MrPotatoTed

I voted for Bizarro. Haha. I don’t pay attention to local/state news at all, so on the day of the primaries I look at that site that asks each candidate the same questions and make my judgments on their answers. I have no concept of who’s leading or an underdog, etc. General elections of course I do pay attention to, but for primaries all I know is their answers on those questions. As a side note, my brother-in-law just won the Republican nomination to be a State Rep, as a write-in candidate. He noticed no one else was running in his district’s Republican primary, so he launched a write-in campaign “as the only Republican in the race.” Of course, there’s a reason no Republicans were running — it’s a Democrat district that has never voted Republican for this role. And he’s a hard core conservative, so I wasn’t rooting for him anyway. Still, it’s an interesting accomplishment.

Just wrote the opening narrations for each of the four player characters — scenes that should help establish who you and your companion are, while advancing the plot to ensure that all eight of you (including your companions) all manage to actually meet each other at some point early in the game. Haha. I’m playing with idea of doing these intro scenes one on one with each of you, to help you get a feel for your character and how the basic mechanics work, and then the first group discord game would be when you all converge on the same location at the same time, meeting for the first time. Right now, I’m leaning that way, but open to your thoughts!

@Magnus Rex @ShortKing @WVProgressive Hi all, just a heads up that I've heard from two more players who may want to join in. I haven't received actual characters from them yet (in their defense, I think they just found out about the game today), so for now I'll proceed without them. If they get their characters in in time, I'll try to work them into the opening. If not, they can always be added later -- characters joining later is just as much of a zombie staple as beloved starting characters getting killed off is. I imagine we'll have a fair mix of both. ;c) Speaking of starting: right now I'm aiming to have our first Discord night the week of May 13, and then doing it once every two weeks from there. Ideally, I'm thinking game sessions would be 8 PM - 11 PM east coast time, but I'm somewhat flexible on that. I don't think we can consistently do earlier as several of us have kids, and I don't think we can go much later than that as most of us have jobs and, again, kids. Haha. But if people prefer 8-10 PM or 9-11 PM, I'm okay with doing 2 hours instead of 3. What days of the week are best for you, in the 8-11 PM range? Off the top of my head, I know one player is unavailable Sunday evenings, and I personally wouldn't be able to start until 9 PM on Wednesdays (I'm free by 8 any other day). DAYS OF THE WEEK THAT WORK BEST FOR YOU: (in the 8-11 PM East Coast time frame) DAYS OF THE WEEK THAT ARE OFF LIMITS FOR YOU (in the 8-11 PM East Coast time frame) DO YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE BETWEEN THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS: "8-11 PM", "9-11 PM", "8-10 PM"

Awesome, that's all four players! Just a few flags: 1) Hold off on the starting gear (for both your character and the NPC) -- I know the book gives an archtype guide for that, but they're assuming we're mid-apocalypse and we're actually starting right before the apocalypse begins. We'll figure out equipment soon. 2) The good news: By my count, you're actually one skill point short. So go ahead and take an extra skill point somewhere. Just don't give yourself higher than a 2 in anything (other than stealth).

Here's Rich's character. Just waiting on Mike's now. ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER" Name - Frank R Turner Age - 52 Occupation - Farmer (retired) Issue - Loner, doesn't trust strangers Who is your companion? Kelly Wagner Why are you and your companion in Central Pennsylvania this Memorial Day weekend? Driving from Philadelphia CHARACTER STATS STRENGTH 3 Close Combat 0 Endurance 1 Force 1 AGILITY 2 Mobility 1 Ranged Combat 0 Stealth 1 WITS 5 Scout 1 Survival 3 Tech 2 EMPATHY 3 Leadership 0 Manipulation 0 Medicine 2 Your Talent: Living off the land Frank is a life long farmer inheriting the property, and problems, from his parents, Frank and Lola (Miller). Born August 22, 1971 outside of Wichita Kansas, Frank has been working the 1,512 acres of farm since he was old enough to walk. His father died when he was 16 in a tragic combine accident. This caused his mother to quickly spiral into alcoholism who died only 6 months later from overdosing on home made moon shine. Never making a connection to the outside world, Frank has always been a loner, reliant on his stubbornness and drive to push through in order to keep things a float. When Frank was 47, big farm came knocking looking to buy the land and business. After three refusals, MegaCorp made an offer so outrageous that Frank could not say no. $101.2M later, Frank did not know what to do when he woke up in the morning now. No fields to plow, crops to harvest, or animals to tend, Frank decided to slowly see the rest of the US. His first destination in his new life would be Dallas, TX. While buying a ticket for a Dallas cowboys game, Frank physically ran into Kelly spilling her Starbucks everywhere. After an embarrassing apology and offer of dinner, Kelly and Frank hit it off. Kelly, one of seven, is a high powered defense lawyer in Fort Worth TX who also just retired after a life dedicated to work. Both being dedicated to work for their lives, decide to buy an RV and travel the country. Five years later, after checking Philadelphia off of their list, they decide to park and camp the night in central PA while driving to their next destination, Lansing MI.

@WVProgressive @ShortKing if you PM me your email addresses, I can send you a copy of the official rulebook. No need to read it cover to cover, but that will enable you to reference anything that grabs your interest.

Ha, I didn't think you personally nerfed them. I do think the scholars did.

I won't stand for this Anti-Bush Blasphemy. Trump is THREE TIMES better at foreign affairs than George W Bush? This is an outrage, sir. I demand satisfaction. Weehawken. Dawn. Guns. Drawn. ;c)

@WVProgressive @ShortKing Good news, I've got two more confirmed players (real life friends who I've run games with before) who will be joining us! That brings our total to four, so no further applicants needed at this time. (That said, it is the zombie apocalypse, so if anyone else does want to join feel free to PM me and there may come a time when I'll reach out to add you into the game either temporarily or permanently).

He tried to, at least! He was young and had no real assets, so the bank wouldn't take his loan request seriously on his own, of course. He convinced your dad to go into business with him and run the gym together. Your dad was happy to put a second mortgage on the house, this really seemed like what was going to help finally get your little brother's life back on track. Then just three months after they opened the gym, COVID struck and the governor shut down "non-essential businesses." The gym never recovered, and your parents ultimately lost their house. Your dad's health hasn't been the same since, and as for your brother...well, tp be honest, you're not really sure what he does anymore. Money has become a sore subject and, frankly, you've been afraid to ask. But now that you've been able to get a week of leave and fly in from North Carolina, you're hoping to get some quality time with your brother and make sure he's doing okay.

What’s Diego’s occupation?

I like it. Perhaps he's an enthomusicologist, he has a passion for the history of music and its cultural significance, managing a partnership between the Carnegie Museum of Arts and the Carnegie Music Hall.

@WVProgressive What's James' occupation?

@WVProgressive Good news! I got another player - a real life friend of mine who used to play the President game here that I used to run. He’s creating his character now. Ive reached out to some other folks I know, but the floor remains open for 1-2 more players if anyone else is interested.

Hi folks, last call if anyone else wants to join!

It isn't supposed to be a hard restriction (or at least it wasn't the last time I read the rules). So, for example, a faction that is scripted to only draft LW Populists and Progressives is supposed to draft Liberals once the LW Populists and Progressives are gone.

Perfect, well done! I’ll wait and see if others join, but I don’t mind running it just for you if we don’t get others.

Good point! This reminds me, I saw a faction with like 10 politicians while the others had around 40.

Just did a quick playthrough of the release that came out today. Overall, I'm actually impressed! I can see that it's really starting to come together, and I could see several of the systems we designed actually in play. That said, actionable feedback: 1) On the politician cards, I think the pictures of the politicians (Lincoln/Hamilton/Washington/Grant) in the background distracts from the text in front of it. Would be better to have a plainer background there. The rest is fine, I could read the traits, etc. But it was harder to read the numbers (Gov, Mil, ADM, etc) with the busy portraits in the background. 2) Politician cards say things like "Samuel Adams/Age/State Name" instead of actually giving the age and state name. 3) Politician Cards: There's no way to expand a section. For example, Sam Adams has more than four traits, but you can only see 4 and then a single letter indicating there are more, but there's no way to see what they are. 4) I randomly happen to notice that Mercy Otis Warren had both Celebrity and Obscure, which are mutually exclusive. I'm not sure if he started that way or gained one of them randomly, but it shouldn't be possible either way. 5) Politicians are still being randomly assigned to states and countries. Benjamin Franklin lived in Portugal, Tom Jefferson is in Wisconsin, Sam Adams is in Delaware. 6) When assigning a politician to a career track, I was able to appoint any politician -- not just those who were age appropriate for the 1772 draft. (I could be wrong and maybe that's allowed, it's been a long time since I looked at the rules. But I think it's 1772 draft politicians only who are eligible for the career tracks.) 7) When assigning a politician to a career track, I like that it says whether a politician has admin for an admin role...but it would be better to be able to see how much admin they have without having to click each politician card. That's actually a general note for all sections -- I wish I could see all my politicians and stats at once, like on the excel, versus clicking through the politician card of every single politician. 8. I didn't do any ideology shifts, so I got a message saying "This is a multiline text field with an automatic scrollbar." 9) The cards looked great -- but can we space them out to make it readable? The lobby cards in particular was just an absolute wall of text. 10) It seemed like I could choose literally any member of my team for faction leader, instead of upholding the restrictions in the rules. 11) Can't see player cards/stats when choosing a faction leader. 12) Peyton Randolph became AI's faction leader even though he has passive. Is that allowed? (I assume we wrote a rule against it, but I could be wrong). Like I said, I'm actually very impressed with how it's going now, but flagging issues for awareness as they pop up. Thanks!

Intense Eyes: Gain +2 to Manipulation in a flirty situation. (You had an overwhelming love affair). Marksman: Gain +2 to Ranged Combat on the first shot in a fight. (You killed on the first shot.) Martial Arts Expert: Gain +2 to Close Combat when you fight unarmed. (Someone trained you.) Nine Lives: When rolling for a critical injury, you decide after the roll which die represented the 10s and which die represented the 1s. This makes critical injuries likely to be less serious and not autodeath, unless you got really super fucked on your roll. (You should have died, but you didn't.) Obsessive: Relieve one point of stress when you roleplay an Issue in a way that creates a problem for you or someone else in your group. (You got on someone's nerves.) On Easy Street: Once per game session, you may at any point remove one point of stress. (Something made you believe things will work out.) Packmule: You can carry one extra slot of items. (You trained your body). Sensitive: You can use Scout to learn what other people feel and intend to do, and even their Issues. (You saved a life by understanding someone's true intentions.) Specialist: Gain +2 to a specific skill when you use a specific item. Name the item and identify the skill when you take this talent. (You saved the day with your signature item). Sprinter: Gain +2 Mobility when you try to chase or outrun someone else. (You ran fast in a critical situation.) Surgeon: Gain +2 Medicine when you are trying to stabilize a critical injury that needs advanced medical gear. (You saved someone's life on an operating table). The end!

Talents, Continued... Shepherd: Anyone can use you as an Anchor when they need to relieve stress, even if you are not their Anchor (You tended to your flock). Guarded by a Higher Power: When you roll a random die to see where you are hit or bitten, you may reroll once. (You were saved, against all odds.) Preacher: Gain +2 leadership when trying to sway a group of people. (They followed you.) Lone Wolf: You can have yourself as one of your two anchors. (You were betrayed by someone you trusted.) Intuition: Once per session, you can ask the GM (me) about how things in the game world work and are related, to get some useful information or suggestions on how to proceed. (You tackled an impossible project). Techno Babbler: You can use Tech instead of Manipulation when you discuss complex matters. (You used science to get what you wanted.) Handy: With a little time and some tools, you can repair most things -- even if you don't have the right parts. You also get +2 Tech when you repair things as a Project. (Someone taught you how to repair and build things). Disillusioned: You do not take stress from seeing others commit brutal acts of violence, or when committing them yourself. (You saw great suffering.) Eye on the Ball: Relieve one stress every time a threat or an enemy is defeated/overcome. (You did what had to be done.) Suppressive Fire: You can attack up to three enemies with the same attack when you use Ranged Combat, but they all take one less point of damage and you can't add damage from Extra Successes. (You were trained as a soldier.) Animal Companion: You have a pet that you can rely on once per session to give you +1 on a dice roll, where it is evident how your pet would be of use. (You won the trust of an animal.) Center of the Storm: You don't take stress when Walkers spot you/the threat level reaches 3. (You managed to keep calm in an extremely dangerous situation.) Eagle Eyes: Gain +2 to Scout when you are trying to spot danger in a new map sector. (Your eyesight saved your life.) Health Nut: When you gain a critical injury, you heal in half the time. (During a period of your life, you got all the food and supplies you needed.) Herb Collector: You can collect herbs and use them as Basic Medical Gear. (Someone taught you about herbs.) Almost done...

List of Talents (choose one). Note that your backstory must reflect the final sentence of the talent you've chosen -- and that this happened prior to the zombie outbreak. Threatening Posture: You can use Force instead of Manipulation when threatening somebody. (You ruined someone's life.) Fixer: You gain +2 to Manipulation when haggling for a deal. (You scored big on a negotiation). Fights Dirty: When you fight unarmed, you do +1 damage. (You killed someone with your bare hands). Emergency Medicine: Gain +2 Medicine when you stabilize a critical injury that needs basic medical gear. (You used to work in an emergency room.) Doctor/Patient Hierarchy: When you use manipulation against someone who is injured, you get a bonus equal to the number of hit points they have taken in damage. (You somehow used one of your own patients for your benefit.) Seen It All: You do not take stress from seeing someone get wounded, tormented, or even broken. (You tried to save your injured friend.) Innocent Face: You get +2 on Manipulation when you act innocent in front of a stranger. (You made someone believe you were weak.) Back Against the Wall: When you fight against all odds and the enemies seem to be winning, you do +1 damage on all attacks. (You fought back.) Rather Die Than Break: Once per session, after rolling for a skill, you can choose to lose one point of health to make success more likely on the roll. You need to be able to explain in the game how your effort hurt you physically. (You sacrificed yourself for a higher purpose.) Knife Fighter: You inflict +1 damage with a knife. (You stabbed someone.) Stubborn: Your drive gives you a +3 bonus instead of a +2. (You didn't give up). Steady Hands: Once every session, you may choose to not roll any stress dice on one skill roll. (You kept it together despite extreme circumstances.) Watchful: You may use Scout to learn the dynamics of a group of people, and the opportunities and risks therein. In this way, you may learn about both Regular Issues and Secret Issues. (You foresaw the danger). Moral Compass: When you put yourself in danger to stand up for what is right, you relieve one point of stress. (You did what you had to do). Speed Freak: Gain +2 when you use Mobility to drive a car (You won a race.) Wallflower: You do not start with a companion (who normally keep you grounded...unless they die, etc, which can really fuck your character up.) Instead, the entire group is your Anchor. You do not have to handle your fear if any of them die (like you would with a companion), so long as one of them is left standing. (You were part of a group, without them ever really noticing you.) Tracker: You gain +2 Survival when you either track something or try to hide your own tracks. (You tracked someone or something). Tough as Nails: Gain +2 to Endure when you starve or work hard. (You had to push yourself beyond your own limits). Living off the Land: Gain +2 to Tech when you work on projects that increase the Capacity of your camp/HQ/Base/Haven/etc. (You made a living off the land.) Knows All the Tricks: You can use Stealth instead of Manipulation when you lie. (You fooled someone who tried to dominate you.) Recruiter: You can use leadership instead of manipulation when you speak for your cause. (You won someone over to your side). Mind Games: You relieve one stress when you successfully manipulate someone. (You broke your opponent in a debate). Right Word at the Right Time: When you succeed on a Leadership roll, you get an automatic Extra Success. (You had them in the palm of your hand.) More coming...I'm just posting now so I don't lose all of this typing. ha.

Hi all, I've wanted to run a zombie apocalypse game for a while. I've had the story outline in my head for ages, but was looking for the right gaming system to run it in. I was inspired by "All Flesh Must Be Eaten," a zombie tabletop rpg, but their book is just so freaking complicated. Then, last night, I discovered "The Walking Dead Universe" Tabletop RPG book -- and it's an absolute winner. It's based of course on the main TV show, which in turn is based on the comics. HOWEVER, our game will not literally take place within the Walking Dead world...you're not going to encounter those characters, and you do not need to know anything about the show to be able to play. It's just similarly themed -- humans vs. zombies, where occasionally other humans are the real threat. To begin with, I am looking for FOUR PLAYERS. These should be experienced role players, ideally, perhaps with experience at playing Dungeons & Dragons or similar games. The rules aren't exactly the same, but the concepts are similar. I'm also asking for a significant time commitment, checking in and roleplaying/telling me what you're doing multiple times a day. We'll begin by playing on the forum -- but, ideally, I'd like to move over to playing live on something like Discord or Teams probably once a week for 2-3 hours per session. We'll get there, but for now it'll be on the forum. You're welcome to buy the RPG book if you want, but you don't have to. I'll explain what you need to do as it comes up. Be aware that...other than the existence of zombies...this will be set firmly in the real world. You don't have super powers or magic. If you get shot or decide to leap between two three-story buildings, there's a very strong possibility that's a death sentence -- especially if you aren't able to get to a doctor with serious medical equipment on hand, and those will likely be in short supply as the game goes on. Your character, and the NPCs you care about, absolutely can die based on your decisions. Nobody will be safe. For now, if you're interested, fill out the following. I'll either choose the best four submissions, or if we have more than four good ones, I'll choose randomly. When creating characters, remember that this is the real world. The apocalypse has not begun, and so any knowledge you have of zombies is just silly horror movies, etc. The zombies in my world have not appeared yet -- and when they do, they may or may not look/act anything like what your characters have seen in movies. These are normal humans, living normal human lives...right up until the moment our game begins. For any submissions that don't make it into our starting four, fear not. It's the zombie apocalypse. Characters are going to come and go, and we may eventually be able to work your character in -- maybe as an ally, maybe as an enemy, maybe as something else entirely, who knows! ---------------------- ABOUT YOU What is your prior roleplaying experience? What time zone are you in? Are you committing to coming to this forum multiple times a day to participate in roleplay discussions and make your moves? Are you open to eventually moving this to a weekly "live" game over Teams or Discord? If so, what evenings work best for you (evening by East Coast US standards, as that's my timezone)? ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER" Name Age Occupation Issue (this is something that is difficult or problematic about the character). This can be almost anything, but examples from the book include "doesn't like authority," "drug addict," "sworn to help, "unanswered love," "afraid of the dark," "doesn't trust strangers," "does whatever they have to do to protect their child," etc. Expect that I will milk these for story/mission ideas as the game goes on. Who is your companion? This is an NPC who is loyal to you and you are loyal to them. Losing them would be devastating. Why are you and your companion in Central Pennsylvania this Memorial Day weekend? (That will be the time and location that the game starts in) CHARACTER STATS There are four attributes (Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy). You start with 2 levels in each, and have 5 additional points to spend total on them. You can bring one attribute to a max level of 5. The others can only reach a max level of 4. Each attribute has three sub-skills, as you can see below. These start at 0, and you have 12 points to invest in your skills. You can take one skill to level 3. The others will max out at level 2, for now. (You'll be able to keep building them as the game progresses). When using a skill, the formula is Attribute + Skill. Higher numbers, obviously, are better. So, even if you have a zero in a skill and you only have your base of 2 points in the attribute, it's still not impossible to succeed at something -- it's just statistically much less likely than if it was your specialty. Spend your five attribute (all caps) and 12 skill points below. Remember the caps for both. Each level costs one point. STRENGTH 2 Close Combat0 Endurance 0 Force 0 AGILITY 2 Mobility 0 Ranged Combat 0 Stealth 0 WITS 2 Scout 0 Survival 0 Tech 0 EMPATHY 2 Leadership 0 Manipulation 0 Medicine 0 Your Talent: (Will list these in a separate post, long list to choose from)

Other topics don’t interest me personally as much, but I’m definitely interested in any us politics games you think up!

Thanks all! I have to admit I bit off more than I can chew these days. I did distribute most of the blue team (none of the red) and a lot of the other work was at least started if not finished. I’m happy to hand it off to an experienced GM if anyone wants to run it. I forgot that setting up a post 1772 run is so hard time consuming that I burnout before the game has even begun. Haha.