[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Pn0RAtd.png[/img][/center] [center][h1]You are not a criminal[/h1] [h2] Yet. [/h2] [/center] Power-Over is a curious thing. Many of us feel as though we have it - power over our thoughts, power over our actions, power over our fates, some of us even believe we have power over others - but this is frequently a falsehood. In reality, Power-Over is not a commonly held thing, not nearly as much as we all think. Indeed, the very conception many of us have of 'power-over' is, itself, wrong; more than just experiencing a hidden failure to possess power-over, we don't even truly understand what it is. No. What most of us really have is [i]power-to[/i], and it is a remarkably different thing. You have the power to get up and go to work. You have the power to go crack open a nice cold bottle of beer. You even have the power to turn away from what you're presently reading entirely, if you so choose - after all, that's a thing you have the power to do, it is within your power-to. But you probably don't have much power-over. That is reserved for a different class of person entirely. Someone rather unlike [i]you.[/i] You are a student, at one university or another within the fine, dark, rainy city of London. You've worked very hard to get where you are, and no doubt you're very intelligent and capable. You have a tremendous amount of power-to - the power to become upwardly socially mobile, the power to graduate with honours and move on to lucrative employment if your degree permits it, the power to create for yourself some kind of future in this dangerous and volatile world. But, like most people, you have almost no power-over at all. Unfortunately - or, potentially, fortunately - for you, there is someone in your life who has a [i]tremendous[/i] amount of power-over. Power Over You. God only knows what they'll make you do with it. [center][sub][sub][sub]________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/sub][/sub][/center] This is an RP about a group of University students from varying walks of life, with various subject specialties, who are forced by circumstance and by person into a loosely knit group of professional thieves, in order to facilitate what might very well be one of the greatest heists ever pulled. The PCs will make up the students who are forced into helping, and the few major NPCs who are doing the forcing - or working for the people who are - will be played exclusively by myself, or possibly a Co-GM figure, if they have the time, skill, and are trustworthy. The PCs are, as the title suggests, going to have very little power-over in comparison to the people they're trying to steal from, the people they're trying to steal [i]for[/i], and the NPCs who are tagging along for the ride. This is not to say that your characters will have no valuable input affecting the story, nor is it to say that your choices don't matter - on the contrary, your character will very much be held accountable for them, often in ways that are not necessarily avoidable, or good - it is instead the introduce the theme of outside control. The PCs are just students, some of them may not even be above 21 years of age, and certainly none of them will be above 26 - with possible exception for [i]some[/i] medical students, or similarly long degree students. As a result, they have no experience of the world they've been thrust into, and they have no real influence within it; there will be times when they are trapped into making choices, without any sort of third option, and there will be times when things simply happen [i]to[/i] them, either as a result of previous choices, or just because their adversaries (or employers) have decided to [i]make[/i] things happen to them. In that sense, this is going to be very realistic. There does, however, remain the chance that the PCs will either be able to escape the job entirely, or that they will be able to complete it and be thusly rewarded - and the potential rewards, excluding the glamour of the job itself, are very much worth it. For anyone who's interested, this is based quite heavily on the interactive film, [i]Late Shift[/i], which has a very similar premise; with the only major difference is that there's only one member of [i]that[/i] team of thieves who was coerced, and the others were very much willing and eager to participate, whether they were students (which, judging from their ages, is possible) or career criminals (which is also likely). The RP is likely to have a similar initial premise, but in the spirit of keeping true to the theme of power-over and choices, the latter plot and ultimate endgame are very much up in the air, and dependent on the PCs' actions. As this is a fairly unique RP with fairly unique settings, circumstances, and pretexts, I feel it necessary to go through some rules before we get to anything else. [hider= The Rules][list][*] Standard forum rules, of course, apply. This includes ones that are more common sense than anything else - for example, the word of the GM, and the Co-GMs (if any) is absolutely final, although you can expect your point of view to be taken into account. [*] Although this is technically part of the above, what must be emphasised is that [b]there will be no powergaming whatsoever by player characters.[/b] This is an RP that is actively playing with the power dynamics between the coerced and the coercers, and your characters are - until the plot changes dramatically - playing the [i]coerced.[/i] Additionally, they're realistic, real world, believable university students, who were chosen for their particular skill sets more than any martial ability. No power gaming, and no badass chararacters, if you please. [*] I may, at some points, pass you a 'note' in the form of a PM. You're probably familiar with this concept, particularly if you've ever played DnD or other similar tabletop games. This is a way for me to communicate story to you in a way that other players cannot perceive - it includes information that your character alone would be able to understand, or perceive in their environment. For example, when confronted with a dead body, only the medical student in a group consisting of other types of student would be able to properly make a guess at what the time and cause of death was. In that case, I would write a note to the player controlling them, and they would then decide what to do with that information, as someone would in real life. [*] For reasons related to what kind of people your employers were looking for, PCs are unlikely to have very serious mental illnesses, low intelligence, or a background that is particularly likely to see them making any sort of successful escape or resistance - for example, if they had undergone military training. This is because the employers are looking for people who are stable and intelligent enough to get the job done, but who are more easily manipulated, intimidated, and forced into doing things against their will. This is not to say that a depressive does not belong here, or someone with schizophrenia, or other disorders - so long as they are manageable in a way that will permit the job's success. It also doesn't mean your character has to be a pushover, just not a badass, as aforementioned. [*] I will not tolerate edginess for edginess' sake. Nor am I likely to receive well any sort of author-insert, or self-avatar, though I'll admit that it can occasionally be done tastefully, and that it is not grounds for immediate denial. [*] Not so much a rule as a reminder - this RP is very likely to be [i]dark.[/i] I was hesitant to apply the 18+ tag, because I'm not entirely sure how deep we'll go, but we will hardly be dealing with good people. There is no honour among these thieves, if you get my meaning. We may encounter drugs, human trafficking, brutal murder, extortion, and the like. This is going to be a realistic depiction of crime, and while I will not go out of my way to give anyone panic attacks, because I'm not [i]that much of a prick...[/i] well, it may not be for the extremely faint of heart. It's about power, and those who hold power can be horrible, horrible people. We will not shy away from this.[/list][/hider] Superb. With that out of the way, I'll put the character sheet template up. [Hider=character name] [center][img]appearance[/img] (an image here, please - no anime ideally, but illustrations and real people are equally welcome) [h3][color=]name[/color][/h3][color=][i]"Quip"[/i][/color][/center] [color=]Name:[/color] [color=]Age: Probably between 18 and 24, due to the nature of university courses. Feel free to PM me for any exceptions.[/color] [color=]Race:[/color] [color=]Gender:[/color] [color=]University and Degree: For example, [i]Medicine[/i] at [i]Queen Mary University of London/Barts and The London.[/i] Please use real universities.[/color] [color=]Appearance: A brief description, making particular note of any ways in which your character's appearance deviates from the image above, or anything that isn't in the image itself.[/color] [color=]Personality: A paragraph or so detailing the core elements of their psyche, any mental health conditions - which are acceptable as long as they do not hamper the mission, or [i]are so far undiagnosed[/i] - and what drives them and motivates them. You may choose to make a note of how they are being coerced into this line of work, if it is relevant to their personality - for example, someone who experiences severe anxiety or otherwise is easily intimidated, should make note that intimidation may play into their coercion.[/color] [color=]Biography: A couple of paragraphs, or a body of text with substance, regarding your character's personal history. Unless it's very relevant you don't need to include childhood, because childhood can be quite tedious as I'm sure we all know - but it would be good to go into detail about your character's life leading up to their entrance to university, and their life since they started it. The method of coercion used against your character should definitely come into pla here - for example, if they are some kind of addict, then their drug might be withheld by the dealer associated with the Employer; if they are in dire straits for cash, or owe people money, then not only could this job be their only way out, the Employer may have even engineered their debt in the first place; if they are running from someone, or afraid of something, the Employer may be their only hope for protection, even if the Employer is just another facet of whatever it is they're running from. That kind of thing. Don't be afraid to get dark, and deep. Hit us with the feels, or disgust us entirely. [/color] [color=]Skills:[/color] Probably relevant to their degree. You may have more than just 2, but be balanced.[list] [*] [color=][/color] [*] [color=][/color] [/list] [color=]Weaknesses:[/color] Probably relevant to their reasons for being here in the first place. You may have as many as you like. Humans are naturally fragile in many ways, and though an incapable character would neither survive this nor have been chosen in the first place, a character with serious weaknesses could play out interestingly, tragically, or empoweringly. Note that this includes substance addiction, any sort of racist intolerance etc, and some types of personality disorder or psychological issue.[list] [*] [color=][/color] [*] [color=][/color] [/list] [color=]Other: Anything else - especially if your character has a preexisting relationship with another PC.[/color] [/hider] Please, use any colour you like in the colour tags - but make it easily readable. I'll write up character sheets for my major NPCs and The Employer tomorrow, I think. Oh, and one more thing. Romance, relationships, and the like? They are going to be very much [i]encouraged.[/i] The PCs are young, and in incredible danger. These two things naturally lend themselves to passion, and particularly between vulnerable people (as many PCs are likely to be) love is a very important comfort. It will also lead to naturally occurring subplots developing, and it will add a bit more of a thrill to the RP, in my honest opinion. Do talk it out with each other first, though, if you are up for that subplot - and then inform me too. I'll see if I can make it more interesting for you with my otherworldly GM powers. Thanks for reading this, guys. I hope to hear from you all soon.