<strong>Hello, everybody,  XD<br/><br/>our RP is going to start any time now, the last of the character sheets should be in shortly.  XD</strong><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">However, we need not wait that long to begin our story, as the team will first meet in the USA the day before they will all be dropped over Germany (near Bonn) with parachutes. </span><br/><br/>The team will have a chance to get to know each other at least a little, on the day before they'll be dropped into what could be, for all they know, a horror trip during which they'll face an enemy that even the best soldier might fear fighting, against which no skill, no strength, no wit and no knowledge can protect them: A virus.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">That meeting will be the opening scene.</span>I'll not bother with NSCs, as they'll not be needed again anywhere in the RP, the main plot theme, I think they would, at this point, be a distraction rather than a help, and superfluous, it's better for the characters if they focus on the other team members. Hence,<span class="bbc_u">the characters will just be in that meeting room, team members only, a large table, a buffet (nope, no alcohol), comfortable chairs etc. are provided, they'll be arriving one after the other in whatever posting order 'happens'.</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 7pt;">If this laissez-faire method should end in too much unproductive chaos, I'll send in an NC authority figure who is in charge and forces them all back in line...</span><br/><br/>That means whoever posts their character sheet days after the rest of the players can, up to the point where they get on the plane, still enter the game as a team member.<br/><br/>Unless you insist, there'll be no established posting order, thus, no endless waiting until all have posted and it is 'your turn' again.<br/><br/><strong>Okay, a whole lot of info now:</strong><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">They all have been summoned on short notice</span>, some who are bound to follow orders might not even have been given a choice, yes, possibly have no idea what they will be expected to do the other day. How willingly your characters joined and how much your characters knew about their mission before they were briefed is up to you.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Each character has been given a small, single bed room, and has been briefed separately, alone, and handed in writing what they need to know, what their duties and goals will be. They'll take the notes with them and can consult them anytime.</span>-> OOCly that means if anything isn't clear to you or you need further information or can't remember or find something relevant for your character, you can ask me. We'll just assume your character went to look it up in his instructions booklet. ;)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">All of them have been forbidden to tell anybody that and whereto they are leaving. While they are gone, their families and friends will have no idea - or a very false one - where they are. There is no chance to contact the outside world from the moment they entered that building. </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">There is a satellite watching the roof of the Post Tower in Bonn. There is another watching the roof of Hotel Park Inn in Berlin. Those are their pick-up points. If they do not make it to the top of either building, they will never get home again.</span>If they are very lucky, the data from Berlin, from the Robert Koch Institut, has reached the Universitätsklinik Bonn. That would mean, they might be in and out of that contaminated area within a three weeks...<br/><br/>What if the data needed is not in Bonn, how are they supposed to reach Berlin? Of course, there is a pick-up planned that would pluck them off the Post Tower's roof and drop them in Berlin, as close as possible to the Robert Koch Institut.<br/><br/>Now  - wait a minute! Why can't they drop everybody right in front of the Universitätsklinik Bonn, then, why only somewhere in the area, and why is the first possible pick up date three weeks after the drop?<br/><br/>Well, all data is interesting. Human samples must be taken. But also, there are many<span class="bbc_u">soldiers on the team, fighters.</span>The data they collect is how to fight the infected, how to survive them, they must find out as much as they can about their typical strength and speed, how they fight, chase, hunt, feed, where they rest or 'hibernate', what wakes them out of hibernation. Bonus points for being able to estimate after how long a time of hibernation and no feeding they slow down significantly. Do they starve eventually, and die, if left alone? How long does that take? Generally a question of interest, they run so fast, feel no pain (or show no reaction to it), are in that state of rage - how long does that last, how much energy do they burn, when will they stop running or slow down?<br/><br/>Another fun event is testing the gas - yes, that's right, testing small amounts of the gas on infected that look as if they might have been around six years ago when they somehow must have survived the gas. Why? Well, they want to know whether the infected have developed a kind of immunity to it, whether they absorbed too small a dosis because they hardly breathe when in hibernation, jovially called 'stand by mode' - or whether they were just 'coughs* lucky.<br/><br/><br/>Right, so, what the heck does<span class="bbc_u">a cultural anthropologist on the team?</span>Study the aborigines, of course, but for what purpose? Maybe he suspects as much, maybe not, but the data he collects on them will influence the decision what best to do with them. Kill the lot? Or can they live functional lives again after six years of horror and anarchy? Have they become a bunch of crazed psychopaths that each pose a danger to whatever society takes them in? How do they defend themselves, would they be willing to cooperate, how much do they hate/blame the outside world for having bombed the lot and left the survivors to struggle without any outside help for six whole years? Where do they hide, how do they communicate, how can one remove them all without dropping bombs of the kind that would really render all that fertile region with the survival-friendly climate uninhabitable (and ruin all the valuable property, art etc. in the process)? On a more gentle note, supposing the survivors are deemed the sort that are less trouble than gain, what help will they need to be able to return into 'normal' civilisations without being hopelessly overstrained? How traumatised are they? Etc...<br/><br/>There, that's it, I hope, at least for now. Did I miss something - give me a nudge. Also nudge me if I explained badly or something makes no sense to you etc... Just drop me a PM, please, and I'll add or clarify.  :D<br/><br/>Another scientist will shortly join us and the team *cheers*, information relevant for her character I'll add here after her character sheet has been posted. ;)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">Now, the group gathering and getting to know the rest of the team isn't just a social occasion. It serves a purpose.</span>The team will probably need a leader, at least someone to make the final decisions when they cannot reach a consensus about something. But with so many in the team having a military background or one where obeying commands and following hierarchy is the norm, it would make sense to have a leader for the 'military' operations, too.<br/><br/>However, I leave that up to you all. If you want such a leader, you should vote as the players, for the character who seems most likely to be given that position, and a second in command. If you don't want that kind of hierarchy, you can either decide the group will select a leader IC, or you can just let things take their natural course and see whether one emanates.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">What the team definitely needs are a few 'functions' selected team members will be in charge of.</span>Who would the group select to be responsible for the food supply? Who will be sent forwards to establish contact or negotiate with survivors if needed? Who will be a scout, a pathfinder of sorts? Who is a good huntsman, knows how to survive out in the woods? Who will be responsible for finding safe places to stay overnight? Who will be in charge of first aid (->who has most knowledge about medicine, can stitch together someone who is wounded, maybe even perform basic surgery if needed)? Things of that nature - if I forgot something important, please, fill in for me.<br/><br/>I think that's it...   ::) Yes, at least my head's not coughing up anything useful...<br/><br/>I'll open the RP thread shortly.<br/><br/>P.s.: Do you want a shiny new thread for your character sheets, too, or will the old thread do in which we posted them anyway?<br/><br/>P.p.s. : So far, there is only one survivor-character, and her sheet isn't posted yet, we'll come to the survivor intro scenario when she's ready.<br/><br/>Hope you're all still with me and we're heading for a lot of fun together!<br/><br/>Malina