Superpower Zombie RP: Interest Check

Discussion Thread. Roleplay Thread.

SIGN-UPS NOW CLOSED.

To the government, it was a defense against bio-terrorism.

To the military, it was a biological weapons program.

To the activists, it was a crime against humanity.

To the people of Ground Zero, U.S.A, it was the Life Inc. HQ.

To the homeless, it was a free meal and a needle to the arm.

To the survivors, it was the gate of hell.

To the world...

...it was the beginning of the end.

In the near future, you've signed up for biological testing for whatever reason. You were one of the lucky survivors, kept imprisoned in the basement of Life Industries until an accident kick-starts a zombie apocalypse and you are free. You leave the basement to find the world has gone to hell.

Also, you have virus-granted superpowers. Kind of important.

But amidst all the chaos, there are safe zones. Sinanima Corporation, a world-renowned cybernetics company, is pushing forward what they call the Cyber Initiative: a plan to mechanize humanity, by putting human brains in robot bodies, thus rendering them immune to infection. Of course, people oppose this on a moral level. Especially since Sinanima's other products include several varieties of soulless, autonomous murder drones.

Drones that are now hunting you down. And the cyborgs, but they're kind of indistinguishable because the people who have undergone the cyber process mysteriously lose their emotions. So it's up to you, you ragtag bunch of mutant guinea pigs, to stop Sinanima and find a cure. Somehow. Good luck with that.

So if you couldn't tell, this RP is somewhat influenced by Prototype, but with cyborgs thrown in. You play as someone with virus-powers (the aim here is creativity. Not just Combat Tentacles), or possibly a cyborg villain if enough people want to. Feel free to post worldbuilding suggestions and character ideas, so we can flesh out the world more.

SIGN-UP SHEET

• Real Name:
• Alias/Codename, if any:
• Gender:
• Appearance: (You may not necessarily look human, but you should all at least be humanoid.)
• Personality:
• Background:(What were they doing before the breakout?)
• Powers:(Keep it Super Weight 3 and below. Most likely Lovecraftian as well, but feel free to get creative.)
• Misc.: (If it doesn't go anywhere else, put it here.)

ACCEPTED CHARACTERS:

• Gretchen "Jackie" Jackson, Codename: Jack the Ripper - KSPAM
• Mitchell Belcroft, Codename: Salamander - Nick the Swing
• Joe McGuire, Codename: Lockbox - Kagescorpionakki
• Adriana Green, Codename: Brain Drain - daird
• Klara Waald, Codename: Sparky - Lt.B Gob
• Mort Smith, Codename: Big Guy - Eachiunn
• Hal Harrington, Codename: Wendigo - Kkutwar
• Bob Tyrone Signore, Codename: Epsilon - Philosopher
• Narendra “Ren” Carlisle, Codename: Harpy - Black Revolver
• Dale "Dolly" Hugh, Codename: Dragula - tricksterson
• Joshua, Codename: Unknown Soldier - Troyand Hawk

edited 30th Jul '14 5:56:32 PM by Kagescorpionakki

Interested.

Hmm, possible interest though I am in a few rps right now.

I might be interested, though I'd rather like to be one of the cyborgs.

Interest, if I don't have too much on my plate.

Interested, since my entry into the Mass Effect RP didn't fall through >.>

Glad to see a couple more people interested in this. Will make a sign-up sheet so you can get the general idea.

Eh, I was interested from the word go, I was just waiting for it to get more attention. I love Lovecraftian Superpowers

Definite interest but it's only fair to warn you that RPGs I join seem to have short lifespans.

Don't we all.

A lot of RPs have short lifespans here. I'm sure it's not you personally that's ruining them.

SIGN-UP SHEET ADDED TO FIRST POST.

edited 22nd Jul '14 1:00:00 PM by Kagescorpionakki

Yeah, the lifespan of R Ps around here is pretty arbitrary.

Generally speaking, RPs need enough momentum. An RP without momentum will stall and die.

So are there any universal powers the viral hosts share, like regeneration, enhanced strength and speed, shapeshifting, super senses, the ability to rip a squishy organic target limb from limb and devour it for the delicious memories stored in its headmeat?

Can we karate kick helicopters?

edited 22nd Jul '14 2:25:17 PM by KSPAM

All the Super-Infected (P Cs) have enhanced speed, strength, and durability, as well as regeneration. So yes, you can karate kick helicopters. Or in this case, predator drones. The exact degrees vary - some can grow a limb back in a day, others in a month. Some can juggle cars, others can maybe flip them. And so on and so forth. All other powers are generally unique to the subject, though there may be two-or-three people with a variation on the same ability.

edited 22nd Jul '14 2:57:29 PM by Kagescorpionakki

Would it be acceptable for the virus to have turned my character into a vampire?

Well... you wouldn't exactly be a vampire, but you could have several of their powers (bat-wings, shapeshifting, claws and fangs, etc.). But you wouldn't be weak to sunlight, or crosses, or anything supernatural like that. The Super-Infected all still have the zombie-esque craving for human flesh, but they can repress it. Your guy/gal could just need the blood in particular for his/her powers.

• Real Name: Gretchen "Jackie" Jackson
• Alias/Codename, if any: Jack the Ripper
• Gender: Irrelevant now considering her biology, but she used to be female
• Appearance: When using their abilities to assume a human shape, although the shape is largely arbitrary
• Personality:
• Background: Formerly a scientist under the employ of Life Industries, she was exposed to samples of the virus during testing on human subjects, and became one herself against her will once it was discovered she was infected. There's a lot more to the story than this, but this is what you'll have to put up with while I take the time to write up a more detailed profile for her.
• Powers:
  • Non-standard biology: Gretchen possesses a flexible "body" of monomolecular fibers bundled around a cluster of high-functioning core cells. These fibers respond to motor commands issued by the small, thumb-sized bundle of core cells, and are sensitive to changes in their environment, much like feelers.By manipulating these fibers, the core cells that act analogously to a normal human's brain can:
    • Cut apart objects at a molecular level. Gretchen's fibers are sharper than any surgical tool, and can dice apart objects with such thin cuts that if the pieces were to be reassembled somehow, they would appear completely undamaged. This makes barricading her a difficult challenge so long as your barrier is made of anything with atoms.
    • Become invisible. Being essentially nothing but a massive bundle of string mere molecules wide at their thickest, Gretchen can perform a trick that, to the untrained observer, looks like she's dissolving into thin air. What's actually happening is that she's separating the trillions of strings that make up her body and spreading them out over a large area.The bundle of 18 billion+ core cells that make up her brain can be hidden from sight by dispersing the cells along the individual wires, rendering the thumb-sized mass nominally invisible. However, if she does this she loses a great deal of motor control over her body as well as basic cognitive thought until her core cells inevitably rejoin hours later through a complicated, fumbling, and awkward process of reassembly.
    • Phase through matter. Again, being made of string mere molecules thick affords some advantages, namely that if a way in exists, she can find it. To her, a microscopic gap in a wall is absolutely gigantic, and by carefully maneuvering the strings that make up her body, she can pass through any obstacle in her path as long as a hole the size of a single cell exists in it.
    • Poison people. Much like how microscopic particles of lead can poison the bloodstream, a string made from a few million fibers or potentially even less can be large enough to work its way into a victim's blood stream and poison them. However, the chemical properties of the fibers don't lend themselves to this application, and death by this method is very slow, making it largely irrelevant when the body can be infiltrated and sliced apart from the inside by tiny wires.
    • Shapeshift. Aside from the default human form Gretchen shapes her strings into, she can make herself look like anyone or anything organic by shaping her strings appropriately. However, mass is still retained, so her weight can be a giveaway when assuming larger or smaller forms.
  • Increased metabolism: As a viral host, Gretchen regenerates fairly quickly on her own, but the consumption of biomass (meat especially, but veggies will do as well) can quicken her body's natural regeneration. This allows her to regrow damaged or destroyed core cells, which can in turn produce more fibers. When not in immediate danger, feeding can be used to replenish and increase her number of core cells within certain acceptable parameters as well as catalyze the growth of her fibers, making them longer and more numerous the more she feeds.
• Misc.: Despite how resilient her fibers can be individually and when grouped together (as strong or stronger than carbon nanotubing), Gretchen has one easily exploitable weakness, that being heat. At temperatures greater than 1500 degrees celsius, the temperatures reached by industrial blowtorches and flamethrowers, her fibers begin to lose their integrity, and rapidly become useless, much like nanomachines. By grouping her fibers together in thick bundles (thick enough to be visible), she can overcome this weakness somewhat, but exposure to high temperatures will still damage and exhaust her over time. This means that even normal burning fire can hinder Gretchen's advance, and extreme temperatures can even destroy her body, albeit slowly thanks to her natural regeneration. Plasma torches, thermite, napalm, flamethrowers, thermobaric bombs and nuclear explosions (duh) all pose a considerable threat to Gretchen, and if she is exposed to any of them, structural damage is not a possibility, but a certainty, and can even kill her (the thermobaric and nuclear bombs especially, as well as the plasma torches and thermite).

edited 22nd Jul '14 5:06:32 PM by KSPAM

• Real Name: Mitchell Belcroft
• Alias/Codename, if any: Codename is "Salamande".
• Gender: male
• Appearance: Mitchell, following his infection and transformation through the virus, now resembles a tall, very leanly muscular red haired humanoid most of the time, his eyes having gone from blue to red. At first, he is wearing relatively little except rags and a cloak he managed to hold on to. While handsome, his eyes can prove to be so off putting it puts his face cleanly in Uncanny Valley - a little too good, a little too well designed. Also of interest is the fact his arms meld seamlessly into what look like armoured gauntlets at the wrist.
• Personality: Mitchell Belcroft was always a trouble-making person, and it is inferred he got involved in the biological testing purely because his parents were tied up in the "sanctity of life, unaltered." Well, following it, he has become extremely prone to even more chaotic behaviour, and he just loves the idea of using his powers to slake off the authority figures he posits keep everyone down. Fundamentally a chaotic person, Mitch has a deep distrust of authority figures and the idea of security from problems being placed above people's well being. He believes that change and "revolution" is an undeniable fact of life, and that humanity as it was before was "stagnant". Another odd fact about him is that it seems he has trouble expressing himself in more tender ways, and is outright confused by people who get mushy about things. He is also oddly the type to throw himself into combat for people he doesn't know, and shows a number of quite selfless traits.
• Background: At first an eighteen year old who often clashed with his parents and the religious sect they believed in, his exposure to the biological agent resulted in him somehow becoming around 25 physically. He does not like talking about his past, except that his parents belong "to some idiotic cult that zaps the originality and free thought right outta you."
• Powers: He is capable of shapeshifting and creating weapons out of his arms and even out of his bones, as well as being able to heat his blood up to 3400 degrees Fahrenheit and shoot it out in a barrage of lances he controls, being able to change trajectory and even create odd patterns using this ability. It appears he can even control any of his blood that is outside his body. He appears to have a One-Winged Angel form he can shift into called Drought Vritra - in this form, he becomes a ten foot tall humanoid with a pair of dragons emerging from each of his shoulders, his entire body covered in red armour, and his body temperature climbs to 5000 degrees Fahrenheit (though his speed takes a big hit). However, should he do this, he ends up completely exhausted afterwards, only just able to walk. He is also capable of classic Prototype "Devour", though it seems his is oddly limited - he cannot eat ordinary humans, he can only eat other things affected by the bio-agent, and it seems to function as some form of Horror Hunger - he gets some nasty withdrawal symptoms if he doesn't partake in a certain number a week. Coupling with this is his regeneration ability - he normally has extremely fast regeneration, due to the visceral nature of his powers, but it takes a hit if he doesn't...ah, consume things.
• Misc.: Mitchell is a fan of Digital Devil Saga, and refers to himself as a Demon rather proudly, despite knowing what he is, really.

edited 22nd Jul '14 6:59:37 PM by NickTheSwing

You might wanna be more specific. Is that 3400 degrees celsius or farenheit?

x4 It was mainly blooddrinking I was thinking about and sunlight making me weaker, although not destroying me. As to the rest, let me think on what I want powerwise.

I have a potential idea already (oddly enough), but no guarantees.

Would manipulating electrical attraction (in a localized area) or secreting body acid from all over be acceptable powers?

It's fine. Just post whenever you're able. This may take awhile to get off the ground, anyway.

Both of those would be fine.

@KSPAM: Ooh, freaky. Everything looks in order thus far. Just remember to fill out the personality and backstory bits.

@Nick: I'm assuming that's 3400 Farenheit, since 3400 Celsius would melt damn near anything. Also, his transformation is a bit... much. Scale it down to like ten feet, cap the heat he gives off when transformed at like 5000 F, and we'll be good to go.

Also, here, have a generic leader guy to averagely lead you.

• Real Name: Joe McGuire
• Alias/Codename, if any: Lockbox
• Gender: Male
• Appearance: "Ain't so average now, am I?"◊
• Personality: A friendly guy, he tries his hardest, but doesn't stand out much. He's almost the textbook definition of average, really, which is both a curse and a blessing. He's never the happiest person, just content at best, but he's also not one to get angry or afraid.
• Background: He was a guy working at a grocery store. Not much to say. His friends even called him "Average Joe" for how boring they thought his life was. So he decided to do something crazy, because he wanted a few bucks of spending money. He was one of the first test subjects, and the first known Super. Now he aims to help the others who are like him survive in this crazy world.
• Powers: His skin has been permanently transformed into chitinous plates. These greatly enhance his durability, speed and strength, making them noticeably stronger than most other Supers. His regeneration is also on the higher end of the spectrum. He has no unique abilities, however.
• Misc.: Only goes by Lockbox now. Will help any Super-Infected in need.

Done and done, edited to the parameters set up.

Looking forward to this RP...

Can I join shortly after it has started? I signed up for two other R Ps, so if those aren't showing signs of life I may attempt this.