Stand Still Stay Silent: The RPG

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Stand Still Stay Silent RPG is a setting primarily inspired by the Webcomic of the same name. 90 years have passed since the mysterious 'rash virus' wiped out nearly all of humanity, leaving hideous beasts, trolls, and giants to wander the earth. Despite this grim reality the game does not focus on basic survival or scrounging. Humanity is not only surviving, it is thriving in the niches it can. International trade has sprouted up again, with people being able to freely travel the world in search of work and exchange of ideals. The aim of the game is on adventure, with a light or even comedic tone contrasted with moments of tense action and thrilling horror. The Silent World is ripe for plundering, but its numerous bounty is contrasted by the infinite possibilities for danger.

The current progress of the project: All but dead.

New project started under the name "Vikingr"

Rules Draft

This is called a draft because everything in this entire section is subject to change. This is a an outline to work with, a skeleton to build around.

Attributes

Physical Attributes

Bulk

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The raw power of the human body, your ability to suffer pain, and the amount of strain you can place on your muscles. It represents strength, vitality, and endurance.

Integrity

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Represents a characters resistance to disease, infection, injury, starvation, and blood loss. This also represents the amount of abuse you can take, both lethal and stress related. You keep track of two separate kinds of damage, and if either goes over your threshold, that is bad news. Stress(Physical stress) damage goes over Threshold it will cause someone to became battered, which lowers all their stats and doubles the amount of time to complete tasks. Lethal damage extending over Threshold leads to immediate black out. If either type of damage doubles the amount you have in your Threshold, your character dies.

Adroitness

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How fast you can move, how flexible you are, and how quickly you can think on your feet. Adroitness represents a persons agility and dexterity.

Mental Attributes

Knowledge

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The ability to learn and retain information. The essential statistic for keeping retention of information. High knowledge means both extremely great long term and short term memory.

Savvy

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How well you understand other humans, how well you can use that to lever your own position over people. Savvy does not translate into good looks. People who are just naturally sociable will be Savvy as well as people who know how to manipulate others.

Experience

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A person's aptitude for making good decisions off the cuff, and being able to learn from past mistakes. A person with high experience is wise and thoughtful.

Will

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The amount of psychological trauma someone can endure. Works like Threshold, except there is only one type of damage, Tragedy. Tragedy damage comes about from living through horror or personal loss. If Tragedy equals Will, it causes the person to develop a Quirk(To be discussed later). If Tragedy doubles Will, this person is no longer able to be part of the game. The player will decide what ultimately happens to the person, if they choose to retire for good or simply end life itself.

Age Groups

Here are the age groups and how they function:

Youths(16-23), small penalty to mental, big boost to physical.

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Adults(24-39) No penalty to physical, small boost to mental.

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Middle Aged(40-60) Small penalty to physical, big boost to mental.

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Elderly(61-70) Massive penalty to physical, massive boost to mental.

Skills

http://paste2.org/8dAG3anN

The Setting

The Nordic peoples have united under the Nordic Council which allows close cooperation and trade to circulate among the many settlements. The capital of this new world is Reykjavik, in the most populous country of Iceland.

Finland

No where else is the Silent World more prevalent as a danger than in Suomi(Finland). Along the shores of the many waterways and lakes of this mystical land lie hundreds of tiny settlements. Some contain only a few families, others hundreds of Finns. The largest of these settlements and capital is the military base on the island of Keuruu.

Norway

The proud, friendly, and blessed Norwegians live in a desolate land of mountains and wilderness.

Norway was able to escape the ravages as the Illness from a great series of rainstorms in the Aurlandfjord, protecting Aurland for a time. The rains passed, winter came, but the Norwegians did not stay idle. Preparations were made to defend from what radio broadcasts named 'Monsters'. Years have passed since then, with the Norwegians aggressively expanding up along their depopulated coast to secure resources and food. Food is rare in Norway, which is what brought the first diplomats to Iceland. The agreement which has stood for decades between the two peoples is still practiced today, an equal exchange of supplies to allow both societies to live in harmony and luxury.

Each Summer more Creatures journey up the coastline in search of food. The Norwegian military is comprised of Volunteer Servicemen(normally called just Volunteers) which are led by a Veteran appointed to a unit by a presiding Officer. Officers are men who have served for ten years, elected to the status by a council of their peers. A unit is made up of anywhere from five to fifteen men, having an assortment of Cleansers, Hunters, and Mages. These units fight on both land and sea against the Creatures.

The Norwegian military do not take their role lightly. Every man in service knows that if they let up for even a moment, their entire country could be lost. Aurland is made up of the three towns of Flåm, Aurlandsfjorden, and Aurlandsvangen. If an outbreak were to occur in any of these towns, it would mean more than eighty percent of the Norwegian population would be lost. Aurland is also in the southernmost part of current Norway, meaning it is the most in danger when Creatures come over the mountains or sneak into the fjords from the coast.

Sweden

The Swedes lack belief in the gods, yet they have had some success in cleansing the silent world with fire and determination.

Iceland

Iceland was one of the first countries to close down its borders after the Rash, and so they have thrived.

Denmark

A faithless folk that tried to wage war against the creatures born from the Rash. Their warmachines litter the ruins of their lost cities. The island of Bornholm has so far survived, and the Danes have established a base on the old Öresund Bridge.

The Gods

Norse (relative order of importance):

• Odin - All-father, god of wisdom, magic, and victory

Odin is the the son of the two jætter Bestla and Borr and the brother of Vile and Ve. He is hailed as the king of all gods and the father of creation. His domains include seidr, rune magic, wisdom, war, royalty and the art of the skalds. In cooperation with his brothers, he killed the first jætte, Ymer, and created the world from his corpse. Odin also created Man from a treetrunk as part of a competition with Vile and Ve. Before Odin became all-knowing, he sacrificed an eye and hung from the World Tree Yggdrasil for nine days with a spear-wound in his guts. He had then earned the right to drink from Mimirs Well and became keeper of all wisdom in the world. Each day his ravens Hugin and Munin travel the world, and each night they return to tell him what they have seen. Each night, his wolves Gere and Freke travel the world and each day they return to tell him what they have seen. From his tower Lidskjalv, Odin can see anywhere in the world, and he is the owner of the eight-legged horse Sleipner, the Dwarven spear Gungnir and the Dwarven arm-ring Draupnir. Odin is the husband of Frigg, though Thor is the child of him and Jord. Odins children include Balder, Höder, Hermod, Skjold, Vale and Vidar.

• Freyja - Fertility goddess, goddess of defending the hearth and home. (Civilization)

Freya arrived to Asgard with her brother Frey and her father Njord as a part of the peace treaty between Asgard and Vanaheim. She brought the magical arts of Seidr from the Vanir to the Asir and taught Odin how to perform the rituals. She is a goddess of love, of fertility, of magic, of the female gender and of war. Her aspect of war revolves around protecting the homestead. Her husband is Od, a figure which is rumored to actually be Odin in disguise.

• Freyr - Fertility god, god of planting and prosperity. (Civilization)

Freyr came to Asgard with Freya and Njord and is a Vanir god of fertility, harvest and agriculture. He is the owner of the Dwarven ship Skidbladner, which can sail on land and be folded into a piece of cloth and the hog Gyldenbørste, which can run in the air and on land faster than any horse. He was an extremely important god to the farmers of old, and he was the one you would sacrifice to if you wanted your crop to grow strong.

• Ullr - God of hunting, winter, and games. (Survival)

Not much is known about the archer god Ullr, for he is an extremely old deity, his followers tracing back to before the Iron Age. He is hailed as inventor of the sled, and may have married the jætte Skadi after she left her husband Njord. He is the first son of Sif and the stepson of Thor, seen as both Asir and Vanir according to who you ask. He is sometimes known as the Lord of Winter, and is revered by hunters and survivalists.

• Mímir/Kvasir/Vör - God/dess of Wisdom. (Science)
• Baldr - God of rebirth, beauty, innocence, and peace. (Civilization)

Baldr is known as the most beautiful of all the Asir. He is the favorite son of Odin and Frigg, and his death plays a large role in the prophecy of Ragnarok, where he is killed by a mistletoe arrow by his brother, Høder. He is not only a lantern of beauty, but also of kindness and fairness, and is universally loved by the gods of Asgard, except for the jealous Loki. He is largely a passive god, and not much reverance is paid to him by believers.

• Thor - God of thunder (fire) and battle. (Cleansers)

Thor is the second-most powerful of the male Asir, second only to Odin. He is a warrior-god of strength and raw power, and his job in Asgard as well as Midgard is protecting them from all evil, including the jætter from Udgard, frost giants from Niflheim, fire giants from Muspelheim and other ancient monsters, like the Jormungand and Fenris. Thor wields the mighty dwarven hammer Mjolnir and a pair of iron gloves by the name of Larngreiper that granted him supernatural strength. Thors name was very rarely used in the context of war, and as a warrior-god his domain was single combat rather than the strategy and discipline needed for warfare. He is the son of Odin and Fjörgunn, which might mean that he was pulled directly from the Earth by his father.

• Frigg - Goddess of marriage, motherhood, foresight, and iron. (Civilization)

Frigg is the most powerful of the female Asir, the wife of Odin and the queen of Asgard. Her knowledge of the future is at least as great as that of her husband, but in contrast to him she never tells of what she knows. She is the daughter of Fjörgunn and is often described as the mother of all things.

• Vidarr - God of forests, silence, and revenge. (Cleansers, survival)

Not much is known about Vidarr the Silent, for he keeps to himself in his house in the forest and spends all of his time training for Ragnarok. He is almost as strong as his brother Thor, and he carries a boot which is sewn from all of the leather scraps shoemakers throw away. According to the prophecy of Ragnarok, he is to break the jaw of Fenris with his foot and kill it with a blow from his sword.

• Tyr - God of the sky, discipline, honor and warfare. (Cleansers)

Tyr the One-Armed is an honorable god known for his wisdom in warfare and his bravery. He is the son of the Jætte Hymir, but is fully accepted as a god of Asgard. His right hand was bitten of by the wolf Fenris as the Asir bound it with the magical chain Gleipner.

• Dagr - God of daytime. (Cleansers, civilization)
• Njörðr - God of the sailors, wealth, wind, and fishermen. (Cleansers, survival, civilization)

Njord was brought to Asgard as a part of the peace treaty between the Asir and the Vanir. He is the father of Frey and Freya and the husband of Skadi. Sailors would sacrifice to him for the promise of safe fare, and fishermen for the promise of a bountiful catch.

• Sif - Goddess of harvest. (Civilization)

Sif is a Vanir brought to Asgard as part of the peace treaty between the two. She is the wife of Thor and is said to have the most beautiful hair in all of Asgard. As most of the other Vanir, she is tied to fertility, harvest and agriculture.

Finn (no order):

• Perkele - god of thunder and the sky

Called Ukko or Äijä or Äijö because his true name is an invocation of the highest order. He is the god of the sky, weather, good harvests, and thunder. He is the wielder of Ukonvasara, a hammer he uses to hurl thunderbolts at his enemies. It is possible he is also Thor wearing another guise. Ukonkivi in Lake Inari in the Lapland is sacred to Ukko, a place of power.

• Tapio - god of the forest

Tapio is the husband of Mielikki, the father of Annikki, Tellervo, Nyyrikki, and Tuulikki. He has a beard of lichen and eyebrows of moss and is the guardian of the forest.

• Mielikki - goddess of the forest

Wife to Tapio, Mielikki is a goddess of the forest's bounty, small game, nuts, and berries. She is also a skillful healer and lends her herbal expertise to humans who ask her.

• Nyyrikki - god of hunting
• Tuulikki - goddess of animals
• Vellamo - goddess of the sea, lakes, storms

Wife of Ahti, Vellamo has insured the safe passage of Finns traveling the inner waterways. Perhaps also Vedenemo.

• Väinämöinen - god of chants, songs, music, and lore

Son of Kave, brother to Ilmarinen, Väinämöinen is the divine bard, the teller of tales and the reciter of the poems. He is the hero of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. His voice is said to possess a magic of its own. He is the patron of those who adventure in the service of the Finnish people.

• Tursas - god of war

Tursas is the Finnish god of war, the one who lives on the brink, revered and feared, for he also brings havoc to ill-prepared sailors. He may also be the great sea monster Iku-Turso or possibly Tyr.

• Kuu - moon goddess
• Kave - god of time

Kave keeps count and sets cadence that the other gods may go about their tasks in an orderly manner. He is the elder god, once ruler of the sky. Father to Väinämöinen. Perhaps also Raako.

• Ahti - sort of a sea god, more of a fisherman's god
• Ilmarinen - god of crafts, the great smith

The Eternal Hammerer and forger of the sky's vault. Väinämöinen sends Ilmarinen to Louhi in Pohjola to craft the Sampo in exchange for Louhi's daughter's hand in marriage. When Ilmarinen finishes the Sampo Louhi's daughter refuses to leave her native land and Ilmarinen must return home alone. Ilmarinen has several other misadventures in love and may be a very romantic god incapable of expressing himself except through his forge work.

• Äkräs - god of fertility and plants

Has a particular fondness for turnips, beans, peas, cabbage, flax, and hemp. All staples of survival in Finland.

• Pekko - god of beer and crops
• Sampsa Pellervoinen - harvest god
• Tuoni - death itself
• Loviatar - Tuoni's daughter, pestilence
• Vammatar - Tuoni's daughter, pain and misfortune
• Kipu-Tyttö - Tuoni's daughter
• Kivutar - Tuoni's daughter

Not necessarily gods:

• Antero Vipunen - giant with secret knowledge of magic
• Otso - the great bear spirit
• Saunatonttu - the avatar of saunas
• Näkki - spirit of bridges and wells

Spiteful and cruel, he will pull children into the depths if they tempt him by staring into the reflective surface of the water and touching it.

• Surma - a large dog-like beast who guards the gates of Tuonela (the underworld), may be Fenrir
• Ajatar - the evil that lurks in forests
• Akka - sort of Ukko's opposite, maybe his wife?
• Louhi - hostess of the underworld (possibly Loviatar)

The Creatures

The Illness and the Dangers of the Silent World, By Skald Jorgen Jóhannesson.

We people blessed to have survived in this world by the Gods' mercy still face countless challenges from the Creatures which plague civilization's borders. We people born of Iceland are truly the most gifted of all mankind to never live in fear of their invasion. The Creatures of the Silent World come in many shapes and forms, yet they still can be easily identified and organized into three categories.

The Beasts

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Easily the most prevalent of the Creatures, the Beasts are the mutated mammals which have succumbed to the Illness. Possessing only a primal lust for blood and feast, they congregate in many hives and nests only venturing out to feed. Beasts can be solitary hunters or great throngs of similar Creatures. The Beasts maintain their former shape the most out of any other type of Creature.

Quite easy to dispatch by even conventional means as the uniform shape means only one brain and heart - though this is not always the case -, but Beasts are feared for being carriers of the Illness. A suitable amount of Beasts can dispatch border guards before the nearest settlement can be notified, leading to them reaching the settlement and contaminating those not immune. This in almost all recorded cases leads to the destruction of the settlement.

The Trolls

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Humans which have befallen a fate worse than death. It is theorized by many Skalds that these are people who insulted the Gods by worshiping only one god, but no proof to this has been presented thus far. Trolls are the opposite of Beasts in several ways, as no two trolls look alike. During the Summer, trolls who happen to meet each other mingle and mix. Combining limbs and organs to create a new, more durable and deadly Creature. These transformation mostly takes place during the late months of Summer however, and can last the entirety of Winter.

What makes Trolls truly dangerous is their intelligence. They understand us, and mimic us. It has been shown that Trolls call for help to pull inexperienced Scouts to suffer a horrible fate. Since Humans are all that Trolls are made up of, those without immunity should be warned. If you are taken, you will be integrated into the Troll itself, as many studies from Norway have shown.

Because of the excess of vital organs, bullets seem to have no effect as the Troll can suffer immense amounts of physical damage before succumbing to death. This is why Trolls should be treated with the utmost caution, and never doubted for a moment. They rely on out thinking and overpowering people to kill, or worse, integrate them. A Troll's patterns of behavior can be studied, and traps can be laid. Trolls have regular patterns where people can anticipate their next move, which the Norwegians have excelled at learning. A Troll which breaks normal patterns is in a desperate need of sustenance, or new parts to acquire. These are extremely dangerous, as they have both intelligence and unpredictability.

The Giants

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In the rare cases found of Trolls, they appear to be the combination of Beasts and Trolls. Whole packs of Beasts and several Troll bodies can be incorporated into a Giant. These have been documented during the Danes attempt to retake their mainland. There is no documentation of any such Creatures being exterminated. If you encounter a Giant, do not run or scream for help. Stand still, and stay silent. It might go away.

Magic

The Reawakened Magic of the Norse

After the rash illness destroyed the structure of civilisation, the remaining Norse population found themselves alone in a world that was constantly trying to kill them. But as time went by and they survived the continuous onslaught of the Creatures, an idea was hatched in the minds of the Nordic people: Our gods are still here, and they're protecting us.

Slowly, the ancient Norse mythologies were rediscovered, and both the Finnish and the Scandinavian pantheon were worshipped for ensuring the survival of their chosen people. Traditions that were long forgotten were awakened and practiced as a part of daily life, some mundane while others were wondrous. The long-buried practice of magic was given back to the Nordic people. Today, 90 years after the disaster, magic is practiced in almost all corners of the North.

In Iceland, the ways of Seidr and Galdrastafur are practiced, while in Finland, the nature spirits of old have given the people the power over nature itself, the ways of Runo.

Icelandic Magic

Icelandic mages are all trained at the the Academy of Seiður in Reykjavik. Because of their long-standing alliance, Norwegians can also train at the academy. If you are educated there, your profession is Mage, and you are proficient in both Seidr and Galdrastafur. These Mages' powers are drawn from the Norse gods Odin and Freya, both gods of war, of knowledge and of love. The magic of the Icelandic Mages is mainly used for protective spells, charms and most importantly receiving prophetic visions and supernatural foresight. What follows is a description of the two schools of magic used by the Icelanders.

Seidr

Seidr or Seiður is the ancient ritualistic magic of the Vanir. According to mythos, the Vanir Freya brought it to Asgard from her homelands of Vanaheim when her, her brother Frey and their father Nord were given to the Asir as part of a peace treaty between the two divine nations. Odin the Alfather convinced Freya to teach him the ways of Seidr, even though the magic was traditionally reserved for women. Later, Loke the Trickster spied on Freya as she conducted her rituals and learned some of it as well.

In ancient times, Seidr was mainly practiced by the wise women of Norse tribes. Some men learned it, but they were seen as androgynous and stripped of their manhood for indulging in the practice.

In modern times most Icelandic Mages are female, though men are fully permitted to be educated at the Academy in Reykjavik. The practices of Seidr is based on the belief that through a trance, a person can will her soul to leave her body and perform different tasks, like making livestock sick or scaring away evil spirits.It once consisted of many different rituals, but today it has been largely stripped down to the most important ability of its practitioners: The prophetic visions received through dreams. Experienced Mages are able to go into a trance to search for knowledge of the future. They are also granted a supernatural foresight which allows them to know when danger is ahead and the like.

Galdrastafur

The runic magic of the Icelanders is the result of an assimiliation between the Icelandic art of Galdrastafur (or spellstaves) and the traditional rune-magic used by the Norse and the gods alike. A magical rune is created when an object is inscribed with a prayer, asking the gods for a favor. For example, a Mage could inscribe a Galdr (or spell) into the hilt of a weapon, asking Odin to let it always strike true.

Traditionally, runes were used by the ancient Norse for all sorts of prayers, and by the gods for invoking magical effects. 

A ship would be inscribed with a rune asking Nord to grant it safe fare; a shield would be inscribed with a rune asking Tyr or Odin to never let it break beneath the weight of enemies; and a field would have an inscribed pole standing in it, asking Frey to never let the crops whither.

Any student of the Academy in Reykjavik is able to inscribe a certain number of Galdrastafur. 

The strength of the rune depends on the skill of the Mage, and whether it is inscribed in wood, stone or just drawn with chalk.

Strike True

This rune is usually carved in the hilt of a weapon or inscribed in the shell casing of a bullet. It is a prayer to Odin asking for your weapon to always strike its target in his name.

Resist

A prayer to Thor asking for his strength in keeping an object undamaged. It can be inscribed in anything from a shield to body armor, from a knot to an engine. Some mages are known to have inscribed the rune in their own bodies, though the effects of this are untested.

Quicken

A very old rune, usually inscribed in the soles of a courier or scouts' shoes to make him even lighter on his feet. It is a prayer to Loki, asking for his aid in escaping your enemy.

Hide/Ward

Another prayer to Loki, this rune is carved in a stave and placed in the laces of a boot to reduce the chance of discovery when hiding. Otherwise, it can be carved in trees surrounding a campsite and help keep it from being discovered by malicious spirits.

Plot Hooks and Random Encounters

>An old man with a horse pulling a gutted car or truck converted into a wagon, following the old roads and looking for civilization to trade with. It's a mystery how he's survived as his only defense is a homemade rifle that looks like it would fall apart if it bumped anything. He doesn't speak your language and only points or tries to trade goods.

>A scouting team well beyond their range. They've lost some members and want to pressgang your group, at gunpoint if need be, into assisting them in taking down a particularly nasty troll. They won't say what they're doing this far out.

>The remains of a viking funeral, washed up on the shore. Some of his gear survived the fire...

>a weak radio signal begging for help in a nearby old world town. It's actually a clever troll.

>A pack of cats just hanging out in the woods. They will lead you to a safe place if you feed them and watch over you while you sleep. They will be gone in the morning.

>The ruined remains of some kind of military base that isn't on your map. It looks like whoever occupied it was making an attempt at harnessing or taming the creatures for unknown purposes. From the spent bullet casings and burn marks everywhere, it looks like it all went wrong. The bullet casings may even be relatively recent.

>A small village in the middle of nowhere who's residents believe themselves to be the only survivors and ruled by a tyrant/cult leader like individual. Your arrival and tales of civilization upsets everything and all hell breaks loose. If something isn't done, the village will collapse and be destroyed and "reclaimed" within a week.

>A non-hostile troll that just watches from a distance and follows you for unknown reasons.

>An elaborate cold war era VIP bunker. It's full of pre-silence treasure and horrors alike.

>Cat Scratch Fever - Scouts have reported seeing what look like cats mutated by the illness in the woods at night. Are these rumors true, or is a scout's imagination playing tricks on him?

>Skalding Hot News - A Danish skald publishes what he claims to be a pre-Silence history book, but many of his colleagues cast doubts on the veracity of the document.

>You Sank My Battleship - A troll-infested battleship is discovered floating in the middle of the ocean. Some say that it should be destroyed, but others believe that if the trolls are exterminated, the ship can be cleansed and used once more.

>Clash of the Titans - Norwegian scouting parties, tracking the paths of two wandering giants, realize that at their current headings, the two giants will cross paths. If the giants meet and fuse together, they will pose a massive threat to settlements all along the coast.

>Ahab and his catch - A crazed old man is looking for a crew to take down a sea monster which he swears has people still alive in it.

>Grandma's delivery - A woman in a red hood approaches you and asks you to deliver some cookies to her ol' grandma in the woods. apparently the old woman built herself a minor fort in her younger days.

>Sweet dreams (cont on gandma's delivery) - The old woman offers you to stay for "fika"(snacks, basically), putting out the cookies and some tea. You wake up in an unknown cave, whispers coming from the dark, stripped of all but a torch and your underwear.

>Last light (cont on sweet dreams) - Your torch is running out and the cave just keeps going. The sounds in the dark gets closer with it. At least you found your gear. Get out.

>Extraction duty - You're going into the city with a group of scouts for this mission. A division of cleansers went down towards northern Stockholm to start pre-work on the planned cleansing in the area, but we've lost all contact.