Apocalypse RP - Interested?

I'm in, if you'll have me. I've experience with most apocalyptic fiction, but, funny enough, I've never really done any real "Extinction By Plague" Apoc-RP's, though I've been interested in the concept since I watched "Contagion".

Hopefully we can get a couple more people to help kick this thing off.

So my vote's for the "Plague Wiped People Out" scenario. Who's with me?

Yes! Absolutely.

I'd like to start this with at least three people, to add more variety and make things even more interesting.

Just a few questions to consider to get us started: Would you rather start in a rural or urban setting? And during the outbreak, just before, or just after?

P.S. I love your sig pic like a fat kid loves cake.

I do love me some cake.

And before the outbreak in an urban setting. I've not done before the Trigger Event for a long, long time, so it'd be a refreshing change from my other RPs.

I'm down.. I recently watched The Colony on Netflix, and it was pretty good for a reality show.


This could also be inspiration as I am running a post-apocalyptic D20 modern/future campaign in a week or two.

The plot I had for my players was thus:
"Due to the economy, which seems to only be getting worse, you have all agreed to be part of a scientific test. (Idea inspired by Idiocracy) The test involves cryogenics, and you as the subjects will be frozen and stored for two years, at which time, you will be unfrozen, studied for scientific reasons, observed for health reasons, and then paid a reasonably sum so you can live comfortably after the test has concluded." During the test is when the apocalypse happens, saving the subjects from the virus or what ever. About a week into the apocalypse, (Which I figured about 14 months into the test) a survivor is raiding the then abandoned lab and unknowingly thaws the subjects as he is leaving.

That's just a thought, and I would not be offended if you guy's aren't cool with it, or want to change it.. (criticism is very welcome, as it will help with the game later. )

So I'm down for viral outbreak (Zombies or not) and urban setting.

Oh dude, dibs on the weapons guy, lol.

I think we've already decided on just before the outbreak of the plague, though, sorry dude. But hey, your idea sounds awesome, though I have to ask, why cryogenic suspension?

Generalfoley said:

Oh dude, dibs on the weapons guy, lol.

I think we've already decided on just before the outbreak of the plague, though, sorry dude. But hey, your idea sounds awesome, though I have to ask, why cryogenic suspension?

Click to expand...

I figured it was a good way to not only get the party kind-of together, and also to act as a pre-disaster quarantine. I was also thinking of just like a drug induced coma, but cryogenics are much cooler..


And the timing is cool, I'd still like to be apart of it.

Sweet, it's always good to have a fellow Apoc-Fan among us.

Now we wait for Piranha to get back and, hopefully, we can start.

Unless we need more people.

Then we wait some more.

^_^" Hello fellow post-apocalyptic-RP fans. I know I haven't been the most active person here recently... The number of posts I would turn out per day before was a bit overkill, and due to various circumstances I had to take about a one-month break... However, I am back and ready for some serious RPing!

1. Yes, cryogenics is definitely the way to go!

2. I was wondering about "The Infected" (which, if you don't mind, is how I will refer to them). Could we try something interesting and inventive with them, as opposed to simply making them like typical zombies. I mean, zombies are awesome and all, but they hardly make proper targets for action sequences as despite their numbers they quite frankly are devoid of anything even remotely resembling intelligence. Could I be so bold as to make a suggestion? Its an idea that has been swimming around in my mind for a while now.

In essence, the "virus" isn't really a virus in a conventional sense, since viruses are not alive (as they cannot reproduce by their own means) and yet seem to modify themselves at intervals to accommodate adaptations by the species they are infectious toward. Instead, it was engineered to be symbiotic for the human body, that is, live within the body as both the human and the symbiote are aided by each other. This life form is a type of engineered fungus which is able to mask its presence from the body in order to keep the immune system from attacking it. It attacks all foreign invaders other than itself and cleans the body, absorbing the impurities and waste products for its own use. However, upon reaching the brain (which takes some time for it to invade that deeply) it began to take control and command the body according to its own will rather than that of the owner.

"The Infected" are much faster and stronger than normal humans, and need very little to survive other than water and raw nutrients, able to hibernate until sufficient sustenance is available. They do not have particularly enhanced senses beyond normal humans, however. Also, the spores of "The Infected" cannot be spread via the air as humans lack the necessary structures to spread spores, so direct contact is necessary (a trait they share with zombies, all you zombie lovers). They are also able to regenerate lost limbs or wounds if the body is not sufficiently destroyed, making them particularly hard to take down. In addition to their huge numbers, this makes them particularly dangerous foe. Each individual infected acts on his or her own, and lack any sort of central organization although groups may form under a more highly evolved individual (read: boss fights!) which may have more advanced abilities and/or structures than ordinary infected.

What do you guys think? ^_^" Its just one of my ideas, and we certainly do not need to go with it... but I wanted to put it out there as a potential idea just in case.

I don't think this is an "Infected" Apocalypse RP, just a virus wiping out a majority of the population. From there, the government collapses, anarchy breaks out, and then our characters (starting from, I believe, a week before Day One) survive amongst each other, preventing the spread of the plague to themselves and killing others who want to do what all post apocalyptic crazies want to do (i.e. rape, kill, rob, maybe even eat).

Your idea is good, though. Inventive, even though you switched from virus to fungi halfway through. And virus' are, in fact, organics (living), being able to reproduce through cellular division, though they lack any real mental functions at all. But yeah, your "Infected" idea wasn't too shabby, minus the mentions of undead, due to the fact that, while you referred to the fungi as a symbiotic relationship that controlled a host's cognitive functions and the hosts, once controlled, only needed water, zombies aren't actually alive. They don't breath, they don't feel, they don't eat for energy, but for the cavernous hunger that they always feel and to spread the virus beyond their own bodies.

Wow, I just got technical. I gotta stop doing that.

Still, great idea.

Well, damn, this thing kind of exploded. Weee!

Inlikeflynn17 and Wingshadow, welcome!

I like both of your ideas quite a bit, but I think I'm leaning more toward the virus wiping out a majority of the populace, chaos ensuing. If anyone would like to play multiple characters as well, that would be great. It's basically humans fighting each other while trying to survive, and then dealing with the infected, and all the moral questions that present themselves along the way.

I think we'll start the week before, as Generalfoley said, with characters going through their daily lives before the shit hits the fan.

If that's all good...

I think we can start.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

I'll start a thread once I'm sure we're all on the same page.

It's a deal. My character's ready for almost anything you can throw at him.

Except for a car. You can't throw a car at him. Please don't throw a car at his head.

See children, this is what sleep deprivation does to the MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!

CAPS LOCK TOO!

I can write up a character shortly, and I'm fine with the current situation, though I may steal Wingshadow's idea for my campaign. I like that approach compared to the same old zed..

Alrighty then. I'll post the RP thread within the next few days. If y'all want an OOC thread, be sure to let me know.

Also, should we come up with a fancy-ass name for this RP?

Huzzah!

And I'll just settle for "The Plague".

It sounds interesting while being obvious in what it is.

The Plague?

Bitchin'! Just gotta get my character together.

And damn it all, General, every time I see your sig pic I feel like dancing!

HaHa!

...

Now I feel like dancing.

Inlikeflynn17 said:

I can write up a character shortly, and I'm fine with the current situation, though I may steal Wingshadow's idea for my campaign. I like that approach compared to the same old zed..

Click to expand...

^_^" Please don't steal ideas without permission...

Anyway, what sort of format should our character page be? (that is, what sort of information should it contain?)

I have a template on a site of mine we could use.

Or I could make one up.

Either way is fine with me, I just wanted to get working on my character.

Also, do you have any ideas on what sort of themes we would be focusing on in this RP? That is, will our characters have no prior knowledge of each other, and following the plague outbreak they eventually meet up with each other? We could potentially go about this a veriety of different ways. For example:

1. Each character is an anti-hero in his or her own right. Every person is out for themselves, and will do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means cooperation or stabbing the others in the back to acquire sufficient supplies. Some of them could attempt to hold onto morals, but everyone will have to make some amount of compromise either with each other or against their beliefs. This is sort of a darker take on the story, and could include survivor vs survivor fighting, manipulation, non-consensual scenes, survivors vs environment, survivors vs the infected, etc.

2. The survivors form a resistance group in which they divide tasks among each other in an effort to collect supplies and additional survivors in an effort to re-create a make-shift society of sorts. There may or may not be a leader. If a leader exists, he or she may or may not be an effective leader. Basically, it has more form than 1, but has the potential of forming a much more diverse and in-depth look at post-apocalyptic life since the characters don't have to worry about the others betraying them (for the most part, anyway). This is a mild version of the story, and if we aren't creative enough it might not be interesting enough to maintain much excitement. It could have rival survivor groups fighting each other, but it will mostly be survivors vs hostile environment (or the infected).

I think you're over-thinking the RP.

I doubt our characters will know each other, but they won't immediately turn into sociopath survivors after the outbreak. While many of the things you said could happen, I highly doubt that our characters are fighting the infected. When the infected die, the don't get back up. It's a virus that kills, not a virus that kills then uses the host, like a Zombie or the kind of Infected you're thinking of.

No one knows how the virus goes from person to person, but many people are assuming the plague is airborne or in the water. As for the outbreak, the disease travels fast enough to gain a significant mortality rate causing panic in the people. This isn't an RP where our characters will arm themselves to the teeth, this is an apocalypse with survival as an overtone.

But your character can do whatever he/she wants. Well, within reason. We all know to avoid Gary and Mary, right?

At any rate, parts of the first scenario are very possible, while the second one... Eh. I doubt the sane people left will want to rebuild society, I think they'd want to preserve it.

But again, the RP starts a week before the outbreak, then slowly gets into it. An apocalypse is gradual, even if the virus isn't. So is the descent into madness, it's a very gradual slide down, especially in an apocalyptic situation.

But still, great ideas, very creative takes on tried and true scenarios.

Wingshadow said:

^_^" Please don't steal ideas without permission...

Click to expand...

I'm Sorry.. If that's the case, would you be opposed to me using your idea? If my campaign turns out godly and gets published by WoTC I'll be sure to acknowledge you in the credits.



And as far as our characters turning into sociopath survivors, it is very likely.. If it were a real situation and the virus was real, and people were dropping left and right and I was in a "safe" situation, I wouldn't be inviting others in with open arms.. I'd definitely try to procure a 10 foot pole to keep every one at bay..

@General

Ohhh, ok... Now I feel dumb ^_^" I understand what you mean now. I was a bit too excited it seems and I failed to realize that I wasn't quite in-tune with what you all were up to. Sure, a killer epidemic works well... plus it adds to the horror value of the RP, which is always a good thing.

@Flynn

Its fine ^_^ just make sure you credit me and its all good. Yes, if we were going for a realistic situation it would be pretty much every man, woman, and child for themselves. However, if such is the case to an extreme degree, I fear that our characters might not interact much (which is the entire point of having a group RP as opposed to simply writing a novel on our own). Sure, things will degenerate slowly, but at a certain point the panic will set in.

You shouldn't feel dumb, you just... misunderstood. And got overexcited.

And I doubt it'll be every man, woman and child for themselves; the bonds of friendship is strong, and the bonds of family stronger. That, and it could take months, even years for the kind of lawless Darwinian society you envision to rise up. But it's early in the apocalypse, the beginning in fact. In the beginning, our characters should still think many of the things the previous society (to their knowledge it still is the same society) would hold together.

Such is the principle of a group: More eyes, more weapons, more safety.

They'll be trusting enough to let clean survivors in, but those with symptoms either have to be sent away, or killed (with this virus, death is preferable, as it is a painful death).

So yeah, they'll have to be in a group, but for now, they're all in the same city (most likely New York), trying to survive the plague, and the military (which is preforming a quarantine). Kill the infected, burn the bodies, plague containment 101.

May I just say that I love the flow of ideas here?

It makes my apocalypse-genre-loving heart just squeal with joy!

General, I trust you to deal with the character creation format; if you don't mind, that is. (Create an OOC thread if you like, etc.)

Unfortunately, I seem to have come down with the sore throat of DOOOOOM, and it's knocking me right on my ass. Hopefully I'll be doing better in a few days. I'll try to check in tomorrow. If not, I'm probably in bed with a cup of tea.

♥p