Thirty Days - Discussion

+ T H I R T Y D A Y S +
BY LYSIS LAMBDA

- APRIL 15TH 2012 -

“Thirty days hath September
April, June, and November
Of twenty-eight there is but one
And all the rest have thirty-one”

YOU are lost in the wilderness, with a few strangers whom you have just met. You are all average people who have, up until this day, lived relatively normal lives. None of you are prepared for or suited to surviving in the wild, without the aid of civilization, but you will all have to make do.

THERE is something about this place. Something strange, something mystical, something...wonderful? You become entranced by it, drawn into the thrall of its mystery. You want to know its secrets and you want to keep those secrets for yourself. You look around at the strangers around you and wonder if they feel the same.

CRISIS lurks around every corner, hides behind every rock and tree, waits under every shadow. You never know when it might come for you next. You can't survive out here alone. You will have to abide these strangers, perhaps even befriend them, in order to get through alive.

SURVIVAL is your primary goal. You don't know how long it will be before you will be rescued, or if anybody will ever find you at all. You just have to sustain yourself, day by day, hour after hour. You feel that if you can survive for a whole month, you can survive indefinitely. What can possibly stop you then?

FOR some reason you have that ancient rhyme stuck in your head. How does that go again? Thirty days hath September...

Welcome to the discussion thread for my next roleplay, Thirty Days. The tentative start date for this is April 15th but that's not set in stone. Now, this roleplay is going to be a bit different than anything that's been done in the VCR or BA before. First of all, the "thirty days" in the name are literal. This roleplay will last exactly thirty days, both here in the real world and inside the story as well, with each real day corresponding to one day in the story.

Because of this time constraint, it is important that everybody participating post regularly. Missing even a single day in the real world means you also miss an entire day within the story and that can have catastrophic consequences for your character. If something happens and you aren't around to indicate your character's response, well, your character is not going to be able to respond at all.

Along with this rule, the other thing that makes this roleplay different from most forum roleplays is that it will be competitive, rather than collaborative. That's not to say that you won't be cooperating with the other players—ultimately, whether you cooperate or not is up to you, but it will be difficult to get along without at least some cooperation.

What it does mean is that you will be trying to meet certain goals ahead of the other players and at the end there will be a definitive winner. The winner will be whoever ends up with the most points after thirty days, which I will be keeping track of. It also means that, similar to traditional pen-and-paper roleplaying games, there will be a gamemaster (yours truly) in charge of the game environment.

I will use various means (including a pair of six-sided dice and my own whimsical discretion) to arbitrate actions and decisions in the game whenever there might be a conflict with either another character or with the environment. This doesn't mean you have to check with me whenever you do anything, of course. Only whenever an agreement is required (two characters come into conflict) or when the action you are taking would result in a change in the environment (which I control).

As I am in charge of the setting and environment, I will describe the scenery whenever it changes. You are free to build upon the general descriptions I give you, of course, to a reasonable degree. However, if your character enters a new location, searches inside of something, or examines something closely, or other such things which would require detailed descriptions, I will be dictating those.

Your characters will have six general traits, which should be mostly self-explanatory. These traits will range somewhere between 0 and 10, with 5 being average. Anything below 4 is detrimental and anything above 6 is out of the ordinary. Your character will also have two special attributes, their attack specialty and their defense specialty. I will explain character creation in more detail later on.

In the game, you will have various goals to achieve within the thirty days you are given. You will have to figure out how to achieve these goals yourself. The primary goal is Survival. How many points you earn for your survival depends on your lowest ability trait (because overcoming your hardships is more meaningful the more difficulty you have) and how many other people survive with you (in order to promote cooperation). You only score survival points if you are alive at the end of the thirtieth day.

You will also be collecting various items hidden in the world. There are four kinds of collectables, which all score differently. Relics are small, simple objects which hold a strange allure. At the beginning of the game, each character will be assigned a relic but they will not know what it is until they see it. Only the character to whom that relic is assigned will notice the relic when they see it—it will be revealed to them and they will be attracted to it.

Relics are worth points to whoever holds them at the end of the thirtieth day. However—they are only worth half as much to the character that the relic is revealed to. To everybody else, they are worth twice as much. They are also worth more the more relics overall you possess.

Artifacts are similar to relics, except that they are not revealed to anybody and they score differently. Artifacts have four score levels, depending on how well they are hidden and how easy they are to find. If they are described in general descriptions without any searching being required, they are worth the least points. If they are only discovered after some very specific searching, they are worth the most. You will not know which objects are artifacts until you score them at the end of the game. Various clues and hints might help you along the way to determining what's valuable and what's junk.

Then there are Mementos. Every character, at the beginning of the game, will be given, in secret, five provisions. Some of these objects might be useful, others not so much. One of them, however, is a memento—you will not know which one. Mementos are worth nothing to the person who holds it at the beginning of the game. To anybody else, they are worth a number of points related to the initial owner's ability to defend themself.

Lastly there's Chronicles, which are small bits of information you will learn if you explore the world enough. Unlike the other collectables in the game, chronicles can be possessed and therefore scored by more than one character. Anybody who learns the chronicle knows it and therefore will score for it. Each chronicle you learn after the first is worth as much as the previous two combined (with the exception of the first two, worth 1 and 2 points respectively).

Of particular interest is that you do not have to be alive in order to possess any of these collectables. If your relics, artifacts, and mementos are still on your body or close enough to be considered in your ownership at the end of the game you will score for them, as well as any chronicles you learned before you died (which, incidentally, are the only things which cannot be stolen from you or otherwise lost). This means a character who is dead could potentially still win the game.

Now you might be wondering how the characters can die. Throughout the game there will be two kinds of Crises—various Calamities and, potentially, perhaps even a Catastrophe or two. Calamities happen to individual characters and catastrophes happen to everybody all at once. I will check every night to see if either occurs—this is decided randomly but various things, such as missing important deadlines, can increase your odds.

If either calamity or catastrophe happen, they will occur the following day. The affected characters will have to figure out how to overcome and survive the crisis. If they survive they will be rewarded by being able to increase one of their ability traits. If they do not survive, their chances at suffering from further crises increases and they have a slim chance of dying right then and there.

After thirty days, the survivors are rescued and the game ends. I add up the scores and reveal the winner.

Now remember, this roleplay is very experimental. We will be figuring it out together as we go along and the rules will be subject to changing without much notice. If you're still interested, here's how you make your character:

Spoiler: character creation criteria  

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Height:
Weight:

Race/Nationality:
Occupation:

Appearance:

Ability Traits:
Strength -
Speed -
Dexterity -
Intelligence -
Creativity -
Charisma -

Attack Specialty:

Defense Specialty:

Possessions:

Luggage:

Strengths/Abilities:

Weaknesses/Disabilities:

Personality:

History:

You will have to pick six ability traits, three physical ones and three mental ones. What they represent is mostly self-explanatory. Strength represents how strong, physically, your character is. Speed represents how quickly they can move. Dexterity represents how skilled they are with their hands.

Intelligence represents how smart your character is, in the intellectual and academic sense—how much information and knowledge your character has. Creativity represents how good they are at figuring things out, solving puzzles and problems. Charisma represents their force of personality, how convincing, intimidating, or persuasive they are.

All six of your ability traits start at 4, which is just under average. You will have 10 points to spend as you wish. Remember that 5 is average, 6 is just above average, 7 is skillful, 8 is expert, 9 is masterful, and 10 is practically superhuman—the best there possibly is.

Taking speed for example, 6 would be someone who jogs regularly, 7 would be someone who is on the track team, 8 would be the fastest member of that track team and possibly the fastest runner in the area, a 9 in speed would be someone who runs for a living and regularly wins national races, and a 10 in speed would be a record-breaking Olympic runner.

In the other direction, 4 is someone who hasn't had a good run in a while, 3 is someone who is somewhat out of shape, 2 is someone who could be outrun by almost everybody, 1 is using a cane, and 0 can't move their legs at all. Now, you can reduce your traits below 4 if you want to spend them elsewhere, but remember that it will severely affect your character's abilities (although it will also increase their survival value—how many points they get for surviving).

Once you have finished assigning these points, you will pick an attack and defense specialty. These can be any of your ability traits. The idea is that your attack/defense specialty is the trait you primarily use when attacking/defending. After all, when two people get in a fight, it's not always the stronger one who wins. It can also be the faster one, or the smarter one, or the more intimidating one. I suggest you pick from your highest traits. Your attack and defense specialties can both use the same trait.

A final note about characters: they are average, everyday individuals from the modern world. The roleplay begins with them going about their regular lives on the morning of August 31st, 2012, and boarding an airplane at Sea-Tac Airport headed for Tokyo. (Their business is yours to decide—perhaps they're going on vacation?) I will not accept any elves or wizards, only ordinary human beings.

When you have completed your character, post it in this thread. If all criteria are met I will add the character to the game, otherwise I will explain what issues need to be worked on. I am looking for at least five characters and will probably not accept more than eight. Use this thread for general discussion as well, and for asking any questions you might have.

I think that's everything for now.

Love this concept, but I have a question about character traits. Particularly creativity. I don't know how a quantitative value could possibly be attributed to that. Since this is an RP, shouldn't the character's creativity reflect the creativity of the player?

What would happen if I had a somewhat thick character with a low score in creativity and I came up with a somewhat unorthodox solution for a problem (perhaps something you hadn't thought of when creating it)? Would it be like "Your character doesn't have a high enough creativity stat for that, come up with a dumber answer"?

Name: Joan Pallas
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Height: 5'9
Weight: 120 lbs

Race/Nationality: Caucasian/American
Occupation: Writes for Game Informer

Appearance: She has long black hair which falls half way down her back when it is down. However, she typically pulls her hair in a low, loose ponytail. She has one blue eye and one brown eye. However, even though she has 20/20 vision she wears a brown contact over her blue eye. She typically wears relaxed clothes unless she has to dress up for something. Her collection of video game graphic tees is quite impressive. While on the plane she was wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers, a long black shirt which has a skull on the left hand side and a light weight black jacket.

Ability Traits:
Strength - 4
Speed - 5
Dexterity - 5
Intelligence - 7
Creativity - 7
Charisma - 6

Attack/Defense Specialty: Creativity

Possessions:
Apple I-phone
Small pocket reporter's notebook
Small pen
Small pencil
RCA digital voice recorder
Wallet
Passport

Luggage:
1st Gen. Nintendo DS with Glory of Hercules cartridge inside the DS slot and Golden Sun: Lost Age in the GBA slot
Power cord for phone
Power cord for Nintendo DS
Batteries for voice recorder
Japanese to English dictionary
Clothes
Laptop
Internet cord (just in case)
Toiletries

Strengths/Abilities: Joan is highly intelligent and creative. She is curious and has the ability to get any information once she puts her mind to it. She is a people person and her laid back attitude puts people at ease. A fact she uses to her advantage during interviews. If its on the Internet, she can find it eventually. Her research/creeper abilities can be rather terrifying.


Weaknesses/Disabilities: Curiosity killed the cat; Joan has an irresistible need for information. She isn't a gossip hound, but she needs to know what is going on. When she doesn't know, she starts to get antsy and freaking out. Especially when she knows people are with withholding information. She isn't that strong physically.

While is she a talented writer (shown by her quick climb up the ranks) her verbal communication isn't as good because she has less time to collect her thoughts and put it into a manner which people can understand. (For interviews she writes down questions before hand and then goes from there.)

Personality: She is laid back without a care in the world until the moment her curiosity is perked. She is then like a deranged ex girlfriend who is determined to find every last bit of information she can possibly get. She has high journalistic integrity and it bugs her to hell when she is compared to journalists who have none. You know, like the paparazzi.

She is perky and happy and always has a smile on her face. People are typically surprised how smart she really is. She loves mythology.

History: Originally from the East Coast, Joan worked at smaller weekly newspapers until she moved up to daily newspaper. All of these newspapers are around the area of her hometown, a small village south of a major city. During this time she freelanced for a few video game websites and magazines until she was hired at Game Informer two years ago. She is going to Tokyo to an interview a game developer who is making a video game which prominently features mythology. This is her first major assignment and she doesn't wanna screw it up.

Originally Posted by Sailboat

Love this concept, but I have a question about character traits. Particularly creativity. I don't know how a quantitative value could possibly be attributed to that. Since this is an RP, shouldn't the character's creativity reflect the creativity of the player?

What would happen if I had a somewhat thick character with a low score in creativity and I came up with a somewhat unorthodox solution for a problem (perhaps something you hadn't thought of when creating it)? Would it be like "Your character doesn't have a high enough creativity stat for that, come up with a dumber answer"?

actually, since this is an RP, the character's traits should represent the role you are playing. That's what it means to roleplay. If you decide to roleplay a character who is unintelligent or uncreative, it is your responsibility to respect that role and play it faithfully.

I have a character, for instance, who is medically insane. I regularly make choices for her which are not in her best interest and which I, as a perfectly sane person, would know better solutions to.

now, I'm not sure how often the Creativity trait, of all the traits, will really come into play if it's not your attack or defense specialty. Remember that I said that, unlike most pen-and-paper RPGs, I'm not going to make you roll an ability check every single time you try to do anything. It will probably mostly come into play when your characters examine certain things in the environment—those with a high creativity might notice things that the other characters miss.

for example, say the characters come across an old and unusual machine. Characters with high intelligence might be able to piece together how parts of it work. Characters with high creativity might be able to imagine how those various parts work together and what the machine might be used for.

..... Joan Rivers?
[picture redacted because i couldn't stand seeing her face anymore and i'm sure you couldn't either]

Originally Posted by Lysis

actually, since this is an RP, the character's traits should represent the role you are playing. That's what it means to roleplay. If you decide to roleplay a character who is unintelligent or uncreative, it is your responsibility to respect that role and play it faithfully.

I have a character, for instance, who is medically insane. I regularly make choices for her which are not in her best interest and which I, as a perfectly sane person, would know better solutions to.

now, I'm not sure how often the Creativity trait, of all the traits, will really come into play if it's not your attack or defense specialty. Remember that I said that, unlike most pen-and-paper RPGs, I'm not going to make you roll an ability check every single time you try to do anything. It will probably mostly come into play when your characters examine certain things in the environment—those with a high creativity might notice things that the other characters miss.

for example, say the characters come across an old and unusual machine. Characters with high intelligence might be able to piece together how parts of it work. Characters with high creativity might be able to imagine how those various parts work together and what the machine might be used for.

Ah, I see, so it's less of a skill check and more of just a ballpark estimate of how able you characters.

And I mean, I understand the roleplaying concept and RPing as someone who has less knowledge, but I think creativity is something that a limit can't really be put on. We'll see. I'll just have my character with a 5 in creativity for good measure.


One more thing: Can you provide an example for a character's attack and defense specialty? I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean. Is that what they're best at in terms of combat, or is it the "ability trait" they use the most when fighting/defending themselves?

it's the trait they use the most when attacking or defending. The reason it exists is so that the guy with the biggest Strength trait can't just go pushing everybody else around to get their way. If their attack specialty is Strength and your defense specialty is Intelligence then you can still reasonably defend yourself from them if your strength is low but your intelligence high.

I totally didn't know there was actually a Joan Rivers xD Imma change the last name now.

Name: Shiv Rakalov
Age: 55
Gender: Male
Height: 6’ 3”
Weight: 223 lbs.

Race/Nationality: Caucasian/Russian Immigrant
Occupation: Security Guard/Part-Time Hitman

Appearance: A grizzled man in his mid 50s. His hair is grayish, with a few early whites coming in. His sideburns transform into his beard and mustache, also grey. He has kept himself in good shape, despite his age; he is a stocky, heavy man. When not in security uniform, he wears a hooded windbreaker, collared shirt, cargo pants, and athleisure shoes. All of his possessions are hidden from view, save a watch on his right hand. Speaks with a Russian accent.

Ability Traits:
Strength: 8
Speed: 6
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 6
Creativity: 6
Charisma: 2

Attack Specialty: Dexterity
Defense Specialty: Strength

Possessions:
On Person:
Pilot Sunglasses
Ballpoint Pen
Wallet with various identification and $78.
Passport
Basic Cellphone
Keys
Luggage:
Glock 24 (fully loaded and in legal specialized container)
2-3 extra magazines (fully loaded and in legal specialized container)
2 full changes of clothes
Motrin bottle
Notebook and pen
Trenchcoat
Balisong

Strengths/Abilities: Intelligent and alert combat operative, has had to face difficult challenges and situations before, and always came out on top through outperforming and outthinking his adversaries/problem. Trained professional fighter, has made a career once in the KGB, and in corporate security in the USA. Tough-as-nails personality, coupled with his dominating physical body, makes him a real force to be reckoned with. He is adept at using everyday items as makeshift weapons.

Weaknesses/Disabilities: Really impatient, hates dealing with people. His tough personality drives people away, and he feels he does not need them. Has never been one for solving tough mathematical or intuitive puzzles. Confident in his abilities, does not always fully appreciate or recognize others’ talents. Has difficulty convincing others to help or do things for him, and so often uses his larger stature to intimidate them. His intelligence and ability to think outside the box are not translated to his everyday life.

Personality: Tough-as-nails. Confident in his skills as a shooter and martial artist. Does not appreciate others’ abilities unless they are exceptional or equal/surpass his own. Relies on himself. Shiv isn’t a people person, and doesn’t always understand how to relate or coerce them without resorting to intimidation or violence.

History: Shiv grew up in Russia during the Soviet Era, with a small family. Upon graduating college, he joined the KGB, and enjoyed a career of assassinations and espionage action. Prior to the Soviet Union’s decline, Shiv saw the end coming and retired. He immigrated to America and began work as a corporate bodyguard. He has been there ever since, and a wide-spread rumor circulates that he was the Russian Premier’s bodyguard, and kills people for money on a daily basis. Not really true, but Shiv doesn’t mind the free advertisement.

so that is how it works with the attack/defense specialty. whoops.

actually it's not—just one trait for each, please.

Rak: I did mention that your characters would be starting out the roleplay on an international flight. So they will have their passports, although I doubt they'll come into play during the actual game. If by keys you mean the keys to your character's car or house, you won't be seeing either of those during the thirty days. I suppose you might find some other use for the keys though, that's up to you.

I didn't think of this when I decided the story would start on an airplane but that logically leads to certain limitations; for instance, how can your character be carrying a gun? I don't think he'd be able to get that through security. Same with the knife. Hmm...

Ah, OK. Fixed.

Ok, I will edit out the keys. Wasn't sure if we were on a flight or in the wilderness. What if I told you that his time with the KGB taught him how to easily bypass airport security measures? (I mean, that's pretty realistic.) Maybe I would have to lessen the amount of magazines, but getting a gun, or much more easily, a knife, through probably wouldn't be a big deal to an ex-Soviet spy/assassin.

TL;DR: I'll take away the gun if you want me to

Ok, I will edit out the keys. Wasn't sure if we were on a flight or in the wilderness. What if I told you that his time with the KGB taught him how to easily bypass airport security measures? (I mean, that's pretty realistic.) Maybe I would have to lessen the amount of magazines, but getting a gun, or much more easily, a knife, through probably wouldn't be a big deal to an ex-Soviet spy/assassin.

All the KGB training in the world wouldn't help you get a metal object past a metal detector.



Name: Peter Torezzo
Age: 20
Gender: M
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.

Race/Nationality: White/Canadian
Occupation: Minor league hockey player

Appearance: Peter has a thick mane of dirty blond hair that descends in waves to his shoulders (pretty much Ryan Smyth's hair). He has a calm, inviting face with thick eyebrows, blue eyes and a strong jawline. On the plane he was wearing an expensive striped button-up shirt with a wifebeater underneath, jeans, a belt and a pair of tan-colored kodiacs. He is tall and in exceptionally good physical condition. He wears a cross around his neck.


Ability Traits:
Strength - 8
Speed -8
Dexterity - 4
Intelligence - 4
Creativity - 5
Charisma - 5

Attack Specialty: Strength

Defense Specialty: Speed

Possessions:
-BMW Keys with a small flashlight keychain
-Android Phone (which he is somewhat forgetful about charging)
-Wallet, containing several credit cards and IDs and one condom
-Passport
-Bottle of prescription pain pills
-One pair of Raybans

Luggage:
-Hockey Bag (full equipment plus 2 sticks)
-Clothes (dress shoes, 2 extra shirts, one extra pair of pants with belt, a hoodie and a leather jacket)
-Bottle of Crown Royal Whiskey
-Swiss Army Knife
-Extra Cell Phone Battery
-Toiletries
-MacBook Air with charger
-More condoms

Strengths/Abilities: Being a hockey player by trade, Peter is very quick on his feet and physically capable in pretty much every way. He is also devastatingly handsome, giving him a persuasive edge against the opposite sex equivalent to +1 CHA.

Weaknesses/Disabilities: Peter isn't the smartest person, having received no more education than that offered by a small town high school. Coming off from an injury in the AHL playoffs, he is currently suffering from post-concussion syndrome. He suffers from occasional migraines (during which he becomes irritable) and has trouble focusing on thought-intensive tasks.

Personality: As small town Manitoba boy, Petey was raised on strong values and has always lived under the notion that if you try hard and do your best, you'll be rewarded for it. He is confident and eager to take on new challenges. He was raised Catholic and remains strongly religious.

History: Peter had an easy childhood. Born under middle class parents, he was able to enjoy a carefree lifestyle in his early years. Hockey was his passion for as long as he could remember, and his failing grades in High School were of no concern for him when he was recruited by an NHL talent scout in 2009. In the 2010 Entry draft he was signed by the Calgary Flames and began playing for their AHL affiliate team, the Abbotsford Heat. He was bodychecked from behind in a playoff game in May 2012, which resulted in severe head injury. Still experiencing symptoms from the concussion, he has not yet been cleared to play this season. He decided to try to numb the pain of not being able to play by blowing some cash on a drunken Tokyo vacation with his Manitoba buddies.

Name: Annabel Collins
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Height: 5'10
Weight: 134 lbs

Race/Nationality: White/American
Occupation: Waitress (aspiring musician)

Appearance: She has straight dirty blonde hair which she let's hang down around her round face. She has dark blue eyes and she usually wears a pair of rectangular glasses.
She usually wears jeans and a t-shirt, but she does own her fair share of dresses for when something more formal is required or when she's just in the mood to wear one.

Ability Traits:
Strength - 3
Speed - 6
Dexterity - 4
Intelligence - 8
Creativity - 8
Charisma - 5

Attack Specialty: Intelligence

Defense Specialty: Creativity

Possessions:
- An iPod Nano with 80% battery life left
- Earphones
- Passport
- Wallet
- Bag of Fritos
- Half a pack of tropical 5 gum
- Stylin fedora

Luggage
- Seagull s6 Acoustic Guitar (in case; attached to duffle bag)
- Extra Strings and Picks
- iPod speakers
- Laptop
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Strengths/Abilities: She's got quite a bit of musical talent, although that probably won't help her in a survival situation.
She's very intelligent and she's competent socially. Also, she's fairly creative and good with puzzles.

Weaknesses/Disabilities: She's not all that strong and she can be a bit clumsy at times.
She's not the most athletic of the group. In fact, she could easily be overpowered. She must rely on intelligence and wit to avoid physical confrontations.

Personality: She was never the most popular girl in school. Although she's not socially awkward, she prefers to keep to herself.
She's actually quite paranoid, and she's constantly telling lies. She doesn't like when people know things about her, even when it's something trivial.
She's very good at not letting people know what she's thinking. Even if she believes someone to be a terrible person, she'll never say it to their face.

History: She grew up in a dysfunctional family. This helped contribute to her overall distrust and distaste for people.
Music has helped her better express herself, but she still ends up telling lies and wearing false smiles to please others.
In high school, she was one of the top in her class. With her GPA and test scores, a scholarship wouldn't be too difficult to obtain. Still, she chose to pursue music instead.

I'll have my character up later today.

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Rak, if you still plan on playing, put the weapons in your character's luggage and then pick only one trait for your attack and defense specialties (they don't have to be the same trait but they can be).

in fact, just as a note, everybody can go ahead and add a Luggage section to their character if they want and add various things to it. Whether or not you'll find those things later on once the game has begun, well...

Sailboat, ability scores start at 4 each and you have 10 points to spend. You spent eleven points. Otherwise, your character looks pretty good.

Fluttershy, you subtracted 2 points from your base ability scores, giving you 12 points to spend. You also spent eleven points. I would suggest putting the extra one back in your Dexterity—how did she ever manage to wait tables if she is so clumsy? She'd be dropping the food all the time. That's just a suggestion though.

also, just so you know, Annabel is extraordinarily intelligent and creative, the smartest character posted so far.

---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

(ability traits should always add up to 34)

Will the gun be needed to survive, or will it be ridiculously OP and easy to eliminate the competition with? I'll take it away in a heartbeat if it's just gonna be a stupid auto-win problem child (not fun for all, not fun at all imo). If it will be needed to shoot dinner once we are in the wilderness, then it would be in the luggage, disassembled and in a special licensed box. Sorry about multiple traits :S my bad.

it can certainly be used to survive, although I don't know about required. Do remember that for the most part, despite being in competition with the other players, you will need to cooperate and work together somewhat in order to survive. One lone wolf isn't going to last long if he kills off everybody else.

and speaking of which, I'm not even sure if I'll allow players to actually kill other players. As far as I have it set up currently, the only way for a character to actually die is through a Crisis.

---------- Post added at 06:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 PM ----------

in fact, I've decided that I would like everybody to put at least five items in their Luggage.

So, does this mean I have to add more luggage? Or can I keep what I gots?

well, there's stuff that's on your person (Possessions) and stuff that's in your Luggage. You won't have ready access to your luggage at the beginning of the game. I need at least five luggage items from each character to work with. They can be pretty much anything. Just, again, know that you won't have ready access to them right away and, possibly, not at all.