conversations.from: system
conversations.value: **SUMMARY**: Players assume the role of abandoned pets in a world devastated by an apocalyptic world war.
  
  **PITCH**: Beasts of Burden meets pretty much any post-apocalyptic setting.
  
  
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  The world as you knew it is gone. For months, the humans fought each other. Your neighborhood and your city were gradually destroyed. Then one day, there was a blinding flash of light, an intense heat, and then everything was different.
  
  The humane society shelter that was your home became a pile of rubble, one of the last buildings to go. Due to exposure to bad smelling gases and things you could not see, dogs and cats around you went to the Great Backyard. Only you and a few animals survived. Emerging from the debris, you see very little left of the city, and not a human in sight. You agree with the other remaining animals that you need to find some form of civilization, and that your survival depends on it.
  
  
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  **NOTES**
  
  • Players play animals, most likely a dog or a cat, but any typical domestic pet is fine.
  
  • Animals survived a world war, which left behind a dangerous mix of chemicals and radiation that has triggered latent mutations.
  
  • Mutations will appear during the course of the story. Everyone starts out as a "normal" animal.
  
  • The subplot cards consist of "flashback" scenarios. Players should periodically write flashbacks for their animal characters that take place before or during their time in the shelter.
  
  • I'm an intermittent narrator. If you get annoyed with 4-5 days between posts, this isn't the game for you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Save Buddy?: Buddy the bulldog seems to be making his way to the Great Backyard. Can he be saved?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sneaky: sneaky
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Build the Team: Shelter life makes some animals suspicious of each other. Up to you to pull this group together. As far as you can tell, there's no one else to help you.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Survival Supplies: Picked up a few odds and ends from the shelter.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Carl's SmartPhone: Kindly shelter employee Carl left his smartphone with the animals before perishing.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Regroup?: Got to rejoin the others.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Buddy's Fate: The bulldog's injuries are pretty serious. Is he worth saving?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Buddy's Fate: The bulldog's injuries seem to be serious. He may be a liability in the short term, but may help in the long term.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Shifty and Paranoid: You're generally unreliable and think everyone's out to get you.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Reliable and Loyal: Stands by friends.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Suspicious of Humans: You don't like people.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Fast: You run quickly.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Agile: You can climb and jump.
  (No dogs.)
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Tripod: You only have three legs.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Hunter: Since ending up in the shelter, your wild side has emerged.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sick: You have some illness that weakens your endurance.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Selfish: You only look out for number one.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Suspicious of Other Species: You only deal with animals of your own type.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Damaged Goods: You were scheduled to be euthanized because you wouldn't have made a suitable pet.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Incurably Optimistic: The world isn't half destroyed so much as half intact!
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Perceptive: Your eyesight, hearing, or sense of smell is especially sensitive.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Aloof and Skeptical: It's not that you don't trust anyone. It's just that you don't think anyone is particularly trustworthy.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Street Smarts: You were out on the street before you were in the shelter, and you learned something about how the world works.
  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Cute: Other creatures (mostly humans) are immediately attracted to you.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Charismatic: You're a natural leader.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Empathetic: You're sensitive to how other creatures are feeling.
  (No cats.)
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: One Eye: You're missing an eye, which makes it difficult to judge distances.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Fighter: You've got teeth and claws and you know how to use 'em.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Patience: You've learned to control your innate impulsiveness.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Timid: You're debilitatingly shy.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Tenacious: You're persistent when dealing with problems.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Stubborn: You never let go of an idea, no matter how harebrained.
  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Clueless: You don't have a good sense of social dynamics.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Partner (Flashback): Before being placed in the shelter, you had a companion and you guys were inseparable. How did you meet your partner?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Suppressed Trauma (Flashback): Something bad happened to you, either before the shelter or while you were in the shelter. You can't quite remember what it was. What were the events leading up to the trauma?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Nemesis (Flashback): You had an arch-rival before you were placed in the shelter. How did this animal become your nemesis?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Loving Family (Flashback): You were a member of a loving family that suddenly gave you up. What were the events leading up to your being placed in the shelter?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Liberated (Flashback): You had been a test subject in a lab, liberated by some animal rights activists. How did you come to be in the lab? What were they doing to you?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Reactive: You respond violently when confronted with a particular situation or circumstance.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Anxious: Certain situations make you uncomfortable and nervous.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Missed Connection (Flashback): You'd been a stray your whole life, then one day you met a human who might actually take you in. Before you could form a deeper relationship, you were grabbed by animal control and dropped into the shelter. What was life on the street like? How did you meet this human?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Impulsive: You make decisions without regard to consequences.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Scrappy and Excitable: You show true grit in the face of adversity, but sometimes you're a little too enthusiastic.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Quiet Bruiser: You're tough, but not mean. Quiet, but not menacing.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Missing Human: You were living with an older person, who went out one day and never came home. The humane shelter came to get you a few days later. Were there any clues that might have revealed they weren't coming back? Why didn't they come home? 
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Separated at Birth: You were taken from your litter when you were still small, but not so small you can't remember them. You've always pined for them. Why were you separated from your littermates? What happened to them?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Revolving Door: You had been in and out of foster care for years. Why wouldn't anyone adopt you?
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Help Someone Out: You can hear someone's voice from in the rubble.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Escape the Rubble: You somehow survived the destruction, but you need to get out.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Buddy: Buddy is a bulldog who was dropped at the shelter a few weeks ago. He never seemed to get over his depression at being abandoned.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Take Cover!: Find a place to hide before the humans find you.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Look after Carl's Smartphone: Carl left a mysterious direction with you. Look after the smartphone. What could it mean?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Aloof and Skeptical: It's not that you don't trust anyone. It's just that you don't think anyone is particularly trustworthy.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Agile: You can climb and jump.
  (No dogs.)
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Selfish: You only look out for number one.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Nemesis (Flashback): You had an arch-rival before you were placed in the shelter. How did this animal become your nemesis?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Damaged Goods: You were scheduled to be euthanized because you wouldn't have made a suitable pet.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Street Smarts: You were out on the street before you were in the shelter, and you learned something about how the world works.
  
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: One Eye: You're missing an eye, which makes it difficult to judge distances.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Suppressed Trauma (Flashback): Something bad happened to you, either before the shelter or while you were in the shelter. You can't quite remember what it was. What were the events leading up to the trauma?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Gentle Giant: You're bigger and stronger than other animals, including humans, but you're a big old softy. You only use your size advantage defensively.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Patience: You've learned to control your innate impulsiveness.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Gullible: You believe most animals, including humans, are fundamentally good. Sometimes you give the benefit of the doubt when you shouldn't.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Loving Family (Flashback): You were a member of a loving family that suddenly gave you up. What were the events leading up to your being placed in the shelter?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Suspicious of Humans: You don't like people.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Clever: You are bright and creative, good at solving problems and figuring things out.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Reactive: You respond violently when confronted with a particular situation or circumstance.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Liberated (Flashback): You had been a test subject in a lab, liberated by some animal rights activists. How did you come to be in the lab? What were they doing to you?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Reliable and Loyal: Stands by friends.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Tenacious: You're persistent when dealing with problems.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sick: You have some illness that weakens your endurance.
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Liberated (Flashback): You had been a test subject in a lab, liberated by some animal rights activists. How did you come to be in the lab? What were they doing to you?
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Apathetic: You've been through so much, it's hard to care anymore.