Arcadia was founded in the late 2015 to cope with the massive immigrant influx arriving in the United States following the enormous economic depression during the so-called Greater Arab War. The population of cities in the East Coast exploded, to the point that the cities' supply systems could no longer cope with the people they had been designed to deal with.
In January 2015, the government passed the Arcadia Act, which specified the construction of a city dedicated to temporarily housing all of the US's immigrant population. The city was to be circular in shape, with taller buildings at the edge of the circle and lower buildings as they approached the central park, so that all had a view of the green area from anywhere in the city. It was planned that Arcadia would be the first truly futuristic city in the planet, a layout that would be tested with immigrants.
Well, at least that's how it was supposed to be.
While the city was welcoming its first inhabitants in 2021, the arab war exploded into the Third World War. The Middle East became a dangerous fallout, large areas of Africa were bombed to pieces, and China was completely put out of the game as a global power, leaving Russia, the European Union, and the US as the three major powers of the world. The United States' East Coast suffered heavy bombing, the brunt of which was concentrated in - you guessed it - Arcadia.
When the bombing began, there were 1.4 million non-US citizens living in the city, the majority of which were of Russian, Italian, or Mexican descent. An estimated 60.000 US citizens lived in the city as well, the majority of which were Policemen, or other government affiliates. The downtown area (the circle) of Arcadia was already finished, and suburbs had sprung all around the city to house more inhabitants.
The city was almost completely burst asunder by the heavy bombing. It was rapidly turned from a modern and powerful city to a pile of burning rubble. An estimated 300.000 were killed by the bombs. Anarchy broke out almost immediately after, as the remaining citizens struggled to find food, water, and the other necessary supplies for life. Gangs and Mafias sprung up, mainly once-raced and discriminating against other racist groups. Efforts by the thinly spread police to calm the chaos were completely futile, and they were pulled out of the city almost immediately after.
This is where you come in. But first of allâ¦who are you?
1. An Unfortunately, Fortunately Mission
You were part of a military task force sent to the Northern suburbs of the city to secure government control, and begin installation of a forward base for government assets to operate from said place. While this was taking place, the Russian gang ambushed you and your fellow soldiers. In the ensuing firefight, all your fellow brothers were killed, and you were wounded and left for dead (character must be 18+).
2. A Matter of Semantics
You and your recently-married spouse have packed most of your belongings and are planning on leaving the city. While you and your wife (or husband) were driving out of the city to escape the growing chaos, you were stuck up by the Italian Mafia and you and your spouse were beaten, thrown out of the vehicle, and forgotten in the sidewalk (character must be 18+).
3. A Nearly-as-Tragic Episode, without the Tragic Part
You were an immigrant sent to live in the city long ago, and have lived as a street urchin since. You must do whatever you can to survive in this hell on Earth.
4. Make-Your-Own
Make your own back story. Only post it on your first post (when you're filling the sheet), you don't need to post it continually. It needs to be interesting and creative, if it is bland and/or not very canon-ish, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to let you use it, and you'll have to pick another instead.
CHARACTER SHEET
In your first post, please include your 1. Filled-out Character Sheet, and 2. Back-story.
Name: (Include first name, any middle names, and last name or names). Gender: (M) (F) Age: (Over 15, under 50). Appearance: (Please be as short as you can while getting the point across. Include race). -- Apparel: (What your character is wearing). Inventory: (What items you have with your person). Weapons: (Any weapons you have with your person. Ammunition included here). -- Health: 100/100 (While I despise the traditional HP system, it is necessary for this RPG). Abilities: (Notable abilities your character has. One example is the ability to drive a car. I'll let you pick 3 at the beginning, you can think a bit and select the ones you like best. Make them up, and I'll tell you if they're fine). Perks: (More uncommon abilities your character has. One example is fighting with a sword (note, this doesn't give you a sword to begin with). Make one up, I'll tell you if it's alright).
I reserve the right to either add or detract items from the sheet for an individual player's needs.
OTHER FACTS AND INFORMATION THAT MUST BE PROCURED
Is winning possible?
You can, according to your background story, make a goal for your character. For example, if you pick the first option, your goal could be to construct that military base after all and restore US-Government control to the anarchy now reigning in the city. Of course, you can always play forever.
Companions? Friends? PC interaction?
Yes, you can have companions and friends following you around, helping you out in your quest to be entertained. As far as Player-to-Player interaction, I will allow it if the players involved express written consent to have their respective characters interact. Furthermore, events that a person causes will be felt throughout the city and will affect everyone. Players can also help or obstruct other players. In fact I'd find it quite interesting if a group of players got together to survive, or something like that.
Can my character die?
Yes, your character can die. If your character dies, you will be returned three turns before your death (this can be changed at the OP's discretion). If I feel that you are pestering me by constantly dying on purpose, then I will warn you. If you die pointlessly again (like throwing yourself from a window), I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill your character completely. Please don't make me do this.
What you can/cannot do.
Your character can do realistic actions within the power of a normal human being to execute, plus any abilities/perks that you have chosen. Just think about the action a bit, and you'll realize almost immediately if your character can or cannot do it.
Proper Grammar and Spelling.
You must use english to the best of your ability. If you are purposely writing with bad grammar and/or spelling, you will first be warned, and then kicked from the RPG.
A SHORT, POINTLESS, YET NECESSARY WARNING
Due to the very obvious tense conditions in the place where this RPG will take place, the Non-playable characters will be somewhat racist. Especially among different gangs, racism will be widespread. I of course am not going to use words such as the 'n' word in said occasions, but different ethnic groups will be fighting against each other - and against you - mostly based upon race. And, to a somewhat lesser extent, gender. Unless you're Storm, of course, because Storm is⦠special. *shudder*
I reserve all OP and GM rights, including that to kick you if necessary.
If you have any questions, please ask them now. Unless you're MattEmAngel. If you are him, please ask questions in my profile, haha.
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker.
I'll block any items being hurled at him. Afterwards I'll check on his wife. "Okay, no more questions."
Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive
I sink into an old recliner in the corner, and turn the radio to white noise; anything to escape the propaganda being spewed from the skies.
I toss my walkie talkie across the room in disgust. Another dangerous foray, and yet again nothing to show for it. He was going to die one of these days, and so was Charlemagne. People like that just didn't last long in this hell.
I get up and walk over to my pantry. I begin rummaging through, first out of boredom but then realizing that the day's events had actually made me quite hungry.
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker. --
After tumbling for a little while more, the Humvee convoy begins driving across a large open flatland bristling with wheat, and then in the distance you recognise the Forward Operations Base of the military.
Because of the war, the number of men assigned to the base some 3 kilometres from downtown Arcadia was marginal, yet it was the only place for miles around where the government's power could still be felt.
The Humvee gently stops and the couple is dragged outside on the litters, being taken to the Makeshift Hospital in the maze of tents of the FOB. You follow them with your eyes until the Privates close the door and the Sergeant looks from his spot as Commander at you and motions you back to your post, remotely controlling the machine-gun on top of the vehicle.
The convoy begins driving back to the city to complete the mission that you set out to do.
Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive --
A can of beans that are about to go bad is your choice meal for the moment. Powering the stove (or what's it called?) with a salvaged car battery, you heat some water and begin stirring the contents of the can with a spoon, another common meal of another normal day.
You sit down at the table and, after waiting for an invisible Charlemagne to finish his prayers to his pagan tarantula gods, you slowly begin eating. The National Anthem thunders outside. Suddenly, the radio cracks to life.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Someone, anyone, respond!"
I generally have a bad attitude. I usually live alone in a small hut in an unknown island neighboring the U.S. I'm slightly alcoholic and hail from Crete, Greece. I spend many days hunting down drug cartel members and criminals and brutally murder them. My objective in life is unknown to the general public.
Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive
I look over, more in annoyance than concern. Leaving the can on the table, I walk over to the radio and lean towards it cautiously, as if it had the capacity to harm it. Sticks and stones...
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker.
I'll use the camera on the MG to look around and watch out for ambushes. (Thinking Battlefield logic here.)
Hello Mino! Just a quick heads-up, the story is centred around human characters... this RPG is more Sci-fi than Fantasy, so could you please make your character human? You can do something similar to that, only in human form.
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Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive --
"If you are listening to this, it means that you are within 3 kilometres from our force! If you would like to be rescued from the city, head to the Trenton metro stop where military forces are being deployed to rescue Civilians!" Then, the National Anthem again.
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Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker. --
"We're here" says Sergeant Sinfield, motioning you to open the hatch to look out of it. Nearby is the Trenton Metro stop of the railway system that circles the city, it is cluttered with all sorts of trash and baggage that once belonged to civilians. When you jump out of the Humvee, several other privates have already given the all clear around the area and began setting a perimeter around the metro stop consisting of sandbags and parked Humvees.
"Specialist, help clean all this mess, won't you?" says the Sergeant to you. "We're expecting Civilians soon and we don't want to make a bad impression."
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker.
"Yes, sir." I'll follow that particular order, but I'll glance around every so often to make sure some joker doesn't start takin' cracks at us with a Kalashnikov or something.
Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive
Yeah right I think sullenly as I walk back over to the table and resume eating. I'd seen this ploy before. Funny, how roaming gangs with radios would think people would actually believe after all this time that the military would finally intervene. The chances of that were about as slim as Charlemagne picking up a girl.
Charlemagne...
Oh great. Did the broadcast say the Trenton Metro Stop? Of course, that had to be where Charlemagne was headed, and that girl too.
I tossed the empty can in the trash and crawled back out into the alley. Checking to make sure I wasn't being watched, I tuned my walkie talkie to the frequency of the radio inside my house. Let's see what else I could find out.
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker. --
After cleaning a bit of the trash, you decide to take a drink of water. While you are doing this, the Sergeant approaches once more.
"Specialist. You're going to greet the civilians. When they come, send them to the bus if they seem in good health, or to the medic vans if they look beaten out, or something."
(in your next post, make your own civilian(s) approach and talk with him/her/them).
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Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive
"Sir. I do not know who you are or what you are doing, but you are, as a civilian, required to come immediately to the Trenton Metro Stop and evacuate the city immediately."
"Have you seen a girl covered in blood? And a small talking tarantula, and-"
"Sir, you better come with us soon. Trenton Metro Stop."
He thinks I'm mad.
You begin speedily walking towards the Metro stop when you hear trucks. Looking out over the main street, you notice three trucks full of members of the Mexican gang driving across, probably looking for the wreckage of their companions' patrol.
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker.
Okay, haven't had this happen before.
I move to my new post and stand guard. After an undetermined amount of time, I see three figures round the street corner. Two males, one female. One of the males and the female are helping the third figure along, as it seems his legs are unusable. I raise my rifle. "Hands up! Now come closer!"
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker. --
"Vee don't have any vveapon! Look!" a man that appears to be of German or Dutch origin and who seems to be his wife are both approaching carrying their unconscious (or dead, you aren't sure) child with them. "No let go, need carry him!" the man answers.
Name: Nirvana. Gender: (M) Age: The ole' one eight. Appearance: Six feet. One eighty pounds. Long, curly brown hair. Wiry. White boy. -- Apparel: Oversized woolen pullover and khakis. Red converse. Inventory: Walkie Talkie Weapons: My fists! -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: The ability to calm an aggravated character down, mild yet useful strength, and good hands. Perks: Just being so darn attractive
Well well well. This could work out to my advantage. I always welcomed carnage in the city; it meant dead bodies, and free stuff. If I could somehow lead the Mexicans to whoever was talking with me on the radio, mass carnage was almost certain to ensue.
I sneak across a few alleyways, until the road leading to Metro is in sight. Now, I needed to steal another truck and drive off. Hopefully they would follow, all the way to the Metro.
Name: Cross Gotti Gender: Male Age: 18 Appearance: 6'1, pale skin, blue eyes, scrawny, brown hair. -- Apparel: Military BDU's. Inventory: Catholic Holy Bible, Cross, Three Treatises of Government by John Locke. Weapons: M16A4 (210 rounds total), M1911 (5 mags), Standard-Issue Army Knife. -- Health: 100/100 Abilities: Adept rifleman, fast runner, discipline Perks: Good with a sticker.
Well, a child and a couple against what's possibly a whole company that's in the employ of Uncle Sam couldn't pose much of a danger. I lower my rifle to their feet. "Okay, come on in. Take your kid straight to the medical vans." I'll be keeping an eye on them until they hit the vans. After that, they're somebody else's problem.
