Aberrant: Dead Rising - OOC Stuff

[Justin OOC]

I understand, I was just putting out some of the ideas that had been mentioned between PCs and such.

[Jasmine Gentian]

I am absolutely in. Like many of you, I have a harder time motivating myself to post if others aren't. And while I'm fine with starting the resolution, I'm also fine with the idea of continuing on at a pace dictated by RP if the stories and posting pick up. So either way, I'm in.

[Venus]

Testing the new switch feature.

[Dawn OOC]

This weekend, I'll start wrapping. After that, I'll give some time for the downtime fics to be taken care of. Then I'll run a plot and assess whether we're closing or not based on that. Sound good?

[Venus]

I like it

[z016]

It's been months since there's been any steady posting in DR. Dawn, are you planning on reviving the game, or are we closing up shop? I guess that goes for the players as well, but I know a number of things have been waiting on the ST to move them along.

What's the state of things in DR at this point?

[Dan Hawkins]

still here myself I just think RL ate everyone else, including Dawn.

[Dawn OOC]

Yes, Real Life has munched hard. The plan, as I stated many months ago, was to wrap all the Halloween chapters, award xp and get Chapter 14 started. I'm still working on consolidating PCs back into larger groups (i.e., Ali being all alone is no fun and so on). For example, working out how to get the Refuge connected to the Denver group so that free exchanges happen between them without dragging everything out again.

The plan is to focus on the Olympians going forward, unless people are against that. I'd like to hear opinions--I know that at least a few of you are hard-wired to go after them due to background, but what about the rest? Some ideas about what you want out of the game going forward will help me plot-wise, to shape things where they should go.

[SalmonMax]

Well, Myfwany is clearly not positively inclined towards the Olympians, given that their leader apparently tried to murder her and a bunch of defenseless civilians.

She has her own thing going in Jon's old lab too. I must think of ways to tie her in to the larger framework.

[Hotstreak]

Dan wants to Kill Han for pushing Violet over the edge, and off the cliff. He also wants to see that his children don't grow up feared and ostracized.

[Ali Badren]

Yeah, Ali is going to be going after the Olympians, the whole Colorado group would - and Hercules in particular.

[Karren Gaunt]

Hrrrm, it would take a mountainload of persuasion to get Sarah to leave the Christmas City Enclave undefended after what happened to the 'new safe secret' Refuge in the course of less than twelve hours, but it could happen if Dan convinced her her baby would safer born somewhere else. She's totally rearguard material while the rest of you try and peel open Olympus like a tin can.

[z016]

Gabrielle knows nothing of the Olympians, though she will probably view them as demons if they're described to her. She might go with a group to hunt them but would be more likely/more suited to heading up an enclave created to keep survivors safe while the combat 'angels' went after the 'demons'.

[Jasmine Gentian]

I would still like to wrap up Jasmine's storyline, and then I don't mind figuring out a way to reintegrate her into the group and deal with the Olympians if that's what's called for. You originally said you had a plan for her, I'm not sure if that's still applicable or not, due to consolidation.

[Dawn OOC]

Yes, I have a plan for Jas, and she will be the last reintegrated... but she'll have a baby by then too so reintregration makes sense.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Reintergration... sounds bad. Kristin wants nothing to do with reintergration and babies!

[Justin OOC]

yeah... This is gonna be "Interesting."

[z016]

Is Kristin still planning on giving her baby to Gabrielle? I can't remember where we left off with that.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Pretty much, though Ashley (Kristin's cousin) will look in on it from time to time. Kristin for her part will mostly ignore that she even had had a bady... because that is the mentally healthy thing to do.

[Venus]

Just poking my head in to say I'm still game.

[Dawn OOC]

As I neglected to officially mention, I'm in Orlando Florida this week. I'll be home Friday and possibly recovered by Saturday. Until then, please don't except ST posts. I might manage a player post or two, but that's it.

I've been a pretty shitty ST recently and I feel like I'm walking toward the path that QF followed. So here's what I'm doing. As of right now, my games are temporarily suspended. No one has to worry about them or make posts in them, but they are welcome to do fictions if so inspired. Next week, I'll assess one at a time and decide whether to start to bring them back into play or closing them. It's more likely to be the former, but I hope that doing it one at a time makes it seem less overwhelming.

I'm not looking to drop any player games (they're dropping fast enough on their own ) but don't expect much from me until after the vacation is over, please.

Thanks so much for your patience - I truly appreciate it!

[Dawn OOC]

After my last post, my original intention with this game was to attempt to revive it, as promised. But as I struggled with my life (which isn’t going to ease up any time soon due to the job draining my brain-power daily), trying to find the time to get back into things, I realized that I couldn’t keep up the old pace.

Fine, I could handle reducing the load, given time. The plan was to wind up DR and send it out with a final chapter. I was going to give it the ending that I worked up based on the original notes from Alex. If I could get five PCs to agree to post at least once a week, I’d do it.

Then I realized two things. First, it would probably take a year real-time, minimum, to have the final fight and wind down. That’s not what I need to help me with the sense that I have zero time for my games right now (I do have a bit of time, but enough that sometimes I get overwhelmed by how little I do have and it feels like none). Second, I considered who would be left and willing to play. And I knew that those people would not enjoy the ending I have for DR. It was never going to be a Happily Ever After ending, though I believe it was a good ending. So we’re looking at a year, minimum, of a game that people would not likely enjoy.

Which lead me to wonder why I’d do this. I wanted to see DR to the end, the end I’d planned, but I’m also not going to beat myself or others up to get there. This is supposed to be fun, for all of us.

So yeah, I’m canning Dead Rising. I never thought I’d say it but I am. It had an awesome, amazing run, but it’s not the game I started with and it won’t be the game I planned on ending with. And that’s all right. It was fun for a long time, and I can live with that.

Thank you, to all my players: Long, Courier, Joani, Fox, Adrian, Skylion (yes, even you), Bond, Revenant, Jasmine, Damon, Mala, Cent, Dreamer, Max, Zeke, Jordan, Asa, Krul, Atomic weasel, Daven, Envoy, Stargaizer, Kael, Lynn, Anatoly, Himiko, Firebug, Dr. Varroxxian, myself (heh), Nuclear Mind, and Jeremy. You all posted at least once; you all added and built to this world. Thank you for your time, effort, attention and love. I’ll carry your stories with me, always, and I hope you feel the same.

[Justin OOC]

It was a hell of a game. I'm sad to see it go like this, but I can say, I'm glad I was a player in this game, beginning to end.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

I'm glad to have participated in this game. It was one of the first from when I joined the site. I understand your situation. It was a damn fun game.

[SalmonMax]

I understand. DR was a game that mutated as it went...hard to keep track of a setting when that happens.

Can I ask what your planned ending would have been though?

[Dawn OOC]

I’ve had several people asking me what is up with the Z. Good question. I’m going to explain. Before I do, please remember that I inherited much of this from Alex, the first storyteller. The initial concept was his, and I altered it here and there. So if there is some weirdness that doesn’t seem to be covered by my explanation, it might be a gap between his concept and mine.

I’m going to do this FAQ style, because I love the Q/A format.

What was the Z?

The Z was the outward manifestation of the universe dying.

…Whut?

The material that Alex gave me was long and metaphysical, but boiled down to this: DR’s universe was dying, its energy being consumed by another universe to fuel its creation. The zombies were the side effect of the lack of energy, which became a metaphysical disease. At the same time, physical laws were going out the window, and there was no more energy to fuel new life—hence sterility in both humans and domestic crops and animals (less 'natural' energy). The next spring, the wild animals and plants wouldn’t be able to reproduce either.

The supers were people who were able to directly tap into the remaining energy (those that couldn’t had the life sucked out of them, leaving zombies). Physical laws were coming undone, which is why magic was becoming possible. Yes, Violet was right—magic was returning, only it wasn’t a positive thing, it was because the laws of the universe were unraveling and people could enact their will on the world. But they were rearranging the energy, often by stealing it from other places and things. When Violet killed that rabbit in her fertility ritual, she took its life energy to fuel the creation of her babies, which is why the bunny became a zombie. When Pat and Nashwa created the no-zombie zone, they were fueling it with the very air of the zone. Inside that area, a weakened version of the Z went airborne. I left it weakened because had it not been, and had it escaped the zone, it would have been horrible. As it was, babies and those with compromised immune systems caught the Z from their environment, which is why they got sick.

What were those black holes?

Those were places were the energy of the universe was getting sucked out. That’s why they created super-zombies, because the zombies were basically at the epicenter of non-energy. And that’s why the holes were trapping light and everything put into them—they were absorbing all the energy (and even solid matter is composed of energy, when you reach the atomic level) of everything they touched.

So that’s where super-zombies come from!

Yes! Though some of the ‘super-zombies’ you guys faced directly were just supers so badly tainted they were monsters. Higher levels of taint had to express themselves a zombie characters, like Walker being undead (yeah, that's why zombies didn't want to munch on him anymore, he wasn't alive). Jon was one such taint-buttered monstrosity; the Zom-Blob at the prison was another. Yes, that was the guard that ‘left’—he never went anywhere, Hornsbeck just managed to trap him in the Pit before he completely went mad.

Squicky side note: Zom-Blob was the father of Kristen’s baby (the other guards couldn’t father her child).

What was up with Cassandra?

She was an oracle. She was being flooded with images of the end of the world. She knew exactly what was going down, only her aberration prevented her from speaking about it directly.

So what was Han?

Simply, he was this world’s Divis Mal. Unlike Mal in Abby, he was defeatible, and he was the last opponent you guys would face.

And Myf’s journal?

The Watcher was recording the breakdown of physical laws. That journal was going to be a slow spiral into the madness of the world and eventually clue people into the breakdown of the laws: cats sleeping with dogs, stars burning out, etc. Sadly, I was having trouble writing the entries, so that’s why that didn’t work so well as a plot device for me.

So tell us of this final showdown.

The details getting there would have altered to fit the circumstances and bring EVERYONE but the Olymipians together, but once the final chapter was underway, Cassie was going to reappear out of thin air, babbling about light and the end of the world. She’d be able to make one thing clear: anyone who doesn’t want to die has to come with her. After convincing the PCs and their friends to follow her, she would take them out to Inyan Kara Mountain in Wyoming. As you all approached, you’d see a tower of light streaming from the peak. There would be tons of zombies around the area, and more coming.

When you went up to the peak, Han shows up with his army of gods. He explains that Cassie believes that the world is ending and that this beam of light is the last train out of town. He however, believes that she’s wrong. He’s destined to be ruler of this world, and everyone his loyal subjects. Of course, none of the PCs are going to let him rule them, so you’d fight.

After the fight, when you’ve shown Han and all his little god-bastards that, no, they aren’t the masters of the universe, the PCs would have to decide whether they believe Cassie or not. If they do, they can enter the light; if not, they can go home. Those that enter the light become part of the new universe that is being born; more on that later. Those that didn’t would be able to keep their corner of the world going for a while using quantum powers, maybe even for decades. But eventually, their powers would fail and there would be nothing left to support life. In time, earth would be a dead ball, before the black holes expanded enough to swallow everything.

Those that left would be part of the new universe. My original plan was to create a new world where the characters who had gone through the light-portal-thing would become archtypes of new races. Dan, for example would spawn a race of warriors; Primal a race of lion-men, and so on. Even the dagger that Walker put in there as a test would show up, as a massive shard of steel, thousands of miles long. Big stuff like that.

I’m sure you have some other questions… anyone?

[SalmonMax]

Interesting!

So would Myf's research into zombies and so on ever discovered any of this?

And what was the deal with the ghosts?

Or was that more 'universe is breaking down' side effects?

And what was generating/causing the light?

And who was 'Death'?

...

And as a side note, I am perversely glad that Myf's growning unease about powers and what they meant were entirely justified, even if she didn't ever quite grasp the truth.

[Joani]

wow - I'm baffled. This is amazing. I'm a bit sad to see it go, since this was the game I was most involved with (and had the highest post-count of all my PCs). The end feels right, though. I can relate to it although the general setup is nothing I had imagined when the game started. It's an interesting concept but nothing I had ever thought of.

So I did end up with th bad guys... damn, I hoped I could change things but I suppose that was never possible.

[Dawn OOC]

So would Myf's research into zombies and so on ever discovered any of this?

I’m not sure if she would have found the root cause. The cause wasn’t scientific and that was the root cause. She would have found many of these things, but unless she stopped focusing on the scientific and went metaphysical, I’m not sure she’d ever get all the details.

And what was the deal with the ghosts? Or was that more 'universe is breaking down' side effects?

The ghosts came from a coven of witches in Florida (living in Epcot Center, actually) who did a Samhien ritual to summon the dead. It worked, and because of the amount of power that went into it, it went world-wide. The coven did not survive the resulting backlash of doing the magic and their enclave was devastated by ghosts and their zombies. I’d planned to get you guys over there eventually, as a dungeon crawl through Disney.

And what was generating/causing the light?

The reason it would be safe to pass is because for a brief time, the flow of energy was reversed. Think like a hole in a balloon. The other universe was ‘repairing’ that, but while that light was there, it was possible to be safely transformed into energy. Entering a blackhole would do the same, but be painful and would twist people.

And who was 'Death'?

That was Han. He could disintegrate with a touch, and his eyes were black holes. He could pull people into his eyes (though the holes were getting bigger and would consume him in time) and ‘eat’ them.

So I did end up with the bad guys... damn, I hoped I could change things but I suppose that was never possible.

Venus might have done something to change this outcome, but by buying into Han’s beliefs about godhood, she was facing an uphill battle. Han’s belief that he was destined to rule was related directly to his powers and his own ego. That’s why he desired Venus—she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and he deserved the best.

Anything else?

[Justin OOC]

How would the Z have affected the children being born? Kristen's, Jas, Violet's and Sarah's?

Also, why have Fox do all the globe-hopping?

[Dawn OOC]

How would the Z have affected the children being born? Kristen's, Jas, Violet's and Sarah's?

The children were going to be born supers. Not insanely powerful supers, but supers nonetheless. Many of them were going to be born tainted because one parent was tainted; Kristen’s and one of Violet’s were both going to be uber-creepy. Jasmine’s baby was going to have a mental taint from Bond having taint. Sarah and Dan didn’t have enough taint to affect the baby.

In fact, here’s the way it was going to happen:

Bond x Jasmine

Gender: Boy

Type: Trog

Unknown x Kristin

Gender: Girl

Type: Trog

Dan x Violet

#1

Gender: Boy

Type: True

#2

Gender: Boy

Type: True

#3

Gender: Girl

Type: True

#4

Gender: Boy

Type: True

#5

Gender: Girl

Type: Trog

Dan x Sarah

Gender: Boy

Type: True

Also, why have Fox do all the globe-hopping?

I’m not sure if you mean all the hunting for a new refuge, or if you mean right after the ghost thing. For the former, I was roleplaying things as I thought Fox would. Fox had mentioned looking for an island somewhere with a mild climate. I was playing that out.

If you mean after the ghost-thing, that was suggested by the PCs, and Fox was simply willing to go and try to find answers. Fox never played Morgan as the type to stay home when he could have an adventure.

[Dave ST]

You forgot the 'Primal wins' part.

[Mr Fox]

This explains a lot. I never got the full download from Alex when I took over the game for the brief time before you did, so I never realized the direction it was heading.

Fox was trying to rebuild in a world where that never would have been possible, ultimately that is a recipe for frustration. No wonder things fell apart for him.

[SkyLion]

Hi Dawn!

I just popped back in after a long hiatus and checked in on the games only to find most of the Aberrant games have gone kaput.

While I sympathize with your situation and not being able to finish the tale outside of some exposition, I thought it was very sweet to see my name in the thanks above. I know we've had our differences but it is nice to know I had some positive contribution on the game.

[Dawn OOC]

Hey, Sky. I was sorry to see it die. Just as a note, I thanked everyone for what they contributed. I know that we did have some differences but you did participate and put your time and attention into the game, so you get the credit. Plus Sarah, Dan and Myf LOVED the dungeon crawl through your complex after I zombified it.

[SkyLion]

I actually read that. While you didn't make Jon as deadly as he should have been in such a circumstance (leeches should have had mega str) I am glad it proved memorable. At least some fun came out of such a horrid character.

[Jasmine Gentian]

While this game wasn't able to be brought to it's conclusion, I still wanted to thank you, Dawn. Thanks for giving us the ending, for answering our final questions, but most of all, for taking over someone else's baby like this. Despite the fact that it got a little sidetracked, this game was a lot of fun for a very long time, and brought a lot of people into this site (me included!). In fact, it really was the "go-to" game for a lot of new players, and did an amazing job of pulling them into this crazy, rpgpost.com world.

So thanks for running it for all these years. We had a lot of fun, and that's what really matters.

[Mr Fox]

I'll second that! DR has definitely been one of the most successful ST run games this site has seen.

[Dawn OOC]

Thanks guys! I'm getting all red over here.