Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl

Artifacts are objects formed in anomalies. They are interesting primarily because they affect their bearers in various ways: the effects can be both beneficial and harmful. Selling artifacts is theoretically profitable.
Some artifacts can absorb radiation and protect against other anomalies or damage, increase endurance, or heal wounds.
Anomalies are abnormal phenomena in the Zone that distort or affect space.
They can be graphite, electrical, chemical and even fire.
Types and artifacts:
Gravitational. They appear in gravitational anomalies (e.g., "Trampoline," "Funnel").

Jellyfish
Stone Flower
Night star
Twist
Gravity
Goldfish.
Chemical (acidic). Formed in acidic or chemical anomalies (e.g., "Aspic," "Holy Fluff"): Mucus
Slug
Mica
Thorn
Crystal thorn
Sea urchin
A slice of meat
Blood of Stone
Film.
Electrical. Occurs near electrical anomalies (e.g., Electra):
Sparkler
Flash
Moonlight.
Thermal. Formed in thermal anomalies (e.g., "Hot"):
Fireball
Crystal
Drops.
Other (mixed or special). These artifacts are not so clearly tied to a single type of anomaly, or they possess unique properties:
Soul
Mom's beads
Kolobok
Battery
Dummy
Spring.

Main characters:

1. Sidorovich is a merchant in the newcomers' village on Cordon, who sits in his bunker and is always dissatisfied.
2. Wolf — Leader of the lone camp in the newcomers' village on Cordon. According to his own account, he had been stalking for a significant portion of his life. Since he had recently been spending exclusively on Cordon, at some point—whether before or after his desire to quit stalking is unknown—he took charge of the newcomers' camp on Cordon and began training them in survival in the Zone.
3. The bartender is the owner of the 100 Roentgen Bar in the Wild Territory and also a merchant.
4. Scientist Sakharov is the chief scientist in the mobile bunker on Yantar. He also bargains and values ​​artifacts and mutant parts for research. He has a habit of constantly saying, "Yes, yes?"
5. Strelok - Strelok was a renowned stalker and pioneer who penetrated deep into the Zone several times, causing global cataclysms. He is also known by the nickname "Marked One," given to him by Sidorovich due to the distinctive tattoo on his arm. He founded his own group, which included Fang, Ghost, Doctor, and Guide.
   He plans to make a third trip to the center of the zone almost alone.
6. Lukasz is the leader of the "Freedom" group at the Army Warehouses.
7. General Voronin is the leader of the "Debt" group in the territory of the "100 X-ray" Bar.

All weapons:
Pistols: PM, Fora.
Assault rifles: AKM-74/2U (caliber - 5.45x39), AKM-74/2 (caliber - 5.45x39), AS-96/2 ("Obokan") (caliber - 5.45x39).
Shotguns: Chaser-13 (calibers - 12x70, 12x76), SPSA-14 (calibers - 12x70, 12x76).
Submachine guns: "Viper-5" (caliber - 9x18 and 9x19).
Sniper rifles: Vintar-VS (caliber - 9x39), SVUMK-2 (caliber - 7.62x54).
Grenade launchers: "Bulldog-6" (fires VOG-25 grenades, drum capacity - 6 grenades), RPG-7u.
Gauss Cannon. Fires 2mm Gauss rounds, with a magazine holding 10.
SVD M2 (Dragunov sniper rifle).

An emission is a dissemination of anomalous energy accompanied by low-intensity psi-radiation. Emissions typically occur with varying frequency, ranging from 3-4 days to 2-3 months, but there have been periods when emissions were more frequent: two are known, one of which is the Great Emission. Before an emission, a mass, rapid movement of mutants occurs from one location to another: in the opposite direction from the emission source or to an area where the emission's impact is less pronounced. Stalkers call this movement a "wave." Wild boars, rats, fleshlings, pseudo-dogs, blind dogs, and possibly crows are known to be susceptible. Sometimes "waves" are directed at stalker encampments. A few minutes before an emission, the lower atmosphere changes—the sky gradually brightens until thunder is heard, after which thunder and lightning alternate.

A PDA (personal digital assistant), also known as a PDA, is a mobile device carried by almost every stalker in the Zone. In addition to a radio, the PDA also features an interactive map of the Zone, a motion sensor, a voice recorder, a clock, a camera, and much more. The PDA can track the number of stalkers within a radius of up to fifty meters. It contains information about the wearer, including everything stored on it. The PDA can also be used to find out which group a particular person belongs to, their reputation, and their stalker rating.

Zone locations:

1. The cordon is the border zone, where there is a military checkpoint, a stalker village, and abandoned buildings.
2. The dump is a dump of radioactive equipment and other waste, with many anomalies and radiation.
3. Dark Valley is an abandoned area where a factory with bandits and the X-18 laboratory were located.
4. Wild Territory - this is where the Bar and the Duty base are located.
5. Yantar - home to a mini-base of scientists and the X-16 laboratory.
6. Army warehouses - this is where the Freedom base and the passage to the Radar are located.
7. Radar – home to the Brain Scorcher psi-radiation source and the road to Pripyat. Swarming with Monoliths.
8. Pripyat is an abandoned city full of Monolithists.
9. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant – the legendary power plant, the base of the Monolith, the center of the zone.
10. Agroprom - a network of underground tunnels is located here.
11. The "100 Roentgen" bar is a small, makeshift underground cafe-bar on the grounds of the abandoned "Rostok" factory. It's run by Bartender, who has organized a neutral zone for all stalkers. Above ground, the area is controlled by "Duty," who are based here along with the group's leader.

O-Consciousness is a group of several scientists.
According to the plot, secret research in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone began shortly after the 1986 disaster. Scientists were exploring the hypothesis of the noosphere—the Earth's information shell, which, according to their ideas, is closely connected to all living organisms on the planet through the so-called psi-field.
The experiments confirmed the two-way connection between the noosphere and living organisms. The researchers then decided to unite into a collective mind in a special complex near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to directly connect to the noosphere and change it, removing all the negativity generated by humanity and creating a "perfect" world.
However, on April 12, 2006 (the game "Call of Pripyat" gives the date as June 10), the experiment spiraled out of control. Anomalous energy from the noosphere surged onto the planet's surface, transforming much of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and turning it into the Zone.
To ensure security, "O-Consciousness" contacted the "Monolith" group and invited them to negotiate within the "Scorcher"'s zone of influence. There, the "Monolith" fighters were zombified and began to carry out the scientists' orders. Another method of protection against unwanted visitors was the "Wish-Fulfiller" (or "Monolith") psi-installation.
The installation was created to prevent stalkers from penetrating the center of the Zone and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus.

The Brain Scorcher is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) detection station converted for mind-altering experiments. It was later reprogrammed by "O-Consciousness" into a psychotropic weapon.
When approaching the installation, a person may lose their mind, experience clouded consciousness, hallucinations, or turn into a zombie.
The area around the installation has been converted into a fortified outpost, guarded by snipers and patrols from the Monolith group.
The control center is located in a bunker on the minus first floor of the X10 laboratory.
The installation was created to prevent stalkers from penetrating the center of the Zone and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus.

Project X entailed a network of secret laboratories, each conducting research and development within the framework of ChNIIP's projects—the Universal Soldier, the creation of the Kaimanov Emitter, and establishing contact with the Noosphere. All the laboratories were connected by underground infrastructure, prepared in advance by ChNIIP, and powered by a unified electrical grid fed by a nuclear reactor deep within the Technocapital. After the second disaster, the laboratories were abandoned, and the results of the experiments were freed, with most of them scattered throughout the ChEZ, becoming part of the ecosystems. The laboratories are dark and dangerous places, harboring the Zone's most terrifying secrets, secrets for which traders are willing to pay mountains of gold, so many experienced stalkers have attempted to infiltrate them and retrieve whatever they can carry. Some of the laboratories have been repeatedly looted, but may still contain valuable information; the existence of others remains completely unknown to this day.
All laboratories:
X-16 is a laboratory on Yantar. Kaimanov's experimental psi-emitter is a successful attempt to study and utilize the controller's mind-control capabilities, but it suffers from several design flaws. The device operates by greatly increasing the size of the controller's brain. Scientists have been unable to implant the desired programs into organic matter, so when activated, the psi-emitter continuously zombifies those within its range and concentrates them around itself, mimicking the controller's behavior.
X-18 is an underground laboratory located beneath the Dark Valley, where experiments were supposedly conducted on various animals and humans to create a "super soldier."
In some rooms one can find irradiation equipment and cages for test subjects, strange autoclaves similar to those in which members of the "O-Consciousness" are located, also in this laboratory one can find confirmation that the "X" series laboratories belong to the "O-Consciousness".

Anomalies are small areas of the Zone with altered physical laws that pose a danger to living beings. They can cause physical, chemical, electrical, or thermal damage, and in some cases, be relatively harmless.
Types of anomalies:
Gravity ("Tramp", "Funnel", "Carousel") - deliver a powerful blow or drag the victim, flattening or tearing it.
Electric ("Electra", "Tesla") - deliver electric shocks.
Chemical ones ("Kholodets", "Soda", "Acid fog") - cause chemical burns to the skin and lungs.
Thermal ("Zharka", "Kometa") - dangerous due to high temperatures and can cause burns.
Plant-based (“Burning Fluff”, “Rusty Hair”) – often cause chemical burns.
Almost all anomalies are dangerous to humans and mutants: upon contact, they cause serious, often fatal, damage.
Anomalies are the source of artifacts—items with unique properties that stalkers hunt. Certain artifacts are generated by specific anomalies.
Some anomalies can be detected visually (for example, "Burning Fuzz," "Aspic," and "Electra"). Gravitational anomalies can be identified by air vibrations and flying leaves or debris. Many anomalies emit characteristic sounds. The simplest and most reliable way to detect an anomaly and "probe" its boundaries is to throw a few bolts in front of you. There are also detectors that signal the presence of anomalies with an audible signal.
The number and strength of anomalies gradually increases from the south to the north of the Zone: there are far fewer anomalies on the Cordon than, for example, on the Radar.

Groups and their bases in the Zone:

1. Stalkers, loners—people who mostly come to the Zone for profit. Neutral toward everyone except mercenaries, bandits, and the Monolith. They mostly live in the Cordon.
2. Bandits—criminals, convicts, and other riffraff looking to evade the law and make a buck. They live by their code and are hostile to everyone except Svoboda. They often pick off stalkers. They live in the Dark Valley and disperse throughout the southern Zone.
3. The military is an army whose purpose is to cordon off the zone to prevent it from spreading and to keep people out. The order is to shoot at everyone except Duty and Scientists. They protect people from the zone. They control all exits from the zone.
4. Duty is a paramilitary group trying to eradicate the Zone's scourge. They live like an army, so they are neutral even toward the military. They are hostile to bandits, mercenaries, and Freedom. Their base is located in the 100 X-Ray Bar.
5. Freedom is a relaxed group made up of anarchists, hipsters, ordinary people, and some former soldiers. They live a good and peaceful life. They believe the Zone needs to be explored. They are neutral toward mercenaries and bandits. They are enemies of Duty.
6. Mercenaries are simple mercenaries who fulfill someone's wishes for a considerable sum. They are neutral only to Freedom, as they don't need many witnesses.
7. Scientists and ecologists are simple scientists studying the zone. They receive support from the military, Duty, Freedom, and stalkers. They try to remain neutral, except for bandits and mercenaries.
8. Monolith is one of the numerous and powerful groups. They are completely obsessed with the "Monolith," the mysterious stone beneath the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus. They use teleportation, gauss guns, and RPGs. They destroy all who are not loyal to the Monolith and anyone who attempts to enter the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
9. O-Consciousness - little is known, but they are the ones responsible for creating the Zone and the X laboratories. They zombify people in the Monolith.
10. Zombies – technically not a faction. These are all people who have been exposed to psionic radiation. Zombies know how to use weapons, but they are not particularly intelligent, speak in fragments of their life, and walk with difficulty.

A blind dog is a dog that has lost its sight due to radiation but has acquired an excellent sense of smell.
The pseudo-dog is an ancestor of wolves; it leads a territorial lifestyle, aggressively attacking its enemies.
Flesh is a former pig, omnivorous and can even attack a person.
A boar is just a boar.
Jerboas are aggressive rodents that can kill an unwary person.
Snorks are former humans who have transformed into animals. Their eyes are hidden by a gas mask, but their mouths are open. They are aggressive and can jump high.
The Controller is a mutant who can control the minds of other beings.
The Bloodsucker is a dangerous and semi-legendary mutant capable of becoming invisible and sucking blood from people using its mouth tentacles. It was created in secret laboratories.
The pseudo-giant is the most dangerous mutant, created in laboratories. It is enormous in size and highly aggressive.

The action takes place in an alternate reality where, at the beginning of the 21st century, a second explosion occurred at the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This explosion marked the emergence of the so-called Zone—a place within which various anomalous phenomena occur. The story of the second explosion at the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shrouded in mystery, and, eager to investigate, the Ukrainian government sends troops to Chernobyl. However, this operation ended in failure; the Zone was fenced off, and checkpoints were erected at key access points. The Zone became a highly guarded facility.
After some time, information begins to emerge from the Zone about mutated animals and the products of anomalies—so-called artifacts (swag), which were once commonplace objects. When entering an anomaly, these objects acquire unique properties. For example, if a person or animal enters the "carousel" anomaly, their bodies can produce artifacts such as "Blood of Stone," "Slice of Meat," or "Soul" (which accelerate cell regeneration in humans).
Daredevils, eager to make a quick buck, began infiltrating the Zone to obtain valuable artifacts and sell them to scientists. These individuals were nicknamed stalkers.
The events take place in May 2012.