Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here. I can't believe no one has tried a concept like this before. After playing through Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects again, one of my favorite childhood games, the idea dawned on me to make a story with a similar story mechanic set in the Highschool of the Dead universe. Please note that this story is experimental, meaning that it could be a major success or a catastrophic failure depending on your reception of it.
So as the title suggests, this story will be and SYOC arena of sorts. In a manner similar to Marvel Nemesis, we will follow the exploits of four characters at a time. We will follow each character for a brief chapter (about 1k words) which will explore their backstory, goals, motivations and the continued progress towards their goals in a post-apocalyptic world. The first four characters that meet my standards (which are fairly high) will be the first characters to be included in the story.
However once I write one chapter with each character in the rotation, that's when things will get interesting. The characters that make the story after the first four characters will be placed on the Nemesis roster. When we reach the every fifth chapter, the top four characters on the waiting list will be matched up against the existing four characters in ways that I think make sense. That's when you guys will come in. At the end of the fourth chapter, I will leave vague previews alluding to the each of the possible fights along with a chapter title name. From there it is up to you.
With your reviews on that chapter, you will vote on which of these Nemesis battles you want to see. Once all the votes have been cast, it's time for me to write the OC versus OC battle. Keep in mind that just because your OC is attacked by a Nemesis, that doesn't mean they are automatically dead. However, the odds may be in the Nemesis' favor since some of the reasons for pitting that Nemesis against the character would be to exploit an advantage they may have.
"Lazersword88, have you lost your mind?" I hear the followers of my other stories complain. "You can never make this work. Just get back to work on Dancing though Flames and Dead Delinquents!"
Don't worry guys; I'm not giving up on those stories. They will still get a once a month update as always. However I wanted to introduce a bit of variety into my writing and this seems to be the best way for me to do it.
As for any concerns about character balance, there is no need to fret. I'm taking the character stat sheet idea I had from Dead Delinquent and tweaking it for OC vs OC. All of the characters will have the same number of stat points to allocate. In the end of the day though it will come down to how the stats stack up against each other. I do realize that the winner is my personal opinion, but I will do my best to keep the fights fair and entertaining. Additionally I will give you both an epic summarization of the battle to keep just like in Marvel Nemesis and I will give you my reasoning behind the results.
The best part is that the winner either gets to keep their spot in the story or take it for their own if they were a nemesis. Then after another four short chapters, we will reach another nemesis clash. We will take the three nemeses from the last round along with the next one waiting on the list, mix them up between the characters and have you guys vote again on which scenario you would like to see.
Hopefully you guys grasp the concept now. If this story gets enough characters and support, it could go on for as long as you guys want it to. However if this story barely receives any support, then it won't go far. I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide by your participation whether or not this story will continue.
The story will be set in Chicago, one year after the outbreak and just mere days after a devastating chemical explosion. While the explosion did not vanquish every person in the city, they are all starting to slowly suffer and die from chemical poisoning. In addition the zombie horde not only survived, but someone seems to be augmenting the zombies with cybernetics appendages and devastating new weapons. Rumors amongst the remaining survivors begin to circle that somewhere in the city there exists a cure to the poison that they are suffering from. This pits almost all of the remaining survivors against one another in a race against time and each other to find a cure and survive another day.
Bear in mind that OC characters will die in this story. Heck, most of the characters will die in this story. But if you believe that your OC is amongst the best of the best, than be prepared to be put to the ultimate test.
One last thing before we get to the application. I will not be using any of my OCs as Nemeses or main characters. I feel as though using one of my characters would create an unfair bias for that character. In addition, as much as I value my fellow writer's friendship, past relations with me will hold no merit as to whether your character gets in or whether they will survive their fights to the death. While my other stories focus heavily on relationships, this story will focus on combat and survival. Also, here are a few more basic ground rules.
No super tragic backstories. Balance the bad with a bit of good.
No teams of characters.
No siblings/family members.
No characters with preexisting rivalries.
No characters from my other stories.
No stereotypical characters or characters that fall into common character archetypes.
No superpowers.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's get into my short and sweet character application! We will only be focusing on what is important here. Please fill out my app only. I won't accept apps from other stories. I'm going to leave a copy of the app on my profile so it is easier for you to copy and complete.
OC Application for Nemesis:
Name:
Nicknames/Aliases
Age: (13-19, normal high school ages only)
Species: (No aliens or anything like that. What I mean is are they human? Are they augmented by technology? Are they infected and augmented with technology? Get creative, but stay within the realm of scientific theory.)
Gender:
Sexuality (not very important in this story):
Family (not required, but the background is appreciated):
Height/Weight:
Nationality:
Ethnicity:
Religious Beliefs:
Skin Color:
Eye Color (realistic please):
Hair Color (realistic please):
Hair Style:
Body Type:
Clothes (Keep in mind they will be wearing mostly the same thing throughout the story, so choose wisely):
Scars/Tattoos/etc.:
History (Include backstory, how they survived the initial outbreak and anything else noteworthy. More detail is always good, but keep it concise and mostly free of rambling and useless information:
Personality (Include their personality progression and how the outbreak shaped it over time):
Why do they hate other survivors? (Enough to want to fight them to the death?):
Likes/Dislikes:
Weapons (You may have up to three, given that it is reasonable they can carry them all. No guns please, because they just take away from the fun. Keep it realistic. Include how they were acquired and why they are the character's preferred weapons. You may include three weapons total (Primary, Secondary and Emergency))
Fighting style (Be specific. Do they like to hang back and used ranged attacks or are they up close and personal. Make sure to have plenty of detail and creativity here):
For the following you will be allocating points into your characters abilities. Every character will have the same pool of starting points in which to allocate, therefore making all characters balanced in theory. If your character has under or over the amount of points assignable to a specific category, they will either not be considered or be reevaluated after a correction has been made by the author. Be sure to use a calculator if you have to. Additionally, you may not take skill points from one skill pool and apply them to another (i.e. taking a point away from strength and using it for a weapon proficiency). Be sure to erase the stat descriptions when you send in your application, I'm only interest in seeing what you have for each stat. Please allocate between 1 (minimum) and 10 (maximum) points to each stat.
Offensive Skill Tree: 40 total points available for allocation
Strength: Determines the ease at which a character can lift objects, swing heavier weapons and overpower opponents.
Speed: Determines How fast a character is at maximum speed.
Agility: Determines how quickly a character reaches their maximum speed from a complete stop
Dexterity: Determines a character's flexibility and ease of movement. Makes them more resistant to injury and passively increases some defensive abilities. Higher levels of dexterity mean the user is more capable wielding two single handed weapons at a time, should they choose to do so.
Reach: With all else equal, an attacking physical based character with a higher reach will have their strike have priority over another physical combatant attacking simultaneously (assuming no defensive options are in play).
Skill: A characters skill in combat, combat experience or familiarity with their own weapon handiwork.
Jump: A character with a higher jump ability will be able to hurdle over objects on the battlefield. Higher levels in jumping will allow the user to climb short walls and attack enemies that they have launched into the air.
Awareness: A higher awareness stat may give its user the critical information they need to turn the fight around. In addition, those with higher awareness are more likely to use other obstacles to their advantage.
Defensive Skill Tree: 40 total points available for allocation
Toughness: This ability is fairly self-explanatory. This is your character's ability to shrug off non-lethal or non-infectious strikes. Also this signifies your character's ability to cope with lingering injury.
Stamina: This stat determines how long your OC can use their best moves or move their fastest before tiring. Stamina is how well your character deals with the mental part of pain.
Block: The jack of all trades defense capable of blocking both melee and ranged strikes, but with no way of counterattacking intuitively.
Dodge: The best way to dodge ranged assaults. Allows for easy counterattack against a ranged weapon using foe. Not as effective as blocking or parrying up close against physical attackers, especially against swings and slashes that cover a lot of ground.
Parry: The best way to deal with physical strikes. Elegant and well-timed parries will render an aggressive melee attacker defenseless. However, only the most experienced parries can handle ranged assault with only mediocre results.
Elusiveness: The characters ability to deal with groups of attackers, evading zombies, staying hidden or hiding on the fly.
Luck: How often a character will get a lucky break. Helps characters find what they are looking for, a random weapon in desperate moments and other unpredictable effects.
Recovery: How fast your character recovers from significant battle damage. A higher recovery reduces the time injuries take to heal and how fresh the character is the day after a massive battle.
Weapon Specialization Points: 20 points for allocation (Be sure to allocate points to the weapon skills of the weapons you might be using. Keep in mind that in some scenarios your OC may not have access to their preferred weapons).
1 Handed Light Stabbing (knives, shiv, claws, ect) (Dual with 4+ Dexterity):
1 Handed Medium Stabbing (Rapier, saber, short sword, ect) (Dual with 7+ Dexterity):
2 Handed Heavy Stabbing (Spear, Pike, Lance, ect):
1 Handed Cleaving (Long sword, curved sword, hatchet, ect) (Dual with 7+ Dexterity):
2 Handed Cleaving (Katana, Two Handed Sword, Heavy Axe, Halberd, ect):
1 Handed Crushing (Hammer, Maul, Mace, ect) (Dual with 9+ Dexterity):
2 Handed Crushing (Warhammer, ect):
1 Handed Light Thrown (Knives, Darts, ect) (Dual along with another One Handed weapon at 8+ Dexterity):
2 Handed Heavy Thrown (Javelin, Spear, Ball and Chain, ect):
2 Handed Bow Ranged (Bow, Crossbow, Heavy Slingshot, ect):
Battlefield Armor:
Supporting Equipment:
That is the end of the form. Good luck creating your characters and I hope to see a large turnout for this survival of the fittest (and most popular) SYOC story! Lazersword88, signing out.
