Stand Still Stay Silent: The RPG

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Stand Still Stay Silent is a setting where a new dark age has come over humanity brought on by a horrible 'rash virus' and unbelievably frightening monsters. Despite this, the game does not focus on what the vast majority of post-apocalypse games usually center around. Survival, horror, and moral decisions do play a role but the main drive is exploration and adventure with some friends. It is 90 years after the world fell, people are comfortable with the progress they've made so far. Humanity is not only surviving, it is thriving right now. The current progress of the project: The mechanics are just being cobbled together into a mish-mash state. We're in very much a conceptualization phase, still a ways from a stable system from which we can play in. Still, things are coming along fast as more fluff and crunch are being turned out. The project will only get done fast with more help, as currently only three people are actively contributing.

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

To be filled in later.

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 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

To be filled in later.

Iceland

To be filled in later.

The Gods

Norse (relative order of importance):

• Odin - All-father, god of wisdom, magic, and victory
• Freyja - Fertility goddess, goddess of defending the hearth and home. (Civilization)
• Freyr - Fertility god, god of planting and prosperity. (Civilization)
• Ullr - God of hunting, winter, and games. (Survival)
• Mimir/Kvasir/Vor - God/dess of Wisdom. (Science)
• Baldr - God of rebirth, beauty, innocence, and peace. (Civilization)
• Thor - God of thunder (fire) and battle. (Cleansers)
• Frigg - Goddess of marriage, motherhood, foresight, and iron. (Civilization)
• Vidarr - God of forests, silence, and revenge. (Cleansers, survival)
• Tyr - God of the sky and single combat. (Cleansers)
• Dagr - God of daytime. (Cleansers, civilization)
• Njordr - God of the sea, wealth, wind, and fish. (Cleansers, survival, civilization)
• Sif - Goddess of harvest. (Civilization)

Finn (no order):

• Perkele - god of thunder and the sky (may be Thor)
• Tapio - god of the forest
• Mielikki - goddess of the forest (married couple)
• Nyyrikki - god of hunting
• Tuulikki - goddess of animals
• Vellamo - goddess of the sea, lakes, storms.
• Vainamoinen - god of music and lore
• Tursas - god of war (may be Tyr)
• Kuu - moon goddess
• Kave - moon god
• Ahti - sort of a sea god, more of a fisherman's god
• Ilmarinen - god of crafts, the great smith
• Aakraas - god of fertility and plants
• Pekko - god of beer and crops
• Pellervo - harvest god

Not necessarily gods:

• Antero Vipunen - giant with secret knowledge of magic
• Otso - the great bear spirit
• Saunatonttu - the avatar of saunas
• Naakki - spirit of bridges and wells
• Surma - sort of fills the same role as valkyries, but with less Valhalla
• Tuoni - death itself
• Loviatar - Tuoni's daughter, pestilence
• Vedenemo - Karelian water goddess (perhaps also Vellamo)
• Raako - Karelian god of time (may be Kave)
• Ajatar - the evil that lurks in forests
• Akka - sort of Ukko's opposite, maybe his wife?

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.

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.