyed city with clothes, shoes, and any supplies you can salvage, what would you want? What would be your ultimate goal? "Find more food," sure, but would you want the rest of your life to be just that?

I would say three possibilities are companionship, refuge/safety, and a sense of accomplishment. So, maybe there's a huge "shelter" that survivors have made and are building. Every Fallout game has one. Think Megaton or Diamond City. Goal: get there.

To buff it up, they will only let you in if you bring supplies, currency, food, etc. Make a checklist for players to choose from that they don't get to see until they get there.

For companionship, maybe everyone could have a radio receiver and the GM could send out messages via PM or publicly. Locations of supplies or something. This could get players to meet up. In the other one I played, the GM had the "Children of God," which were just a lot of scumbag mercs who thought they were superior because they survived, and they mostly just killed people and stole supplies. The GM used them to move players around, because they had better numbers and bigger guns. They were a good source for resources, though, so hunting them was also an option.

I went into an abandoned apartment building to find a friend. They weren't there, and I had no good leads. To help, the GM sent a group of the CoG in to ransack the place. It gave me a goal (get the heck out of there). Wild animals and earthquakes could be utilized as well.

Sense of accomplishment comes from players doing something the GM wanted them to do. Could be saving lives, I dunno. My character goal was to find his BFF, but I had nothing to do after that.
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That's all I got for now. Your RP will end eventually, so you might as well have an ending. We're writing a story, and I would rather have a planned ending in ten pages than "no one is posting so I guess it's over" ending in 50 pages, even if the ending is something simple like "Everything's going to be alright now."

@RaeoftheLight Even weapons have a 'use by date' so a pristine automatic rifle will be near impossible to come across in anywhere but an abandoned military base. However, ratchet and homemade weapons will be far from sparse - metal may rust and wither with time but steel is particularly durable.

Handguns etc while not common are certainly not rare by any stretch. I would think also that the upkeep and maintenance of such weapons would be emphasised and key during these times - thus maybe the reason why they are not used by everyone/ why they are still around to date.

Right. All the guns in the world aren't going to evaporate. Maybe you can include gun safes in people's houses. Players can opt to try to pick it. GM flips a coin to see if they succeed. If they fail, they have to get new lockpick stuff. You can always just go with "screwdriver and Bobby pins."

Am I wrong to think this is going to be more of a sandbox RP than a set story RP? That was the first impression I got; where the characters are telling the story, not filling in details between pre-set plot points.

@Vermillion

Watch this. It's a Fallout 3 short film, and I think it's exactly what you're talking about (minus the mini pip-boy and VATS, of course)

youtube.com/watch?v=wwvHhWzlTZE

Also, you misspelled "Einstein's" in your signature.

Depending on how this RP progresses once it starts, I would be highly interested in playing a villain of some sort, if I can.

Why would all of us band together?
Simple answer is that as primates humans need the company and support of a group.
We don't always get along but sane people form communities and work out their social problems as they become obvious

The Farmer is the primary focus of all communities because hunting and foraging are not as certain sources of nutrition

Then come the Tradesmen; Mechanics, Blacksmiths, Carpenters and artists of other sorts.

Then would be scout/ foragers who's work restore knowledge of our surroundings and resources available

Naturally it might resemble a tribal organization with either elected or Ad-hoc leadership

Count me in? I'm interested.

@Vermillion

Okay, so can I lightly toss a few ideas at you? (I'm into this. Count me in whether you take this or not.)

So, what about this. Whatever you start with for a CS, you have to be with no supplies. Whatever happened, you lost it to thieves, you ate all your food, you dropped your supplies and can't find them, doesn't matter. But you've got nothing save for the clothes off your back (extremely helpful in their own right, though). This means, however villianous someone might want their character to be, they can't be a hoarder overlord without genuinely working for it, at least somewhat.

You start each IC day with a post that has worldly things in it. Weather, temperature, and all that. But you also have a sort of list of things that need to be done, either every day or in general. People/groups who've done these things are marked as having done them, and the post is updated every so often. It could be put in the first OOC post, if you wanted, just to make it easy to access.

And I do also really like the hub & hub checklist ideas that @MatthiasAngel gave.

Is there room for one more?

This sounds super cool!!!

Okay, so can I lightly toss a few ideas at you? (I'm into this. Count me in whether you take this or not.)

So, what about this. Whatever you start with for a CS, you have to be with no supplies. Whatever happened, you lost it to thieves, you ate all your food, you dropped your supplies and can't find them, doesn't matter. But you've got nothing save for the clothes off your back (extremely helpful in their own right, though). This means, however villianous someone might want their character to be, they can't be a hoarder overlord without genuinely working for it, at least somewhat.

We could at least get one item and one weapon in the CS, I think. Last time, I gave myself a revolver, but I was out of ammo. It was entirely for intimidation. The GM hooked me up with some ammo later on.

You start each IC day with a post that has worldly things in it. Weather, temperature, and all that. But you also have a sort of list of things that need to be done, either every day or in general. People/groups who've done these things are marked as having done them, and the post is updated every so often. It could be put in the first OOC post, if you wanted, just to make it easy to access.

That may be a little too restricting. I don't want a daily itinerary, I want an end goal. My idea was more like, you get to the Haven and they say they need seeds or rifle ammunition or something. If you have it, you're in. If not, enjoy your fetch quest, which you can make as long or short as you want. The idea is that we don't know what it is, so we have to scavage for supplies for us and supplies they need.

"We don't need your box of .50 caliber ammunition, but we do need a pair of binoculars."

...well crap. But now you can decide to hunt down a band of baddies several times before you succeed, or you could trip over a pair walking away (probably somewhere between those).

Came back for some supernatural-ish themed roleplay. Found this; plans were blown up, yet to spring up romances shattered, tails stepped on and endearing murders avoided.
This interest check seems far more promising :)

Now, I have a question: is there going to be a stat system? It usually enhances similar life or death experiences. No health, stamina bars or stuff like that, just useful abilities and their respective grades.

@RaeoftheLight

This is as sandbox as the real world is, which isn't that much really. There is soft and reciprocated determinism everywhere you look in reality so the RP will be similar in that respect. The world has some elements of fact and other grey areas for players to fill in.

@DeepestApology

Stat system - not likely - I will gauge whether any submitted CS are overpowered and I will tell anyone if their character can be bumped up a little. However, not everyone has the same capacity to learning nor do we all have athletic bodies or quick wit. Some people may simple be more powerful/'stat high' but that doesn't count for much when they make a bad decision or if chance fucks (excuse me) them over.

@MatthiasAngel

As far as goals go, I will be happy to assign and/or suggest some once people have an idea of their character and location. As the RP progresses, things will change and so will the world thus the characters will have to react to this stimulus.

As in real life, chance and difficulty are a primary factor to challenge and ultimate success - by chance their may be a storm during your climb up a mountain but the climb is not too difficult for you, so you make it up intact. I will be happy to throw in some rolls or world actions to be built around.

@Lilygold

Everyone starting with nothing will make the beginning posts very similar - not everyone in the world will be extremely poor in possessions, a few items and belongings can do no harm. I can easily notify the players of season and general happenings in their area - though going as far as temperature and weather will be too restricting at first - though I will have no qualms with giving this information for each new day as it passes - should people request it.

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I am but one man, so please don't think of me as judge, jury and executioner - your ideas are your own and have been shared - all taken on board. I am happy to work with you all to make something to enjoy :)

Any further points?

Feel free to PM me if you are interested/contributing but would rather others didn't see or you are worried you will be ignored.

Have a nice afternoon.

Stat system - not likely - I will gauge whether any submitted CS are overpowered and I will tell anyone if their character can be bumped up a little. However, not everyone has the same capacity to learning nor do we all have athletic bodies or quick wit. Some people may simple be more powerful/'stat high' but that doesn't count for much when they make a bad decision

Yeah, I highly recommend staying out of the demonic and supernatural world entirely. You don't have to screw around with the rules to compensate for stuff. As for stats, you could pick a few of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. perks (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck) from Fallout, but people get to pick only one or two.

In fact, just make a list with descriptions.
Strength: Can lift larger objects, kick open wooden doors, and carry more belongings.
Endurance: Can keep going in adverse weather conditions, run longer, and last longer without medicine when injured.
Charisma: Can talk others out of giving up supplies or not attacking you.
Agility: Can climb faster, scale larger obstacles, and are more likely to evade gunfire.
Luck: Can find more ammunition or extra food when scavenging, have a better chance of finding resources they are searching for, and find resources more relevant to them (if you have a shotgun, you will find more shotgun ammo than other kinds).

That's five, so maybe pick two of them. We the players are responsible for being realistic and limiting ourselves. Like, I have luck, but I only find a handful of ammo, not a box of it. I have agility, but I could still get clipped by a bullet from an automatic weapon. I have charisma, but I won't convince a whole group of people. And the GM will have the final say anyway, obviously.

If you have other ideas for the list, post them (I couldn't think of any for Perception and Intelligence). Or scrap the whole thing, it's up to the GM @Vermillion

Hey there, I've been lurking this thread for the afternoon after seeing it featured in RPGN and I'd just like to say I'm interested. I'll definitely do my best to pitch in some ideas every now and again.

Out of curiosity, my idea for a character was someone from a small nomadic group, based out of a tank (one that while definitely not in mint condition, is able to run (most of the time)), who stop when they run out of gas and move when they find more. Ammunition would be very limited, but it was my idea of giving some way for my character to appear where there are others and start interacting, because I always end up playing with myself for like the first twenty posts in post-apoc RPs, which trust me, gets boring fast. He might be looking for gas in some city, a few kilometers away from the current camp around the tank and I could roll things from there. Feel free to tell me if it's overpowered, it was just my idea of bringing my character to where others might be and giving him a goal rather than "go to super market, find food, find shelter, survive" and instead something more like "objective 1: find gas, objective 2: find medicine for John Doe, objective 3: investigate area...".

I'll pitch in with suggestions as things develop. Hope this'll turn it to be a lot of fun!

@Section

So a roaming gang in an old tank that occasionally shuts down and runs on heavy amounts of fuel? Sounds interesting - ammunition would be extremely rare, though even scrap ammo would destroy most targets with the addition of an explosive.

We can talk further.

@Section

So a roaming gang in an old tank that occasionally shuts down and runs on heavy amounts of fuel? Sounds interesting - ammunition would be extremely rare, though even scrap ammo would destroy most targets with the addition of an explosive.

We can talk further.

I'm actually thinking of going for a foreign tank (out of a museum, a private owner, something along those lines) to make ammunition not just rare, but a limited resource that they'll eventually run completely out of, depending on where this takes place. Perhaps a post-Soviet tank? But yes, huge amounts of fuel, they can expect about an hour or so of driving each time and only a bit of distance, its advantage being its armor, its carrying capacity (for camp supplies) and intimidation factor.

Do we have any idea of where this will be taking place, on that note?

@Section We will probably put it to a vote and or scatter players over an area.

@Section We will probably put it to a vote and or scatter players over an area.

Right, sounds reasonable, but what about country-wise? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say some place in North America? It's a good continent for post-apoc RPs as we don't have all the problems with language differences that Europe and the rare Asian countries have, plus most people tend to know how NA typically is.

Actually, I'm curious, what kinds of characters, technologies and things in general are actually off-limits in this? You said earlier that the technology is what we'll see in a year from now, but if we're talking about secret organizations, that kind of opens up new horizons for strange things.