Redmarket. The ideas I get while listening to the actual plays.

[Adam_Autist]

That just gave me some ideas for some terrifying Abberants. Also reminds me of Ross's Pontypoole zombies from The Shard.

[Jace911]

In a different tack, there's nothing to prevent Latents from living on Causalty meat.

You mean aside from the usual health risks of eating rotten human flesh? Oh yeah, none at all. :V

[Redroverone]

In a different tack, there's nothing to prevent Latents from living on Causalty meat.

You mean aside from the usual health risks of eating rotten human flesh? Oh yeah, none at all. :V

Hey, at least I didn't go full Sexy Losers and mention necrophilia compulsions in Zombieland...

[RadioactiveBeer]

So, I'm not totally up on the Red Markets lore (missed the chance to beta test so I'm just going off of the AP's and the sub-Reddit) but I was wondering if there's a Walking Dead clause in Red Markets? That is, no-one knows what a zombie is, zombie fiction didn't exist prior to the coming of the Blight, that sort of thing.

I ask this because I came across an audio podcast called Knifepoint Horror, one episode of which I thought made a great seed for a Red Markets job - but depends on the concept of zombies existing before the outbreak of the infection (in that it revolves around a director of zombie movies unable to cope with the new reality of a zombie outbreak).

[Alethea]

I was wondering if there's a Walking Dead clause in Red Markets? That is, no-one knows what a zombie is, zombie fiction didn't exist prior to the coming of the Blight, that sort of thing.

Zombie fiction existed prior to the Crash in the Red Markets universe - it got as many people killed, expecting slow moving zombies not vectors, as it enabled people to survive, knowing to shoot for the head.

[RadioactiveBeer]

In that case, here's a link to the episode in question.

As you mentioned, a lot of people get killed in the Crash because they're expecting Romero, not 28 Days Later. Now, part of the premise of this episode (trying to avoid spoilers) is that a director of extremely successful zombie movies (who prided himself on realism in his speculative fiction) comes to believe he might be responsible for the severity of the zombie apocalypse, that if he'd made his movies differently then more people would be alive. He wanders out into an infected zone, leaving it up to the protagonist to go out and find him.

My current concept for what this looks like in a Red Markets game is that he's a Recession civilian who has slipped into the Loss, and the job is basically being hired to locate him, with a sizeable bonus if you can get him home before he gets declared homo sacer. The big "set pieces" of the job (aside from the daunting optional end boss of running the quarantine) revolve around the concept of this deranged creator attempting to impose a fictional narrative upon reality, recreating moments from his body of work in order to act out a redemption arc. He's setting himself up for a "suicide by horde" where he pulls the "I'll hold them off, go on without me!" death, thus proving to himself that he is a hero.

[Gorkamorka]

Do the casualties produce body heat?

I'm sure vectors do, but I'm wondering about the shamblers.

If they don't.  What happens up north in winter?  Do they freeze solid?  Is there a seasonal zombie respite up there?

If so I can imagine that winter would bring on a gold rush into the big cities. Every taker group would show up for the frozen season, trucking out as much as possible before the thaw hits.  Then when it does there are always a few greedy once that left just a day to late to create a new vector outbreak.

EDIT: Does the Chicago aberrant strain function in winter and therefore mess up takers lifes every year?

[Gorkamorka]

In that case, here's a link to the episode in question.

As you mentioned, a lot of people get killed in the Crash because they're expecting Romero, not 28 Days Later. Now, part of the premise of this episode (trying to avoid spoilers) is that a director of extremely successful zombie movies (who prided himself on realism in his speculative fiction) comes to believe he might be responsible for the severity of the zombie apocalypse, that if he'd made his movies differently then more people would be alive. He wanders out into an infected zone, leaving it up to the protagonist to go out and find him.

My current concept for what this looks like in a Red Markets game is that he's a Recession civilian who has slipped into the Loss, and the job is basically being hired to locate him, with a sizeable bonus if you can get him home before he gets declared homo sacer. The big "set pieces" of the job (aside from the daunting optional end boss of running the quarantine) revolve around the concept of this deranged creator attempting to impose a fictional narrative upon reality, recreating moments from his body of work in order to act out a redemption arc. He's setting himself up for a "suicide by horde" where he pulls the "I'll hold them off, go on without me!" death, thus proving to himself that he is a hero.

Or he sees himself as the new messiah because his zombie vision came true.  I can see him gaining a sizable cult.

[RadioactiveBeer]

Potentially, I suppose. I do somewhat prefer the tragic version of it.

Another version of the job might be getting hired to confirm his death (in this version he might be a Lost rather than part of the Recession) by someone who blames the death of their loved one - or perhaps even the fall of their enclave - on the movies. Say, the victim shored up their high school as a defensive perimeter, tries to operate on Romero rules and it ends up being a total massacre. Maybe not total slaughter; maybe a survivor gets away to tell the story of how movie-logic didn't work, and the Fall of Winnebago Lutheran becomes spread around Enclavers as a cautionary tale.

In this version of the tale, he's still going for suicide by horde - the tricky part is getting his stuff out of the horde to serve as proof of death.

[Gorkamorka]

The band Gorillaz are a taker crew working and living in the lost.

These guys

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[Gorkamorka]

When will we see the aberrant casualties?

I'm especially looking forward to seeing the sparkly blood drinking type.

[RadioactiveBeer]

Do the casualties produce body heat?

I'm sure vectors do, but I'm wondering about the shamblers.

If they don't.  What happens up north in winter?  Do they freeze solid?  Is there a seasonal zombie respite up there?

If so I can imagine that winter would bring on a gold rush into the big cities. Every taker group would show up for the frozen season, trucking out as much as possible before the thaw hits.  Then when it does there are always a few greedy once that left just a day to late to create a new vector outbreak.

I can see it being a kind of desperation thing, whereby if you haven't saved up enough harvest (rip Drift) to last the winter without seriously hurting your Retirement Plan then you need to maybe bundle up and go Snow Crashing.

I'm not sure how much the Blight tendrils that animate casualties restrain the effects of straight up decomposition beyond just keeping them old bones moving, but consider the opposite: what happens to a Casualty in the Nevada desert in the blazing, dry heat? Do they dessicate and mummify to the point where they can't walk and are just basically bitey landmines in the dunes? What about somewhere hot but humid, like the equator? Do they rot especially fast and become skeletal almost straight away? 

[Gorkamorka]

Do the casualties produce body heat?

I'm sure vectors do, but I'm wondering about the shamblers.

If they don't.  What happens up north in winter?  Do they freeze solid?  Is there a seasonal zombie respite up there?

If so I can imagine that winter would bring on a gold rush into the big cities. Every taker group would show up for the frozen season, trucking out as much as possible before the thaw hits.  Then when it does there are always a few greedy once that left just a day to late to create a new vector outbreak.

I can see it being a kind of desperation thing, whereby if you haven't saved up enough harvest (rip Drift) to last the winter without seriously hurting your Retirement Plan then you need to maybe bundle up and go Snow Crashing.

I'm not sure how much the Blight tendrils that animate casualties restrain the effects of straight up decomposition beyond just keeping them old bones moving, but consider the opposite: what happens to a Casualty in the Nevada desert in the blazing, dry heat? Do they dessicate and mummify to the point where they can't walk and are just basically bitey landmines in the dunes? What about somewhere hot but humid, like the equator? Do they rot especially fast and become skeletal almost straight away?

I don't know and I would love for Caleb to tell us.  I can see so many possibilities for climate affected zombies. 

So Caleb.  Make sure you give us some basic rules of Zombie mechanics in the book so we can take them an extrapolate in strange directions.

[SynapticError]

1) What are people using for drugs?  Since nobody can import heroin, cocaine, or opium, they can't get those outside of a dedicated farming operation and even then they can't really grow in the states.  Synthetic drugs would be outside the reach of most people in the Loss due to technological and supply limitations.  Tobacco was produced in what is now the Recession and they won't export it if they can even grow it.  The only things I can think people would be able to get or make is pot, mushrooms, things to huff, and alcohol.  Are a new breed of dealers creating new types of drugs from what's left?

2) Are the vectors or casualties smart enough to dig?  If someone was underground in a bunker or tunnel would they dig down or run for an entrance?  If not would a collapsed mine or a landslide be a minefield of trapped casualties? 

3) Would a psychopath-turned-vector attempt to deceive others into coming closer instead of shouting at them to flee?  I can see a person running is away from a group a casualties towards a taker group, shouting for them to help, only to tackle one of them when they run over.  Maybe an Abberant's voice sounds much clearer than the other infected and it can still form sentences? 

4)  Would a cult dedicated to infecting others, upon their turning into vectors, intentionally slash up and augment their mouths and hands to better transmit the Blight?  I can see a taker getting grappled by a Casualty, confident his chain mail will protect him, only to find out someone drove a bunch of needles into its hands as his shoulder begins to burn. 

5) Would feral people like Paddywhack or people too young to remember the Crash be bothered at all by reminders of the old world?  After a while, would people be unaware the Recession even exists or would they see it as a mythical place?   




   
         

[clockworkjoe]

1. 5 years after the Crash, international trade has probably picked back up to some degree. Drug cartels are now legitimate trading companies since they are masters of moving products across dangerous terrain. You can grow opium in Mexico after all. It's probably far more expensive and sold to the Recession for legit painkiller meds mostly now.  Meth is still being made because the demand would only increase.

2. Vectors are not that smart. I imagine they would dig through obstacles if they could sense/hear targets on the other side. So they would tear through doors and walls but not a collapsed mine shaft.

3. All vectors are the same in terms of mental ability and motivation. Saint or serial killer, you will act like every other vector. The apologies of a killer turned vector are going to be selfish 'oh god, help me, it hurts!' etc. They're dying in a painful manner so complex thinking is out of the question, I imagine.

4. They could, but they would probably do it while they were human.

5. Depends on the person. One question is whether the Recession is going to retake the Loss or not. If it does, then the Recession will come to them sooner or later. If not, it could become a mythic place. Is this the Wild West, a transitional period in history or is this a new permanent normal?