Silent Hill: Isolation (Psychological Horror, puzzle solving) - always open!

[Remiel]

Silent Hill: Isolation

Welcome to Silent Hill.  Once a quaint, bucolic resort town in New England, Silent Hill has in recent times become eponymous with horror and dread.   Although it has always had something of a dark and troubled history, it wasn't until the late 1990s that it fell into decay.  Former residents say that it is a cursed place, in which reality, dreams, and nightmares often blur and intersect; the reasons for this are varied and many, as prevalent theories differ and often contradict.   One thing that most of them can agree on, though, is that a thick fog, born of Toluca Lake, an otherwise picturesque natural landmark upon which the town was built, permanently enshrouds the streets of Silent Hill, lending the city an ethereal, ghostly character.

There are whispers about Alessa and Dahlia Gilespie, and about the Order of Valtiel, a doomsday cult which seems to have permeated the town in its later years; whether there is any truth to these rumors is unknown.  What is known is that outsiders feel sometimes drawn to Silent Hill for inexplicable reasons, reasons of which they themselves may not even be aware.  What do they find there?  What do they seek?  Much of the lore, to this very day, remains a mystery.

--Welcome to Silent Hill, author: kdoc
alt.rec.urbanlegends.silenthill



Silent Hill:  Isolation is a small group game, intended for no more than 6 players.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Silent Hill setting, this will be a game focused on psychological horror.  What has always made the Silent Hill franchise great is that, unlike most horror settings, it does not rely on shock, gore, and jump scares, even though it certainly has those in spades; rather, what makes Silent Hill unique is the sense of slow, creeping dread it inspires.   It's in the air, the walls, in the very ground itself; there is something very, very wrong with the town.  True, it is populated with a host of nightmare visions, but even without them, Silent Hill inspires a sense of fear, of horror, of guilt and regret, without actively throwing it in your face.  Silent Hill doesn't want to kill you.  No, Silent Hill wants to make you suffer.

For this game, each player will have one character, and each character will have a dark secret which only they and the GM will know.  Much of the experience will center around these dark secrets, which the town will passive-aggressively try to use against the characters.

This will NOT be a sandbox game; it will be largely GM-driven, although I do not intend to lead the players around on a leash.  They will (largely) have the freedom to do as they wish.  However, actions do have consequences, and the wrong actions will be punished.

WARNING! Like anything that has to do with Silent Hill, this game will feature mature and potentially disturbing content.  If you are easily squicked out by horror movies or triggered by serious subjects such as euthanasia, suicide, rape, abuse, or torture, this is not the game for you.  Sex may happen between characters, but it will not be the major focus of the game.  Players that wish to flush out a particular scene or sexual encounter are asked to take that interaction to a separate thread.

This game has the potential to move in any direction, but will focus on the theme of isolation.  Particularly, I want to see how a small group of strangers will react when finding themselves thrust into a surreal, otherworldly environment.  I suppose that's why post-apocalyptic settings have always appealed to me--the idea that a diverse group of people who otherwise probably wouldn't have anything to do with each other must depend upon each other for survival.

There will be a set posting order, in order to encourage accountability and to keep the game from stalling out.  Recommended response time is within one week or less.   However, I do not intend to be draconian about enforcing this rule as long as there is a good-faith effort to stay engaged; if you tell me "hey, I have some shit going on this week, do you mind if we skip my post?" I'm almost certainly going to be cool with it.  Also, I'm not looking for epic-length novelettes, here; often, a single paragraph will be quite sufficient.  Quality over quantity.



It's just another dull Tuesday afternoon, a little after lunchtime.  As you glance out the window, you note that the sky is shrouded in a layer of grey, completely obscuring the sun.  It's a flat day, the kind of day in which the quiet hum of the air conditioning unit becomes a dull roar.

Upon impulse, you check your email.  You, apparently, have one new message, from an address you don't recognize.  It reads as follows:


From: Rachel <moregen@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, June 8th, 7:09 AM
To: (your email address)
Subject: Silent Hill
attachment: 000013261.jpg


Hello,  my friend.

I need to ask you a favor.  You don't know me, so I have no right to expect you to help me--there's a good chance you've already deleted this email--but I'm hoping you will anyway. 

It all started when I came to a town called Silent Hill.  I thought it would be nice, a vacation from the usual routine.  I'd heard good things about it and figured I'd spend the weekend there before meeting up with some college friends.

But when I got here, it wasn't at all like what I thought.  It's...empty.  Gone.  The buildings, everything are still here, but...there's nobody.  No people.  At all.  It's just one great big, silent ghost town.

Sometimes I think I can hear a dog barking, or footsteps around the corner, but I think it's my mind playing tricks on me.   As far as I can tell, I'm the only living person in the whole town.

It's been several weeks.  It's hard to keep track of time here; there's never any sun.  There's just this thick, white, all-obscuring fog, everywhere.  I think I'm losing my mind.

I tried to leave, but it's easy to get lost in this place.  And just when I thought I found a way out, I discovered it was only a dead end.  There was just this huge, deep chasm, cutting right across the street.   It's funny, because I don't remember any sort of earthquake since I've been here.    I took a picture of it with my phone, to prove I wasn't going mad (see attachment).  You can see the picture, right?  I really, really hope I haven't sent you a blank image or something.  It feels like it's a constant fight to keep my sanity.  One day bleeds into the next, and the silence is louder than any noise.   And the loneliness--the sheer, oppressive loneliness.  I've always been an introvert, always been happier doing my own thing, but I never thought I'd miss...well, people...this much.   I'd give anything to hear a human voice again, to see a human face, to have a simple conversation with a stranger.

I'm using my phone to send this.  I got your name and email address from a dream I had last night.  Maybe, once again, it's just my mind playing tricks on me, and no one will ever read this, that I've sent this email out into the void.  But I'd like to think that you're out there, that you're a real person, that you're reading this right now.

So if it's not too much trouble, could you maybe...come meet me in Silent Hill?  I'll be at the Shady Pines Hotel.   Thank you so much.  You have no idea what this means to me.

Sincerely,
Rachel




Please use the following template when creating your character:

Name: your character name
Gender: your character's gender
Birthdate: when was your character born?
Blood Type: your character's blood type
Occupation: what your character does for a living
Personality: a brief description of your character's surface personality.  How does he/she interact with others?  How do others see him/her?
History: a brief biography of your character.  What was their childhood like?  Did they suffer any trauma growing up, or as an adult?
Skills:  any special skills they bring to the party.  Are they trained in self defense?  First Aid?  Hotwiring a car?  Solving puzzles?

In addition, your character will have a Dark Secret which only you and the GM will know.  I will contact you privately to discuss specifics.

Template:

Code Select Expand


[float=right][img height=250 padding=10]image goes here[/img][/float]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Birthdate:[/b]
[b]Blood Type:[/b]
[b]Occupation:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]History:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]


Inspiration

I find the following music from the SH3 soundtrack to be incredibly inspirational. 

Letter to my Future Self

Hometown

Interest Check

Out of Character Discussion

[GnothiSeauton]

You already know I'm in

[Lady Sakura]

Yes!

[Lockepick]

Posting definite and large interest! I've wanted to play a Silent Hill based character around the concept of music/noise and emotional connections/reactions for a while -- and I think it'll fit into the isolation theme pretty well!

I'll elaborate more on the whole 'music' thing with my application, I promise.

[Martee]

This movie scared the shit out of me for months.

I'm in.

[Lustful Bride]

Been in a real silent hill mood lately so...im in :3

[Chreestafer]

Hey Remiel!

Definitely interested!

[Lady Sakura]

Should we PM you these sheets or post them here?

I'm thinking of making someone with First Aid and lock picking experience.

[blue bunny sparkle]

Room for one more?

[CandyLips]

Definitely interested, but haven't read it all yet. Currently getting ready to run out, so I'm saving this for later!

[Remiel]

Should we PM you these sheets or post them here?

I'm thinking of making someone with First Aid and lock picking experience.

PM me, please.  Feel free to add the Dark Secret (although I must underscore the fact that this will be a secret that none of the other players will know).

Room for one more?

Sure!  My intent was to limit the amount of players in this game to no more than six, but if there is enough interest, I may consider allowing more. :)

[Chreestafer]

Awesome, I'll get a character out to you asap!

[Mellific]

Here's hoping you're strongly reconsidering the player count, Rem.

I am so intrigued and interested.

[Lady Sakura]

*tackle hugs Mellific*

Hey!

[blue bunny sparkle]

Sure!  My intent was to limit the amount of players in this game to no more than six, but if there is enough interest, I may consider allowing more. :)

I don't wish to push your numbers! But would love to play, just let me know if its too many folks okay?

[Remiel]

Here's hoping you're strongly reconsidering the player count, Rem.

I am so intrigued and interested.

It's not on a first-come, first-serve basis.   As this is going to be a small group, I'm going to be selective about who we start with.   Basically, I'm looking for reliable, experienced roleplayers.  A bit of a pet peeve of mine is when people vanish without a word, so I'll be looking at your post history, as well as considering the characters themselves,  to determine our initial starting group.   I do intend to have a posting order to keep things moving smoothly, although, as I said, I understand that real life has a habit of striking at the most inopportune moments and will not hold it against anybody if they at least make a good-faith effort to let me know what's going on.

Quality writing is, of course, preferred, although I never, ever require my players to write epic-length posts when a single paragraph or even a sentence or two will do. 

That said, I fully expect people to inevitably drop out over the course of the story and new players to join as we go, so I'm designing this game with that in mind.

[Mellific]

*tackle hugs Mellific*

Hey!

Oof! Hey there, darling! *Huggles back from the ground.*

It's not on a first-come, first-serve basis.   As this is going to be a small group, I'm going to be selective about who we start with.   Basically, I'm looking for reliable, experienced roleplayers.  A bit of a pet peeve of mine is when people vanish without a word, so I'll be looking at your post history, as well as considering the characters themselves,  to determine our initial starting group.   I do intend to have a posting order to keep things moving smoothly, although, as I said, I understand that real life has a habit of striking at the most inopportune moments and will not hold it against anybody if they at least make a good-faith effort to let me know what's going on.

Quality writing is, of course, preferred, although I never, ever require my players to write epic-length posts when a single paragraph or even a sentence or two will do. 

That said, I fully expect people to inevitably drop out over the course of the story and new players to join as we go, so I'm designing this game with that in mind.

Understood. I'll be working on a CS and sending it your way. I didn't mean to presume that just because I made a CS that I would be accepted. Thanks for your consideration. :-)

[Remiel]

Everybody, say hello to Catherine Grant.

[MabFaerie]

Oh yay, it's a real thing now! Much excite! I will get a CS sent to you later today! =3

[Intimate Ink]

Given Silent Hill has influenced a lot of my horror-themed E-writing and that I am an avid fan, going to say I am also interested if the GM decides he is up for a larger crowd.  I might not even god-mode him into marrying me (/inside joke.)

[Lady Sakura]

Thought this was the perfect theme song for my girlie.

If anyone one else wishes to make use of it for inspiration here.

SH4-Room of Angel

[Chreestafer]

Oh yay, it's a real thing now! Much excite! I will get a CS sent to you later today! =3

Ditto, oddly enough halfway through writing my CS last night I had a fishtank emergency and had to run out.  Long story short, I didn't get home till late and left it to sit on my pc at home.  I'll have him over to you asap today after work :)

[Remiel]

No rush.  Like I said, it's not first-come, first-serve.   

[Remiel]

Everybody, please welcome Kate Brennan to the party.

On a side note, although I typically don't like to use stylized/painted/drawn images for the character photo (just a personal preference thing--the theme of Silent Hill is, after all, gritty reality), I feel like Kate's is photorealistic enough to pass muster.

[Remiel]

SH4-Room of Angel

Room of Angel!  I had completely forgotten about that.

<3