Reaha Devon 10 Th Grade Journalism My Stories ---- Mr.
Jergensons Class
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Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
Credits Game Concept and Rules:
Luis C. Rosario
Book Layout:
Lee Kamberos Lee Kamberos
Section Stories: Image Artist Info:
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About This Game.
Island City is a tabletop role playing game using a unique system to play out fun scenarios set in a city filled with mystery, horror, and suspense. If you enjoy zombies, eldritch horrors, and mysteries that probably shouldnt be solved then Island City Horror is for you!
What Is Roleplaying?
Roleplaying is simply the process of taking on a role to play a game. Video games, various books, and board games allow you to take on the role of interesting characters in different situations. Tabletop role playing entails getting together with friends and taking on the roles face to face (usually at a table). One person often takes on the role of the Storyteller and he or she is just as vital to the game as the players. They write the scenarios, figure out the results of your actions, and generally work with the players to make the game as fun as possible. Remember that role playing is first and foremost about having fun. If youre not having fun, talk to your friends and find a way to compromise so that everyone can have fun. Some folks like a more story oriented experience while others enjoy a tactical form of gaming with lots of combat and less focus on storytelling. Both are valid and a lot of fun. Roleplaying is a great way to make new friends and have a good time exploration worlds of fantasy and adventure. Enjoy your forays into role playing and Island City Horror!
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The Setting: Island City Horror
"It started with a fever, got so bad that it literally boiled out their eyeballs. Yes I know it doesn't make sense but they were still alive after, empty eye sockets and all. When it started spreading, that's when they shut down the island." ~ Doctor James Pridain, Director of Saint Thomas Hospital "Listen, listen, can you hear them? There's some kind of chanting in the hospital. Ben bring the van up closer, see if we can't get a better shot. They've been chanting for hours but I can't tell what they're. Ben, I said move the van. Ben?" ~ Camera Operator Bianca Pane, last seen recording near St. Thomas Hospital Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place." ~ 2 Chronicles 7:15 Island City is an urban area sticking out on the East Coast of the US and it has recently become a very bad place to live. Street gangs war with local police, poor folks work for too little pay and too many hours, and corruption in the local government means that very little gets fixed up or taken care of. This has left the city decaying in most places and fully dead in others. All in all a very bad place for most people and a great location to start a business if that business involves murder, drugs, or arson. But against all odds things have become worse. Some kind of sickness has started spreading from the hospital and when local doctors could do nothing to stem the seemingly random infection, the government ordered the island quarantined, the only connection to the mainland via electrical and sewage lines. Now the several hundred thousand inhabitants have limited food and medical care and very little hope of a cure. And while material concerns plague everyone, something sinister is stirring in the water...
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Answers Not Forth Coming
They keep showing up. Every day we have a staff meeting talking about the best we can do for patient X, what seems to work better or worse. We talk for an hour about what it could be, what rumor makes sense to follow up on this week; so we can find a cure. We try to find hope in the fact the numbers are dropping, but we deep down we know its because they are just not getting to us. Every day it seems the sick, the more cynical or scared among us call them the Blinded, moved beyond our ability to help. We are the CDC damn it! Every available resource is at our finger tips. There is nothing we cannot get or use; I have a copy of a presidential order for gods sake. Yet we scour the internet for rumors to help us try and diagnose where this damn disease came from, assuming it even is the virus we think it is.. Yvette, could you look at this? I think it might just be something. As I walk over I look at the owner of the youthful voice who called to me. John Haskins a new single doctor from somewhere near Washington; we were all without immediate family now after we lost Trace and Carol. Who knows how they became Blinded. Haskins looks at me, that hopeful maybe you have not seen this before look in his eyes; almost desperate for some new clue. I look in the microscope and see the cells die, yet not die. I see the cellular mutations and the cells that look like a bomb scrambled them into something not human, but yet still human. Haskins points out the discoloration on the outer sheath of the white cells, suggests it could be a change that makes the white cells attack the body that made them. Trace saw that 5 months ago, before he I trail off remembering his smile and the way he spoke of his wife and 7 kids. It was the same thing I had said to Trace; 5 months later he was a blind, hyper-aggressive, killing machine. No one could explain how he caught it, what protocol had failed. Trace had been fine and then he was sick and losing his vision. The whole situation made no damn sense. It was like the damn disease had picked him because he was on to something, which made as much sense as any other cause. Hell in the 10 months I have been working here I have heard every theory or rumor that explains the origin of this virus; Aliens, Mad Scientists, Corporate hijinx, high school chemistry experiments gone wrong, and more others than I could count. I half believe the rumors that the government started it to thin out the population, or that it was caused by a flu vaccines mutation; some many guesses as to the cause of the disease. Many guesses but no answers seemed to be forthcoming. Any one could be right; yet none were, not at least that the science could prove. I used to cry when we lost a test subject, that we could not help them, that we were failing them somehow. Now I just say a prayer and move on to the next test cycle, the next test vaccine, hoping we find a cure before my vision starts to get fuzzy like Traces. I dream of myself going blind as 10,000 more come wailing to our hospital to save them.
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
The System: Simple D6
1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:
For this game we will be using a very simple conflict resolution system that uses d6s for the rolling. When you need to resolve a conflict, for example in a fight, you would roll a number of d6s (between 1 and 3) and consult the following table to see how well you did. Fail - You failed in a spectacular way, earning you some added negative consequence. Fail You fail marginally without any extra bad stuff. Fail + You failed but not so badly and you've got a chance to turn things around. Succeed - You barely succeeded and left yourself open to complications. Succeed You succeeded at your goal, nothing more or less. Succeed + You succeeded spectacularly and earned some added benefit.
Depending on how many successes or failures you rolled and the degree to which you did either, the GM can figure out what's happened and how well you've done.
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Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
Character Generation
A smple design that requires that you assign 1, 2, or 3 dice to the three skill sets. Those skill sets are: Physical, Mental, and Social. The Physical skill set covers situations that involve athletics, running, jumping, and endurance. This skill also governs what your damage threshold is, which we'll be discussing later. The Mental skill set governs intellect, logic, education, and mental composure. This skill also affects your sanity threshold, which we'll be discussing later. The Social skill set covers situations like intimidation, persuasion, and understanding the motives of others. The amount of die in your Social skill also dictates how many luck dice you have in your pool. We'll be discussing the luck pool later. Each skill set also has a number of sub-skills equal to the number of dice in that set. These sub-skills represent specializations that your character has gained through practice of that skill. You may chose these skills yourself and it can be great way to add variety to your character. Please note that all skill choices are subject to change by the GM. Next we'll be discussing your defenses and how they work. In the previous section Thresholds were mentioned and now we'll go through what those mean and how they work.
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Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
Island City Horror - Sample Character Sheet
Name: Rhea Devon Gender: F Age: 19 Appearance: Small Pretty girl who dresses down. Personality: Smart and family oriented Physical Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: 1 Sub-skills: Hiding Mental Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: 3 Sub-skills: Understanding The Unusual Looking for Clues Navigation Social Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: 2 Sub-skills: Disappears in a crowd Acting harmless Damage Threshold: Track: [ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Dazed>[ ]Unconscious>[ ]Dead Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Mental Threshold: Track: [ ]Sane>[ ]Stressed >[ ]Paranoid>[ ]Disturbed >[ ]Unhinged>[ ]Insane Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Notes: Has a camera, a 9mm Pistol, 2 clips of ammo, Journal book Mom is looking for her.
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Damage Threshold
Your Damage Threshold let's you know how many successes your opposition needs to cause you physical damage. The Damage Track helps you keep track of how injured you are and what your condition is. The Damage Track goes in this order: Uninjured > Wounded > Injured > Dazed > Unconscious > Dead When Uninjured you have received no impairments to your ability to think, act, or fight. When Wounded you have suffered some minor damage which affects your ability to perform physical tasks. Subtract one dice from your physical pool (to a minimum of one). When Injured you suffer the same negative effects as Wounded but you also cannot Succeed + regardless of the roll on the dice. When Dazed you suffer from the same negative effects as Wounded and Injured plus you must roll 1d6 to determine if you may act in that round. When Unconscious you are unable to initiate any actions. You drop any held items and become prone. You remain unconscious until first aid is performed. The Dead condition only comes about if an enemy rolls double your Damage Threshold and you are already at the Unconscious condition. If you are at any stage on the track before Unconscious and the enemy rolls double or more than ever. your Threshold you move immediately to the Uncons a d ba ept s c x a scious condition. e e r g a
gs thin n y a n g a e w Th n and no u k f t ' s i n o d e They d ing The Blin rhoods if th ill ghbo i e tta o n that k g t o p o a l Cr an they c m enough. DC folks... he C clear t come some ad. d d n fi e go her stay free to o need t
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
The Sanity Track is similar to the Damage Track in that it keeps track of where your Sanity is how that affects your current condition. The Sanity Track is as follows: Sane > Stressed > Paranoid > Disturbed > Unhinged > Insane. Unlike the Damage Track, the Sanity Track is geared more towards having story related effects rather than conflict resolution. When Sane the character in control of their mental faculties and ready to face the stresses of abnormality. When Stressed the character is nervous and jumpy but still remains firmly in the real world. When Paranoid the character begins having minor delusions and fears related to relevant stressful situations. When Disturbed the character begins seeing or hearing things that aren't there though they are capable of resisting these effects to some degree and remaining in control though they are now visibly affected by their delusions. When Unhinged the character is almost fully ensconced within delusion and paranoia. So much so that normal actions become difficult and interacting with the real world seems dangerous. The character is on the brink of losing it all and any little stressor might push them over the edge. When Insane the character has completely and lost control of their own mind. At this point they would become an NPC and come under the control of the GM and the player would be advised to create a new character. Insane characters no longer function on
Crap, just got away from some gangers, but now the Blind are moving in. at least I am in a store and some of the food is still good. I should not have come this far south everyone knows this whole part of town is a cesspool. A crime ridden, infested cesspool. But I had to try and find Dad, I have to hope.
Sanity Threshold
The Sanity Threshold, much like the Damage Threshold, is your defense against an external force, in this case things that affect your mental composure. Otherworldly entities, Human depravity, and intense fear can all trigger a Sanity check. This check is simple and requires that you roll the number of dice in your Mental Skill Set. As long as you roll no Failure - you retain your sanity and do not move along the Sanity Track.
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the same level as normal Human beings, taking their cues from their delusions or worse, from some sinister source.
Healing Damage and Regaining Sanity
Fear not intrepid players, damage and insanity are not permanent conditions. They can be removed in a variety of ways depending on your current situation. First aid, rest, and healthy meals are all able to move a person back along the Damage Track to the Healthy condition. The duration, intensity, and effectiveness of these will affect how far along the track the character is moved back. Sanity can be regained by doing good deeds, self-sacrifice, and time dedicated to quiet reflection. Basically providing the opposite of what induces insanity should have a beneficial effect on the Sanity Track. Like Damage, the form and duration of the actions will affect how far along the track the character is moved back.
The Luck Pool
Earlier I mentioned a Luck Pool and how your social skill dictates how many dice you have in this pool. Luck dice function as wild cards which can be used to affect multiple situations. Their flexibility of use and general effectiveness means that Luck Dice are a powerful but ultimately limited resource. An important part of surviving and thriving is knowing when to use your Luck Dice and when to save them. Recovering Luck die is, appropriately enough, a matter of luck. Once per game session you may attempt to recover Luck die by rolling your Social skill. You recover a number of Luck dice equal to the number of successes you achieve. For instance, if your Social skill has three dice in it and on your attempt to recover Luck dice you have two Successes, then you recover two Luck dice. Failures on the recovery roll never subtract Luck dice. A few examples of how to use Luck dice are: negating an enemy attack, moving back to health on the Damage/Sanity track, augmenting an attack roll, and adding story elements to the game which benefit you or g comin rs, e b your group. This isnt a comprehensive list and e r pons a ots of gange a e you should work with your GM and fellow w y l etting Militar get lately, g s players to figure out if a use for the Luck t i o g to r ted t fightin a easier s t dice is fair. Sometimes a roll will be res p I o c nd . Also ks green quired for certain uses of Luck dice. civs, a n here oo Next well be looking at a blank character sheet and then youll be ready to start playing.
dow its l I worse its strange own. s t i n , o e move see fog s mov o w t o s d a m h e and se seeing the s should go ly so am al ten, probab , but mom re of more ep the ave again. e l s d e an t me l e home l r e v ne ming. o would c m Ia Daddy
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The Cobra Strikes
Scar, that was his gang name and he had earned it at least 6 times, hit the Blind chump in the head for the third time. The zombie or blinded, scar liked to call them meat heads, stumbled and fell. Thats the last one Johnny. Scar yells across the buildings lobby, but not too loud. Looks like we have added another building to our assets, just like monopoly. Johnny was older than most of them, he had been in the army and was able to tell them how to move after the Blinded cleared a section of the town. Okay Bruno, Legs, Gunner and Champ, get up stairs and start looking for when the herd turns back, we should have at least a few days. Johnny was silent for a second Herbie and Jess get outside and find us some tenants, letem know we can get them drugs and food, whatever they need to make their stay more comfortable. It was a good racket, move in to a building after the herd had cleared it, set it up so the displaced and miserable could move in and make them pay for everything. Johnny figured they had 10 grand stashed, after only 3 weeks. Profits were up the bosses were happy and his crew was rapidly becoming famous. Sure when the herd comes back, only those that bought zombie insurance get warned, that had been Herbies idea, the rest well they get out or they dont Johnny did not care. The Cobras controlled 12 buildings in the warehouse zone, and had lost 6 to the herd at various times. The Cobras had started out with 15, but they were down to 7 now. Johnny was trying to find more, but the pickings were getting less and less. Johnny had already starting thinking it might be time to move on to greener less zombie filled pastures, maybe when they got down to 3. Until then there was money to be made.
is d Th . Foun t d ou e re. r a e cl m su a I nny be fu o t Used
ng he ga t r e aft
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Enemies, Antagonists, and Dangers
In Island City you will face dangers and threats from many different sources. Your knowledge of them and how to deal with them will vital to surviving encounters with the many potential enemies you may come across. For the storyteller this section is important as it will give you information on different types of enemies and how to modify them to suit your own adventures. Each entry will have a simple example of a non-player character or NPC that the players might meet, interact with, and fight. Following each entry will be some tips on how to modify these NPCs to make them more or less powerful depending on your own story.
Islanders
Island City was home to thousands before disaster set in and closed it off from the mainland. All those people are now trapped in a city that no longer cares for them amongst people who are usually hostile. From former school teacher turned mercenary to police officers turned gang leaders, the Islanders are a varied lot. The following is just one example of someone you might meet on the mean streets of Island City.
Squatter
Physical: 2d6 Mental: 1d6 Social: 1d6 Damage Threshold: 2 Damage Track: [ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Dazed>[ ]Unconscious>[ ]Dead Mental Threshold: 2 Track: [ ]Sane>[ ]Stressed >[X]Paranoid>[ ]Disturbed >[ ]Unhinged>[ ]Insane Much like the players, the Squatter has a full sized track for both its damage and its mental capabilities. Unfortunately the Squatter hasn't lived easily and the constant threat of danger has left it with a strong sense of paranoia that affects its mental track. The Squatter hasn't had decent nutrition or much to keep his mind busy which shows in violent situations. The Squatter is much more likely to run when confronted with imminent physical harm. An easy way to make the Squatter template a little more dangerous is to remove the penalty to its mental track and add more to its Damage Threshold. For a highly capable and challenging opponent the Squatter can be given special abilities such as access to high powered weaponry or a gang of friends.
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The Blind
Nobody really knows how they got started but when the lights first died, strange people began stalking the dark nights. The shamble to and fro, their eyes completely gone and their sockets filled with a shadowy emptiness . Called The Blind by the locals, they behave similarly to the zombies from movies but they don't seem to be contaminate with a virus or contagious. Some say that the CDC is doing experiments on people in the secured areas of St. Thomas Hospital but others think it's the work of the devil. Either way these unrelenting creatures are a constant threat in Island City.
Blind Ganger
Physical: 2d6 Mental: 0 Social: 0 Damage Threshold: 3 Damage Track:[ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Unconscious>[ ]Dead
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Special: The only way to kill The Blind is to remove the head from the body. Rolls to attack that incur Success+ are considered head shots and move the enemy two spaces along the track as opposed to the normal one. The Blind are no longer sentient or able to respond to mental and social opposition. They have no mental track and cannot be affected by mind affecting effects. The Blind are tough opponents who are balanced out by their lack of reasoning skills and an large weakness to head shots. To make your Blind creatures more challenging you can extend their Damage Track to simulate unnatural toughness or give them weapons they may have been clutching when they became Blind. To create a boss monster, keep the original stats but give the creature the ability to call nearby Blind. This can turn an easy fight with one creature into a deadly horde hungry for blood.
Eldritch Horror
Many Islanders have spoken of shadows creatures that invade the mind and scar the soul. Few who encounter them return unscathed and most have lost their grip on reality. The truth is muddled by fear, gossip, and simply misdirection but these shadows seem to be deeply involved in the troubles befalling the city and any adventurous types who find themselves meeting them should consider retreat.
Shadow Creature
Physical: 3d6 Mental: 2d6 Social: 1d6 Damage Threshold: 5 Damage Track: [ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Dazed>[ ]Delirious>[ ]Dead? Special: Shadow Creatures enter a state of Delirium before death that can stress the limits of reality. These effects can range from random attacks to changes in temperature to even more drastic dangers at the discretion of the storyteller. Shadow Creatures are already very dangerous and should be regarded with extreme caution. If you want to create an even stronger opponent for your players you can add special abilities like teleportation, telepathy, or shapeshifting. Make sure to emphasize the inhuman nature of these creatures, they have motivations and desires completely alien to normal people. Final Words Remember that these rules aren't set in stone, you can shift them and change them to suit your group. Think up new ways to create creatures, add bonus, or inspire terror, that's when you have the most fun. Enjoy the game and never turn your back on the shadows in Island City.
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
May 6th Oh god what the hell is happening. I just saw 4 gangers killed by aliens or ghouls or something thats not human, and then the zombies attacked them all. The gore and death was unbelievable, I threw up for almost an hour. Oh god what has happened to our town and my family. May 7th I saw daddy today, he is deteriorated and i dont think the CDC or any one can save him. Plus he is down by the warehouses and there are lots of those shadow things. I am gonna use this gun I found. I have to kill my dad. I hope I can still go home to mom. I cried for about 2 hours before I wrote this. May 10th Dad is dead , but I think so am I. I am trapped on top of this warehouse and the zombies and shadows are coming too. I have one bullet left.
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
. e r e h W y nd, r e i v l E B il the mals v E or ee ures, S N I e t h a k e t r n c i n h e w E t v o D e d I sha d O n T a , e G N th Gangs I Y ! R ! e ! ! ! th L!!!!!!!! IS T E V , I A g H m EV ethin . e h Y t H S p M W o U O ! s t S s Y O T o R t T e S hav T HUR S? We GOD I KEN U A H S H R O O F YOU
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
Island City Horror Character Sheet
Name: Gender: Age: Appearance: Personality: Physical Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Mental Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Social Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Damage Threshold: Track: [ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Dazed>[ ]Unconscious>[ ]Dead Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Mental Threshold: Track: [ ]Sane>[ ]Stressed >[ ]Paranoid>[ ]Disturbed >[ ]Unhinged>[ ]Insane Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Notes:
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
Island City Horror Character Sheet
Name: Gender: Age: Appearance: Personality: Physical Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Mental Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Social Skill Set Number of Die in Pool: Sub-skills: Damage Threshold: Track: [ ]Uninjured>[ ]Wounded>[ ]Injured>[ ]Dazed>[ ]Unconscious>[ ]Dead Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Mental Threshold: Track: [ ]Sane>[ ]Stressed >[ ]Paranoid>[ ]Disturbed >[ ]Unhinged>[ ]Insane Place an "X" in front of your current condition. Notes:
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Die All You Fools DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DADDY AND I ARE TOGETHER NOW
Craig Bickford (order #2875026)
