New player seeks adventure into the unknown!

[kouchpotato]

Hey all, as you can probably tell by the title I'm looking for a game to join. I've got some experience with roleplaying, though I'm a newbie to RPGs (played DnD a few times, and Inquisitor once or twice).

I'a Cthulhu!

-KP

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome, kouchpotato! Zombie Apocalypse is always looking for players. While it's a long-running game that's almost three years old, there have been characters added relatively recently that you could play with only a small amount of catching up required. It's modern day survival horror, and while it doesn't involve the Mythos as such, it has its own mythology behind it that has similar elements.

I also recently started a new game called Space Oddity, set in 1969. We've already got eight players, so it would be a tight squeeze to add another, but if you really want to play and you have an interesting character concept I'll see if I can work you in.

[kouchpotato]

Oh wow, one of the people I used to play with in Urban Dead played a character in that game, Stephanie Bridges. I'd love to join.

[Mr. Handy]

That's me! I play Stephanie Bridges in Urban Dead, and I played her in Zombie Apocalypse when Welsh was running it (she's an NPC now that I'm the Keeper). Who did you play on Urban Dead?

Here's the same information I gave another prospective new player:

You're welcome, and I'm glad to have you aboard!

The Character Selection and Discussion thread is where you post your character selections. There are instructions in that thread for picking them. You can find a link to them in the post linked below. The Rules and Guidelines thread can also help you get started, and you can find the link in the post linked below as well. The Character Sheets thread in the Chapter 4 subforum has a list of which characters are taken and all of the character sheets (that's also in the post below).

Here is a link to a post I made with instructions for new players. It is a bit dated, but most of it is accurate. You'll need to choose one or more characters. The new characters in the Gold section are your best bet to start with, as they have the least catching up required. There were nine, but two of them are now dead and one has been picked up by another new player, leaving six. You can choose only one of them, but you'll be able to select more characters from the other sections if you wish once you've caught up on their stories. You can only read those IC threads (or parts of threads) in which you have at least one character.

You can always add more characters in the other sections later. In Sword, Raquel Orozco and Lara Voronova are still available, but they're in a very desperate situation right now and you'd have to read a lot more to catch up on their story. In Juno, you can pick from Ho Nguyen and Richard Saxon, though they also have a good deal more catching up required. Kyle Perkins is free too, but you'd also have to go back and read several pages from the end of Chapter 3. There are still many available characters in Omaha, but they have the most catching up needed. You may pick more than one character in Omaha if you wish. You will also probably have the opportunity to create your own characters in Chapter 5, which isn't all that far away.

This thread has more information on the game in general, including a link to the above post. The second page has more recent posts concerning Chapter 4.

Stephanie is in the Omaha section, by the way.

[kouchpotato]

Ha, I played Joe Morris. I'll check it out, thanks!

[Mr. Handy]

Yes, I remember you. Glad you found this game! If you want to play a character who knows Stephanie, you'll have a decent amount of catching up to do in Omaha. You could even play Stephanie herself, but then you'd have to read close to four chapters of backstory, not just part of the fourth. Chapter 5 is probably only a few months away at most, and if all goes well you'll be able to play a character of your own creation in Omaha who could possibly meet Stephanie at some point.

I started playing her in Zombie Apocalypse in June 2006, and I based one of my Urban Dead characters on her in August 2006 (I based another on Bo Richards, but he's been dormant in Urban Dead since soon after Monroeville opened, and his character in Zombie Apocalypse died in Chapter 3). In October 2006 I took over as Keeper for Zombie Apocalypse, and in February 2008 the game moved here from its original home on No Mutants Allowed for the start of Chapter 3. She's been up to her usual heroics in this game, and she's managed to not only survive, but to thrive as well. Her Sanity reached 99, the maxmium possible, at the end of Chapter 1, and it's stayed there since then. She also managed some impressive critical hits that took out a few zombies in Chapter 1 at a key point in time, saving lives in the process. Now she's busy saving the world and looking good doing it.

[kouchpotato]

Richard Saxon looks kinda interesting. What do I need to read to get caught up on him? Also, I had a Q about the combat in this game. How many actions do you get per round?

[Mr. Handy]

For Richard Saxon, you'll need to read End of the World Sale and then Trouble In Store (which is a very long thread). You can get a thread history for every character who's alive by checking the Locations and Weapons thread here. It even has links that go to the specific post where the character enters each thread, along with the current location. Below that you can find a list of every character's weapons and ammo.

In combat, you'll usually only get one action per round, but there are exceptions. You can parry one attack per round in addition to whatever else you're doing, but if you're facing multiple opponents you need to declare which one you're parrying at the start of the round. You may only parry hand-to-hand attacks. If you don't have a melee weapon capable of parrying, you may only parry unarmed attacks with your own unarmed combat skills. Only a weapon may parry another weapon (or a zombie bite). Long guns (rifles, shotguns, and big SMGs) may be used to parry as if they were large clubs, but only if you do not also fire them that round. A successful parry with a weapon will mean the weapon takes the damage instead of you. Grapples may only be "parried" by grapples, and then only if your hands are free, but they can also be dodged. You may also dodge any number of attacks in addition to your normal action, but only if that action isn't an attack. For example, you can dodge while running away. However, if you are being shot at, you may only "dodge" the first bullet fired at you in a given round (in this case, you're trying to throw off the shooter's aim and dive for cover).

If you attack, you may not also dodge, though you still get the one parry. Usually, you'll only get a single attack per round. However, some firearms have a rate of fire of 2 or even 3 shots per round. You can also increase this by using unaimed shots, but your chance to hit would only be 1/5 normal if you do that, so it's generally not worth it.

[kouchpotato]

Alright, I started reading the threads, on page three of trouble in the store ><.

Thanks for the clarification about combat.

[Mr. Handy]

Okay, great, and you're welcome! I'll send you Richard Saxon's secrets by PM. That way you can post in the Trouble In Store thread once you've read the rest of it and your secrets. Remember that you cannot read the other IC threads, only the threads (or portions of threads) in which your character is or has been present. You can always choose additional characters in the other sections, either now or at a later time.

[kouchpotato]

Got the PM. Finished the thread (mah eyes!)

[kouchpotato]

Do I wait until the next turn to post?

[Mr. Handy]

No need to wait, you should start posting now. Richard is currently on the roof. If you want him to go down to the back of the store, he can either climb down the ladder (without needing to roll anything) or use the zipline. Whichever route he doesn't use will be used by Helen, but I think she's been waiting for the ladder for a while and she would go first anyway, so you should use the zipline. The instructions are in the thread, but here they are again: First roll DEX x 5 on 1d100. If you succeed, you land without incident. If you fail, then you should roll Jump (the base skill is 25%) to see if you avoid injury when you fall. Even if you fail that, you shouldn't be hurt too badly and it's still possible you'll take 0 damage.