Desert Wasteland - A Post-Apocalyptic RP

They finally did it.

After years of tension, the countries of the world declared nuclear war on each other, wiping out 70% of the world's population and turning Earth's once beautifully diverse landscapes into one giant desert. The radiation has mutated much of Earth's human population into large, flesh-eating monsters and, in order to survive, gangs of bandits, nomads, and scavengers have sprung up - desperate to survive in this harsh new world...

Hey all, I have had interest in developing a post-apocalyptic RP. I am taking inspiration from Mad Max: Fury Road, the Walking Dead and one of the best old RP's on the site - Bounty Hunters of the Apocalypse.

As mentioned above, the world has been turned into one giant, zombie-infested, desert. Your characters need to be strong to survive but strength can only get you so far. Teamwork is vital.

Your characters will be part of a nomadic scavenging group. You will go from place to place, avoiding zombies, fighting off enemies, and gathering supplies to stay alive just one more day. Zombies aren't the only creatures you need to worry about. Racist skinheads have formed gangs of bandits that terrorize America and biker gangs are also a threat. But those two are small potatoes compared to the Eargobblers - a large band of psychopaths that have turned to cannibalism to survive.

Some things to consider for the setting - the majority of the RP will take place in what was once America and that it has been about three months since the nuclear war happened. Also, there will be a leader of the scavenging group you all are a part of and I am debating to either have him/her be a NPC, a GMPC, or pick one of you to be it.

Your signup sheet should include...

• Name: Self-explanatory
• Gender and Age: You can make your character an old person or a child but you should explain how they managed to survive for so long.
• Equipment: The scavenging group has a couple of vehicles (more on those later) so don't bother putting those. Include things like weapons, ammo, survival equipment, etc.
• Personality: Just a rough outline on how your character acts most of the time to give everybody some framework of what to expect.
• Skills: What can your character do? What was his/her job before the Apocalypse?
• Backstory: What your character did before all of this tragedy went down and what they've been doing since then. How did they meet up with the scavenging group?

This RP will be somewhat serious in tone but that doesn't mean there isn't room for some weird or funny elements so feel free to make your characters a bit quirky if you want. If you have any questions, either post them on this thread or PM me.

EDIT: Quick note. Your character can have a non-motorized personal vehcile such as a bicycle or a horse but no motorcycles or cars or anything like that.

• Active Character List
  • Jonah Adel played by Tin Oz
  • Damien Fox played by Echoing Silence
  • Dr. Francisco "Paco" Mendoza played by nman
  • Russel James played by David2716]]
  • Francis Turner played by Tojin

edited 23rd May '15 8:04:09 PM by FantasyLiver

Interest. Lemme think up a character.

So I finally got around to writing this.

I have a couple of ideas for characters, so I'll post my favorite right now here.

• Name: Jonah Adel
• Gender and Age: Male, 28 years old.
• Equipment: Numerous gas masks, some old pens, loose wire, a luggage bag, and some rations. For weapons he has a pistol with 5 clips of 9mm bullets, a pocket knife, and some rocks.
• Personality: Jonah, while quick thinking, is extremely reckless. He accidentally killed two people to save himself, though you would never know it. He's an excellent diplomat, and can easily persuade or intimidate people to get what he wants.
• Skills: As already stated, he can persuade people easily, but can barely hold his own in combat. He also is was a professional driver before the apocalypse, and was about to get his pilots license when the bombs were launched.
• Appearance: Black hair, green eyes, a previously well-fed body, and clothes that don't fit.
• Backstory: When the the US was alerted of the bombs, they sent out a national alert. Everyone in the airport panicked, but Jonah calmed them down. He said that they could take shelter in the basement floors, and that they could all survive. Of course, some didn't. Most didn't. Most are long dead. Only those at the absolute bottom of the building survived, and even then those who were not crushed, at least far as Jonah knows. Flash forward 6 months. The food and water are running out, only six survivors are left. Morale is low, and Jonah can do nothing to raise it. Then they have an idea. They could send out scouts to see who else is alive, if anyone. It didn't go well. Two scouts get killed by zombies. One makes it back alive to tell them. The survivors, consisting of a convict, Jonah's instructor, Jonah himself, and his father, as well as the irrelevant Plucky Comic Relief surviving scout, go out and kill them all. After looting the remains of the airport, they set their separate ways.

edited 22nd May '15 10:59:07 AM by TinOz

Oh! hells yes. Let me think up a character, he might be a bit of a Warboy. Or he might resemble them in the slightest tiniest bit.

Interest, I'll post a character when I think of one.

Glad to see some interest! I have high hopes for you lot! Jonah looks good but how much ammo is he carrying exactly?

Definite interest.

Uh, right. Ammo. He has five clips of ten 9mm bullets.

I'll edit the character sheet accordingly.

edited 21st May '15 7:26:08 AM by TinOz

• Name: Damien Fox
• Gender and Age: Male, 26
• Equipment: Glock 17 Pistol, a pot and kettle, matches, a lighter, a map, a Winchester Model 70, 10 .308 rounds, 3 Glock magazines, a gas mask with 4 spare filters, a few cans of beans and bottles of water, large travel bag to hold spare ammo, a first aid kit, and his tools, 3 different sketchpads and a whole bag filled with erasers, pencils, and sharpeners. A razor, and several scavenged computer parts all held in the large travel bag
• Personality: Friendly enough for the end of the world, a snarker, tends to be quiet and prefers to tinker on his own time. Somewhat trusting if he has good enough reason. likes it when he finds preserved sugary items.
• Appearance: 5'8" in height, skin has paled from lack of proper sunlight, wearing a large green leather jacket with a hood, tattered cargo pants and wool gloves. Green eyes and brown hair, barely kept free from being a total mess by the hood he wears.
• Skills: A competent driver and a skilled mechanic, he worked as a engineer before the end of the world, always fixing and building, mostly cars. Thus he knows cars inside and out and how to keep them running.
• Backstory: When the bombs fell Damien was working on the lower levels of a underground parking garage. it collapsed, leaving him down there, alone. He managed to salvage what he could from broken vending machines, rationing it as best as he could day by day as he worked out a way to escape. It eventually came to him, he would salvage the cars around him and use them to escape. Damien salvaged the cars and built a device that allowed him to escape. Ever since then Damien has been wandering, hoping to find someone else and maybe enough parts to build a proper wasteland worthy car.

edited 22nd May '15 5:58:04 AM by EchoingSilence

Okay dude, here I go.

• Name: Dr. Francisco "Paco" Mendoza
• Gender and Age: Male, 33
• Appearance: A very athletically toned Latino man. On the short side at 5'5". Has medium-cut hair and a beard, similiar to this photo◊.
• Equipment: A backpack with a flashlight, Zippo lighter, a couple water bottles and sturdy tupperware containers where he stores whatever food and water he can scrounge, a smartphone with a drained battery that has all his pictures, unread email, and a big collection of ebooks and music. Wears a vest that can hold up to eight rifle/pistol magazines, but right now is half empty. He uses an AK-47 that has a thirty-round magazine in it, with four more magazines in the vest. He also carries a simple KA-BAR camping knife, carried in a sheath holster on his belt.
• Personality: A very stylish, flamboyant, confident, and chatty man, Paco seems to always have something to say. He really likes barbecue, but rarely eats it since it goes to his thighs. Despite what people might stereotype of him due to him being a dancer and how he acts, he's quite straight.
• Skills: Has a PHD in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Dance. This has left him with great agility, speed, and stamina due to having spent nearly two decades dancing every day, all day. He is knowledgeable of many dance techniques, and is highly skilled at most major types. The three dance types where he is considered an undisputed master are Flamenco, Salsa, and Ballet. Is fluent in Spanish and knows how to ride a motorcycle. He's good at cooking Mexican food, and makes a killer salad, but his ability in other types of food aren't anything to write home about. He has the bare fundamentals of riflemanship down, able to point the shooty bit at the thing that needs to die.
• Backstory: Paco knew he wanted to be a dancer ever since he was a boy. After accumulating a monumental amount of debt to obtain his degrees, he continued working full time as a dance instructor, both at studios and private lessons.
  When the bombs dropped, he happened to be giving private dance lessons to the wife of a Texas multimillionaire who lived on a private ranch, far away from any potential bomb targets. Things went well for a while (excluding the apocalypse itself), with Paco getting to stay with them for a while and being taught the basics of how to handle a rifle while working as a pseudo-servant and chef. The sheer quantity of canned beans, corn, and tomatoes that were stored in the fallout shelter suited his limited culinary skills, and he managed to get along for a couple of months. Until the man chased him off in the middle of the night when he caught him with his wife.
  Wandering around with what he managed to grab on the way out, he followed the first road he found for a few days, until he eventually encountered the scavenging group.

edited 23rd May '15 11:00:26 AM by nman

Okay, after thinking it over, I've decided to make the leader of the scavenger group an NPC. I will post his signup sheet after this post. In the meantime...

@Tin Oz - I assume you meant five clips instead of rounds . But, accepted nonetheless. I'll add him to the list of active characters in my first post.

@Echoing Silence - Damien looks good. There will be some vehicles in the scavenging group that I'll roll up so he'll get to use his skills. Accepted.

@ Nman - Interesting character as always. I like how he's not your typical badass post-apocalyptic survivor. Also accepted.

Damien is going to be so happy to see other people.

This is the leader of the scavenger group you guys will be a part of. I will post this here so you know what kind of vehicles/equipment the group has now and so you can get a grasp of what the scavenging group is about.

• Name: Just goes by Dyson now.
• Gender and Age: 32 year old female.
• Appearance: Looks pretty much like this.
• Equipment: As leader of the group, she currently has two servicable vehicles in her service - an antique police car◊ that has seen better days and a sturdy van.◊ While everyone has their personal armaments that belong to them, two community weapons are stored in the van for when the need arises. The two weapons are a fully loaded AK-47 with no extra clips and a flintlock rifle with enough powder and shot to last for ten shots. Dyson herself carries her trusty axe and a Colt Anaconda revolver at her belt. She also has a first aid kit on her person that she constantly adds to - ready at a moment's notice to save the life of an injured group member.
• Personality: A good leader but has been hardened to people's suffering by months of Apocalypse exposure. She is fiercely loyal to her group and will gladly lay down her life for any member. She is not very trusting and likes to adopt the "shoot first, ask questions later" mantra. Is not hesitant to use her looks to get what she wants.
• Skills: A model before the nuclear war went down, Dyson is skilled at using her body and words to persuade people - which makes for excellent leadership qualities. She is a crack shot with her revolver and can speak Spanish.
• Backstory: Dyson was an American model before the Apocalypse and, was on a mountain prepping for a shoot when the bombs struck. Teaming up with a local cop, she learned how to survive the Apocalypse under his tutelage and took over his scavenging group when he was killed by a zombie.

edited 22nd May '15 10:04:03 AM by FantasyLiver

Oh, that signup makes me realize I forgot to include something on my signup. Given his backgroun, I meant for Paco to know Spanish, I hope that's okay.

No problem. Just edit that in.

Name: Francis Turner.

Gender and Age: Male, age 35.

Appearance: [1]◊

Equipment: An acoustic guitar in pristine condition, a gray hoodie, a fireman's axe, and a Glock with five clips of ammo, as well as the clothes on his back, which are generally a pair of jeans and a few shirts that he cycles through every few days. He keeps the others in a plastic grocery bag when not wearing them.

Personality: Generally amiable, and not afraid to share food or ammo. Knows a lot of feel-good songs, and won't hesitate to play them if someone asks him to.

Skills: He can play his guitar and sing beautifully, and is a pretty decent shot with his Glock. Also can sprint for a good four or so minutes before needing a rest (he took track in high school, and kept running after high school), and speak Arabic semi-decently, given that he was born in Bahrain.

Backstory: Francis worked as a musician, and had several large enough hits to get him and his family a nice life. Despite his parents being British, he was born in Bahrain, and his parents and sister still lived there before the apocalypse. When it happened, Francis was in America to spend time with his aunt and uncle. Their house was in a small village in the mountains, so they managed to survive, but when Francis and his aunt and uncle went to go scavenge and/or look for survivors, they were separated, and Francis ended up with Dyson and company after they ended up saving him from a zombie. He hopes to find a way to Bahrain and see if his parents and sister are safe.

edited 23rd May '15 10:07:48 AM by Tojin

Uh crap something came up. I can't play the first week of June

I am interested! Will get started on my character sheet.

• Name: Russell 'Russ' James

• Gender: Male

• Age: 23

• Appearance: 6'2'' in height with an athletic build. Russ wears khaki cargo pants and a t-shirt. He also has a blue and white striped hoody that he often wears. He has brown eyes and long brown hair that he keeps pulled back into a bun.

• Equipment: A 6'' Survival Knife, 3 epinephrine auto injectors, 1 Albuterol metered dose inhaler, 60 200 mg ibuprofen tablets, aluminum water bottle, 5 water purifying tablets, collapseable shovel, Sig Saur 9 mm with 1 clip and 120 rounds, sleeping bag, 2 person tent, small camp stove, splinting materials, 4 20' gauze rolls, gas mask with 3 cannisters and an Osprey backpack to carry it all.

• Personality: A happy go lucky guy, who is quick to make friends. Russ loves to laugh and was the life of the party.. when parties where a thing.

• Skills: Russ was a firefighter Emt-B before the shit hit the fan. He has basic life support training and can splint fractures, bandage wounds, and improvise in the wild. He is quick thinking, calm, and confident in high stress situations. He is also very athletic and used to jog daily, and really enjoys hiking and camping. Still does in fact, just not for fun these days.

• Backstory: He was on a call to a small residential house fire when the bombs started falling. He made the call to head back to the fire station and him and his buddies took cover in the steel reinforced basement. He and the 4 others went to the surface together, they all went home to check on their families. Russ has found his home.. well found what used to be his home flat and uninhabited. He has been on his own, using his survival skills to live.
  • As Dyson and her group were moving through the area that Russ was surviving in, he caught sight of one of their camp fires. He moved off at once as he hadn't seen another human in weeks. He struck off toward their camp and decided there was strength in numbers.

edited 24th May '15 5:51:47 PM by David2716

@Tojin - Francis is accepted.

@Tin Oz - totally okay. Real life happens. I'll send you a PM when the actual game thread is launched to let you know how to work with the absence.

@ David2716 - Good to hear! Russel looks good although how did he and Dyson's party end up together? I guess it's not really that necessary but it could be good to have some starting point. Accepted nonetheless. Also - you've made me realize that I negelected to put in an "Appearance" section in the mandatory signup sheet elements. Not really necessary but it is a cool feature to have. Thanks to all who put one in regardless.

@ General - I have put up the out of character discussion thread for all your questions, comments, and out of game chatter. Enjoy. Main game thread should come in between 1-2 days depending on how productive I am.

EDIT: Also, just a note - we are still accepting new players and probably will continue to even after the main thread has been launched. After all - new survivors can be encountered almost anywhere

edited 23rd May '15 8:05:26 PM by FantasyLiver

Okay! I edited in those things that you mentioned! thank you for accepting me into the game!

If you start tomorrow, I probably won't be around most of the day on account of Memorial Day.

Can I join?

Absolutely! As mentioned above, I will always be taking signups unless noted otherwise.

So, I wanted to make a more melee and sneaky kind of guy, want to discuss a little more with you, even to see if it's well balanced as well.

• Name: Gwillem "Will" Mendonça
• Gender, Age: Male, 20
• Appearance: Will has alburn-blonde short hair and brown eyes, is always seen with his elastic jeans and his leather black jacket, striped from the elbows to the wrists in white, biker-like.

• Equipment: A reliable mountaineering backpack, with 30ft of rope and climbing equipment(rings, anchors, magnesium powder for grip), glowing sticks, a head-strapped-lantern, aswell as one who works for hours saving batteries by pushing a mechanism, a crowbar, spray paint cans(like for graffiti), a considerable amount of water containers such as 3 2L bottles(filled by half), a survival knife (serrated on one side), a small axe, some cans of food, a compass, a bunch of fire-making equipment(powders, spark making metals)about half of a first aid kit on bandages and such, aswell as gear for preventing and aliviating Injuries on the joints of the body, a semi professional camera, some blankets and towels, some funny hats, 4 leather belts, a cell phone and a swiss switchblade. As for a gun, a shotgun that is supposedly loaded with only one shell.

• Personality: Will is indeed a strange brazilian dude with strange habits, the kind of which you would always see talking with his strange little group of friends, and laughter is ever so rare to him. He is a little paranoid and Crazy Prepared, and more often than not seems to leave this world and live in his own private one, looking at his shoulders all the time when he doesn't stop to look at views, or plants or animals, or when he looks with glinting eyes to something to climb, paint or jump/vault over. But at the end of the day, he seems pretty loyal and determined.

• Skills: Will was, on the surface, a receptionist on a international airport, So he speaks english, portuguese, spanish, maybe even daring some french sentences. He was secretly an graffiti artist who also practiced Parkour, climbing and therefore Urbex (Urban Exploration, in restricted/abandoned/seldom visited areas) so he was the kind who was a sneaky infiltrator even before the bombing, and knowing some defensive evasive martial arts showed to be helpful at that time, too. Other than that, he has some basic anatomic knowledge and can't shoot anything more than sitting ducks.

• Background: Will was enjoying his days off in the way he likes best when the bombing struck: he was to explore an abandoned building next to the woods on the way to a camp where he would meet his friends, but as the disaster came he was actually running from guards on the sewers he knew so well. As he arrived, he found out his friends were nowhere to be found, and after scavenging what he could, he went back after the two guards that became his first survival group during some time.
  (Joining the survival group is up to be discussed with the GM)

edited 25th May '15 7:44:34 PM by Kyef