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uploadedmods) wrote2018-08-29 09:49 pm
uploadedmods) wrote2018-08-29 09:49 pm
Entry tags:
Current Setting
CURRENT SETTING
General Setting Information
Our setting this month will be a relatively small and normalized location; the reasoning for this is to allow characters to adapt to the initial shock of in-game elements such as the printing bays, the application of roles, and the consequences of disobeying them. The close-knit setting allows for the initial beginnings of CR from characters outside of the player's canon. Three options are given for an intro location, with two being smaller to encourage (or force) more personalized CR - particularly for characters without cast mates and who otherwise might not reach out to get their foot in the door with strangers. These settings are still open to characters from larger canons and can be chosen on a first come, first serve basis.
This setting is based on the Netflix Original series The Mist, which is in and of itself based on the movie and the novel by Steven King. Elements from the show have been repurposed, and the setting will pull pieces from the show, the movie, and from totally original sources. The Mist's landscape is based on a small town in Maine in the mid to late 2000s, and more specifically upon the mall in which characters will all eventually migrate to.
This setting will enforce the nerfing of IC powers and abilities to extremely low levels, and will require the humanization of otherwise typically non-human looking characters aside from allowances for features smaller than the average hand (such as ears, unnatural patches of skin, inhumanly shaped eyes, pronounced teeth, etc).
**Characters will spawn in one of three settings, based on role. See the OOC Plot Post for October for more information.
The Mall
The vast majority of characters will spawn here.
Creation bays will be neatly placed upon the bowling lanes in the sporting goods store on the north end, one bay to a lane as though they have always been present. A second set of creation bays are located on the south end at the food court, with one creation bay located in each of the six separate restaurant kitchens: Panda Express, Chick Fil’A, Jamba Juice, McDonald’s, Don E’s Organic Healthfoods, and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Both areas are devoid of life aside from the characters who spawn there, and no shoppers or attendants venture within a hundred yards of the spawn point.
The mall is small: a two story affair with a glass skyview ceiling and views of the first floor from the second floor’s open center.
The first floor contains the food court, sections of vibrating massage chairs (boasting five minutes of Magic Fingers for a dollar), an extra large sporting goods store, a Macy’s, a nail and hair salon, a movie theater, a package outlet (read: a liquor store that the type to proudly boasts having the oldest bottle of whiskey in the state), a long hallway that leads to a restroom and janitorial supply closet, and the locked glass entrance to the administrative section. That is, presumably, where the security and accounting offices are located, as well as employee break rooms.
The second floor contains the typical array of small stores. Types of businesses include electronics, books, baby & me maternity, four separate clothing options, musical instruments & supplies, comic books & general geek culture, Hallmark and knick knacks, and whatever they’re classifying Hot Topic as these days. Kiosks include cell phones and phone cases, Dippin’ Dots, customized license plates, ear piercings, and one exclusively selling bibles. The top floor has another set of bathrooms in the west wall, down a long corridor with a supplemental janitorial supply closet on the opposite side.
The mall is small: a two story affair with a glass skyview ceiling and views of the first floor from the second floor’s open center.
The first floor contains the food court, sections of vibrating massage chairs (boasting five minutes of Magic Fingers for a dollar), an extra large sporting goods store, a Macy’s, a nail and hair salon, a movie theater, a package outlet (read: a liquor store that the type to proudly boasts having the oldest bottle of whiskey in the state), a long hallway that leads to a restroom and janitorial supply closet, and the locked glass entrance to the administrative section. That is, presumably, where the security and accounting offices are located, as well as employee break rooms.
The second floor contains the typical array of small stores. Types of businesses include electronics, books, baby & me maternity, four separate clothing options, musical instruments & supplies, comic books & general geek culture, Hallmark and knick knacks, and whatever they’re classifying Hot Topic as these days. Kiosks include cell phones and phone cases, Dippin’ Dots, customized license plates, ear piercings, and one exclusively selling bibles. The top floor has another set of bathrooms in the west wall, down a long corridor with a supplemental janitorial supply closet on the opposite side.
Much like the administration wing’s glass entrance, shops are secured with clean, clear glass entrances with two opening doors that create one extra large entrance when opened. These doors open inward, are typically held into open positions during store hours, and closed and locked at the end of business hours. The exception to this is the food court: restaurants have no distinct entrance and are only partitioned by long, chest-high counters at one end, with cash registers tucked into a recesses, while the opposite end provides a chest-high swinging door with a shelved top, that opens outward and can be locked from either side via a keyhole. These areas, and others like it, present a distinct and unique vulnerability in the event there is a breach of The Mist.
Other vulnerable exceptions in the event of a breach:
Upon first waking up, the mall appears to function as normal. Clerks and attendants run stores and shoppers mill about. Although the population of the mall is less than twenty or thirty people, trying to interact with the clerks will get you strange looks at first, some responses like, ‘can I help you,’ and ‘look man I just work here,’ and eventually a consistent passive aggressive dismissal, at which time they’ll move on to help other customers. Even if there are no other customers around.
Interacting with customers yields the same results, and interestingly enough some of these patrons seem to deliver the same greetings and responses as the others around them. Characters will find that customers tend to only say about ten or twenty unique phrases or responses, much like the average NPC in any open-world roleplaying game.
Even more interesting, though, should keen characters observe, will be the way some shoppers appear and disappear around random corners. There are only three or four of them, and they may be difficult to notice among the other consumer traffic, but these shoppers are lacking in any bags or purchases, they rush through the crowd with intention, and they are wholly dismissive of any attempts to talk to them. In fact, most of them simply keep walking briskly past any attempts at interaction whatsoever.
Visible outside of the windows and the glass skyview in the ceiling are thick and heavy clouds, and the first sparse strips of fog lazily rolling into view. A couple hundred yards out, and thickly rolling, is a thirty or forty foot high wall of literal fog. It will roll in by the end of the day.
Other vulnerable exceptions in the event of a breach:
- The sporting goods store: It's wide sweeping entrance and is partitioned only by shoplifting detectors, as it serves as an alternative exit and entrance to the mall.
- Macy's: Matching the sporting goods store in size, it boasts the same shoplifting detectors and acts as the exit to the mall opposite the sporting goods store.
- The movie theater: Only differentiated from the mall proper by the sudden transition into carpet and the ticket booth in the center of the theater's lobby. The theater advertises 6 "new" movies: The Hangover Part 2, Scream 4, Sucker Punch, Friends with Benefits, Cars 2, and The Three Musketeers
- The hallway leading to the restrooms and the restrooms themselves: A one inch gap along the bottom and top of the doors provides no protection from fog.
Upon first waking up, the mall appears to function as normal. Clerks and attendants run stores and shoppers mill about. Although the population of the mall is less than twenty or thirty people, trying to interact with the clerks will get you strange looks at first, some responses like, ‘can I help you,’ and ‘look man I just work here,’ and eventually a consistent passive aggressive dismissal, at which time they’ll move on to help other customers. Even if there are no other customers around.
Interacting with customers yields the same results, and interestingly enough some of these patrons seem to deliver the same greetings and responses as the others around them. Characters will find that customers tend to only say about ten or twenty unique phrases or responses, much like the average NPC in any open-world roleplaying game.
Even more interesting, though, should keen characters observe, will be the way some shoppers appear and disappear around random corners. There are only three or four of them, and they may be difficult to notice among the other consumer traffic, but these shoppers are lacking in any bags or purchases, they rush through the crowd with intention, and they are wholly dismissive of any attempts to talk to them. In fact, most of them simply keep walking briskly past any attempts at interaction whatsoever.
Visible outside of the windows and the glass skyview in the ceiling are thick and heavy clouds, and the first sparse strips of fog lazily rolling into view. A couple hundred yards out, and thickly rolling, is a thirty or forty foot high wall of literal fog. It will roll in by the end of the day.
The Church
Located five miles south of the mall, St. John’s Baptist Church is well overtaken by the fog when characters spawn. Two creation bays sit side by side in the preacher’s office at the back of the church, dominating the room and leaving very little space for the door to open. It bangs into the foot of the pod about half open, leaving characters to clamber over the pod to get through the door.
The church is tiny, containing only a kitchenette, bathroom, Sunday school room, the preacher's office, and the main worship room. The kitchenette is mostly bare, but the cabinets contain some nonperishable canned and box goods, and a single package of room temperature bottled water. The sinks do not work. The electricity is out, but dozens of candles in varying shapes and sizes can be found throughout, as well as lighters and matches. There are twelve pews total: six on the left, and six on the right. Stained glass windows line the walls on either side, as well as the heavy wooden door at the front. A single minivan sits parked in the gravel lot out front.
The Sunday school room contains a wooden table large enough to fit about a dozen children, as well as two large wooden cabinets that contain creativity supplies like crayons, scissors, construction paper, rulers, glue, tape, yarn, popsicle sticks, and coloring books (all in the theme of Christianity).
The bathroom is small, with only a toilet and a sink recessed into a small cabinet. A few sparse cleaning supplies and a first aid kit can be found here. The faucet does not produce water and the toilet will only flush once.
The Library
The county library isn't a spectacular affair; it's a single floor, separated by small sections identifiable only by the placards at the end of the bookshelves. No cars are visible in the parking lot through the fog. Strangely enough, the entire Science Fiction section seems to have been replaced with two creation bays in place of book shelves. Toward the front of the library is the large circulation desk complete with non-functioning computer terminals and a large cabinet with small pull-out drawers indexing the books by the good old Dewey decimal system. On the shelves are supplies, paperwork, a security-issued walkie talkie, as well as someone's abandoned chewing gum.
Large tables span the width of open floor with plastic chairs pushed neatly underneath to make room for studying and tutoring. Two sturdy cardboard containers standing chest high sit at one foot of the circulation desk; above them is a poster board that appears to have been assembled by children from a local elementary school, advertising a canned food drive. Judging by the low level of colored-in marker on the 'Goal' meter, it had only began recently, and they weren't quite a fifth of the way to their 150lb goal.
In the far left corner is the children's center, decorated with colorful chairs and couches, all tailored to be extremely short, designed with children in mind. Adorably painted wall decorations depict beloved children's characters from a wide variety of books and movies. The shelves here are low, too. On the opposite side of the building are a set of public restrooms containing only two stalls and two sinks each. The toilets do not have tanks and therefore do not flush. The faucets do not work.
A few feet away is a door with a sign that politely reads "Employees Only Beyond This Point." it leads to a small break room. Inside is a single vending machine (that dispenses only beverages), a counter with a small microwave and mini-fridge on the left, and a recessed sink on the right. A coffee maker sits with days-old coffee on a spare stretch of counter, and beneath the sink can be found boxes of stirrers, packs of coffee and filters, Splenda and sugar packets, and sparsely stocked plates and utensils. Libraries aren't renowned for convenient eating, as so, employees were evidently given the bare minimum by way of lunch resources. It matters very little for those spawning here, though, as electricity is unavailable here as well. Anything in the mini fridge has long since turned bad, and the coffee maker won't work without electricity or water.
On the far side of the break room is a maintenance closet containing cleaning supplies and maintenance related tools.
Other Miscellaneous Locations
Distant family homes and buildings can be spotted, but most of them are locked up tight. A few gas stations dot the empty and barren roads, but their pumps have stopped working and gasoline can't be coaxed from them. It hardly seems worth the effort to brave the mist and explore these places, but should that become a pressing urgency for characters for any reason, they'll find exactly what one would expect in a sleepy New England town: Nothing of value and no clues about their situation.
The Mist
The mist itself rolls in and completely dominates the landscape by the end of the first day. It's an endless disc of haze that extends into the air and encompass the entire town. It wisps more like smoke than a standard fog, and it's thicker , practically tangible, with a uniquely chemical smell akin to a mixture of copper and bleach.
At any given time, the mist will shift between one of three densities. The density of the fog determines the type of threat it becomes in any given situation. Unless specified in the script post, feel free to handwave whatever density of fog that best suits your imagination. Description of the different densities and their effects can be found below:
Light:
Visibility is limited to 5 to 10 feet in all directions, with visible, but otherwise transparent, tendrils of fog separating characters. It is generally safe to traverse areas covered in light mist.
Effects include psychological manipulation in the form of fear, paranoia, and increased aggression. Exposure lasting longer than two minutes will prompt hallucinations, which can manifest in the form of deceased loved ones, villains, antagonists or enemies, or other, more generalized fears.
Interestingly enough, the hallucination is shared among all party members in proximity at the time of manifestation. Exposure lasting longer than five minutes may cause party members to turn on each other, and feelings of malcontent will begin to fill them.
Moderate:
Visibility is limited to 3 to 5 feet in all directions, with a thick and uncomfortable atmosphere as its marker. Shortness of breath will manifest within the span of a few seconds. Exposure lasting longer than one minute brings on the effects of body horror, manifesting initially in the form of nosebleeds, bleeding from the tear ducts, gums, or ears.
After two minutes, blood will begin pooling under fingernails, and by three minutes, fingernails and toenails will begin to peel away from fingers. After four minutes, hair will begin to shed. By five minutes, skin will split open in long deep cuts revealing thick drainage of a black sludge. Bugs or parasites may appear seemingly out of nowhere, seeking out open orifices such as ears or throats, or even the cuts that spread along exposed limbs.
Anything longer than five minutes risks some truly gnarly body horror. This can range from necrotizing fasciitis to something deeper and far darker. Bodies will be twisted and reshaped into something new. Beware the mist.
At any given time, the mist will shift between one of three densities. The density of the fog determines the type of threat it becomes in any given situation. Unless specified in the script post, feel free to handwave whatever density of fog that best suits your imagination. Description of the different densities and their effects can be found below:
Light:
Visibility is limited to 5 to 10 feet in all directions, with visible, but otherwise transparent, tendrils of fog separating characters. It is generally safe to traverse areas covered in light mist.
Effects include psychological manipulation in the form of fear, paranoia, and increased aggression. Exposure lasting longer than two minutes will prompt hallucinations, which can manifest in the form of deceased loved ones, villains, antagonists or enemies, or other, more generalized fears.
Interestingly enough, the hallucination is shared among all party members in proximity at the time of manifestation. Exposure lasting longer than five minutes may cause party members to turn on each other, and feelings of malcontent will begin to fill them.
Moderate:
Visibility is limited to 3 to 5 feet in all directions, with a thick and uncomfortable atmosphere as its marker. Shortness of breath will manifest within the span of a few seconds. Exposure lasting longer than one minute brings on the effects of body horror, manifesting initially in the form of nosebleeds, bleeding from the tear ducts, gums, or ears.
After two minutes, blood will begin pooling under fingernails, and by three minutes, fingernails and toenails will begin to peel away from fingers. After four minutes, hair will begin to shed. By five minutes, skin will split open in long deep cuts revealing thick drainage of a black sludge. Bugs or parasites may appear seemingly out of nowhere, seeking out open orifices such as ears or throats, or even the cuts that spread along exposed limbs.
Anything longer than five minutes risks some truly gnarly body horror. This can range from necrotizing fasciitis to something deeper and far darker. Bodies will be twisted and reshaped into something new. Beware the mist.
Dense:
Visibility is limited to less than three feet in all directions. The fog begins to blot out light and characters can quickly become disoriented, losing any sense of direction and becoming lost even a yard from the doors from which they just exited. The initial warning that they are not alone will come from dark uniform pillars or shapes slithering in the fog around them. Tendrils of something may shoot out of nowhere and grab characters by the limbs, or perhaps thick legs will slowly waft into view as the fog swirls about them.
Visibility is limited to less than three feet in all directions. The fog begins to blot out light and characters can quickly become disoriented, losing any sense of direction and becoming lost even a yard from the doors from which they just exited. The initial warning that they are not alone will come from dark uniform pillars or shapes slithering in the fog around them. Tendrils of something may shoot out of nowhere and grab characters by the limbs, or perhaps thick legs will slowly waft into view as the fog swirls about them.
Some of the shapes like to play with their food, tearing away at flesh, ripping off jaws or entire limbs and letting their prey skitter around before ultimately ending them. Others act instantaneously, and can barely be felt before they bring the swift and all-encompassing darkness of death.
