Bounty Hunters: Apocalypse discussion

Looks like another "things your characters might already know" is in order, so soon from the last one. This time, werewolves. (Or lycans in general, technically.)

• Lycans are typically considered along the same level as vampires, and come in both many different species and various types in line with different lycan lores and some apparent randomness. Werewolves are the most common lycan, for reasons not entirely known. Most lycans were once Human, until infected by another lycan or afflicted by a dark force.

• Lycans are also the most morally disputed monsters, making drawing the line between which are "half" (AKA "good".) and which are not very difficult. The fact that not all of them follow the same rules doesn't help.
  • That said, the majority (AKA at least half of them.) work as follows: During the day they are Human, indistinguishable from anyone else minus heightened senses of smell and hearing. At night, they turn against their will into a half-Human, half-wolf (or whatever other animal) form that usually fight on hind legs but move faster on all fours. Because this half-animal form has no interest in things like "morality" or "not harming people you like", lycans either don't last long or go live out on their own/with other monsters. Lycans are also just about the only monster type that don't avoid sunlight.

• It is commonly known that lycans are weak to silver, but can still be killed through other means. For example, silver bullets will kill them in a manner expected like any other bullets-vs-large-animal scenario, taking only a few or even just one to do the job. Normal bullets however, take anywhere between five to ten times as much firepower put in to take a lycan down.

edited 27th Mar '12 10:15:36 PM by FirockFinion

How about silver shot? That is why Clark carries custom-made silver shotgun shells for his Judge...the other half being wooden slugs sharpened to a point for them pesky vampires.

Might wanna do "TYCMAK: Vampires" as well.

...Heck, might as well cook up a bestiary at some point.

edited 27th Mar '12 10:15:45 PM by Wysp

Anything silver works, so long as it pierces the skin. Bludgeoning them with something silver doesn't work as well.

It's kind of like an allergic reaction, but magical in nature. Headshots are typically instantly fatal, and hitting them anywhere else is still really bad for them.

A vampire TYCMAK is in the works, I just need to iron out a few more details. (Nice acronym, by the way.)

Double post avoidance!: Time skip for the night can probably happen soon once a good enough number of you guys are ready for that. Plus, the vampire TYCMAK is (almost?) done, I just need to review it a few more times and maybe get some opinions from RL friends for more brainstorming purposes.

Also, I've got work tomorrow, to let you guys know ahead of time.

edited 28th Mar '12 3:45:09 PM by FirockFinion

No posts since my last one yesterday? What happened, you guys unsure what to post? Decided to drop out? Did I do something really stupid without realizing it and you're still scratching your head in confusion? Come down with the flu? Started to hate me? Got distracted? Got deported? Got teleported into a virtual world? Computer eaten by wild lions? Got distracted by your sudden deportation via teleport to a virtual world where your computer was eaten by wild, virtual lions?

In all seriousness, if it is my fault I'd prefer the painful truth over a sugarcoated lie. Especially if it's simply "Not sure what to post" again; after all, that way I'd know that I need to fix it.

However, for some actual relevant GM news: while I was working today I was asked if I could work tomorrow. Since I could use more hours, I took up the offer. I'm also already scheduled to work Saturday, and Monday and Tuesday next week. So, until Wednesday next week my posting is gonna be pretty shot. (There will still be some, especially on Sunday. But basically don't expect anything until pretty late in the day on all those days.)

I was waiting for someone else to post, Blight doesn't really have much interest in hunting werewolves.

They're part of the reason he's a cat person.

edited 29th Mar '12 9:17:37 PM by Falkon

I've got nothing to say. Why post when there's nothing topost?

Well, I've got one last thing I need to take care of before I can concentrate on posting. It'll take me about... An hour, I think. Nowhere near positive.

Perhaps once I'm done with that I should time skip us to next morning?

oohh srry I was busy with work and also I had a bit of all nighter playing Dead Space 2

Well, since I'm going to wait a little longer until confronting Ross, go ahead with the timeskip.

@Acrinz: Understandable. I'm not expecting this RP to be a top priority for you guys or anything. I just prefer to know what the deal is, even if it's bad or kinda silly, rather than not know it because... Well, I'm just like that.

Anyway, I'll start working on the time skip now. Any objections?

Perfectly understandable. I prefer honesty in my players myself.

edited 29th Mar '12 11:51:02 PM by Wysp

Alright, once again hope that works for everybody and doesn't just put you right back into the "not sure what to post" scenario.

Also, I think I should be able to get the vampire TYCMAK up by tonight or tomorrow night.

That would be very helpful and, although I forgot to say it, I second the idea to create a bestiary for this rp. Everbody has their own knowledge of mythical creature, although some of us sometimes open a new tab and google the info

Anyways give me a few hours till my next post because I need some serious sleep...and a plasma cutter to fight off necromorphs.

I'll see what I can do about a bestiary for the RP, though there's a few small issues with that at the moment. Most if not all can be be overcome in various ways, so again, I'll see what I can do.

One thing about it that I may not have properly conveyed yet is that there is supposed to be tons of different monsters in the setting. To the point that Humanity is still discovering new ones even five years into the conflict. Some are outright different while others seem basically the same as another but with small differences. (Note how for werewolves and walkers I mentioned there's different types and that not all of them follow the same rules.)

Out of character, this is also an excuse for me to not feel the need to restrict myself as much if I think up a new, unique encounter. It's also a way for you guys to suggest new monsters to me.

For now, what I will try to do is compile a list of the most common monsters and commonly known monsters.

edited 30th Mar '12 12:38:43 AM by FirockFinion

I'm of the opinion that players should not give the GM new ways to hurt them.

Hey, I didn't say it was a good idea, just that you guys could.

Anyway, MASSIVE INFO DUMP INBOUND. Vampire TYCMAK is being copy-pasted into this post and a basic monster list/bestiary is about to be copy-pasted into a following post.

• Vampires are typically considered to be the one monster type with the worst "how dangerous they are:how many of them there are" ratio, with the exception of when hell invasions happen. This is mainly because vampirism spreads just like zombie runners or lycans, but unlike just about all of those vampires can make a conscious decision to leave a victim alive so they'll become another vampire.

• Vampires are fully intelligent, and also retain all their memories of their time as Human. (Same as most lycans in Human form, except all the time.) Thus that almost all of them are evil anyway and wouldn't hesitate to suck their loved ones and close friends dry is even more unsettling.
  • Vampires can use Human weaponry. They usually don't out of favoring feeding off of or turning their victims instead of killing them; when neither of those are a priority, they will use weapons. Usually to full and devastating effect, too.

• Vampires have heightened senses of sight, smell, and hearing. They also have heightened reflexes, making stealth-killing them incredibly difficult.

• Vampires can give orders to non-intelligent monsters. The amount of control they can exert is about on par with succubi/incubi, except that vampires can't use telepathy to do so. (Because they can't use telepathy by default, just like Humans.)

• Sunlight is, as expected by most, lethal to vampires. Exposure to sunlight causes vampires to start turning into ash. When partially exposed, only the areas hit by sunlight will start turning into ash. Having holy water poured or splashed on them or touching a crucifix have the same effect.

• Vampires must have blood to survive; while human blood is their favorite, animal blood will also suffice. When feeding off humans or large animals, vampires need only to feed about twice a week; off smaller prey, they must feed more often.
  • Vampires can choose to eat human food if they wish, but it holds no positive or negative effects for them. Except for garlic, which will always give them food poisoning and even be fatal in large doses.
  • Less commonly known is the relation vampires have with other monsters in terms of blood feeding, since this knowledge has pretty much only been obtained via cooperative "half" vampires. Zombie blood is apparently poisonous to them, from walkers, runners, and turning infectees; vampires can tell this when they smell them, somehow instantly knowing without having to experiment. Lycan blood apparently gets them "drunk in a bad way"; while vampires can instantly tell a lycan by the smell, they do not automatically know of this effect like with zombies. And least known is the effect of demon blood, since there's only one recorded instance of a half vampire attempting to feed off a demon. (So, GM approval time again.) Regular, evil vampires have never been seen trying to drink demon blood.

• By appearance, most vampires can be spotted by their slightly exaggerated fangs and pale skin. They can also morph into an alternate form like werewolves. Said transformation is voluntary unless the vampire has gone too long without feeding, in which case they might transform involuntarily and go into a mindless feeding frenzy until they either feed enough or die. This alternate form resembles a cross between a bat and a human; large bat-like wings sprout from the back, the ears elongate to a point, the fangs become even more exaggerated and the other teeth sharpen, and the nails sharpen into claws. In this form, commonly nicknamed the "bat mode/form", they can fly.
  • Less known is that vampires can pick and choose any of the different elements of the bat form when they feel they are appropriate. When they're not going into a feeding frenzy, that is.

• Also like werewolves, there is a commonly known "easy way" to kill vampires: a wooden stake to the heart. Again however, other methods also work, just requiring an extent that would overkill a normal human. (A normal bullet to the heart or head usually won't stop them. An entire 30-round magazine fired at full auto though...)

• Due to the large number of different stories containing vampires and some basic Human misunderstanding, there are several misconceptions about vampires. (For each that your character doesn't know is a misconception, they most likely think they're true.) Misconceptions like:
  • Vampires can turn into bats. (They can't, though they can turn into a form kind of like a bat. See above.)
  • Vampires are technically "bat-lycans". (They're not.)
  • Being exposed to garlic is fatal to vampires. (Ingesting enough garlic is, but just wearing some around your neck won't stop them.)
  • Wearing a crucifix on your person will force vampires to avoid you. (Touching it directly affects them like sunlight, but indirect exposure doesn't harm them at all.)
  • Exposing even a bit of a vampire to sunlight/holy water/a crucifix is fatal to them; the ash-turning effect will spread across their whole body. (While the area immediately around where the ash-turning happened is in for a bad day due to obvious medical reasons, this is otherwise false.)
  • Vampires don't have a reflection. (False except for mirrors/reflective surfaces that have been either blessed by a priest or soaked in holy water. And in those, their possessions and clothes still show up.)
  • Vampires can't cross over running water or enter households without permission. (They can.)
  • Vampires get along with each other. (Easily the most common misconception, since most exposure to vampires is via combat where they will work together, so this is another fact pretty much only known via "half" vampires. While they will hunt with each other, especially against humans, they do not actually enjoy each others' company when hunting time is over. They instead prefer the company of any other type of monster. The reason for this is unclear, even to vampires.)

edited 30th Mar '12 3:58:36 AM by FirockFinion

The most common and commonly known monsters are typically separated into three "family" categories and two "rarity" categories. The "family" categories are Beast, Undead, and Demon, while the "rarity" categories are simply Common and Rare. Common monsters can come in either droves, hunting packs, or solitary, but there's still usually enough of them around any given city or large area enough to call them common. Rare monsters are usually alone, though occasionally come in small packs. Rare monsters are usually, but not always, more dangerous than common monsters.

THIS IS BY NO MEANS A COMPLETE LIST OF EVERY SINGLE MONSTER.

• COMMON BEASTS: The beast category refers to monsters that are very beastlike in appearance and behavior for the most part. It can also include monsters that were originally animals instead of originally Humans, or that seemingly came from nowhere like Demons do.
  • Giant rats: Yup, giant rats. Unnaturally aggressive, but still just giant rats.
  • Dire wolves: Simply put, mostly normal wolves that may or may not have been tainted by a bit of evil force. Those that were are typically stronger, faster, tougher, larger, and more aggressive than normal wolves.
  • Dire [ANIMAL NAME HERE]: While wolves are again the most common for this to happen to, at least in the U.S., there doesn't really seem to be a limit to what animals can become slightly tainted by evil, except for cats.
  • Lycans: AKA werewolves, for the most part. More information.
• RARE BEASTS
  • Yeti/Sasquatch/Bigfoot: While suspected and believed by many to have existed long before the apocalypse, it was only shortly after it began that undeniable proof of their existence arrived. In the form of a video tape of one ripping people apart at a campground. Resembling large Human/ape like figures covered in fur, they are known to be fast, have incredible senses of hearing and smell, and enormous amounts of strength.
  • Dragon: The one known instance of a dragon is commonly known due to the popularity of dragons in fiction. However, little is known about it besides its appearance, that it is likely as hostile as other monsters, that it can fly, and that it probably has some way of producing fire. The dragon was caught on tape three years into the apocalypse flying through the sky of Northern Britain. Its appearance and estimated size in the video match with the typical Western interpretation of dragons, and was red in color. Shortly after the video was taken, a village not far from the site was found burnt to cinders with no survivors. While there is no proof the dragon burned the village down, that's what pretty much everyone believes. It has never been seen since.

• COMMON UNDEAD: The undead category refers to monsters that were usually once Human, although it does contain a few monsters that were most likely not Human to begin with. Not all of them are 'undead' in the strict, technical sense, but are filed under undead anyway either due to similarities to undead or simply not fitting in either of the other two categories.
  • Zombies: In (usually) slow walker flavor and fast, infected style runner flavor. More information.
  • Ghouls: In strict technical terms, what people call "ghouls" are actually just one particular type of walker zombie. The distinction comes from the fact that for whatever reason, ghouls are much, much stronger and tougher than any Human body missing most of the skin and charred black should be. They also come with glowing red eyes.
  • Skeletons: The magic required in getting an undead body to move around with no flesh at all is a bit stronger and more complicated than what's required for walkers. As a result, skeletons seem to be faster and smarter than walkers, despite the lack of muscles and brains. Skeletons usually come equipped with melee weapons, shields, bows and arrows, and rarely even guns.
  • Ghosts: While these are another that come in tons of flavors, there is again a most common. A simple apparition the shape of whoever they were originally that can only be seen via their casted shadow. They are intangible, and only dangerous because as there's more space you and a ghost are occupying simultaneously, the chance of you suddenly and inexplicably experiencing a fatal event approaches 100%.
  • Vampires: Blood sucking, bat-morphing fiends. More information in the post above.
• RARE UNDEAD
  • Lich: An undead, usually resembling a skeleton, that has been raised with enough power that it is both fully intelligent and capable of using various magic on a whim, mostly based around raising and commanding more undead.
  • Reaper: A spirit of sorts that always looks like a floating skeleton with no legs wearing a black cloak and wielding a large scythe. Extremely but not completely durable against normal weaponry.

• COMMON DEMONS: Demons come from Hell. Or at least, some other world that is by no means a pleasant place for Humans, or even for some Demons. While the original Demons are in fact fallen angels as The Bible would suggest, it seems they twisted themselves in their fervor to make themselves different from their holy brethren. The result, and their many spawn, are like a completely different set of species. All common Demons are spawn, while the rare ones may or may not have originally been angels.
  • Imps: Half a foot tall little red-skinned humanoids with bat-like wings, a barbed tail, hoofed feet, and a goat-like head with small horns. They do not speak except for little chirps that Humans have not deciphered but other Demons seem to understand perfectly. They rely on trickery and numbers to actually try taking on Humans themselves. Otherwise they usually serve other Demons, acting like a mix between item fetchers, scouts, and spy drones, especially for their 'big brothers' just below.
  • "Goblins" AKA "Hobgoblins" AKA "Moblins" AKA "Gremlins" AKA "Fallen" AKA...: Humans are a little unsure what to call these guys because other Demons call them "Imps", just like the little guys above, which suggests there is some kind of relation between the two. These guys are about 3-4 feet tall red-skinned humanoids with hoofed feet and a goat-like head with horns. They're usually wearing some kind of fur loincloth and some straps of metal armor. They speak through unintelligible grunts and yells that Humans have not deciphered but other Demons seem to understand perfectly. They also pretty much always carry weapons; usually medieval melee weapons, shields, and crossbows, but the more successful groups incorporate some Human firearms in as well. Oh yeah, they also almost always come in groups.
  • Succubi/Incubi: Horny sex fiends, basically. More information.
  • Fiends: Basically the less horny, less attractive cousins of Succubi and Incubi. Fiends lack the shape-shifting, illusions, and telepathy of Succubi, but are stonger, faster, and tougher. In appearance, fiends are much like Humans, but with skin colors between dark tan and dark red. They also come with gargoyle-like wings, a tail with a pointed end, clawed feet and hands, long, sharp teeth, pointed ears, black eyes, and are always bald. They also never wear clothes, but there's nothing really there to cover up anyway.
  • Hellhounds: Hellhounds are so named because they resemble extremely underfed large dogs or wolves with no fur and very dark blue or very dark purple skin. They also come with a random number of eyes, anywhere between one and a dozen, which will glow either red or yellow. They are extremely fast, and stronger than their appearance would suggest. They are a bit fragile, though.
• RARE DEMONS
  • The Deceiver: There's only one case that was confirmed to be the work of a Demon that has since been nicknamed "The Deceiver". Though events similar to it have cropped up, and are suspected to be the work of The Deceiver or other, similar Demons, none were ever confirmed. Basically, a little town in rural France started going through the "quiet town with a dark secret" cliche story, where everything seemed normal save for the part where any newcomers would either soon leave, disappear, or suddenly decide to start living at the town. When government investigation turned up some nasty dark rituals and Human sacrifices going on in secret, full military intervention was called in. After a battle with the brainwashed townsfolk, some undead, and some Demons, the military force confronted the Demon now believed to be The Deceiver. The Deceiver was an eight foot tall humanoid figure with red skin, hoofed feet, and a goat-like head with horns. He wore robes similar to priest robes but with pentagrams instead of any other religious symbol. He wielded a staff, and in the confrontation used powerful illusions and magic at a whim, mostly to seemingly assault the soldiers' minds directly. While he was concentrating on a few infantry squads however, he failed to notice a jeep with an automatic grenade launcher mount that had stopped about thirty meters behind him. To this day, the exact abilities of The Deceiver are still unknown, but he is essentially considered the 'wizard counterpart to warlords'
  • Warlord: There have been roughly a dozen confirmed warlords encountered in various places on Earth. Each one was summoned through a massive and powerful ritual which would open a portal to hell. In each case, a single warlord would step through first, then be followed by their army of Demons. Why only one warlord ever comes through each portal is unclear, but considered a Godsend. Warlords are massive red-skinned Humanoids, ranging from 20-30 feet tall, with different features. They would either wear an almost full suit of heavy armor, excluding only a helmet, or wear a large loincloth. Their heads have been either Human-like but with large, sharp teeth and sometimes horns; while others have had a head like a bull with massive horns. Some have had large "dragon-like" wings, but were never seen using them to fly. Some have had large "dragon-like" tails. The ones without armor have always had hoofed feet, while the armored ones have had Human-like feet. Each has carried one or two massive medieval melee weapons, all far too large and heavy for any Human to wield. The unarmored ones are faster while the armored ones are tougher, but both types seem nigh indestructible against anything that isn't high-ordinance. Every instance of a warlord appearance has had to be met with strong military intervention, to deal with both the warlord itself and the army of Demons supporting them.

edited 29th Jul '12 5:27:24 PM by FirockFinion

That was very useful for fleshing out Blight's background, thank you.

Also, just an idea that I think would be kinda cool: Fearsome Critters.

Wow, this is amazing. Thanks.

The only thing I can say about ghosts is 'Count the shadows!'

edited 30th Mar '12 7:58:14 AM by Wysp

@Falkon: Hmm, most of those I've never heard of before so I'll have to look into them a bit before actually using them in any encounters. Though with the setting how it is, chances are they or things very much like them have already appeared somewhere.

@Wysp: The "ghosts as shadows" thing is an idea I actually got from messing around with render tools on NPCs in Garry's Mod, believe it or not. Though an easier comparison would be from Metro 2033, which did the same thing. This is the ghost of a young boy being illuminated via flashlight for instance, with the ghost of one of the game's enemies behind him on the wall.◊ (Said game enemy is a bit like what I imagine werewolves looking like, actually.)

Anyway, this is just a quick drop in before work today. I probably won't be posting in the main thread until I'm back later.

edited 30th Mar '12 3:39:18 PM by FirockFinion

I understood all of that, and I agree with whatever it meant....

Well actually it took me a half hour to try to even comprehend what that post was about, but I got through it. Anyways I found something that I think would be a great addition to the beastiary, however if you want you can get rid of its power to hypnotize people. Anyways check this out

The joke part? Didn't really mean much of anything. Well, except technically what the real part said. It's just the real part run through bad translator. http://ackuna.com/badtranslator

And ah yes, Slendy. I've given him some thought, but I'm not sure how well he'd fit in the setting. It seems to me like a good portion of his effectiveness comes from being an almost Human looking thing in a completely normal setting. Thus seeing him makes one go "Wait, that's not normal... What the hell?" Where as in this setting the reaction would instead be more like "Wait, that's not normal. I wonder how many bullets it'll take to kill it."

He'd make a good enemy to throw in with some tweaks to how he'd work. I just don't think I'd be able to properly replicate the psychological terror that's supposed to accompany him. When you've got Demons as common knowledge, it's hard to make something like Slendy actually scary.

EDIT: Also, had to edit my post slightly. Forgot that I originally made the building thirty stories, not twenty seven.

edited 1st Apr '12 8:01:09 PM by FirockFinion

I was thinking about the slenderman mainly because I was just playing a quick session of dead space right now and for some reason the necromorphs reminded me of him.

However even though slendermen have no face, you still have to get close to get a good look at them since they're found in forests or in heavy fog. As for the terror part I can fix that. One by itself isn't that scary....but if a group of slendermen starts coming from out the ground or from in between the walls....well then thats just horrifying especially when they start climbing on the walls.

However as you said I'm sorta stumped as in how he will fit in the rp. Maybe slendermen are found in groups and lure people into wooded area to trap and kill them or maybe they're scavengers that lie in wait till some guy passes by them. Anyways it was a good idea at the moment

Well, I've got some ideas but it'd be spoiling to tell them, wouldn't it?

Anyway, just one more day of work then I've got the rest of the week off! Some of that free time will probably get eaten up spending it with friends, but still.

For a couple more minor updates while I wait for posts or consider editing my last one, the info links on the first post have been edited to be better sorted in the event of more needing to be added in the future. I've also finally got a basic idea for how to (eventually) get you guys out of Cleveland, so there's that to look forward to.

Does this end with wiping out the Red Court at Macchu Picchu?