QM´s Note: Remembering things about your past will increase your Sanity.
Sanity functions as a separate loss condition to things like physical integrity- By losing things important to you, called "Mementos", usually linked to your past, you will lose a great ammount of Sanity. As long as you keep these Mementos with you, your sanity will steadily rise in controlled situations- meaning as long as there´s nothing directly affecting your Sanity, your Mementos will allow you to regain at least part of it. Your current mementos are your clothes- Mementos can also suffer damage, which will cause light sanity damage, but can be repaired to recover it. You may, through forming attachment to other people or objects, gain new Mementos.

Losing all your sanity means game over"

>>696345
Dollmaker

Can't remember your first name.

>>696355
((Knowing what I know, this would be incredibly funny. Since I probably won´t get another post, i´ll start writing))

((If i dissapear into the unknown later, i might have to mobilepost some updates when I have time, so apologies in advance in case that happens))

>>696356
If you weren't expecting another post to begin with, perhaps you shouldn't have called for a name vote.

I mean, I know WHY, looking at the tone you're trying to set, but I still disagree with it.

>>696345
Tanis

>>696357
((I have to admit i have was not expecting to get posts in time for me to actually post a reasonable update with it, so i´ll go ahead and combine >>696359 into the writing))
((If i wait for further posts i probably will run out of time before i can make a reasonably sized thread today, unless i get back to it at night))

Tanis Dollmaker

That's certainly a name.

Your efforts yield you a name- Or a name and nickname rather. You seem to recall someone calling you " Tanis Dollmaker", what seems like a long time ago- The "Dollmaker" part intrigues you-was this your name, or was it something else? A nickname perhaps? You can´t seem to remember anything else.

Having remembered your name, you have gained some sanity back.

With at least some of your questions answered, you look to the outside, at what seems to be a dumpster, surrounded by gray buildings, their windows broken or barred. It´s not a friendly sight- and there seems to be not a single soul around. You walk out of your coffin, carefully treading down the pile of thrash it was standing upon, and falling flat on your face at the end. Your body feels sore and stiff all over, as if you hadn´t moved in a long time.

You begin to explore the junkyard, keeping sight of the coffin at all times- you wouldn´t want to get lost- or more lost than you already are, at least. As eerie as it is, the coffin could probably make for decent shelter in case of rain. The junkyard, as you find out, is massive- while you can see past it when standing upon tall piles of thrash like the one where your coffin was located, once you´re down at ground level it seems to extend out forever- And, as you were heading back towards your coffin, you notice that there seem to be others, standing on top of their own piles of thrash and scraps, none of them opened.
You...
>Approach the coffins and try to open them. Perhaps there are other people inside them, and they haven´t woken up yet?
>Avoid coming close to the coffins. You really don´t want to know what´s inside.
>Search the scraps for something to use as a weapon
>Other- Write-in?

>>696363
>Search the scraps for something to use as a weapon
Then
>Approach the coffins and try to open them. Perhaps there are other people inside them, and they haven´t woken up yet?

>>696363
>Try to speak, go over what languages we know
>Search the scraps for transportation. A bike, or a cart.

>>696366
second

You decide to search through the scraps for something useful- a weapon, or some way to move faster- when you remember that you found it quite hard to speak while you were in your coffin. You guess that, if you´re going to go find people, you´re going to need to be able to speak... what was that language called again? You idly think to yourself while searching the scraps, your sleeves rolled up so as to not damage them. You decide that, from the bits of spoken speech you can hazily remember, this language was called "English".

While searching through scrap heap after scrap heap, you try practicing speech- At first, only dry, wheezing sounds come out of your mouth, but with some practice, you manage to speak some words that can be recognized as such. Your troath is very dry, however- but you don´t feel thirsty, somehow. While distracted by this thought, you cut your arm on what looks to be a sharpened metal bar, recoiling from the pain. A liquid comes out from the cut... is this blood? You seem to recall blood being a ...different, somehow, althrough you can´t quite place your finger on why. Perhaps you are just overthinking it- at least you have a weapon now, so you can defend yourself if needed.

As you approach one of the coffins with caution, you hold tightly to the bar of metal- it feels heavy in your arms, but you´re confident you could swing it fast enough to at least knock someone over if you need to. You gingerly knock on the coffin´s cover, and hear small noises inside- as if someone- or something, is stirring awake. You hear coughing.

>Open the door.
>Get away from the coffin.
>Other: Write-in?

>>696375
>knock

" QM´s Note: Weapons have durability- while a melee weapon may prove very effective against some enemies, you should take care of the weapon in your downtime- abusing it too much without proper care might lead to it breaking down in the middle of a fight, while at least performing some sort of maintenance on it might extend it´s usefulness period.

Eventually, all breaks down"

((Going to give it a couple of minutes and start writing))

>>696375
>knock

Courteousness even in dire straits!

You start knocking on the door, praying that whatever´s inside will not want to eat you when it comes out
You feel stressed "
After a couple of seconds, the door starts opening slowly, and you are greeted by the sight of a small girl, seemingly younger than you, who looks at you with sleepy eyes- She´s holding a small brown teddy bear in her hands, and keeps it pressed hard against her body.
"Wh-"- She breaks into a dry cough, shaking violently
"There, there-" you manage to say "C-alm... down. Tr y to speak s l owly"
" Wh- who are you? W-ho am-"" She breaks into coughing again. Seems that, just like you, she doesn´t remember much. You hug her without thinking- and she calms down a little
"I´m... Tanis. Try to- to remeber who you are"
She concentrates for a few seconds, looking distressed. You see her hugging the teddybear harder, as if to help her remember... She looks at you in the eyes, and shakes her head. She can´t remember, at least not yet.

Soon, it begins to rain on the junkyard. You hear growling noises in the distance.

The girl and you do your best to lift the coffin over your heads to protect you from the rain, managing so with great effort- and begin walking towards where you woke up- She seems willing to follow you, if only because you´re the only other person she´s found... When you look at the other coffins, previously closed, you see some of them have been opened, with nobody in sight.
>Build a shelter, wait out the rain
>Keep walking, try to find out the people that came from the other coffins
>other: write-in?

>>696386
>Build a shelter, wait out the rain
>help her get a better handle over her self/memories

((Soon, i will need to take a break, but i will be back later today.
I´ll leave my twitter here @DungeonQM in case you want to know when i resume updating. I may be forced to post from a different IP, though.))
((Also, i´d like to know your thoughts on the tone of the quest so far- there´s a lot you don´t know yet, but i´d like to know if people are enjoying the tone so far, so that i might make some changes later on if needed.))

>>696388
Seems good.

" QM´s Note: While Sanity is a individual stat, being in group with other people will help you mantain it- and if someone falls into the grasp of madness, perhaps you will be able to break them free from it once.

Remember that other people are subject to the same rules as you- They have their own Mementos and memories. Please treat the other girls nicely."

>>696389
a little bit early to be judging for tone.

I guess it's a bit hard to tell if you want us to be scared of other undead or not. Yes, "agency", but it can make your tone contradict itself if you keep it up too long.

>>696392
>Remember that other people are subject to the same rules as you
okay
>They have their own Mementos and memories.
I'm with you so far
>Please treat the other girls nicely
you lost me

>>696397
((You will learn to discern when an undead has a mind of it´s own easily later on- for now, Tanis doesn´t even realize that she´s dead- althrough she has suspicions. ))
((whoops, i guess i showed a bit too much of my hand with that statement.
In any case, treating people poorly may lead to trouble later on))

The girl and you agree to build a shelter using your coffins and the scrap from the heap- Being protected from rain will make your situation that much more bearable- And while working on it, you have something to take your mind off of the questions that fill your mind- But soon enough, they come back. Where are we? Why were we in coffins? Why is it so hard to remember...?

You shake your head. These questions aren´t going to be answered just by thinking about it- you´ll need to search for their answers. You finish building your little shelter with the girl, and you see her smile at you, an innocent, childish smile-
" It looks n ice " She says, looking at it. It seems that while working, she forgot about the questions too, as her smile dissapears as quickly as it had appeared- " Uh, i still... don´t remember my name "

You sit down with the girl, watching the rain fall outside of your little shelter and onto the scrap heaps, running through and down them, forming puddles. The rain seems to be getting worse, and it probably won´t stop anytime soon. The girl nudges herself closer to you, still holding her teddy bear close. Looks like it´s really important for her- perhaps it´s the key to remembering her name?
"So... " You can´t find an easy way to say it "You don´t remember your name, right?"
" No... "
"Well, i didn´t either... but don´t worry, if you keep trying, you´ll remember it"
" Really? You didn´t remember either?"
"No... it took me a bit of time to remember. I was really scared, too."
" You think there´s more people like us? I saw there were other coffins out there while we were walking here"
"Probably... I wonder how we got here. Why were we inside coffins, in a junkyard of all places...?"
" M-maybe... maybe they thought we were dead? "
The thought scares you. If you were dead... why are you alive now? The dead can´t rise, right? So why does it feel so... wrong?

" The uncomfortable questions have slightly reduced your sanity"

You really should be focusing on other things now. Anything to get your mind off of this line of thought. The rain still hasn´t subsided. Your wound isn´t bleeding anymore, but it´s not closed.
>Try to sleep through the rain.
>Go outside to look for other people.
>Other:write-in?

oh hey nechronica
>>696402
>>Try to sleep through the rain.

>>696407
((I've been found!))
((The break starts now, sadly. I will be back asap. Please continue voting if you please))

>>696410
>I've been found
the moment you mentioned Sanity was telling, and I haven't even read the rulebook

>>696402
>play. Make animal shapes with your hands, confirm manual dexterity.
>I Spy at objects in the rain
>Tell stories, whatever fantasies come to mind. Who knows, maybe some of these random thoughts are actually memories.

>>696402
>check teddybear for nametag?

>>696414
(( I haven't read the rulebook either)))
(((Will put all this into the update when I have a break from school)))
>>696415
((Good idea anon))

>>696402
>Other: Attempt to recall songs, rhymes. If successful, sing/tell them to the other girl.
>Maybe if we are called Dollmaker we used to make dolls? Test out when possible. Maybe our parents made dolls?
>Keep watch.

((mind if I combine
>>696414
>Check for manual dexterity
With
>>696427
Making dolls?
Or should I keep it separate?
I'll have time to post in half an hour))

>>696438
if we even have the materials and tools to make dolls.....

>>696441
((You could probably find actual dolls if you looked through the scraps, actually, but dully noted.
Just because you try it doesn't mean you'd manage)

>>696441
Hardly masterworks, but id say the act of attempting to replicate actions of our (possible) past life might help with the memento thing.

A bit of mud and twigs works.

>>696438
Combine if you like?

>>696443
I was mostly thinking this >>696445 since the sum of our past possessions seems to be a hoodie and a skirt.

((I just lost a long update
Goddamit, rewriting))

You resolve to try and lighten up the mood.
"We should play a game" you tell the girl.
"A game? Uh, how about... I spy?"
"Sure"
"I spy, with my little eye... something grey"
"Everything is gray"
"...Right"
That didn't work like you expected it to. Perhaps you should do something else, something manual that will occupy your thoughts so you'll avoid thinking about bad questions. You remember being called "Dollmaker"- perhaps you used to make dolls before? You idly start gathering materials from the pile of scrap closest to you.
"What are you doing?"
"Building a doll"
"A doll? Why?"
" I think I used to make them before...whatever happened"
You gather the wet mud at your feet and start shaping the body of the doll, humming a wordless song, it's lyrics lost to you- a couple of specially shiny scraps for it's eyes, and thin sticks for it's arms and legs .

It looks fragile.

You spend the rest of the day standing guard, and the other girl falls asleep, hugging both you and her teddy bear.You smile. The rain keeps pouring until sundown, drowning out all noise. It is dark in the junkyard, but you feel safe.

You have regained some sanity
>Rest
>Keep watch through the night
>Other:write-in?

>wait til the night is 1/2 over then rotate shifts and have the other girl keep watch

>>696471
>wait til the night is 1/2 over then rotate shifts and have the other girl keep watch

'Is good plan

>>696471
seconding >>696478

You keep watch for quite a while, resisting the temptation to fall asleep- keeping guard for half the night, while the rain just keeps pouring.

Is it ever going to end?

After what you consider to be half of the night, you consider waking up the other girl- she looks very happy while asleep, but you need to sleep too, and it'd be dangerous for nobody to stand guard. You nudge her awake, and she lets out a loud yawn-
"Is something wrong?" She asks, stretching out.
"I've been standing guard all night, can you keep watch now?"
"Aw, I was having such nice dreams too- but I guess you're right" She pouts.

You give her your weapon, and rest your back into a discarded pillow you found while building your shelter. Sleep comes quickly, as you let your mind wander.

The warmth of the sun. A moment of happiness, familiar voices speaking- though you can't make out what they say. Memories? A hand reaches towards you, and you try to grab it-

You are shaken awake by a very worried girl, hugging her teddy bear.
-----
((Aaand I'll stop here for now, since I have class- Will try to resume when I can))

((feel free to ask anything about mechanics, since I have most of those worked out))

>>696517
are you keeping the zones of battle or body parts bits of nechronica?

>>696537
((Parts as a concept are kept, but I've never actually read the crunch part of Nechronica, though I will inform myself on the battle system to see what I can implement))
((About classes and positions, i was wondering wether to go with what I had originally intended or let you pick- though position will most likely just be decided by your choices))

"Tanis! Wake up!"
"Yes, yes, I'm awake! What's wrong?" You ask her, worried.
"The rain! The rain!"
You notice that the ground is covered by a sheet of water- and it seems to be raising rather quickly- If you don't get to a higher place quick, you'll drown.

You feel like leaving the coffin behind would be a bad idea, so you and the girl manage to create a makeshift rope to drag one of them along the ground with you, and set off to try to find a higher spot- perhaps you'll be able to reach one of the buildings you see in the distance if you hurry.

The torrential rain soaks you to the bones as you dash across the junkyard, as fast as you can. After a while, there's enough water for the coffin to float in it, and the girl is exhausted

"Tanis! Help me!" She cries out

From the corner of your vision you can see moving shadows, unable to make out their true shapes in the downpour. You don't think you'll be able to outrun them if you stop now

>Help the teddybear girl
>Keep running
>Confront the shadows
>Other:Write-in?

>>696785
>Help Teddy-chan
We can't let our imouto die.

>Help the teddybear girl

((getting home so I can post with formatting- excuse the breaks, hectic day))

You can't leave her behind- You'd never forgive yourself if you did.

You run towards her as the shadows move closer- you can almost hear them now. You grab the little girl and put her on your back, and she grips you tightly, with her bear still in her hands, dripping with rain.

The shadows loom closer, encircling you as the water rises up your legs, hindering your movement, making running away harder.

((Difficult terrain will add dificulty to maneuvers in combat, and hinder you out of it- seek a terrain advantage from your enemies, and you will have a substantial edge over them))

You clench your teeth, and look at the metal bar currently inside the coffin- you can't hold onto the girl and fight at the same time, can you?

>Confront the shadows.
>Look for better terrain
>Flee
>Write-In

>Place Teddy in coffin, Grab metal bar and prepare to show off to #1 teddy

>>696836
>Flee very fast at an incredibly hihg speed

>>696836
This >>696857

(( Aight, once I finish eating I'll update ))

In a moment of insight, you put the girl into the coffin, and grab the metal pipe with both hands, letting the coffin float in place
" What are you doing? Those things are going to get us if we don´t move! "
"If we keep fleeing, they´ll catch up anyways. I can´t run fast enough with you on my back- and i´m not leaving you behind, sis"
"Sis...?" You see her smile. Even in this situation, her smile fills you with warmth. She believes in you. You cannot afford to lose. You will protect her- even if it takes your life to do so.

The shadows loom closer, and you get a good look at one- Pale, hungry looking, as if it hadn´t eaten in a long time, covered in rags that barely hide it´s rotting body as it slumps forward, it´s lone hand extended towards you.

A zombie

You don´t have time to be scared. You run towards the undead with your metal bar in hand, aiming to pierce it´s throat- Hopefully that´ll stop it long enough for you to finish it.

The rain keeps pouring.

>Roll 1d10 for attacking the Zombie

Rolled 5 (1d10)

>>696920

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>696920
How many tries do we have?

>>696934
((Well, depends on how many posters there are, really))
((i´d say 3 rolls each time, but if there´s less and it´s been a while i´ll just take it))

Rolled 7 (1d10)

>>696920
Fuck you zombie!

You rush towards the zombie, water splashing everywhere- From this distance, you can taste it´s foul smell, and it moves towards you to attempt to scratch you, but you stop it by jamming the bar into it´s throat, pushing it back, and removing it´s head as you swing the pipe out of it´s neck- Either they are really squishy, or you´re stronger than you thought...

The other zombies approach, and you can see that the girl is nervous- yet she looks at you, trusting that you will protect her from them. A group of zombies approach her from behind, and you jump over the coffin and impale two in a swift move, quickly smashing the other´s head open with a deft swing. It feels oddly satisfying, and you´re not sure how to feel about that- you´re clearly stronger and more agile than you remember, dodging their blows with ease and felling them elegantly- almost as if dancing.

You have unlocked the Waltz ability, which grants you increased evasion against enemies until you get disrupted

Another group. Two. Three. Slowly, the horde thins out, as you stand there, letting the rain soak you and clean you of any grime that may fall on you from the fighting. Your weapon gets bent, but when it does, you just snap it in half and continue beating the zombies with it- you´re ecstatic. None of the zombies manages to get close to the coffin, as you protect the little girl- and none manages to so much as touch you.

Soon, the zombies seem to disperse- with their numbers decreased considerably, they retreat back into the junkyard, awaiting another opportunity. You run towards the girl and hug her, as she looks at you with amazement.

" That was so cool! You looked like you were dancing! " She says, laughing. You weren´t expecting this to go over so well- And the rain seems to be relenting now.

You...
>Look for more people- there were other coffins, and with the place flooded, they will have gone to higher ground. They might need help against the zombies
>Try to find the exit to this place- You´ll find shelter in the buildings, and you might be able to find food... Odd, you don´t feel hungry.
>Try to go back to your original shelter- perhaps you can recover the other coffin and use them as boats.
Name the girl something until she remembers her name?
>Yes
>No

>>696955

> We need to leave

> How does Lillian sound?

>>696955
> Go to higher ground and look for people
We are a great warrior and will become warlord of this junkyard.

> Yes
Minnie, aka minion number one

>>696955
>Look for more people- there were other coffins, and with the place flooded, they will have gone to higher ground. They might need help against the zombies

>Also going with Lillian

>>696955
>Try to find the exit to this place- You´ll find shelter in the buildings, and you might be able to find food... Odd, you don´t feel hungry.
> How does Lillian sound?

((we have a tie for leaving and looking for people.
This will be the last update for today- might do a few in the weekend or tomorrow, but i´ll be back monday to full capabilities to run.))
((I´d like to know if people liked the fight scene, and what they think so far))
((also, we have a discord, https://discord.gg/GSaHs5z))

>>696982
I thought the fight scene was fine ... if we were some generic zombie murdering boss. But we are inexperienced and unsure. Maybe we were made for fighting or something but I thought it would have been more challenging.

>>696998
(( Well... i can´t really say much without spoilering it, if you´ve neved heard of Nechronica))
((Suffice to say that yes, you were made for fighting, while those zombies were literal thrash mobs))

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Since it seems we won´t get a tiebreaker, i´ll roll to decide what we do
1: Stay in the Junkyard
2: Leave

>>696982
biggest thing for engaging fight scenes are to make them visceral. especially for something like a Nechronica game, the exact gory bits are important. have a clear idea of the fight, so instead of 'they hit and I dodged' it's 'they thrust upwards towards my throat and I ducked out of the way. I felt the blade cut a fine line from my jaw across my cheek.' or something. this is one way to do it. there are lots of ways to write anything, especially physical things like fight scenes.

>>697017
Woah, bold claim there meastro! Surely you can write a fight scene in metaphor?

>>697017
Definitely this, makes a world of difference between "I hit them until they died" and "I opened up the stomach of one revealing a big bloody mess waiting to leak out"

You and the girl walk- well, you walk and drag the coffin with her behind you- to the tallest thrash heap nearby, intending on climbing it to get a better view of your surroundings. Perhaps you´ll be able to find others who, like you, are still in the junkyard.
"Lilly, you stay down here, tell me if the zombies come back okay?"
" Lilly?"
You smile- "Well, i have to call you something, don´t I? At least until you remember your name"
She nods" I like it! Oh, thanks for helping me, by the way... you didn´t really have to build the shelter, or try to play with me... you even risked your life for me down there, and we met eachother yesterday!"
"Look, as long as we´re in this place, we´ve got to watch eachother´s backs- Besides, i couldn´t leave someone so cute to fend for herself"

You turn your back to her and begin climbing the thrash heap- but you´re pretty sure she blushed. As you climb the tall pile of junk, making use of the pieces of scrap that stick out as handholds, the rain completely fizzles out, but the sun doesn´t come out- Have you even seen the sun since you woke up in that coffin? The sky seems to always be some shade of gray.

Standing on top of the heap, you look around from this new vantage point, taking in the view of the junkyard- You see that not the entirety of it is flooded, but rather, some of the heaps fell down during the downpour and acted as a dam, which is why the area flooded itself so quickly. Outside of the area, there are a few coffins scattered about, opened- some of them broken, probably by the walking dead. You look at the buildings in the distance, gray and imposing. Tall pillars of concrete, uniform except for the cracks and broken windows, some of them overgrown with vegetation- The city has been abandoned for some time.

And on the window of one of the buildings, you suddenly catch a flash of reflected light- and you hear a loud noise.

A gunshot rings in your ears as you clutch your left arm, the impact throwing you down from the thrash pile and sending you rolling down the slope, cutting yourself and your clothing on some of the scraps sticking out. Your arm is bleeding profusely from a pretty wide hole at shoulder height, and you can´t move it. It hurts.
----
End updates for today

>>697046
Thank you for running.

>>697030
well, for sure. defamiliarization is a common enough technique, but it makes it very obscure and hard to follow what's actually going on, so it should only be used if you know you know what you're doing.
>>697045
to be fair "I hit them until they died" has a use in writing too. just that then your focus is on the simplicity of the statement rather than the fight itself.
>>697046
thanks for running. nechronica is something I'm really fond of but could never get a game of going.

your left arm is now heavily damaged/b]

You manage to catch yourself before falling into the water, breathing heavily. The gunshot still echoes through the junkyard, and Lilly´s screaming as she rushes over to you are the only other sound you can manage to hear as you struggle to stay awake-

" Tanis! Are you okay?"

Your arm hurts, and you cannot move it, but the pain seems to be dulling- it´s there, but it doesn´t fill your mind anymore. You can think more clearly now.

"Lilly, we need to move- whoever shot me is still there, and i´m sure they´ll try to shoot us again if they see us- we can worry about my arm later"
" Uh- okay"

You really, really need to move now.

You...
>Move backwards, back further into the junkyard- hopefully putting some distance between you and the sniper.
>Try to move towards the exit you saw when you were standing atop the hill, taking cover whenever you can
>Other:Write-in?

(( whoops, forgot OP posts dont bumb in qst.
Will make a new thread since page 8))