Welcome to Goldriver County (Paranormal Zombie Outbreak Quest)

[ThunderOwl]

Hi, ThunderOwl here. I´ve always been a fan of zombies, and as such I´ve always wanted to write a zombies quest. However, instead of the typical zombie virus we have seen in all shapes and sizes, I´ve wanted to take it in a more supernatural direction. My main quest is still going to be Loyalty is it´s own Reward (Check it out if you want to get an idea of how (bad) my writing is.), so expect updates to come out at a slower pace. With that said, hope you all enjoy it and if you have questions and or feedback I´ll be happy to hear them.

Choose your settings for the apocalypse: The balance must be of 0 or less at the end.

ZOMBIES SETTINGS:

Infection vector:
-[] Classic: Zombification only occurs via exchange of fluids, mainly through bites (0 points)
-[] Demise: Apart from fluids, any person that dies within the county will rise as an undead (-1 points)
-[] Taint: Supernatural taint spreads the curse, which mainly dwells in the undead bodies but can also infect places and/or objects. (-2 points)

Zombification speed:
-[] Very Slow: A full day passes before an infected rises as an undead. (+2 Points)
-[] Slow: 12 hours pass before an infected rises as an undead (+1 Points)
-[] Middle: 3 hours is what it takes for an infected to turn (0 Points)
-[] Random: There is no set pattern for infection speed. (-1 Points, Infection speed depends on the person in question, modified by the infection vector.)
-[] Fast: Infection is a matter of minutes, a quarter of an hour at most. (-2 Points)
-[] Instant: The moment one is infected, they turn into a zombie (-3 points)

Zombie Toughness:
-[] Weaklings: Whatever animates the undead ceases after you do enough damage (+2 Points)
-[] Romero standard: Headshots, decapitation, blunt damage to the cranium kill zombies. electricity, cold and fire also affects them (0 Points)
-[] Elemental Immunity: Fire, electricity and cold don't matter for the undead. (-1 Points)
-[] Are you sure It's Dead?: Undead have a random chance of shrugging off damage that should have killed them (-2 Points).
-[] Unstoppable: Even killing a single zombie requires an astonishing amount of punishment (-5 Points)

Zombie Strength:
-[] Do you even lift?: Undeads have a weakened body. (+1 Points)
-[] Average: The zombie is as strong in unlife as it was in life. (0 Points)
-[] Iron Grip: New strength bolster their bodies. (-1 Points)

Zombie Speed:
-[] Shamblers: Zombies move with an awkward shuffle(+1 Points)
-[] Walkers: Regular walking speed (0 Points)
-[] Runners: Zombie speed is a brisk jog (-1 Points)
-[] Sprinters: Undead will come at you at a dead sprint. (-2 Points)

Zombie intelligence:
-[] Braindead: Dumb as rocks (0 Points)
-[] A spark of Intelligence: Can open doors, overcome small obstacles and use simple tools (-2 Points)
-[] It can Think: While not as smart as a regular human, undead can make simple plans and react with intelligence (-5 Points)

Zombie mutations:
-[] No mutations: Whatever you chooses, will be that way for all the quest. (0 Points)
-[] Zombie types: There will be different types of zombies (-1 Points)
-[] Evolving zombies: All zombies will evolve with the passage of time (-2 Points)

COUNTY SETTINGS:

Weather harshness:
-[] Unnatural Mildness: Whatever is happening, is causing the temperatures to be that of spring. (+2 Points)
-[] Mild Chill: This year has been warmer than usual. (+1 Points)
-[] Cold: Heating and winter clothing are necessary. (0 Points)
-[] Very cold: Snow falls from the sky, and one should be wary of colds. (`-1 Points)
-[] Freezing: Hypothermia is a real threat with theses blizzards (-2 Points)

Infrastructure status:
-[] Taxpayer dues: Infrastructure in the country is in top condition. (+2 Points)
-[] Average: When there aren´t supernatural apocalypses, it works (0 Points)
-[] Damn the IRS: It sucks in normal circumstances, not to say now. (-2 Points)

Resource availability:
-[] Plentiful: Prices were dirt cheap this winter (+2 Points
-[] Abundant: All the stores seem to have stocked a bit extra of everything (+1 Points)
-[] Normal: They have what they have (0 Points)
-[] Lacking: People did bought a lot of stuff from the winter (-1 Points)
-[] Scarce: Suppliers really dropped the ball in January. (-2 Points)

Availability of Guns and ammo:
-[] DIY Armory: People look at you weird if you don´t have a flamethrower in the kitchen (+2 Points)
-[] Guns Galore: God Bless the Second Amendment (+1 Points)
-[] Normal: Some people like guns, and there are some shops to supply them (0 Points)
-[] Gun Control: Not a lot of places for target practice(-1 Points)
-[] Almost European: The NRA hates this place. (-2 Points)

Survivors disposition:
-[] All in This Together: Most survivor groups are friendly (+2 Points)
-[] Civilized: While not everyone is friendly, most people won´t shoot first. (+1 Points)
-[] Neither Saints nor Sinners: People are unpredictable in the apocalypse (0 Points)
-[] Everyone at Rifle Length: And undead plague has a way of making people tense (-1 Points)
-[] Mad Max Marauders: Is kill or be killed now (-2 Points)

Status of the military:
-[] Enduring Eagle: While they´ll take grievous loses, the Army will endure, and do their utmost to fulfill their duties (+3 Points)
-[] Absent Eagle: There is no military presence in the county. (0 Points)
-[] Ravenous Eagle: After the first few days, the military will devolve into well-equipped and organized marauder. (-3 Points)

Supernatural Settings:
-[] Don´t enable more supernatural elements: Zombies and Magical barriers are supernatural enough for you. ( finishes setting creation)
-[] Enable more supernatural natural elements: (Continue with setting creation)

Horror Trifecta:
-[] Yes: Add Vampirism and Lycanthropism
–[] Allied: Not all Vampires and werewolves are hostile, if the main character contracts it is not a game over (+2 Points)
–[] Hostile: Everyone that contracts them will turn hostile, if the main character does so it´s a game over (-2 Points)
-[] No: Doesn´t add Vampirism and Lycanthropism (0 Points)

Entities from the beyond:
-[] Yes: Adds Paranormal entities to the quest
–[] Fickle Favor: (+1 Points) Some entities might be friendly, some won´t.
–[] Terrors Unknown: (-3 Points) If it ain´t human, it´s going to be hostile.
-[] No: Doens´t add Paranormal entities to the quest (0 Points)

Magic:
-[] Magic and Wonders: Spells are more powerful and easier and safe to use. (+2 Points)
-[] Cantrips: Spells are hard to learn, and have serious drawbacks. (+1 Point)
-[] Muggle: Magic won´t be present: (0 Points)
-[] Witch hunt: All instances of magic will be dangerous and uncontrollable (-2 Points)

Influence of Faith:
-[] Miracles: People of strong faith might be able to enact miracles with great effort (+3 Points)
-[] Sacred Ground: Undead and other supernatural dangers will be weakened or repelled by places of worship (+1 Points)
-[] Atheist Apocalypse: Faith doesn´t have tangible effects.

Supernatural Resources and Equipment
-[] Blessed and Cursed: Items and equipment can have solely advantages instead of just curses. (+2 Points)
-[] Cursed: You might find curses, which will have advantages and drawbacks (+1 Points)
-[] None: No magical effect in equipments. (0 Points)

Choose your starting scenario

-[] The Joys of Single Parenthood.

You got married to your sweetheart when you finished High School. You were young and in love and there was a pregnancy and a shotgun wedding involved. Still, you´ve made it work for 10 years, until you were left alone with three kids. Since then it´s been rough balancing the care of your kids with paying the bill and being a parent tp them, but you tried your best. This is not how you expected your life to go, but your children are worth it, for despite how many sleepless nights they have given you there is nothing you won´t do for them.

-Starting area is the town of Alvord, with a population of 10.000 Inhabitants
-Main character age is 34.
-Starts with three children.
-Starting trait: Papa Wolf/Mama Bear: You get a bonus to all rolls regarding keeping your children safe.
-You get heavy penalties if one of your kids die. If all of the do so, it´s an instant Game Over.

-[] Care for a Drink?

You´ll admit that your bar is not what one would call a respectable place. It really needs renovations, is in the worst part of the city, barely turning a profit, the beer is piss and the customers are a bunch of violent angry assholes. But it was your father's bar, and his father before him, and his father before him. So when your older brothers moved away and your old man kicked the bucket, you were the one to inherit the place. And no way in hell you´re going let something happen to it.

-Starting area is the city of Woodbridge, with a population of 180.000 inhabitants.
-Main character age is 23
-You start with a waitress and a janitor.
-Starting trait: Working on a budget: You and your group consume less supplies as you make what you have last longer.
-If your bar is destroyed or you permanently lose it, it´s a game over.

-[] Jailhouse Rock

You hate this place since you got sent here 4 years ago. No way you could weasel your way out of it with the stack of evidence against you and the shitty lawyer you could barely afford. The cells are cramped, the food is trash, the other inmates are vicious, the guards are even worse and your family and friends are all perfectly fine with pretending you don´t exist. At least your cellmate is a decent enough sort, so you can sleep without fear of getting shanked.

-Starting area is Hardplace Penitentiary, with an inmate population of 472 inmates and 52 guards
-Main character age is 27
-You start with a cellmate.
-Starting trait: Roll with the Punches: Greater morale, bonus to willpower rolls.
-With the exception of criminals and other prisoners, every character will start with -15 opinion of you, instead of the normal 0.

 

[ThunderOwl]

HOWLING MOON SURVIVOR GROUP:

Spoiler: Jana Smith (You)

Age: 23

STATS:

-Strength: 3
-Perception: 8
-Toughness: 3
-Agility: 4
-Dexterity: 8
-Intelligence: 10
-Stamina: 3
-Willpower: 6

TRAITS:

-Working on a Budget: You and your group consume less supplies.
-Beautiful: Lowers opinion losses and bolsters opinion gain.
-Athletics: Makes it easier to raise physical stats and skills.
-Studious: Makes it easier to raise mental stats and skills.
-Frugal: You consume less supplies.
-Alcoholic: Small reduction to health pool and lack of drinks gives a penalty to willpower.
-Fun-sized: Penalties to some physical checks

TAGGED SKILLS:

-Cooking
-Crafting
-Chemistry
-First Aid
-Traps

OTHER STATS:

-Health: 50/75
-Stamina: 80/80
-Stamina Recovery: 8 Points per turn
-Morale: 100/110
-Initiative: 4
-Carrying Capacity: 30 points

INVENTORY:
-Hunting Knife: One-Handed Sharp. Damage 10+DEX x 2

Spoiler: Francis "Frank" Baker

Age: 59

STATS:

-Strength: 4
-Perception: 3
-Toughness: 7
-Agility: 3
-Dexterity: 3
-Intelligence: 3
-Stamina: 6
-Willpower: 8

TRAITS:

-Gallows Humor: Once per phase, re-rolls a failed willpower check.
-Anger Management: Bonus to rolls against taunts or supernatural induced anger.
-Nerves of Steel: Reduces the penalties for failed willpower checks.
-Lucky: Gives you extra bonuses to some rolls at random.
-Out of Shape: Makes it harder to raise physical stats and skills
-Smoker: Small reduction of stamina pool, lack of smokes gives penalties to willpower


TAGGED SKILLS:

-Stealth
-Lockpicking
-Rifles and Shotguns
-Survival
-Driving

OTHER STATS:

-Health: 120/120
-Stamina: 105/105
-Stamina Recovery: 11 Points per turn
-Morale: 130/130
-Initiative: 3
-Carrying Capacity: 40 points

OPINIONS:
-Jana Smith: +20. "She´s always been the best of Robert´s kids."
-Samantha Woods: -5 "That girl always has her head in the clouds"
-Roy Woods: 0 "Kid´s shaken up, not that I blame him."

INVENTORY:
-M1911 Pistol (5/8). Damage: 40 per shot. Semi-auto.

Spoiler: Samantha Woods

Age: 22

STATS:

-Strength: 5
-Perception: 2
-Toughness: 5
-Agility: 5
-Dexterity: 7
-Intelligence: 7
-Stamina: 5
-Willpower: 3

TRAITS:

-Grounded: Less affected by supernatural status effects.
-Beautiful: Lowers opinion losses and bolsters opinion gain.
-Healthy: Sickness penalties are reduced.
-Inner Compass: Character can´t get loss.
-Careless: Worsens the consequences of some failed rolls
-Forgetful: Makes it harder to raise mental stats and skills


TAGGED SKILLS:

-Repairs (Mechanical)
-Repairs (Electrical)
-Sewing
-Carpentry
-Scavenging

OTHER STATS:

-Health: 100/100
-Stamina: 100/100
-Stamina Recovery: 10 Points per turn
-Morale: 80/80
-Initiative: 5
-Carrying Capacity: 50 points

OPINIONS:
-Jana Smith: +3. "My boss is fine, I guess."
-Francis "Frank" Baker: +10 "He helped me get my brother."
-Roy Woods +30 "Thank God my brother´s alright"

Spoiler: Roy Woods

Age: 16

STATS:

-Strength: 6
-Perception: 5
-Toughness: 7
-Agility: 7
-Dexterity: 6
-Intelligence: 4
-Stamina: 8
-Willpower: 4

TRAITS:

-Grounded: Less affected by supernatural status effects.
-Tall: Bonus to certain physical checks.
-Athletic: Makes it easier to raise physical stats and skills.
-Unlucky: Gives you extra penalties to some rolls at random.
-Panicky: Gives you a chance to reroll successful willpower checks.

TAGGED SKILLS:

-One-Handed Blunt
-Carpentry
-First Aid

OTHER STATS:

-Health: 120/120
-Stamina: 130/130
-Stamina Recovery: 13 Points per turn
-Morale: 60/90
-Initiative: 7
-Carrying Capacity: 60 points

OPINIONS:
-Jana Smith: +1. "She´s pretty, but kinda intense."
-Francis "Frank" Baker: +15 "I got out of the Highschool thanks to him, I owe him one."
-Samantha Woods +30 "She´s my sister, and I can always count on her"

SUPPLIES:
-Water: Unlimited, Running water still works. 15 Liters in glass bottles.
-Food: 3 Days worth.
-Medicine: Very low.
-Fuel and Power: Unlimited, Electrical Lines still work.
-Other:
--Alcohol: Weeks worth.
--Tobacco: Low+
--Cleaning supplies Low.
--Building/Crafting supplies: 12 wooden planks, nails.

-Claw Hammer: One-Handed Blunt. Damage 10+STR x 2
-Metal Pipe: One-Handed Blunt. Damage 12+STR x 2
-6 Pool Cues: Two-Handed Blunt. Fragile. Damage 10+STR x 2
-Bottles: One-Handed blunt/One-handed Sharp. Breakable. Damage 10+STR (Unbroken)/ 15+DEX (Broken)

 

[ThunderOwl]

The sound of your alarm wakes you up abruptly. Grumbling, you turn sideways and grab your phone from the nightstand, taking it from the charger. After turning off the alarm, you glare at the screen, which, unaffected by your annoyance, shows that it is indeed 9:00 AM. Reluctantly, you get up from your bed, put on your slippers, enter the kitchen and start preparing breakfast. You´re not in the mood for cooking, so you just put a pot of coffee on the stove and two slices of bread in the toaster. While you wait for the brown elixir to brew, you check your social media on your phone. Nothing interesting pops up, so you put the phone on the counter and grab the now done coffee, pouring it in your favorite mug. You take a small sip, enjoying as the warm liquid bitter taste hits your tongue, the grogginess fading away.


You enjoy that peace of mind for about five seconds before your phone rings. You take another sip and think about letting it ring, and you almost do so when you pick up the phone and see the caller is your eldest brother Mike. Despite that, you accept the call, placing it between your head and shoulder as you spread butter on your now done toast.


"Ey….


-[] little brother, …

-[] little sister, …


"...how are you doing? Thought for a second you were asle…"


"What do you want Mike?" You cut him off, taking a bite of your toast. Mike chuckles at your tone.


"Forgot you ain't a morning person. Well, Sarah turns five next Saturday, and she asked me if you will come for the birthday party. She really took a liking to you on Christmas, she even cried when you left early after your… argument with George." You scoff at that. You only left because otherwise you would´ve knocked the lights out off him, older brother or not. "I know It's kind of a short notice, especially since you would need to travel out of the state, but you would really make her day if you were there."


You actually consider going for a moment as you eat. Last Christmas had been the first one you and your brothers had spent together since George and Mike had moved out of state. None of you had really kept in contact since they left, and the only reason you reconnected was that Dad died in November and they had traveled back to Woodbridge for the funeral and the reading of the will. After It had been Mike who had invited you both to spend Christmas with his family, and while her wife's a snob, your niece is a great kid, one of those excitable bundles of happiness that lack a mean bone in their body.


"I wish I could Mike, but business ain´t doing so hot right now. I can't afford to close on a weekend, not with the remaining debt of dad's hospital bills." Mike is silent after your rejection. You have an inkling on what he's thinking and you hope he doesn't say it.


You hope in vain. "Look, George was completely out of line, but he had a good point. He works in real estate, we can ask him to…"


"I'm not selling the bar, and George can go fuck himself." You cut him off again, seething with anger. "Dad left me the family business in his will 'cause he trusted me with it. And I'm not going to betray that trust and the history behind it by getting rid of it at the first chance. Especially not because that ungrateful asshole wants to do a favor to some business partner of his or whatever."


Mike isn't taken aback by your tone, pressing onwards "I respect that you want to keep the family business alive, but we both know that the place is barely turning a profit, and even that is uncertain with the debt. Dad wouldn't want you to end up broke for him."


Far from persuading you, those words only make you see red. "Don´t you fucking dare to talk about what he would have wanted when you haven´t been here for years!"


"I…" You stop him from answering a third time, letting free all the thoughts that you have kept to yourself since you first saw him at Dad's funeral. "Years Mike, fifteen fucking years!" You´re shouting into your phone now. "You went to college with that scholarship of yours and you forgot about us after the first few months! I know you and Dad didn't get along, but that doesn't excuse you acting like we didn´t exist! No calls, no visits, you didn't even invite us to your goddamn wedding! I only found out that you were married and with a kid because I looked you up on the Internet once!" One of the neighbors bangs on the wall of your apartment and screams for you to quiet down, so you take a deep breath and get your temper under control once more. "Then you and George appear at the funeral as if nothing ever happened. At least George doesn't hide that he only showed up to see if Dad had left him anything on his will, instead of trying to sell me the happy family bullshit." He doesn't respond after your outburst, a tense silence filling the line for a full minute


"I´m sorry." You almost hang in that moment, but the way he says those words, sad and in a tone that is barely audible, stops you. "You´re right, I´ve been an awful brother, and I shouldn't have taken my problems with Dad on you. It didn't hit me until the news of his death reached me, and if you want to cut contact with me and my family I´ll understand. Just…just let me try to make amends, be there for you as I haven´t been in all this time." You don't respond to that and he just sighs. "I´ll leave you alone. Please call me if you want to discuss this later. I love you."


He hangs up, and you place the phone back on the counter, still feeling agitated over the conversation. You drink from your coffee in an effort to calm down, only to grimace as it is now lukewarm. You finish your breakfast, take a shower and get dressed in record time, eager to get to work and put the call with your brother out of your mind. It is only a short walk from your apartment to the bar, which you definitely appreciate as a gust of cold wind makes you shiver despite your coat.


You feel a bit warmer once you reach your work. Not from the temperature, which is still just as cold, but from seeing your own business and from recalling the history it has. It may not look like much, a squat building in the crossing of two streets, with brick walls, dark windows and a door that has seen better years, yet the sign above the entry reads


-[] Write-in Bar name


Since 1955


You unlock the door and enter inside. The interior is dark, dimly lit by the windows despite the soon shining outside. It is a wide space, with a pool table in the middle of the room and the counter onto the left side, the ten wooden tables and their chairs on the right, the bathrooms on the back and the door to the office and the storage behind the counter.


Entering the office, you start the computer in order to get some paperwork, mainly accounting and a change of suppliers, seeing as the brand of whisky you currently buy has raised their prices. Finding their contact info, you write an email to start talking about prices.


CHARACTER CREATION


-[] Write-in Name and Surname:


-[] Add an image or a description of the character.


Stat Distribution.


You have 8 stats:


Strength: Determines carrying capacity, boosts melee damage with blunt weapons, and strength checks.


Perception: Boosts looting roll, helps when detecting traps, hidden people and deceptions.


Toughness: Influences health pool, resistance to sickness and poison, and recovery speed from wounds and diseases.


Agility: Influences Running Speed, dodging and acrobatics.


Dexterity: Helps with task requiring manual agility, boosts melee damage with cutting and piercing weapons


Intelligence: Helps with learning, logic, recalling information and Magic.


Stamina: Influences stamina pool, capability to ignore exhaustion and ability to stay functional without rest.


Willpower: Influences morale pool and managing fear, anger, panic and mind control effects.


You have 45 points to distribute. You have to put at least 1 point in every stat and you cannot put more than 10. 5 in every stat is a completely average human.


-[] Strength

-[] Perception:

-[] Toughness:

-[] Agility:

-[] Dexterity:

-[] Intelligence:

-[] Stamina:

-[] Willpower:


SKILLS:


Choose Five skills to tag


-[] Cooking

-[] Survival

-[] Repairs (Mechanical)

-[] Repairs (Electrical)

-[] Carpentry

-[] Sewing

-[] Crafting

-[] Chemistry

-[] First Aid

-[] Driving.

-[] Lockpicking

-[] Pistols

-[] Rifles and Shotguns

-[] Automatic

-[] One-handed blunt weapon

-[] One-handed sharp weapon

-[] Two-handed blunt weapon

-[] Two-handed sharp Weapon

-[] Stealth.

-[] Scavenging

-[] Sleight of hand

-[] Traps

-[] Throwing


POSITIVE TRAITS: You can pick 2 for free:


-[] Handsome/Beautiful: Lower opinion losses and boosts opinion gains

-[] Imposing: Bonus when trying to intimidate people.

-[] Good listener: When using non-tagged skills, trigger a small chance to obtain a bonus.

-[] Iron Lungs: Improves stamina regeneration.

-[] Solid Bones: Injury penalties are reduced.

-[] Healthy: Sickness penalties are reduced.

-[] Athletic: Makes it easier to raise physical stats and skills.

-[] Frugal: Consumes less supplies.

-[] Perceptive: Once per phase, re-rolls a failed perception check.

-[] Studious: Makes it easier to raise mental stats and skills

-[] Lucky: Gives you extra bonuses to some rolls at random.

-[] Inner Compass: Character can´t get loss.

-[] Gallows Humor: Once per phase, re-rolls a failed willpower check.

-[] Nerves of steel: Reduces the penalties for failed willpower checks

-[] Anger Management: Bonus to rolls against taunts or supernatural induced anger.

-[] Second Wind: When stamina is completely depleted, small chance of instantly recovering half.

-[] Grounded: Less affected by supernatural status effects.



NEGATIVE TRAITS: For every negative trait you pick, you can pick an extra positive one


-[] Smoker: Small reduction of stamina pool, lack of smokes gives penalties to willpower

-[] Alcoholic: Small reduction of health pool lack of drinks gives penalties to willpower

-[] Racist: Hard opinion penalties with survivors of different ethnicities

-[] Ugly: Boosts opinion losses and lowers opinion gains. Cannot be taken with Beautiful/Handsome

-[] Hair-trigger temper: Penalties to rolls against taunts or supernatural induced anger. Cannot be taken with Anger Management

-[] Forgetful: Makes it harder to raise mental stats and skills, cannot be taken with Studious

-[] Sickly: Sickness penalties are augmented. Cannot be taken with Healthy

-[] Careless: Worsens the consequences of some failed rolls

-[] Out of shape: Makes it harder to raise physical stats and skills, cannot be taken with athletics

-[] Fun-sized: Penalties to some physical checks.

-[] Unlucky: Gives you extra penalties to some rolls at random.

-[] Fleeting: More affected by supernatural status effects.

-[] Abrasive: Reduces the bonus to persuasion from good write-ins.

-[] Panicky: Gives you a chance to reroll successful willpower checks.

-[] Disorganized: Reduces carrying capacity of containers.


After which you decide to take a break, so you step outside the office. Just as you do so, the bar's door opens, letting in the guy that works as your janitor and dishwasher.


Choose a Janitor:


-[] Frank, an old friend of your dad whom he hired after the man's business went bankrupt. A stand up guy, even if he's now pushing sixty.


-[] James, an ex-con from Hardplace who did 7 years for armed robbery. A mass of tattoos and muscles, he hasn't caused any trouble in the time he's been here, but there's something about him that rubs you the wrong way.


-[] Walter, a recent hire. Works well, always on time, and all customers like the guy. He's also kinda pushover.


You exchange greetings and he goes inmediately to work, making his best attempt to make presentable of the biological hazard you got for toilets. You in the meantime stock the shelfs and counter, make sure that there is spare change in the register and put a new beer barrel for the tap. At midday the first costumers start to arrive. Not a lot of them, but every bit helps. Shortly after them your second employee arrives.


"You're late." You say without looking at her as you pour a beer to a guy in the counter.


"Sorry boss, there was a traffic jam." Apologizes…


Choose a Waitress:


-[] Erin: A quiet gal, she came asking for a job to safe money for her medicine degree. It would help her if she didn't spend so much cash in cigarettes.


-[] Cass: A hellion of woman with a temper as fiery as her hair, you've seen her lay out a guy in one punch when he got handsy. And another when she thought he was talking shit. And another…


-[] Samantha: The woman is a hell of a handy woman and has saved you a couple hundred bucks in repairs. You don't know how seeing as she might be the most scatterbrained person you've seen in your life.


The next two hours go on as usual. People enter, drink and leave, the tv in the corner blares news that nobody is really paying attention, and when the sound of gunshots is heard close by, you all collectively and wordlessly agree that is none of your business. Then you feel it. An unsettling sensation, a chill that creeps into your spine. Your breath quickens and your knees wobble, and you swear you hear a faint, mocking laughter.


Then it fades, as suddenly as it has arrived. The pale faces of your staff and the patrons tells you that they have felt it too. You shrug and go back to work, thinking that is nothing.

You're wrong.

QM notes: Here's the character creation. Feel free to ask any doubts you might have.

 

[ThunderOwl]

An hour or so after that weird chill, the TV loses its signal, to the loud displeasure of the patrons who had recently asked you to change it to some sport program or the other. Seeing as some of them start talking about leaving, you wave Samantha to come to the counter.

"What´ya want Boss?" She asks, putting the tray with empty glasses on the counter as she leans to be at eye level with you, ignoring your personal space.

Used to that after having her here for a few weeks, you point to the TV. She follows your finger, and blinks when she sees the malfunctioning device. "Huh, when did that stop working?"

"Just about now, can you take a look at it?"

"On it, boss." She moves towards it, grabbing a stool to stand on in order to reach it. In the meantime a customer pays, handing you a few crumpled dollars stained with white powder. You put them in the register without comment, watching the man leave out of the corner of your eye. You then feel an urge to drink, so you pull a glass and start cleaning it with a cloth in order to distract you. You promised to yourself that you wouldn't drink on the job anymore. Another helpful distraction is Samantha, who comes back to you.

"I don't see anything wrong with the TV, there must be a problem either with the antenna or the signal." Reports the brunette waitress.

You hope it is not the antenna, you don't have a ladder here to go to the roof, so if it is an antenna problem you ain't going to have time to fix it until tomorrow. You watch with balled fists as most of your clients pay and leave, except for a shady looking fellow who looks at his beer as if it holds the answer to the secrets of the universe.

"Samantha, go clean the tables." The waitress startles when you address her, before doing what you tell her. After she leaves the counter you open the register and start counting the money inside. When you finish, you put the money back inside and close it more forcefully than needed. Not even one hundred bucks. You hope the night is more profitable, otherwise you are going to lose money at the end of the day. Again.

"Little Jana, so smart and yet too dumb to notice that she's trying to keep afloat a sinking ship. So desperate to please Daddy that you´re going to make the same mistakes after he´s dead." George's words echo in your mind. You grit your teeth at the memory and glance back at the shelf. That bottle of gin is looking tempting right now.

Easy Willpower check 1d20+1(Stat bonus) DC 5= 15+1=16 Success.

You tear your gaze away from the bottle. You´ve already got enough reasons to drink without adding your shithead of a brother to them. Besides, his words have the same worth as he does, which is none. The door of the storage room opens, and out comes Frank, who had been taking a break there. He's carrying that portable radio he likes to listen to, and his usual friendly expression is replaced by one of concern.

"Something wrong Frank?" He doesn´t answer as he places the radio in front of you and turns the volume up.

"...after some examination it has been confirmed that the unexplained red fog that appeared in the county limits at 12:00 prevents by unknown means all efforts to leave the county, along with blocking communication with the outside." Samantha stops cleaning and gets closer, her attention drawn by the radio. "In response, the State of Emergency has been declared in Goldriver County. The Army garrison in Fort Sherman is mobilizing to maintain order and the mayors of the county are meeting in Wealthsprings City to discuss the situation. In the meantime we urge all listeners to keep calm and cooperate with the authorities. This message will now repeat itself..."

Frank turns off the radio. "Only stations that work are this one and the one in Pinewood with the crackpot theories. I…fuck, I´ve never seen anything like this." You know Frank since you were a kid, and you´ve never seen him this unsettled. Not that you don´t share the feeling. Whatever is happening seems to ignore everything people know of science, more akin to some cheap fantasy novel or shitty sci-fi movies that one of your exes was really obssessed about.

"It does remind me of a book." Comments Samantha. "The one where some aliens dropped a dome over a town or something like that."

Frank raises an eyebrow, a small smile tugging at his lips. "So you think this is the fault of little green men in flying saucers? Then we better get ready for probings and crop circles."

You all share a small chuckle. You're all still worried after all, but the humor helps in coping. "Well, it doesn't matter if it is aliens or not, we got things to do." You speak up, Frank and Samantha nodding at your words. "Frank, we might need you to go to the supermarket and stock up on supplies, before people buy all stores dry, take Samantha with you and…"

The door opens, and a man walks in. You scrounge your nose as the stench of garbage and rotten meat reaches you. The man's clothes are caked in filth and grime and what once was a white t-shirt is now stained reddish-brown by what you strongly suspect is dried blood. He looks bloated, and when he looks over the three of you you can see his skin is pale with purple spots, like bruises but more intense in color. He looks at the three of you with a slack face, his dull eyes fixed on you for a moment. Then he turns away from you and starts walking towards the sole remaining patron, whose face pales as he immediately stands up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"You!?" He shouts at the man advancing at him, confusion, fear and anger lacing his words. "I killed you, you sonofabitch, how the fuck are you still standing?!" His apparent victim doesn't answer as he keeps moving closer, so the man pulls out a hunting knife from a sheath at his belt and stabs him in the chest.

"Oh my god!" Screams Samantha as you and Frank take a step back in surprise. The stab victim completely ignores the five inches of steel piercing his ribcage and grabs his attacker before bringing his mouth close and biting off a chunk of his neck. Blood flows freely from the wound as the man gurgles and falls to the floor, the bitter falling alongside him as he takes another bite off his cheek. Horror pools in your guts and the taste of bile hits your mouth as a word comes unbidden to your mind as you watch a man eat another.

Zombie.

Spoiler: Situation

Initiative order is Samantha (Purple Dot)-Jana (Blue Dot)-Frank (Green Dot)-Zombie (Red Dot)

The grey rectangle is a representation of the pool cue rack, the green one the pool table, the blue room is the toilets, the purple one the office and the yellow one the storage. The thicker black lines indicates doors.

Intelligence check 1d20+5 (Stat Bonus) DC 10/15= 12+5=18

You recall that your dad had a pistol in the upper drawer of the office desk.

[] Write-in a plan of action.

Q.M notes: Sorry for the delay, writing for my other quest has kept me busy and I had to check some details for this one. Character sheets have been added so that you can take them into account and I hope my Paint skills are helpful. As always, feel free to ask anything.

 

[ThunderOwl]

Spoiler: Combat and rolls

Turn 1:
Samantha moves and gets behind the counter, then pulls out phone and starts recording..
Jana enters the office and grabs M1911 (8/8).
Frank waits
Zombie medium intelligence check 1d20 (DC 10)= 11
Zombie gets up and moves towards Samantha

Turn 2:
Samantha keeps recording and positions herself behind Frank.
Jana gets out of the office and hands M1911 to Frank
Frank shoots the zombie in the head with the M1911 (7/8). 1d20+3 (Close range)-3(Untagged skill) (DC 13)=14+3-3=14, Shot hits.
Damage: 40x3 (Headshot multiplier)=120
Zombies health: 0/80
Are you Sure is Dead triggers? 1d6= 4. No.

Combat ends.

As the zombie takes another chunk of flesh out of the man´s neck, you manage to keep yourself calm enough to speak to a pale Samantha. "Samantha, get behind the counter, pull out your phone and start recording."

"Why´d you want me to record this!?" Asks Samantha incredulously as she goes around the counter to where you are.

"´Cause I don't want any trouble with the police for killing this thing. I'm getting Dad's gun." You open the door of the office and rush towards your desk. You open the upper drawer and are immediately reassured by the weapon inside.

"It's coming towards us, Jana!" Calls out Frank, prompting you to leave the office as quickly as you have entered it. In the bar, Samantha stands behind Frank, pointing her phone at the zombie that is walking in a straight line towards them, its mouth and chin covered in blood. You hand the pistol to Frank, who grabs it without taking his eyes off the approaching undead with a face so blank that it unsettles you. He grips it with both hands, aims it and pulls the trigger. The sound of the shoot is louder than you expected, and despite all the times you´ve heard gunshots around the neighborhood, you can't help but flinch and back away from Frank. The bullet pierces through the zombie´s forehead, a spray of blood and brain matter erupting from the back of its head. It falls to the floor like a log, a muted thud echoing as it hits the ground. The three of you stare at it warily for a second, and when it doesn't rise up again, you all relax a bit. Samantha stops recording and puts the phone back in her pockets and Frank lowers the gun and puts his finger in the outside of the trigger guard, his face still emotionless..

"Fuck." You mutter between your teeth, before speaking aloud. "i´m going to check the backdoor, to see that it still safe, and then take stock of what we have in the storage. Samantha, close the door and see if there are more zombies on the street. Frank, keep an eye on those two, in case they are not really dead." With that you turn around and enter the storage. You ignore for now the shelves and boxes haphazardly stacked, walking directly towards the door. To your relief it is closed, and putting you ear close to it you don´t hear anyone on the other side. On the way out you grab a pair of rubber gloves. Once in the bar again, you see Samantha stepping away from the door.

"Everything clear outside?" You ask her, seeing her worried expression.

"There are a few of them roaming around, but they seem to be moving away from here." She answers, still looking rattled by everything that has happened.

"Well then, that´s good." You throw the rubber gloves at her, which she barely manages to catch. "Check out the bodies, see if they have anything useful."

Your waitress risks a glance at the bodies and shudders in revulsion. "You can't be serious! I´m not touching that! Why can't you do it?!"

You point at the storage room with your thumb. "I´ve got to do inventory, and Frank´s the one who knows how to use a gun."

"Best get use to it quickly girl." Adds in Frank, more gently than you do. "I have the feeling it ain´t gonna be the last time you need to do this."

Samantha doens´t look pleased, but she puts one the gloves and get´s closer to the client that got eaten. You actually see her dry heaving before go back into the storage to take stock of what you have and what you can use.

Getting the obvious out of the way, you have plenty of drinks. Beer, soft drinks, vodka, gin, whisky. Nothing that you could call top-shelf stuff, but serviceable. The harder stuff can also be useful as disinfectant or to make Molotov Cocktails, if you fancy burning the place down. Regarding food, the situation is worse. The bar never had a kitchen, so the only food inside are peanuts you put with the drinks sometimes. There's also a first aid kid, fully stocked due to the amount of bar fights that happen here and you keep some aspirins in the office for when the day gets rough. You reckon you could take apart either the some of the crates in storage or the tables outside to get wood, as you have your dad old toolbox, inside which there is a claw hammer, an adjustable wrench, duct tape, some nails and screws, a screwdriver, a handsaw and a spanner. Finally, you have the cleaning supplies, bleach and such. You spend some time organizing everything, both so that it is easier to access and more clearly separated.

When you finish, Frank is taking the bodies of both the zombie outside, having already done so with it´s meal if the trail of blood leading to the door indicates anything. The sounds of puking come from the bathroom, which means that Samantha has lost the battle with her stomach. On the pool table someone has left the hunting knife that the victim stabbed the zombie with, carkeys, a wallet and half a pack of cigarettes, the cheap kind. You walk towards the table and open the wallet. You snarl when you see that the guy, Martin Marsh according to his driver´s license, didn´t have enough cash to pay his tab, which meant the fucker was going to try and leave without paying before he got eaten. Good riddance to the cunt then. Frank comes back inside, takes off the rubber gloves you gave to Samantha, puts them in the counter´s sink and grabs a glass and a bottle of whiskey before coming at your side.

"Left the bodies outsider while the coast was clear." He sets aside the bottle and glass, picks one of the cigarettes in the table and lights it up with that old zippo of his. Then he puts it in his mouth and hands the bottle and glass to you. "Thought about burning them, but didn't want to risk a fire attracting those things so close to the bar."

You look at both the glass and the bottles, before leaving the first at the table and taking a direct swig of the second. "Where there any close?" You ask him, the burn from the liquor pleasant in your throat.

"Two or three." He takes a drag of his cigarette, letting out a puff of smoke afterwards. "But they were moving east, towards downtown."

You purse your lips and take another drink from the bottle. "Shouldn't they have come towards us when you fired the pistol?"

Your father's old friend scratches his jaw. "Maybe, but who knows how the fuck those zombies works? Hell, I aimed for the head because that's what works in the movies."

That last comment makes the situation hit you. You've just see a man take a knife to the chest, tear the throat of another, and according to both Samantha and Frank there are more zombies in the street after some weird fog has cut off the county from the rest of the world. Holy shit, holy fucking shit. You look down at your hands, seeing that their shaking slightly and quickly drink more of the bottle to steady yourself. You ain't going to start freaking out, not now.

"Jana, are you okay?" You look up again, and Frank is looking at you, worried as he puts a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm fine." You move his hand off your shoulder and smile at him. "Just surprised that an old man like you knows what movies are."

"Jana!" He exclaims in false offense. "Of course I know what movies are, what do you think we did when I was a kid and there weren't dinosaurs to hunt!" You both laugh after that, and while you're aware that you haven't fooled him, you're thankful that he's playing along.

Samantha chooses that moment to leave the toilets, pale and with her phone held in a death grip. "I gotta go." She says in a voice so low that you struggle to hear her.

"What you mean that you got to go?" Samantha ignore your question and makes a beeline for the door. You grab her arm when she passes near you, but she pulls and gets it of your grip.

"My brother just called. He was staying in school for basketball practice and he says that some people just broke through the door and started to eat people. I gotta get him out of there." She says, looking down on you with a determined expression that looks foreign on her face.

"Where does your brother study?" Inquires Frank behind you.

"Miller High." That's your old High School. Not exactly nearby, but still on your side of the river. Normally it is half an hour away from here by car, but who knows how the streets are right now, or what's in them.

Choose your next action.

-[] Let Samantha go on her own.
–[] Write-in what you and Frank will do while she's away.
-[] Ask Frank to go with Samantha.
–[] Write-in what you´ll do while they're away.
-[] You go with Samantha.
–[] Write-in any instructions you have for Frank while you´re away.
-[] Try to convince Samantha not to go.
–[] Write-in an argument for how to convince her.

 

[ThunderOwl]

Just looking at Samantha´s expression you know that trying to persuade her not to go will end up with the normally bubbly girl´s fist in your face. Not that you´re going to do so. Your relationship with your own brothers is awful, but you ain't enough of a bitch to tell Samantha to leave her own brother hanging. Family is important after all, you wouldn't be here trying to keep this place afloat if it wasn't.

Hell, you´d offer yourself to go with her, but leaving the bar with everything that's going on makes you antsy. Besides, you´re sure your 5´1" ass isn't going to be as much of an assistance as you wish.

"You won´t help your brother if you get killed on your own." You look at Frank even as Samantha´s face reddens. "Frank, could you go with her and help her out?" Frank looks at you, throws the now spent cigarette to the floor and steps on it.

"You sure you´ll be fine on your own here?" He asks you. You nod, the resolute expression in your face making him close his eyes for a split second before he opens them and looks at your waitress. "Alright girl, let's go get that brother of yours." Samantha looks at the both of you for a moment before muttering a quick thank you and rush towards the door, Frank picks up the car keys they looted from the dead guy before following her. They do stop at the doorstep when you call out to them.

"Make sure to grab supplies while you're out. Food, medicine, all that stuff. You´re going to a highschool. so you can use some of the backpacks from students and the like. "

Samantha turns around briefly to answer. "Getting my brother back comes first, but we´ll do so if we can." Then they both leave, closing the door behind them. You hear the car engine coming to live and the vehicle speeding off to the distance, leaving you alone on the Howling Moon.

Spoiler: Work

Medium Willpower roll 1d20+1-3(Already Started Drinking) DC 10= 7+1-3=5
Medium Toughness roll 1d20-2(Stat Penalty) DC 10= 16-2= 14 Jana avoids buzzed debuff.

Easy Carpentry roll 1d20-3 (Untagged skill) DC 5= 2-3=-1. Artificial Critical Failure
Hard Dexterity check 1d20+3 (Stat Bonus) DC 15= 1+3= 4 Natural Critical Failure. -5 Health points
Easy First aid roll 1d20 DC 5= 19. Wound avoided.
Easy Crafting roll 1d20 DC 5= 2. Failure.

Incident roll 1d100+20(Nearby zombies gone)-15 (Noisy work)+5 (Light out)= 5+20-15+5= 15

Incident 1d4= 3

The first thing you do is turn off the lights, the bar interior fading into darkness, with the tinted windows providing just enough light so that you can see. It would be bad if the lighting attracted more of those things. Then you move to the storage room again, where you open the back door to grab some boxes with empty bottles. Quickly looking sideways to both ends of the alleyway, you waste no time in grabbing the crates and bringing them inside, closing the door and locking it afterwards. Then you bring those bottles, and the gin you were drinking before, to the counter. There you fill up with water the empty ones and keep emptying the one with alcohol. While running water still works, you don´t want to take your chances with it working until whatever the fuck is happening ends. Once you have filled all the bottles, and the gin is half-way empty you leave the bottles in the storage room in the space you clear out, you move towards the pool table and grab the hunting knife, tying the sheath that Frank also looted to your waist. Then you consider everything that can be used as a weapon inside the bar. There´s the knife, the claw hammer from the toolbox, the pool cues, which you could try and file into a point, a few more empty bottles, which you could either turn into molotov cocktails or even use as improvised shivs if you broke them up, the table and chair legs, although you would have to dismantle the tables and chair firsts, and you still have a kitchen knife for the times someone asks you for a mojito or other fancy drink, although the last time that happened was back when you father was still alive and George convinced him to host a poker night every Saturday. Of course, that ended badly, like everything that fucking George is involved in, when a guy ended up getting stabbed over a gambling debt. Those were a stressful two weeks for Dad.

Putting that thought aside and with the warmth of the gin settled comfortably in your stomach, you decide to start disassembling those empty crates in the storage room. Grabbing the claw hammer, you start pulling the nails from the wooden planks that you intend to use to board up the windows. It is hard work, for whoever hammered the nails in the first time was apparently strong as fuck and nailed them deep, which coupled with the fact that you ain´t exactly weightlifter material, means that it takes you some time to disassemble only two crates. Then you try to get on with the third. You put the claws of the hammer on the nails head, grab it with both hands and pull. It doesn't budge.

"Fuck." You curse as you pull again, putting your full weight into it. You feel it remains in place, and grip the handle even harder, the muscles on your arm straining with the effort, Then it suddenly just bursts free, leaving you off balance, which ends up with you hitting yourself with the hammer in the head due to the momentum. You bite back a scream as pain blooms in your temple, and the wet, warm feeling in you face tells your bleeding because of course you are. Steadying yourself, you grab the first aid kid and move towards the bathroom in order to look at it in the mirror. You spit on the sink, before looking in the mirror and assessing the damage. Thankfully it seems like there is just a small cut, one of those that bleeds a lot but it isn't really deep or dangerous. Which is great because it is already bad enough that you injured yourself with some stupid bullshit out of a saturday morning cartoon. You feel the sting of disinfectant as your rub it in the cut, before slapping a band-aid on it. Then you clean your face of blood with water, and then check if you have a concussion. You don´t feel dizzy, you see well and the light of the bathroom doesn´t bother you.

And you hear well, because the sound of the front door opening reaches your ears. Then you hear a very uncoordinated set of footsteps echoing to the ground floor. Your heart seizes in your chest at the thought of having to face one of those things, but you get your shit together. This is your place, and it is going to be no matter who many rotten corpses enter it. With that thought and the comfortable presence of the knife at your hip, you open the door of the bathroom.

Good news, it ain´t a zombie, even if the man who's drinking beer straight out of the tap is as dirty as the one that entered before. You can´t see much of his build with the heavy jacket he wears, dirty and full of holes at it is, but the gauntness of his face, the dirty unkempt hair that pokes out of the stained, grey beanie he wears, and the rat nest of beard that is stained with bear foam jog at your memory. You narrow your eyes in thought, and it takes you only a second to recall this dude. He´s a hobo who had popped up in the neighborhood a few months ago. He had been here a few times, spending whatever loose change he had on the cheapest rotgut you sell, until he tried to grope Samantha and Frank kicked him out, after punching half his teeth out when he took a swing at him.

He turns around and sees you, seemingly recognizing you as he wipes the foam out of his face with his sleeve. "Well, if it ain´t the little bitch. And without the other whore or the old fuck around." He lick his cracked lips, right hand getting a better grip on the metal pipe he has on his right hand. "Thought the place was closed and snuck in to have a drink, but I might stay around a bit longer." He snorts, and you grit your teeth at the way he leers at you. "Have some fun…"

Spoiler: Situation

Initiative order is Jana (Blue dot)-Hobo (Red dot)

Medium Perception roll 1d20+3 DC 10= 12+3=15

The man winces a bit when he puts weight in his left leg. He might be wounded there.

[] Write-in a plan of action

 

[ThunderOwl]

Spoiler: Combat

Turn 1:

Jana moves towards the nearest chair and throws it at Hobo. -15 Stamina (65/80 SP)

Throwing check 1d20-3(Untagged Skill)-3(Cumbersome) (DC 10)= 20-3-3=14. Natural Crit

Hobo Agility roll 1d20-2(Stat Bonus-Leg Wound penalty)-2 (Cumbersome) (DC 10+3(Jana´s Throwing crit))= 18-2-2=14 Hobo dodges. -10 Stamina (85/95 SP)

Hobo charges Jana and swings with his metal pipe. -20 Stamina (65/95 SP).

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill)-2(Charge) (DC 10)= 13-3-2= 8

Swings misses.

Turn 2:

Jana regains 8 stamina points (73/80 SP). Jana slashes Hobo in the arm. -12 Stamina (61/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 12)= 15-3=12

Hobo Agility roll 1d20-2(Stat Bonus-Leg Wound penalty) (DC 10)=3-2=1 Critical Failure

Hobo takes 26 damage (59/85 HP)

Hobo Toughness roll 1d20-1 (DC 10)= 16-1=15 Bleeding avoided

Hono Toughness roll 1d20-1 (DC 10)= 11-1= 10 Wounded avoided

Hobo Dexterity roll 1d20-1 (DC 10)= 13-1=12 Hobo avoids dropping the pipe

Hobo regains 9 stamina points. (74/95 SP) Hobo swing at Jana´s head -12 Stamina (62/95 SP)

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill) (DC 12)= 6-3= 3

Swing misses.

Turn 3:

Jana regains 8 stamina points (69/80 SP). Jana attempts to stab Hobo in the arm -12 Stamina (57/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 12)= 2-3=-1 Critical Failure

Jana misses and stumbles

Hobo regains 9 stamina points. (74/95 SP) Hobo swings at Jana´s leg. -12 Stamina (62/95SP)

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill)+3(Jana´s crit fail) (DC 12)= 8+3-3=8+3-3=8

Hobo misses.

Turn 4:

Jana regains 8 stamina points (60/80 SP). Jana attempts to stab Hobo in the wounded leg. -12 Stamina (48/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 12)= 5-3=2

Jana misses

Hobo regains 9 stamina points (71/95SP) Hobo swings a Jana´-12 stamina (59/95 SP)

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill) (DC 10)= 19-3=16

Jana Agility check 1d20-1(Stat penalty) (DC 10)= 5-1=4

Jana takes 20 damage (50/75 HP)

Jana Toughness check 1d20-2(Stat Penalty)= 14-2=12 Penalty avoided

Turn 5:

Jana regains 8 stamina points (56/80 SP). Jana attempts to stab Hobo. -12 Stamina (44/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 10)= 6-3= 3.

Jana misses

Hobo regains 9 Stamina (59/95 SP). Hobo swings at Jana´s leg -12 stamina (47/95 SP)

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill) (DC 12)= 18-3= 15

Jana´s Agility roll 1d20-1(stat malus) (DC 10)= 20-1=19 Natural Critical

Jana dodges and counters

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 10)= 19-3=16

Hobo agility roll 1d20-1= 3-1= 2

Hobo takes 26 damage (33/85 HP)
Hobo Toughness roll 20-1 (Stat penalty) (DC 10)= 2-1= 1 Critical Failure

Hobo takes bleeding damage

Hobo Low health Toughness roll 20-1(Stat penalty) (DC 10)= 5-1=4

Hobo gains wound "Pierced Lung" halves stamina recovery.

Turn 6

Jana regains 8 stamina points (52/80 SP). Jana attempts to stab Hobo. -12 Stamina (30/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 10)= 10-3=7

Jana misses

Hobo takes 6 points of bleed damage (27/85 HP) Hobo regains 4 stamina points (51/95 SP) Hobo swings at Jana´s head -12 stamina (39/95 SP)

One-handed Blunt check 1d20-3(Untagged skill) (DC 12)= 2-3= -1 Critical Failure

Hobo Stumbles.

Turn 7

Jana regains 8 stamina points (38/80 SP). Jana attempts to stab Hobo. -12 Stamina (26/80 SP)

One-handed Sharp check 1d20-3 (Untagged Skill) (DC 10-3(Hobo Crit fail))= 12-3= 9

Hobo takes 26 damage (5/85 HP)

Hobo take 6 points damage of bleed damage (-1/85 HP)

Hobo bleeds out. Combat end

You feel anger burning in your chest as this motherfucker stands there and says that. "You wanna have some fun?!" You ask as you move towards the nearest chair. "Here's your fucking fun!!" You roar as you grab a chair and throw it at him. His eyes widen as the furniture flies towards him, but with a swiftness you don't expect out of him he moves out of the way, letting the chair crash into the counter with a sound of wood smacking wood. The brief surprises in his face at being attacked soon switches to anger, the man baring his yellowed and missing teeth.

"Just for that, you ain't walking away from this, cunt." The man rushed at you,the metal pipe in his hand swung in an arc at your face, He stumbled at the last moment, the pipe passing an inch away from your face. Seeing the danger you are in with him waving that thing around, you pull your knife out of the belt and slash at his arm. You feel resistance as the blade cuts through fabric, skin and muscle, and the hobo shouts in pain as you leave a bleeding wound in his arm. He doesn't drop the pipe however as you have expected, and a back swing forces you to step back, before you try and cut him in the arm again, hoping to force him to drop his weapon. You trip this time however, stumbling onto the nearby pool table, But you recover your balance before the pipe comes down at the place where you previously were, scratching the wood in the pool table edge. You get onto your feet and try to sink your blade in his leg, but the hobo shifts his leg out of the path of the edge and smashes you in the ribs with the pipe. Pain blooms in your torso as the metal hits your right side, a pained gasp escaping your lips, Your cool falters as you slash at him in, trying to keep him away as the man curses when the knife flies past him.

"Stop struggling bitch!" His pipe moves towards your knee. Desperate you step into his reach and push your knife into his chest. It sinks between his ribs up to the hilt, taking great effort from you to stab into the flesh. A mouthful of pinkish, frothy blood burst out of his mouth, splattering both his bear and your head. You remove the knife and move it to sink it again, but he pushes you back with a desperate burst of strength and tries to bash your head in with the pipe once more. However, the wound he has taken weakens him severely, so instead of a powerful swing it is a half-hearted thing that makes him stumble past you. You sink the knife into his side, and he falls to the ground. He brings a weak hand to his chest, breath rasping and eyes wide and filled with fear. He lets out a few wheezing breaths before his hand and head falls limp and he stops breathing.

Medium Willpower check 1d20+1 (DC 10)= 18+1= 19

Adrenaline still pumping through your veins, you crouch to the dead man and clean the knife blade on the cleanest part of his jackets before sheathing it and start rummaging through his pockets. You ignore his now glassy eyes or how the blood wets your hands as you start searching in the inner pockets of the coat. You find nothing of use except for a lighter and another pack of cigarettes, together with a few pennies and a dirty needle you almost prickle your fingers with. You grab the still warm corpse by it´s legs and drag it outside, leaving another trail of blood in the floor, before dumping it in the place where Frank piled up the two other bodies. Then you go back inside, close and lock the front door and enter the bathroom again. You open the sink and you wash the blood off your hands.

Hard Willpower check 1d20+1 (DC 15)= 10+1

The adrenaline fades, and the awareness of what just happened and what you just did hits you harder than the blow that you can now fully feel the pain of. You quickly turn towards the toilet and proceed to lose your breakfast in it. God, you just killed someone. You know what he intended to do, and that it was self defense, but you can still feel his blood on your face, your heart hammering in your heart, the feeling of his flesh giving way under the knife. You feel the bile rising in your throat again, tears glistening in your eyes. You don´t know how much time you spend there, eyes closed and struggling to bring your breath under control.

-10 Morale.

A bang on the door pulls you out of the morass you´re in. You tense, hand drifting to the hilt of the knife, clenching your jaw as your side flares again in pain. You put one hand in the sink and use it as a support to stand. You clench your teeth, suppressing the anxiety that having to potentially fend for yourself brings you, or potentially killing another person.

"Jana! Are you alright!?" Frank's voice echoes through the area. "It's us, open up!" You walk towards the door as fast as the pain in your side allows and unlock it. Outside are Frank, Samantha and a tall teenager that must be Samantha´s brother, still in a basketball kit that is not suited for the weather. All of them look tired, and as you look upwards towards the kid, you can see that he's been crying.

"Oh my God Jana! What happened?!" Asks Samantha as she brings a hand to her mouth.

You wince a bit as you let them in, closing the door once more once they are inside. "One of the hobos Frank kicked out from here, he came back while you were gone. We fought and.." You swallow, finding it hard to find the words. "I killed him." You hate how small your voice sounds when you say that. Samantha and his brother look at you with hesitance after you say that.

Frank just places a hand on your shoulder and guides you to the nearest table. "You did what you had to do Jana." He speaks softly, and his expression shows not only empathy, but understanding. You´re not in the mood to question why is that as he helps you sit. "Now let´s take a look at that side of yours, make sure everything´s alright."

You take off your vest and shirt, and Frank carefully prods your side, where a huge bruise is already forming. After a while he smiles slightly and you dress yourself again. "Well, it doesn´t look like anything is broken, but it will still hurt for some time."

"Well, that's something I can take care off." You say as you stand up, injecting some confidence in your toen that you don´t really feel. Then you walk to the counter, grabbing another bottle and pouring yourself a glass. You need it after all of that, and you feel steadier as you drink, feeling the warmth of the liquor in your stomach. You shake the bottle slightly at the others. "Want some?"

Frank shakes his head, Samantha´s brother doesn´t reply and your waitress awkwardly gestures at you face. "You still have, eh, blood on your face."

"Oh" You grab a nearby rag and scrub your face with it. "So, seeing as we´re no longer just the three of us, I take it everything went well. What´s your name kid?" The teenager doesn´t reply, lost in thought, until Samantha puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes it.

"Uh?" The brother startles, looks around, and sees that you´ve asked him a question. "Um, I´m Roy, nice to meet you, I guess."

You ignore the kid after his response. "So manage to get any supplies out there.?" You ask Frank, and you drink again when he shakes his head in response.

"Miller High is a mess right now. We barely had time to get the kid out before a group of zombies started gnawing on us. As for doing so on the way back, the streets near the highschool are hot right now.. The army is there setting checkpoints and they don't take kindly to people wandering about."

"Fuck." Is your answer. "You saw any soldiers or zombies around?"

"A few zombies, but no troops."

You start thinking about what to do next, before you run out of daylight. You don´t want to take risks once the sun sets

-[] Write-in what you want your group to do next.

Q.M notes: Updated character sheets and added the one for Roy