Post by E-Stalin [Orthrus] on Nov 25, 2008 14:10:12 GMT -5
Scavenger; Trespasser; Adventurer; Loner; Killer; Explorer; Robber
Based on the game of same name.
Allright, get ready for one huge China wall of text. So if you don't like to read, you may want to avoid. Now, since the off topic board has seemingly always been dead, and offers an opportunity for some good RPs, I've decided to cut this RP off another board I attend and bring it on over here (yes, this is my RP). Now people that played the game will understand the world much easier, but I try to assume no one has and explain things from such a perspective. Now what I've really tried to do is accurately recreate a simply huge expanse of terrain, politics, enemies, and physics. In short, my main focus has been recreating a game universe which you guys can use and play with in full. In other words, you get this world, and you get set loose.
In order to do this, I'm implementing the system I used over there. This RP will not be the typical absolutely free text post by post style. There is a playing system in place, which will be run by me. Assuming of course, that anyone bothers to join. So read ahead, the entire information is all below. God knows how much of it.
And Note: This is a nearly Anarchistic territory filled with Russian military, murder, death, psychopaths, mutants, the list goes on. Naturally expect much swearing, killing, violence, and other material that would typically be rated R. Just a fair warning, you haven't heard swearing until you've learned Russian, because you can speak an entire sentence with nothing but variations of a single swear word.
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26th of April, 2011 6:27
Cordon: B11
At early morning, the sky remained overcast and dreary. No clean sunlight was visible, no blue sky could be seen through the mist up above. At almost six thirty in the morning, the Cordon was still as dark as if it were mid-winter. Small, ramshackle buildings of wood and brick and plaster were set up around a central dirt road. Rickety picket fences enclosed small yards, and chimney like brick mounds to underground shelters were scattered throughout.
A group of people sat around a low fire in the middle of a yard. They looked like any random people from all over the world. Many were wearing casual clothing, some of them little more than jeans and light jackets. Mist rose from their mouths as they breathed the chilly air. Standing in front of them was a tall, unshaven man; who was obviously military. An AK carbine hung over his chest by a sling, and he wore a modern digital camouflage uniform. A Russian flag was sewn over the sleeve. He looked at the people huddled around the fire from left to right, almost as if sizing them up. Then he clasped his hands behind his back and spoke, not in Russian, but accented English,
“You are all now 200 meters beyond the South Military Checkpoint. That’s 200 meters inside the Exclusion Zone. Welcome to Chernobyl.
In 1986, Reactor-4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. The resulting cloud of radioactive particulate matter resulted in the Zone of Alienation, or the Exclusion Zone. The Exclusion Zone is a 30km radius around the Chernobyl NPP which was evacuated and sealed off.
In 2006, there was another explosion. The Zone was consequently reinforced and taken over by the Russian military. This isn't Ukraine anymore, it's Russia now, and the Zone is no longer merely a counter-measure against radiation, but it is an excellent definition of hell. The second explosion unleashed a much more lethal wave of radiation that will likely last for centuries, but also somehow warped reality itself. Throughout the Zone there are physical anomalies; areas where the laws of space-time don’t apply anymore. Strange things happen there. From miniature black holes to electric surges, anomalies are rarely visible, and always dangerous. A physical anomaly can easily crush you into a pulp the size of a soda can. Besides the dangers of the physical landscape, the wildlife in the Zone is deadly. After decades of being exposed to radiation, and then five years of this warping, few normal animals remain. Somehow, only the crows were unaffected. Mutants ranging from aggressive rodents to Cujo-like pseudo dogs to oversized boars to almost mythical Blood Sucking nightmares. As if that’s not enough, the Zone is riddled with bandits, murderers, thieves, and all manner of such scum. Even our military is more likely to shoot you than send out a rescue helicopter. There is no law other than the rules of combat, no legal system other than that of firearms, and no limitations other than your own mortality. Feel free to rape, murder, and pillage to your hearts content; you probably won’t survive for five seconds before your would-be victims empty half a kilo of lead into your chest. Of course, feel free to shoot back at any would be attacker. Life is much simpler out here, because this isn't total Anarchy. We're people that want to survive, and we help eachother. We aren't psychopaths that kill eachother on sight. But of course, there's always some Bitch's son that wants to kill and steal. With those bastards, feel free to shoot them immediately.
Now, you are all currently located in the Cordon, which is essentially the rotating-door that leads into the Zone. It is a makeshift camp where the novices -that’s you- enter. A couple hundred meters South of here is the military checkpoint and Zone boundary. Don’t try to head over there unless you’re with a military escort, as you’re liable to be shot on the sheer principal of getting too close. Take a moment and remember that: avoid military bases, because you really have no business with them. You’ve entered the Zone through a military point, and you’re probably not getting back out through there. Here in the Cordon you will be briefed, if you could call it that, equipped, if you could call it that, and sent off on your merry way. As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, you have no equipment whatsoever, and almost certainly no money. You will get your basic equipment supply here in the Cordon, but beyond that, you’re completely on your own. So the question comes down to this: Why the hell are you here?
The answer is monetary. The physical anomalies in the Zone not only kill people -which they do admirably - but they also spawn a number of bizarre artifacts. These artifacts can be found near anomalies, and they each seem to deny the laws of physics as well. They have strange…effects around them. They can warp reality, make you stronger, or even increase a holders stamina if he touches them. Artifacts often have positive and negative effects on their holder; some of them can somehow counteract radiation poisoning, while others will make you start bleeding. Often these effects are combined, so you better know what you're holding on to. Now, these artifacts are extremely valuable to our research and development, and therefore our understanding of the Zone. Artifacts may not be the reason you came here, but it’s the only reason you were allowed in. We allow you to enter the Zone because we profit from it. Stalkers, that's you by the way, collect artifacts and return them to any Merchant and sell them. Our cash is artifacts, your cash is money and equipment.
Now, you’re talking with me and not anyone else because you’re not Russian. Nonetheless, all of you should be able to speak Russian, or else you’d have been denied entrance. So before I introduce you to the Zone, let me be your Russian tour guide. It comes down to this: Rubles are your currency. Russian is the chief language of the Zone. Vodka speaks better than words, and we use the metric system. So forget your damned miles and pounds. Now let me be your prison tour guide, don’t speak unless you’re prepared to back it up. In Russia, you don’t call someone a bitch without expecting to fight for it. Well, only in prisons and so forth. But it’s the same thing in the Zone. Most Stalkers here are either ex-military or former criminals, and those that weren't quickly gained the same mentality. Seriously, don't insult someone else, because there are people demented enough to just kill you then and there.
Now that you’re acquainted with this country, even though this isn’t Russia, let’s go over the Zone. The Zone is thirty kilometers in diameter, with the Chernobyl power plant at its heart. You are now fifteen kilometers south from that power plant. So let me explain how you’re going to survive. The moment you leave the Cordon, you’re on your own. Survival is up to you. The only way you’ll live is by killing whoever tries to fuck with you. Don't worry most Stalkers are normal people here for monetary gain, they're not going to hurt you, and you're better off helping eachother. But any time you wander off you risk being jumped by bandits or caught by a bunch of wild boars. At that point you've got no police at your back, all you can do is run or kill. Of course, if they’re uncharacteristically generous, they’ll let you off if you give up your possessions, artifacts, and maybe suck a dick or two. Just like legitimate people entered the Zone, so did criminal filth. Bandits run rampant throughout the Zone, some of them loner thugs, and some of them part of huge, Mafia like groups. Unless you feel confident in taking down six on them or more, it’s advisable to flee or hide. In a way, Stalkers and Bandits are at constant war. They're criminals, and we slaughter them at any given opportunity.
Now, you’re all broke. The only way you’re going to get money is by selling appropriate merchandise to our Merchants. That merchandise means guns, BDUs, ammo, food, equipment, and anything potentially useful. Your chief income however should be artifacts. They are worth much more than anything else, and some of them can even keep you alive if you hang on to them. Of course, you’re most likely to get killed trying to get them, but those artifacts are the only reason you’re here right now. If you don’t trade, you don’t get money, and you can’t get food and ammo. Of course, you can trade with anyone you meet for whatever price you like, but most Stalkers probably don’t have much, and if they do, it won’t be worth trading for whatever you might have. You can find merchants in most base areas. The two main trade centers are Sidirovich here in the Cordon, and the Barman and Nomad up in the Duty faction base, about seven kilometers North of here. You’ll find the Barman in the 100 Roentgen bar, sometimes called the 100 REMs bar. The bar is practically the main hub of the Southern Zone section. It’s where Stalkers go for food, shelter, trading, jobs, and information. Check it out once you get there. Well, if you do get there at all.
Now besides the Bar, there’s specialized traders all over the place. Some nut job gets a bunch of guns and starts selling and buying them, and there you go! You just need to know what you’re looking for. Of course, finding artifacts and selling stuff isn’t the only way to get money. Half of the Exclusion Zone is more like a war zone. There’s plenty of work to go around, and anyone will hire you if they think you're capable enough of succeeding. Naturally, if some bastard refuses to pay up after you’ve wiped out half a battalion for them, feel free to beat the hell out of them, or better yet, kill them. We don’t like dogs here. That goes for all of you too; you’d better stick up for what you say. Last thing: like I said, almost everything here counts as currency. So if you do a job for some guy, you better know what you’re getting paid in. A guy could give you a bunch of med kits and a ration instead of the money you thought you’d be getting. Ammo is commonly regarded just as good as cash, so make sure you're not getting ammunition for some rifle that you don't have.
So, let’s get started.
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System
All right, this is not the kind of RPG most often found on this board. Usually we all post stories in text and keep it going like one giant novel. This time around there is actually a system that determines what you can do and can't do, and whether you succeed at something.
Nonetheless, it is extremely non-linear. In other words, I give you the laws of physics, and you're free to do whatever the hell you want to do. Doesn't mean you'll get away with it, but hey. The time is divided into days. So here is the cardinal rule of this RPG:
I am the God of this little world. What I say goes. I control random events, jobs, merchants, weather, and whether your actions succeed or not. I determine when your weapons jam or break, when you're wounded and where, when you're jumped, what animals are running around and where. I control the enemy intelligence, whether they're stupid or full blown SpetsNaz, whether they see your sniping location or panic. I control how this intelligence changes at night time and at day time, and how it changes when they get freaked out.
Now, you post like you would normally, with your story and actions as usual and then at the bottom of the post, in bold letters, you will summarize what you did. Note, you must know what you're talking about as a person in order to do something. You will not, under any circumstances, "God mode." What that means is you cannot say you did something just because you said you did. You cannot say "I rushed in with an MP5 and shot all the bandits like Tom Cruise."
I want to know what you do, and how you did it in detail. This goes down to every little thing. Take the MP5 for example. If you don't know how to operate it, then obviously you can't use it as a player because you can't even type up how to load it. This is the big difference here. If you as a real person cannot do something, then you as a character cannot do it either, simply because you don't know how to write it up in your post. I want detail. If your gun jams and you disassemble it, you must write out how you disassembled it. If you don't write it out, you can't do it. If you don't know how to take apart your rifle, then you're screwed there, and need to do something else. Drop it and pick up another one, or take it to a trader. If you don't know how to treat a gunshot wound, then obviously you can't treat it in the RPG. Seriously, if you do something, I need to know how you did it, and believe me, you want to detail as much as possible, because if you leave anything vague, I control what happens with that vagueness. If you screw up, I'll tell you that you screwed up. If you forget to reload and then say you fire 20 rounds, I'll say you didn't because your magazine doesn't have 20 rounds in it. If you reload and drop your magazines, you won't have any left and then you won't be able to reload later. If you forget to reload your magazines during some peace, you won't be able to reload in combat. This really is an attempt at as real and immersive of a world as possible, which means you really need to play as if you're in it. If you forget to load up your mags, you then you don't have ammo. If you forget to cock your 1911 pistol, then it won't fire in your post and you might get shot. And if you start shooting with a pistol at a running target fifty meters away, you'll probably miss every shot.
I will keep track of players inventory and ammo and health status at all times, though I won't necessarily make it public to everyone involved. I will also assign missions to players through Merchants and Factions. Despite all that, this is a very non-linear RPG. You can do whatever you want, although if you want a common goal you better take up a mission from Sidirovich right from the get go. In your post, you can control the enemy and the situation. You can say what the guy does and how you took him down. I will only interfere with this if I think it is ridiculously irrational or not plausible. So I'm not controlling this with an iron fist. I control the situation and environment. Pretty much, I determine what items the enemy has and how skillful the enemy is. You then determine what happens and post how you want. I'll just tell you if something didn't work or something important happened.
So, The Zone is divided up into 12 areas you can visit, not counting any underground laboratories, hideouts, or other such locations. The places you can see on your map that are not blurred out are the only places that you can access. In other words, the only places that aren't predominantly green or look like wilderness. The reason for this is simple; all of them are surrounded by either natural hills and mountains, or high fences. And the reason those exist, is because any place beyond them is completely irradiated and clicking at over 15,000 REMs per hour. You'll be dead in a couple minutes. Less than that actually. The roads between locations are enclosed by dirt embankments, walls, tunnels, and other such barricades. Unless you have a deathwish, stay within the borders.
All players have health and stamina, which I keep track of. If you don't eat, you'll be weaker, less effective, and will eventually die. If you sprint full out for several hundred meters, you'll be exhausted and won't be able to perform certain tasks until you take a breather. The same goes to injury. You can't run with a bullet in your leg. Of course, people here heal much faster than normal, so with proper medical attention, you'll be walking around again in no time. This works only because you're in the ex-Soviet Union, and vodka heals all wounds here. When used in conjunction with med kits, that is.
I will keep players up to date on their status. Note, you can perform counter-posts. If a player decides to kill another player, depending on how he does it, the victim can counter the other guys post. However, this won't always work. If a player says "I snapped player Xs neck after sneaking up on him" and it was valid, then player X is dead. Of course, the player that just killed player X will be dead in a few seconds too, when all the other Stalkers fall on him.
Generally, I will not allow murder of fellow players without a damned good reason. For example, if they've been enemies throughout the RP, have a good epic fight,and one of them finally, plausibly, is killed. This should only happen when the RP is over, or a player wants to leave the game. So don't kill others indiscriminately, stick to killing the myriad of natural enemies.
Combat
Due to the problems that arise from trying to do combat with multiple players with such a system, I'm implementing a secondary system for use in combat. When you enter combat, you will automatically shift into the combat system of play. Combat will essentially go into a group of relatively short posts of action and reaction. In combat you are typically allowed a few moves per post. A move consists of any important action, such as attacking one target, moving somewhere, whatever. However you perform this action is completely up to you. Your move can be "attack this enemy" and in your post you can take cover, shoot at them from there, rush them with a knife, grab them from behind, do whatever you like. You cannot, on your own, slaughter an entire platoon in one post. The entire combat situation should take several posts of several actions, and therefore allow other players to get involved as well.
Post your story, and summarize your action in bold under that post, and I will get back to you with the results as soon as possible. Note that this only accounts for major actions, you're fully free to move up to a base, infiltrate it, set up a couple landmines, and get in an ambush position all in one post before the combat begins. The key concept here is time. Other characters are still active in game-time during your post, so if you skip ahead by thirty minutes in your post, you're not allowing other people to post with you. During combat you can run from one building to another as you like, reload, switch from cover to cover, change weapons, do whatever, but you can't perform a myriad of major actions all at once. In other words, you can't go up into a building, kill five guys there, move to another one, kill guys there, and so on, because you'd be neglecting the opportunity for other players. Combat should be a mesh of all players participating in turn and at once. One guy does something, another guy does something at the same time, and so forth. Typically a single major firefight can take five posts or more, and hopefully will be fun and more tactical in terms of teamwork than normal.
Combat will use action points. When you enter combat, each turn you will have a set number of action points. This number will vary depending on your character status, such as stamina, weight carried, and health. Typically, in good condition, you will have twenty action points. Different actions use up different numbers of action points, and this will also be affected by your Stalker's status and condition. For example, shooting an enemy from a hundred yards with one well aimed shot might take only a couple action points. Kicking down a door, running into the room, and shooting a guy in the head will take five action points. When you do your actions, you can kill two guys and you might use up 13 action points. At this moment you can stop your post and let another person post, which will reset your action points (The original number may now be changed if something altered your condition in combat) and next post you can use them again. If you run out of action points in a post, your post will be cut off at that moment.
Thus, the more you run around, the more difficult actions you take, and the longer the entire combat lasts, the less action points you will get and the more action points are required for actions. If your character is lugging around 50 kilos and is exhaustedly, it will take more action points to do something. When combat ends, you will revert to the normal system, which doesn't have action points but common sense, stamina, and my word of law.
Use your ingenuity! Seriously, who says that all you can do is shoot and run? Maybe you spy a fire extinguisher next to an enemy and shoot it. The resulting expulsion of flame retardant may disorientate and distract your enemy long enough for you to run up and stab them in the throat. There's a myriad of ways to achieve your goal, and the more you think about a situation, the better off you'll be.
Leveling up in stats[b/]
The more experienced your Stalker becomes in a certain area, the better he'll get at it. I will not count this as hard XP points and levels, but quietly upgrade this in the background. As you play, you may notice that your shots are more accurately placed, you can run longer and your reflexes are quicker. Action points may increase and be more conserved, and so on.
Action points, and your stats, for that matter, will be damaged or temporarily decreased by certain conditions. You're not going to be running anywhere with a load of buckshot in your leg. Use your head, as always, because if you think well, it drastically increases your chances of survival and success.
Guns:
Your firearm is your primary tool. Keep it loaded, keep it oiled, and keep it close. Without a weapon, you won't last long. Guns are all over the Zone. Everything ranging from AKs to RPG-7s. It all depends on who brought what into the zone, and therefore many weapons are rarer than others, much more expensive, and much more difficult to find than. Remember, even if you can find a certain gun, there might not be ammo around for it. You won't find any M16s in the zone for example, because no American forces ever entered it. Russian military is present however, and a lot of resulting left overs are lying around. Hunting rifles and shotguns are by far extremely common. At most you might find one, maybe two M16s for example. No .50 caliber sniper rifle exists in the Zone unless some individual owned it and brought it in. There is a list of all weapons available for purchase in the separate Merchant thread I will make. You can buy weapons, sell them, or find them. All equipment, armor, and weapons are detailed in the later, including their price, specifications, stats, and how commonly found they are in the zone.
I'm a gun nut, so expect a lot of customizing and variety. Merchants can customize your guns, for a price. Upgrades are realistic of course. Certain weapons cannot accept certain accessories. You can buy attachments, such as scopes, reflex sights, Laser Aiming Modules, suppressors, and other items. Of course, to use any of those, your gun must be compatible. You cannot attach a flashlight to a pistol if it doesn't have a compatible MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail on it.
You can also just upgrade the guns quality. A gunsmith can tighten up the trigger pull, make it smooth or slack, tighten up the gun to match grade, and other such values. If you know your guns well enough, you can upgrade them however you like them. Even ammo can be upgraded. Specifically, it can be purchased or found. Everything has an effect, and you can customize your character however you like them. You can inevitably choose whichever weapons you like, whichever attachments you like, and whichever ammo you want. There's a lot of stuff in the Zone; hollow points, full metal jackets, armor piercing rounds, Hydra-Shock rounds, it goes on. You can even get yourself an under-barrel grenade launcher if you have the resources.
All weapons have different stats and uses. Therefore what you carry affects how well you can function in the zone.
Clean your guns. Get yourself a good gun cleaning kit, or just pull a cleaning rod out of an AK, and maintain your weapons. Clean your guns regularly after shooting them a lot. Keep your scopes in decent shape, and just take care of them. If you don't know how to disassemble your gun, obviously you can't clean it. Of course, you can always ask someone and they might be willing to teach you. Any Merchant doubles as a gunsmith, so they're also good. Remember, if you can't do something, ask someone else and you might learn.
If your guns ever break, which means stop firing for some reason, I will tell you when and how. This can range from a simple double-feed to the ejector failing to work. Or maybe firing pin having snapped. Depending on the stoppage, you can fix it yourself if you know how, or you'll have to take it to a Merchant to fix it for a price, or you can just drop it and pick something else up.
I will tell you what guns there are and aren't. Don't assume a dead guy has something. I'll tell you what he has and hasn't after you search him.
Armor
Armor is just as important in the Zone as your weapon. Well, almost as important. Considering that the entire Zone is a huge combat area filled with mutants and anomalies, you need something to protect yourself from bullets, abrasions, blades, flames, radiation, anything.
Warm clothing is a must, you're in Ukraine, and at nighttime it'll be cold as hell. Take care of yourself, as your body is a more important weapon than your gun. You can even make your own armor, even if it means stuffing a jacket with cardboard. At least it'll insulate you from the cold and background radiation. Minor things can impact your future performance. If you wear good gloves and boots, that might help you out a ton when you need them. You might want to keep spare underwear and socks too.
Armor also wears out. A good quality BDU can last a life-time, but if you get caught in a row of flame and bullets, it's not going to last long. At certain points, you may need to replace specific armor. An anti-radiation suit is no good to you if it's shredded.
Weight
You can't lug around everything you'd like to. Humans have weight limits after all. Every item has an assigned weight with it, which I keep track of. Your total inventory weight affects everything you do. You can't run as fast or as long, you get tired quicker, you might not be able to climb as easily. When you get up to 50 kilograms of weight, you've got a lot of stuff on you and it'll affect your performance a lot. Keep things realistic, because at 70kg+, you've got problems.
Equipment:
Flares, medical kits, matches, ammo, everything useful. You can buy it, you can find it, and you'll need to use it sometime. Specifics will be gone over later. Note that anything mundane and common can just be found. You'll need to find or buy a tactical vest, but you can find a rock anywhere right? Pick up something that might come in handy, like some matches.
Food
You need to eat regularly. Stale bread, sausages, vodka, water, rations. Monster energy drinks. You'll need them.
Food can be purchased. You can even buy specific stuff, like...Monster Energy drinks.
Health
I control what goes wrong with you and when. Why this happens this is your responsibility. If you're stupid enough to jump off a bridge thirty feet high, don't be surprised when your knee snaps.
I will determine where you're shot and how it affects you (if you're ever shot at all that is). How you take care of that wound matters. Keep medical supplies handy.
Camouflage
You didn't think armor was just for stopping bullets did you? Concealment can mean the difference between life and death. Camouflage can be found on different variants of the same armour and you can choose which one. All camouflage works differently in different places. Your woodland Flecktarn won't work well in a field of snow.
If you hunker down behind some cover and camouflage yourself and then start picking away at enemies with a rifle, whether they see you or not will depend on how well concealed you are, and what you're shooting. Tracer rounds work both ways.
Once again, detail. If you're crawling through enemy territory with a bunch of snipers all over the place and you forget to camouflage your rifle or scope, or most commonly, your boots, you might get yourself shot.
Actions
Your primary action is searching. You can search anywhere, at any time, and no matter how specific or vague. You can search a corpse for a magazine in the middle of a firefight for all I care. I'll tell you what you pick up afterward.
Always strip corpses. It may not be fun, but it's where the loot is. Of course, if you see a corpse lying on the ground that you didn't kill, be careful to check. Otherwise you may move it and end up setting off a booby-trapped grenade.
Searching anomalies:
You can search an anomaly merely by looking at it. You search, and I tell you if you see any artifacts. Then it's up to you to get that artifact or leave it.
Other actions include reloading your guns and mags, cleaning your guns, eating, etc. You can detail in your post and story however you like, and summarize any relevant action in the end so that I can note it. You can also help each other out. Trade ammo, just trade, save another players life, whatever.
Stats
Obviously people entering the zone aren't necessarily fit marathon running special forces members. It's likely many of you have never even held a gun before, even more likely none of you are familiar with the weapons you'll be finding in the zone, and even more likely you've never killed anyone. As you progress, you will become more skilled and more fit. If you were slightly overweight, I guarantee you that weight will be gone by Sunday. The more you learn, the better you can utilize your skills, and the better your skills will be. If you practice with one weapon and grow accustomed to it, you'll naturally use it better than you would a completely unfamiliar one.
If you as a person can't disassemble, clean, and reassemble your AK-47, then neither can your character. If you can't shoot a gun accurately, then at the beginning, neither will your character.
Many people know this, but for all those hollywood bred guys, shooting guns isn't anything like in movies. The vast majority of people aren't capable of hitting a head sized target at seven meters with a pistol.
You can learn new skills and information simply by asking. If you can't field strip your gun, ask a merchant or another Stalker and learn to do it. If you can't hold your sniper rifle steady at a couple hundred yards, ask for some tips and use them. If you don't know the difference between ammo types or what to do in a firefight, ask around. The vast majority of Stalkers are currently more experienced than you, and they can tell you what you should do and shouldn't do when someone is trying to kill you.
PDA
Your personal data assistant is an important tool. It has a built in GPS map of the Exclusion Zone, information on other Stalkers, your own information, your current location, your personal notes and journal, your current objective and mission, and a built in encyclopedia archive of information on the Zone, artifacts, anomalies, and factions. It even details on a wide variety of guns and ammunition to review at leisure.
On top of all that, it has a built in Geiger counter. The Geiger counter will automatically start chattering when it detects any radiation that is higher than the typical levels in the Zone and display the number in REMs on the screen. Any Stalker with a brain should automatically realize why this is a severe problem. If you can't, you'll likely be dead soon. Thus, I will give you a hint, mute the damned thing and get yourself a single earphone. You want to know when the place is radioactive without giving your position away to everyone else. Your PDA also has a built in radio. Once again, use a headphone.
Reputation
Since you entered the Zone, you are officially recorded in an archival network. Your PDA has information on other Stalkers, which mostly consists of basic information, reputation, and known achievements and other data. When other Stalkers deal with you, they may record their opinion of you in their PDA. They almost certainly will do so if you attack them.
Depending on whether you help people, leave them to die, or outright murder them, other Stalkers will know about it (If the guy survived to tell them, that is). They will know whether you're trustworthy or a bandit.
Of course, this doesn't mean they will recognize you. Just because some guy got shot by you doesn't mean he knows your name or has your picture. Nonetheless, if you deal with people openly, it will eventually affect how other strangers might treat you, if you know who you are and keep up with the hundreds of Stalkers in the database that is, which most people don't.
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Allright, at the moment, this is just sign ups. The RP is not starting yet, and I don't want any action. You can post profiles, detail on your guys, and even post an opening story. Beyond that, please wait. I'll notify everyone when you can get set loose. Discuss with other players how you'll work if you like. Before the Rp starts you can pair up with eachother and help each other out.
All area maps will be detailed well enough for you guys. At the moment, I'm posting a blank Satellite image map. I'll detail them when the RP starts. The Merchant thread will be posted sometime soon too.
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All new Stalkers start out in the Cordon, where the blue mark is.
New Stalkers are all given a Makarov PM pistol, two unloaded magazines and one box of 40 rounds. Your only clothing is a leather jacket and what you brought in. A knife, binoculars, a rucksack, and a ration and water bottle too. You are all issued packets of Potassium Iodide pills. These are your only anti-radiation poisoning drugs, so take them regularly. Or you could just drink some vodka, it also helps. Potassium Iodide will not protect you from any kind of radiation poisoning except for one: it'll prevent absorption of radioactive Iodine in your Thyroid. It's better than nothing, and unless you want Thyroid cancer early, take your pills. It’s 130milligrams per tablet. That’s the standard dosage for people your age and weight, one pill per day.
You all begin with 0 RU. You get money by selling things, searching dead bodies, finding hidden stashes, and doing jobs. Talk to some guys, or Sidirovich in the Cordon for a job. You control detail. If you want to wear your pack like so, wear it like so. If you want your pistol holster on your left hip, put it on your left hip. Do what you like, but remember, use your head.
Your magazines are unloaded. Load them. Then load your pistol.
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Profiles:
Name:
Age:
Physical Description:
Capabilities: How fit you are, how well your knowledge is, what skills you have, so on.
Inventory: Empty. You only have what you got and what you might have been wearing when you walked in. The Russian military outpost stripped you of almost everything. Even pocketknives and house keys. Ask Joseph Stalin as to why. And these guys are good at frisking and checking, so unless you swallowed a razor blade or hid a paper clip under your skin (I'm serious) you'll have lost it. However, you still have any cigarettes you brought in, because the soldiers weren't that cruel.
What you can detail in your inventory is how you wear your stuff. Where you put your holster, whether your pistol is now loaded with the safety on or off, whether it has a round chambered or not, whether your knife sheath is tied to your leg or not. Whatever. Detail on this. I want to know if your pistol is on safe or not, if there's a round in the chamber or not, and so forth. Start thinking, and hopefully have fun. Though I seriously doubt this will last long.
Based on the game of same name.
Allright, get ready for one huge China wall of text. So if you don't like to read, you may want to avoid. Now, since the off topic board has seemingly always been dead, and offers an opportunity for some good RPs, I've decided to cut this RP off another board I attend and bring it on over here (yes, this is my RP). Now people that played the game will understand the world much easier, but I try to assume no one has and explain things from such a perspective. Now what I've really tried to do is accurately recreate a simply huge expanse of terrain, politics, enemies, and physics. In short, my main focus has been recreating a game universe which you guys can use and play with in full. In other words, you get this world, and you get set loose.
In order to do this, I'm implementing the system I used over there. This RP will not be the typical absolutely free text post by post style. There is a playing system in place, which will be run by me. Assuming of course, that anyone bothers to join. So read ahead, the entire information is all below. God knows how much of it.
And Note: This is a nearly Anarchistic territory filled with Russian military, murder, death, psychopaths, mutants, the list goes on. Naturally expect much swearing, killing, violence, and other material that would typically be rated R. Just a fair warning, you haven't heard swearing until you've learned Russian, because you can speak an entire sentence with nothing but variations of a single swear word.
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26th of April, 2011 6:27
Cordon: B11
At early morning, the sky remained overcast and dreary. No clean sunlight was visible, no blue sky could be seen through the mist up above. At almost six thirty in the morning, the Cordon was still as dark as if it were mid-winter. Small, ramshackle buildings of wood and brick and plaster were set up around a central dirt road. Rickety picket fences enclosed small yards, and chimney like brick mounds to underground shelters were scattered throughout.
A group of people sat around a low fire in the middle of a yard. They looked like any random people from all over the world. Many were wearing casual clothing, some of them little more than jeans and light jackets. Mist rose from their mouths as they breathed the chilly air. Standing in front of them was a tall, unshaven man; who was obviously military. An AK carbine hung over his chest by a sling, and he wore a modern digital camouflage uniform. A Russian flag was sewn over the sleeve. He looked at the people huddled around the fire from left to right, almost as if sizing them up. Then he clasped his hands behind his back and spoke, not in Russian, but accented English,
“You are all now 200 meters beyond the South Military Checkpoint. That’s 200 meters inside the Exclusion Zone. Welcome to Chernobyl.
In 1986, Reactor-4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. The resulting cloud of radioactive particulate matter resulted in the Zone of Alienation, or the Exclusion Zone. The Exclusion Zone is a 30km radius around the Chernobyl NPP which was evacuated and sealed off.
In 2006, there was another explosion. The Zone was consequently reinforced and taken over by the Russian military. This isn't Ukraine anymore, it's Russia now, and the Zone is no longer merely a counter-measure against radiation, but it is an excellent definition of hell. The second explosion unleashed a much more lethal wave of radiation that will likely last for centuries, but also somehow warped reality itself. Throughout the Zone there are physical anomalies; areas where the laws of space-time don’t apply anymore. Strange things happen there. From miniature black holes to electric surges, anomalies are rarely visible, and always dangerous. A physical anomaly can easily crush you into a pulp the size of a soda can. Besides the dangers of the physical landscape, the wildlife in the Zone is deadly. After decades of being exposed to radiation, and then five years of this warping, few normal animals remain. Somehow, only the crows were unaffected. Mutants ranging from aggressive rodents to Cujo-like pseudo dogs to oversized boars to almost mythical Blood Sucking nightmares. As if that’s not enough, the Zone is riddled with bandits, murderers, thieves, and all manner of such scum. Even our military is more likely to shoot you than send out a rescue helicopter. There is no law other than the rules of combat, no legal system other than that of firearms, and no limitations other than your own mortality. Feel free to rape, murder, and pillage to your hearts content; you probably won’t survive for five seconds before your would-be victims empty half a kilo of lead into your chest. Of course, feel free to shoot back at any would be attacker. Life is much simpler out here, because this isn't total Anarchy. We're people that want to survive, and we help eachother. We aren't psychopaths that kill eachother on sight. But of course, there's always some Bitch's son that wants to kill and steal. With those bastards, feel free to shoot them immediately.
Now, you are all currently located in the Cordon, which is essentially the rotating-door that leads into the Zone. It is a makeshift camp where the novices -that’s you- enter. A couple hundred meters South of here is the military checkpoint and Zone boundary. Don’t try to head over there unless you’re with a military escort, as you’re liable to be shot on the sheer principal of getting too close. Take a moment and remember that: avoid military bases, because you really have no business with them. You’ve entered the Zone through a military point, and you’re probably not getting back out through there. Here in the Cordon you will be briefed, if you could call it that, equipped, if you could call it that, and sent off on your merry way. As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, you have no equipment whatsoever, and almost certainly no money. You will get your basic equipment supply here in the Cordon, but beyond that, you’re completely on your own. So the question comes down to this: Why the hell are you here?
The answer is monetary. The physical anomalies in the Zone not only kill people -which they do admirably - but they also spawn a number of bizarre artifacts. These artifacts can be found near anomalies, and they each seem to deny the laws of physics as well. They have strange…effects around them. They can warp reality, make you stronger, or even increase a holders stamina if he touches them. Artifacts often have positive and negative effects on their holder; some of them can somehow counteract radiation poisoning, while others will make you start bleeding. Often these effects are combined, so you better know what you're holding on to. Now, these artifacts are extremely valuable to our research and development, and therefore our understanding of the Zone. Artifacts may not be the reason you came here, but it’s the only reason you were allowed in. We allow you to enter the Zone because we profit from it. Stalkers, that's you by the way, collect artifacts and return them to any Merchant and sell them. Our cash is artifacts, your cash is money and equipment.
Now, you’re talking with me and not anyone else because you’re not Russian. Nonetheless, all of you should be able to speak Russian, or else you’d have been denied entrance. So before I introduce you to the Zone, let me be your Russian tour guide. It comes down to this: Rubles are your currency. Russian is the chief language of the Zone. Vodka speaks better than words, and we use the metric system. So forget your damned miles and pounds. Now let me be your prison tour guide, don’t speak unless you’re prepared to back it up. In Russia, you don’t call someone a bitch without expecting to fight for it. Well, only in prisons and so forth. But it’s the same thing in the Zone. Most Stalkers here are either ex-military or former criminals, and those that weren't quickly gained the same mentality. Seriously, don't insult someone else, because there are people demented enough to just kill you then and there.
Now that you’re acquainted with this country, even though this isn’t Russia, let’s go over the Zone. The Zone is thirty kilometers in diameter, with the Chernobyl power plant at its heart. You are now fifteen kilometers south from that power plant. So let me explain how you’re going to survive. The moment you leave the Cordon, you’re on your own. Survival is up to you. The only way you’ll live is by killing whoever tries to fuck with you. Don't worry most Stalkers are normal people here for monetary gain, they're not going to hurt you, and you're better off helping eachother. But any time you wander off you risk being jumped by bandits or caught by a bunch of wild boars. At that point you've got no police at your back, all you can do is run or kill. Of course, if they’re uncharacteristically generous, they’ll let you off if you give up your possessions, artifacts, and maybe suck a dick or two. Just like legitimate people entered the Zone, so did criminal filth. Bandits run rampant throughout the Zone, some of them loner thugs, and some of them part of huge, Mafia like groups. Unless you feel confident in taking down six on them or more, it’s advisable to flee or hide. In a way, Stalkers and Bandits are at constant war. They're criminals, and we slaughter them at any given opportunity.
Now, you’re all broke. The only way you’re going to get money is by selling appropriate merchandise to our Merchants. That merchandise means guns, BDUs, ammo, food, equipment, and anything potentially useful. Your chief income however should be artifacts. They are worth much more than anything else, and some of them can even keep you alive if you hang on to them. Of course, you’re most likely to get killed trying to get them, but those artifacts are the only reason you’re here right now. If you don’t trade, you don’t get money, and you can’t get food and ammo. Of course, you can trade with anyone you meet for whatever price you like, but most Stalkers probably don’t have much, and if they do, it won’t be worth trading for whatever you might have. You can find merchants in most base areas. The two main trade centers are Sidirovich here in the Cordon, and the Barman and Nomad up in the Duty faction base, about seven kilometers North of here. You’ll find the Barman in the 100 Roentgen bar, sometimes called the 100 REMs bar. The bar is practically the main hub of the Southern Zone section. It’s where Stalkers go for food, shelter, trading, jobs, and information. Check it out once you get there. Well, if you do get there at all.
Now besides the Bar, there’s specialized traders all over the place. Some nut job gets a bunch of guns and starts selling and buying them, and there you go! You just need to know what you’re looking for. Of course, finding artifacts and selling stuff isn’t the only way to get money. Half of the Exclusion Zone is more like a war zone. There’s plenty of work to go around, and anyone will hire you if they think you're capable enough of succeeding. Naturally, if some bastard refuses to pay up after you’ve wiped out half a battalion for them, feel free to beat the hell out of them, or better yet, kill them. We don’t like dogs here. That goes for all of you too; you’d better stick up for what you say. Last thing: like I said, almost everything here counts as currency. So if you do a job for some guy, you better know what you’re getting paid in. A guy could give you a bunch of med kits and a ration instead of the money you thought you’d be getting. Ammo is commonly regarded just as good as cash, so make sure you're not getting ammunition for some rifle that you don't have.
So, let’s get started.
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System
All right, this is not the kind of RPG most often found on this board. Usually we all post stories in text and keep it going like one giant novel. This time around there is actually a system that determines what you can do and can't do, and whether you succeed at something.
Nonetheless, it is extremely non-linear. In other words, I give you the laws of physics, and you're free to do whatever the hell you want to do. Doesn't mean you'll get away with it, but hey. The time is divided into days. So here is the cardinal rule of this RPG:
I am the God of this little world. What I say goes. I control random events, jobs, merchants, weather, and whether your actions succeed or not. I determine when your weapons jam or break, when you're wounded and where, when you're jumped, what animals are running around and where. I control the enemy intelligence, whether they're stupid or full blown SpetsNaz, whether they see your sniping location or panic. I control how this intelligence changes at night time and at day time, and how it changes when they get freaked out.
Now, you post like you would normally, with your story and actions as usual and then at the bottom of the post, in bold letters, you will summarize what you did. Note, you must know what you're talking about as a person in order to do something. You will not, under any circumstances, "God mode." What that means is you cannot say you did something just because you said you did. You cannot say "I rushed in with an MP5 and shot all the bandits like Tom Cruise."
I want to know what you do, and how you did it in detail. This goes down to every little thing. Take the MP5 for example. If you don't know how to operate it, then obviously you can't use it as a player because you can't even type up how to load it. This is the big difference here. If you as a real person cannot do something, then you as a character cannot do it either, simply because you don't know how to write it up in your post. I want detail. If your gun jams and you disassemble it, you must write out how you disassembled it. If you don't write it out, you can't do it. If you don't know how to take apart your rifle, then you're screwed there, and need to do something else. Drop it and pick up another one, or take it to a trader. If you don't know how to treat a gunshot wound, then obviously you can't treat it in the RPG. Seriously, if you do something, I need to know how you did it, and believe me, you want to detail as much as possible, because if you leave anything vague, I control what happens with that vagueness. If you screw up, I'll tell you that you screwed up. If you forget to reload and then say you fire 20 rounds, I'll say you didn't because your magazine doesn't have 20 rounds in it. If you reload and drop your magazines, you won't have any left and then you won't be able to reload later. If you forget to reload your magazines during some peace, you won't be able to reload in combat. This really is an attempt at as real and immersive of a world as possible, which means you really need to play as if you're in it. If you forget to load up your mags, you then you don't have ammo. If you forget to cock your 1911 pistol, then it won't fire in your post and you might get shot. And if you start shooting with a pistol at a running target fifty meters away, you'll probably miss every shot.
I will keep track of players inventory and ammo and health status at all times, though I won't necessarily make it public to everyone involved. I will also assign missions to players through Merchants and Factions. Despite all that, this is a very non-linear RPG. You can do whatever you want, although if you want a common goal you better take up a mission from Sidirovich right from the get go. In your post, you can control the enemy and the situation. You can say what the guy does and how you took him down. I will only interfere with this if I think it is ridiculously irrational or not plausible. So I'm not controlling this with an iron fist. I control the situation and environment. Pretty much, I determine what items the enemy has and how skillful the enemy is. You then determine what happens and post how you want. I'll just tell you if something didn't work or something important happened.
So, The Zone is divided up into 12 areas you can visit, not counting any underground laboratories, hideouts, or other such locations. The places you can see on your map that are not blurred out are the only places that you can access. In other words, the only places that aren't predominantly green or look like wilderness. The reason for this is simple; all of them are surrounded by either natural hills and mountains, or high fences. And the reason those exist, is because any place beyond them is completely irradiated and clicking at over 15,000 REMs per hour. You'll be dead in a couple minutes. Less than that actually. The roads between locations are enclosed by dirt embankments, walls, tunnels, and other such barricades. Unless you have a deathwish, stay within the borders.
All players have health and stamina, which I keep track of. If you don't eat, you'll be weaker, less effective, and will eventually die. If you sprint full out for several hundred meters, you'll be exhausted and won't be able to perform certain tasks until you take a breather. The same goes to injury. You can't run with a bullet in your leg. Of course, people here heal much faster than normal, so with proper medical attention, you'll be walking around again in no time. This works only because you're in the ex-Soviet Union, and vodka heals all wounds here. When used in conjunction with med kits, that is.
I will keep players up to date on their status. Note, you can perform counter-posts. If a player decides to kill another player, depending on how he does it, the victim can counter the other guys post. However, this won't always work. If a player says "I snapped player Xs neck after sneaking up on him" and it was valid, then player X is dead. Of course, the player that just killed player X will be dead in a few seconds too, when all the other Stalkers fall on him.
Generally, I will not allow murder of fellow players without a damned good reason. For example, if they've been enemies throughout the RP, have a good epic fight,and one of them finally, plausibly, is killed. This should only happen when the RP is over, or a player wants to leave the game. So don't kill others indiscriminately, stick to killing the myriad of natural enemies.
Combat
Due to the problems that arise from trying to do combat with multiple players with such a system, I'm implementing a secondary system for use in combat. When you enter combat, you will automatically shift into the combat system of play. Combat will essentially go into a group of relatively short posts of action and reaction. In combat you are typically allowed a few moves per post. A move consists of any important action, such as attacking one target, moving somewhere, whatever. However you perform this action is completely up to you. Your move can be "attack this enemy" and in your post you can take cover, shoot at them from there, rush them with a knife, grab them from behind, do whatever you like. You cannot, on your own, slaughter an entire platoon in one post. The entire combat situation should take several posts of several actions, and therefore allow other players to get involved as well.
Post your story, and summarize your action in bold under that post, and I will get back to you with the results as soon as possible. Note that this only accounts for major actions, you're fully free to move up to a base, infiltrate it, set up a couple landmines, and get in an ambush position all in one post before the combat begins. The key concept here is time. Other characters are still active in game-time during your post, so if you skip ahead by thirty minutes in your post, you're not allowing other people to post with you. During combat you can run from one building to another as you like, reload, switch from cover to cover, change weapons, do whatever, but you can't perform a myriad of major actions all at once. In other words, you can't go up into a building, kill five guys there, move to another one, kill guys there, and so on, because you'd be neglecting the opportunity for other players. Combat should be a mesh of all players participating in turn and at once. One guy does something, another guy does something at the same time, and so forth. Typically a single major firefight can take five posts or more, and hopefully will be fun and more tactical in terms of teamwork than normal.
Combat will use action points. When you enter combat, each turn you will have a set number of action points. This number will vary depending on your character status, such as stamina, weight carried, and health. Typically, in good condition, you will have twenty action points. Different actions use up different numbers of action points, and this will also be affected by your Stalker's status and condition. For example, shooting an enemy from a hundred yards with one well aimed shot might take only a couple action points. Kicking down a door, running into the room, and shooting a guy in the head will take five action points. When you do your actions, you can kill two guys and you might use up 13 action points. At this moment you can stop your post and let another person post, which will reset your action points (The original number may now be changed if something altered your condition in combat) and next post you can use them again. If you run out of action points in a post, your post will be cut off at that moment.
Thus, the more you run around, the more difficult actions you take, and the longer the entire combat lasts, the less action points you will get and the more action points are required for actions. If your character is lugging around 50 kilos and is exhaustedly, it will take more action points to do something. When combat ends, you will revert to the normal system, which doesn't have action points but common sense, stamina, and my word of law.
Use your ingenuity! Seriously, who says that all you can do is shoot and run? Maybe you spy a fire extinguisher next to an enemy and shoot it. The resulting expulsion of flame retardant may disorientate and distract your enemy long enough for you to run up and stab them in the throat. There's a myriad of ways to achieve your goal, and the more you think about a situation, the better off you'll be.
Leveling up in stats[b/]
The more experienced your Stalker becomes in a certain area, the better he'll get at it. I will not count this as hard XP points and levels, but quietly upgrade this in the background. As you play, you may notice that your shots are more accurately placed, you can run longer and your reflexes are quicker. Action points may increase and be more conserved, and so on.
Action points, and your stats, for that matter, will be damaged or temporarily decreased by certain conditions. You're not going to be running anywhere with a load of buckshot in your leg. Use your head, as always, because if you think well, it drastically increases your chances of survival and success.
Guns:
Your firearm is your primary tool. Keep it loaded, keep it oiled, and keep it close. Without a weapon, you won't last long. Guns are all over the Zone. Everything ranging from AKs to RPG-7s. It all depends on who brought what into the zone, and therefore many weapons are rarer than others, much more expensive, and much more difficult to find than. Remember, even if you can find a certain gun, there might not be ammo around for it. You won't find any M16s in the zone for example, because no American forces ever entered it. Russian military is present however, and a lot of resulting left overs are lying around. Hunting rifles and shotguns are by far extremely common. At most you might find one, maybe two M16s for example. No .50 caliber sniper rifle exists in the Zone unless some individual owned it and brought it in. There is a list of all weapons available for purchase in the separate Merchant thread I will make. You can buy weapons, sell them, or find them. All equipment, armor, and weapons are detailed in the later, including their price, specifications, stats, and how commonly found they are in the zone.
I'm a gun nut, so expect a lot of customizing and variety. Merchants can customize your guns, for a price. Upgrades are realistic of course. Certain weapons cannot accept certain accessories. You can buy attachments, such as scopes, reflex sights, Laser Aiming Modules, suppressors, and other items. Of course, to use any of those, your gun must be compatible. You cannot attach a flashlight to a pistol if it doesn't have a compatible MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny rail on it.
You can also just upgrade the guns quality. A gunsmith can tighten up the trigger pull, make it smooth or slack, tighten up the gun to match grade, and other such values. If you know your guns well enough, you can upgrade them however you like them. Even ammo can be upgraded. Specifically, it can be purchased or found. Everything has an effect, and you can customize your character however you like them. You can inevitably choose whichever weapons you like, whichever attachments you like, and whichever ammo you want. There's a lot of stuff in the Zone; hollow points, full metal jackets, armor piercing rounds, Hydra-Shock rounds, it goes on. You can even get yourself an under-barrel grenade launcher if you have the resources.
All weapons have different stats and uses. Therefore what you carry affects how well you can function in the zone.
Clean your guns. Get yourself a good gun cleaning kit, or just pull a cleaning rod out of an AK, and maintain your weapons. Clean your guns regularly after shooting them a lot. Keep your scopes in decent shape, and just take care of them. If you don't know how to disassemble your gun, obviously you can't clean it. Of course, you can always ask someone and they might be willing to teach you. Any Merchant doubles as a gunsmith, so they're also good. Remember, if you can't do something, ask someone else and you might learn.
If your guns ever break, which means stop firing for some reason, I will tell you when and how. This can range from a simple double-feed to the ejector failing to work. Or maybe firing pin having snapped. Depending on the stoppage, you can fix it yourself if you know how, or you'll have to take it to a Merchant to fix it for a price, or you can just drop it and pick something else up.
I will tell you what guns there are and aren't. Don't assume a dead guy has something. I'll tell you what he has and hasn't after you search him.
Armor
Armor is just as important in the Zone as your weapon. Well, almost as important. Considering that the entire Zone is a huge combat area filled with mutants and anomalies, you need something to protect yourself from bullets, abrasions, blades, flames, radiation, anything.
Warm clothing is a must, you're in Ukraine, and at nighttime it'll be cold as hell. Take care of yourself, as your body is a more important weapon than your gun. You can even make your own armor, even if it means stuffing a jacket with cardboard. At least it'll insulate you from the cold and background radiation. Minor things can impact your future performance. If you wear good gloves and boots, that might help you out a ton when you need them. You might want to keep spare underwear and socks too.
Armor also wears out. A good quality BDU can last a life-time, but if you get caught in a row of flame and bullets, it's not going to last long. At certain points, you may need to replace specific armor. An anti-radiation suit is no good to you if it's shredded.
Weight
You can't lug around everything you'd like to. Humans have weight limits after all. Every item has an assigned weight with it, which I keep track of. Your total inventory weight affects everything you do. You can't run as fast or as long, you get tired quicker, you might not be able to climb as easily. When you get up to 50 kilograms of weight, you've got a lot of stuff on you and it'll affect your performance a lot. Keep things realistic, because at 70kg+, you've got problems.
Equipment:
Flares, medical kits, matches, ammo, everything useful. You can buy it, you can find it, and you'll need to use it sometime. Specifics will be gone over later. Note that anything mundane and common can just be found. You'll need to find or buy a tactical vest, but you can find a rock anywhere right? Pick up something that might come in handy, like some matches.
Food
You need to eat regularly. Stale bread, sausages, vodka, water, rations. Monster energy drinks. You'll need them.
Food can be purchased. You can even buy specific stuff, like...Monster Energy drinks.
Health
I control what goes wrong with you and when. Why this happens this is your responsibility. If you're stupid enough to jump off a bridge thirty feet high, don't be surprised when your knee snaps.
I will determine where you're shot and how it affects you (if you're ever shot at all that is). How you take care of that wound matters. Keep medical supplies handy.
Camouflage
You didn't think armor was just for stopping bullets did you? Concealment can mean the difference between life and death. Camouflage can be found on different variants of the same armour and you can choose which one. All camouflage works differently in different places. Your woodland Flecktarn won't work well in a field of snow.
If you hunker down behind some cover and camouflage yourself and then start picking away at enemies with a rifle, whether they see you or not will depend on how well concealed you are, and what you're shooting. Tracer rounds work both ways.
Once again, detail. If you're crawling through enemy territory with a bunch of snipers all over the place and you forget to camouflage your rifle or scope, or most commonly, your boots, you might get yourself shot.
Actions
Your primary action is searching. You can search anywhere, at any time, and no matter how specific or vague. You can search a corpse for a magazine in the middle of a firefight for all I care. I'll tell you what you pick up afterward.
Always strip corpses. It may not be fun, but it's where the loot is. Of course, if you see a corpse lying on the ground that you didn't kill, be careful to check. Otherwise you may move it and end up setting off a booby-trapped grenade.
Searching anomalies:
You can search an anomaly merely by looking at it. You search, and I tell you if you see any artifacts. Then it's up to you to get that artifact or leave it.
Other actions include reloading your guns and mags, cleaning your guns, eating, etc. You can detail in your post and story however you like, and summarize any relevant action in the end so that I can note it. You can also help each other out. Trade ammo, just trade, save another players life, whatever.
Stats
Obviously people entering the zone aren't necessarily fit marathon running special forces members. It's likely many of you have never even held a gun before, even more likely none of you are familiar with the weapons you'll be finding in the zone, and even more likely you've never killed anyone. As you progress, you will become more skilled and more fit. If you were slightly overweight, I guarantee you that weight will be gone by Sunday. The more you learn, the better you can utilize your skills, and the better your skills will be. If you practice with one weapon and grow accustomed to it, you'll naturally use it better than you would a completely unfamiliar one.
If you as a person can't disassemble, clean, and reassemble your AK-47, then neither can your character. If you can't shoot a gun accurately, then at the beginning, neither will your character.
Many people know this, but for all those hollywood bred guys, shooting guns isn't anything like in movies. The vast majority of people aren't capable of hitting a head sized target at seven meters with a pistol.
You can learn new skills and information simply by asking. If you can't field strip your gun, ask a merchant or another Stalker and learn to do it. If you can't hold your sniper rifle steady at a couple hundred yards, ask for some tips and use them. If you don't know the difference between ammo types or what to do in a firefight, ask around. The vast majority of Stalkers are currently more experienced than you, and they can tell you what you should do and shouldn't do when someone is trying to kill you.
PDA
Your personal data assistant is an important tool. It has a built in GPS map of the Exclusion Zone, information on other Stalkers, your own information, your current location, your personal notes and journal, your current objective and mission, and a built in encyclopedia archive of information on the Zone, artifacts, anomalies, and factions. It even details on a wide variety of guns and ammunition to review at leisure.
On top of all that, it has a built in Geiger counter. The Geiger counter will automatically start chattering when it detects any radiation that is higher than the typical levels in the Zone and display the number in REMs on the screen. Any Stalker with a brain should automatically realize why this is a severe problem. If you can't, you'll likely be dead soon. Thus, I will give you a hint, mute the damned thing and get yourself a single earphone. You want to know when the place is radioactive without giving your position away to everyone else. Your PDA also has a built in radio. Once again, use a headphone.
Reputation
Since you entered the Zone, you are officially recorded in an archival network. Your PDA has information on other Stalkers, which mostly consists of basic information, reputation, and known achievements and other data. When other Stalkers deal with you, they may record their opinion of you in their PDA. They almost certainly will do so if you attack them.
Depending on whether you help people, leave them to die, or outright murder them, other Stalkers will know about it (If the guy survived to tell them, that is). They will know whether you're trustworthy or a bandit.
Of course, this doesn't mean they will recognize you. Just because some guy got shot by you doesn't mean he knows your name or has your picture. Nonetheless, if you deal with people openly, it will eventually affect how other strangers might treat you, if you know who you are and keep up with the hundreds of Stalkers in the database that is, which most people don't.
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Allright, at the moment, this is just sign ups. The RP is not starting yet, and I don't want any action. You can post profiles, detail on your guys, and even post an opening story. Beyond that, please wait. I'll notify everyone when you can get set loose. Discuss with other players how you'll work if you like. Before the Rp starts you can pair up with eachother and help each other out.
All area maps will be detailed well enough for you guys. At the moment, I'm posting a blank Satellite image map. I'll detail them when the RP starts. The Merchant thread will be posted sometime soon too.
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All new Stalkers start out in the Cordon, where the blue mark is.
New Stalkers are all given a Makarov PM pistol, two unloaded magazines and one box of 40 rounds. Your only clothing is a leather jacket and what you brought in. A knife, binoculars, a rucksack, and a ration and water bottle too. You are all issued packets of Potassium Iodide pills. These are your only anti-radiation poisoning drugs, so take them regularly. Or you could just drink some vodka, it also helps. Potassium Iodide will not protect you from any kind of radiation poisoning except for one: it'll prevent absorption of radioactive Iodine in your Thyroid. It's better than nothing, and unless you want Thyroid cancer early, take your pills. It’s 130milligrams per tablet. That’s the standard dosage for people your age and weight, one pill per day.
You all begin with 0 RU. You get money by selling things, searching dead bodies, finding hidden stashes, and doing jobs. Talk to some guys, or Sidirovich in the Cordon for a job. You control detail. If you want to wear your pack like so, wear it like so. If you want your pistol holster on your left hip, put it on your left hip. Do what you like, but remember, use your head.
Your magazines are unloaded. Load them. Then load your pistol.
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Profiles:
Name:
Age:
Physical Description:
Capabilities: How fit you are, how well your knowledge is, what skills you have, so on.
Inventory: Empty. You only have what you got and what you might have been wearing when you walked in. The Russian military outpost stripped you of almost everything. Even pocketknives and house keys. Ask Joseph Stalin as to why. And these guys are good at frisking and checking, so unless you swallowed a razor blade or hid a paper clip under your skin (I'm serious) you'll have lost it. However, you still have any cigarettes you brought in, because the soldiers weren't that cruel.
What you can detail in your inventory is how you wear your stuff. Where you put your holster, whether your pistol is now loaded with the safety on or off, whether it has a round chambered or not, whether your knife sheath is tied to your leg or not. Whatever. Detail on this. I want to know if your pistol is on safe or not, if there's a round in the chamber or not, and so forth. Start thinking, and hopefully have fun. Though I seriously doubt this will last long.