PREMISE / RULES / FAQ

[monstermasher]

IC

WHERE THE FUCK AM I?

Don't worry about that...

NO, SERIOUSLY. WHERE THE FUCK AM I?

Well, if you're not going to ask nicely now, I guess you never will. Welcome to the United States of America! Or... what's left of it.

BUT I WAS JUST THERE/IN MY OWN WORLD/THE FUCK IS THE USA?

Right... well you see, there's no short answer to this. There's no long answer either. In fact, there's very little answer at all! All you know now is that you're waking up in a monster infested country, regardless of where you were before.

WHAT???

You still don't understand? I'm sorry. I'll try to be clearer. You've arrived in a post-apocalyptic version of North America. The world ended on July 3rd, 2015. That was just a few weeks ago, so if you're lucky there may be plenty of provisions and supplies available.

Nobody knows what happened. Perhaps the weight of the world just crushed us all. Either way, it happened with a bang. A single group of infected individuals seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and with them brought chaos. A bite can turn you into a beast. And you traveling types just keep coming.

SO WHAT ARE THE ZOMBIES LIKE?

There are a few of the shambling, groaning types. They might even scream BRAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIINS!!!!!! at you. There are also the screamers, the kind that don't stop running. They don't stop screaming. They're smart, fueled by something similar to rage, and are faster and stronger than your average zombie.

...And then there's whatever you can imagine. Maybe some exploding ones. Anyway, the screamers are the different ones. People say that they were the ones who brought the infection.

SO IF WE'RE BITTEN, WE'RE FUCKED.

Most of the time. The infection differs between some. If you're young, in your prime, you may be able to fight it off better. Some people don't seem to be affected at all. But the majority is that once you're bitten, you're dead.

And so far, there's no going back.

OOC

SO WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?

This is a slow burn, low key survival comedy jamjar. Characters wake up in a version of Earth that has been hit by the zombie apocalypse and are expected to survive on their own until they can find a way out. There's an underlying plot that can be triggered by mod posted mingle logs, usually just by exploring, which can also be turned in here. Players can also PM the mod account and request a plot point! If you choose to explore these fully with your character, you may find out how the Earth came to be this way—and what you can do to fix it.

Or at least survive.

YOU SAID COMEDY... WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?

Think a tabletop RPG mixed with the silliest 90s zombie movie you've ever seen. There's gonna be cliches. There's gonna be malls. Lots of screaming. And you might come across a shipping truck in the middle of nowhere meant for a Japanese fandom shop.

Plot points will vary from silly to serious, and players should expect violence and torture at the worst and terrible jokes at the best.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW...?

There's no network, but since powers are ON, characters might be able to rig up some sort of communications device. Everything still works right, there's just nobody to run it, you see? If you can break into it, it's yours. If you think you'd be able to find whatever, wherever, it's yours.

There is an activity check, however it's only one thread. Of any length. Pretty much just to see if you're still interested in the game.

You come into the world with everything you were carrying, and maybe a few extras. Have a pet dragon? Okay, why not. Have a car? Sure!

And how open is the world? Very open. You have the entirety of North America to design, everyone. Better get to it. I should say that new characters will always spawn in the same place—but if you die, you're dead. Take it seriously. You're allowed to decide if your character would survive a bite. New characters will arrive in a small military compound that easily keeps out the zombies. It's located in what used to be California.

As for the natives, there's almost none left. All natives who aren't infected will be NPC'd by the mod. Players can NPC the infected ones all they like.

The game's day to day ratio will be three real life days to one game day. All logs will have a format to use when posting, part of which is where you can put the date!

Applications are pretty much just character claims. Fill out a form, wait for instructions, you're good to go. Canon AUs are allowed, OCs are allowed, Fandom AUs and Fandoms OCs are not. PG/CRAUs are also not allowed. There can only be one of each character, except in the case of Canon AUs.

ARE YOU SURE THERE'S NO NETWORK?

A short while after the game opened, radios arrived in the game! The long version of an explanation about the radios can be found here, but the short version is that radios can only contact one person at a time and cannot be used to listen in on conversations.

WE NEED SOME INCENTIVES!

Your character won't have a choice in arriving, but if they stick with the main group, something might happen. You might also get something if you have extra AC. And you'll definitely get information and plot points if you seek them out or trigger them! I'll break it down for you:

EXTRA ACTIVITY REWARDS: If you link extra threads, your character will be awarded something. Nobody knows where they come from, but they can get things like powers, items, animals, immunity—a lot of the time, it'll be customised to fit your character. Extra activity doesn't mean a few extra comments; you need to link at least ten to get something small, twenty to get something medium, and thirty to get something huge. These do not need to be in one thread—you can link as many as you want to make up the total. As easy as this game is meant to be, the big stuff that comes with activity is harder to get on purpose. An alternative method you can use is building up your rewards from previous months. If you choose to save your rewards and combine them, you can cash them in like so: three small rewards = one huge. one small and one medium = one huge. Just mention in your AC comment that this is the route you'd like to take!

* PLEASE NOTE: You can only get one reward per AC! You can however save up to 30 comments to use at anytime in the future when you don't have enough comments for the reward you want. There's clarification in This post!

EXPLORATION: This happens in two ways. Before each mod posted mingle, the mod will plan out various triggers (and make up some custom ones, specifically for characters when applicable!) If in the course of that mingle a character manages to trip one, we'll let you know what you can find if you comment to this post! This is usually reserved for small rewards and plot points. Following up on plot points will help with the underlying plot!

Don't worry. When an important plot trigger shows up, it'll be mentioned somewhere easy to find in the post.

You can also PM the mod account and ask for a plot point. A link is preferred on the turn in post, where the mod can just drop in a comment about what you're finding, but it's fine to give a description of what your character might be doing when they find it in a PM, and we'll give you something back. Depending on the state of the game, it could be small, it could be drastic, etc. No matter what, it'll be important.

HANGING AROUND THE OTHERS: There's two ways this will work too. All characters wake up in a safe compound (unless you guys let the zombies in... please PM the mod account if you do that, just in case!) and if you stick around there, there will be rewards and plot to find. If you go out in a group, you will also be gifted randomly with rewards—this is not ICly known, but it's because something can get a better lock on characters if there's more than one.

Exploration is PLEASE GOD, EXPLORE THE WORLD, but exploring out of mingles won't always be noticed by the mod (especially since there will be a top level comment specifically for linking threads), so if your character has been looking around extensively, please drop a comment to the turn in post. Just like the second section in this list. I'm not all-seeing, unfortunately. :-(

THIS GOES FOR ANY OF THESE OPTIONS.

Finally, the incentive about going home. Along the way, characters will (hopefully) (maybe) work to find out a few things. How this happened. What they can do to fix it. And how to get home. If your character wants to stay in Zombie World forever, well. That's fine too.

THE RULES

DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE?

Don't be an asshole. If a player is making other players uncomfortable and the mods are presented with evidence of this, we reserve the right to pre-ban players and drop them from the game. Warnings will be issued for things like godmodding, infomodding, being rude to others, etc—but if enough is said about a player that the mods feel would put the rest of the game at risk, you'll have to play elsewhere.

Apart from that, don't infomod! We're going to be feeding you information all of the time. You can have creative control over most of the country—the only things off-limits are the uninfected natives and any NPCs created for the game.

If you think you have a power or anything similar that's gamebreaking, it won't be. Apart from that, nobody's nerfed. Permissions posts are advised, but not necessary. HMD posts are in the same boat.

AC is once a month. It's a thread, of any length! One omment, one hundred comments, both are fine. If you don't respond to it, you'll be idled. Taking a hiatus will exempt you for the month. You can also take a strike, which will be cleared by doing your AC for the next month. You'll have a week to fill out AC!

This game is also 18+. If you're younger than that, I'm sorry, you'll have to play somewhere else. Characters of any age/race can be apped in. No humanisation, unless your character needs it!

Try to remember to tag any post you play in with your character's name! In the case of characters sharing names, one of them should use the format "character name (canon)"

Again—don't be an asshole.

WHAT ABOUT CONTENT?

I'm going to say right now that this "game" is going to be filled with blood and violence. The extent of that is up to you and what you do with your character. You can get by on some scrapes and mild complaining if you're not into the intestines and brains aspect.

However, please warn for triggering subjects in your posts/top levels! And if a thread is heading into NSFW territory, please take it out of the comms. Sex is cool, but keep it in your journals. (You can still use it for AC.)

I HAVE A QUESTION!

Then ask in this post or PM the mod account!

Comments

[primetimehero]

so if powers are on, and you have a bs character that can bring characters/themselves back to life upon death . . . . how does that work . . . . (dance_okok)

[monstermasher]

That can be up to you/whoever you're playing with! If he dies because of an infection (the zombie kind) you can pick how his powers work with it. Or if he's even really affected at all! Same with people he's reviving, you can decide amongst yourselves how effective it is.

Just gonna say, it'll probably be super useful to have a healguy around—

[minefield]

during the events of the resident evil game moira's in, she has a virus in her bloodstream that reacts to her fear (and a bracelet that reflects this with different colours). later in the game, however, she overcomes this fear (as it was dependent on her fear of guns that she eventually defeats), and technically the virus shouldn't work on her anymore.

so my question is: would this virus react/change in this world? or would it just stay the same and lay dormant as it does by the end of the game?

[monstermasher]

It probably wouldn't change! But if you'd like it to, that can be worked out. The mechanics for how the characters end up here is still a mystery but I can say that it does allow for some changes in characters, and this could be one of them.

[traumata]

Are zombies appable? If yes, how does that work with the in-game zombie rules of infection, etc? Thanks!

[monstermasher]

They are! It's likely they'd be immune, though you could have them change into a different sort of zombie if they got infected if you'd like. Like, if they came in as a boomer from Left 4 Dead and got bitten and turned into a completely different sort of zombie, as an example. Or they could be bitten and just be able to survive the effects better than most people, etc.

...Most of the zombies in this world would probably just think of them as their own, if you didn't want to go that route. Zombros.

[usavatar]

What sort of mechanism is in place for canon updates, if any?

[monstermasher]

I knew I was forgetting something... I made a post for it here!

[crankypsychoex]

Not sure if I missed this or not, but what's your stance on playing more than one character from the same canon?

[monstermasher]

As long as there's no relation, connection or a reason they'd interact heavily with each other, that's fine!

[bullzerk]

Hi there! I've just got a brief question. Is there a limit to how many characters you can app?

[monstermasher]

Hi! There's a limit of five right now!

[queenbb]

question! in my canon, this dude dies and becomes a zombie. the zombies on the show have been shown to have hints of humanity/personality still in them ( watching tv screens, flocking to areas they frequented in life, killing people they liked in life by ripping out throats and killing people they hated in life by going for the bowels, couples that were turned into zombies sticking together, etc ), suggesting a form of intelligence.

my question is a ) can he be resurrected as a normal human and if so b ) can he keep his memories of his death along with what he did as a zombie?

asking for me and my canonmate

[monstermasher]

Without getting into details about how it happens (because that will be revealed in the plot eventually!) I can say that yes, these are both fine!

[zombae]

I have an uh. Zombie.

But he's all better! Mostly. He just needs daily medication so he doesn't go rabid. Is there a way to take care of this here?

[monstermasher]

Sure! The mechanism for how they got there is still hidden, but I can say that there is a viable way for him to get what he really needs. It'll be dropped (seemingly...) out of the sky and will land near him (unless he's in a building, then it'll land outside) in a box once a week.

...Unless it can't be kept that long, or something like that. Basically it'll drop randomly around him whenever he needs more of it.

[enucleation]

i've a terrible question about a terrible character.

let's say my character is an exclusive cannibal and diseases don't usually affect him. And zombies are (were????) human. Can he eat the zombies.......?

this is a real question i'm sorry...

[monstermasher]

I WAS HOPING SOMEONE WOULD ASK ME ABOUT THIS.

Yes, you can eat the zombies. I'm not really familiar with Tokyo Ghoul anymore, but if you think it'd work out with how ghouls are, you're free to have him dislike the taste or get a bit sick from it. In general, eating a zombie is fine. Just gross.

[raptorminor]

Okay so we have a bunch of legit-ass dinosaurs in the game. IF THEY EAT ZOMBIES, WILL THEY BECOME ZOMBIE-DINOS?

[monstermasher]

THEY WILL ONLY IF YOU WANT THEM TO. The way the bite mechanism works really is if you want to play out the effects of being a zombie, you definitely can. Or you can go halfway and recover, etc. If you want your dinosaur to turn into a zombie dinosaur, that's perfectly doable—since it's an infection, maybe her body couldn't fight it off like the last time she ate one or was bitten, or something like that. If you don't want zombie dinos, she'll probably just get mild indigestion.

[maconite]

I couldn't find the answer to this anywhere!! If a character had a severe injury are they healed upon arrival or no?

[monstermasher]

If you want them to be, yes! Or if you want them to be half healed, etc.

[dittosmakemewet]

Can characters hunt/fish for their own food?

[monstermasher]

Absolutely! Zombies don't really go after animals, so there's still plenty of them.

[efficio]

weird q but! i saw a character i was potentially thinking of apping apped several days ago, but now i see they aren't on the taken list. but their journal is a member of the game.



i'm fine either way but i'm quickly trying to figure out who to app! so i was just wondering if everyone is on the taken list or not.

[monstermasher]

They're not! Since deciding to close apps, I figured I could take the time once they close to update the list and focus on just accepting people (because I ran out of plot items for their intros around character 80, I've slowed down because I've been coming up with more haha)

Sorry about that!

[courageously]

Two quick questions!

One, I'm assuming is okay due to the acceptance letter/another character having a large pet, but would a horse be an acceptable one? A horse that also moved at super speeds (and would this be nerfed or is it still okay?)

And how would the zombies act--if anything-- around children of the God of the Death? This would apply more to her brother Nico who has control over corpses, but she's shown to have some divinity with ghosts!

[monstermasher]

1. The superhorse is fine! If it moved fast enough to like, break the dimension or something (looking at you, DC Comics) that would be something nerfable, but lower than that is fine.

2. Probably the same as anyone else, though they might almost hesitate before trying to kill. It's very subtle, though.

[mythomagician]

I have a couple quick questions about Nico here! He's one overpowered little boy so I just wanted to check if some of his more applicable powers need to be nerfed.

First and foremost, he can raise armies of the dead by communicating with the Underworld, as a son of Hades. They don't last long, bc the soldiers are literally bundles of bones held together by his sheer willpower, but I wanted to check if that's okay.

Second - he can banish zombies not under his control back to the Underworld, where they ought to be, but it's super taxing, and the one time he did it in canon, he passed out for three days. I totally get if either of those aspects of his powers need to be toned down.

.... also he canonically has a French zombie chauffeur he can summon at any time. Will this zombie still be under his control?

[monstermasher]

1) Yes! As long as it's not killing all of the zombies in the state at once it should be fine.

2) Also yes! But if he can do it to multiple zombies at a time, maybe limit it to 10 or so.

3) SURE.

[usavatar]

Are there specific symptoms after being bitten, or is that largely up to player discretion?

[monstermasher]

Up to the players!

[flightsuit]

Since any pets are allowed, would a dragon be okay? Since things like raptors were being apped, I wasn't sure if Toothless would be too much of a standalone character to be allowed to come in pair with Hiccup.

[monstermasher]

I think inugamirpg has a good idea when it comes to this. Basically, yes you can have Toothless now, but if one decides to app in later it'll be up to you to talk it out with them, because what will happen is the Toothless you've been playing will disappear and the other player's Toothless won't have any memories of it. Kind of like if a Toothless was dropped and then suddenly apped back in!

I hope this is alright and makes sense.

[kamikaze]

can someone just grab one of the cars in the vehicle bay and start driving it around. and if that's okay what about trying to modify the car.

[monstermasher]

Yes they can!

And they can definitely modify it.

[mcgill]

How are character absences dealt with during player hiatuses? Are they just assumed to be on autopilot, or is there a possibility of something else happening to them?

[monstermasher]

They can be on autopilot or they can simply go missing! Whenever they come back, they'll just be waking up somewhere. That "somewhere" is pretty much anywhere you want them to be. If they disappear, they'll have dreams of bright lights but that's pretty much it.

Thanks for asking this, I kept forgetting to put it somewhere...

[controlledvariable]

This is more a suggestion than a question, but I was wondering if it might be an idea to have a "plot questions" page so that everything is in one place? That way everyone can look to see if their questions have been answered rather than you potentially getting like five PMs with the same thing.

[monstermasher]

That's a good idea! I was considering implementing a 'permanent exploration turn in' type of post that could double as something like that.

[antagonize]

One of these is more of a suggestion than a question, but here we go:

1. Is it possible to have a tag system implemented at some point? For organizational/activity tracking purposes.
2. Iiiiiiii might have missed this somewhere, but around what time of the month can we expect activity checks to take place?

[monstermasher]

1. YES I KEEP FORGETTING ABOUT THAT, FML. You can tag your character into posts, I'll note it in the next modpost haha (thank you for reminding me Q omg)

2. AC will take place on the 1st of the month! So links from the 1st-31st (for example) would work. It'll be open for a week for submissions. (This first month is just a check in, which isn't much different ANYWAY haha)

[reformatted]

Hi! I've just got 2 questions for you.

The first one is about the radios. As Lambda has a built in communication system in her, would she be able to simply function as a radio for herself as long as she put herself on the right frequency?

And second, if you choose to make your character become a zombie, how does that work? Are they brainless? Or do they retain their personality but also zombie traits. Like Soos from Gravity Falls when he got bitten or the zombies from Lollipop Chainsaw.

[monstermasher]

1. It wouldn't be too easy to figure out, and as I mentioned in the OOC post there's a tiny piece of technology in it—if she were to put that in another radio, it'd also work. So she could probably plug it somewhere, though the functions would remain the same as the walkie talkies (at this time, at least)

2. It's more up to you than anything! Since it's your character and also a very real possibility, what happens during zombification is something I'll leave up to players. There's an IC reason if one person gets bitten and acts differently than other zombies, so it works out :-)

The default is like on a scale of 1-completely dead shambler, how bad is your infection, etc, but you don't really need to stick to it.

[(Anonymous)]

hello! i don't mean to push, but i am wondering if there are any plans to open up apps again sometime in the near future?

[monstermasher]

That's no problem! I'm hoping for an early September opening. I'll probably have a specific date announced by next week, along with some details about it.

[(Anonymous)]

hi there! is there a possibility in the future for a test drive to find out if a character would do well in this situation?

[monstermasher]

Hi! I didn't plan for a test drive when I set up apps for this round, but I can do so in the future, thanks for letting me know there's some interest!

I don't know for sure if there's enough time for me to create a well-thought out TDM before apps open because I'm going to be away from home for the next week or so, but if a current player would like to post one I'd be happy to help brainstorm some ideas if they needed any. And anyone, current player or not, could look into the game's information and make an unofficial one in a musebox somewhere.

[justthewind]

i can't believe that i'm the one asking this question but

as of her canon, the dag is pregnant! is this the kind of game that has options of 'whoops, no you aren't, mysteriously' or 'you sure are ... good luck with that'?

[monstermasher]

Ah yes I should have thought of this... I'll leave that up to you (and any other players in the future)! I wouldn't want to force a character to have to react to not being pregnant anymore if it's not something you would like to play or vice versa!