Violet's Backstory

do a twirl Violet

Just after xmas I posted a general, look what I got from Santa kinda post and it included Violet.  I rushed out a backstory to her and that was it.  Recently however following the demise of my Simpson family and hankering for some ATZ action, I took another look at Violet.  I've played some ATZ lately with my fellow blogger Damon of the newly started "Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse" his blog is here.

We have been running bands of survivors on the same boards, which has been interesting but we started at day 28, my band led by Violet and consisting of some well known faces has been doing well but how did Violet get to this point? I needed to do a better backstory for Violet to satisfy my love of RPGs and I thought why not play out the early days of the apocalypse and build her from there.

So we have - Violet Stardust a Rep 3 civilian. I roll for both of my skills as it adds an element of randomness and weirdly got Runt and Rage.

Violet Stardust (her stage name, her real name is Valda Stanislova) is the 21 year old daughter of a Russian “businessman”. She was classically trained as a dancer, and as a result is very slight and fragile looking, but underneath this exterior is a bubbling inferno. Kicked out of the Exclusive ballet studio for fracturing the cheek of her closest rival, Violet turned to other kinds of dancing to spite her overbearing father and escape from his claustrophobic love. 

Just before the zombie outbreak started in the big cities, Violet was dancing in the club “Tits, Tassles and Tail” when a group of her father’s associates and his right hand man Vlad came for her in an effort to bring her home.  A struggle that pitted Violet and her bouncer friend Stefan against Vlad and co ended in the fatal stabbing of Stefan by Vlad, using his trademark Japanese katana “Ran’un” or “Storm Cloud”.  

Violet grabbed Ran’un and used the ancient blade to cut her way free, wounding Vlad in the process. Still in her dancers costume she fled into the night, hitching a ride from the nearest driver.  They drove through the night but following a misguided attempt by the driver to seduce Violet and the subsequent broken nose, he dumped her at the side of the road 10 miles out of Jungville by a farm house. Cold and alone Violet needed to secure supplies for the trip into the city. Little does she know the outbreak has started. 

So why stop there, here is the bat rep of day one.

• Mission – find supplies (2 items) and head off the board at the far end by the highway 
• Setup 

• Violet (V) is in section 7 on the road, the car is driven by a rep 2 civilian asshole, who will drive along the highway and either turn off at the junction or carry on depending on a 50/50 dice roll. 
• 3 X PEFs are deployed one in the ruined farmhouse in section 2 (rep 4) one in the woods in section 1 (rep 5) and one in section 4 (rep 3) 
• 2 X zeds are deployed as a pair in the woods in the bottom left of section 7 
• The car moves first and travels down the highway. 

• Neither Violet or the Zeds activate, V is obviously stunned that she has been ejected from the car, it was only a broken nose…. She spends the turn cursing in Russian. 
• 2 X zeds are generated by the noise of the car. 

Violet curses the driver "Average" Joe in Russian!

• Turn 2 
• Car moves first and generates a single zed. 
• The zeds move next and Violet is charged by one, firstly she rolls on the zed or no zed table and passes 1d6 and recognises the threat as zombie.  she is charged in the rear and is a civilian, although she is a runt, she has rage so so she cannot pass the test and is counted as unarmed in the first round, despite that she wins the melee and kicks the zombie in the throat with her pointed heel. 
• Another zed charges into the car, despite rolling 5 dice (bash value of a sedan) the driver only rolls one success, but the zed doesn't get one at all and is squished. 

Violet spots that this hobo isn't all he seems....

and puts him down. Joe hits the other "hobo" with his car

• Turn 3 
• As this is day one, I rule that the driver would need to roll to see if he would drive away after hitting someone with his car (6 on a d6 chance) I roll a 3 and he stops, horrified that he has run over a hobo! He gets out the car. Average Joe looks at the mess under his offside wheel and starts to puke….. 
• Violet activates next and moves toward the car 

• Turn 4 
• No one activates as double six is rolled, the day moves on from morning to daytime. The noise of the running engine draws another 2 zombies. 

• Turn 5  
• The zeds don't go but Joe realising that he has to get out of here (6 on the d6) gets back in the car and speeds off, no zeds generated by the car though….phew! 
• Violet hops over the hedges and heads toward the SUV. 

V heads towards the car

• Turn 6 
• Joe drives off the board in a hurry…. 
• Double 6 on activation means the encounter moves on again to evening (wow short days, must be winter…) visibility is now 12” 
• Turn 7 
• V doesn't activate but the zeds do. 
• Zeds move in the direction they were traveling as V is now out of LOS 
• All of the PEFs head toward V 

• Turn 8 
• The zeds that can see V (3 of them) head toward her the other zeds move in a straight line  
• The rep 3 PEF is closest but does not move 
• The rep 5 moves closer and reveals itself to be nothing…… 
• The rep 4 also moves closer but is lurking behind a bush so is not revealed 
• V decides that she needs to confront the zeds chasing her. Passes her citizen brown pants and charges into the nearest with her katana waving. She absolutely murders it and slices the zed to ribbons. 

• Turn 9 
• The zeds go first 
• The rep 3 PEF moves away from V and reveals itself in the process to be nothing. 
• The rep 4 PEF moves away from V but is behind her so remains hidden 

• 2 X zeds manage to charge into V who fails her BP and a attempts to break off from melee – rolling a 5 plus her rep 3 she beats the other scores 2&4 and moves away from the zeds toward the SUV. 
• In her activation she checks to see if the car is locked. It is locked and she attempts to break in, she fails miserably (double 6) and the alarm starts…. Attracting one zed 

• Turn 10 
• Neither side activates, the car alarm attracts a further zombie before falling silent 

The strident sound of the SUV's car alarm pierced the night, causing a raucous cacophony of sounds from the wildlife.  Drawing Ru'un, Violet drove the ancient blade through the hood of the big car, silencing the alarm abruptly.  Gritting her teeth she swept her eyes across the yard of the old farm, cursing the gloom that caused shadows to deepen and conceal unfriendly predators.  Pulling Vlad's katana from the car she turned on her heels and headed toward the dark, foreboding structure of an old barn.  She needed supplies and fast before more of those things turned up.

• Turn 11 
• The zeds don’t go but V heads toward the barn, although the last PEF is in the open it is more than 12” away and cannot be spotted in the gloom 

• Turn 12 
• Neither side activates 
• Turn 13 
• Doubles rolled but not under the encounter rating so no event 
• Turn 14 
• Zeds go and a couple move closer the rest wander…. 
• The PEF moves to within 12” and is revealed as nothing 

• Turn 15 
• V moves into the barn, inside she finds a canister of fuel and picks it up. 
• The zeds move in closer 

• Turn 16 
• The zeds having lost sight of V don't activate (4) and nor does V (5) 
• Turn 17 
• Once again zeds don't get to go and V sneaks out the back of the barn and heads around the side. 

Violet plays hide and seek in the twilight

• Turn 18 
• Neither side activates 
• Turn 19 
• The two zeds outside the barn congregate outside the door and batter at it. 
• V runs for the main house and gets to within a stones throw of the front door. 

nearly made it!

• Turn 20 
• The zeds spot her and shuffle after her one of them reaching her in combat 
• V passes her BP test and fails her charged into melee test counting as unarmed again but manages to win in melee again! 
• V activates and enters the farmhouse, the first room however has nothing of value in it. 

• Turn 21  
• Neither side activates 
• Turn 22 
• The zeds don't move but V goes into the back room finding a luxury item (a thick jacket!)

• Turn 23 
• V activates and tries to get the hell out of Dodge, she leaves the farm house and skirts around the zeds and heads toward the highway 

• Turn 24 
• The zeds pursue and one gets within a hair of catching her. 

• Turn 25  
• V goes first and manages to fast move (1d6) away 

• The zeds try to catch up. 

• Turn 26 
• V manages to fast move off of the table

Violet put her head down and ran along the highway, glad that dancing at the TTT had kept up her cardio.  What the hell was going on she did not know! She had been studiously keeping up with current events in the hope of hearing that her father had been incarcerated for one or more of his "business dealings" but there had been no mention of some kind of outbreak! Were they really zombies? they certainly looked the part with their shambling walk and gnashing jaws, there had been a couple of times back then when they had nearly got her but thankfully Vlad's sword had kept them from getting the better of her. Pulling the farmer's jacket over her shoulders tighter (a tiny bit of guilt bloomed again for stealing from the farmer and his family) she glanced over her shoulder again.  satisfied that she was no longer being pursued she slowed her run to a fast walk and switched the fuel can to the other hand.  She would need a vehicle, food and other supplies, maybe find some people and find out what the hell was going on.....

So a successful mission for Violet, she got a jacket and a fuel cannister, shame no food but she has 1 unit of food already.  following the encounter V gets a bump in Rep to 4 and shes up and running!