[OOC] Beacons (A Post Apocalyptic RP)

[Antediluvixen]

In 2041 the world held its breath as the by then anemic ocean currents faltered and died, the water too hot for it to sink at the poles as it had done since before the dinosaurs. Earth's waters stood still, the vast ocean conveyor now a thing of the past as one of the cornerstones of life on Earth died not with a bang, but a whimper.

It was a whimper that would be felt throughout the world.

Algae bloomed uncontrolled in the warm oceans, choking out what lived below as they churned out toxins. The scientists looked at the data, the leaders looked at the data, the average person looked at the data, the world looked at the data- the data didn't paint a pretty picture.

The oceans were a stagnant graveyard, nothing lived, save some archaea and other resilient microorganisms. And the algae. The algal blooms smothered everything, plenty of freshwater lakes and rivers were just as clean as they would normally be, it was a comforting drop in the bucket, but a drop in the bucket nonetheless.

Many thought it couldn't get worse, that surely things would soon right themselves and the world would learn a valuable lesson- speaking of dinosaurs...

Ma' always said nature has a way of restoring balance, if humans tampered with things too much, the planet would kill us off like so many flies under a swatter.

And so nature did. The toxins in the ocean began to leach into the atmosphere, soon permeating all of the lower layer in a blanket of gaseous death. Billions died choking on the breath they held once the snowball had began rolling, it ran out all too quickly. Some had prepared themselves, and took longer to die. Many killed themselves, unwilling to suffocate in their own atmosphere. The cities of humanity became eerie mausoleums. Great tomb of concrete and steel, ominous and foreboding, they were all that seemed to remain of human kind’s accomplishments.

But there were survivors, like the flies, humanity is stubborn, and not easy to kill completely. Billions may die, and yet some will survive.

Well before the apocalypse, alert minds saw what was coming and sought to prevent it. They approached wealthy nations and cities with plans for great domes and life support system to cover large swaths of land, primarily city, and spare the inhabitants from meeting an untimely demise. Many laughed outright, even more scoffed in disdain, and even more raised objections about the cost. Only a handful of cities around the world accepted, and work began almost immediately. The domes were a marvel of engineering, and the engineers themselves felt proud of their work, much as they hoped it would never be needed.

When the poison leeched from the waters and into the air, these cities sealed down, locking out the world around as it sputtered and died. Civilization lived on in these enclaves of life and humanity, beacons in a world where the very air is poison.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to 2057, the apocalypse, as you can see, there is a distinct lack of zombies. Now, don’t forget your gas mask…

More Information About the World- Will Expand as Time Goes By

The RP will start out near the dome built over most of Dallas, Texas
The inhabitants of the cities comprised largely of the wealthy from other parts, and the populace that just happened to already live there.
And as the section above ground tends to have trees and decent spacing between living spaces, that's generally where the descendants of those rich people and some middle class tend to live, with the majority living underground in conditions not unlike a Vault from fallout, just fewer G.O.A.T.s and vault suits.
Standard hazmat suit you'd see people from a domed city wearing looks like a combination of this and a demron suit like this.
This is the future after all, technology has advanced considerably. If you want a general idea of the tech level, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a good approximation, with some technology (augmentations, weapons, life support systems, shielding from radiation and other hazards, etc) being more developed than others (the immune system is still poorly understood, and there isn’t a cure for HIV). If you don’t want to bolt mechanical limbs to your body, something like the HULC exoskeleton is a perfectly viable alternative for carrying heavy loads. A good example of the average pistol would be the pistol from DX:HR, with a caliber such as 10mm being better for penetrating a hazmat suit in a close engagement than other options. Be creative, worst case scenario is I say “Unfortunately, we don’t have lightsabers.” (though I won’t deny lightsabers are cool)

As far as known Domed Cities, they are as follows
One in Russia, four or five in the US, two in Germany, one in Switzerland, two in China, one in Japan, one in Canada, the Scandinavian countries actually banded together and made a city entirely underground- like a vault, but with a dome for some limited aboveground facilities- nobody is sure why and they don't talk to anybody
The Saudi oil princes and such have one, it's smaller and more luxurious
And while it isn't confirmed, everyone thinks Israel had one, because well, Israel

Beware acid rain from accumulated pollutants and atmosphere toxins.

While the thematic introduction gives the general rundown on what happened, some more details are that the algae mutated in response to industrial runoff, and became a tenacious and pernicious presence, with attempts to kill it failing miserably.

To get into the city post-doomsday requires significant effort, such as retrieving something valuable or vital to the city’s function, and passing several contaminant tests.

That’s all that comes to mind for the moment, anything else that occurs to me/any of you ask I will answer in this section.

Rules:

1: No god-modding.
Sure, you can be a cyborg with subdermal armor and a giant gun, but you aren't invincible. If you survive that anti material rifle you had better have a damn good reason. There is no plot armor here, we have plot armor penetrating bullets in the future. The big damn heroes had better have a damn plan.

2: Minimum post length/frequency
While I don’t expect a whole novel each time you post, and would in fact prefer not, at least a paragraph or two is required. As far as frequency, you should be able to make at least one post per week.

3: Meta-gaming: Not even once
Say no to meta-gaming, if the shady guy in the underground store sells the scavenger with the big shotgun a suspicious thing, the guy with the funny hat who was nowhere near does not know about it unless he bugged the scavenger somehow.

4: The war on hijacking character actions
The guy with the funny hat cannot write up a one sided curb stomp battle against the scavenger with the big shotgun without the express permission of said scavenger’s player. Preferably their respective players open a google doc or something along those lines and collaborate on a post.

5: A lady has her standards
Which means, if you can’t at least put the commas and periods where they need to go more often than not, there will be issues, and I will be unhappy.

6: Single file line, please
This will be loosely turn based, so please wait your turn, if you want a lot of character interaction (and don’t want to figure out how to write a paragraph to tell us how the guy in the funny hat sneezed extra loudly and fell back asleep) then do a co-op post.

7: Rated M for More Rules
This time it’s about maturity, and not in the sense of not having a hissy fit if something doesn’t go the way you want, though that’d be appreciated too. As much as I love to see exploding heads as the next person, please keep the gore toned down. If you want to talk about how the rotting body looked hideous, that’s fine, just don’t write in detail the way his disemboweled innards are bloating. And as far as the sexier brand of mature content, kissing, hugging, etc, that’s all fine. However, if you’d like to do the sideways tango, write in a fade to black, and take it to the PMs or somewhere else if you feel the need.

8: Don’t do douchey deeds
Self explanatory. Please let’s all act like we can compose ourselves and talk reasonably if there’s an argument. I know it’s fun to scream at people, but doing so just makes you unliked and look like a complete asshole.

9: I can kill with just my edginess...
Character development, please. You are not a half demon half dragon half wombat immortal warrior dude, and you are not perfection. Please play humans, relatively believable ones.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let's get to the character sheet.

Character Sheet

Name: Obvious, are you a Larry? Or maybe a Bob? Perhaps a Joe…?

Sex: Let’s see… are you a boy, or a girl?

Age: Not one thousand million bajillion, please

Appearance: So... is that color natural? Or do you dye it? Describe what you look like, that scar on your lip, the way your eyes look like they could scratch diamonds, or how you have giant boobs, if you really want (that'll cost ya, trying to fit in the hazmat suit).

Skills: What’cha good at? Maybe you can just about perform open heart surgery with household items? Or perhaps you can kill a target from a mile with a single shot from that big rifle of yours? Perhaps you’re so damn nimble and athletic that you don’t need a ladder, all you need is a bale of hay and a high place? (Note: bales of hay may be hard to find)

Traits: Perhaps you’re freakishly strong, but fine manipulation of objects comes a bit difficult for you? Maybe you’re cybernetically augmented, sure, but that comes at a price, those things require maintenance and you need to eat more, after all.

Personality: Are you a sweetie pie? Or a cold bitch? Maybe you really, really, really, really, really love puppies, and other animals? (Note: puppies may be hard to find also) Or you could be a tech geek, far more content to fiddle with your devices and gadgets than talk with those people things, why do they talk anyway? Electronic data transmission is so much faster. Mayhap you’re a pacifist?

Backstory: Regale us with your backstory, tragic element optional. You should be able to point to your backstory and say “Larry does X because of Y in his past.”

Equipment: What kind of gear are you packing? A gas mask and hazmat suit are a bare minimum for a brief excursion, and an environmentally sealed tent is a necessity for longer trips. You want your weapons, simply because not everything is dead, and there are other people out there. A surprising amount of people manage to live outside the cities, most of them aren’t nice, especially if you’re from that city denying them entrance. You don’t need to painstakingly list the exact amount of nutrients contained in your food, but mentioning that you have food for X amount of time is a good thing.

Other: Theme song, favorite food, why your armpits smell like strawberry jam, anything that doesn’t fit in with the main categories.

And that’s it for now! If you have any questions about other things in the apocalypse or why something is the way it is, PM me, or better yet, post it in the OOC so everyone else can become enlightened as well. I will be expanding this with more detailed information on the apocalypse when some more time manifests itself in my presence.
I'll have my own character sheet up soon, and I hope to adventure through the apocalypse with you!

Current approved character sheets: 6/6 (GM herself will become the seventh player.)

Pending approvals for if anybody needs to drop out: 0/?

[Damiann47]

Hmm actually I got a question now. How exclusive were the domes, was it basically people who live near it, or like just the elite rich in a 2012 (movie) style.

Edit: Heh sorry for another question, just want to get a feel for dome life. So what does the living conditions look like in the domes?

[Ragnarok]

Cyrus

Name: Cyrus 'RK' Vestien

Sex: Male

Age: 21

Appearance: A fair skinned fellow that stands at 6'2'' with long black hair that hangs down over his left eye. The tips of his hair end in a blue to give the vision of blue flame. His eyes and always covered by either sunglasses when in a safe zone, or a mask when out scavenging in the world, however to the few that see them know they are blacker then night and seem to hold more knowledge and experience then one his age should normally hold. His body is a lean and well muscled (slightly malnourished) mess of jagged scars ranging from bullet wounds to a few particular nasty slices from blades when he got on the bad side of a scavenger.

Skills: Cyrus was raised by his father to be a scavenger. He has a particular eye for the value in items out in the world as well as a fair understanding of which way to point the barrel of his fathers old Anzio 20mm AM rifle, to his slightly scary array of sharp implements. His eye for value has gotten him in trouble more then once as some people try to rip him off and that just ends badly.

Traits: Finesse is a trait that comes easily to him as he grew up hiding and taking what was necessary to survive out in the toxic world. He can lug around his rifle with relative ease for the more dangerous excursions which shows his above average strength set.

Personality: A simple joker who can take nothing short of a visible threat seriously and as such he would much rather sit at a bar and get drunk before jumping back out in the toxic world outside their little bubble. Though the few times he does make excursions out in the world he knows exactly what to look for the get the most value and in turn get him the most time drunk.

Backstory: Born in the year 2036, just 5 years short of the apocalypse at hand, his life turned over rather quickly. His parents both worked for the engineering department designated for building the domes in case the worse happened. As the air become too toxic to breathe his mother went out for something before the gates closed for good against the onslaught of dying souls. She missed the 24 hour period and was trapped. No way in and no way to breathe. It was a real kick in the stomach for Cyrus and his father but still they lived on, His father took on scavenging to support them, going out in the world for people to gather things they left behind or perhaps just wanted now that they could have it without consequence. His father took to teaching Cyrus so when the time came, He could live himself. That time came sooner rather then later. Just shy of Cyrus' 18th birthday the two of them were out in the world on a 'mission' for a past mayor to retrieve something from his old office if it was still there. The trip was easy as was the retrieval of it. However two days short of the bubble they were ambushed and his father was killed in front of him by some degenerates. Cyrus , needless to say, escaped with his fathers spare air filter and rifle and made the trek back to the bubble. Since then he has done enough work to get him pleasantly drunk to forget the memories of his father dying and what the degenerates did to his corpse through the scope of his fathers...no his rifle.

Equipment: Gas mask with no less then four filters, Hazmat suit, Anzio 20mm AM rifle with 20 rounds, three hunting knives, two butchers cleavers, and a set of six throwing knives. He also holds civilian clothing, a pair of Night vision goggles, his fathers cloak, Food for a week out of the bubble ( more if rationed to a meal a day), 4 water bottles, Some pain meds, a basic patch yourself kit ( Thread, needle, bandage, hydrogen peroxide), and a old coin that his mother gave to him.

Other: Will update when the need is there.

[Antediluvixen]

Damiann47 said
Hmm actually I got a question now. How exclusive were the domes, was it basically people who live near it, or like just the elite rich in a 2012 (movie) style.

Good question, and I'll try to answer as many as I can anticipate once I've eaten and have some more time. But as far as exclusivity goes, it was largely a combination of both. Many rich people wanted in, and many of the people there just happened to live there. And as the section above ground tends to have trees and decent spacing between living spaces, that's generally where the descendants of those rich people and some middle class tend to live, with the majority living underground in conditions not unlike a Vault from fallout, just fewer G.O.A.T.s and vault suits.

[Mortalbean]

Name:
Given Name: Irving Lope
Assumed Name: Slaven Dobroslav

Sex: Male

Age: 38(22 at the start of the apocalypse)

General Appearance

Slaven stands about 6' 0" tall, with a medium build. He keeps his brown hair cut crew style and has been clean shaven for the past twenty years. Slaven's cheeks are slightly sunken. Resting on his strong jaw is a tired and scarred face. His brown eyes stay alert despite the permanent bags under them, earned after innumerable nights spent in a constant alert state. Despite it being over a decade since his peak Slaven is still reasonably well toned and in shape.

In Dome Appearance

Slaven is most often doing some form of dirty work so he prefers to wear a dark tank top or other tight fitting shirt with short or no sleeves. You will almost always find around with waist a tool belt complete with a holster that is never without his model 929. He typically wears jeans or other casual long pants.

Wasteland Appearance

Slaven wears a fairly typical hazmat suit and gas mask. From a distance he would look bulkier than most others but on closer inspection Slaven has simply strapped and draped various bags all over his body. Slaven spreads out all of his supplies across his body, not only to try and balance the weight more effectively but also to reduce the chances of losing all of his rations after a single bag is shot or otherwise destroyed. Slaven has done his best to paint or stain his bags and hazmat suit a dark tan color to decrease his visibility.

Skills

Gun proficiencies - Most common small arms, most experience with hunting rifles and semi-auto rifles but has working knowledge of SMGs.
Rifleman - Not a sniper but a good shot nonetheless.
Unarmed Combat - Slaven is no ninja but a completely untrained opponent will have little hope against him, against a younger opponent with a mediocre amount of training he has a 50-50 shot.
Explosives - Can't make anything as fancy as a "real" detonator but he knows a few recipes from the anarchist cookbook.
Mechanics - Given the right parts Slaven could replace any part in a car or any other reasonably common apparatus.
First Aid - Provided you don't need immediate surgery Slaven is more likely than not to keep you alive if you are shot.
(In general I'm aiming for a jack of all trades type deal with a more offensive orientation, Slaven isn't going to be repairing or maintaining a computer but if you need to fix a crank driven flashlight he can do it given a screwdriver. I have yet to see the other CSs but I imagine Slaven will be on the older side of the spectrum and won't be as good in combat but has more applicable skills out of combat as he has more life experience.)

Traits:
Middle Aged - In D&D terms -1 str -1 con +1 int +1 wis

personality

Slaven out survived his friends and everyone else because of two things, caution and preparation. Slaven only fights to win and the first step to winning is not losing. Even when most would be sleeping, full content that their camp had a secure perimeter, Slaven lies awake, thinking of some way to penetrate his own security systems, to avoid the booby traps.

Inside the dome Slaven is personable, polite whenever possible and quick to anger. But beneath what would seem like a typical dome attitude lies the outside Slaven, always prepared for an attack, unintentionally keeping everyone in his life at a distance if possible to avoid attachment.

Slaven's mental state is greatly strained at times, even a full decade after the loss of his comrades some days the memories return, everything from visions of his own hands covered in the blood of a fallen friend as Slaven desperately tried to save him, to an oppressive sense of loneliness.

Too tired to rekindle his own fiery ideological passions and never being very spiritual anyway Slaven turns to booze rather than the church.

Backstory:

full

Irving grew up as the youngest of three children. His life was largely uneventful until he hit his teen years. As a kid he had been fairly quiet and didn't do much to draw attention to himself but as he had grown older his relationship with his parents began to fall apart. Through his painful high school years Irving took the most pleasure in participating in a particular internet forum known for it's extreme communist leanings. The impressionable young Irving was taken in by the fervent idealism and began to dedicate his life to the works of Marx.

On Irving's 18th birthday instead of going to college as his parents wished Irving took off to the midwest United States where he had arranged to live in a self-sustaining commune, which was organized by some of the members of the forum he had frequented. For the next four years instead of getting a degree Irving was given a thorough education in the art of taking back the means of production. Which meant everything from cultivating a farm to crafting home made explosives. During this time Irving cut ties to his family and adopted a new name, Slaven.

The commune didn't live completely in the dark, they heard the rumors about the coming ecological disaster and took the opportunity to expand the underground sections of their compound as well as begin an underground garden. Such measures, however, could not be implemented in time to save the communists from the coming storm. While the communists were physically safe under the ground the garden was simply too small and their supplies couldn't hold out forever. After a year underground they decided to send out a small party to search for one of the rumored domes, cities protected from the toxic atmosphere.

The commune sent five young men on the mission, each of them selected for their relative youth and idealistic fervor. Slaven was among those chosen to go. Fortunately for the expedition the communists had been in the habit of being prepared and had plenty of gas masks and hazard suits to spare that had been purchased in case the commune was on the receiving end of chemical weapons. Packing the hazmat suits and masks along with enough supplies(guns and ammunition included) to last the five of them two months the young communists left the compound in a well maintained automobile.

(Going to be generic here as you have not quite specified where the PCs are all starting)

After a month and a half the young adventurers had finally made it, the car's engine had finally given up the ghost a few days back but that was irrelevant for now. Before the explorers was a structure of biblical proportions. A dome large enough to house a city.

The next order of business was finding a way into the dome. Slaven and his comrades spent weeks looking for maintenance entrances, anything to get to the safe haven of the dome. During this time were the first few firefights the team got involved in. Food outside the dome was hard to come by and competition was brutal. Fortunately for Slaven and the others they were the most highly organized and disciplined group around which resulted in victory after victory.

After finally leaving the compound Slaven could see for himself how radically he had been transformed by his time there. When he had first arrived he had been a slightly awkward teen who was deeply insecure and ambivalent about the world. Now he was strong and the confidence of youth flooded his veins. His comrades were all like brothers to him. Even though the world had ended he was more lively than ever.

Soon the group got their break into the dome as their reputation slowly leaked into the dome's black market. Soon they were running missions for millionaires looking for items that had been excluded from the dome and smuggling them inside.

Despite the equipment made available to them through their new financial backers the competition began to step up its game. The other gangs got tougher, better equipped, more organized, until Slaven lost his first comrade, then another until almost exactly six years since the world ended Slaven was all alone. A 28 year old man with nothing but a pile of guns and bullets to his name.

Slaven's life slowed down, he used his clients' influence to get permanent residence in the dome. Earlier he would have always been on some mission with the others but Slaven adopted a job as a handyman with the occasional "special" job for a former employer here and there.

Over the next ten years Slaven's ideological fervor faded. He had been in an echo chamber most his life but now, alone in his thoughts, he began to grow ambivalent to it all. Slaven still read from his copy of The Manifesto and Dad Kapital regularly but more out of habit and a wish not to betray the memory of his fallen brothers than anything else.

tl:dr;

Was communist
Found dome
Entered black market asa hired gun with communist friends
Communist friends got killed
No longer very communist
Living quieter life now

Equipment:

Stuff in his house

-Commonly occurring objects(anything you are likely to have in a domicile)
-Assorted Ammunition(anywhere from 50-100 rounds of more common calibers)
-One and a half "bulk" boxes of filters(about 60 total filters, including 2-3 duds)
-Mementos

Typical Dome loadout

-S&W Model 929
-Toolbelt

Typical Wasteland loadout

-Hazmat suit
-Gas Mask
-AK-47(uses 7.62 x 39mm rounds, flashlight included)
-S&W Model 929(uses 9mm rounds)
-Rations for 25 days(typical is 10-15 days)
-2x 9mm ammunition box(100 bullets)
-4x 7.62 x 39mm ammunition boxes(80 bullets)
-Portable box of 10 gas filters, 8 random ones off the shelf and 2 backups.(Also how long do filters last in the atmosphere?)
-Communist Manifesto
-Toolbelt
-First aid kit
-Whistle

complete list

-Hazmat suit, last functional suit of the ones they took from the compound all those years ago.
-Gas Mask, newer model with built in digital display showing current temp, time(error 503) and the time left on filter. Bought after securing the last known box of twinkies for a client.
-AK-47, saw use in conflicts even before it ended up at the compound. An old and dear friend. Has an attachable flashlight.
-S&W Model 929, Newest member of the crew, capable of easy concealment, can be quickly drawn and fired. Reliable as all hell and quite pretty to boot.
-Has rations for a single person for a month hidden away in his house in the dome.
-Has an old military first aid kit from the 2020s
-Has a respectable set of tools(screwdrivers, a hammer, reasonably common tools) and a belt to carry them on.
-Last known copy of The Communist Manifesto.
-A whistle, Alexei loved to blow the whistle every god damn morning, I remember the day I learned that I loved when he blew the whistle too.
-Two dice, took a lot for Maxim to quit gambling
-Gameboy cartridge - swiped from my sister, fuck.
-Hula Girl - Isaak had a habit of picking up junk.
-Stopwatch cover - Vitaly used to joke about finding the watch this goes to, I wonder if it is still out there.

Other:

[Antediluvixen]

Mortalbean said
Not Done, I just need a save point for now, and I want to see if OP's CS is up for reference.Comments on what is currently here are welcome(I'm aware the the appearance isn't too specific but I wanted to see OP's CS to determine the level of detail they want for gear .etc)Name:Given Name: Irving LopeAssumed Name: Slaven DobroslavSex: MaleAge: 38(22 at the start of the apocalypse)Traits:Middle Aged - In D&D terms -1 str -1 con +1 int +1 wisPersonality:Backstory:Equipment:Other:

That's a pretty damned good start, you might want to specify that he does indeed have the gas mask and hazmat suit (as far as your standard hazmat suit you'd see people from a domed city wearing, it looks like a combination of this and a demron suit like this.) Other than that it's looking pretty good! Depending on how much time I have before I pass out from exhaustion I should have my own character sheet mostly written, or at least well underway for you to use as a reference.

[Antediluvixen]

Ragnarok said
Cyrus

It's pretty good overall, though I'm slightly amused at the 20mm rifle, I hope you have some means of lugging that thing around? And as far as the backstory, the cities would have locked those doors and not let anybody out at the first sign of things finally happening. You would've had a 24 hour warning period to get to the city, and you wouldn't have been let out. Perhaps have her simply not able to reach the city in time?

[Ragnarok]

Aye? It comes with a carrying case. They are not all that heavy. 59 pounds. With a single point sling and a case for ammo in a backpack you are set for blowing people, or vehicles apart.
Also that does seem like a slightly better idea. Thank you for the insight in the world so I may tweak it ever so slightly. It will happen as more is revealed.

[Antediluvixen]

Ragnarok said
Aye? It comes with a carrying case. They are not all that heavy. 59 pounds. With a single point sling and a case for ammo in a backpack you are set for blowing people, or vehicles apart.Also that does seem like a slightly better idea. Thank you for the insight in the world so I may tweak it ever so slightly. It will happen as more is revealed.

You're welcome ^_^, as far as my own CS and more detailed information goes, unfortunately that'll have to wait until I'm rested and not running on fumes, but rest assured I will have it out tomorrow. And as far as carrying that, may I suggest something like the HULC exoskeleton? That'd make carrying something that heavy (59 pounds is no small amount, imagine carrying that plus ammunition, plus food and water, plus some armor presumably, the hazmat suit and gas mask. Not to mention other odds and ends.) significantly easier.

[Polyphemus]

Name: Yonatan "Yoni" Silver

Sex: Male

Age: 61

Appearance: Yoni is a thickset and hirsute man, dark in complexion, with intense brown eyes and graying (but still thick) hair. A scar runs down the right side of his face, still faintly visible after several plastic surgeries. His muscle has only recently begun to turn into fat, and he walks with the heavy tread of a former athlete. Yoni has jut recently began to grow out his beard, at yet it's still only a salt-and-pepper shadow on his jaw.

Skills: Yoni still possesses some of the strength and ferocity that marked his career before things changed. He has a special talent for knife fighting, honed through long practice, and is a decent shot with rifle, shotgun, or pistol. Additionally, he has spent a great deal of time studying the Talmud recently- not enough to be a legitimate scholar in the subject, but beggars can't be choosers these days, can they?

Traits: Despite his advancing age, Yoni is still stronger than your average man (though it's only a shadow of the bearlike might he possessed in his heyday). Something about him is also inherently trustworthy- maybe his big brown eyes, or his smile, or the fact that he's an aging Jew, people seem to be more disposed towards doing him small favors like holding the door or letting him cut in line.

Personality: Yoni is outwardly a nice guy, the type of older man who buys ice cream for all the kids in his neighborhood and loves to give out advice to anyone who will listen. However, this is deliberate and cynical on his part. Yoni has spent his life cultivating the image of a completely harmless man while at the same time plotting to destroy his enemies. While he doesn't particularly enjoy violence, his is willing to use it as a means to an end. Recently, though, he has had something of a shock- realizing he might be one of the last Jews left, he has been genuinely trying to take on responsibility as a leader and teacher.

Backstory: Born in Las Vegas in 1996, Yoni Silver used to have it made. His father was a bookmaker for the mob in Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, and even the seedier parts of Vegas. Growing up and being a terror on the playgrounds for his size and strength, Yoni would be reprimanded at home with stories of Rothstein, Lansky, and Rosenthal- not moralist stories, by any means, but stories of how they solved problems with brains instead of brawn. Yoni took the lessons to heart- though he was big, strong, and naturally athletic, he chose to hone his brain by studying accounting and law in school. Throughout it all, he never missed a day at the synagogue- his family emphasized that his religion was dying and needed to be kept alive in some small way. After graduation, Yoni Silver never attempted to pursue legitimate employment. Following in the footsteps of his father, he hawked his services exclusively to organized crime groups throughout the Southwest. He found interest in Dallas, where yesterday's cholos had become today's cartels. There he found himself comfortably employed by one of the country's largest drug rings, handling their finances and even finding time to once in a while get out into the streets and rough up a few people.

And then the air itself started to grow toxic.

Yoni Silver was perhaps a bit paranoid, in keeping with certain stereotypes, but at any rate he invested his personal fortune in the building of the dome. Sure, it was against the wishes of the Mexican Mafia, but in the end, who died gasping outside while he was comfortable inside? How many good, honest people died while he, a criminal, survived? He made himself useful inside, keeping careful track of their available resources and how to marshal the. Bean counters will always be needed, right? But when they couldn't establish contact with Israel, the guilt began to grow, festering in him for years. He had been raised as a Jew, not a particularly observant one, but a Jew nonetheless. How many of them were left? Eventually, it dawned on him. He was one of the few left, representatives pf a dying religion. He had to make sure it did not become extinct. Survivor's guilt, maybe, but he began studying the holy works in earnest and took to preaching in earnest to whoever might listen. Though he had no diplomas to back him up, he began encouraging people to call him Rabbi, to teach the words of a noble religion. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he is simply making up is sermons as he goes, but they assuage his guilty conscience a little.

Equipment: Yoni carries a book of Talmudic highlights and a knife at all times- an old Schrade Sharpfinger to be specific- and keeps a Smith and Wesson Model 586 locked up at home for dire straits, along with sixty .357 rounds. Four days- or twelve meals- of dehydrated food are also ready to go along with the weapon, along with an unopened box of water purification tablets. Like anyone living under the dome, he also owns a gas mask and basic decontamination suit-nothing fancy, but good for a brief excursion.

Other: Yoni Silver speaks English, Yiddish, and Spanish.

[Antediluvixen]

Polyphemus said
Yonatan "Yoni" SilverSex

Approved! Keep in mind, if any of you want some cool futuristic weapon, that's perfectly fine. I know I've been a bit too vague (and will hopefully remedy that soon), but this is 2057, some cool inventions have definitely happened.

[Mortalbean]

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.

[Polyphemus]

I did think about giving him some futuristic weapons, but then I realized old-school weapons fit in better with his character.

[Damiann47]

Name: Riley Thaster

Sex: Female

Age: 23

Appearance: Overally fairly unremarkable, Riley standing tall measures to be 5' 6". She has long, brunette hair that is often tied back to avoid any nuance from stray strands of hair. She has bright hazel eyes with a somewhat sharp, well defined jaw. Riley's overall build is about average, not particularly muscular, nor pudgy. Upon her chest sits modest B cub breasts, if one were to care about such things.

Outside of a hazmat suit, Riley typically wears a simple outfit of a white t-shit with a gray sweat jacket over it, blue jeans, and hiking boots. She carries her tools and other related gadgets on her belt.

Skills: Riley is exellent at technological tasks ranging from repairs on a motorcycle to patching up broken code for a piece of software. Truely she makes for a powerful engineer and technician.

Despite Riley's technical prowess, she doesn't shine quite as brightly in a combat situation. While physically in great condition, she doesn't have much in the way for practical skills needed for fights. She does somewhat make up for the lack of skill with naturally strong intuition and overall ability to improvise on the spot. In terms of weapons she uses firearms, specifically pistols.

Traits: Needless to say, Riley is pretty intelligent and very knowledgable with technology of many kinds. When it comes to work she is virtually no nonsense in any way, often times dedicating herself to a single task without much in the way of breaks.

Personality: Independent, headstrong and antisocial are the main descriptors for Riley, although antisocial is perhaps too strong of a word, standoffish being better. Socially she doesn't make efforts to find friends and companionship, not to say a random chat with a stranger isn't unwelcomed. Underneath a surface of indifference, Riley is really just a normal human being who can joke around, speak freely and overall act sociable, problem is one would have to do some warming up first. One thing to mention is Riley above all else despises idiots, or at least someone who appears idiotic.

Backstory: When the domes were first sealed, Riley became another classic case of an orphaned child. What became of her family was unknown, its been assumed they simply never made it to safety and choked on toxic air like so many others. After so much time Riley doesn't care about her lost family anymore, nor does she remember their faces, still at the age of seven at the time, the experience of losing a family was painful.

Fortunately an old couple took her in, which gave her a good second lease on life. While not wealthy and lived in the lower sections of the dome, Riley received an education from her foster parents. They gave her books about all kinds of subjects, history, science, some art, and mathematics. Later on she continued her learning by experimenting with any scrap she could find, old diesel engines, ancient tube monitors, and later on even learning some basic programming.

All things must come to an end sometime, and for her adopted parents it was their time, it was peaceful really being from advanced age. At the age of sixteen, again Riley was alone. Not all was hopeless as she had the skills to find a living, many people around needed help with maintaining slowly degrading machines. So that's what she did, in exchange for looking at broken down radios and other such appliances, Riley was able to scrap enough cash together, plus on top of selling nicknacks made from salvage on the side.

Much more recently Riley is living a somewhat stable life, making enough income from odd jobs and salvage its not a glamorous life by any means but still better than nothing. While Riley likes to think of herself as a self-made engineer, she's really just a run of the mill scavenger who is just living life in the present.

Equipment: Other then a personal workshop's worth of tools, Riley doesn't carry much. Good salvage is often far from the dome, so she's sure to carry enough food to last four days, and that's with two meals a day. Her suit and gas mask arenothing too fancy, but after a close call with a tear she ended up reinforcing the air lines with extra metal. An A6 "Predator" Hand Cannon serves as her main weapon. The Predator is known to have very good penetration and general stopping power, however its offestted by considerably high recoil and a heavy weight even for a pistol. Riley has a total of 35 rounds, the hand cannon itself can be loaded with six.

Other: I was thinking about using an actual gun, but decided to make up the Predator instead. Basically just think of the whole thing as a heavy revolver, complete with the classic revolving chamber.

[Antediluvixen]

Damiann47 said Riley Thaster

Aaaand, approved! You might want to throw in a little about why her parents couldn't make it in time, but the overall CS is good.

Mortalbean said Irving Lope/Slaven Dobroslav

Also approved! The RP starts out near the dome built over most of Dallas, Texas, so it's perfectly reasonable to assume they could have reached it. I'll be adding the questions asked thus far and some others to an information section, and will start work on a CS of my own.
As far as working on improvements, I didn't see much that you didn't cover. I'll give it a re-read in a bit and tell you if anything pops out at me, but it looks pretty good from my perspective.

[Darcs]

ASFDGFH Present shopping--- will finish this in a few hours

WIP

[Mortalbean]

Changed CS around a little(mostly just editing and sorting, rewrote all of appearance except the first paragraph, added first aid under skills(trying to avoid being a god at all things while still being useful at a lot of things). Changed around items quite a bit.

How long to gas mask filters last here? IRL it varies heavily with the conditions you are breathing in.

[Razboinic]

Name: Jessica Deckland

Sex: Girl

Age: Thirty Two

Appearance: Jessica has dark brown highlighted hair, but she dies her hair a dark shiny red because that was the colour when she when she lost everything. She has long dark eyelashes above blue and grey eyes that glitter with amusement, but look large on her face. Her nose is long and strait and she has a dimple beside her lips. Her cheek bones are high giving her bigger cheeks that make her look younger than she is. She is around 5'6/5'7. Her fingers are short, but her palms are longer than most. She doesn't have much of a torso. Just long legs and breasts. She usually wears her hair braided or in a bun because it annoys her down. When not in a hazmat suit she prefers to wear jeans or tights, a bra and sweater.

Skills: Jessica is a doctor, one of the best that got trained in the dome and most of the ones who weren't don't have as steady hands as they used to. She learned how to defend herself as a teen taking kick boxing and karate as well as target practice with both a bow and a gun. She camped a lot throughout her childhood and can survive alone for quite a while including making a fire, knowing which plants are good to eat and how to set up camp. She can hunt if she has to. She used to play hockey though the skill goes mostly unused now. She is a good writer and reader another rusty skill her priorities being with the world going to hell.

Traits: Jessica is quite intelligent and picks up information and new skills quite quickly. She is fast, but a child could probably beat her in an arm wrestle. She is good with puzzles and challenges, but gets frusterated easily. She is a lefty, but she plays sports, and has a stronger right foot. She is attractive, but doesn't flaunt the looks, again too worried about the poisonouse air. She is very good at reading people and knowing if their trustworthy and if their being honest. She is a risk taker when helping others out or saving their lives. Determined to help people abd morally on target.

Personality: After the poisonous gas incident Jessica went back into her shell and it took years to get her back happy and healthy. She is confidant, sarcastic, optimistic and knowledgable. She is usually a talkative when she's not working on a patient and open with people she knows and likes, the likes being the inportant part. She is opinionated, but the opinions usually stay in her head unless someone really riles her up. Her temper is quick and explosive, but she always talks herself out of being mad after a time. The worst the crime the longer it takes. She hates how forgiving she is.

Backstory: Jessica was born in Ontario, Canada where she grew up with an older brother and her parents. She travelled a lot in her younger years and had a lot of animals in her life. By the time she was 9 she new she wanted to be a veterinarian.

She had a 94% average in highschool and was heavily involved in her community. When she was sixteen she went to an away hockey tournament in Dallas, Texas. Jessica's brother was in university by then and stayed behind. While in Texas the air started becoming toxic. They started bringing in all these people by the car load. They started evacuating people who weren't citizens and didn't have a pass into the city to clear up room.

The military found them on the third day after the gases had started to become too high. Jessica's parents hid her and before they got escorted out of the dome. Jessica never knew if they made it back to the canadian dome in time or what became of her brother. A man named Roan found her a week later avoiding the military, on the streets. He was a divorced man, lived alone, but was one of the best surgeons money could buy. He took her in and taught her the trick of the trade now that veterinarian was out. She makes enough money now to be considered high-middle class.

Equipment: She carries a large backpack on her back with a hazmat suit and all her medical supplies. Basically normal first aid stuff (gauze, bandages, scissors, heat blanket ect.) Also a small oxygen tank, protective bag (works like a hazmat suit to keep the toxins out just in case the hazmat is harmed), electric needle and thread (applies heat to puncture skin easier, also numbs), pain killers, containers for samples and a fold up travel board. She has two daggers strapped into her boots and a holster that carries a stun gun (like the taser, but sends electricity through the air. Not limited by one shot. The power can be raised to kill or just stun). She has heavy duty boots and the gloves of her hasmat suit are specially made so she can do precise work.

[Razboinic]

I am a little confused. Sorry if I missed something. Why do they wear hazmat suits if the dome has life support? Or is it just outside the dome they wear hazmats?

[Damiann47]

Razboinic said
I am a little confused. Sorry if I missed something. Why do they wear hazmat suits if the dome has life support? Or is that just outside the dome that they wear hazmats?

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.