Skyguard

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

The water AJ had ordered had been brought out to him as his meal was still being worked on in the kitchen of Stella’s Dine-In. As thirsty as he was, the water was almost the best he had ever tasted, and it was all he could do to refrain from chugging it.

Come on man, control yourself!

And then the shooting started, and it was all AJ could do to avoid spitting the precious water back out. Memories of a firefight AJ and the scavver gang he had been a part of against a Ya’ii warband came unbidden to his mind, and AJ found his reaction then reflected in his reaction now; he froze.

His paralysis lasted momentarily as he struggled to process what was happening around him. Then, he took a deep breath to calm his shaky hands, grasped his cup, gulped down the rest of his water, then he lowered his profile and grabbed his bags. AJ would survive this the way he had that other fight; by staying low and avoiding making himself a target until absolutely necessary. Maybe this kind of thing happened fairly regularly around these parts, and it would all blow over soon…

“The Striders are attacking us!”

As the body count started going up, AJ forced himself to get moving toward the exit while he kept his head as low as he could despite his height. His hand gravitated toward the holster where he kept his pistol at. The gun wasn’t anything spectacular; it was just a snub pistol that had been assembled mostly from scrap at some point after the war, which AJ had acquired as loot from a raid his old scavver gang had perpetrated. Despite that, the gun had been surprisingly reliable for AJ to this point. He had been able to hit cans at nearly thirty yards with it during target practice, and the gun had only jammed on him twice. He doubted the gun would help him much against anybody wearing decent body armor, but hopefully he wouldn’t find himself in that situation today…

A Dime a Dozen -- Investigative Woes

Whoops! I had a number of typos in that last post. I have updated it for clarity. That's what I get for writing it up on my break and then running out of time.

I'll be interested to see where this goes. I have kind of thrown my name into the hat of two other potential games, but I think I will only have time for one of those (along with the active game I am already committed to). As such, I can't 100% commit to this one, but if the others fall through, I would like to try this one out.

A Dime a Dozen -- Investigative Woes

Yeah... always an issue. Metagaming is the very bane of my existence. Doesn't mean I'm not willing to try, somewhat. And probably watch it fall apart. Unfortunately these psychological things are my favourite things to do in terms of roleplay. Why am I like this? Oh well.

@ErosSense

In retrospect, I can see how my post comes across as "Your dream sucks", which is bad, so I apologize for that. Good for you for not letting it get you down. I do think this will be a challenging project, but that doesn't mean it can't, let alone shouldn't, be done. I doubt this type of game has never been done before, but I can say that I haven't seen it done in my 6+ years of online roleplaying. I think there is a case that that uniqueness is very much a justification for pushing through with this concept.

I guess the next thing to consider then is what the appeal of this project will be. In a lot of what your idea appeared to be to me at first glance was a murder mystery, which, as I said in my first post, is a different beast in this type of roleplaying environment than it is in a short story or novella. The primary difference that I believe will potentially cause problems is that of perspective. One of the means by which mystery novels typically maintain the suspense for the reader is by limiting the perspective from which the reader is being exposed to the story is through the point of view of somebody who doesn't know everything that is going on, and therefore as the protagonist is learning information, so is the reader. At least for me, it is this suspense and desire to discover the mystery that makes reading these types of stories appealing.

So going back to collaborative roleplaying and metagaming... In my experience, the nature of participating in the kind of activity we do on this site is that we read what others are writing, and then we feed off of that creative energy to produce our own writing in the worlds that we are more of less creating together. Metagaming is basically an extension of this very activity; writing based off of information that others have posted. Discernment can and should be employed to determine what our given characters should realistically know and be able to observe, but I can see where the line between good participation and metagaming can be hazy.

All of that to say, while one solution to the metagaming potential problem would be to make rules against it, I suspect that, for me anyway, that writing my character as if they don't know who the murderer is even though I personally know who they are might not be as fun for me. I would lack the suspense of striving to figure out who the culprit is and instead I would be struggling to find a balance between writing my character discovering and processing clues and writing my character coming to conclusions that they shouldn't have even though I personally have. As such, in my opinion, I think the game would be most entertaining if there was a way to keep us players in the dark about the identity of the murderer, and perhaps the GM could play the kind of head games with us players that our characters are also experiencing.

Wait.. The Door's Locked! - Haunted Library Sign-Ups

I am rather interested in trying this game out as well. It's been forever since I've participated in a horror RP.

A Dime a Dozen -- Investigative Woes

This is a cool idea for a mystery novella or short story, but I suspect this would be very hard to pull off well as a Play by Post roleplay. My experience is that PbP Roleplayers are prone to metagaming, so unless the writer of the culprit could manage to write their character without cluing in the other players that their character is the murderer, then somebody would likely come to the conclusion that that character is the murderer even if their character wouldn't have sufficient evidence to come to that conclusion.

Lost and Forgotten: A Mentor's Legacy

This seems like a cool idea for a game to me if you are still interested in this concept.

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele had never before been so glad to see civilization. The sensation he experienced must not have been too much unlike that experienced by old mariners when they finally spotted land after months at sea. Finally, the trying journey was nearing its end, and he would finally be able to rest comfortably.

Perhaps he was exaggerating, for at least AJ, as he was better known as, at least had a guide this time. The only thing worse than a grueling trek through the desert is getting lost in a desert, and that had nearly happened to AJ toward the end of the prior year; he had felt pretty much the same way then when he had finally stumbled onto civilization.

On the other hand, there was something to be said about how atrocious travelling the desert in the summer could be. AJ had done it before, but in times past he had been with friends or family who had helped him through it. This time around, he was a lone drifter travelling with a caravan. He had attempted to befriend a few of the caravan guards and travelling merchants, but at most he had earned a few chips and meals for his efforts. None of these people had expected him to stay, and he had been an outsider the whole journey. They weren’t bad people, but AJ would not miss their company either.

So it was that AJ arrived at Sully’s Rest worn, tired, hungry, dirty, parched, sunbaked, nearly penniless, and no doubt stinking to high heaven as well. With any luck he could use what chips he had left to rectify some of those conditions, and from there, he could get a job that would earn him enough chips to live another day.

After passing through the gates to Sully’s Rest and saying goodbyes to his late travelling companions, AJ made his way to the general store, where he was greeted by a homely middle aged man behind a counter, who noticeably wrinkled his nose as AJ approached. Yep, he definitely needed to do something about the smell.

“So, uh, I’m new in town, obviously,” AJ stammered. “Do you know where I can get a bath and food?”

“The Inn that the traders stay at has lodging, food, and baths, although if you want a more filling meal, you might want to try Stella’s Dine-Out,” the merchant replied.

“I see, and how much does a night at the Inn cost?” AJ inquired.

“Well, I haven’t had to stay there recently, mind you, but I do recall one of my customers griping about the place price gouging. I think I heard him say it cost him forty chips.”

AJ counted his chips. “Shit… um, that will be a problem. Say, do you happen to need help with anything that you might be able to, um, pay me to do.”

“I don’t need no protection. Bessie,” the merchant gestured toward a shotgun on the wall,” and the town guards are enough protection for me and my establishment.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean like that. I uh, I used to be a scavver by trade. I don’t have any good salvage on me right now, but, um, if you happen to have any salvage here, I guess I could appraise it for you.”

The merchant studied AJ for a few moments, then pulled out a screw driver from behind his desk and asked, “alright, how much do you think this is worth?”

“Old world, standardized phillips head screwdriver… Not too much rust, although with the right cleaner, you might be able to get more luster out of this. All in all, it's a pretty good quality tool. I’d sell it for about 10 chips as is, with a nice shine I think you could sell it for 15,” AJ answered.

The merchant nodded approvingly. He quizzed AJ on a few other items and seemed suitably impressed with AJ’s responses. “Alright, I’ll make up a list of items I want you to go through, and I will pay when it's done. In the meantime, you can use my tub. I don’t want you scaring away my customers. And don’t try nothing. I know my stuff. If something goes missing, I’ll notice, and I’ll let the guard know you have it.”

“Understood, thank you so much for this opportunity Mister…”

“Jacobs,” the merchant replied, sticking out a hand. And yours…”

“AJ. Pleasure to meet you, Mister Jacobs.”

Mister Jacobs guided AJ to his bathroom and showed him where his soaps were (and asked him not to use too much). AJ filled up the tub, took a quick bath, and subsequently felt like a million chips. There is nothing quite like a good bath after one has become utterly disgusting. After emptying the now filthy bath. AJ returned to the merchant, who handed him a list, a pencil, and a notebook, and then showed AJ where the stock he wanted him to review was. AJ then spent the rest of the morning reviewing salvaged goods and writing up his analysis on their value. He still had a ways to go as noon rolled around, and his stomach growled angrily to remind him that he hadn’t eaten at all that day. As he stood up, he felt light headed, reminding him that he hadn’t had anything to drink either. Seeing a customer departing, AJ approached Mister Jacobs, who was muttering something about ‘damned mutants’. “Would it be okay if I take a lunch break?” he asked.

Mister Jacobs took his list and nodded appraisingly. “Good work AJ,” he handed him a few chips. “There are more to be had when you get through the rest of the list. Stella’s Diner is just around the corner from here. You can’t miss it.”

“I appreciate it chief,” AJ snatched the chips. “I’ll be back. Thanks again for the job.”

Mister Jacobs had been right about the diner being easy to find; there wasn’t all that much competition, and at this time of day, the place was pretty busy. AJ got in line to place an order, and after asking for something that sounded edible, he found a small unoccupied table and made himself comfortable. He was very much looking forward to his water arriving. He would have to be careful to pace himself. Out here, he doubted they did free refills, so he would need to make it last.

As he waited, he scanned the room. There were several looking eclectic folks in the establishment. One guy was clearly a mutant. AJ hadn’t had too many interactions with mutants. He knew that a lot of people didn’t like them, but he hadn’t found any reason to dislike them himself yet. In some ways he felt like he could empathize with them regarding being discriminated against because of how they looked, although they likely got it even worse than he did.

Another guy had a weird looking eye. At first AJ thought it might be a cybernetic implant of some sort (he’d known a dude with one of those) but before he could get a good look, the man turned away. It occurred to AJ that the eye could just be a filler glass eye or something if the man had lost his eye somehow, although he would have thought that a simple patch would meet the same purpose and would doubtlessly be cheaper. Who knew? It wasn’t his business…

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele

Adrian Jackson Steele

This is a chance to remake myself; be better than I was.

---

___________________________________ P R O F I L E Age 25 Sex Male Height 183 cm Weight 81.6 kg Race Human Origin Wanderer/Former Bandit Transportation N/A Starting Location Sully's Rest Color Code f7941d ___________________________________ I N V E N T O R Y -tent -firestarter kit -backpack -sleeping bag -multitool -knife -poncho -2 extra sets of clothes -shaving razor -water filter -canteen -soup pan -concealed gun holster ____________________________________ E Q U I P M E N T - Post war snub pistol (with two dozen rounds) - Combat Knife - Leather Jacket - Lockpick Set - Crowbar ____________________________________ A T T R I B U T E S Strength: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner) Fitness: - 2 (+1 Experienced Caseman, -1 First Time Loner) Dexterity: - 4 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Perception: - 3 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Intellect: - 2 Endurance: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner)

____________________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION Adrian Jackson, better known as AJ, is tall and slender, but not awkwardly so. He has dark skin, dark eyes, and dark frizzy hair. He tries to remain as well kempt as he can with limited access to water and soaps. The same can be said of his apparel. He used to be able to change out clothes a fair bit when the spoils were good, but now that he is poor and alone, his appearance inevitably displays his scarcity. Now he just has a worn leather jacket and a few stinky shirts, pants, socks, and boxers that he changes out and cleans when he can. ____________________________________________________________________________ BACKSTORY Adrian Jackson Steele was a fortunate youth who was raised by remarkable parents who worked hard to make ends meet at the edges of the Republic. As he grew up, he helped his dad and uncles explore and recover salvage from the old world, and learned a number of tricks about getting into and avoiding damaging dilapidated buildings and valuable salvage. He also learned how to look good and make sales for the family business of selling this salvage to interested customers. However, Adrian Jackson grew to become a rebellious teenager. While his parents wanted to him to take over the family business, Adrian, now going by AJ, wanted to break out on his own. He fell in with another group of scavengers that he had met on his travels with his father, and he ultimately ended up working for them. However, these scavengers got into a lot of other shadier business than just scavenging. AJ found that with his looks, skills, and attention to detail that he could be a good at casing the goods of more honest folk when salvage got scarce, and it was this that these scavengers, calling themselves the Hanover Ridge Crew, would begin to have him do the most. Typically AJ would get eyes on the goods in a store or those owned by a caravan, often with the help of one of his crewmates being a distraction, and he would then report the value of the goods and the defenses of the potential victims, at which point the boss would decide whether initiate a raid or burglary. If the boss did decide to go for it, AJ would participate in the raid in a supporting role, usually helping scout out the area or being extra muscle where needed when his breaking and entering skills weren't needed. AJ found that he hated this lifestyle, as it went against the honest working values he had grown up with. However, he felt trapped with the crew he was in, and he felt like he couldn't face his dad after all that he had done. He also did have genuine friends in the crew, in particular, a tracker who called himself Colton. Adrian did this unsavory work for the Hanover Ridge Crew for nearly a decade as the roved around the edges of the New Republic of Sevara, never staying in one place long enough to become too well known by the locals. There were a few setbacks throughout the years, but overall, the Crew were extraordinarily lucky, so naturally they got complacent. Eventually the Boss decided to target a particularly juicy caravan the Crew had not adequately scouted, and although the raid was a success, they hadn't identified that he caravan was under the protection of they Ya'ii people. The Hanover Ridge Crew found this out the hard way the following night when their encampment was assaulted by a Ya'ii warband the following night. The attack was bloodily repulsed, but the assault had claimed the lives of the Boss and several of his key lieutenants. The Crew quickly left the area and managed to avoid further retribution for their crime, however, with the Boss dead, many of the survivors quickly began to squabble to be his replacement. AJ had decided that he had had enough. With his friend Colten covering for him, AJ disappeared from the Crew's camp with half his cut in the dead of night, and never came back. Subsequently, AJ worked odd jobs as he put as much distance between himself and his past life as he could, all the while watching his fortune decline throughout the year. Now hanging out with a caravan, nearly penniless and doing random errands to get the chips he needs to by food, AJ finds himself approaching Sully's Rest. Hopefully here he can turn things around and find decent enough honest work that he could someday return home with his head held high. ____________________________________________________________________________ PERSONALITY AJ is typically laid back and fairly relaxed. Despite his struggles, he believes in his destiny and good fortune to pull him through his hardships. While he does have plans and dreams, he is not overly ambitious, and he is patient enough to shrug of temporary obstacles and hostile comments. AJ is fairly skilled at being non-threatening and hiding his intentions and anxieties. That said, even AJ has limits, and when he is pushed over those limits, he is not good at controlling his rage or fear. AJ can be introverted, but he is a sociable introvert. He often employs a trick his mother taught making customers, which is to talk to others mostly by discussing their interests. He is good at making acquaintances comfortable around him by being a good listener. However, he is afraid to be vulnerable and face his own demons, so he typically steers conversations away from himself if they start to head in that direction. Ever since attack the killed the Hanover Ridge Crews Boss, everything about the Ya'ii people scares the crap out of AJ. Also, AJ doesn't have much experience with mutants, but he is inclined not to trust them. Otherwise, he is probably a little too trusting with other people, despite his own history of abusing such trust. ____________________________________________________________________________ MOTIVATION AND OUTLOOK AJ is optimistic that things will get better for him now that he is trying to live honestly, but he is getting sick of being poor. He is hoping to eventually settle somewhere nice once he feels he is safely far away enough from his old life and the remnants of the Hanover Ridge Crew. Eventually, once he has made it big on his own doing honest work, he wants to return home and make things up to his parents. ____________________________________________________________________________ MODIFIERS Experienced Caseman: AJ has a lot of experience getting eyes on things other people don't want him to see, which he learned by being skilled with his fingers and sharp with his eyes. He also was good at getting out of trouble fast when he was discovered (+1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +1 Fitness) First Time Loner: AJ has usually been able to lean on a member of his family or his crew to help him figure out how to endure something challenging. This is his first time going it out alone this long, and he has been struggling to get sufficient food (-1 Strength, -1 Fitness, -1 Endurance)

2100 ☢️ BADLAND REPUBLIC

Adrian Jackson Steele

Adrian Jackson Steele

This is a chance to remake myself; be better than I was.

---

___________________________________ P R O F I L E Age 25 Sex Male Height 183 cm Weight 81.6 kg Race Human Origin Wanderer/Former Bandit Transportation N/A Starting Location Sully's Rest Color Code f7941d ___________________________________ I N V E N T O R Y -tent -firestarter kit -backpack -sleeping bag -multitool -knife -poncho -2 extra sets of clothes -shaving razor -water filter -canteen -soup pan -concealed gun holster ____________________________________ E Q U I P M E N T - Post war snub pistol (with two dozen rounds) - Combat Knife - Leather Jacket - Lockpick Set - Crowbar ____________________________________ A T T R I B U T E S Strength: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner) Fitness: - 2 (+1 Experienced Caseman, -1 First Time Loner) Dexterity: - 4 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Perception: - 3 (+1 Experienced Caseman) Intellect: - 2 Endurance: - 0 (-1 First Time Loner)

____________________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION Adrian Jackson, better known as AJ, is tall and slender, but not awkwardly so. He has dark skin, dark eyes, and dark frizzy hair. He tries to remain as well kempt as he can with limited access to water and soaps. The same can be said of his apparel. He used to be able to change out clothes a fair bit when the spoils were good, but now that he is poor and alone, his appearance inevitably displays his scarcity. Now he just has a worn leather jacket and a few stinky shirts, pants, socks, and boxers that he changes out and cleans when he can. ____________________________________________________________________________ BACKSTORY Adrian Jackson Steele was a fortunate youth who was raised by remarkable parents who worked hard to make ends meet at the edges of the Republic. As he grew up, he helped his dad and uncles explore and recover salvage from the old world, and learned a number of tricks about getting into and avoiding damaging dilapidated buildings and valuable salvage. He also learned how to look good and make sales for the family business of selling this salvage to interested customers. However, Adrian Jackson grew to become a rebellious teenager. While his parents wanted to him to take over the family business, Adrian, now going by AJ, wanted to break out on his own. He fell in with another group of scavengers that he had met on his travels with his father, and he ultimately ended up working for them. However, these scavengers got into a lot of other shadier business than just scavenging. AJ found that with his looks, skills, and attention to detail that he could be a good at casing the goods of more honest folk when salvage got scarce, and it was this that these scavengers, calling themselves the Hanover Ridge Crew, would begin to have him do the most. Typically AJ would get eyes on the goods in a store or those owned by a caravan, often with the help of one of his crewmates being a distraction, and he would then report the value of the goods and the defenses of the potential victims, at which point the boss would decide whether initiate a raid or burglary. If the boss did decide to go for it, AJ would participate in the raid in a supporting role, usually helping scout out the area or being extra muscle where needed when his breaking and entering skills weren't needed. AJ found that he hated this lifestyle, as it went against the honest working values he had grown up with. However, he felt trapped with the crew he was in, and he felt like he couldn't face his dad after all that he had done. He also did have genuine friends in the crew, in particular, a tracker who called himself Colton. Adrian did this unsavory work for the Hanover Ridge Crew for nearly a decade as the roved around the edges of the New Republic of Sevara, never staying in one place long enough to become too well known by the locals. There were a few setbacks throughout the years, but overall, the Crew were extraordinarily lucky, so naturally they got complacent. Eventually the Boss decided to target a particularly juicy caravan the Crew had not adequately scouted, and although the raid was a success, they hadn't identified that he caravan was under the protection of they Ya'ii people. The Hanover Ridge Crew found this out the hard way the following night when their encampment was assaulted by a Ya'ii warband the following night. The attack was bloodily repulsed, but the assault had claimed the lives of the Boss and several of his key lieutenants. The Crew quickly left the area and managed to avoid further retribution for their crime, however, with the Boss dead, many of the survivors quickly began to squabble to be his replacement. AJ had decided that he had had enough. With his friend Colten covering for him, AJ disappeared from the Crew's camp with half his cut in the dead of night, and never came back. Subsequently, AJ worked odd jobs as he put as much distance between himself and his past life as he could, all the while watching his fortune decline throughout the year. Now hanging out with a caravan, nearly penniless and doing random errands to get the chips he needs to by food, AJ finds himself approaching Sully's Rest. Hopefully here he can turn things around and find decent enough honest work that he could someday return home with his head held high. ____________________________________________________________________________ PERSONALITY AJ is typically laid back and fairly relaxed. Despite his struggles, he believes in his destiny and good fortune to pull him through his hardships. While he does have plans and dreams, he is not overly ambitious, and he is patient enough to shrug of temporary obstacles and hostile comments. AJ is fairly skilled at being non-threatening and hiding his intentions and anxieties. That said, even AJ has limits, and when he is pushed over those limits, he is not good at controlling his rage or fear. AJ can be introverted, but he is a sociable introvert. He often employs a trick his mother taught making customers, which is to talk to others mostly by discussing their interests. He is good at making acquaintances comfortable around him by being a good listener. However, he is afraid to be vulnerable and face his own demons, so he typically steers conversations away from himself if they start to head in that direction. Ever since attack the killed the Hanover Ridge Crews Boss, everything about the Ya'ii people scares the crap out of AJ. Also, AJ doesn't have much experience with mutants, but he is inclined not to trust them. Otherwise, he is probably a little too trusting with other people, despite his own history of abusing such trust. ____________________________________________________________________________ MOTIVATION AND OUTLOOK AJ is optimistic that things will get better for him now that he is trying to live honestly, but he is getting sick of being poor. He is hoping to eventually settle somewhere nice once he feels he is safely far away enough from his old life and the remnants of the Hanover Ridge Crew. Eventually, once he has made it big on his own doing honest work, he wants to return home and make things up to his parents. ____________________________________________________________________________ MODIFIERS Experienced Caseman: AJ has a lot of experience getting eyes on things other people don't want him to see, which he learned by being skilled with his fingers and sharp with his eyes. He also was good at getting out of trouble fast when he was discovered (+1 Dexterity, +1 Perception, +1 Fitness) First Time Loner: AJ has usually been able to lean on a member of his family or his crew to help him figure out how to endure something challenging. This is his first time going it out alone this long, and he has been struggling to get sufficient food (-1 Strength, -1 Fitness, -1 Endurance)

Working Through the Newb Jitters

Thanks ChronicleMan!