[X] Plan: Who were we?
-[X] Developing your body
-[X] Working through your memories
-[X] Gaining a greater understanding of the worms
-[X] Improving your own mind
[X] Plan Those Tasty Brainwaves
-[X] Gaining a greater understanding of the worms
-[X] Working through your memories
-[X] Staving off hunger
-[X] Get new batteries for the radio
-[X] 20 Body Points to Dexterity
-[X] 50 Mind Points to Memory
-[X] 50 Control Points to Mindscan
-[X] 20 Control Points to Coordination
Anonymity is becoming lesser, but they still don't know what's up. We do need to know what they are planning, though. So new batteries for the radio, and Dexterity to actually put them in.
Hunger is obvious, especially considering that we aren't growing the horde (yet, want to use the radio to ambush our pursuers).
Coordination is a cheap boost to our collective fighting power. Mindscan is honestly just a goodie, an XP boost should be taken as early as possible.
Memories and Worm research is continuing from where we left off, previously.
It didn't go so well for the mind training, but a new level in Memory should help. Worm was going better, so maybe we'll get some insight this time?
[X] Plan Those Tasty Brainwaves
-[X] Gaining a greater understanding of the worms
-[X] Working through your memories
-[X] Staving off hunger
-[X] Get new batteries for the radio
-[X] 20 Body Points to Dexterity
-[X] 50 Mind Points to Memory
-[X] 50 Control Points to Mindscan
-[X] 20 Control Points to Coordination
Vote will be closed in an hour, the update will be up either this evening or tomorrow.
Edit: vote has been closed.
Adhoc vote count started by notbirdofprey on Jul 2, 2020 at 5:50 PM, finished with 10 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Plan Those Tasty Brainwaves
-[X] Gaining a greater understanding of the worms
-[X] Working through your memories
-[X] Staving off hunger
-[X] Get new batteries for the radio
-[X] 20 Body Points to Dexterity
-[X] 50 Mind Points to Memory
-[X] 50 Control Points to Mindscan
-[X] 20 Control Points to Coordination
You snarl in rage, bashing your head against the wall. This new home you found is not as solid as the last one, but the wall still rebuffs your blows. You cannot think! It is not the hunger, it is not the worm, there is simply something that makes your thoughts too chaotic and unpredictable for you to have any sort of…any sort of…you can't even remember the damn word! The next time you smash your head against the wall, the wall breaks, leaving a skull-shaped dent and you in crippling agony. And normally you can't even feel pain!
You cannot think long enough to try any sort of mental exercise or even deliberately try to recall things, but another memory passes through your mind, hinting at a possible solution.
You have never been in so much pain. Every muscle in your cramps, you have bruises from sparring and wrenched limbs from wrestling and places where the uniform has literally rubbed the skin from your flesh. And yet you sit perfectly still, not moving an inch even as bugs crawl over your face. Instead, you focus on being one, on keeping your mind blank, your breathing steady…
It's worth a shot, perhaps. But not now. Now you are going hunting.
First, you inspect the home for anything living, but there is no flesh to be found but a mummified frog. You eat it anyway, but it does not sate your growing hunger. Investigations outside, cautious ones done in the quiet hours, yield more fruit. Well, meat. First, there are several bunnies and squirrels, but then it turns out the overgrown yard next door leads to a whole block of buildings that have been abandoned for years, and young trees are sprouting through broken pavement while vines wind over buildings. It's a tiny little forest in the middle of a city, and it is full of things to hunt. They try to flee you, panicking at your scent. They flee right into your horde and are devoured, with much of the meat left behind. You store it in the basement for now.
+5 Body points, +50 Control points
Next you turn to the worms. You were reaching some sort of understanding of them.
6+2 Dice, 5 Successes, Passed
There are many of them. Each zombie has one within them. You decide to compare two worms today, ordering one of the bigger zombies to stand so that you can tear it open and compare its worm with your first zombie's worm. Idly, you wonder if you should try and name these zombies. You dismiss the thought for the moment and instead focus on studying the worms. They look exactly the same, except that the bigger zombie's is a bit larger. You wonder what yours looks like, but currently, you are reluctant to rip yourself open and so you content yourself carefully examining their worms.
They feel like nothing when you touch them. They smell like nothing when you smell them. They sound like nothing when you listen to them. But when you taste them? They taste like hunger. Simply pressing your tongue against them fills you with a ravenous craving for fresh, living meat, one you barely fight off long enough to devour some of the stored carcasses. You will try and avoid doing that again, although it might be interesting to try making them bite each other's worms.
Do you do that?
[] Yes, why not?
[] No, that's a terrible idea!
You also try to look closely again. There is more potential in the worms. The potential to change, to become tireless, to spread through spit and blood and vomit, to grow and swell, to turn simple nails into razor sharp claws…to heal and repair, there are so many dizzying, maddening possibilities that looking at them all is painful. The effort leaves your mind dazed and slow and aching…
-2 die penalty for mental actions, +100 Mind, Body, Control Points
But now you know so much more. And there are so many possibilities for how you can tweak things just a little, make the worms a little more receptive, make yourself a little stronger…anything more complicated you need the worm to show you how, but the simple stuff you can do yourself now.
You stand on the edge of the threshold, ready to go hunt, not for meat or to add to your horde, but for batteries. Double A batteries. You have a last chance to improve yourself before going out.
You have never been in so much pain. Every muscle in your cramps, you have bruises from sparring and wrenched limbs from wrestling and places where the uniform has literally rubbed the skin from your flesh. And yet you sit perfectly still, not moving an inch even as bugs crawl over your face. Instead, you focus on being one, on keeping your mind blank, your breathing steady…
Ah, meditation. Of course.
Can say from experience- it's a good painkiller. And I can't imagine the... sensations a semi-rotten body must feel.
[X] Plan Scavenging
-[X] Yes, why not?
-[X] 100 Mind Points into Intelligence
-[X] 60 Body Points into Dexterity
-[X] 25 Body Points into Speed
-[X] 60 Control Points into Range
-[X] 40 Control Points into Senses
-[X] 30 Control Points into Possession
I am just too curious about hungry worms. Most likely, we'll lose two of our horde. Maybe. Unless they continue to listen to our orders. Knowledge is more important than numbers right now.
We need 100 Points to level intelligence, and doing so is a no-brainer: most important mind-stat.
Our current task is searching for some batteries:
- Speed, Senses and Range are meant to help with the searching part. Fan out, search... for a shop, I guess. Unless we find a radio or some other electronic. Maybe search through abandoned houses, looking for functional equipment to loot?
- Dexterity and possession are meant to help with the acquiring bit. Dexterity is obvious, and possession should let us make a minion take whatever takes our fancy.
@notbirdofprey, a question: when we posses a zombie, is it our dexterity that is used, or our puppet's?
On a more long-term approach, I feel it allows for more tactical approach- spread them out, use their eyes to assess the situation, possess them for clever tricks (locking/opening doors, setting off traps, just shooting a gun). Play it like a weird, 1st person RTS.
[X] Plan Scavenging
-[X] Yes, why not?
-[X] 100 Mind Points into Intelligence
-[X] 60 Body Points into Dexterity
-[X] 25 Body Points into Speed
-[X] 60 Control Points into Range
-[X] 40 Control Points into Senses
-[X] 30 Control Points into Possession
X] Plan Scavenging
-[X] Yes, why not?
-[X] 100 Mind Points into Intelligence
-[X] 60 Body Points into Dexterity
-[X] 25 Body Points into Speed
-[X] 60 Control Points into Range
-[X] 40 Control Points into Senses
-[X] 30 Control Points into Possession
Adhoc vote count started by notbirdofprey on Jul 3, 2020 at 6:12 PM, finished with 11 posts and 9 votes.
[X] Plan Scavenging
-[X] Yes, why not?
-[X] 100 Mind Points into Intelligence
-[X] 60 Body Points into Dexterity
-[X] 25 Body Points into Speed
-[X] 60 Control Points into Range
-[X] 40 Control Points into Senses
-[X] 30 Control Points into Possession
-[X] Yes, why not?
-[X] 100 Mind Points into Intelligence
-[X] 60 Body Points into Dexterity
-[X] 25 Body Points into Speed
-[X] 60 Control Points into Range
-[X] 40 Control Points into Senses
-[X] 30 Control Points into Possession
You command one to eat the other's worms, your own writhing in agony, making it even harder to think then before. It takes a couple to moments to see what is happening through your broken vision. The zombies are both on the ground, limbs thrashing in every direction. You can still feel the connection to them, dim and faded as it is, but they are not responding to your commands. In fact, after a moment they begin attacking each other, ripping and tearing with their teeth no matter how you command them to stop. You move to intervene, when something happens. You don't know what, not exactly. Whatever it was knocked you out for at least five minutes.
Where there were two zombies, now there is only one. "Annette, my name was Anette. I was weak, now I am strong. I was soft, now I am hard," it says in a voice as dry as dust. Slowly, her head turns to you. "I am so hungry…" she tells you. "Feed," you tell her in turn, bringing some of the scavenged meat to her. She grins as she tears into it, swallowing it in gobbets. You look at her carefully, inspecting her worm. It is just like yours, and there is no connection now.
"I think I am going to kill some people now," she says casually, blood and juices from her mouth. You know that is probably a bad idea.
