Summer 2011 in Bristol, England. Zombies have invaded the world and finally proven the horror nerds right. You are one of the few who survived the outbreak and it's following days, and seem to be immune to whatever causes people to turn. They talked about a last evacuation base in London on the radio, at least until every channel went silent. The risk of it being overrun is big, but since you have no other options, you have to make it to London through a zombie infested Britain. And with the right equipment, company and plan, you might just make it.
Rules
Since this is a zombie apocalypse, it is pretty much impossible for you to survive on your own. There are no other survivors than your fellow players, except for some characters of interest that I may slap into the story. Food and water is sometimes more valuable than guns to survive, so make sure to be well-supplied, and with the right kind of food. Also notice that this is the kind where zombies can often run, so react accordingly.
Equipment: I hope its clear that "Dual Gatling guns with a BFG 9000 on the side" is neither possible nor tolerated. Chances are, you will probably only get access to firearms and ammunition very rarely. You can have homemade firearms, but then you better have some crafting skills, and it could still be of lower quality than the real deal. Also, you cannot carry 200lb of food and such. In fact, you can barely carry anything at all unless you have a backpack, which I doubt everyone has in a zombie apocalypse. Basically, keep it realistic. You start out with every-day clothes, but you can make your own armor if you got the material and the know-how.
Combat: I would like everyone to remember than they're not Chuck Norris. If I see something like "I whip out my .357 revolver and kill all of the zombies with a super napalm bullet." or anything else unrealistic, the one responsible will get a Spot. Three spots and I enable a gruesome character death. Strength lies in numbers, so its good to have someone with you to battle the hordes of undead. We'll go with the classical "destroy the brain" so use whatever weapon you see fitting. Also remember than some weapons can be heavy and much slower to use. I think you understand all this already, but just in case.
Traveling: Traveling is best done during the day, since zombies magically avoid sunlight. But you will still find stragglers here and there. Most major highways are blocked by cars or sealed off, but you can get certain distances with a car on some roads. And when you get to a new area like a store, I will give a brief description of the place.
Infection: The outbreak is believed to be cause by a virus. Although all players are somehow immune to the virus, you should watch out for other people that might have been bitten. Transformation takes between 20 minutes and 24 hours, depending on how resistant the your body is. But it is inevitable and incurable. The virus is spread through the zombies' saliva and blood (28 days later, anyone?)
And now: the character sheet.
Name:
Ethnicity:
Age:
Sex:
Marital status:
Place of birth:
Occupation (before the outbreak):
Eye color:
Hair color:
Skin color:
Height:
Weight:
In-depth description:
Mental state:
Intelligence:
General outlook:
Fears:
Biases:
Sexual orientation:
Particular skills:
Flaws:
Equipment:
Background:
PM the sheet to me and I will add it to the list. If you start out with a gun, tell me where you got it from and how much ammunition you have. I will not play with a character of my own, but I will sometimes put in a certain character that I will control, but will only stay briefly.
Other than what I have given you, the story is basically a blank paper. Your actions make the story. You may risk going to London, or maybe try to escape some other way.
Survivors
Name: Rin Hoshira
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 20
Sex: Female
Marital status: Single
Place of birth: Canada
Occupation (before the outbreak): Scientist
Eye color: Iris's change color... but most of the time are Green.
Hair color: Short Auburn Hair
Skin color: Beige
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 116
In-depth description:
Chest=93cm
Waist=63cm
Thigh=42cm
Bicep=27cm
Hip=124cm
C-Cup
Blood Type B+
Mental state: Sane
Intelligence: High
General outlook: Happy on life, can accept most things
Fears: Being Alone
Biases:
Sexual orientation: Straight
Particular skills: Training in Guns, Swords, and Archery
Flaws: Hasn't used a Gun in a while.
Equipment: Sword, Bow'n'Arrows
Background: Born as a gifted child both mentally and physically. From birth she has always been the best in her classes, which is why she had been promoted 2 years to be brought up to a level where she was being challenged. Upon Graduating, she entered into an Ivy-League University with a top scholarship allowing her to continue her studies in Sciences, and Computers. She is currently 2 years in. before the zombie Apocalypse.
Name: Harold Washington
Ethnicity:
Age: 48
Sex: Male
Marital status: Single
Place of birth: London, England
Occupation (before the outbreak): Author
Eye color: Brown
Hair color: Dark brown
Skin color: Pale white
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 180 lbs
In-depth description: A man of average height. Slightly overweight and very pale due to years of shutting himself indoors to write. Has neck-length brown hair and typically wears half-moon reading glasses.
Mental state: Slightly unstable
Intelligence: High-average
General outlook: Everyone is an imbecile, and only his opinion matters
Fears: Agoraphobia
Biases: People in general
Sexual orientation: Asexual
Particular skills: Writing, making food last long.
Flaws: Is very physically incapable
Equipment: A box of cereal and large bottle of water.
Background: Raised in an orphanage, Harold never really interacted with the other children, preferring to hole himself in his room, under the covers with a flashlight reading books. When he reached adulthood, he decided he wanted to be an author. He enrolled in a course on creative writing, and made his way from there. He began spending weeks to months in his home writing stories. Most of his stories were never published, one or two made it, just barely enough to keep him alive. He began to hate the people who refused to publish his stories, not understanding how they didn't see his "genius." He began staying in his house for longer periods, eventually he only came out once a month to buy food and other amenities. He decided his stories were the only things that understood him.
When the outbreak started, Harold decided he had finally gone insane from seclusion. Until a zombie broke into his home and he had to fight it off with a lamp.
Name: John Mayne
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Age: 54
Sex: Male
Marital status: Divorced
Place of birth: London, England
Occupation (before the outbreak): Service station attendant (former Sergeant in the Royal Marines)
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Brown-Grey
Skin color: slightly tanned
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 230lbs
In-depth description: Greying brown hair, slightly overweight. He's tall with a frame that used to be athletic. Hair is still kept short. Usually wears a brown jacket and blue jeans, with an old army sweater underneath.
Mental state: Stable
Intelligence: Lower end of average
General outlook: Bitter
Fears: getting involved in other people's problems
Biases: Old school British, looks out for number one
Sexual orientation: Straight
Particular skills: Combat veteran, cool head in a tight spot
Flaws: severe alcoholic
Equipment: His clothes, Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk1, 40 rounds .303 British (personal firearm, given to him by his father), some old army rations.
Background: Secondary school drop out, joined the royal marines at 17 to get away from an abusive household. Served in the Falklands and Northern Ireland. By all accounts he excelled in the Marines, easily passing the training and making Sergeant in record time. He received the DSO during the Falklands campaign for bravery in the face of fire. During his time in Northern Ireland however his performance began to fall. He was officially reprimanded for drinking on duty and beating a protester. Finally he was dishonourably discharged after executing a member of the IRA who ahd surrendered after a firefight. Soon after he turned to alcohol and floated in-between jobs. He sold most of his possessions, including his DSO to keep up his habit. The only thing he didn't sell was his father's hunting rifle, a Second World War Lee-Enfield.
When the outbreak hit John locked himself in his attic and began shooting zombies, stopping when he was down to 40 rounds. How he acquired that much ammo is not known, however the Bristol territorial guard did report a break in, sometime around October 14th 1988, a few weeks after John's discharge.
Name: Catherine "Kat" O'Brien
Ethnicity: Celtic
Age: 22
Sex: Female
Marital status: Single
Place of birth: Westmeath, Ireland
Occupation (before the outbreak): Mechanic
Eye color: Striking blue
Hair color: Red
Skin color: Light tan
Height: 175cm
Weight: 109lb
In-depth description: Wears a brown jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of welding goggles hanging around her neck. Keeps her hair short, rarely letting it get below neck-height. Has some freckles on her cheeks.
Mental state: Stable
Intelligence: Average
General outlook: She's the one with the skills. They're the ones with the needs.
Fears: Spiders
Biases: (?)
Sexual orientation: Bisexual
Particular skills: Repairing, crafting, kick-boxing
Flaws: Cocky, often acts without thinking
Equipment: A large wrench, a handgun she found on the body of a police officer (6 bullets left) and two Snickers in her pocket.
Background: Catherine was born on a farm in central Ireland. She lived a pretty good life at her farm with her family, and grew attached to dogs, especially Border Collies. However, after a while she tired on the life of sheep herding and what-not. She was more interested in building and repairing things. She had been almost from birth. When she graduated, she moved to England and tried to find a good place to set up shop. She found one in Bristol, where she could both do what she loved the most and not have too much of a distance from her home on Ireland. But then the outbreak came, and she had to bash out her co-worker's brains with a wrench. Now, she roams the city, never staying in one place for long, doing what she have to to survive.