Stalker: The Veil of the Zone

Stalker, noun: (slang) A criminal who operates in and around one of the six the Forbidden Zones created during the Visitation. Particularly notorious for their affiliation with other criminal elements and for the smuggling of illegal artifacts.

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It is midday, and you aren't rightly sure of where you are.

Where are we? How much longer 'til we finally get to our stop? Before you can answer either of these questions, a particularly nasty bump almost sends you flying out of your seat, pulling you back into the present. Looking around, you see the same, dark green metal and canvas interior of an old military truck, noisy and belching out black smoke like some ancient beast, a dragon in spray-painted camouflage.

All around you are souls much like yourself, weary and nervous, clad in an assortment of clothes that give hints as to their professions before throwing in their lot with you. Some are nervous and aren't too sure of what to expect, while others look bored, as if they'd made the trip a thousand times. Two guards armed with assault rifles sit at the end, keeping a wary-yet-bored eye on their charges and taking the occasional peek out the back to make sure they aren't being followed. The flaps fly open with the occasional jostling from the bumpy, unpaved road, revealing an escort vehicle following close behind. Now you can see where the money you paid the smugglers went to.

In a few minutes, you can hear the squealing of the brakes as the truck begins to lurch to a stop, sending everyone leaning towards the front. The engine suddenly falls silent, and the vehicle is no longer shaking from its operation. A muffled conversation is heard near the cab of the truck, followed by the opening and closing of doors and the crunching of gravel as the driver and navigator leap out of their seats and approach the rear. Finally, the flaps fly open, and you can see the faces of the men you paid to transport you past the military blockade.

"We're here. Feel free to get out and walk around. Welcome to The Zone."

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15 years ago, the world was forever changed by the sudden appearance of strange phenomena, the cause and meaning of which are still fiercely debated to this day. The most commonly accepted explanation is visitation by extra-terrestrial forces, perhaps making some sort of a stop on a longer journey, although this cannot be confirmed since their are no living witnesses with direct knowledge of the event itself. Still, the result is the same: chaos, death, and the creation of 6 large, secluded areas where the laws of nature, physics and reality itself are turned on their heads, and where an unwary traveler will meet an early end if he does not respect the danger these places represent. Following a failed military response, these areas were cordoned off with walls and checkpoints manned by guards who shoot intruders from either direction on sight, all under the administration of the only organization with the legal authority to study and protect these areas internationally, the Institute. All this danger and secrecy lead to their current name: the Forbidden Zones.

Still, despite the dangers that the zones and the soldiers who guard them present, there are many who see opportunities where others only see an early end. With scientists and collectors worldwide all vying for a piece of the Institutes monopoly on the study of the Zone and its valuable artifacts, a black market soon appeared on the edges and interior of these zones to supply these groups and individuals under the table. Some of these individuals who call the zones their home are simply seeking to make money, some are avoiding something back home, and others yet are simply there out of curiosity or seeking adventure. These individuals are referred to as Stalkers.

Behind the sterile veneer of the Institute and the crumbling, foreboding walls that surround their operations, something is stirring. The guards recently are a lot twitchier than usual, and black marketeers with friends in high places are speaking behind doors in hushed tones. Something is stirring, and the world is about to get caught up in it whether it likes it or not. Now the only question is... what will you do about it?

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Don't just stand there; come in!

I've always wanted to run an RP based on A Roadside Picnic and the Stalker-verse (both the movie and games) it inspired. Hopefully, there are some people here who want to play it too, so I'm using this topic to gauge interest. Now, personally I find the official RPG's system to be rather simplistic by itself, so I'm looking into incorporating some special rules to make it more interesting, but I digress. This will likely be a fairly short RP, but it will take place across each of the 6 zones. I'll share a google docs link with anyone who is interested in this for their perusal. Without further ado, here's the sign-up, taken from Burger's Cetlicca topic:

Timezone:
Rough Schedule:
Roll20 Experience:
Pathfinder/D&D/General Roleplay Experience: I may use a modern ruleset for Pathfinder, depending on what I find.