Life After Death: Sign-Up Thread
 

It was the media that killed us, really.

I know what you're thinking, people always blame the man, the media, the government. But I can point the finger AND load it on this one. For years before it all went down we heard about superbug this, deadly virus that. Aids, mad cow, avian flu, hell SARS. we could have been having an outbreak of the wheezing shits for all most people knew, and by this point the hype had all dried up and no one gave it much credit.

We thought it was a terrorist thing at first. Anything from actual attacks, to chemical warfare, to bad drugs leaked into the market. YOU can't tell what the fuck is going on when they spend so much time telling you lies about it. So it was the media that killed us, in theory and in practice.

China clammed up about it right off the bat of course. It never really hit Iraq or Afghanistan; I guess there was just already enough going on out there that the prospect of savage rotting cannibals in the mix just wasn't all that feasible. Who's gonna airlift a bunch of gnawing dead people into the middle of Baghdad's green zone? England, Spain and France all keeled over, and the frosty reds seemed to be doing no better. We're talking global pandemic here.

The one commonality we didn't see was that it was leeching in from the sea.

I mean, now, in retrospect, you can see it lying in the streets. Daily updates of infected cities sprawled over the newspapers until they stopped running, and the good old US of A looked like a leeching tampon by the time that happened. Everything got hit, everywhere got hit. First you catch a cold, then all of a sudden you're running down the fucking mailman trying to bite his arm off.

Which is to say, I guess, it got everywhere. The onset of this thing wasn't some overnight, pop star MGM studios phenomenon here. It just soaked in to people, and after a while, they all turned over a new, bloody leaf. Good times.

I don't know about the movies but this one wasn't like anyone expected. There was a lot of turning on one another even before the zombies got up and fucked us. When people linked this red flu with tropical areas, the racism kicked in. Latinos were in the gun sights first. Then it was anyone who wasn't your color, and then when it all came down to it, anyone who sniffled, or popped up at more than a degree above your ninety eight six. These people weren't even dead yet and they were getting gunned down, beaten to death, or strung up.

Some times we still find some wigglers dangling by the roadside from their pretty yellow safety nooses.

But that was months ago. Some people claim to know what day it is still but I can't be assed. We've learned some of human nature since then, and it's not always good to walk up to someone for a friendly chat. Nothing is ever a friendly chat anymore, mankind's greatest predator wears his face. We've also learned a thing or two about how they tick.

We clicked through just about every movie method you can dream up. Decapitations, destroying the brains, headshots, heartshots, nutshots. Some work, some don't. It's a pretty good bet that if you fuck up their chi, and take their nervous system out, they go down. but that's really touch and go in some cases. They don't seem to need eyes, they don't seem to need blood. Well, fuck, I am not sure what they seem to need. they do seem to like killing though and they know their own. And no one can really tell yet, but the flu seems to have passed on.

Doesn't mean you're safe though. Just like some shitty old movie, these fuckers have a mean bite. Blood, sweat and tears matey, you get some of this shit on you, it's fifty fifty whether or not it'll take. Some people I know have bitemarks silvered over and shining with a new hope. Saw one girl catch a loogie in the eye and we had to put her to the streets quick enough. The worst part really is not knowing. Is it contagious before they turn? how does it spread? Can you get it from a toilet seat?

One thing you'd never think though is that killing off a few billion people in the world would fuck so much with the weather. Some people talk about strange storms in the mountains or on the southern plains. I haven't been back to Canada since it all went south, no pun intended. Who knows what it's like overseas, no way to tell anymore.

By some unfathomable fit of common sense, the United Nations issued a very carefully worded suggestion that was enforced during the weeks of martial law in North America, and by universal order, a good deal of our shit got turned off. Nuclear reactors were powered down (We figure) to keep the 'terrorists' from targeting them. Industry in general was put on full seizure when the cannibalism kicked in. Most of the dangerous shit should be off, but who's to say all?

What we're left with now is the surprising revelation that human beings live off the land no more. We made our world a small one and there probably isn't any such thing as a little pocket of farmers and gardeners cheerfully grinding their cornmeal by windmill out there. Most of what we made got crammed into cities, and by Christ there's a lot more to farming than you get. Plants don't just grow you know. they get uncouth on you if no one is watching them. So we have these huge hubs of death, where the contagion lives, sitting on top of all the supplies. Maybe they don't need to eat us either but a lot of these bastards seem content to sit in town and do whatever zombies do when they're not trying to kill you. Most people have stripped what they can find in the in between places. Nowhere is safe. You just keep finding people out here, more than you'd think was warranted. It's never quiet for long.

I'm starting to think they have a respawn point nearby.

Time for my watch now. Hope tonight's a quiet one.


Hello there. I haven't gotten to GM in a long time, and suddenly the storytelling bug has bitten me and I wish to get back up to par. That said, Life After Death is a little system of mine that I've cobbled together over the years. The best example I can give you as to what Life After Death is about would be the Comic Series Walking Dead; it is about living in an apocalyptic world of mystery, regret, and zombies devouring flesh. Each LAD game type has a different zombie layout or setting; and the actual plot synopsis and where you go with it is, quite frankly, extremely player driven.

Do you want to try to find a cure? You know what? Go for it. Do you want to try to establish civilization again in a seemingly hopeless world? Sure. The focus is what you make of it. I am merely a mediator of those efforts. I open routes and options but I am never strict on your purpose.


Setting:
This is set three months into the 'Apocalypse'. Everyone at this point is aware that Zombies exist. All Major Cities at this point have been infected, with perhaps a rare small town still safe... For the time being. When you think of how survivors live, its more of a Mad Maxx ordeal; always on the road, always traveling, fearful to stay still.

Lore:
The Coast is feared. It is considered a Haven for disease and deathwalkers. A year ago, thick plumes of black smoke and ash blew in from the coasts... Everywhere. The phenomenon lasted for four hours, then went away. Investigations were sent from every nation, but no efforts nor explanations were found or given. The event was forgotten, temporarily.

But then that's when Flu season kicked in. It was brutal in terms of numbers, effecting a good one in twenty coastal inhabitants. But a Flu is a Flu. They were given their Flu shots, they were sent off home.

By the third week, it changed. They had signs of Tuberculosis; vomiting out blood and their insides, with their actual blood being thick, with their blood clotting in only minutes after being expelled. By the end of the month, these infected would have chills, freeze up, and then die.

Only for their heart to beat again in hours, resurrected. Humans, surrounded by their own natural borders witnessed the infection slowly traveling from the blood and deaths of many, to the heart of civilizations. It is rumored that the Coast is where Death lives; that at the coast, if one were to breathe they would turn. No one can say for sure.

No one has come back alive.

Characters:
I have never actually done LAD on a forum. And thus this makes prospects curious to me. Originally I built it based off of nWoD's mortal system, but I feel such sheets would be over complicated in this format. So tentatively, we'll be settling with this.

Name: Self Explanatory.

Gender: Ditto.

Description: What your character commonly looks like. I know many people don't like regularly describing their clothes and like an assumed look unless a particular event is special. At the very least a physical description of the character.

Bio: This is about your character's life and what they've lead up to for now. Please note, don't be specific about where they currently are. I'm going to go through the character Bios and try to match everyone up for the beginning of the game. Minor fluff revisions may need to be made. Also, consider other characters as well related; are your parents alive? Do you have a brother or sister? These are cheap cash-in NPCs for me to stea— I mean, these help enhance the story! Yes.

Career/Hobbies: This is based on Pre-Apocalypse. What it more or less does is tell everyone a broad basis of a skill sets they possess. I'm not really picky here, its just not one person can do everything in the world.

Traits:
Select two of these traits that you're really good at in terms of physical or mental ability. The remainder will just be considered as average unless you on purposely create a deficiency for story reasons. Please remember most people are above average in these traits; were they not, they'd likely be dead already. That or they've been with people who have protected them thus far.

Power: This is a reference to show that you are built like a brick. You can push heavy objects or carry heavy things and swing a mean ass crowbar.
Speed: Fight or Flight? Flight. Get away!
Stamina: Humans tend to bruise up or die easily. You can take a real beating without crying about it. Watch out for the Teeth though.
Charisma: This effects how NPCs initially perceive you, when not factoring in possible racial hatred and other biases. Beyond this point, its up to you to charm them. Know that feeling when you see a natural born leader or someone obviously likeable? There you go.
Sixth Sense: An overwhelming amount of common sense or being able to see something bad is about to happen. People with a strong Sixth Sense are genuinely paranoid people; although in this day and age, its hard to blame them. This is also tied to Improvisation; noticing things others may not in a scene.

Game Prerequisites:
I'd like to get at least six people in on this. I'll accept up to eight. Beyond that, no more. I have no qualms with allowing more than eight players truth be told; in fact, the more players there are, the easier the load is on me as I have even less NPCs to work with and you guys get more interaction.

However, I want to at least establish an introduction/get-together of the original characters before adding more. The more people there are at the introduction, the harder it is to kick off. After a decent pacing is established I'll be able to let in more players should there be any. x_x

If you have any questions, let me know.

I'm so signing up for this.

Who doesn't love Zombies? Just give me some time to rustle up a character.

Slot reserved. I'm creating the profile now, to be editted into this post shortly.

Name: Andrea McCormick

Gender: Female

Description: Andrea stands at 5' 2" tall and weighs 112 pounds. Her hair is brown and her eyes are different in color, the left being green and the right brown. She usually keeps her hair in a ponytail. She wears a white belly tee, dark green overalls, black fingerless gloves and black sneakers. Her build is perfect for cheerleading: lean musculature and exciting curves.

Bio: Andrea McCormick is a cheerleader who escaped a massacre at her high school when zombies invaded during a pep rally. Her boyfriend, Richard Wyatt, was bitten during the attack. Escaping and stealing a lemon yellow pickup in dire need of a new coat of paint, they had been traveling for a while, Richard getting worse and worse the whole trip. During a particularly fateful ambush at a small town when they were searching for supplies, Richard sacrificed himself to buy Andrea a window of escape, knowing that it wasn't long before he would become one of them anyways. To this day, Andrea has been focused on staying alive for now, which has been a bit easier since her two-weeks-old partnership with Christine Applegate, a young, raven-haired, spectacled meter maid who was decided that writing tickets for the extreme parking violations of undead drivers was pointless. Andrea has turned 18 just last month.

Career/Hobbies: Andrea hasn't worked a paying job yet, and her only major accomplishment in life has been as a cheerleader, though she's also an excellent track 'n' fielder. Her hobbies are watching horror movies, reading scary novels (or just any good book, really), and swimming.

Traits: Charisma and Speed

Name: Frederick (Who cares about last names anymore? If you turn into a zombie it won't matter.)

Gender: Male

Description: 6', not real muscular, long brown hair, green eyes. Wears a shortened green samurai style kimono with a pair of black tights under it, as well as a pair split toe wooden sandals on his feet.

Bio: While Frederick was growing up he was always a fan of the movies and old stories of ancient samurai. Since he was an only child it was easy for him to get his parents to get him into sword training classes. As hard as it was he aspired to be like the samurai in the books and movies and thus pushed himself to the limits every time. Years later he had a collection of books so big it would make any normal person feel overwhelmed, yet every night he pulled out one to study. When he moved out people had wondered whether or not he was a librarian himself.

Later he took a job as a teacher at a local dojo, taking time out of every class to recite quotes from his books. The parents thought he was a trustworthy man but the kids thought he was a burden to their training. As soon as news spread of the 'flu', they all stopped showing up. Frederick was left to train by himself. He lost all contact with his parents and what little friends he had made.

As soon as he heard the 'flu' had made it to his town, he quickly threw on his favored garments and grabbed his katana and started heading out. Frederick took his car and hit the road hoping to find safe haven elsewhere.

Career/Hobbies: Bookkeeping/Book Collecting, sensei at a local dojo and practitioner of samurai sword techniques and jujitsu.

Traits:
Speed
Sixth Sense

Name: Gabe Smith

Gender: Male

Description: 300 lbs of muscles and two blue eyes. He's of English descent, 29 years old, his head is usually shaved bald, he stands at 6'7", and he's got two types of clothes: safe and travel. When he's in a safe zone, he usually wears pretty much whatever will fit him, right now that's a muscle shirt and denim pants. When he's on the go, which is most of the time, he's in riot gear looted from a police station. He also usually has a loaded weapon of some sort on him at any point in time, and if none are available, he's got an axe or bludgeoning tool of sorts.

Bio: Before the apocalypse, Gabe took part in organized crime in New York. He didn't have the type of personality needed to be a head figure, he did have the type of body and training to take care of most of the deals. He was one of the best bodyguards and hitmen around. His wife and children thought he worked in a prominent construction firm.

His family consisted of Julie, a seven-year-old blonde girl with penchant for mischief and kissing boys, Sean, a nine-year-old boy with a constant hankerin' for tinkerin', and lastly Sarah, his wife of just over nine years, a beautiful redhead and sister of one of his "co-workers". While Sarah's pregnancy was the reason for the timing of the wedding, they were engaged before conception, so anyone questioning the validity of their love usually didn't have a full set of teeth for long.

When zombies claimed the majority of his 'organization', he managed to get his family safely on the road with as many non-parishable foods and guns as would fit with them.

At some point between running out of gas and meeting his current caravan, the family was being chased from a mob of zombies, and Sarah somehow got separated from the group. Unfortunately, the zombie force was simply too overwhelming, and Gabe was forced to flee the town with his kids in a car they managed to hot wire.

Shortly after, they found a caravan that they travel with to this day. Gabe hasn't been social much yet, as he still hasn't gotten over the loss of his wife, but will go to great lengths to protect the caravan. When he sees pictures of Sarah or women who resemble her, he can slip into a state of awe, standing still or falling to his knees without action, as the only thing more important to him than his dead wife are her living children. And he makes sure as hell that nothing happens to his now eight-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.

Career/Hobbies: Violence and raising children (responsibly). Guns, clubs, archaic weapons, simple hand-to-hand, you-name-it, Gabe knows how to make things hurt the most. He's also got his two kids with him most of the time, and makes sure that nothing keeps them from a good upbringing, not even fuckin' zombies.

Traits: Strength and Stamina

Bishoujo: Pretty good. A question; did she ever get the chance to check out her old home, or was she chased off and never got the opportunity? I'm not saying its important, but its something that sparks ideas for me if she hasn't. If she has its something curious to note.

Red Mage Black: His background is highly unusual. In fact, I never thought I"d see that kind of character in LAD... Ever... Which is why I like it. One thought comes to mind. He's dressed in the garb of that of a Japanese man. What ethnicity is he? This has to do with perception. I don't really care if he's white, black, asian, whatever. But people likely will react to his eccentricities and tie race to it as being either strange or a stereotype.

They'll probably lose those feelings when he splits a skull in half with his sword, but you know the deal.

Bosolai: Beyond approved. Are Julie and Sean 9 and 11 now, or were you referring to their current age? Just curious. I tend to stream all this info into various texts so I don't mess up things. I'll probably ask a little more about them in PMs before game start.

Unfortunately, Andrea wasn't able to return to her house to check on her family (father Dwayne, mother Connella, and 10-year old sister Nanica). The residential area had already become a walking dead man's zone with vehicle pileups, fires, and corpses (both unmoving and not-quite-so-unmoving). Whether they were alive or not, Andrea's chances of finding out were too small for her to try. She has yet to get over losing them (maybe?), but she manages to stay focused on her primary task: survival of her and Christine.

Er, I forgot about time between the death of his wife and the now. I'm gonna edit the post a bit so the kids are 8 and 10 now.

Name: Frank Nellington

Gender: Male

Description: A very strong rugged looking man. He doesn't shave very close and doesn't change clothes that often. Bathing has frankly become far too risky in his mind. Greasy brown hair, deep brown eyes, but a surprisingly white smile. 6'2" 250lbs.

Bio: Frank grew up in a small mountain town in the Sierra's. He was raised to know how to take care of himself should he get lost. He went on long backpacking trips every summer with his father and mother along the various trails. As he grew older he began to create new items of luxury to help allow ease of survival on these long trips. His ingenuity got him a few patents by age 23. Including a specially designed survival knife that could filter water. A self inflating pup tent, that was also usable as a flotation device. As well as a multi purpose walking stick, one could collapse it and attach different sorts of attachments making it an axe or a hatchet or a paddle or (if you put in the extra cash) a telescope. This money put him up well and he started his own business, developing new such devices. However he still returned to the mountains every summer to hike the trails.

When the sickness broke out that was where he headed, as he did during every major threat to the country. This paranoia kept him safe. Being close to mountain spring water sources he never contracted the disease. While being so far removed from people allowed him to avoid zombies entirely. The generator let him keep up with a world events thanks to his wireless internet, satellite television and radio broad casts. He remained up in the mountains for two months. Then they started arriving. People fleeing the monsters. They brought with them both the monsters and the disease.

He couldn't turn the people away, and he lacked sufficient ammunition to make a stand. So he took what supplies he could, packed them into his jeep and left. He took no one with him. Simply painted a message on the wall of his home explaining the direction he went and where people could find supplies in the house. He urged everyone not to stay too long and to leave things for others.

With him he took a few of his various tools. Survival items and plenty of canned food. His guns aren't anything fancy. A large hunting rifle, a shot gun with little ammunition left, and a revolver that he keeps close at his side. Always making sure to save one bullet for himself should it ever be needed. He keeps a good strong axe with him too. Much stronger than that walking stick he designed (it was made for city slickers anyways)

Career/Hobbies: Survival gear designer/Outdoors man

Traits: Sixth Sense, Power

Note: His jeep has a diesel engine.