Dead of Winter

Krieg

Active Member
Dead-of-Winter-logo-600x257.png


Inspired and based off of Plaid Hat Games "Dead of Winter"

---
January 5th, 2022
Dear Diary,

We finally saw one of them. Oh god. I thought we got away from them. It had been at least a few weeks since we seen them. Many of us couldn't believe it...but when Mike dropped that hing's head on the ground, we had little doubts anymore. Why were they here? How the fuck could they be here? Didn't the military kill most of them? It happened so quick -- I just remember day after day losing family and friends. Sophie is the only one I have left that I can trust, and by god I know she won't hesitate to find a biplane and fly out of this hell if she can.

Dave and Brian called us all in afterwards. The winter is hard, and if those Shamblers are back, we are in a heap of shit. We need to get fuel and food fast, otherwise you best know that I'm gonna get the hell out with Sophie if I got to. I'm already hearing rumors that Miss Highness Olivia is already trying to experiment on those fucks. She can have it for all I care. All I know is that when the going gets rough, Johnny here is gonna have all the food.

I don't expect The Colony to survive...but if we do, it'll be the work of that sick fuck called God.


---


Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Krieg, you may call me Ty if you wish. For many of you that know me, this may come as a surprise given my involvement in other projects in and outside Storyteller's Circle. Rest easy that this is an idea that I have been brewing for awhile and a project that has took up precedent for awhile. However, I do apologize in advance if this heeds my involvement in other activities and events.

With that out of the way, welcome! This roleplay is based heavily around Dead of Winter, a RPG board game set in a bleak, zombie survival with a band of survivors trying to survive and thrive against the elements, the undead and even themselves. No knowledge or experience with Dead of Winter is needed to participate in this roleplay! Expect this to be a drama-filled, zombie survival roleplay that pits you against challenges that you would never expect to face in the northern remnants of the United States.

Also, it is important to keep in mind that this roleplay will be very "gamey" in the sense that there are mechanics, rounds and goals that the Colony must achieve. If they are unsuccessful to accomplish tasks, life will become more difficult for the colonists which can result to more risks for your characters and potentially bad endings.

Finally, keep in mind that this roleplay will have you make original, plain human characters. No fandoms or multiverses or any of that.


Setting and Timeline
  • Our story takes place in Lanceburg, a small New England town nearing the US-Canadian border.
  • It is important to keep in mind in this world, people have no previous concept of zombies like we do in our world.
  • On Christmas Day, 2021, disturbing reports were sweeping the United States and several European nations about a biological contagion nicknamed "Grey Dread" that was reportedly put on wrapping papers and shipping boxes by international terrorists.
  • Later that day, Patient Zero is admitted into a hospital at New York City.
  • Reports escalate around the globe of the dead rising and beginning to attack the living. News outlets frantically capture live footage of the dead cannibalizing the living and the military fumbling to deal with the situation. Mass panic across the West begins to settle in.
  • Germany, Spain, France and parts of Eastern Europe fall into anarchy. The United Kingdom, while theoretically free of zombies, is on the verge of collapsing. The Baltic and Scandinavian countries hold firm.
  • The United States Army attempts to engage a large force of Shamblers at the Battle of Myrtle Beach. After failing spectacularly and reports flooding in of carpet bombs landing on civilians, the United States collapses into anarchy.
  • Other nations begin to close their borders, with Canada and Mexico controversially agreeing on Operation Red Line, a joint operation to tighten border controls to maximum security to not even let their own citizens back into their respective nations.
  • What little survivors in the United States are holded up in small pockets of resistance throughout the nation or have migrated north where, despite the cold, the Shamblers seem less efficient and prone to the conditions.
  • And thus, our story begins in January 5th, 2022, a group of survivors all huddled in a small fortified warehouse known as The Colony...
Introduction to Game Mechanics

Dead of Winter offers a unique roleplay system that meets traditional roleplay board game design and more contemporary forum roleplaying. It is the goal to blend in a healthy mix of game design and cherished creative writing that makes roleplays engaging while having it not be too cumbersome on mechanics. As such, much of the mechanics from the Dead of Winter board game have been either cut out or streamlined to make it adaptable to a forum roleplaying environment.

The Colony Objective

Dead of Winter offers a Colony Objective that must be accomplished in order to get the "proper ending". There will be multiple endings to this roleplay depending on all of your actions. Every round update (see "Rounds, Searching and Crisis!") will have the stated goal of the Colony's main objective and the status towards accomplishing it. The main objective may be completed early, prematurely ending the roleplay. However, do not rush towards the main objective, as you will soon realize there are other factors at play...

Combat and Resources

Combat in forum roleplays is often difficult, with many GMs and players resorting to a trust system. Dead of Winter will offer a more reasonable solution. If a
survivor chooses to utilize any reasonable weapon, there will be no rolls. The only exception to this is player survivor vs. player survivor combat, which will utilize a trust system between players. Characters will start with "starter weapons" that will be prone to breaking, which can easily be solved with searching locations (see "Rounds, Searching and Crisis!").

Any combat without any sort of reasonable weapon, I will do a background roll to see if your character gets a serious injury. Three serious injuries and your character dies.

Resources
may be discovered and utilized as well. While I will not cover searching in this section, it is important to realize that you may utilize resources you find or stockpile them for at the Colony for a crisis. For example, you may utilize medicine to heal a serious injury.

Rounds, Searching and Crisis!

In the Dead of Winter roleplay, the roleplay will be divided up into six rounds along with an epilogue. Each round represents a week in-character time. Every round also will have a unique crisis, an unfortunate situation that the Colony has to deal with before the end of the round or suffer consequences. Solving a crisis requires either a set amount of fuel, food, medicine or tools. Where do you find these resources?

Simple! In the town of
Lanceburg itself. Lanceburg has six locations that all survivors may choose to explore into if they do not wish to stay at the Colony: They are the Police Station, Grocery Store, School, Library, Hospital and Gas Station. Where you go will determine what type of loot you will find, just use your intuition. For example, while it is possible to find fuel in a grocery store, it is more likely in a Gas Station! Survivors may also find more than resources there, such as weapons or even other survivors...

When survivors search for loot, there will be a roll of dice done by me to determine what loot you will find. Each character has three actions to search a location in a round. You have unlimited actions to attack zombies, move or do anything else. However, keep in mind moving and attacking can be dangerous. Rounds will end after eleven days of Out-of-Character Time.


Roleplay Mechanics


In Dead of Winter, just like any other roleplay on this site, character interactions and relationships is encouraged and vital for the experience. Just as you would do in any other roleplay, you may freely go about and interact with anyone and everyone you please. In fact, if a player is inactive for a long period of time, your character is subject to become demoralized. When a character is demoralized, they will abandon the Colony.

Summary of Mechanics
  • The Colony has a main objective that needs to be solved in six rounds.
  • Rounds are a week long in-character time, eleven days out-of-character time.
  • Every round will have a unique crisis that needs to be solved before the end of the round or suffer consequences. A crisis will require a certain amount of a set resource.
  • There are four types of resources: medicine, fuel, food and tools.
  • There are also weapons and other survivors that might be discovered.
  • Weapons can break. This is determined by chance, although discovered weapons are very unlikely to break.
  • Every character has unlimited action to fight zombies, move or do anything else.
  • Combat without a reasonable weapon is risky.
  • Three serious injuries to your character and he/she is dead. Period.
  • Every character has three actions to search a location. The Colony is not searchable.
  • The six locations in Lanceburg are the Police Station, Grocery Store, School, Library, Hospital and Gas Station
  • Inactive player's characters are demoralized and will abandon The Colony.
Final Remarks

I know this was...a lot, but right now, I am just garnering interest. What you see above will certainly be refined and presented more cleanly in the final product. If you have any questions or recommendations, please, let me know. Otherwise, please, leave your interest down below! I will be planning to start this roleplay hopefully early July. I will let you all know via messages and private messages. Until then, enjoy surviving out there, survivors!
 
Last edited:
Seems cool, and I could really use some role plays. I’ll probably sign up if you choose to go through with this rp, so send me a message or I’ll probably see it myself.
 
Back
Top