Location:
Pinecone University, Squirrelden
108 Marshall Jackson rd.
Foxlake Appartments, buildings A and B
There is no place like Squirrelden. A cozy town, where many students chase their dreams in Pinecone University through hard work. In one calm corner, where forest begins, rests Foxlake Appartments. A cheap place to search for your future. And your belongings. You see, a road, that passes between Foxlake Appartments and their parking area is a highway for local burglars. And students have indeed noticed such feature of their habitat..
Pinecone University, Squirrelden
108 Marshall Jackson rd.
Foxlake Appartments, buildings A and B
There is no place like Squirrelden. A cozy town, where many students chase their dreams in Pinecone University through hard work. In one calm corner, where forest begins, rests Foxlake Appartments. A cheap place to search for your future. And your belongings. You see, a road, that passes between Foxlake Appartments and their parking area is a highway for local burglars. And students have indeed noticed such feature of their habitat..
!!!GAME RULES!!!
READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST ANYTHING TO THIS GAME. SPONTANEOUS POSTS WITHOUT APPROVAL WILL BE REPORTED AND REMOVED
((Private game- new players welcome))
Gameplay rules:
1. Invitation only- all players must be adults. You can request entry through forum https://www.rprepository.com/community/forums/topic/100595 or via PM. New players must be approved before posting. All current players must approve a new players.
2. Please write IC posts in 3rd person, past tense.
3. Please keep IC posts in the IC thread and keep OOC posts out of the IC thread. Put your message in double (( )) to make it OOC. If you are not part of our game, please do not post here.
4. Game has several types of characters. Every player has OC, others cannot control, excluding sensory resposnes (see, smell ect.) Second group is ”Free characters”. These have fixed background settings, but once the game begins, every player can contron their actions and emotions, as long as it does not conflict with previously written events. Third group is NPCs. These are run by GM, based on pre determined settings. They should be handled as other players OOCs.
Each character must be categorized in character list under one of these. Players can request adding new free characters to the game in OOC forum. Maximum number of characters is 40, according the number of appartments
5. No controlling someone else’s character or killing/injuring anyone else’s character (without consent).
6. Storytelling is a free form collaborative effort where players will advance the direction of the plot in their posts. We'll take turns playing off of each characters interactions. 95% of the game will be free interaction and 5% events triggered by GM. Everyone will participate in storytelling, but players may plan events ahead with PMs or OOC messaged. Light dice use is welcome to randomize outcomes a bit.
Game is slow pace. All majour events are discussed and approved between players. Game is purposed to display modern USA as realisticly as possible.
READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST ANYTHING TO THIS GAME. SPONTANEOUS POSTS WITHOUT APPROVAL WILL BE REPORTED AND REMOVED
((Private game- new players welcome))
Gameplay rules:
1. Invitation only- all players must be adults. You can request entry through forum https://www.rprepository.com/community/forums/topic/100595 or via PM. New players must be approved before posting. All current players must approve a new players.
2. Please write IC posts in 3rd person, past tense.
3. Please keep IC posts in the IC thread and keep OOC posts out of the IC thread. Put your message in double (( )) to make it OOC. If you are not part of our game, please do not post here.
4. Game has several types of characters. Every player has OC, others cannot control, excluding sensory resposnes (see, smell ect.) Second group is ”Free characters”. These have fixed background settings, but once the game begins, every player can contron their actions and emotions, as long as it does not conflict with previously written events. Third group is NPCs. These are run by GM, based on pre determined settings. They should be handled as other players OOCs.
Each character must be categorized in character list under one of these. Players can request adding new free characters to the game in OOC forum. Maximum number of characters is 40, according the number of appartments
5. No controlling someone else’s character or killing/injuring anyone else’s character (without consent).
6. Storytelling is a free form collaborative effort where players will advance the direction of the plot in their posts. We'll take turns playing off of each characters interactions. 95% of the game will be free interaction and 5% events triggered by GM. Everyone will participate in storytelling, but players may plan events ahead with PMs or OOC messaged. Light dice use is welcome to randomize outcomes a bit.
Game is slow pace. All majour events are discussed and approved between players. Game is purposed to display modern USA as realisticly as possible.
Both buildings have roughly the shape of letter ”C”. They are mirror images of one another. Fire ladders climb up from the second floor until the fifth along the outer walls of the buildings. In the entrace to inner yard, there are bike racks on both sides, covered by light metal roof. It covers them from the rain, but unfortunately prevents visibility because of the supporting beams of the roof.
Once you go through the entry way, you will see old but beautiful garden on the inner yard. Buildings are not connected. There are two stairways on both buildings, that climb along the inner wall until the fifth floor. All stairs, walkways and appartment doors are in open air as in motel. Only small sheet of metal and floor of upper walkways are giving protection from the rain. Each floor has four appartments. On the ground level there is also clubroom, gym, storage rooms, two laundryrooms and four drying rooms. Club room and gym have fire exit door to front yard. On the backyard of the appartment is small beach and lake called… you gessed it, Foxlake!! There is actually really nice view from the fifth floor stairs through the garden and second passageway to the Foxlake.
Each student has their own door along the inner yard. There is bedroom, small livingroom, toilet with shower and small kitchen corner with fridge. Cozy, huh? Every student also has small personal storage room in bottom floor.
Once you go through the entry way, you will see old but beautiful garden on the inner yard. Buildings are not connected. There are two stairways on both buildings, that climb along the inner wall until the fifth floor. All stairs, walkways and appartment doors are in open air as in motel. Only small sheet of metal and floor of upper walkways are giving protection from the rain. Each floor has four appartments. On the ground level there is also clubroom, gym, storage rooms, two laundryrooms and four drying rooms. Club room and gym have fire exit door to front yard. On the backyard of the appartment is small beach and lake called… you gessed it, Foxlake!! There is actually really nice view from the fifth floor stairs through the garden and second passageway to the Foxlake.
Each student has their own door along the inner yard. There is bedroom, small livingroom, toilet with shower and small kitchen corner with fridge. Cozy, huh? Every student also has small personal storage room in bottom floor.
((List of inhabitants))
(Locked= npc/free character, not yet introduced)
Appartment/Floor/tenant/Subject
/info, sex
building A
1 /1
2 /1
3 /1
4 /1
5 /2
6 /2
7 /2/locked
8 /2
9 /3
10 /3
11 /3/Aaron Greenvalley/ Carpentry/ Fixed player, male
12 /3
13 /4
14 /4
15 /4 /Pedro Verde/ biology, free
16 /4
17 /5
18 /5
19 /5
20 /5
building B
1 /1/ Megan "Meg" King/College student (major undecided)/Fixed Player
2 /1/Danny, fixed player
3 /1/
4 /1/
5 /2/Hue Nguyen, business, fixed player
6 /2
7 /2 /locked
8 /2
9 /3 /locked
10 /3
11 /3
12 /3
13 /4 /locked
14 /4
15 /4/Matthew Smith/athletics
/free character, male
16 /4 /locked
17 /5
18 /5
19 /5/Sandra/fixed player
20 /5
(Locked= npc/free character, not yet introduced)
Appartment/Floor/tenant/Subject
/info, sex
building A
1 /1
2 /1
3 /1
4 /1
5 /2
6 /2
7 /2/locked
8 /2
9 /3
10 /3
11 /3/Aaron Greenvalley/ Carpentry/ Fixed player, male
12 /3
13 /4
14 /4
15 /4 /Pedro Verde/ biology, free
16 /4
17 /5
18 /5
19 /5
20 /5
building B
1 /1/ Megan "Meg" King/College student (major undecided)/Fixed Player
2 /1/Danny, fixed player
3 /1/
4 /1/
5 /2/Hue Nguyen, business, fixed player
6 /2
7 /2 /locked
8 /2
9 /3 /locked
10 /3
11 /3
12 /3
13 /4 /locked
14 /4
15 /4/Matthew Smith/athletics
/free character, male
16 /4 /locked
17 /5
18 /5
19 /5/Sandra/fixed player
20 /5
Aaron closed his door and gazed upon the garden. Wind was gently shaking young maples, which stood strong in the center, forming a circle around the grill made of bricks. There was bunch of beer bottles lying around the grill. He gave a loud sigh, and started to carry a pile of folded cardboard boxes to downstairs.
"Is it so hard to collect your own garbage, or are they just so wasted they would not notice if a train parked here?" He mumbled while making his way down from the third floor. By the time he got down, he nearly collided with a running man.
"Sorry, huff..huff.. My bad!" man said. It was Matthew, from B 15. A sports student, finishing his round. Matthew had lived in the appartment for quite some time. He was supposed to graduate soon. Matthew continued to jog up the stairs, in order not to interrupt his exercise and mess up his breathing.
"Is it so hard to collect your own garbage, or are they just so wasted they would not notice if a train parked here?" He mumbled while making his way down from the third floor. By the time he got down, he nearly collided with a running man.
"Sorry, huff..huff.. My bad!" man said. It was Matthew, from B 15. A sports student, finishing his round. Matthew had lived in the appartment for quite some time. He was supposed to graduate soon. Matthew continued to jog up the stairs, in order not to interrupt his exercise and mess up his breathing.
Meg pulled her acoustic guitar out of the trunk and checked to make sure her doors were locked. She didn't want to risk anything happening to her guitar. Despite having adequate storage space at her apartment, she tended to leave things in her car she needed like Star Bucks apron and hat, and her book bag with her textbooks. What thieves would want those?
Meg tended to be very absent-minded and disorganized. She found that if she kept things she needed to bring with her, there was less chance that she'd arrive unprepared. That did not, however, help her out with being chronically late to everything. That was another issue. The blue-eyed blonde girl was otherwise pleasant and easy-going, but her flightiness and inability to commit to anything tended to cause others to be short of patience with her.
She'd tried many hobbies over the years- dancing, being a magician, getting into collectible card games like Magic The Gathering followed by roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and even roller derby. Most recently, she'd taken up playing the guitar. She was one half of a music duo called A Week from Wednesday in which she played the role of Art Garfunkle; the sidekick.
The other half of the band, Wednesday Weekley whom the band was named for was the principal songwriter, lead vocalist, and lead guitarist. Meg occasionally got to sing backup on a chorus if she was lucky. Mostly, she just strummed along playing the chords as the rhythm guitarist. Sometimes, she might play the tambourine or a shaker instead of the guitar or even just doing handclaps. Meg had just finished a long rehearsal at the practice room she and Wednesday shared. She had several songs she had to work on in the next few days since the girls had a show coming up.
The parking lot was a brief walk to the Fox Lake apartments. Fortunately, Meg had a corner downstairs unit that happened to be the shortest distance from her car. It was nice not having to lug her guitar up a flight of stairs. As she entered the courtyard, she saw two guys hanging out talking. She smiled in their direction as she set her guitar case down and fumbled to fish the keys out of her pocket.
Meg tended to be very absent-minded and disorganized. She found that if she kept things she needed to bring with her, there was less chance that she'd arrive unprepared. That did not, however, help her out with being chronically late to everything. That was another issue. The blue-eyed blonde girl was otherwise pleasant and easy-going, but her flightiness and inability to commit to anything tended to cause others to be short of patience with her.
She'd tried many hobbies over the years- dancing, being a magician, getting into collectible card games like Magic The Gathering followed by roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and even roller derby. Most recently, she'd taken up playing the guitar. She was one half of a music duo called A Week from Wednesday in which she played the role of Art Garfunkle; the sidekick.
The other half of the band, Wednesday Weekley whom the band was named for was the principal songwriter, lead vocalist, and lead guitarist. Meg occasionally got to sing backup on a chorus if she was lucky. Mostly, she just strummed along playing the chords as the rhythm guitarist. Sometimes, she might play the tambourine or a shaker instead of the guitar or even just doing handclaps. Meg had just finished a long rehearsal at the practice room she and Wednesday shared. She had several songs she had to work on in the next few days since the girls had a show coming up.
The parking lot was a brief walk to the Fox Lake apartments. Fortunately, Meg had a corner downstairs unit that happened to be the shortest distance from her car. It was nice not having to lug her guitar up a flight of stairs. As she entered the courtyard, she saw two guys hanging out talking. She smiled in their direction as she set her guitar case down and fumbled to fish the keys out of her pocket.
((How long have everyone lived in the appartment? Like approx. How early do people usually move in before semester begins? I started with the assumption that virtually everyone is stranger to one another. As new characters are showing up, do they introduce themselves to Aaron an Meg? Some have lived there longer, but list is rather short. Also, please choose and share, which appartment Meg has. Number and building))
(( Apt B1- Megan "Meg" King/College student (major undecided)/Fixed Player
A few more suggestions-
Initially, we had discussed this being on-campus dorms. I would say it would be better if this was a private apt. complex near campus but not on university property. As such, there could be people living there year-round. If it were a dormitory (which I am not recommending), students usually arrive about 2 weeks before. As I was writing this, I came up with another reason why security might be bad- maybe the police put too much focus on the campus itself at the expense of the community that is off-campus. Since the police tend to just patrol the university grounds, the neighborhoods are not getting enough police patrols which is why the crime rate is so high. In fact- let's put the apartments at the edge of town- the furthest point from the police station to further explain the lack of police nearby and why this area is favored by criminals.
At a US university, there is usually a move-in week (the start of a new school year begins in Sept usually). Then there are usually activities, etc. a few days before classes begin. If it is a dorm, there are going to be staff members and the security of the building is the responsibility of the university. It's better we treat this as a private apt. complex for story reasons. If you really want this to be a university-owned dorm as opposed to an apartment complex, we need to discuss things further in a private message. Again, that setup will not lead to the best setting given the nature of the game. I would even put the Foxlake Apartments several blocks from school for the reasons I mentioned above.
As for my character- Meg has been attending school here for several semesters. She is new to the apartments, but not new to the school. We'll go with the idea she lived in the dorms on campus, but this semester, she's getting her own private apt which leads her to the Fox Lake Apts (which will assume are several blocks from the university. It would be a little too far to walk to get to classes, but there is probably a bus or she can just take her car. Most universities have public buses that run around the clock.
In my intro post, I was working under the assumption that she doesn't already know Aaron or anyone else. She just saw the two residents in the courtyard and smiled in their direction as she was coming back to her apartment from her band rehearsal. Let's assume she moved in a few days ago and just got settled in her apartment. Aaron and the other characters could be new themselves or maybe have lived in the apartments for several months to a year or two.
Meg does know other people in the town (probably mostly other university students) including Wednesday Weekley, the other half of the band she's in. I may or may not make a profile for that character. Any of her existing friends do not live in the apartment complex and will have minor roles in the story and may just be mentioned without role-playing any scenes with them. That will depend on how the game unfolds. Meg's band is going to be a short-lived thing anyway. I plan on her losing interest and getting interested in the neighborhood watch group as her newest interest (see her character profile for details on her personality and constantly changing hobbies).
We don't have to have everyone in the apartments be part of the story. It is unlikely and probably not even believable that everyone knows all of the people in the apartment complex. Not every resident needs to be in the story. In fact, only a small handful of people need to even take part in the plot. Going around and having room-by-room introductions isn't typically done in real life. The residents of the apartments can just get to know each other naturally.
If you want to set up an event like the apartment complex has a cookout or meet and greet event before school, that would be a good way to do it. If we are going to allow new players to join the game after it is already in progress, then we'll probably just have to say that they were living there from the start and the other characters just get to know them when they enter the story. It isn't going to make sense for new players to keep moving in after the school year starts. Once we get going, we need to assume they were already living there and they just get to know the main characters in the story a few weeks or months into things.
People tend to make friends and get to know each other through the course of the school year. While many people get to know one another when they first move in, it isn't typical or believable for everyone to know each other from the beginning of the year. Things just sort of happen naturally. Maybe it takes a little while for their paths to cross. Everyone has different class and work schedules- universities in the US tend to have tens of thousands of students.
Campuses can cover multiple city blocks and there are a variety of different majors. Engineering students may not ever cross paths with art students- those subjects are in different sets of buildings and could be on completely different parts of campus. Not to mention some students may have morning classes, while others are in class in the evening. Also, many students may take classes online and not actually attend in person. There are a lot of reasons why people's paths may not cross even if they live in the same apartment complex.
Once the burglaries start happening, I think a good way to bring people together is for the residents to start a community/neighborhood watch program (see the links I sent via PM). We can say the program doesn't exist at first. As things happen, they can start patrolling like I suggested, maybe set up cameras and even the traps like you were talking about. Anyone else that joins the game after we start that is unfamiliar with what a neighborhood watch program is should Google it. Wikipedia has a great article on the subject. I would recommend everyone who wants to play in the game read this article.
I would theme the game around the creation of starting the watch group, but it should build gradually and we should do that as an in-character event over the course of several weeks. That can be the common ground that brings our characters together. Pacing is important to good storytelling, we don't want to rush into this if we want a good game. Let's let things progress slowly and in a natural way before any crimes happen and cover other aspects of the character's lives first.))
A few more suggestions-
Initially, we had discussed this being on-campus dorms. I would say it would be better if this was a private apt. complex near campus but not on university property. As such, there could be people living there year-round. If it were a dormitory (which I am not recommending), students usually arrive about 2 weeks before. As I was writing this, I came up with another reason why security might be bad- maybe the police put too much focus on the campus itself at the expense of the community that is off-campus. Since the police tend to just patrol the university grounds, the neighborhoods are not getting enough police patrols which is why the crime rate is so high. In fact- let's put the apartments at the edge of town- the furthest point from the police station to further explain the lack of police nearby and why this area is favored by criminals.
At a US university, there is usually a move-in week (the start of a new school year begins in Sept usually). Then there are usually activities, etc. a few days before classes begin. If it is a dorm, there are going to be staff members and the security of the building is the responsibility of the university. It's better we treat this as a private apt. complex for story reasons. If you really want this to be a university-owned dorm as opposed to an apartment complex, we need to discuss things further in a private message. Again, that setup will not lead to the best setting given the nature of the game. I would even put the Foxlake Apartments several blocks from school for the reasons I mentioned above.
As for my character- Meg has been attending school here for several semesters. She is new to the apartments, but not new to the school. We'll go with the idea she lived in the dorms on campus, but this semester, she's getting her own private apt which leads her to the Fox Lake Apts (which will assume are several blocks from the university. It would be a little too far to walk to get to classes, but there is probably a bus or she can just take her car. Most universities have public buses that run around the clock.
In my intro post, I was working under the assumption that she doesn't already know Aaron or anyone else. She just saw the two residents in the courtyard and smiled in their direction as she was coming back to her apartment from her band rehearsal. Let's assume she moved in a few days ago and just got settled in her apartment. Aaron and the other characters could be new themselves or maybe have lived in the apartments for several months to a year or two.
Meg does know other people in the town (probably mostly other university students) including Wednesday Weekley, the other half of the band she's in. I may or may not make a profile for that character. Any of her existing friends do not live in the apartment complex and will have minor roles in the story and may just be mentioned without role-playing any scenes with them. That will depend on how the game unfolds. Meg's band is going to be a short-lived thing anyway. I plan on her losing interest and getting interested in the neighborhood watch group as her newest interest (see her character profile for details on her personality and constantly changing hobbies).
We don't have to have everyone in the apartments be part of the story. It is unlikely and probably not even believable that everyone knows all of the people in the apartment complex. Not every resident needs to be in the story. In fact, only a small handful of people need to even take part in the plot. Going around and having room-by-room introductions isn't typically done in real life. The residents of the apartments can just get to know each other naturally.
If you want to set up an event like the apartment complex has a cookout or meet and greet event before school, that would be a good way to do it. If we are going to allow new players to join the game after it is already in progress, then we'll probably just have to say that they were living there from the start and the other characters just get to know them when they enter the story. It isn't going to make sense for new players to keep moving in after the school year starts. Once we get going, we need to assume they were already living there and they just get to know the main characters in the story a few weeks or months into things.
People tend to make friends and get to know each other through the course of the school year. While many people get to know one another when they first move in, it isn't typical or believable for everyone to know each other from the beginning of the year. Things just sort of happen naturally. Maybe it takes a little while for their paths to cross. Everyone has different class and work schedules- universities in the US tend to have tens of thousands of students.
Campuses can cover multiple city blocks and there are a variety of different majors. Engineering students may not ever cross paths with art students- those subjects are in different sets of buildings and could be on completely different parts of campus. Not to mention some students may have morning classes, while others are in class in the evening. Also, many students may take classes online and not actually attend in person. There are a lot of reasons why people's paths may not cross even if they live in the same apartment complex.
Once the burglaries start happening, I think a good way to bring people together is for the residents to start a community/neighborhood watch program (see the links I sent via PM). We can say the program doesn't exist at first. As things happen, they can start patrolling like I suggested, maybe set up cameras and even the traps like you were talking about. Anyone else that joins the game after we start that is unfamiliar with what a neighborhood watch program is should Google it. Wikipedia has a great article on the subject. I would recommend everyone who wants to play in the game read this article.
I would theme the game around the creation of starting the watch group, but it should build gradually and we should do that as an in-character event over the course of several weeks. That can be the common ground that brings our characters together. Pacing is important to good storytelling, we don't want to rush into this if we want a good game. Let's let things progress slowly and in a natural way before any crimes happen and cover other aspects of the character's lives first.))
Two men turned towards Meg and gave her wide smile. One of them had dark green shirt, brown short pants and massive sunglases. The other one had t-shirt like peacock, and facial feautures suggesting some level of latino roots. Latino man tried to look her directly into the eyes.
"Hi, are you.." He was supposedly starting some kind of pickup line, when line of sight between then was blocked by a wall of folded carboard boxes. Aaron popped out from the stairway, and was met with the dumbfounded face of the latino man. Aaron was deep in his thoughts, when directly in fronth of his was some random dude staring at him in rather odd way. He stopped.
"Umm, you need some carboard boxes, or what?" Aaron said with a big question mark on his face and a slightly hesitant voice.
"Oh, never mind. Sorry to bother you" Man replied quickly. He had a light spanish accent.
Aaron resumed his transportation task. He wanted to clean up his home before semester started. It may have been just a simple roon and toilet, but it was his first home. His first OWN home, to be precise. He started to memorize his noisy little sister back in his parents place. As lovely as little Jenny was, she was so irritating from time to time. And loud. Small girls can make sounds that make Nazguls sound like amateurs. He went deeper into his thoughts, wondering how to decorate room with usefull holders for various things, how he one day would study japanese and order red Makita screwdriver to US and so on. Aaron was big fan of powerfull tools. He had tried many kinds of tools, but his personal favourites were Makitas. When you needed to getvthe job done, they did it. Too bad they they only sold blue makitas in US. He had heard, that in Japan they were selling red makitas, which were made exclusively for Japanese market and were even more powerful. In his mind, they were supertools. A distant dream, since mostly he had to work with his Black&Decker. It was functional, but rather weak. Once it had fallen off from the shelf, and damaged somehow. Whenever it was turned on, it sounded like a hornets nest, after you shoot through it with pistol. Horrible noice, small performace. He was glad that at least it worked still.
Meanwhile, a small black volcanic rock fell from between the cardboard. It had gotten stuck into some edge and got carried out from his room. It made short but sharp sound as it hit the ground. Aaron was deep in his thoughts, so he did not notice it.
Meg heard the sound, but by that time Aaron had dissapeared to the passageway. Latino man had also gathered his thoughts in meanwhile.
"Im Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade
"Hi, are you.." He was supposedly starting some kind of pickup line, when line of sight between then was blocked by a wall of folded carboard boxes. Aaron popped out from the stairway, and was met with the dumbfounded face of the latino man. Aaron was deep in his thoughts, when directly in fronth of his was some random dude staring at him in rather odd way. He stopped.
"Umm, you need some carboard boxes, or what?" Aaron said with a big question mark on his face and a slightly hesitant voice.
"Oh, never mind. Sorry to bother you" Man replied quickly. He had a light spanish accent.
Aaron resumed his transportation task. He wanted to clean up his home before semester started. It may have been just a simple roon and toilet, but it was his first home. His first OWN home, to be precise. He started to memorize his noisy little sister back in his parents place. As lovely as little Jenny was, she was so irritating from time to time. And loud. Small girls can make sounds that make Nazguls sound like amateurs. He went deeper into his thoughts, wondering how to decorate room with usefull holders for various things, how he one day would study japanese and order red Makita screwdriver to US and so on. Aaron was big fan of powerfull tools. He had tried many kinds of tools, but his personal favourites were Makitas. When you needed to getvthe job done, they did it. Too bad they they only sold blue makitas in US. He had heard, that in Japan they were selling red makitas, which were made exclusively for Japanese market and were even more powerful. In his mind, they were supertools. A distant dream, since mostly he had to work with his Black&Decker. It was functional, but rather weak. Once it had fallen off from the shelf, and damaged somehow. Whenever it was turned on, it sounded like a hornets nest, after you shoot through it with pistol. Horrible noice, small performace. He was glad that at least it worked still.
Meanwhile, a small black volcanic rock fell from between the cardboard. It had gotten stuck into some edge and got carried out from his room. It made short but sharp sound as it hit the ground. Aaron was deep in his thoughts, so he did not notice it.
Meg heard the sound, but by that time Aaron had dissapeared to the passageway. Latino man had also gathered his thoughts in meanwhile.
"Im Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade
(( Pedro and Matthew are free characters btw))
Meg paused while the two men talked. Obviously, they were already acquainted. She leaned her guitar case against the side of the building. Her keys were tangled up in the lining of her jeans pocket. She finally managed to free them. There were way too many on the keychain and she didn't know what half of them were for anymore. Most were completely unnecessary. Meg frowned a moment as she paused to study them and figure out which one opened the apartment door.
One of the men dropped something and Meg looked up. "Oh hey," she said smiling. "Just moving in?"
(Tag- Pedro's response here)
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove. I'm Meg."
"Im Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied.
(OOC: Was Pedro introducing himself to Meg? I wasn't quite clear. If not, I can edit this.)
One of the men dropped something and Meg looked up. "Oh hey," she said smiling. "Just moving in?"
(Tag- Pedro's response here)
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove. I'm Meg."
"Im Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied.
(OOC: Was Pedro introducing himself to Meg? I wasn't quite clear. If not, I can edit this.)
((Yes, Pedro was trying to make a charming greeting to Meg, as they have not talked before, but Aaron's carboard wall interrupted him.
Do we keep the appartments exclusively for students, or can there be common workers ect. as well?))
Do we keep the appartments exclusively for students, or can there be common workers ect. as well?))
((If we're going with my proposed idea and making it an apartment complex at the edge of town away from the university campus, then it's not a dorm so anyone could live there. When you ask if it can include workers, too, I'm not clear on what you mean by 'a worker?' A normal person that has a job that isn't a student? To me, a worker is a laborer like a construction worker, someone that works at a lawn care company, or someone that is employed at a warehouse. You could also have a business professional that works in an office like a salesman or insurance agent, someone that is a delivery driver, a restaurant employee, an cashier at a grocery store, a school teacher, a retiree, a postal employee, a firefighter... there isn't a certain type of person that lives in an apartment complex.
I wouldn't just add a bunch of characters without purpose. The smaller the cast and the fewer the players, the better an experience we're going to have. Too many characters is going to get to be too much to keep up with and is unnecessary. Let's only add new characters if there is a story need or someone joins the game. I do have an idea for another character I want to introduce later that will advance the plot.
Also, FYI- the phrase "by the way' is a follow-up statement. It doesn't make sense to start a conversation like that, so I when pedro responds, I left a place above (marked Tag Pedro response here).
Example:
One of the men dropped something and Meg looked up. "Oh hey," she said smiling. "Just moving in?"
"Yeah, I just moved in," Pedro replied.
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove. I'm Meg."
"I'm Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied.
I would start Pedro's reply by copying that paragraph and filling in something that makes sense where I bolded it as an example.))
I wouldn't just add a bunch of characters without purpose. The smaller the cast and the fewer the players, the better an experience we're going to have. Too many characters is going to get to be too much to keep up with and is unnecessary. Let's only add new characters if there is a story need or someone joins the game. I do have an idea for another character I want to introduce later that will advance the plot.
Also, FYI- the phrase "by the way' is a follow-up statement. It doesn't make sense to start a conversation like that, so I when pedro responds, I left a place above (marked Tag Pedro response here).
Example:
One of the men dropped something and Meg looked up. "Oh hey," she said smiling. "Just moving in?"
"Yeah, I just moved in," Pedro replied.
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove. I'm Meg."
"I'm Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied.
I would start Pedro's reply by copying that paragraph and filling in something that makes sense where I bolded it as an example.))
((I wanted to double check the range of the inhabitants. As I understood, this appartment is housing both students and non students as well. With "workers" I mean "Non students, for example those types of people as you mentioned. That would also mean that there could be all walks of life, like pentioners and unemployed among the inhabitants.
As im also processing this game ahead, I will make some changes to my original plans. I planned to bring in large bundle of characters, but I now noticed how hard it is to write good stuff. To be able to write better content, I will put 2 free characters in priority, and use others only when plot requires them. I will focus on Aaron, Matthew and one, who has not appeared yet. All these will be students. I have much clearer idea of their background to play them well. Pedro is bit of a filler, so we dont need to put too much details there.
I am not native in english. I have rather wide vocabulary, but my grammar has never been great. I am sorry about that. Just fix me, if something goes wrong too much.))
As im also processing this game ahead, I will make some changes to my original plans. I planned to bring in large bundle of characters, but I now noticed how hard it is to write good stuff. To be able to write better content, I will put 2 free characters in priority, and use others only when plot requires them. I will focus on Aaron, Matthew and one, who has not appeared yet. All these will be students. I have much clearer idea of their background to play them well. Pedro is bit of a filler, so we dont need to put too much details there.
I am not native in english. I have rather wide vocabulary, but my grammar has never been great. I am sorry about that. Just fix me, if something goes wrong too much.))
((Hey no worries, I don't want to sound critical, just trying to help out where I can. I've been doing games like this for about 20 years and it would be best to have a small cast like we discussed above. We don't want a bunch of players. The fewer the players, the better the game. I prefer one on ones, but I wouldn't allow more than 4 people counting us. People are bad to not keep up, quit and not tell people and there are just too many opportunities for miscommunications when you have a large group.
As for the characters and relationships- I have lived on the same street for 20 years now. I barely know my neighbors. That's pretty typical of most places in the US. Most people keep to themselves and most neighborhoods and apartments don't have a situation where everyone knows everyone else. That was true decades ago, but life is just too diverse in the 21st century and everyone is busy with their own lives.
People have different schedules, jobs and activities. You tend to get to know people through those and not living in the same neighborhood or apartment. Most parents get to know other families because their kids go to school together or are on the same soccer team. Adults without kids meet through clubs or work or maybe even church.
I think some of the confusion on my part is in some parts of the world people have very defined roles. For example, a person falls into a specific category, like they're a worker (someone that has a job and earns money to support themselves and their family), a student- someone, either specifically a child or young adult who is in school and that's all they do, or a caregiver- someone who takes care of the elderly or young children but doesn't study in school nor do they have a job that pays them.
If the above is the case, one thing to understand about US culture is people aren't quite so defined in that way here. It is possible for someone to be a caregiver, a worker and a student. For example, a mother who is working a part-time job but also working on a degree while also doing the first two things from home.
Many students also have jobs, at least part-time. It is not unheard of for some people to be full-time students and not work. In Meg's case, she works part-time in a coffee shop while also attending school as she works on her bachelor's degree.
It is also important to note that many older people attend college. While the vast majority of students in the US are in their late teens to early 20s, it is not uncommon for older adults to be going to college. Those types of people are not going to live in dormatories or attend parties or have the same kind of college life as someone in their twenties. Many people can't afford college when they graduate and join the work force, go into the army or in the case of certain religions like the Mormons, they might have to spend 2 years doing missionary work before pursuing higher education.
Sometimes people flunk out of school because they just aren't ready and wait until their late 20s or 30s to try going back to school. Most of the time, these people are taking classes in addition to working a full time job. Sometimes, you also have people that have a bachelors degree, but in order to get into management, need a master degree, so might be in their 30s, 40s or 50s and going back to school for that. Also, people may seek a career change that needs a degree they don't have or maybe they have a degree, but it isn't relevant to the field of work they want to do.
You also have some seniors that return to college after they reach retirement age. They aren't probably going to get a job with their degree but might take classes to learn new skills or just something to do.
As for our apartment complex, here is a likely breakdown of the types of people who live there- it's probably almost entirely people between 18-30. The vast majority of whom are younger than 25 years old. Probably about 60 percent are college students. The rest probably are either taking a semester off, are planning to start school in the future, or aren't really college material but enjoy the college lifestyle and culture. Those people are probably working jobs in the area like delivery drivers, warehouse employees (Amazon or UPS for example), working in stores as cashiers, restaurants, movie theaters, or jobs on campus. Probably about half of the people currently taking classes have a part-time job.
People that don't live there- wealthy people, non-students with a good-paying job, retired people/older people (seniors), and families with small children. There might be some young couples or singles that are working professional jobs that aren't quite ready to buy a house yet, but there aren't very many of those. Hopefully, that helps some.))
As for the characters and relationships- I have lived on the same street for 20 years now. I barely know my neighbors. That's pretty typical of most places in the US. Most people keep to themselves and most neighborhoods and apartments don't have a situation where everyone knows everyone else. That was true decades ago, but life is just too diverse in the 21st century and everyone is busy with their own lives.
People have different schedules, jobs and activities. You tend to get to know people through those and not living in the same neighborhood or apartment. Most parents get to know other families because their kids go to school together or are on the same soccer team. Adults without kids meet through clubs or work or maybe even church.
I think some of the confusion on my part is in some parts of the world people have very defined roles. For example, a person falls into a specific category, like they're a worker (someone that has a job and earns money to support themselves and their family), a student- someone, either specifically a child or young adult who is in school and that's all they do, or a caregiver- someone who takes care of the elderly or young children but doesn't study in school nor do they have a job that pays them.
If the above is the case, one thing to understand about US culture is people aren't quite so defined in that way here. It is possible for someone to be a caregiver, a worker and a student. For example, a mother who is working a part-time job but also working on a degree while also doing the first two things from home.
Many students also have jobs, at least part-time. It is not unheard of for some people to be full-time students and not work. In Meg's case, she works part-time in a coffee shop while also attending school as she works on her bachelor's degree.
It is also important to note that many older people attend college. While the vast majority of students in the US are in their late teens to early 20s, it is not uncommon for older adults to be going to college. Those types of people are not going to live in dormatories or attend parties or have the same kind of college life as someone in their twenties. Many people can't afford college when they graduate and join the work force, go into the army or in the case of certain religions like the Mormons, they might have to spend 2 years doing missionary work before pursuing higher education.
Sometimes people flunk out of school because they just aren't ready and wait until their late 20s or 30s to try going back to school. Most of the time, these people are taking classes in addition to working a full time job. Sometimes, you also have people that have a bachelors degree, but in order to get into management, need a master degree, so might be in their 30s, 40s or 50s and going back to school for that. Also, people may seek a career change that needs a degree they don't have or maybe they have a degree, but it isn't relevant to the field of work they want to do.
You also have some seniors that return to college after they reach retirement age. They aren't probably going to get a job with their degree but might take classes to learn new skills or just something to do.
As for our apartment complex, here is a likely breakdown of the types of people who live there- it's probably almost entirely people between 18-30. The vast majority of whom are younger than 25 years old. Probably about 60 percent are college students. The rest probably are either taking a semester off, are planning to start school in the future, or aren't really college material but enjoy the college lifestyle and culture. Those people are probably working jobs in the area like delivery drivers, warehouse employees (Amazon or UPS for example), working in stores as cashiers, restaurants, movie theaters, or jobs on campus. Probably about half of the people currently taking classes have a part-time job.
People that don't live there- wealthy people, non-students with a good-paying job, retired people/older people (seniors), and families with small children. There might be some young couples or singles that are working professional jobs that aren't quite ready to buy a house yet, but there aren't very many of those. Hopefully, that helps some.))
((Line of Pedro))
"I have been here for three weeks now. Just hanging around now, enjoying the scenery with my pal, Don. He does not live here, just came to drop by. Hope you enjoy your stay. If you like to swim, Fox Lake at backyard is awesome. We are heading there for a drink, so you can join us, if you want."
You can make adjustments to previous post, to make it more natural.))
"I have been here for three weeks now. Just hanging around now, enjoying the scenery with my pal, Don. He does not live here, just came to drop by. Hope you enjoy your stay. If you like to swim, Fox Lake at backyard is awesome. We are heading there for a drink, so you can join us, if you want."
You can make adjustments to previous post, to make it more natural.))
Aaron made his way to garbage area and tossed away his boxes. He did concider selling them for next person, but his appartment was way too small for storing such pile. He started to walk back, looking towards the bike racks. There was a small opening along metal ploles supporting the roof, where one could take bikes in and out. This had its benefits, since it prevented raining on the bikes.
Once he got closer, he peeked inside to make sure his bike was at place. And there it was, his trusty companion. Blue steel, 21 gears and no suspension. It was nothing fancy, but got the job done. It had served him year round for 6 years already, and even survived a car crash. His helmet and jacket were not as lucky. After that incident, he had learned many things. 1: Watch where you are driving. 2: Insurance companies love little print, to deny you all the compensations they possibly can. 3: A nurse, who finds a forgotten patient at ER can yell things you will never forget.
As he was laughing at his misfortune on that fatefull day, a fat rat suddenly jumped out from the shadows. Aaron jumped back, and backed away from the bikes.
"Check list, first article: make a functional rat trap. Ewww." He thought in his mind.
Once he got closer, he peeked inside to make sure his bike was at place. And there it was, his trusty companion. Blue steel, 21 gears and no suspension. It was nothing fancy, but got the job done. It had served him year round for 6 years already, and even survived a car crash. His helmet and jacket were not as lucky. After that incident, he had learned many things. 1: Watch where you are driving. 2: Insurance companies love little print, to deny you all the compensations they possibly can. 3: A nurse, who finds a forgotten patient at ER can yell things you will never forget.
As he was laughing at his misfortune on that fatefull day, a fat rat suddenly jumped out from the shadows. Aaron jumped back, and backed away from the bikes.
"Check list, first article: make a functional rat trap. Ewww." He thought in his mind.
One of the men dropped something and Meg looked up. "Oh hey," she said smiling. "Just moving in?"
"I have been here for three weeks now. Just hanging around now, enjoying the scenery with my pal, Don. He does not live here, just came to drop by. Hope you enjoy your stay."
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove."
"If you like to swim, Fox Lake at backyard is awesome. We are heading there for a drink, so you can join us, if you want."
"Maybe in a bit if you aren't leaving right away. I just got back from my band rehearsal. I need to put some stuff away and get something to eat before I go anywhere else." She glanced at the guitar case leaning against the wall near her front door.
"I'm Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied. "I'm Meg."
"I have been here for three weeks now. Just hanging around now, enjoying the scenery with my pal, Don. He does not live here, just came to drop by. Hope you enjoy your stay."
"I just got here a few days ago. New to the apartments but I've been in town a couple of years now. I'm a student at Pinecove."
"If you like to swim, Fox Lake at backyard is awesome. We are heading there for a drink, so you can join us, if you want."
"Maybe in a bit if you aren't leaving right away. I just got back from my band rehearsal. I need to put some stuff away and get something to eat before I go anywhere else." She glanced at the guitar case leaning against the wall near her front door.
"I'm Pedro, by the way" man said, but he did feel somewhat awkward after the cardboard blockade.
"Nice to meet you," Meg replied. "I'm Meg."
"Nice to meet you too, Meg. Now, if you excuse me, I go grab some stuff for the beach."
Pedron started to jog upstairs to his appartment. He lived on 4th floor of building A.
"I'll stick around here. Just get me anything, as long as its wet!" His friend Don shouted from the ground floor.
"How about a sponge?!" Pedro yelled back.
"No thank you, I am a carnivore!!" Don replied.
Both men laughed. Suddenly, eyes of Don got glued into something. Quick tempo of sharp snaps filled the walkway. Aaron heard it as well. Rather tall blond haired lady on high heels passed by quickly. She headed for upstairs, without saying a word, looking kinda furious. She had rather slim body, but very noticable colourfull clothes. Also, she had remarkable curves, which were highlighted by her clothes. One could not know for certain, where they natural. She was really fast on high heels. Aaron only saw her from behind, but Don saw both front and side, and followed her with his eyes for a short while.
Pedron started to jog upstairs to his appartment. He lived on 4th floor of building A.
"I'll stick around here. Just get me anything, as long as its wet!" His friend Don shouted from the ground floor.
"How about a sponge?!" Pedro yelled back.
"No thank you, I am a carnivore!!" Don replied.
Both men laughed. Suddenly, eyes of Don got glued into something. Quick tempo of sharp snaps filled the walkway. Aaron heard it as well. Rather tall blond haired lady on high heels passed by quickly. She headed for upstairs, without saying a word, looking kinda furious. She had rather slim body, but very noticable colourfull clothes. Also, she had remarkable curves, which were highlighted by her clothes. One could not know for certain, where they natural. She was really fast on high heels. Aaron only saw her from behind, but Don saw both front and side, and followed her with his eyes for a short while.
"Nice to meet you too, Meg. Now, if you excuse me, I go grab some stuff for the beach."
Meg nodded. "Same," She replied as she started to unlock the door and hesitated for a moment. She meant she needed to go inside, but her hasty response implied she intended to join her neighbors. Why not, though? She might as well get to know those in the apartment complex, too.
Pedron started to jog upstairs to his appartment. He lived on 4th floor of building A.
"I'll stick around here. Just get me anything, as long as its wet!" His friend Don shouted from the ground floor.
"How about a sponge?!" Pedro yelled back.
"No thank you, I am a carnivore!!" Don replied.
Meg caught the guys' joke just as she opened the door and stepped inside. She didn't quite get the meaning of the punchline and repeated it aloud to herself shaking her head, slightly confused. An inside joke between them perhaps?
Apparently, they found it funny as they laughed. She shrugged and closed the door behind her. Once inside, she moved the guitar to the bedroom and propped the case in the corner without opening it.
She pulled her swimsuit out from a drawer and went into the bathroom and changed, putting it on under her clothes and grabbed a towel and sunscreen. Then she made her way into the tiny kitchen area and opened the fridge, grabbed a few cold cuts, and made a quick sandwich which she gobbled down. A few minutes later, she was ready to go and made her way back outside to see if the guys were ready and waiting.
Meg nodded. "Same," She replied as she started to unlock the door and hesitated for a moment. She meant she needed to go inside, but her hasty response implied she intended to join her neighbors. Why not, though? She might as well get to know those in the apartment complex, too.
Pedron started to jog upstairs to his appartment. He lived on 4th floor of building A.
"I'll stick around here. Just get me anything, as long as its wet!" His friend Don shouted from the ground floor.
"How about a sponge?!" Pedro yelled back.
"No thank you, I am a carnivore!!" Don replied.
Meg caught the guys' joke just as she opened the door and stepped inside. She didn't quite get the meaning of the punchline and repeated it aloud to herself shaking her head, slightly confused. An inside joke between them perhaps?
Apparently, they found it funny as they laughed. She shrugged and closed the door behind her. Once inside, she moved the guitar to the bedroom and propped the case in the corner without opening it.
She pulled her swimsuit out from a drawer and went into the bathroom and changed, putting it on under her clothes and grabbed a towel and sunscreen. Then she made her way into the tiny kitchen area and opened the fridge, grabbed a few cold cuts, and made a quick sandwich which she gobbled down. A few minutes later, she was ready to go and made her way back outside to see if the guys were ready and waiting.
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