[roleplay]Metro 2033: Washington(post apocalyptic rp)

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Warning, the Metro book series and game are quite mature. So unless you are okay with describing someone get ripped to pieces by a giant mutant ape, or reading vivid descriptions of corpses with their entrails hanging out, stay away. We will be bleeping out curse words and avoiding direct references to anything sexual however. This is not the adult forum of course.


[img][800:1024]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss72/BaiShenLong/Kantemirovskaya_Fighter_by_genek.jpg[/img]

Instructions: Roleplaying isn't that difficult basically, people take turns using their character to tell a story. You tell the story through the point-of-view of you're character(in 3rd person) and maybe have some dialogue. Dialogue in a post between your character and another that is controlled by another player is possible, but you need to know how the other character would talk if the other player was dictating what that character was saying. You can have dialogue between two or more people by post if you want, but it takes up space.

Okay, well, Metro 2033 and it's sequels are a series of books originating from Russia about people living in Metro systems. The creator of the series, Russian reporter Dmitry Glukhovsky, wrote the first two books until deciding on making the Metro series a shared universe. The first two books of the series(Metro 2033 and Metro 2034), and the game(based off of Metro 2033, the first book) take place in Moscow, Russia. The three new books(I can't remember their names, they're in Russian only at the moment) take place in Minsk and Saint Petersburg. The thing about the books is that they are generally standalone because what is going on in one metro system has no effect on another and usually, it's rare for characters from a previous book to appear in another.

Because this roleplaying game takes place in Washington DC, you don't need any prior knowledge of the series. I will tell you all you need to know. In 2013, World War 3 occurred. Cities across the world were devastated by nuclear missiles. It is never made clear who was fighting who to my knowledge of the series. But the war was so bad, it brought on a nuclear winter. The only survivors where those underground when the the nuclear holocaust occurred. It was so sudden, and it lasted a very short while. Most of the survivors of the war where riding on subways in Metro systems across the world. When the war happened, they became trapped and forced to live underground. Washington DC In America was a primary target. The opposition's main targets where the Pentagon. They were sure the radiation would take care of the rest of the city. And so that was the target that was hit. The blast devastated much of the area around it as well, but the damage sustained wasn't very bad, as only a small missile was spared. The larger missiles where directed at major military, airforce, and, navy bases, nuclear missile launch pads accross the US, and major cities. In the end, they offed us and our allies while we offed them and their allies.

In the aftermath of the war, those who were still alive were eventually killed by the massive amounts of radiation now drifting through the atmosphere. Humankind was nearly wiped off the face of the Earth. In place of us, the animals mutated and evolved to adapt to this new radioactive world while we rotted away in the subway stations, trying our best to survive. In the beginning, people ate whatever they could find. And when someone would starve to death, they had to make do and eat corpses. A form of mushroom(which is an actual existing mushroom that can be found growing in Pripiat) is capable of feeding on radiation. These where in such abundance that the survivors began using them as food. Then, a large mutant rat that commonly feeds on these mushrooms became a sort of livestock animal for the Humans. To keep up the supply of mushrooms, it became common practice to cultivate the mushrooms on their own fecal matter. This rid them of the feces as well.

Many mutants posed a danger to Humans. Examples are nosalises, mutated moles that walk upright, and the demons which evolved from bats. There are also Humans that were extremely mutated and evolved as well. They occur in some places. A few years after the nuclear holocaust, Humans had somewhat adapted to the radiation. A few of the braver men and women, especially ex-military journeyed up to the surface and from there to Fort McNair. They brought back weapons and supplies. It took a couple of years, but by at least 2020, weapons where common. Usually, trips to the surface only require filtration masks as the air on the surface can be toxic. The radiation is more severe on the surface of course, and even eating mutant rats and living around higher levels of radiation doesn't help.

Many of the stations are independent. Some are united. Usually, stations tend to be on good terms, but there are certain stations that are hostile. Racist stations(think of the Moscow Metro's 4th Reich) exist as do ones controlled by the mob or gangs.

I will provide a map here for reference. If interest is generated, I will draw symbols for each station indicating affiliation or current status(say if it were abandoned or destroyed) http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm

I have yet to decide which station to set it in and what the genral plot will be, but the station where the characters live will only serve as a hub. There will be travel from station to station. There will also be surface travel.

I want to decide the story and see if people are interested before I make a character sheet. PM me if you have any questions about the general universe and I will answer you to the best of my ability. For those still quite unfamiliar with the world, here are two videos from the Video game adaptation of Metro 2033:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXXaPdg9Go[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6pAvMqQm3k[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc2hhef-Nzo[/youtube]

The Metro 2033 wiki: http://metro2033.wikia.com/wiki/Metro_2033
Although this mostly details the game, you can find details on the mutants and the general world. Plot details and characters are unimportant.

And finally, I want to address something regarding posting.
I don't get nitpicky about post length unless the post length is like a sentence long. I likewise do not mind typos, we all make them, I probably made quite a few writing this block of text. But if it is clear that you aren't making an effort, I being the game master(god in roleplaying) will arrange to have your entrails picked clean by whatever the hell this is= [img]http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100617034323/metro2033/images/5/5f/Dark_Nosalis.jpg[img]

Also, as I alluded to, I am god. I can decide if you get killed off if it's ok with you. You have that choice as well if you want to add drama, and if you still want to play, I can have a new replacement character come in. Don't godmod, which means that you need to keep things as real as possible. If you aren't a professional freerunner, you cannot jump from three stories up unscathed. No, you cannot fly. If you pull off the old nuked fridge(Indiana Jones reference), I will have you carried off and eaten by this= http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100617054204/metro2033/images/6/6a/Demontower.jpg

When you roleplay, be sure to put IC:(in character) before you write.
When writing outside of roleplaying, write OOC:(out of character).
At the end of a post, it's common practice to put tag: [insert name] in order to indicate who you want to post next.
If you have no one in particular who you want to post, put tag: anyone.

As we all have real lives, absence is acceptable. People should be patient when they can. Don't quit because someone hasn't posted in like 4 days. If you do that, you fail. But there is a point that is undefinable upon which absence becomes ridiculous. If you don't want to play, pm me and I can either arrange your character to die, offer your character to someone else, or take over your role. I've had experience playing more than one character, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
Okay, I've been writing for 2 hours now so I'm going to stop. It's because I had to do some research on DC while writing it. Also, I wanted to do research on the Metro 2033 universe itself.

Last edited by ShenLong on 29 Jun 2010, 3:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Oh boy, sign me up. I have a little bit of experience with this kind of roleplaying. Although, I do admittedly now rather little about the USA..

By the way: This is a "dark nosalis". A bit different, a bit stronger. If you think that's scary, check out the "super" nosalis. Thankfully, you only fight two of those.

you'll be fine. I have only been to DC once. The Metro system they have is the only one I have ever been in. It's pretty long. It was also in the Metro System that, oddly enough, I saw a person's water break. Some lady sitting against the wall suddenly felt her water break and they had to call the paramedics because she was about to have her baby. There is a central station with a mall built over it, and I think it will serve as a sort of hub, assuming it is not close enough to the Pentagon(The building where the Ministry of Defense operates. It is very important to our armed forces.). As foreign tourists are common in DC, really, really common in fact, your character could have been a Swedish tourist or the son of Swedish tourists that got trapped down in the Metro, if you'd best be comfortable portraying one. It's an option though. I'm still deciding on my character. He's the equivalent of a Stalker or Ranger from the game and books. I am thinking of the plot revolving around the city being overrun by nomadic mutant Humans similar to the Dark Ones and the Librarians. They move into the area in a large swarm and leak down into the Metro where they begin wreaking havoc. Intertwined within are conflicts between gang run stations and Mafia run stations.

Name:
Gender:
Affiliation:(In the case of Rangers, it'd be the American Armed Forces)
Station:
Occupation:
Physical characteristics:(height, body type. You may put it in either American Imperial or the Metric system. I measure distance with meters, I sometimes measure height with meters, but usually with inches and feet)
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Ethnicity:
Birthdate:
Hometown:(If born before the Nuclear Holocaust)
Biography:


Name: Wes Doogan
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Affiliation: United States Armed Forces
Home Station: Smithsonian/ Federal Triangle(on the Blue Line)
Occupation: Ranger
Physical characteristics: 6'5"(somewhere just a bit over 2 meters), body type average, slightly muscular.
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Ethnicity: Irish/ Hispanic
Hometown:(If born before the Nuclear Holocaust) Baltimore, Marland, USA
Biography: Wes was on a field trip with his first grade class when the nuclear missile struck The Pentagon. They were already leaving the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History when the light appeared in the sky. His mother, who was serving as a chaperone, grabbed his hand and they dashed for the Subway entrance along with everyone else aware of what happened. The teachers, other chaperones, and children all did the same. In the overcrowded Metro, the sound of the Explosion eccoed from Pentagon Station all thoughout the entire system. He did not see the mushroom cloud directly, but he did see it in a reflection on a street lamp just atop the steps. Then came the wind and dust as well as an earthquake. Wes was too young too understand what had happened, but he knew that something was wrong. Very many people around him were crying, as was his mother.

He had the fortune of being raised by his own mother. It was most definite that many of the other students' parents were dead, but this information was kept from them until they were old enough to understand. It was at about the same time as this that Wes figured that his own father was most likely dead. Besides raising Wes, Mrs. Doogan raised six other children, all class mates now orphaned by the Nuclear Holocaust.

When he turned 18, Wes was inducted into the Smithsonian militia as all boys his age were. His job was to help protect the south borders of the station. Smithsonian was allied with nearby Federal Triangle Station(Which is so close, both Smithsonian and Federal Triangle share leadership) and Metro Station(the very heart of the Metro), so it had nothing to worry about. Recognizing his talent with a rifle, Cpt. John Thurnton, a former Navy Seal, and a ranger, brought Wes to Metro Center to be named a Ranger.

Metro Center Station. Above it is a giant mall. The mall has boarded up windows and is home to traders, merchants, gunsmiths, etc. It is the heart of the Washington Metro
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IHa0ReZtLM[/youtube]

Federal Triangle which is so close to the Smithsonian Station that they share the same governing power. One of the two tunnels is barricaded to and the people's tents lie on the tracks in between as well as the station platforms.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqkPdzU-hl8&feature=related[/youtube]

Another video. As you can see, although the Washington Metro is the second largest Metro system in the US, it is quite cramped. There are not manual carts and because of this, Just one crash would block up the Metro. I'm not going to have the people travel by train. They rarely did, even in Moscow(Which is a very wide Metro. The depiction in the game is similar to how it is in real life. I have been trying to find schematics for the Metro to figure out where all the service tunnels and bypasses for workers are, so I may have to alter the Metro a bit to better serve the game. The reason why I did not pick New York City's Metro is because the city is so populous and large, I assume very powerful nuclear missiles would be used and that woud not be ideal. The street would crumble down and cave in on the much of the Metro and the surface would be covered by a thick blanket of debris from all of the destroyed buildings. There is no way New York could survive. Even if there where survivors of the mass destruction.

Name: Oskar A. Bergblom
Gender: Male.
Affiliation: Independent.
Station: Metro Center.
Occupation: Photojournalist, prior to the events of 2013. Supports himself by producing and selling portrait photos and such.
Physical characteristics: 1.82 metres tall (Yeah, we use metres for everything), somewhat gaunt, pale skin. Appears older than he is.
Hair Color: Dark brown.
Eye Color: Light blue.
Ethnicity: Swedish.
Birthdate: July 13, 1990 (No, I'm not using my own )
Hometown: Göteborg, Sweden.
Biography: In 2010, Oskar - at that time aged 20 - travelled to the U.S., working as a freelance photojournalist documenting important events on behalf of various Swedish newspapers. When the nuclear war erupted, he was - of course - in Washington, and was subsequently caught in the metro.

From then on, his existence was rather bleak. Unable to find any of his former acquaintances - or fellow countrymen for that matter - he settled down in the Metro Center station. As his digital camera was now rather useless, he paid one of the few surviving technicians to modify an older camera for him, making him able to power it by hand. In an rather amazing, and very rare, stroke of luck he also managed to find and buy a large stock of photographic film, ensuring that his work could go on for years.

For the next two decades or so he managed to get by, although almost always on the brink of starvation. Photographs wasn't as big a market as it used to be. He grew older, and visibly so - time was not kind to him. By the year 2033, life simply doesn't appear as worthwhile to him anymore.
__

And yes, that is all I could manage to come up with. Hope it will do for the moment.

Of course it will do. It's a very unique idea, of course. I'm sure few people ever venture up to the surface. The monuments up their are still at least partially intact. I'd have to look up the blast radius of even a small nuclear missile. If it's too little, I can alter the prologue to say that it did not go off directly on target and missed so that it went off to the south of Arlington(A small city that is Washington's neighbour. It is where the Pentagon is located).


And now, we wait. If no one else is interested, I think an rp with two people can work. So, to keep the thread from falling into obscurity, I guess it'd be best to setup everything. I am drawing over a map of the metro as we speak, designating the affiliations of each and every station.

So, how's the map doing? You better have plenty of factions, or I'll be sad. That's one thing I love about the game - all these varying, strange factions formed from the remains of society.

I've thought of nationalists. Although racism is not as prevalent or out in the open in America, it still exists in abundance. Against African-Americans, Hispanics, and Islamic people especially. I will make a faction revolving around that. The book had some stations stricken by disease and I will have that along with quarantined off areas of the Metro. Multiple gang run stations will exist as well. The central stations are run by the remnants of the former US government and are enforced by the remnants of the Armed Forces. It will serve like the Hanse in Metro 2033, forming a circle of influence. As Dmitry made the factions as a sort of social commentary on the state of modern Russia, I will try to do the same here. But I need to do some more research before I can completely finish the map.

*Accidental post. I'll edit it when I find something that needs to be said rather than making another post.

My computer died so I had to use the main computer and I couldn't work on the map. I'm back though, working on the map again.

OOC: as a native Washingtonian, I keep seeing the title of this thread and thinking "Washington Post, Metro section". Whoa, it really is about the Washington Metro! Have fun, y'all.

Name: Grath
Gender: Male
Affiliation:Independent
Station: Federal Triangle
Occupation: Scientist
Physical characteristics: 8'9", thin, looks young.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: purple
Ethnicity: He is a humanoid entity from an alternate universe. However, the skin is white as snow, leading people to believe him albino. The blood is a purple.
Birthdate: Unknown
Hometown:Unknown
Biography: After entering through a portal that suddenly appeared in the station at time 2018, Grath was shot in the left elbow due to a panicked survivor who thought him the result of genetic mutation. The result was that he had to grab a scalpel and cut the bullet from the elbow. He stuttered,"Why?" before collapsing on the floor unconscious. He was bandaged by doctor, who knew that if it spoke and knew how to properly remove a bullet from the body, it can't be a monster. He later woke up clutching a strange disc of green metal that had a glowing red light in the center. Garth then explained he came from another universe and that this disc was simply a way of travelling through realities. Of course, the scientists thought his story puzzling, yet a somewhat good explanation of what happened. Everyone noticed his slow rate of aging, as well as the strange way he would sometimes look at a gun like a normal person would if it was a sword from ancient Greece. His habit of looking at objects in this way made scientists think that Garth's people were technologically more advanced then they were. THis theory was confirmed from an interview with Garth, who said, "What? Those tools you call guns? Primitive!" Of course, the reply to this was that, if guns are so primitive, why was he hurt by one. His answer was that he had no idea that he would encounter beings that carry the tools, nor anything else he has seen. He now is developing a bacteria that counteracts radiation and allows humans to survive out in the landscape. He, on the other hand, has biologic adaptations that allow him to live in such a landscape.
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Hope this guy isn't too weird or does not work with the format.

Sign me in. I'm too mentally asleep to write a full-on character bios, but seeing about the factions it would be interesting to be a hispanic foreign guy who was vacationing when the missiles were launched. That would actually be the closest to a real-life scenario as it can get (I've actually been to D.C. and used the metro system for two days, so that's something). And my character would have to deal with racist people who don't like him for being hispanic, and nationalistic people who say that american resources are for american people, and that he should go away. He'd probably have to work hard to prove his worth, and show he's capable of lifting his own weight, and... seems like I'm on something

Btw, english is not my first language, so even though I don't see in myself really blatant mistakes, I might have trouble with the finer points of grammar and with using the correct preposition. I don't bite when corrected, it would actually be helpful.

Hey, if anyone notices, I seem to be the only one who actually wants to get the RP started. Also, I just feel like everyone views me as an annoying little kid who sits around shouting things in extremely stilted and idiotic way like "I pwn all of u, NeWbs!" which I find a stupid and unreliable perception. Maybe I am just extremely weird that way, or maybe I am just being superstitious. Still, sort of interesting stuff.

Still know one will answer me?

Apparently, it's just there are not enough RP'ers around here to get something big going.