Crater Earth [LGBTQ+, Post-Apoc, Sci-fi, Sandbox, Original System] Recruiting

Started by TheBlackThrone, May 30, 2020, 08:58:32 AM

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TheBlackThrone




Synopsis:  In the year 2050, a meteorite labeled Apophis crash-landed on earth destroying continents: Africa, South America, and parts of Antarctica. The shock wave from the impact leveled civilizations closest to the impact site and afflicted the survivors with a unique form of radiation called “X.” The extraterrestrial radiation slowly started wiping out humanity as many became poisoned with it. After a decade, Earth’s population was reduced to 144,000 and then They emerged.

Timeline of Events:

1 January 2050:  Apophis suddenly strikes the Earth, creating a massive crater that destroyed South America, Africa, and parts of Antarctica.  This day was called “The Reckoning.”
1 January 2060:  An alien species emerges from the Crater Zone resembling humans and telling the remaining 144,000 that they are now under the control of the Blatta empire.
1-31 January 2060:  Humanity is swiftly subjugated by the Blatta and civilizations are required to submit their kin for experimentation every year in what is known as “The Sending.” The sent are never seen again.
2 February 2060: Groundhog’s Day; the game begins here.

Game Themes: Slice of Life, Supernatural, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Horror, Sandbox
Category: Extreme Small Group
Inspirations: Mimic (the horror film), and They Live (horror film).

Setting

The game setting will take place mainly in what was once called The United States. See below for the surviving continent’s new names:
  • North America – Blatta 1
  • Europe, Middle East, and Asia – Blatta 2
  • All Islands in the Indian Ocean, Australia, and New Zealand – Blatta 3

Human technology has been replaced with Blatta technology. All communications such as the internet, cell phones, etc. have been replaced and controlled by the Blatta. Humans caught with “Old Tech,” which is technology from when humans used to develop their own machines and devices, will have the technology confiscated and those humans will be detained for experimentation.

The surviving religious folk, known as Spiritualists, believe The Reckoning was the prophesied End of the World and that the 144,000 were meant to serve the Blatta, believing them to be gods. The old generations who remember Earth before the Blatta are being purged. Some are protected by resistance forces, while others are kept in special hospitals due to X-poisoning

The Blatta control the news and always report about resistance forces being discovered and destroyed by the Blatta. Some humans are allowed to achieve fame/celebrity status through acting, music, and sports, but the Blatta control the Film, Music, and Sports industries. Humans can only produce film and music that the Blatta approve.

The Blatta want the new generation of humans to grow up being ignorant that a life before the Blatta even existed and to be accepting of their ways. Since the Blatta’s arrival, the only war and conflict that exists is what is caused by humans resisting the Blatta. Therefore, the Blatta explain to humans why they must be controlled because they are destructive and are incapable of peace. The new generation has an easier time growing up believing that the Blatta are good and necessary than the older generations. Soon, however, the Blatta will achieve their goals: complete domination of Earth.

Players in this game will be role playing teenagers between the ages of 16-19 who have grown up in Blatta-controlled Earth.

The Blatta

Blatta is actually a latin word for “shuns the light.” Normal humans are incapable of seeing the true form of the Blatta. Blatta have mimicked humans, and can take on their external shape. However, internally, their blood and organs are entirely different. Their blood is white like pus. They are faster, stronger, and more resilient than humans. Blatta can survive even when their head is removed. Sound familiar? That’s right. The Blatta are alien cockroaches.

The Blatta are highly intelligent and have learned how to control society through various platforms dominating all sectors of industry. Humans eat what they provide them. Can the food be questionable at times? Yes; because sometimes there are chemicals in the food to keep humans docile. Some populations such as Blatta 1 may be given a food full of growth hormone for the sake of data collection. It is confirmed, however, that the Blatta do not eat humans. The Blatta are vegetarians (publically) and all three colonies are primarily agrarian. Animals are only used as feed for the humans and fertilizer.

Secretly, the Blatta are experimenting on humans to determine if they even need the humans around, and trying to prove if they are crucial to Earth’s ecosystem. Another secret that the humans are unaware of is that Blatta are cannibals, they enjoy eating human fingernails and hair, and they like to eat dead animal skin.

Humanity

For the new generation of humans (the ones the players will play), they don’t see anything wrong with the Blatta. Blatta-controlled Earth is all they know and grew up with. The older generation are the resistant ones and so seeing resistance members in their 30s and up is not unusual. The Resistance abduct children, taking them to secret bases where they protect them from the Blatta’s influence. On the news, the Blatta demonize the resistance forces, warning the humans that they will be taken and brainwashed into violence. The Resistance has covert forces posing as law-abiding citizens. The new generations’ parents could be Resistance members in secret, waiting until their children are mature enough to let them in on the secret about the Blatta. However, there are some members of The Resistance who are not law-abiding and choose to carryout justice their own way. They get involved in illegal agriculture, growing their organic, non-alien food to sell to humans and other resistance members. They also manage to make big sacrifices attempting to acquire alien technology.

Not Common Knowledge among all Humans in the game:
  • The Blatta are cockroaches who are capable of mimicking humans and other organic lifeforms.
  • The secret parts of the Blatta diet

Resistance Forces knowledge:
  • The Blatta are aliens.
  • Earth used to be controlled by humans and the Blatta are invaders.
  • The Blatta are trying to wipe out the old generation in order to brainwash the new generation into their cause.
  • Resistance Forces have knowledge of human technology: machinery, medicine, agriculture, computers, etc.

Another group besides The Resistance are the Spiritualists who have created their own force for combating The Resistance. They often act as private military companies funded by The Blatta in secret to destroy The Resistance. The Blatta would rather have humans vs humans in order to keep their hands clean and to prove their point that humans are destructive and must be controlled. Some PMC members will pose as Resistance members, acting as moles for the Blatta.

Humanity not involved in The Resistance and PMC go about their life like normal people. They own homes, watch TV, go to work, kids go to school, they can go to college to learn things other than technology, they can become policemen, doctors, actors, athletes, musicians, farmers, businessmen and women, etc. The Blatta have made life for humanity comfortable and peaceful. Just every year, every community must contribute a human to be sent to the Blatta. The most common humans chosen are lawbreakers such as thieves, murderers, rapists, etc. When there aren’t any lawbreakers to send, “The Sending” often results in violence between those humans arguing over who to send.

Players control a student in high school between the ages of 16-19 who lives in this Blatta-controlled Earth.

What You Were Waiting For

In this thread, radiation “X” was mentioned. Some humans are still suffering from its poisoning and have either died, been hospitalized, or developed an immunity to it. Those children born in the New Generation have parents who were exposed to the radiation. The New Generation has a latent power that can only be activated through situations of great stress such as life or death or situational (break ups, death in the family, family member being sent, etc.).

Once awakened, the New Generation has one unique power starting out. They must keep this power hidden from the Blatta as well as The Resistance and PMC. If the Blatta found out the New Generation contained such power that could overthrow them, then they would start targeting the New Generation. If The Resistance discovered the New Generation had these powers, then they would use them to combat the PMC and the Blatta. If the PMC discovered the New Generation had these powers, then they would try and convert them to fight The Resistance and cooperate with The Blatta.

As you can see, there are various story plots and pathways writers can take this. You will have one main character. Other characters you create should be NPCs in roles that allow you to expand on the story such as family members (some who may be sent, some who may secretly be Resistance, or some who may even be PMC). What you choose to do with your teenager is up to you. Collaborate with other writers to develop friendships. You all may even decide to build a secret super hero league. Some of you may choose to be evil. How you take this story will be up to you.



As far as character pictures, avoid anime. Also avoid photography where the face claim looks like they are over 25 and to keep in compliance with E rules they cannot appear to be under 18 y/o. By making sure the photography or even artwork you are using is between this range, it avoids the idea of someone choosing a 40 y/o face claim and pairing them with some youthful face claim. It just looks wrong so don't do it. You can choose to use photography or you can choose to use any digital art that captures what you envision for your character. It is no problem. If you do use a face claim, let me know. If you don't know the face claim, say if you're using stock photos or you just don't know who it is, then that is fine as well. Tip: Using actors or models when they were younger, helps give you more options since it is difficult to find good face claims.

[b]Name:[/b] First and last name is required. You can add a middle, title, or suffix if you want.
[b]Nickname:[/b] Any nicknames?
[b]Age:[/b] 16-19
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Sexuality:[/b]
[b]Height:[/b]
[b]Weight:[/b]
[b]Hair Color:[/b]
[b]Eye Color:[/b]
[b]Type:[/b] What Character Type are they?
[b]Powers:[/b] Active or Latent?

[b]General Description:[/b] How do they appear? You can go into detail mentioning tattoos, earrings, contacts, hair dye, whatever here.

[b]Personality:[/b] What are they like? Do they have an accent? What do they like? What do they dislike? How do they feel about The Blatta? What are their views on all the fighting?

[b]History:[/b] You can mention some of their background. Anything special about their parents? Are they an orphan? Do they live in a group home? You can also collaborate with other writers to build this history.

Strength 1
Dexterity 1
Constitution 1
Intelligence 1
Perception 1
Willpower 1

Skills: These are talents such as cooking, dancing, singing, art, first-aid, acrobatics, martial arts, etc. Below is a list of 3, however, you only have as many skills according to how many points you place into Constitution. So you may not have 3. You may have less or more.

1. Name: Description.
2. Name: Description.
3. Name: Description.

Powers

Passive - The passive is not something that is activated. It is something that is always on. This will have something to do with the Type of Character you chose to create.
1. Name: Description.

Active - Below is a list of 3; however, you may not have 3 power slots. This depends on how many points you placed into willpower. You may have less than 3 or you may have more than 3.
1. Name: Description. [Frequency: X]
2. Name: Description. [Frequency: X]
3. Name: Description. [Frequency: X]

Ultimate - Everyone gets one ultimate. This is your ultimate attack.
1. Name: Description. [Frequency: 1]


Q&A

This section is for good questions that have been answered by the GM.

Links

The Stat System
The Combat System
The gates are open
Current Time Zone: GMT +2
Delays: None.
Current solo request: None.
Current group request: Tarot

TheBlackThrone

If anyone wanted the ability below, just let me know. I do not mind changing it if you really wanted it. It was just an idea I had since when playing depressed characters I imagine storm clouds and rain.




FC: Young Johnny Depp (24)
Name: Roman D'Aquila
Nickname: None
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Still deciding, depends on the cast
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 155 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Type: Controller
Powers: Awakened; not realized.

General Description: Roman naturally has the bad-boy appearance. He has dark hair and eyes, and his hair can grow pretty long if he doesn’t keep it cut. He will typically keep his hair either four-inches long or cut just passed the lobe of his ears, which he secures with a band. He wears sunglasses, white T-shirts, blazers, old school varsity-style jackets, and blue jeans. Beneath his jackets, he will sometimes wear a collared, button-up shirt, or a tank. Finding him in a white T-shirt and jeans is usually when he is too lazy to pick out nicer outfits. When he is alone at home and not expecting company, he will hang around the house in his T-shirt and boxer briefs. Behind his parents’ backs, he will smoke a cigarette with friends. He doesn’t really do it habitually or when he’s alone. Social smoker?

Until I decide on a character type, his body is slender for a young man his age. His skin is creamy and he has a peach fuzz moustache growing in. He will often keep it shaved though.

Personality: Roman used to be a happy and spirited young man. Everything changed when he watched his parents send his younger sister Gabrielle “Gabby” D’Aquila. Roman at the time was ten-years-old and didn’t understand why Gabby had to go away. It made him disgusted with his parents, and he has since grew into a rebellious teenager who stays out late and comes home when he wants to. Even if he isn’t hanging with friends, Roman will often skateboard over to the park to be alone for a while or head over to the 24-hour diner to burn some hours before he has to return to his shithole of a house.

The Sending was something Roman never agreed with. They could have found some criminal to go. His entire neighborhood had turned to his family to send one of them and none of his parents had gone in her place. The whole situation was confusing to Roman, and each year he had to watch it happen to someone else. Sometimes, when it wasn’t a criminal chosen, he felt some sadistic satisfaction in seeing another family in his neighborhood watching one of their family members ripped from them as Gabby was ripped from his family.

Where did they all go? Nobody knew and yet they treated The Sending like a funeral. Roman often wonders if his sister is still out there alive somewhere.

In school, Roman doesn’t academically strive to be on the honor roll. He will at least get a C+. Whatever keeps his parents out of his hair. If he ever scores lower than that, then he knows they’ll try to ground him or just be plain annoying. Therefore, Roman does the bare minimum to pass. He isn’t bullied, though he has received some admirers who he has given the cold shoulder too and pretended to not notice that they have been trying to get his attention. With his current, secretly depressed state, he just hasn’t been in the mood for any girlfriends. No one understands and they won’t understand until they have lost someone like him.

Roman isn’t heroic. He doesn’t stop the bullies from beating up the fat or nerdy kid, but he does befriend them. Sometimes, Roman can get the bullies to stop, and sometimes he can’t. Oh well. He and the bullies often like to go conduct mischief late at night. They’ll hang out at the park, the skate park, the diner, or hide out at restricted construction sites. Whatever they do, Roman is usually there with them. It’s better than being at home.

History: Roman’s family has Blatta 2 heritage…well, that’s all he knows. Blatta 2 was what it has always been called. Specifically, Italian traits. His parents speak fluent Italian and Roman has picked it up, but he only knows how to speak it. He might be able to figure out the reading if he sounds out the words, but he hasn’t had any formal classes in the language. Roman was the older brother to his sister Gabrielle D’Aquilla. Growing up, even as an adolescent, he was very protective of her. His parents somewhat put the responsibility on him, and even though he found it annoying, he found himself often taking the job seriously. That was until she was chosen. Seeing Gabby screaming and crying as they took her away and his parents standing there holding him back and doing nothing left a trauma on his mind. He has nightmares about it, and he never got over it. It made him into an angry kid.

The D’Aquilas are planning to have another kid. They don’t know if it will be a boy or girl yet. Roman isn’t as excited about it as his parents are. It is just another kid to send off or maybe they will send him next. They’re having another kid to replace Gabby.

Roman is in his junior year of high school, and he has already made plans to move out of the house once he graduates. He doesn’t want to be around his family anymore.

Strength 1
Dexterity 2
Constitution 2
Intelligence 2
Perception 1
Willpower 3

Skills:

1. Skateboarding: Roman can skateboard anywhere as long as the terrain permits it, and he is pretty damn good. He can jump down a set of stairs, grind a rail, and perform other tricks. He always can be found skateboarding to school.
2. Persuasion: Roman knows how to turn a situation in his favor. It could be how he has so easily made friends with the school bullies. Maybe they owe him some favors? Who knows but Roman.


Powers

Passive: When Roman is in a bad mood, it rains.

Active

1. Make it Rain: Roman will cause a shower for one turn. The shower covers the battlefield with puddles. [Frequency: 3]
2. Lightning Bolt: Roman will cause storm clouds to form and summon a bolt of lightning to drop down and strike a single enemy. When comboed with "Make it Rain" if the enemy were standing in a puddle, the attack causes critical damage. [Frequency: 3]
3. Freeze: Roman will cause the temperature to plunge until ice forms for one turn. When comboed with "Make it Rain" puddles become slippery surfaces and wet enemies can freeze. This ability is difficult to use with allies for allies can be affected. [Frequency: 3]

Ultimate

1. Twister: Roman will conjure a tornado to drop upon the battlefield and wipe average enemy types off the map. [Frequency: 1]
The gates are open
Current Time Zone: GMT +2
Delays: None.
Current solo request: None.
Current group request: Tarot

KB

Mimic is one my favorite movies of all time! And who doesn't like post apocalyptic settings and alien invasions :)
Where would would your ideal post rate lie? And how much would this be event and GM driven, and how much would be sandbox / slice of life collaboration?

TheBlackThrone

Quote from: KB on June 04, 2020, 07:43:43 PM
Mimic is one my favorite movies of all time! And who doesn't like post apocalyptic settings and alien invasions :)
Where would would your ideal post rate lie? And how much would this be event and GM driven, and how much would be sandbox / slice of life collaboration?

Posting rate would be at least 1 post a week that is 1 every 7 days. If you are inspired and motivated to do more then great. But 1 a week is all I ask.

Writers will have their characters go about their day to day. I give them liberty to create the drama their teenagers go through on a regular with their hidden powers, society, and how they want to discover their powers if they haven't discovered them yet. The GM controls the news because the news is a powerful element in this game. Your characters can encounter the news reports via phone, computer, or other social media. Sometimes the news is uneventful, other times the news may report on something significant or even actions your characters made could end up there.

At the start of the game, none of the factions know that superhumans exist. The writers' actions and story weaving will determine who figures it out over time. I say this with some certainty because no matter what it is going to happen. As soon as this happens, you will see the news change. As more and more becomes apparent, then you'll see more events taking place.

Writers can even create NPCs to add to it all.
The gates are open
Current Time Zone: GMT +2
Delays: None.
Current solo request: None.
Current group request: Tarot

KB

News sound like a cool idea for driving events. And I'm intrigued to explore a hero from their humble beginnings.

How prevalent would combat be once it starts happening? Based on your example, both sides need to pitch in a card for each attack. How would this be handled?
You have an example where strength 3 mutant deals 17 damage. Weak constitution 1 mooks have 100 hitpoints, so it would take 6 such successful  attacks to take down a mook. Can I presume the plan isn't for this to last 6 weeks? And our supers would have 1000 hitpoints per constitution, meaning they can take close to 60 such attacks. Is this correct?

TheBlackThrone

Quote from: KB on June 05, 2020, 09:49:01 AM
News sound like a cool idea for driving events. And I'm intrigued to explore a hero from their humble beginnings.

How prevalent would combat be once it starts happening? Based on your example, both sides need to pitch in a card for each attack. How would this be handled?
You have an example where strength 3 mutant deals 17 damage. Weak constitution 1 mooks have 100 hitpoints, so it would take 6 such successful  attacks to take down a mook. Can I presume the plan isn't for this to last 6 weeks? And our supers would have 1000 hitpoints per constitution, meaning they can take close to 60 such attacks. Is this correct?

Combat depends on you honestly, and the story you're weaving. Whenever your character enters combat. Situations that happen in game could lead to combat. Aggravated events due to multiple possible in-game situations could result in combat.

You can make as many combo attacks and actions as you want. Regardless, you're using cards to decide them, and there will be counters to those cards from the enemy. As the GM, I will be countering with the enemy deck. Only characters with high perception could detect enemy HP. The mini-boss and boss HP won't be as easy to detect, requiring a higher level.

When you use some cards, you can PM me at the conclusion of your turn, to ask for more, thus customizing your hand to reach the Transcendence that you want (thus this game is similar to poker). If you use your entire hand in a post, which you can do so, then you can request a whole hand from the GM. The hands are all randomly generated for both the good and bad side. However, the bad side (fodder) doesn't have the luxury of customizing their hand to reach Transcendence. Therefore, if the baddies (fodder) get Transcendence, it was by pure luck.

Also note, this is only in regards to fodder NPCs. When the GM introduces a named NPC, more than likely, that is a mini-boss or Boss. You will then be playing against the GM. Thus why the mini-boss and bosses are harder because I can actually do the same and try to get a Transcendence hand for them.

If other players create named enemy NPCs, then you'll play against their enemies too and they'll be trying to get a Transcendence hand as well with their mini-boss/boss.

The sandbox is quite large.
The gates are open
Current Time Zone: GMT +2
Delays: None.
Current solo request: None.
Current group request: Tarot

Sharon

I would love to throw my hat into the ring. It will take a few days to get the character sheet put together and everything because I will be needing to look at the other threads that go along with this but I am so in.

TheBlackThrone

Quote from: Sharon on June 05, 2020, 10:46:29 PM
I would love to throw my hat into the ring. It will take a few days to get the character sheet put together and everything because I will be needing to look at the other threads that go along with this but I am so in.

Hey. Thank you for the interest. Of course; no hurry.
The gates are open
Current Time Zone: GMT +2
Delays: None.
Current solo request: None.
Current group request: Tarot