In the 1950s, in a pleasant little town in a pleasant little state in a pleasant little country, something sinister is lurking. The Red Menace! Communists may be in your community, hiding behind those white picket fences and shuttered windows of such normal looking houses. They could be anywhere.
Fortunately, you are prepared. Children in schools learn that all-important skill – Duck and Cover. That will save you from any danger. There is a bomb shelter on practically every corner – and surely Dad's hard at work at one in your own backyard. If atomic fallout should occur, you'll duck-and-cover with the best of them … won't you?
But what if the Commies have something other than the bomb up their insidious red sleeves? What if they're using that atomic energy to … REANIMATE THE DEAD! Surely that's just fantasy – the stuff of those B-movies at the Drive-In, or an episode of Captain Mystery's Strange Theater on televison.
Still… you can never be too careful. The red undead could be coming for YOU.
Gameplay will take place in the following manner. If you cannot be present for all the sessions, or if you prefer not to participate in one of the two styles of play, accomidations can be made so that you can still be part of the game. Every effort will be made to hold live sessions at a time and day that most people can make it – but we have interested players in England and Australia, so it may happen that some live sessions happen at times that not all players can make it. This is why we will also have slower written sessions, in which players can have their characters uncover rumors, make connections, and perhaps even do some zombie combat even if they can't make it to the live adventure!
Live play will take place via IRC. IRC can be reached via programs like mIRC, and Mibbit. We will also set up a page with a java chat that will only require a simple login on your part. A dicebot will take care of the dice rolling; instructions for using the bot (who is named SpARCy) can be found here.
A persistent IRC room will be established so that players can also meet there if they would like to play out live events of their own at a time when GMed play is not available. If you want to meet up and plot in character what you will do during our next game session, you can use this room any time of day or night. This should be helpful to players running on different time zones and availabilities. It's also possible to run your own combat - once zombies are introduced to the gaming world, they will be available on a random encounter table. Feel like running your own mini-adventure scenario? Gather a few friends and fight some zombies!
A community has been set up at http://pleasantdale.dreamwidth.org/ where players can interact in character and set up scenes of their own choosing. Your character will be able to meet up with friends, explore the town, pursue rumors, and possibly do some zombie combat. If you can't make it to the live sessions, it is entirely possible to be an active part of the game via this written method. Posts are less 'real time' than chat, so you can reply to them at your leisure - play out a scene throughout the week as involved players have time to. This should help those in outlying time zones. Likewise, if you don't have time or inclination to participate in the written portion of the game, you can just participate in the live sessions.
(Please note as we are just setting things up, not all options in this area are actually viable at this time. Links will be going up soon).
Time and location are deliberately vague so we can get away with some anachronisms. Don't worry if it happened in 1951, or 1959, or if the entire sum of your 1950s knowledge comes from watching Happy Days as a kid. We're going for a retro-feel here more than retro-perfection. Remember the close proximity of the 1950s to the end of WWII; the start of the rock-and-roll era; bobby soxers and greasers (remember Grease?). Here are some archetypes you may consider basing a character around:
This is a working town full of any sort of occupation a town may have. You could play the postmistress, a store clerk, a pharmacist, a secretary, a receptionist, a baker, a school teacher, a lawyer, a doctor, a student, a fireman, a businessman (or woman!) – anything you can think of!
Of course, all characters have strengths and weaknesses, and are more than just a stereotypical job worker or archetypical figure. That's where building your character sheet comes in. Go here to see the Character Creation rules for the Charloft/ Unisystem Lite system. Please note that all characters for this game must be built using the Normal Adult, Normal Teen, or Badass Adult templates.
There is no magic or psychic ability in this world, so abilities and disabilities that involve magic or psychic powers aren't available for this setting. Sorry!
All characters must be human.
You may create NPCs for your character – example: a wife may have a husband and children that are controlled by you, the player; a character can have an NPC best friend, etc. And you of course may decide to kill off some of your NPCs via zombie attack later down the road – but that again will be your choice (or something you can discuss with the GM if you want them to be part of a bigger plot).
This is the 1950s. You are bound to see some characters who are not as enlightened as we are in our current age. We as players (and GM!) doubtlessly believe in equality for all. Please do remember that our characters are not us. Some characters may start out with prejudices they have been raised with. Working together with diverse people may help them develop past those prejudices as the game goes on. It's a great opportunity for character development.
Women are often viewed as less capable, competent, and able to advance then men in 1950s society. More value is placed on being pretty than being smart; on being a good future housewife than a good student. While some women are definitely breaking these stereotypes, some men still want to pat them on the head and say, “Aww, isn't that cute? She's almost like one of the boys,” rather than give their opinions serious consideration. Woman characers may take the Minority drawback at -1. You may encounter some in-game difficulty as a result of this drawback, but please remember this is an RP opportunity and not meant to punish you for your character choice.
“See you in church, neighbor!” It's not just a friendly greeting- it's an expectaion. The people on your block expect that you will be there every Sunday, without fail, in one of Pleasantdale's pleasant little community churches. Many go protestant, some go methodist or Catholic– but everyone goes. Unless they're a godless heathen of course! But— surely that's not you, is it?
A few members of the community aren't practicing some form of Christian religion. They may be atheist or agnostic. They may have just fallen off the church wagon. They may be Jewish or Buddhist or Muslim. Whatever the case, your neighbors might be a little uneasy never seeing your smiling face in a pew. You may take the Minority drawback at -1 and make a note that this is for relgious differences on your sheet.
We are ruling that our fictional town is up north somewhere – perhaps in New Jersey! So we are at least beyond the reach of the Deep South's Jim Crowe laws. Of course, your character has heard of these things and may be affected by them if they came from there. Schools in the area are desegregated. Players may choose to play a person of color. You may take the Minority drawback at -2 because of the difficulties of being a person of color in 1950s society. You may encounter some in-game difficulty as a result of this drawback, but please remember this is an RP opportunity and not meant to punish you for your character choice.
Players may choose to play a gay, lesbian, or transgendered character. In the 1950s, homosexuality was viewed as a mental illness, and was illegal - punishable by arrest and even imprisonment. Many homosexuals of the era remained hidden and went about expressing their sexuality in secret and very carefully. A brave few (like Allan Ginsberg, for example) were open about their sexuality, but it often resulted in heavy stigma in 'polite society', including in some cases blackballing from certain professions or positions of power. If you choose to play a LGBT character, you may take the Minority drawback at -3 or Secret drawback at -2. You may encounter some in-game difficulty as a result of either drawback, but please remember this is an RP opportunity and not meant to punish you for your character choice.
The threat of imminent Communist attack is very real to your average citizen of the 1950s. Newspapers, television, schools, and your lawmakers all warn you that communists are lurking around every turn. They are out to take away your life and liberty – either by ideology, invasion, or atomic threat. Not only do you have to worry about the USSR commies Way Over There, there are some Americans that are secret (or not so secret) members of the Communist Party! That weird neighbor? Could be a commie. Your uncle that never goes to church? Communism could be to blame.
Defenses against this rising red tide have been numerous. Adding In God We Trust to the dollar bill and adding 'One Nation Under God' to the Pledge of Alliegence reminds citizens that America is a Christian nation and won't stand for that godless communism. Teaching children to Duck and Cover and encouraging good citizens to build fallout shelters in their basements and backyards is the standard precaution against atomic attack.
Citizens are encouraged to report any suspicious activity or people to their civil defense authorities or a policeman right away. Surely your neighbors wouldn't do such a thing – but then again, you're not a commie, are you? Vigilant citizens are considered America's first line of defense.
On a national level, McCarthism is in full swing. Accusations are being made and trials are being held, accusing prominant members of society of supporting the communist party. Paranoia and fear are part of the national current.
This game features a mechanic called Citizenship to measure how respected your character is in the town of Pleasantdale. This is a bonus that adds to Influence rolls when you need to get an NPC (or group of NPCs) to react positively to what you are trying to do. Everyone's Citizenship starts at zero (neutral), and will go up or down according to in-game actions your character takes.
Example: Zombies are coming! Prominent citizen Joe Smith (Citizenship 6) tells the townspeople to evacuate in an orderly fashion, because everything is under control. Because the townsfolk respect Joe, they listen to his orders and the evacuation goes fairly smoothly.
Example two: One-Eyed Will, the town drunk (Citizenship -3) tells the mayor he's spotted zombies at the old mill. But the mayor remembers the time Will was stone drunk and swore up and down that he saw a UFO. His warning goes unheeded – perhaps with dire consequence!
Certain prominent NPCs also have a Citizenship rating, used when they agree - or disagree - with the PCs' actions to aid - or occasionally to contradict - their Influence rolls. If Joe Smith vouches for the PCs when they say there's trouble at the old mill, the mayor may be inclined to listen; but if Joe Smith says the PCs are Communist sympathizers, the townsfolk may just start looking for pitchforks and shotguns instead of listening to what they have to say about the red undead menace.
Gossip and hearsay are as real a threat during the era of the Red Menace as any Communist - after all, being talked about could put your career and livelihood in jeopardy, even if the rumors aren't true. Furthermore, not every rumor is false, and not every bit of hearsay is unimportant - some bits of idle chitchat might turn out to be signs that something strange really is going on. What people choose to investigate further might expose the corruption that lurks underneath the bright smiles and perfect lawns of Pleasantdale, or provide early warning of a Communist threat … or might just prove that you can't believe everything you hear about at the local bridge game. Setting false gossip straight - or hushing up bad gossip about you before it gets out of hand - can raise your Citizenship score, while finding out unpleasant secrets about your neighbors and ferreting out signs of the Communist threat in America's backyard can lower the Citizenship scores of prominent NPCs or provide other advantages. You never know what might happen when people start to gossip.
Pleasantdale Public Radio is a radio broadcast that is posted on occasion to summarize the general events in the town, including commercials, current events, upcoming events of note, commercials, and providing an indication of the severity of the situation as it unfolds. Sponsored by several local companies, including Sunshine Dairy Farms and Seth Arms, WPLS has a news segment, a weather segment, and a discussion segment on every episode, interspersed with commercials.
Is your family lucky enough to have one of those black and white bastions of technology? PDTV, your local television station, broadcasts daily from 6 am to midnight. You also get three whole other choices - major networks all the way from NYC - ABC, NBC, and CBS.
Popular national programming includes comedy shows like I Love Lucy and Dennis the Menace. A variety of quiz shows provide entertainment and perhaps even a bit of education. News shows featured trusted anchors, and let citizens know daily what is happening in the world at large. Kids enjoy Howdy Doody, Rocky Jones Space Ranger, Buck Rogers, and the Lone Ranger.
PDTV, the local station, doesn't quite match the national stations in quality, but it's certainly enthusiastic. They feature exciting shows such as as Daring Dan, Cowboy Man; Captain Mystery's Strange Theater; The Happy Housewife (a cooking and cleaning question show); local sports programming; and Who Wants to Win a Toaster (a quiz show that features prizes supplied by the local appliance store).
“All the news that's fit to post” is this local paper's motto. Not only is it the best local paper – it's the only local paper. It features town news, and some news about what's going on in the world at large. It also has a society section, an advice column called Ask Miss June, obituaries, and a classified section. Paper boys, and the occasional paper girl, deliver it right to the front door of most families in town every morning.