SURVIVAL

29 years ago hundreds of citizens fell deep into a comatose state. When they rose from the grave they were merely pale husks of what was once considered human, grotesque, disfigured, and with nothing but a void behind their eyes — these are known as The Hollow. 

Hollows are gaunt, emaciated, with skin stretched thin over bone. Those unfortunate enough to get close to one often describe them as translucent, their veins and muscle visible underneath, moving against knotted joints and ligaments. Their eyes are sunk in, blackened, and oftentimes pitted out.

Occasionally, they are mutated. The strange regenerative trait from their affliction has caused some Hollowed to have twisted limbs, distended jaws, extra fingers, split rib cages, claws, and more.

BEHAVIOR

Reports vary on the true sentience of Hollows. Their motions can often be repetitive with no real goal, such as walking in loops, twitching, or muttering old or remembered phrases. But what makes them so dangerous is their sudden, explosive bursts of violence. They sense movement, warmth, and noise - and if one finds you, others will follow. Once made aware of the presence of living, human flesh, they become driven to devour at all costs.

Alone, they are sluggish, distracted, sometimes even caught in what survivors say are “human-like” routines. When in groups, their numbers and hunger can become overwhelming. Once a pack forms, it’s nearly impossible to scatter it without significant risk.

WHAT ROSS LAKE HAS LEARNED

There are few known facts about Hollows that humanity has gathered over the years.

• They are Hard to Kill: With a “twisted” healing brought about by their hardiness, wounds don’t seem to take Hollows down like they would a normal human. Cuts and lacerations close wrong. Bones fuse back together crooked. And their flesh hardens and scars over in strange ways. Some even seem to get stronger the more they are hurt over the decades. As a result, a strike to the head or upper-spine seems to be the only way one can truly stop a Hollow; but even then, they twitch for far too long afterwards.
• They are Insatiable: They seem to never stop eating. Their gluttony is biblical. Even with bellies distended and teeth worn down, they continue to feed. Survivors have attempted to lure or bait Hollowed hordes with live prey, but the only kind that draws their attention is human. They hold little interest in any of Earth’s other creatures.
• They do not Age: In the initial days of the outbreak it was thought Hollows would eventually deteriorate like the corpses they spawned from, instead they lived far longer than any human could. Reports come of elderly who became hollowed still trudging on 29 years later, their bodies stuck in a suspended state of existence until a bullet puts them out of their misery. 
• They Turn Others: A Hollow’s primary directive is to completely consume a human being, should their prey flee with bite marks they too will feel this urge in 24 hours time. Hollows are able to create more of their kind through breaking skin. Scratches, lacerations and contact with bodily fluids are a risk - a bite has a near 100% rate of infection. Only amputation offers a slim chance at recovery.

In Post Human, our story is told through a combination of roleplaying and mechanics. This group uses the Generic Universal Roleplaying System, or GURPS, as its base for character stats and dice-rolling.

But don’t fret! You don’t need to have ever used this system in order to join this group, nor will you be expected to know past the basics, as the mods will call for rolls as needed.

For character creation purposes, the mods have made a general breakdown of the must-knows below.

STATS 

Stats are what determine your character's core abilities, and come into play during encounters where dice rolls are used to determine success or failure. The higher the stat, the higher the likelihood of success when rolling. 

In Post Human, six numbers, called “stats”, are used to define your basic abilities:

1. Strength (ST): a measure of “brawn” or physical muscle. 
2. Dexterity (DEX): a measure of agility, coordination, and aim.
3. Intelligence (IQ): a measure of brainpower, willpower, awareness, and prior experience.
4. Health (HP): A measure of energy and vitality, and equal to your character's hit-points.
5. Willpower (WP): A measure of mental fortitude and psychological resilience.
6. Perception (PER): A measure of general sensory awareness and alertness.

Each of the six stats are equally valuable. The stat number your character has in each category is determined by their class, or profession. You can read more on classes and subclasses through the link below. 

It’s important to note; each class and their stat pool also determines things such as equipment and weaponry available for use.

DICE + ROLLING

Dice rolling is used to determine the outcome of scenarios and actions involving chance. 

All rolls are based on a 1d6 dice system - and there are three basic “game roll mechanics”: success rolls, reaction rolls, and damage rolls. All three of these rolls are affected by character stats, modifiers, and more. 

This is also the portion of the mechanics that we do not expect prospective members to know for character creation purposes - as the mods will be asking for rolls as they’re needed over the course of the story.

The Rosslake community understands that the most important rule of survival is sticking together. Out beyond the tree line, no one survives alone for very long.

That's why meaningful actions - whether barricading a door, rescuing a teammate, or calming a panicked survivor - require support. When making an action, you must name a supporting character. They can be helping, covering, distracting, supplying info, or otherwise assisting you. We call this a tethered action.

Mechanically, this means for a tethered action, you only roll once - but the outcome affects both player characters.

Narratively, this means that both players earn shared credit or consequence for the tethered action. More importantly, it means that that no one can act alone.

Here are just some examples of how tethered actions can work across physical, perceptual, and social actions:

1. "Katniss looses an arrow at a Hollow, while Peeta lights the path with his flashlight" - The goal is firing a bow at a target.
2. "Joel shoves a table against the door as Tommy braces it with his shoulder" - The goal is barricading and reinforcing.
3. "Rick sutures the wound while Shane steadies the survivor's head" - The goal is cleaning and patching a wound.
4. "Lee fires his pistol to draw the horde while Clementine dashes across the alley." - The goal is cover-fire or distraction.
5. "Ripley steadies Lambert's breathing, while Dallas keeps the others back, giving them space." - The goal is calming another player's panic.

Tips for Players:

1. Think creatively about how your character can support others; even if they're not the one "leading" the action, they can still assist.
2. Tethered actions aren't just physical. You can tether for perception, skill checks, and more.