L4D OOC, Planning your way around a zombie apocolypse in SR Options

[TheMidnightHobo]

Is the virus only contaminative through bitings and scratching, or should we be worried about the city's water and food supplies? I'd say we should get bottled water anyway, and canned food (or equivalent) just to be safe.

I think this thing hit hard enough, fast enough that people didn't really have time to stock-pile things, so supermarkets should be good targets.

[Karoline]

The virus can be transfer via contact with the infected, their blood, or their saliva, so if you think there is infected blood/saliva/skin in the food/water, then you should avoid it. Otherwise there isn't any reason to suspect either. It should be noted that no source of the new strain was ever confirmed or even anything more than media speculation. It could have come from some company's food/water, it could have come from the city water supply. No one is really sure, so eat/drink from various sources at your own risk.

Oh, and I know I stated that IV ghouls came from regular Ghouls mutating in the original recruitment thread, but that was just initial thoughts, and isn't necessarily how things got kicked off. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Enjoy your paranoia (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Marwynn]

Methinks Brox should've learned the Sterilize spell. Or Clean Water... Or that magical food thing. Well, at least we can stay awake for long periods.

[Karoline]

Methinks Brox should've learned the Sterilize spell. Or Clean Water... Or that magical food thing. Well, at least we can stay awake for long periods.

Oh hindsight, you are a cruel Mistress indeed. Staying awake is good. There haven't been any -confirmed- reports of the IV Ghouls sleeping, but there really haven't been many confirmed reports of any kind about the IV Ghouls other than the fact that they are highly aggressive, seemingly of limited intellect (Though some of you have encountered notable exceptions to this rule), tougher than nails with something to prove, strong enough to make Trolls envious, and that the infection can be spread by contact with the creatures, their saliva, their blood, and of course bites/scratches that manage to break through armor.

Anything beyond that is speculation or particular first hand experience (The fact that they respond to sound and smell has been reasonably easy to observe).

[ravensoracle]

You won't be able to hide your aura with clothing (short of going super eskimo style), and infiltration won't cover anything aura specific, but for the most part, things that make it hard to see you, make it hard to see your aura, so it will function similarly against astral perception tests, however some things will obviously be less efficient (Hiding in shadows won't help you much, nor will cham suits or anything like that.)

That's what I was actually asking for. I know you can't cover it with clothing I just wanted to make sure infiltration checks also included making sure your aura isn't out in the open which is what it sounds like you're saying.

And no, you can't change your loadout to get a better pocket hacker. Lacking things is a very large part of the game, and you happen to lack a techy.

I didn't think you would let me. It was only a half-hearted request. I was thinking the way I asked would have hinted that it was more a joke.


As to postig our planning IC, I am waiting for eveyone to at least post once before I post. I am of strong opinion that I shouldn't interfere with anyone's introductory post.

As to the topic of posting, how often do you other players believe you'll be able to participate. The reason I am asking is that I play on other sites and if someone is only posting once every 3or 4 days than the group should be aware of that so we aren't watching the board chomping at the bit for our own next post. It wasn't mentioned in player selection and can greatly affect a game. Especially if more players want to post daily and others can't keep up with that. Not complaining, but I just think it is a topic that needs to be covered early on so the game doesn't die.

[TheMidnightHobo]

As to the topic of posting, how often do you other players believe you'll be able to participate. The reason I am asking is that I play on other sites and if someone is only posting once every 3or 4 days than the group should be aware of that so we aren't watching the board chomping at the bit for our own next post. It wasn't mentioned in player selection and can greatly affect a game. Especially if more players want to post daily and others can't keep up with that. Not complaining, but I just think it is a topic that needs to be covered early on so the game doesn't die.

I can post, depending on the day, after noon or after 5 pm, so I'm good for several or more posts every day if that's what the rest of you guys want.

[Marwynn]

I can post daily depending on the thread's speed.

[ravensoracle]

I didn't say it but I can post daily, maybe more depending on what I am doing that day. The weekends are more iffy depending on what I am doing with my family and how close I am to my computer.

[Karoline]

Hehe, yeah, I figured it was a joke... Guess I could have responded more jokingly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Hmm, I wonder what happened to Crizh. He hasn't posted anything in quite a while, well, only about 2 days I guess. I'll give him a while longer to start up. Hopefully he'll be able to post more and this was just a little hitch.

Suppose I should have mentioned a posting time in the recruitment thread. I think that since this is a survival horror/actiony type run, faster post times would be nice to keep things moving and keep people a bit on edge.

Personally I generally do a fair number of posts a day, and should be able to keep up with you guys most of the time (Though I sometimes have long stretches away from the computer)

[Cthulhudreams]

Incidently, SM says hiding in real shadows works fine against Astral sight. Just an FYI, total respect if you're playing it differently. My biggest learning from playing games is that you need to get straight how the rules operate.

Anyway, by 'reload' I meant 'get ready to do your shtick again' - it's hard for a maximum firepower character to reload, because ammo is limited. Magicians need down time - but a vampire can just summon a high force spirit, drain another ghoul and instantly be able to summon another high force spirit etc.

[Karoline]

Incidently, SM says hiding in real shadows works fine against Astral sight. Just an FYI, total respect if you're playing it differently. My biggest learning from playing games is that you need to get straight how the rules operate.

Anyway, by 'reload' I meant 'get ready to do your shtick again' - it's hard for a maximum firepower character to reload, because ammo is limited. Magicians need down time - but a vampire can just summon a high force spirit, drain another ghoul and instantly be able to summon another high force spirit etc.

Hmm, does it? I'll have to look over the rules again. I figured that since the Astral doesn't have normal light sources and whatnot, and since auras are luminescent by all accounts, shadows wouldn't exactly work because they wouldn't necessarily exist in the same places, and even if they did, hiding something in the dark that glows isn't all that easy. Like I said, I'll look into it. I don't mind admitting that I don't quite have the rule book memorized verbatim.

Yeah, I know what you meant by reload, and like I said, that is the entire point of this campaign. It isn't a case where you just burn through ammo at a thousand shots a second, it is something where magicians need to be very careful and thoughtful about what they cast, because they don't have infinite time after the battle to recover from their wounds. Summoning a high force spirit, draining a ghoul, and then repeating is exactly what I -don't- want. With regeneration, essence drain, and immunity to virus, it would be basically pointless.

Maybe you aren't getting that this is supposed to be set up as a survival horror type game, because your suggestion is about negating one of the key aspects (In my opinion) of the game, and that is the fact that you don't have infinite resources, you don't have infinite ability to heal, you don't have the ability to fight forever and a day. One of the key aspects is that you are vulnerable, that your life is basically on a clock that only stops if you can get somewhere truly safe.

[Cthulhudreams]

Oh I see what you want to do - but it's a challenge to be beaten. The players obviously want to defeat the clock. This means bringing the relevant mix of skills and equipment to the table that will enable them to win. It's just like SR4 regular, but instead of the various bits and pieces like social skills, recon astral/mundane/electronic, maximum firepower, stealth firepower etc, you need a different set of tools.

In the case of 'zombie panic' you one of the things need to be able to go nova to fight off a big zombie pack, but you also need to reload under high stress conditions! It's going to happen, so the character has to deal with it. If you cannot go nova and then reload, you've got a major problem.

[Karoline]

Oh I see what you want to do - but it's a challenge. The players obviously want to defeat the clock. This means bringing the relevant mix of skills and equipment to the table that will enable them to win.

In the case of 'zombie panic' you need to be able to go nova to fight off a big zombie pack, but you also need to reload under high stress conditions!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Exactly, now you're getting it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

The idea is that they will have to try and find that balance of putting out enough power to fight off the zombies, but hold back enough so that they can do it again as many times as possible. Of course if they don't fight hard enough they'll end up with wounds, and too many wounds will make the next encounter all the more difficult.

It is one thing that often bugs me about games like D&D and SR (Though this can be changed by play style) is that characters have to get through a very small number of difficult encounters in which they go all out, and aren't too concerned with the consequences (Ammo/spell expenditure or injury) because once they get through the few encounters they'll have all the time in the world to recover. When you take away that recovery time, you have a very different game. The mage isn't nearly as big a powerhouse because he can't take as much risk with a point or two of drain because it can't be healed (Or in D&D the mage only has a limited number of spells that has to last more than a single battle). Ranged types have to balance conserving ammo with making sure things don't get into melee with him. Melee types... well I guess they don't change a ton, but they need to be more wary of taking wounds, so might end up on the defensive more often.

[Cthulhudreams]

You're going to need to be careful with ammo availibility in game, it's what will swing the power balance.

[ravensoracle]

Another Q; What is the battery life on equipment? And where are the rules for generators and such?

[TheMidnightHobo]

Anyone else up for hitting supermarkets and then hightailing it outta here?

[ravensoracle]

I also want to hit a camping supply store as well but we may do that after we get out of the city.

[Marwynn]

I figure the Stuffer Shack's gonna be ransacked, but whatever's there would be more than nothing. I'm up for it.

[Karoline]

Another Q; What is the battery life on equipment? And where are the rules for generators and such?

Most equipment is going to be semi-infinite. Commlinks for example you won't need to worry about unless you go for weeks without power (The rules never mention any kind of battery life, or even the slightest thing, fluff or otherwise, about them ever having to be recharged. I figure they are so efficent and their batteries last so long and power is generally so available, that the battery running out on a commlink is basically unheard of unless you live on top of a mountain.

Now, if you guys start to go several weeks without getting to a power source, commlinks will begin to give low battery warnings.

Oh, I also figure that commlinks draw power from anything that they are hooked into directly (via cable) including an implanted datajack. So yeah, commlinks you really won't need to worry about.

Cham suits are similarly 'low drain' items. So long as you guys manage to find some kind of power and get enough time with it to reasonably recharge it, and aren't using it 24/7, it will be a long time before you have to worry about it.

So yeah, unless it specifically states some sort of power limit (Vehicles and drones) you won't need to worry just too much about power for it. This is partly because fluff has never led me to believe that these items have an even remotely short power limit, and partly because I don't want you guys having to track even more stuff (Already tracking food, water, ammo, meds, and vehicle/drone time, as well as damage, don't want you guys to have to track your commlink, cham suit, and a half dozen other little items as well)

[crizh]

Sorry guys, I'm on holiday up North and it appears that mobile broadband coverage North of Inverness is less than stellar.

I will try and keep up and contribute but I may be a bit slow.

I'll be back in civilization on Saturday evening....

[Karoline]

Sorry guys, I'm on holiday up North and it appears that mobile broadband coverage North of Inverness is less than stellar.

I will try and keep up and contribute but I may be a bit slow.

I'll be back in civilization on Saturday evening....

Sounds good. No mobile broadband coverage sucks. Personally I'm like a technomancer, if I don't get my internet fix I start going crazy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Do what you can manage and we'll do what we can. Enjoy your trip and look forward to this game really moving forward starting saturday/sunday.

[budoka05]

I'm interested in the game, so I'm putting a place holder here for the wait list. I'll post my char sheet soon.

[Karoline]

I'm interested in the game, so I'm putting a place holder here for the wait list. I'll post my char sheet soon.

Certainly, interested to see what you come up with.

This seems like a good time to preform a bit of thread necromancy. Hopefully Crizh will be posting today, and then we can get this game rolling again.

[crizh]

I'z back. Post immanent.

Can I ask Karoline, are these new Ghouls using Echolocation? It occurred to me that it might be the case from some of your previous posts and it would be very obvious to an Adept who has Echolocation himself, might even make them easier to hunt...

I'm going to put a bit of combat in the opening post, so it would be helpful to know how they compare to the average Ghoul as seen in the main rulebook.

[Karoline]

I'z back. Post immanent.

Can I ask Karoline, are these new Ghouls using Echolocation? It occurred to me that it might be the case from some of your previous posts and it would be very obvious to an Adept who has Echolocation himself, might even make them easier to hunt...

I'm going to put a bit of combat in the opening post, so it would be helpful to know how they compare to the average Ghoul as seen in the main rulebook.

Woo, welcome back. Echolocation is the ability to interpret the bouncing of sound off of objects to create a rough sketch of the surroundings. This doesn't grant any ability to tell if anything else is using echolocation around you (Though you'd be more easily able to tell if they are purposefully making sounds to echolocate with). As it is you haven't noticed them doing that, though the sound could be ultrasonic or infrasonic, thus out of the range of your hearing.

While I wanted to keep the adjustments secret, I'll make some reveals. There are actually multiple IV Ghoul templates in operation, but the important parts for you of the 'Hoard' template (Which is what the vast majority of the IV Ghouls are) are that all physical stats are one higher than the basic Ghoul template, and they gain an extra IP. They also have thick skin which gives them +2 impact armor (Basically running off the 'bark skin' quality). It also seems likely that their mental stats are lower, but that is harder to tell for certain.

There are of course other changes as well, but these are the most immediately noticeable ones (And most relevant to a combat scene).