You wake up and stretch your arms. This cruise has been wonderful so far. You know a lot of...
Peoples in a Strange Land
- Thread starter JuliantheUnknown
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1. Introduction
- Location
- UnitedStates
You wake up and stretch your arms. This cruise has been wonderful so far. You know a lot of people have problems with family vacations, but you've never been one of them. Just a brief stop in London and then back home. Your spouse smiles at you and plays with your hair. You remember the years you have spent together. You wonder how you got so lucky.
You are the;
[] husband, a former navy civil engineer. Your name is (Write-In)
[] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Write-In)
You decide that the both of you should get dressed and regardless of both of your desire's to stay in bed. Your spouse decides to send you to wake up the kid(s). (Minimum one child, Maximum 3, Maximum Age 6)
You have
[] one child, a girl.
[] one child, a boy.
[] two children, both girls.
[] two children, both boys
[] two children, one girl and one boy.
[] Write-In
Oddly enough, it seems the Aurora Borealis is out in the sky. You're fairly certain that this celestial phenomenon isn't supposed to happen in this part of the world - or in the day. You're not the only one who seems to have gathered to look at the strange sight. You spot the rest of your family - your mother and your two siblings.
[] Your older sister, the police detective.
[] Your younger brother, the zoologist. He isn't actually coming with you guys back on the cruise. He and some fellow scientists are transporting some relatively young animals to London to conduct studies on (nothing too bad - just monitoring populations and mixing different groups). Puppies, kittens, chickens, even surprisingly a few (very young) cow calves, both male and female. It's some sort of study being conducted at the behest of a "Space Bat Industries" or something like that. Unfortunately, he also brought along his boyfriend who will be accompanying this family back on the cruise.
[] Your younger sister, the forensic anthropologist
[] Your younger brother, the history reenactor and blacksmith
[] Your younger sister the fitness instructor
[] Your older brother, the mechanical engineer
[] Your older sister, the photographer and film director.
[] Your younger sister, the musician
[] Your older brother, the plumber
[] Your older sister, the botanist.
[] Your older brother, the expert fencer.
[] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[] Your younger sister, the anthropologist
[] Your elder twin sister (by a few minutes), the electrical engineer.
[] Your older brother, the marine private.
[] Your older sister, the literature professor.
[] Your younger sister, the medical resident.
[] Your older brother, the salaryman (and amateur but talented winemaker and brewer).
[] Your younger sister, the painter.
[] Your older brother, the glassblower.
[] Your younger brother, the medievalist.
The sky begins to darken and people begin to panic. The Aurora Borealis expands even further until it consumes the entire sky. The ship crashes into something but you can't see what.
And then there's nothing. You fall unconscious but you're not sure for how long. When you awaken, the sky is clear once more. You feel wet sand beneath you and a wave of saltwater pass over you and look up. You see the cruise ship, cleaved into two. One side has been upturned and half of it has sunk deeper into the sand. You look around to see people all around you. You quickly locate you family and make sure to check all your family and sigh with relief as they all still breathe. Indeed, it seems that everybody you have checked is still alive. You realize that you're the first person to wake up. There'll need to be a call for help. But where? There's no signs of civilization anywhere save for the ship itself.
You look behind you and see a man in a hoody, chuckling to himself.
"Who are you?" you ask, "this isn't funny. We need to wake everybody else up. We need to wake up the captain. We need to contact the closest city." The man in the hoody takes a theatrical bow,
"I'm afraid you'll find that this ship and it's passengers are the only trace of human civilization on this planet."
"Who are you?" You ask again, "and how is that possible?"
"The first question is somewhat complicated. Technically, I am the owner of this ship - a young socially awkward but brilliant and wealthy man called George Armin. However, he's not here right now."
"I'm not looking for technical answers." You say, becoming suspicious that you are talking to a crazy man. It is possible that he is responsible for the ship being destroyed.
"Then I am what many of your kind would call an "Alien Space Bat" or "Random Omnipotent Being". Misnomers both. I am neither a bat or actually omnipotent - just very close. But I will suppose either term will suffice."
You're not sure whether to believe this person claiming to be some sort of god but today has been all sorts of strange so you decide to humor him.
"So what's the point of all of this? Are we not on Earth anymore?" You ask.
"Oh, no. You're very much on Earth. Just not as you know it. Well, more to the point, it's a pet project I've been working on - a few various Earths cobbled together in a human known shape, more or less anyways, but I'm starting to lose my original strain of thought. I wanted to see what humans would do in this world so I brought this fine ship along for the ride." He then smiles
"I've got to be off. Just one last thing: this ship will be the first, but I promise you that you will be far from the last." A large amount of brilliant golden energy suddenly flows from him taking the form of a cheekily smiling bat for a second, before turning once more into pure golden energy that flies off in the sky. The remaining person slumps and you catch him in your arms and he starts panicking,
"Oh gods, I didn't...that wasn't me."
"Yeah, I think I got that." You say. You help him get up,
"We have to wake everybody else up but we can't tell them about...it," he says.
"Why not?" You ask
"People are stupid, I don't think they'll be able to handle whatever that was. They might even start worshipping that thing and I sure as hell don't want that. If he told the the truth, it won't take too long for everybody to figure out that we're on another Earth."
You:
[] Agree - most people can't be trusted with this
[] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[] Write-In
With that matter settled, you decide that you should wake up
[] Your family first - these are the people that matter to you
[] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
[] Write-In
~
While you are playing a single character, you will also be making decisions for the overall colony. What you do as the colony will impact what you do as a player, and vice versa. You will initially have less control of what you can do as a colonist, but as you rise in prestige, you will have more options. Your colony will require food, shelter, and a good morale. If this goes on long enough, stable population will also be added.
Just to make sure this doesn't impact your ultimate decision, choosing one spouse will NOT kill the other automatically. Obviously, if you do something stupid, you can get your spouse killed but there won't be an automatic death. If your character themself dies, you will begin playing one of their descendants. You can choose to take over somebody who knew you while your character was alive or be born as a new person - the first has the advantage of getting you in the game earlier but gives you less control over their already established character (i.e if they were into something you guys don't find useful for the game, tough luck), the second gives you more control over their character but takes longer to get back to what could be considered the actual game as you'll have to spend some turns growing up.
You can name yourself, your spouse, your children, and your siblings. You can also determine their races and their ages to a reasonable extent - if you choose the farmer brother for example, it should be conceivable that he have a thirteen year old daughter, remembering of course, that he had her as a teenager. If you choose then, say the older sister police detective, she should be a few years older than the both of you. You should also generally be the same race (but I would legitimately love it if if you make your spouse a different race from you or if your parents were different races) for those biologically related to you.
You will initially be alone in this new world, but the ASB/ROB will eventually sends others from many different time periods in history. Some will be hostile, some will be friendly, you'll have to wait and see. They will however generally outnumber you to make up for the technological difference. It is also highly probable that some will not be taken from history per say, but from historical fiction (which is where the crossover tag comes from).
The cruise you are on is made up and will thus be smaller than a conventional cruise - containing only about a thousand passengers. It has the general facilities - a pool, a sauna, a large restaurant, lifeboats. There are things like potatoes, tomatoes, wheat germ, bell peppers, onions and such on the cruise (as well as things like rice, but this would probably not grow as well without the farmer sister's special strain) as well as a three or four dogs and a few cats.
The world will mostly be shaped like the world you know (exceptions here and there) with the ASB having put together many different ecosystems some of which will be original and some of which will be taken from other works (but with no humans or sapients to be found). You have landed in England, which will be mostly inspired from the Temperate Woodlands and Grasslands and the Coniferous Forest sections from Dougal Dixon's After Man: A Zoology of the Future. The science, is of course, very shaky, but to be honest, for this I'm relying on a little bit of rule of cool and suspension of disbelief.
Your personal character will mostly succeed or fail based on dice rolls, probably d100s. There will be skills such as Medicine or Civil Engineering or the like that you will be able to determine more about in the next update.
I've tried my hands at one quest before but it was radically different. We'll see how this goes.
You are the;
[] husband, a former navy civil engineer. Your name is (Write-In)
[] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Write-In)
You decide that the both of you should get dressed and regardless of both of your desire's to stay in bed. Your spouse decides to send you to wake up the kid(s). (Minimum one child, Maximum 3, Maximum Age 6)
You have
[] one child, a girl.
[] one child, a boy.
[] two children, both girls.
[] two children, both boys
[] two children, one girl and one boy.
[] Write-In
Oddly enough, it seems the Aurora Borealis is out in the sky. You're fairly certain that this celestial phenomenon isn't supposed to happen in this part of the world - or in the day. You're not the only one who seems to have gathered to look at the strange sight. You spot the rest of your family - your mother and your two siblings.
[] Your older sister, the police detective.
[] Your younger brother, the zoologist. He isn't actually coming with you guys back on the cruise. He and some fellow scientists are transporting some relatively young animals to London to conduct studies on (nothing too bad - just monitoring populations and mixing different groups). Puppies, kittens, chickens, even surprisingly a few (very young) cow calves, both male and female. It's some sort of study being conducted at the behest of a "Space Bat Industries" or something like that. Unfortunately, he also brought along his boyfriend who will be accompanying this family back on the cruise.
- His boyfriend, Chadwick. If Chadwick weren't gay, he would be the perfect definition of a fratbro. You think he's a bit of a waste of space - he seems to be a bad influence on your little brother. Your younger brother has never said anything, but you're also fairly certain that he grows and sells weed.
- This sibling cannot be taken with farmer sister.
[] Your younger sister, the forensic anthropologist
[] Your younger brother, the history reenactor and blacksmith
[] Your younger sister the fitness instructor
[] Your older brother, the mechanical engineer
[] Your older sister, the photographer and film director.
[] Your younger sister, the musician
[] Your older brother, the plumber
[] Your older sister, the botanist.
[] Your older brother, the expert fencer.
[] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
- You know you're not supposed to hate family, but your thirteen year old niece, Megan, is the definition of a spoiled princess. Your sister had her way too young and gave up a lot of her teenaged years to take care of her, especially after he father full-on bailed. She doesn't seem to appreciate anything her mother does for her though and always seems to want more, more, more.
- This sibling cannot be taken with zoologist brother
[] Your younger sister, the anthropologist
[] Your elder twin sister (by a few minutes), the electrical engineer.
[] Your older brother, the marine private.
[] Your older sister, the literature professor.
[] Your younger sister, the medical resident.
[] Your older brother, the salaryman (and amateur but talented winemaker and brewer).
[] Your younger sister, the painter.
[] Your older brother, the glassblower.
[] Your younger brother, the medievalist.
The sky begins to darken and people begin to panic. The Aurora Borealis expands even further until it consumes the entire sky. The ship crashes into something but you can't see what.
And then there's nothing. You fall unconscious but you're not sure for how long. When you awaken, the sky is clear once more. You feel wet sand beneath you and a wave of saltwater pass over you and look up. You see the cruise ship, cleaved into two. One side has been upturned and half of it has sunk deeper into the sand. You look around to see people all around you. You quickly locate you family and make sure to check all your family and sigh with relief as they all still breathe. Indeed, it seems that everybody you have checked is still alive. You realize that you're the first person to wake up. There'll need to be a call for help. But where? There's no signs of civilization anywhere save for the ship itself.
You look behind you and see a man in a hoody, chuckling to himself.
"Who are you?" you ask, "this isn't funny. We need to wake everybody else up. We need to wake up the captain. We need to contact the closest city." The man in the hoody takes a theatrical bow,
"I'm afraid you'll find that this ship and it's passengers are the only trace of human civilization on this planet."
"Who are you?" You ask again, "and how is that possible?"
"The first question is somewhat complicated. Technically, I am the owner of this ship - a young socially awkward but brilliant and wealthy man called George Armin. However, he's not here right now."
"I'm not looking for technical answers." You say, becoming suspicious that you are talking to a crazy man. It is possible that he is responsible for the ship being destroyed.
"Then I am what many of your kind would call an "Alien Space Bat" or "Random Omnipotent Being". Misnomers both. I am neither a bat or actually omnipotent - just very close. But I will suppose either term will suffice."
You're not sure whether to believe this person claiming to be some sort of god but today has been all sorts of strange so you decide to humor him.
"So what's the point of all of this? Are we not on Earth anymore?" You ask.
"Oh, no. You're very much on Earth. Just not as you know it. Well, more to the point, it's a pet project I've been working on - a few various Earths cobbled together in a human known shape, more or less anyways, but I'm starting to lose my original strain of thought. I wanted to see what humans would do in this world so I brought this fine ship along for the ride." He then smiles
"I've got to be off. Just one last thing: this ship will be the first, but I promise you that you will be far from the last." A large amount of brilliant golden energy suddenly flows from him taking the form of a cheekily smiling bat for a second, before turning once more into pure golden energy that flies off in the sky. The remaining person slumps and you catch him in your arms and he starts panicking,
"Oh gods, I didn't...that wasn't me."
"Yeah, I think I got that." You say. You help him get up,
"We have to wake everybody else up but we can't tell them about...it," he says.
"Why not?" You ask
"People are stupid, I don't think they'll be able to handle whatever that was. They might even start worshipping that thing and I sure as hell don't want that. If he told the the truth, it won't take too long for everybody to figure out that we're on another Earth."
You:
[] Agree - most people can't be trusted with this
[] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[] Write-In
With that matter settled, you decide that you should wake up
[] Your family first - these are the people that matter to you
[] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
[] Write-In
~
While you are playing a single character, you will also be making decisions for the overall colony. What you do as the colony will impact what you do as a player, and vice versa. You will initially have less control of what you can do as a colonist, but as you rise in prestige, you will have more options. Your colony will require food, shelter, and a good morale. If this goes on long enough, stable population will also be added.
Just to make sure this doesn't impact your ultimate decision, choosing one spouse will NOT kill the other automatically. Obviously, if you do something stupid, you can get your spouse killed but there won't be an automatic death. If your character themself dies, you will begin playing one of their descendants. You can choose to take over somebody who knew you while your character was alive or be born as a new person - the first has the advantage of getting you in the game earlier but gives you less control over their already established character (i.e if they were into something you guys don't find useful for the game, tough luck), the second gives you more control over their character but takes longer to get back to what could be considered the actual game as you'll have to spend some turns growing up.
You can name yourself, your spouse, your children, and your siblings. You can also determine their races and their ages to a reasonable extent - if you choose the farmer brother for example, it should be conceivable that he have a thirteen year old daughter, remembering of course, that he had her as a teenager. If you choose then, say the older sister police detective, she should be a few years older than the both of you. You should also generally be the same race (but I would legitimately love it if if you make your spouse a different race from you or if your parents were different races) for those biologically related to you.
You will initially be alone in this new world, but the ASB/ROB will eventually sends others from many different time periods in history. Some will be hostile, some will be friendly, you'll have to wait and see. They will however generally outnumber you to make up for the technological difference. It is also highly probable that some will not be taken from history per say, but from historical fiction (which is where the crossover tag comes from).
The cruise you are on is made up and will thus be smaller than a conventional cruise - containing only about a thousand passengers. It has the general facilities - a pool, a sauna, a large restaurant, lifeboats. There are things like potatoes, tomatoes, wheat germ, bell peppers, onions and such on the cruise (as well as things like rice, but this would probably not grow as well without the farmer sister's special strain) as well as a three or four dogs and a few cats.
The world will mostly be shaped like the world you know (exceptions here and there) with the ASB having put together many different ecosystems some of which will be original and some of which will be taken from other works (but with no humans or sapients to be found). You have landed in England, which will be mostly inspired from the Temperate Woodlands and Grasslands and the Coniferous Forest sections from Dougal Dixon's After Man: A Zoology of the Future. The science, is of course, very shaky, but to be honest, for this I'm relying on a little bit of rule of cool and suspension of disbelief.
Your personal character will mostly succeed or fail based on dice rolls, probably d100s. There will be skills such as Medicine or Civil Engineering or the like that you will be able to determine more about in the next update.
I've tried my hands at one quest before but it was radically different. We'll see how this goes.
[X] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Winry)
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
DeepWaters
No one will be the wiser.
- Location
- Land of Spiders and Shipping Charts
[X] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Winry)
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Will do.
[X] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Winry)
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
[X] wife, a recently discharged army doctor. Your name is (Winry)
[X] two children, one girl and one boy.
[X] Your twin sister (younger by a few minutes), the farmer. She and your mother still argue about her choice of profession - she wanted her to follow her as a lawyer. She's brought along some viable seeds strains that she's presenting to show to investors in London - rice strains, olives and grapes that can grow in unusual climate to investors from "Space Bat Industries". Unfortunately, she also has a child.
[X] Your older brother, the chef and amateur hunter
[X] Disagree - you have faith that people will react well.
[X] The captain of the ship first - people will probably trust him and see him as a natural authority figure which will make the process easier for everybody.
- Location
- UnitedStates
There seems to be a pretty clear consensus here so I'm going to go ahead and do that.
Second
- Location
- UnitedStates
You want to check out your family first, but you decide to go wake up the captain. Your family is far from the only one here and you've seen what can happen when too many people panic at once. George Armin quickly locates him. He's an older man with a bald head and a large white mustache. He groans with pain as he wakes up and his hand goes to his head.
"What happened? The last thing I remember is those damned lights playing hell with our equipment," he takes a look at his ship, "well fuck. How many survivors are there?"
"Seems everybody is alive at a cursory glance, but I haven't been able to check everybody." He nods and you help him up,
"You here with family?" he asks and you nod.
"Well, I won't keep you then. But I'd like you to come back as soon as possible. I'm going to need there to be order. There are going to be a lot of people panicking and we're going to need you find a way to get rescued as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where we are?" Armin looks at you but you press on anyways and you tell the captain everything. George, realizing the position he is in, quickly confirms your story.
"Please tell me you're joking." You shake your head.
"I want to say you're a liar, but that's too crazy of a story to be anything but true. But if you're right, keeping order is going to be even more important. People are going to turn on each other real fast. I would advise not telling this to people immediately until you have some concrete evidence in hand - maybe some strange animal."
"Agreed. I saw what humans can do to each other in Iraq." The captain looks up interested,
"You serve?" he asks.
"Me and my husband both. I'm army, he's navy."
"Dennis Flores, served twenty years in the navy." You shake his hand,
"Captain Winry Song, army doctor."
"Honored." George smiles,
"Oh like Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist." You feel a twinge of annoyance. You'd been born years before that damn series was ever written.
The captain wakes up several of his crew and some of the security guards - he confesses that most of them aren't worth anything, but he knows a couple of them used to serve. You go and wake up your family. First, your children.
"Mommy, what happened?" asks your son, wiping his eyes clear of gunk.
"Nothing, darling. The ship just got into a little crash. But we're all okay now." You wake up your husband next and quickly explain the situation to him while your children annoy each other- all of it even the apparent cosmic being shifting everybody into another world. He just nods and kisses you,
"We'll get through this." You warm up. He's always been able to get you through hard times since you've been together;
[] since high school; you were high school sweethearts.
[] since college.
[] since you met while you were both serving.
[] since you met by pure random chance
[] write-in
He helps you wake up your mother, your brother, Henry, sister, Rose and your niece, Megan. You quickly tell them what's going on and are met with a bit more skepticism, especially from Megan.
"I think Aunt Winry's lost it," she said, laughing. Rose shushes her before turning to you,
"It does sound kind of unbelievable, Winry." Henry shrugs,
"To be honest, if it is the truth, it'd be kind of cool. Founding a new society and all." Your mother keeps quiet before speaking, quieting everybody else,
"I suppose we'll all see the truth of this soon enough."
More people are waking up on their own now all around you. Luckily, the captain has woken up most of their crew and security and people are starting to be sheperded to a general location. A few hours go by while people around you complain. One rather portly gentleman shouts to let them know what's going on. You would think the ship being torn into two pieces and everybody waking up on the beach would clue him in a little.
A security guard approaches you,
"You Winry Oldfield?" You nod, he indicates for you and your husband to come along where he brings you to Captain Flores and George Armin. The two are arguing heavily.
"These people have a right to know immediately," Flores argued, his face red with rage.
"And have people kill each other over their new god?" replied Armin.
"I think you underestimate how much harder people will cling to the Bible," said Flores.
"Well, I'm still your boss. I think I make the decisions here." Flores laughed,
"I think the rules have changed a little bit."
The two notice you and stop. You introduce your husband to the both of them,
"Noah Oldfield" he says, "at your service." Captain Flores takes his hand and shakes them.
"A navy man, like myself. Good to hear. Unfortunately, it looks like what your wife is saying is true. We've sent out a few people into the forests - strange animals that act like they've never seen man before. Giant rats - and I mean giant, rabbits that look like they've been combined with deer. Our emergency radios aren't working either. You've both served, so I think I can rely on you. We're going to need to find a way to get a way for near a thousand people to believe that we're stranded in another world and then get most of them to work together."
"I'll think we need to prove to people that we're stuck in another world."
You quickly come up with a reply;
[] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[] The stars at night will surely be different - maybe this can be the key.
[] Write-In
Captain Flores considers your reply before nodding. He seems to think it is a good idea.
"We'll put it into motion." He then ponders a second before asking a question,
"It seems we might be working together very closely for the foreseeable future. Is there anything else you two bring to the table?"
Choose seven skills (Medicine already locked in due to past as army doctor, must also choose either guns or hand-to-hand) for self.
[] Engineering
[] Sailing
[x] Medicine
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Science
[] Specialized Knowledge Skill (two maximum)
[] Write-In
[] Speak Language
[] Write-In (English Fluent Automatic, Arabic passable automatic)
[] Persuasion
[] Charm
[] Bluff
[] Barter
[] Intimidate
[] Guns
[] Hand-to-Hand
[] Melee Weaponry
- Write-In (Specific Weapon)
[] Archery
[] Explosives
[] Lockpick
[] Escape Artist
[] Gymnastics
[] Swimming
[] Perform
- Write-In (Instrument)
[] Sneak
[] Sense Motive
[] Perception
[] Sleight of Hand
[] Hide
[] Disguise
[] Forgery
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Write-In (Approval Required)
Chose three skills for husband (Engineering and Sailing already locking In)
[x] Engineering
[x] Sailing
[] Medicine
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Science
[] Specialized Knowledge Skill (two maximum)
[] Write-In
[] Speak Language
[] Write-In (English Fluent Automatic, Arabic passable automatic)
[] Persuasion
[] Charm
[] Barter
[] Intimidate
[] Guns
[] Hand-to-Hand
[] Melee Weaponry
- Write-In (Specific Weapon)
[] Archery
[] Explosives
[] Lockpick
[] Escape Artist
[] Gymnastics
[] Swimming
[] Perform
- Write-In (Instrument)
[] Sneak
[] Sense Motive
[] Perception
[] Sleight of Hand
[] Hide
[] Disguise
[] Forgery
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Write-In (Approval Required)
Traits Earned
A Mother's Love
(You have and love your children)
+20 to all combat related rolls when fighting a threat that is a direct danger to any of your children.
The Truth and Nothing But the Truth
(You don't like lying to people)
+2 to Persuasion when using the truth
Army Doctor
You do not take a negative to medicine skills when performing in subpar conditions.
Relationships
Noah Song
100/100
He is your husband. You pledged your life to each other so even when you come up with crazy stories
Your Son (Name to be Determined)
100/100
He is your child and trusts you completely. This may change as he grows up and approaches puberty.
Your Daughter (Name to be determined)
She is your child and trusts you completely. This may change as she grows up and approaches puberty.
Megan (Your Niece)
-5/100
You're her least favorite aunt.
Your Mother (Elizabeth)
80/100
She is your mother and loves you even as she thinks you've gone a bit crazy.
Your Twin Sister (Rose)
75/100
You're her twin and her trust in you is generally high even if your story is a bit...odd.
Your older brother (Henry)
70/100
He's your brother, loves you and kind of thinks being in a new world would be kind of cool.
Dennis Flores
20/100
He seems impressed by the cut of your jib.
George Armin
0/100
He didn't like you going against his suggestion to keep quiet about everything.
~
Every skill you gain will give you a +10 to each roll. I'm not perfect and if I've forgotten a skill that you might think is essential, just say it. I'm going to be honest, the Guns Skill isn't going to be incredibly useful for the future as there aren't many guns on the cruise.
I named your husband and gave him you both a last name that could be indicative of many races. I'm also generally assuming that your son and daughter are five or six but haven't made any clear ones. Since nobody named their family last time around, I took the liberties but if people absolutely hate the names, I am willing to edit and change them.
I have left the kid's names up in the air because as their mother, you should have the right to name them. Please don't name them Hitler and Kid McKidface
"What happened? The last thing I remember is those damned lights playing hell with our equipment," he takes a look at his ship, "well fuck. How many survivors are there?"
"Seems everybody is alive at a cursory glance, but I haven't been able to check everybody." He nods and you help him up,
"You here with family?" he asks and you nod.
"Well, I won't keep you then. But I'd like you to come back as soon as possible. I'm going to need there to be order. There are going to be a lot of people panicking and we're going to need you find a way to get rescued as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where we are?" Armin looks at you but you press on anyways and you tell the captain everything. George, realizing the position he is in, quickly confirms your story.
"Please tell me you're joking." You shake your head.
"I want to say you're a liar, but that's too crazy of a story to be anything but true. But if you're right, keeping order is going to be even more important. People are going to turn on each other real fast. I would advise not telling this to people immediately until you have some concrete evidence in hand - maybe some strange animal."
"Agreed. I saw what humans can do to each other in Iraq." The captain looks up interested,
"You serve?" he asks.
"Me and my husband both. I'm army, he's navy."
"Dennis Flores, served twenty years in the navy." You shake his hand,
"Captain Winry Song, army doctor."
"Honored." George smiles,
"Oh like Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist." You feel a twinge of annoyance. You'd been born years before that damn series was ever written.
The captain wakes up several of his crew and some of the security guards - he confesses that most of them aren't worth anything, but he knows a couple of them used to serve. You go and wake up your family. First, your children.
"Mommy, what happened?" asks your son, wiping his eyes clear of gunk.
"Nothing, darling. The ship just got into a little crash. But we're all okay now." You wake up your husband next and quickly explain the situation to him while your children annoy each other- all of it even the apparent cosmic being shifting everybody into another world. He just nods and kisses you,
"We'll get through this." You warm up. He's always been able to get you through hard times since you've been together;
[] since high school; you were high school sweethearts.
[] since college.
[] since you met while you were both serving.
[] since you met by pure random chance
[] write-in
He helps you wake up your mother, your brother, Henry, sister, Rose and your niece, Megan. You quickly tell them what's going on and are met with a bit more skepticism, especially from Megan.
"I think Aunt Winry's lost it," she said, laughing. Rose shushes her before turning to you,
"It does sound kind of unbelievable, Winry." Henry shrugs,
"To be honest, if it is the truth, it'd be kind of cool. Founding a new society and all." Your mother keeps quiet before speaking, quieting everybody else,
"I suppose we'll all see the truth of this soon enough."
More people are waking up on their own now all around you. Luckily, the captain has woken up most of their crew and security and people are starting to be sheperded to a general location. A few hours go by while people around you complain. One rather portly gentleman shouts to let them know what's going on. You would think the ship being torn into two pieces and everybody waking up on the beach would clue him in a little.
A security guard approaches you,
"You Winry Oldfield?" You nod, he indicates for you and your husband to come along where he brings you to Captain Flores and George Armin. The two are arguing heavily.
"These people have a right to know immediately," Flores argued, his face red with rage.
"And have people kill each other over their new god?" replied Armin.
"I think you underestimate how much harder people will cling to the Bible," said Flores.
"Well, I'm still your boss. I think I make the decisions here." Flores laughed,
"I think the rules have changed a little bit."
The two notice you and stop. You introduce your husband to the both of them,
"Noah Oldfield" he says, "at your service." Captain Flores takes his hand and shakes them.
"A navy man, like myself. Good to hear. Unfortunately, it looks like what your wife is saying is true. We've sent out a few people into the forests - strange animals that act like they've never seen man before. Giant rats - and I mean giant, rabbits that look like they've been combined with deer. Our emergency radios aren't working either. You've both served, so I think I can rely on you. We're going to need to find a way to get a way for near a thousand people to believe that we're stranded in another world and then get most of them to work together."
"I'll think we need to prove to people that we're stuck in another world."
You quickly come up with a reply;
[] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[] The stars at night will surely be different - maybe this can be the key.
[] Write-In
Captain Flores considers your reply before nodding. He seems to think it is a good idea.
"We'll put it into motion." He then ponders a second before asking a question,
"It seems we might be working together very closely for the foreseeable future. Is there anything else you two bring to the table?"
Choose seven skills (Medicine already locked in due to past as army doctor, must also choose either guns or hand-to-hand) for self.
[] Engineering
[] Sailing
[x] Medicine
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Science
[] Specialized Knowledge Skill (two maximum)
[] Write-In
[] Speak Language
[] Write-In (English Fluent Automatic, Arabic passable automatic)
[] Persuasion
[] Charm
[] Bluff
[] Barter
[] Intimidate
[] Guns
[] Hand-to-Hand
[] Melee Weaponry
- Write-In (Specific Weapon)
[] Archery
[] Explosives
[] Lockpick
[] Escape Artist
[] Gymnastics
[] Swimming
[] Perform
- Write-In (Instrument)
[] Sneak
[] Sense Motive
[] Perception
[] Sleight of Hand
[] Hide
[] Disguise
[] Forgery
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Write-In (Approval Required)
Chose three skills for husband (Engineering and Sailing already locking In)
[x] Engineering
[x] Sailing
[] Medicine
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Science
[] Specialized Knowledge Skill (two maximum)
[] Write-In
[] Speak Language
[] Write-In (English Fluent Automatic, Arabic passable automatic)
[] Persuasion
[] Charm
[] Barter
[] Intimidate
[] Guns
[] Hand-to-Hand
[] Melee Weaponry
- Write-In (Specific Weapon)
[] Archery
[] Explosives
[] Lockpick
[] Escape Artist
[] Gymnastics
[] Swimming
[] Perform
- Write-In (Instrument)
[] Sneak
[] Sense Motive
[] Perception
[] Sleight of Hand
[] Hide
[] Disguise
[] Forgery
[] Farming
[] Hunting
[] Write-In (Approval Required)
Traits Earned
A Mother's Love
(You have and love your children)
+20 to all combat related rolls when fighting a threat that is a direct danger to any of your children.
The Truth and Nothing But the Truth
(You don't like lying to people)
+2 to Persuasion when using the truth
Army Doctor
You do not take a negative to medicine skills when performing in subpar conditions.
Relationships
Noah Song
100/100
He is your husband. You pledged your life to each other so even when you come up with crazy stories
Your Son (Name to be Determined)
100/100
He is your child and trusts you completely. This may change as he grows up and approaches puberty.
Your Daughter (Name to be determined)
She is your child and trusts you completely. This may change as she grows up and approaches puberty.
Megan (Your Niece)
-5/100
You're her least favorite aunt.
Your Mother (Elizabeth)
80/100
She is your mother and loves you even as she thinks you've gone a bit crazy.
Your Twin Sister (Rose)
75/100
You're her twin and her trust in you is generally high even if your story is a bit...odd.
Your older brother (Henry)
70/100
He's your brother, loves you and kind of thinks being in a new world would be kind of cool.
Dennis Flores
20/100
He seems impressed by the cut of your jib.
George Armin
0/100
He didn't like you going against his suggestion to keep quiet about everything.
~
Every skill you gain will give you a +10 to each roll. I'm not perfect and if I've forgotten a skill that you might think is essential, just say it. I'm going to be honest, the Guns Skill isn't going to be incredibly useful for the future as there aren't many guns on the cruise.
I named your husband and gave him you both a last name that could be indicative of many races. I'm also generally assuming that your son and daughter are five or six but haven't made any clear ones. Since nobody named their family last time around, I took the liberties but if people absolutely hate the names, I am willing to edit and change them.
I have left the kid's names up in the air because as their mother, you should have the right to name them. Please don't name them Hitler and Kid McKidface
Last edited:
[X] since high school; you were high school sweethearts.
[X] Family name: Oldfield
[X] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[X] Self - Medicine
[X] Self - Guns
[X] Self - Melee Weaponry
-[X] Bayonet/Spears
[X] Self - Science
[X] Self - Sense Motive
[X] Self - Perception
[X] Self - Persuasion
[X] Self - Barter
[X] Husband - Engineering
[X] Husband - Sailing
[X] Husband - Hide
[X] Husband - Guns
[X] Husband - Hunting
Assuming locked skills don't count towards the cap. Tag me if they do.
Not very good at names. Anyone has ideas for kids?
Stars are poor proof. Very few people actually pay attention to them. A weird critter works all the time.
[X] Family name: Oldfield
[X] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[X] Self - Medicine
[X] Self - Guns
[X] Self - Melee Weaponry
-[X] Bayonet/Spears
[X] Self - Science
[X] Self - Sense Motive
[X] Self - Perception
[X] Self - Persuasion
[X] Self - Barter
[X] Husband - Engineering
[X] Husband - Sailing
[X] Husband - Hide
[X] Husband - Guns
[X] Husband - Hunting
Assuming locked skills don't count towards the cap. Tag me if they do.
Not very good at names. Anyone has ideas for kids?
Stars are poor proof. Very few people actually pay attention to them. A weird critter works all the time.
[X] write-in - on an early internet dating service.
[X] Family name: Alswyth
[x] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
Self:
[x] Medicine
[X] Speak Language (Hebrew) (either learned in Army or is of Jewish descent, up to you.)
[X] Persuasion
[X] Hand-to-Hand
[X] Melee Weaponry
[X] HEMA (Longsword)
[X] Archery
[X] Perception
[X] Hunting
Husband:
[x] Engineering
[x] Sailing
[X] Charm
[X] Intimidate (he's hot but also very strong)
[X] Explosives (He worked the cannons/missiles in the navy)
Kids: Zara (girl) and Aaron (boy)
[X] Family name: Alswyth
[x] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
Self:
[x] Medicine
[X] Speak Language (Hebrew) (either learned in Army or is of Jewish descent, up to you.)
[X] Persuasion
[X] Hand-to-Hand
[X] Melee Weaponry
[X] HEMA (Longsword)
[X] Archery
[X] Perception
[X] Hunting
Husband:
[x] Engineering
[x] Sailing
[X] Charm
[X] Intimidate (he's hot but also very strong)
[X] Explosives (He worked the cannons/missiles in the navy)
Kids: Zara (girl) and Aaron (boy)
Last edited:
- Location
- va
If we have overlapping fields of expertise do we gear bonuses for working together on a project?
- Location
- UnitedStates
I'm going to go ahead and say yes.
- Location
- UnitedStates
I'm going to leave the vote up for a few more hours to see if we can't get a tiebreaker vote. Slathbog, you can make a new vote if you want to min-max it and I just won't count your old vote.
Third
- Location
- UnitedStates
[X] since high school; you were high school sweethearts.
[X] Family name: Oldfield
[X] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[X] Self - Medicine
[X] Self - Guns
[X] Self - Melee Weaponry
-[X] Bayonet/Spears
[X] Self - Science
[X] Self - Sense Motive
[X] Self - Perception
[X] Self - Persuasion
[X] Self - Barter
[X] Husband - Engineering
[X] Husband - Sailing
[X] Husband - Hide
[X] Husband - Guns
[X] Husband - Hunting
[x] child names are Zara and Aaron (since nobody but Slathbog voted on them)
You and your husband set out into the forest to get some of these strange animals. Before you do, you bring up the point of food.
"We should send several hunting parties out. We don't know who will be successful - and while it would be best if we were able to bring back animals alive - I won't mourn if you bring back some dead ones as well to help feed people," says Flores.
You nod. He puts you in charge of your own hunting party and you pipe up that your brother is an experienced hunter and Flores sends out another of his crew to go and fetch him as well. Your hunting party consists of yourself, Noah, and a security guard. Your brother has been placed in charge of his own hunting squad after he tells Flores about what's he done.
"We'll probably have to kill most of these animals after we present them. People are going to get hungry real soon," your brother says. Captain Flores agrees and starts talking about sending a few people into the ship itself to retrieve food from the kitchens.
"A lot of it we might want to save to grow crops, but some of it will just go to waste unless we use it right now."
You set out into the forest along with the rest of your hunting party. The security guard, an amiable fellow named Chip, hands you his taser.
"Be careful with it, we don't have many of them."
Your husband, in the meantime, has begun sharpening a nearby stick that he's picked up before passing it onto you. It isn't the most advanced spear but it will certainly do. He begins sharpening another stick for himself.
You take a deep breath and look up into the forest. It takes a few minutes before you spot strange looking creatures - a couple of giant rats. They remind you almost of the Rodents of Unusual Size from the Princess Bride but they're obviously actual creatures instead of puppets or animatrionics or whatever else they used for that movie. They also look thinner and almost somewhat wolfish. They bare giant fangs and Chip asks,
"Shouldn't they be running?"
"They've never seen humans," Noah says, "and from the looks of those fangs, they're not exactly used to being chased around for food. They're more curious than frightened."
You look at it and it all comes crashing down that you're here for real. You were a soldier and you've been to the brink but this is so far beyond. There will never be backup - most of the ship passengers are civilians that have never had to deal with real danger in their entire lives. You feel scared and excited all at once.
Noah then points the spear at the giant rat and throws. It hits solidly right in the neck killing the creature instantly despite the poor quality of the spear. The other giant rat takes a look at the three of you and it's dead compatriot before it decides to do the smart thing and scurries off into the underbrush. Noah takes the spear from the poor giant rat's neck before lifting the rat up and handing it to Chip,
"Good enough?" Chip asks. You shake your head,
"As I said, we should really be trying to bring back live animals. If they're dead, some people will still be able to delude themselves." Noah nods and agrees. Chip heaves the rat over his shoulder.
"Damn, this blood won't come out easy."
"Sorry, about that," Noah says, "usually I'd skin it first, but well, that goes against what we're trying to accomplish here."
You continue to stalk through the forest, keeping your ears peeled. It doesn't take you long to detect a crunch underfoot. This one looks a little more tense; more used to being prey. It matches the description previously given by Flores; it does look like somebody took a rabbit and a deer and rolled it all into one. Carefully, you lift the taser and let it go...only for it to miss the rabbit-deer by a few inches. It doesn't need any more invitation to jump and then run away faster. Your husband throws his spear again, but this time misses by a few inches.
"We've only got two reloads on that," says Chip, "so next time it would be better if you hit." You grumble and you continue for a while before you eventually find another rabbit-deer (deer-rabbit? You're not exactly sure of the naming convention here). This time you load up again and fire...only to miss dramatically once more, hitting a poor tree. You have no idea what is going on - you're normally a surefire shot but today seems to be draining away all your confidence. Again, Noah chucks his makeshift spear for all the good it does as well.
"I thought you two were in the military?" Chip asks. You really want to hit Chip. You respond
[] Fuck you, Chip.
[] Admit that you're unusually incompetent today but remind him that your husband did hit the big rat earlier quite handily.
[] Write-In
With that sorted out, you decide to give this one more go with your last taser bolt. This time there are two of the rabbit-deer and you ready your taser and fire off, reminding yourself to breath and this time it hits that stupid rabbit-deer right in the body, causing electricity to convulse throughout it's entire body. Your husband throws his spear again, missing the second rabbit-deer.
"Damn, about time," says Chip as he approaches the downed rabbit-deer.
"Don't touch it," you say, "get some long sticks and whatever can pass for vines here. We need to tie it up."
It takes a few frantic minutes while Chip keeps watch over the unconscious rabbit-deer while you and Noah find a large sturdy stick. You can't find any vines so your husband rips off his own shirt to create ropes to tie around the rabbit-deer's ankles. He and Chip then begin to carry it while you take the carcass of the rat. It struggles as it wakes up and for a few seconds you're scared it will break free - but your husband knows his work and it stays firmly attached eventually tiring itself out.
"You know it looks almost kind of cute" asks Chip. You shrug.
"I hope our kids don't feel the same," Noah says, "because it looks like we're going to be eating a lot of rabbit-deer."
"Wonder if it tastes like both rabbit and deer," Chip says.
By the time you get back, the sun has begun to set. You've noticed that most of the hunting parties have come home - and empty handed. One of the major exceptions is your brother, who it appears has taken down at least a few of the big rats - and one appears to be alive if wounded. Next to him is Captain Dennis Flores. He looks pleased that you've gotten a living rabbit-deer and within minutes plans to unveil both it and your brother's giant rat.
"People are starting to get antsy, we can't wait any longer."
The captain calls a huge amount of people and you can hear their grumbles. Soon they begin shouting,
"About goddamn time." "Why haven't they fed us yet?" "Where are the rescue ships?
"People, I know you've been very patient and I thank you for that. What I'm about to say is unbelievable but we have evidence. I'm afraid to say that there will be no rescue ships. Some being of unimaginable power seems to have taken us from our safe world to a world with nobody in it, no humans. Just strange and incredible animals."
For a moment, there is a large din as people begin to protest, with one red-faced man calling the captain "a senile old idiot." Flores nods at you and your brother, and the two of you step up to where the captain is and allow your animals to be demonstrated. Gasps of disbelief begin to go through the crowd. The angry man from before shouts loudly,
"This doesn't prove anything! Scientists are always finding all sorts of strange things in jungles all the time. I won't stand here and be made a fool of."
"You can go if you want," Captain Dennis says, "and you can go for as long as it takes you to come to your senses. I know my story is strange and terrifying but it's the truth. I think you can feel it in your bones that something is different. You've felt it since you woke up here. We need to band together if we're going to survive this. For now, we can sleep where we are but pretty soon we're going to need to start making shelter, finding food, buckling down for winter. If we don't come together, we will die. I make that promise to you. I have no doubt that some of you think me crazy but I'm looking out for your best interests."
This doesn't stop the angry man at all and others seem to be agreeing with him,
"You're an old man, more interested in power than the welfare of anybody else here." A large majority of the crowd starts to turn to the angry man, loudly agreeing with him. A middle-aged East Asian man steps forward,
"I have never seen creatures like this before and as inconvenient a truth it may be, I believe the captain is right. We need start preparations if we want to live."
The angry man seems undaunted by this,
"You said some being? How do you even know that?" Flores points to you,
"This is Captain Winry Oldfield - she served in Iraq as an army doctor. She woke up before us and she spoke with this being." The angry man scoffs,
"You believe the word of some strange woman? How do you even know she served or if she's even a doctor. As I said, you're senile and you've been taken advantage of." You step up as your husband shouts,
"If my wife says she saw what she did, then she did."
You have more than a few words to say yourself. Captain Flores is right. You're all going to have to work together to survive. You step up with something you hope can persuade most of them
[] Write-In
~
Your speech to the people will require a d100 roll that one of your should roll. The result roll (+10 because of your persuasion skill, +10 because strange critters has worked into convincing some people regardless) will be the percentage of people who listen to you and believe you. If your speech is eloquently written, I also reserve the right to add a little more (no more than twelve). So for example, if the first roll is 30, you add twenty, and then I might add another five, to get fifty-five. So fifty-five percent of the people believe that they are now on another world. I'm going to try and give a quick update after this one so you can decide what to do after having established how many people you have to work with.
Dice rolls I used
husband's spear throw 93+10= 103 DC 50 Succeed
perception check 86+10= 96 DC 30 Succeed
taser (being generous and saying tasers are guns) 24+10 DC 40 FAILED
husband's second spear throw 54+10=64 DC 70 FAILED
second perception check 82+10=94 DC 30 Succeed
taser 1+10=11 DC 40 FAILED
husband's third spear throw= 43+10= 53 DC 70 FAILED
third perception check= 65+10= 75 DC 30 Succeed
taser 90+10=100 DC 40 Suceed
husband's fourth spear throw= 43+10 DC 70 FAILED
Tied rabbit-deer= 22 +10 (husband's engineering) = 32 DC 30 Succeed
For reference, this is what the animals you've hunted look like today;
Ignore those dice throws in the third thing. I'm still unfamiliar with SV and was wondering what that was. I did not know you couldn't delete dice rolls.
[X] Family name: Oldfield
[X] Find some of these animals and bring them back alive.
[X] Self - Medicine
[X] Self - Guns
[X] Self - Melee Weaponry
-[X] Bayonet/Spears
[X] Self - Science
[X] Self - Sense Motive
[X] Self - Perception
[X] Self - Persuasion
[X] Self - Barter
[X] Husband - Engineering
[X] Husband - Sailing
[X] Husband - Hide
[X] Husband - Guns
[X] Husband - Hunting
[x] child names are Zara and Aaron (since nobody but Slathbog voted on them)
You and your husband set out into the forest to get some of these strange animals. Before you do, you bring up the point of food.
"We should send several hunting parties out. We don't know who will be successful - and while it would be best if we were able to bring back animals alive - I won't mourn if you bring back some dead ones as well to help feed people," says Flores.
You nod. He puts you in charge of your own hunting party and you pipe up that your brother is an experienced hunter and Flores sends out another of his crew to go and fetch him as well. Your hunting party consists of yourself, Noah, and a security guard. Your brother has been placed in charge of his own hunting squad after he tells Flores about what's he done.
"We'll probably have to kill most of these animals after we present them. People are going to get hungry real soon," your brother says. Captain Flores agrees and starts talking about sending a few people into the ship itself to retrieve food from the kitchens.
"A lot of it we might want to save to grow crops, but some of it will just go to waste unless we use it right now."
You set out into the forest along with the rest of your hunting party. The security guard, an amiable fellow named Chip, hands you his taser.
"Be careful with it, we don't have many of them."
Your husband, in the meantime, has begun sharpening a nearby stick that he's picked up before passing it onto you. It isn't the most advanced spear but it will certainly do. He begins sharpening another stick for himself.
You take a deep breath and look up into the forest. It takes a few minutes before you spot strange looking creatures - a couple of giant rats. They remind you almost of the Rodents of Unusual Size from the Princess Bride but they're obviously actual creatures instead of puppets or animatrionics or whatever else they used for that movie. They also look thinner and almost somewhat wolfish. They bare giant fangs and Chip asks,
"Shouldn't they be running?"
"They've never seen humans," Noah says, "and from the looks of those fangs, they're not exactly used to being chased around for food. They're more curious than frightened."
You look at it and it all comes crashing down that you're here for real. You were a soldier and you've been to the brink but this is so far beyond. There will never be backup - most of the ship passengers are civilians that have never had to deal with real danger in their entire lives. You feel scared and excited all at once.
Noah then points the spear at the giant rat and throws. It hits solidly right in the neck killing the creature instantly despite the poor quality of the spear. The other giant rat takes a look at the three of you and it's dead compatriot before it decides to do the smart thing and scurries off into the underbrush. Noah takes the spear from the poor giant rat's neck before lifting the rat up and handing it to Chip,
"Good enough?" Chip asks. You shake your head,
"As I said, we should really be trying to bring back live animals. If they're dead, some people will still be able to delude themselves." Noah nods and agrees. Chip heaves the rat over his shoulder.
"Damn, this blood won't come out easy."
"Sorry, about that," Noah says, "usually I'd skin it first, but well, that goes against what we're trying to accomplish here."
You continue to stalk through the forest, keeping your ears peeled. It doesn't take you long to detect a crunch underfoot. This one looks a little more tense; more used to being prey. It matches the description previously given by Flores; it does look like somebody took a rabbit and a deer and rolled it all into one. Carefully, you lift the taser and let it go...only for it to miss the rabbit-deer by a few inches. It doesn't need any more invitation to jump and then run away faster. Your husband throws his spear again, but this time misses by a few inches.
"We've only got two reloads on that," says Chip, "so next time it would be better if you hit." You grumble and you continue for a while before you eventually find another rabbit-deer (deer-rabbit? You're not exactly sure of the naming convention here). This time you load up again and fire...only to miss dramatically once more, hitting a poor tree. You have no idea what is going on - you're normally a surefire shot but today seems to be draining away all your confidence. Again, Noah chucks his makeshift spear for all the good it does as well.
"I thought you two were in the military?" Chip asks. You really want to hit Chip. You respond
[] Fuck you, Chip.
[] Admit that you're unusually incompetent today but remind him that your husband did hit the big rat earlier quite handily.
[] Write-In
With that sorted out, you decide to give this one more go with your last taser bolt. This time there are two of the rabbit-deer and you ready your taser and fire off, reminding yourself to breath and this time it hits that stupid rabbit-deer right in the body, causing electricity to convulse throughout it's entire body. Your husband throws his spear again, missing the second rabbit-deer.
"Damn, about time," says Chip as he approaches the downed rabbit-deer.
"Don't touch it," you say, "get some long sticks and whatever can pass for vines here. We need to tie it up."
It takes a few frantic minutes while Chip keeps watch over the unconscious rabbit-deer while you and Noah find a large sturdy stick. You can't find any vines so your husband rips off his own shirt to create ropes to tie around the rabbit-deer's ankles. He and Chip then begin to carry it while you take the carcass of the rat. It struggles as it wakes up and for a few seconds you're scared it will break free - but your husband knows his work and it stays firmly attached eventually tiring itself out.
"You know it looks almost kind of cute" asks Chip. You shrug.
"I hope our kids don't feel the same," Noah says, "because it looks like we're going to be eating a lot of rabbit-deer."
"Wonder if it tastes like both rabbit and deer," Chip says.
By the time you get back, the sun has begun to set. You've noticed that most of the hunting parties have come home - and empty handed. One of the major exceptions is your brother, who it appears has taken down at least a few of the big rats - and one appears to be alive if wounded. Next to him is Captain Dennis Flores. He looks pleased that you've gotten a living rabbit-deer and within minutes plans to unveil both it and your brother's giant rat.
"People are starting to get antsy, we can't wait any longer."
The captain calls a huge amount of people and you can hear their grumbles. Soon they begin shouting,
"About goddamn time." "Why haven't they fed us yet?" "Where are the rescue ships?
"People, I know you've been very patient and I thank you for that. What I'm about to say is unbelievable but we have evidence. I'm afraid to say that there will be no rescue ships. Some being of unimaginable power seems to have taken us from our safe world to a world with nobody in it, no humans. Just strange and incredible animals."
For a moment, there is a large din as people begin to protest, with one red-faced man calling the captain "a senile old idiot." Flores nods at you and your brother, and the two of you step up to where the captain is and allow your animals to be demonstrated. Gasps of disbelief begin to go through the crowd. The angry man from before shouts loudly,
"This doesn't prove anything! Scientists are always finding all sorts of strange things in jungles all the time. I won't stand here and be made a fool of."
"You can go if you want," Captain Dennis says, "and you can go for as long as it takes you to come to your senses. I know my story is strange and terrifying but it's the truth. I think you can feel it in your bones that something is different. You've felt it since you woke up here. We need to band together if we're going to survive this. For now, we can sleep where we are but pretty soon we're going to need to start making shelter, finding food, buckling down for winter. If we don't come together, we will die. I make that promise to you. I have no doubt that some of you think me crazy but I'm looking out for your best interests."
This doesn't stop the angry man at all and others seem to be agreeing with him,
"You're an old man, more interested in power than the welfare of anybody else here." A large majority of the crowd starts to turn to the angry man, loudly agreeing with him. A middle-aged East Asian man steps forward,
"I have never seen creatures like this before and as inconvenient a truth it may be, I believe the captain is right. We need start preparations if we want to live."
The angry man seems undaunted by this,
"You said some being? How do you even know that?" Flores points to you,
"This is Captain Winry Oldfield - she served in Iraq as an army doctor. She woke up before us and she spoke with this being." The angry man scoffs,
"You believe the word of some strange woman? How do you even know she served or if she's even a doctor. As I said, you're senile and you've been taken advantage of." You step up as your husband shouts,
"If my wife says she saw what she did, then she did."
You have more than a few words to say yourself. Captain Flores is right. You're all going to have to work together to survive. You step up with something you hope can persuade most of them
[] Write-In
~
Your speech to the people will require a d100 roll that one of your should roll. The result roll (+10 because of your persuasion skill, +10 because strange critters has worked into convincing some people regardless) will be the percentage of people who listen to you and believe you. If your speech is eloquently written, I also reserve the right to add a little more (no more than twelve). So for example, if the first roll is 30, you add twenty, and then I might add another five, to get fifty-five. So fifty-five percent of the people believe that they are now on another world. I'm going to try and give a quick update after this one so you can decide what to do after having established how many people you have to work with.
Dice rolls I used
husband's spear throw 93+10= 103 DC 50 Succeed
perception check 86+10= 96 DC 30 Succeed
taser (being generous and saying tasers are guns) 24+10 DC 40 FAILED
husband's second spear throw 54+10=64 DC 70 FAILED
second perception check 82+10=94 DC 30 Succeed
taser 1+10=11 DC 40 FAILED
husband's third spear throw= 43+10= 53 DC 70 FAILED
third perception check= 65+10= 75 DC 30 Succeed
taser 90+10=100 DC 40 Suceed
husband's fourth spear throw= 43+10 DC 70 FAILED
Tied rabbit-deer= 22 +10 (husband's engineering) = 32 DC 30 Succeed
For reference, this is what the animals you've hunted look like today;
Ignore those dice throws in the third thing. I'm still unfamiliar with SV and was wondering what that was. I did not know you couldn't delete dice rolls.
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[X] Admit that you're unusually incompetent today but remind him that your husband did hit the big rat earlier quite handily.
[X] "Put aside the question of what to believe for now. You, sir, what do you propose we do, considering that there is no contactable rescue by radio or satellite, that we will be stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time, on geography which matches no area that any of us are familiar with, with large numbers of unknown animals?"
-[X] "Wait for rescue who don't know we are here? Head out into the wilderness looking for civilization? We will run out of food and fuel before they even figure out where we disappeared from in the former, and if you tried the latter, even in the United States, you'd have to be ready to go for months, moving in circles, even if an animal doesn't get to you."
-[X] "What we CAN do is make sure nobody starves. Those of us who know some wilderness survival had ranged out into the nearby area to hunt for food, at some personal risk." *Grab a suitable animal as demonstration* "Thanks to that, we have some food. There are other skills that will be in need, we will need medicine, shelter, fuel, tools and more while we figure out how to get home."
-[X] "You can work to make sure everyone stays alive, or you can get out of the way."
[X] "Put aside the question of what to believe for now. You, sir, what do you propose we do, considering that there is no contactable rescue by radio or satellite, that we will be stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time, on geography which matches no area that any of us are familiar with, with large numbers of unknown animals?"
-[X] "Wait for rescue who don't know we are here? Head out into the wilderness looking for civilization? We will run out of food and fuel before they even figure out where we disappeared from in the former, and if you tried the latter, even in the United States, you'd have to be ready to go for months, moving in circles, even if an animal doesn't get to you."
-[X] "What we CAN do is make sure nobody starves. Those of us who know some wilderness survival had ranged out into the nearby area to hunt for food, at some personal risk." *Grab a suitable animal as demonstration* "Thanks to that, we have some food. There are other skills that will be in need, we will need medicine, shelter, fuel, tools and more while we figure out how to get home."
-[X] "You can work to make sure everyone stays alive, or you can get out of the way."
- Location
- UnitedStates
Okay, pretty clear consenus. I'm also going to give another +10 because I liked that speech. Could somebody roll a d100?
The result +30.
The result +30.
- Location
- UnitedStates
Alright, I guess everybody's on board. I'll try to have the next installment out by tomorrow evening at the latest. Perhaps earlier.
Fourth
- Location
- UnitedStates
[x] Plan Veekie
You're furious and rightfully so. Does this little man know anything?
"Put aside the question of what to believe for now," you tell him, "You, sir, what do you propose we do, considering that there is no contactable rescue by radio or satellite, that we will be stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time, on geography which matches no area that any of us are familiar with, with large numbers of unknown animals?" He blubbers for a second, trying to interrupt you but you don't let him even get a word out before you continue.
"Wait for rescue who don't know we are here? Head out into the wilderness looking for civilization? We will run out of food and fuel before they even figure out where we disappeared from in the former, and if you tried the latter, even in the United States, you'd have to be ready to go for months, moving in circles, even if an animal doesn't get to you."
"What we CAN do is make sure nobody starves. Those of us who know some wilderness survival have ranged out into the nearby area to hunt for food, at some personal risk." You grab a dead rabbit-deer and hold it up with a single hand. It's a bit heavy but you don't let that show as you haul it to be just a few inches from his face.
"Thanks to that, we have some food. There are other skills that will be in need, we will need medicine, shelter, fuel, tools and more while we figure out how to get home." You take a final pointed look at him and then at everybody else.
"You can work to make sure everyone stays alive, or you can get out of the way." The man just looks down defeated.
"Anybody else?" Noah asks. One blonde woman starts panicking,
"Oh god, this can't be happening."
"This isn't the time for panic," Flores says, "if we panic, we're done. We need to decide together now our next course of action. We can't stay here."
"Why not?" somebody asks from the crowd.
"Fresh water, for one," Flores says, "we were able to raid the ship and get some but we're almost out. We need to move to another location. We can strip the ship down and use it for building materials." George Armin, silent up until now through all of this, pipes up.
"I disagree. The ship is already built for structure. Sure one part might be fucked but we still have half the ship. Why strip it down?"
"We can't drag it to the closest source of freshwater," Flores says. Armin responds without hesitation,
"Then we bring the fresh water here." The two start arguing louder and louder with both having their arguments. When they finally calm down, you say
[] that you agree with Flores. You're going to need to move to fresh water. The ship comes second.
[] that you agree with Armin. This ship can be salvaged and there's no need to tear it all apart.
[] Write-In
With that settled, the question becomes about what to do now. Flores talks,
"We're going to need to find the closest source of freshwater, figure out what skills people have, start farming some of the growable crops we were able to salvage, and put out far more hunting expeditions if we want to survive."
"Excuse me," a woman asks from the crowd and after a second you realize it's your sister, "captain, in my cabin, I had some seed strains prepared for investors in London. Stuff that can't normally be grown under subpar conditions. I want to go in the ship and get it." Flores nods and dismisses most of the people. You and your family are one of the few people left over. You told your mother to take the kids away but she quickly returned afterwards.
"We have about four hundred and fifty crew compared to a thousand passengers - and I'm counting janitors, waiters and the like in that," says Flores, "we'll have to start a census tomorrow. Much of our 'crew' included."
He asks you if you could do the census or if you know somebody more qualified for it.
[] Agree to help with the census.
[] Suggest somebody else instead.
[] Your husband
[] Your brother
[] Your mother
[] Write-In
If you don't want to do the census
[] You'd rather help go into the ship.
[] Go hunting again.
[] Find the closest source of freshwater like a river.
[] Write-In
You wake up early the next morning. Not by choice as a young boy is frantically shaking you. You don't recognize them but you're not in the habit of turning away panicking children.
"Please, doctor. Please come right away," the crying boy asks and leads you into the nearby forest where you're greeted by the sight of the man you put down yesterday hanging from a tree, his face blue. Surrounding him is another man and a woman who hug the crying child. There is shock on their faces.
The crying child begs you to save his daddy but you already know the man is gone. The woman looks at you and shakes her head. She starts to take the crying boy away from the site of his father's suicide.
"He's my brother. My older brother. The idiot, how could he do this?" the man asks. The captain approaches both of you from behind.
"He's not the only one," he tells you, "another three committed suicide as well."
You look upon the man hanging from the tree and you
[] feel pity. The world changed around him and he couldn't handle it.
[] feel disgust. He was weak and this new world will have no place for the weak.
[] feel anger. How could he abandon his child?
[] feel understanding. There was no place for him here and he realized it.
[] Write-In
~
For references, while the cruise ship here is fictional, I kind of picture it being around this size.
You're furious and rightfully so. Does this little man know anything?
"Put aside the question of what to believe for now," you tell him, "You, sir, what do you propose we do, considering that there is no contactable rescue by radio or satellite, that we will be stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time, on geography which matches no area that any of us are familiar with, with large numbers of unknown animals?" He blubbers for a second, trying to interrupt you but you don't let him even get a word out before you continue.
"Wait for rescue who don't know we are here? Head out into the wilderness looking for civilization? We will run out of food and fuel before they even figure out where we disappeared from in the former, and if you tried the latter, even in the United States, you'd have to be ready to go for months, moving in circles, even if an animal doesn't get to you."
"What we CAN do is make sure nobody starves. Those of us who know some wilderness survival have ranged out into the nearby area to hunt for food, at some personal risk." You grab a dead rabbit-deer and hold it up with a single hand. It's a bit heavy but you don't let that show as you haul it to be just a few inches from his face.
"Thanks to that, we have some food. There are other skills that will be in need, we will need medicine, shelter, fuel, tools and more while we figure out how to get home." You take a final pointed look at him and then at everybody else.
"You can work to make sure everyone stays alive, or you can get out of the way." The man just looks down defeated.
"Anybody else?" Noah asks. One blonde woman starts panicking,
"Oh god, this can't be happening."
"This isn't the time for panic," Flores says, "if we panic, we're done. We need to decide together now our next course of action. We can't stay here."
"Why not?" somebody asks from the crowd.
"Fresh water, for one," Flores says, "we were able to raid the ship and get some but we're almost out. We need to move to another location. We can strip the ship down and use it for building materials." George Armin, silent up until now through all of this, pipes up.
"I disagree. The ship is already built for structure. Sure one part might be fucked but we still have half the ship. Why strip it down?"
"We can't drag it to the closest source of freshwater," Flores says. Armin responds without hesitation,
"Then we bring the fresh water here." The two start arguing louder and louder with both having their arguments. When they finally calm down, you say
[] that you agree with Flores. You're going to need to move to fresh water. The ship comes second.
[] that you agree with Armin. This ship can be salvaged and there's no need to tear it all apart.
[] Write-In
With that settled, the question becomes about what to do now. Flores talks,
"We're going to need to find the closest source of freshwater, figure out what skills people have, start farming some of the growable crops we were able to salvage, and put out far more hunting expeditions if we want to survive."
"Excuse me," a woman asks from the crowd and after a second you realize it's your sister, "captain, in my cabin, I had some seed strains prepared for investors in London. Stuff that can't normally be grown under subpar conditions. I want to go in the ship and get it." Flores nods and dismisses most of the people. You and your family are one of the few people left over. You told your mother to take the kids away but she quickly returned afterwards.
"We have about four hundred and fifty crew compared to a thousand passengers - and I'm counting janitors, waiters and the like in that," says Flores, "we'll have to start a census tomorrow. Much of our 'crew' included."
He asks you if you could do the census or if you know somebody more qualified for it.
[] Agree to help with the census.
[] Suggest somebody else instead.
[] Your husband
[] Your brother
[] Your mother
[] Write-In
If you don't want to do the census
[] You'd rather help go into the ship.
[] Go hunting again.
[] Find the closest source of freshwater like a river.
[] Write-In
You wake up early the next morning. Not by choice as a young boy is frantically shaking you. You don't recognize them but you're not in the habit of turning away panicking children.
"Please, doctor. Please come right away," the crying boy asks and leads you into the nearby forest where you're greeted by the sight of the man you put down yesterday hanging from a tree, his face blue. Surrounding him is another man and a woman who hug the crying child. There is shock on their faces.
The crying child begs you to save his daddy but you already know the man is gone. The woman looks at you and shakes her head. She starts to take the crying boy away from the site of his father's suicide.
"He's my brother. My older brother. The idiot, how could he do this?" the man asks. The captain approaches both of you from behind.
"He's not the only one," he tells you, "another three committed suicide as well."
You look upon the man hanging from the tree and you
[] feel pity. The world changed around him and he couldn't handle it.
[] feel disgust. He was weak and this new world will have no place for the weak.
[] feel anger. How could he abandon his child?
[] feel understanding. There was no place for him here and he realized it.
[] Write-In
~
For references, while the cruise ship here is fictional, I kind of picture it being around this size.
I'm thinking we should keep the ships intact. There a huge tech advantage we can't cede to the incoming newcomers. Gonna have to go say that we should hold off on scraping it.
[X] Agree to help with the census.
[X] that you agree with Armin. This ship be can be salvaged and there's no need to tear it all apart.
[X] feel pity. The world changed around him and he couldn't handle it.
[X] Agree to help with the census.
[X] that you agree with Armin. This ship be can be salvaged and there's no need to tear it all apart.
[X] feel pity. The world changed around him and he couldn't handle it.