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[PbP On, OOC] Life After the Bomb Fell: Mutated - IC Thread Up

ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
edited May 2007 in Critical Failures
Life After the Bomb Fell has begun! You can find the IC thread here.

What's New!?
-Fun and different style! I'm more heavily influenced by Fallout and Fallout 2. Still gritty, but slightly less realism, and a higher tolerance for stretching the boundaries of what's genre-appropriate.
-New and improved plot! What are the PHOENICS characters going to do? Why is their bunker named 'Charlie'? What's happening in the world? All new answers and explanations await!
-Sleek and streamlined combat system! The regular posting schedule will be 2 days for players to post after every GM post. But if combat happens, this will be shortened to 1 day per round, with no initiative order. Any player that doesn't post will have their character act at the GM's discretion, unless they've designated another player to do so instead. More on this later.
-Better XPs! The XPs. They're better.


What's the Same!?
-Same characters, same history! I'd like to do as little let's-just-pretend-this-revision-has-always-been-this-way as possible. The one current exception: forget what you've been told about current geography/radiation/power groups. Some of it's still true, some not, we'll cover it as it comes up.
-Just as deadly! Though the style's different, the wasteland is still a dangerous place. Any old fool can go and get killed, surviving is the real challenge. While we won't quite be making every paper clip count, managing your resources will still be important.

What's Next!?
The new IC thread is up and the first GM post is up. You have until Tuesday to post, but the sooner you post the better. I need everyone who's made a new character or modified their character to get stats to me as soon as possible before Tuesday. Any questions, comments, or discussion are welcome in the meantime. I'll be in #bombfell (on irc.slashnet.org) whenever I can.

Below, I've listed some rules for gameplay and character creation.

Gameplay
-Life After is a play-by-post game run here on the Of Dice and Men boards. The basic way this works is that I post a GM Post(signified by a unique title, and, most often, length). Players will then have 2 days to make character posts, responding to the GM post, other player posts, or their own thoughts, with mini-GM posts interspersed as I have NPCs answering questions or reacting to PC actions.
-If a player misses the posting window, they'll be NPCed if necessary.
-Experience will be awarded for many things in addition to combat. Problem-solving, accurate roleplaying, frequent meaningful posting, and most importantly, interaction, with either NPCs or, even better, other players. Lesser amounts of experience(and other rewards) will also be awarded for out of character actions such as taking and sharing notes with the group, performing some other party function(mapping, character illustrations, etc), editing the new wiki I'll be setting up, or pointing me toward a piece of post-apocalyptic media/info I haven't already seen.
-Everyone involved in Life After is expected to abide by the basics of any roleplaying social contract. I'm here to provide you with a world to game in, clear options you can choose to take advantage of, or not, and assist in telling a story. Your part is to play well with your fellow players, be an active participant, and not take IC events personally. Discussion is always welcome, but if I issue a ruling, please accept it as final. Above all else, try and think of this as if we were all playing while physically together, and avoid saying anything online that you wouldn't say offline.

Character Creation
Starting level: 6th.
Ability scores: Roll 5d6 for each score, dropping the lowest 2. Rearrange as you like. Remember to add your ability score point gain from 4th level.
Backgrounds: Any new PCs will need to be survivor characters, meaning they somehow survived the nuclear apocalypse or have been born since then.
Allowed books & sections: d20 Modern, d20 Apocalypse, Nuclear Nomad AvC from d20 Future, all non-mystical material from d20 Past.
Equipment: 75 TU worth.
Mutations: Up to 4 MP worth, with an additional 1 MP for 10 TU less of equipment, up to a total of 2 additional MP.
Other: All characters, in whole or in part, are subject to GM approval for the sake of game balance, party balance, or genre/style/theme preservation.

If you have any comments or questions, post away!

Current Roster:
Players & Player Characters
Talonrazor - Playing new character(Russian. That's all we know.)
Scooter - TBD
INNS - New character, female driver
Shamus - Hadrian, Ex-CIA Agent
PsychoLarry1 - New character, The Thing
GrimmyTOA - Slim, "bestial" melee fighter
Thanatos - Crash, Special Ops Wheelman
jdarksun - Jason Dakin, Delta Force Operator
Mr. Rose - Jessica, Sharpshooter
Grid System - Phil, Tracker
Infidel - Orokos, Gearhead Road Warrior
HylianBunny - New player, new character(surgeon?)

NPCs - PHOENICS Members
Dr. George Miller, biologist.
Dr. Rachel Vuic, professor of philosophy.
Harold Greep, historical enthusiast.
Matthias Decks, Naval Corpsman(medic)
Matthew McCane, Secret Service agent
Victor Brogue, Public Relations
Aryael Cass, ???
Jackson Northfield, Engineer

NPCs - Survivors
Charlie - Scavenger, Trader
Michael - Religious Gunslinger
Jafar - Mutant Warrior
Amy - Multifaceted Mutant
Timothy - Traveling Medic
Vesta - Mutant Gladiator
Frederick Shell the Storyteller - Master Talesman

Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
ElfWord on
«13

Posts

  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Hm.

    INeedNoSalt on
  • TalonrazorTalonrazor Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Woo. I'll be playing in this as a player, since Novo Aether is the beast that dominates all time allocated to RPGs.

    My dude is also totally inspired by STALKER so yea.

    Talonrazor on
    sig4.jpg
  • ScooterScooter Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Tbh, I think I just plain lost interest. Pbp just isn't my thing I guess. I'm thinking of quitting my theater job this week, we'll see if some more free time will give me the energy.

    Scooter on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    My interest isn't all gone, but ... my character is. There was something to Mike, but I've lost it.

    INeedNoSalt on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Pending whether or not Orokos is still around, I might make a combat-driver.

    INeedNoSalt on
  • ShamusShamus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm in.

    <3 Fallout

    I also loved the idea of the original campaign, so I definitely want to continue.

    Shamus on
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm considering rolling a Nuclear Nomad. Rachel just didn't have enough to do for the most part as a big literature brain.

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Yeah, I may off Matthew (a bodyguard in a situation where getting shot = near-certain death wasn't my brightest move) and make a mutant of some sort.

    Possibly including ooze. We shall see.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Updated roster added. Depending on how cool you guys are with doing some more let's-just-pretend-this-revision-has-always-been-this-way, I'd be okay with letting people make new PHOENICS members.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm considering rolling a Nuclear Nomad. Rachel just didn't have enough to do for the most part as a big literature brain.
    But... but... Crash needs someone to help repopulate the planet with! :cry:

    Crash is back. I could never leave him. <3

    Thanatos on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Thanatos wrote: »
    I'm considering rolling a Nuclear Nomad. Rachel just didn't have enough to do for the most part as a big literature brain.
    But... but... Crash needs someone to help repopulate the planet with! :cry:

    Crash is back. I could never leave him. <3
    My driver will be a chica!

    INeedNoSalt on
  • Mr_RoseMr_Rose 83 Blue Ridge Protects the Holy Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    How'd I miss this?
    Anyway, I'm in, still Jessica, though I might want to revise a thing or two.
    Like not taking a gun with such expensive fucking bullets for a start...

    Mr_Rose on
    ...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
    Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
    DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
  • ShamusShamus Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Yeah, I'm also going to revise Hadrian.

    I want to stick with being a Sleeper, so we have a nice balance of in-game conflict.

    Shamus on
  • HylianbunnyHylianbunny Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm definitely interested in this.

    Hylianbunny on
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    You may want to consider PMing the remaining players, as some of them probably don't frequent this board.
    Also: are we still using #bombfell as our IRC meeting space?

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    You may want to consider PMing the remaining players, as some of them probably don't frequent this board.
    Also: are we still using #bombfell as our IRC meeting space?

    Bombfell is still the ODAM general IRC channel. :P

    INeedNoSalt on
  • TalonrazorTalonrazor Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Elf most of us are in finals mode for this week and next week so participation might be hindered a bit.

    My guy is going to basically be a Stalker mixed with a bit of lawman. Survivalist type.

    Talonrazor on
    sig4.jpg
  • CyberJackalCyberJackal Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm out.

    CyberJackal on
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Talonrazor wrote: »
    Elf most of us are in finals mode for this week and next week so participation might be hindered a bit.

    That is an excellent point. When will your finals be finished? Or finished enough for you to not be crazy busy with nothing but them? Likewise for all other students who are playing.

    I'll PM people tomorrow(posting this just before sleep), we most likely won't start until after the weekend at the earliest.

    Hylianbunny, it'd be great to have you join up. Essentially, you can choose to be a PHOENICS member of bunker Charlie 42, which had a malfunction causing it's members to come out of stasis 63 years too early, only 27 years after the bomb fell. Or you can be a wasteland survivor, someone who survived the bombing through means other than a PHOENICS vault, or someone born since then. Come up with a character concept, or a few of them, and either try to catch me on #bombfell or PM them to me.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    I'm in #bombfell on irc.slashnet.org now if anyone wants to discuss characters.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • Grid SystemGrid System Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Right. Well, I'll give this my best shot. One post every two days is it? That should be easy enough to maintain. Think I'll keep Phil.

    Is the wiki still active and will we be using it?

    Grid System on
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    1) are we going with 75% of max health still?
    2) are the characters we aren't using any more going to be NPC'd or do they get wiped as part of the revision?

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Do we have to/can we do anything to our characters if we're continuing to use the same ones?

    Thanatos on
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited April 2007
    Oh, I had a thought: Hylianbunny, I'm not going to tell you what kind character to play, but if you need ideas the group has a desperate need for another medic/surgeon.

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Hey guys, sorry I've been absent all weekend. This next week is everyone finishing up finals anyways, so it's all tinkering time. To answer some questions:
    Is the wiki still active and will we be using it?
    The wiki is not still active, we will not be using the old one if we do use a wiki, and I'm debating how useful a wiki would be for this campaign since unlike NovoAether where all the characters know about the universe they're in, in Life After there's a lot to be discovered that I don't necessarily want to give people previews of. If you guys would be interested in using a wiki as a group note-taking/journal tool, I'd be up for that.
    Are we going with 75% of max health still?
    Max at first, 75% every level there after, alternate between rounding up and rounding down if you need to.
    Are the characters we aren't using any more going to be NPC'd or do they get wiped as part of the revision?
    They'll be NPCed unless there's a good reason to simply wipe them from our memories. A few will be permanent NPCs, a few will die heroically, a few will die much less heroically, some will be dumped off at the first or second opportunity to stop travelling, and a couple will simply wander off into the wastes.
    Do we have to/can we do anything to our characters if we're continuing to use the same ones?
    If you want to switch around feats/skills or make other modifications to your character build(while retaining the same concept and personality), now is the time. If you want to change some aspects of your character's personality, no one has gotten to know each other enough for the difference to be really noticeable anyways. I strongly encourage you to make your characters party-friendly(a loner who hates everyone/prefers to work on his own/always disregards the effects of his actions on others makes for a good book character, not a good member of gaming group), and identify plausible motivations for them to want to assist the PHOENICS group. Patriotism(rebuilding America, yay!), need for companionship(a group, yay!), need for protection(a group with guns that doesn't want to use them on me, yay!), greed(a group that's likely to find stuff that's worth a lot, yay!), curiosity(bunkers? cryogenics? questing? Yay!), heroism(my chance to accomplish an epic endeavor, yay!), an urge to explore(travelling across the nation, yay!), or personal motivations(My name is Inigo Montoya. Fallout killed my father...) are all excellent motivations. Be able to tell me why your character is part of this group.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    So when do we begin?

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I have the opening post written, right now I'm doing voice work for an intro video I'm putting together, which will hopefully be finished tomorrow night. Unfortunately, no one who's indicated that they're playing a new or modified character has submitted any stats to me. This is partially my fault for not being on people's asses enough, and partially the fault of everyone having very busy lives, including a lot of finals and such(which we delayed for and hopefully are over for the majority of people now).

    So tomorrow night I'll post the opening IC post and update this OOC thread. And everyone will have until the next major GM post(Tuesday) to get stats and background info to me, though the sooner the better since I have to approve it before you can use it. Deal?

    I'll be in #bombfell tomorrow(Sunday) after 1:00 PM EST.

    This is going to be awesome guys.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    D'oh! My fault. I was thinking of switching Matthew out for someone whose raison d'etre wasn't "getting shot intentionally", but then I never did anything about it. I'll see what I can come up with today (I'm still an idiot about d20M and it took me a week to arrive at Matthew) but if that doesn't happen, then he'll stay.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • Mr_RoseMr_Rose 83 Blue Ridge Protects the Holy Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Guess I'd better go actually buy Apocalypse then...
    Are we going to use any other books (I for one would dearly love to be able to unearth the ruins of an advanced research lab in a major city and find some powered armour or something...)?

    Mr_Rose on
    ...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
    Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
    DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
  • HylianbunnyHylianbunny Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Well, I wouldn't mind making a surgeon of some sort...

    hm. Let me hop in the room sometime soon and I'll see if I can catch some people there.

    Hylianbunny on
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    So, I'm looking at making a radioactive survivor type. He's going to be pretty bestial -- intelligent-ish, but not what you'd call refined. He's going to have a single 5 point mutation (radioactive), and so will have only 65 TUs to spend on equipment.

    Any ideas on that equipment? He's going to be primarily melee based, and possibly pretty gimped. :)

    He's got archaic proficiency & whatnot.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    I'm doing a somewhat similar character using the Brain Buster (5 ft pipe with rocks and nails, double weapon). As far as melee the sawblade ax looks nasty (1d12 dam for 4TU), and there's always improvised weapons that let you be creative. edit: and there's the one handed rachet, which is a smaller version of the brain buster.

    I really wanted to use the dirty gun with radioactive rock ammo, but it makes anyone nearby get radiation sickness unless you get a lead lined box. 3TU per dirty rock shot + 10 TU for the box + the C02 cartridges means a lot of points for a gun. I guess you can forgo the lead box if you're going to be exuding radiation anyway. edit: also, normal rock ammo is free.

    Talking to Elf on #bombfell, we decided that 1 gallon of water = 1 TU if anyone is wondering.

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Hmm. Thanks. I think I'll go the flavour route. Those things are only 4TUs? I could get... 15 of them. Hrmm. More to think about.

    Armor's definitely a good idea, I think.

    Thanks jdark.

    EDIT: And PL1.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • ElfWordElfWord Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Rose, d20 Apocalypse and the d20 Modern core rules will be the main ones. I've looked through d20 Past and seen a few interesting things. d20 Future I wouldn't spend the money on(for this game) if you don't have already. Power armor and such is certainly a possibility, but I'll just excerpt the stats for players if that happens.

    ElfWord on
    Star Wars fan, Battlestar crewman, Fantastic GM. Frequent lurker, occasional adventurer.
    Awesome android RPGs are made by my friends; check them out.
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Scrapped the radiation thing (it affects everyone within 60ft, and I don't want to be irradiating team members whenever I use it) in favor of Leaper and Gazing Eye.

    I think I've got some extra TUs to use up. Any ideas? Alternately, I could take an extra MP (maybe ditch Leaper for Gills or something). Thoughts?

    Here's Slim so far, by the way.

    And here are his stat rolls: A, B, C, D, E, and F.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • Mr_RoseMr_Rose 83 Blue Ridge Protects the Holy Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    ElfWord wrote: »
    Rose, d20 Apocalypse and the d20 Modern core rules will be the main ones. I've looked through d20 Past and seen a few interesting things. d20 Future I wouldn't spend the money on(for this game) if you don't have already. Power armor and such is certainly a possibility, but I'll just excerpt the stats for players if that happens.
    Just apocalypse then. I already have future, for Novo Aether, and I have a "backup" of apoc, but it kinda sucks reading it off'f a screen...
    I'm gonna pretty much stick with Jessica as is, though I will have to put more of her background up somewhere. For those interested, her motivations at this point would be the urge to explore, a little curiosity and more than a little anti-patriotism, though she keeps that one hidden around the phoenics people....

    Mr_Rose on
    ...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
    Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
    DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
  • PsychoLarry1PsychoLarry1 Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    GrimmyTOA wrote: »
    Scrapped the radiation thing (it affects everyone within 60ft, and I don't want to be irradiating team members whenever I use it) in favor of Leaper and Gazing Eye.

    I think I've got some extra TUs to use up. Any ideas? Alternately, I could take an extra MP (maybe ditch Leaper for Gills or something). Thoughts?

    Here's Slim so far, by the way.
    I'd say if you're going to use personal firearms prof you may as well get yourself a gun. the Disc launcher is cheap TU wise, or go for some pistol or sub machine gun. Otherwise there's always special clothing like fatigues, more food, fuel, handcuffs or medicine. To make a fight interesting you could pick up a grenade or a molotov cocktail too.
    You also have your food listed as ?TUs, remember every day of food is 1 TU.

    PsychoLarry1 on
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Gotcha. I knew about the water costing 1TU, but not about the food. I'll edit that in, and I'll find some sort of projectile weapon for opening engagements.

    Is there an online resource which has the TU costs for various bits of equipment? My online d20 modern MSRD doesn't seem to deal with TUs anywhere.

    GrimmyTOA on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    GrimmyTOA wrote: »
    Gotcha. I knew about the water costing 1TU, but not about the food. I'll edit that in, and I'll find some sort of projectile weapon for opening engagements.

    Is there an online resource which has the TU costs for various bits of equipment? My online d20 modern MSRD doesn't seem to deal with TUs anywhere.

    TUs are an Apocalypse d20 thingy. There's a list somewhere in the book with TU costs for most everything.

    INeedNoSalt on
  • GrimmyTOAGrimmyTOA Registered User regular
    edited May 2007
    Basta. Guess I'll have to go pick up a copy of Apocalypse. Thanks for the clarification.

    (Oddly, my MSRD deals pretty comprehensively with mutations. *shakes head and walks off muttering*)

    GrimmyTOA on
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