Behold, a world of Heroes and Villians. No, not the Marvel Universe. Not DC, either. Not even the fabled Amalgam Universe (though you might be reminded of them, from time to time). In this Universe, Metahumans and other extraordinary individuals are on the rise, officially for the last 5 years or so, though some speculate further back still. This world is very much like our own, in terms of technology, and development, with few exceptions: 1. The Tartarus Detention Center There exists, as of just a few months ago, an international prison facility designed with Metahumans in mind, complete with fail safes such as Inhibitor technology for supression of an individuals powers (with some exceptions- magic is a tougher nut to crack). 2. Inhibitors Some technology exists that can interfere with a Metahuman's abilities. It isn't instant, or permanent, but with prolonged exposure, it [i]is[/i] effective at neutralizing them. However, the tech is rare, proprietary and dependent on a target standing still... 3. Law Enforcement The Cops are out of their depth, and they know it. While the heroes are technically vigilantes, and thus criminals themselves, they've learned to manage situations as best they can until a hero shows up, and then just get out of the way before they get hurt. They don't even bother when the incursion is international; let the Metas (and maybe national guard) deal with that headache. However, some "heroes" [i]have[/i] been appearing on wanted posters relating to a certain disregard for property damage, or "collateral damage" as well (that's a warning for anybody who think's they can be "The Hulk" without consequence >:( )... 4. Society There are cities and locations on this "Earth" that aren't on the Earth we know- Atlantis is real, and populated, albeit a very reclusive nation (especially after WW2). A city with frequent Metahuman activity has recently, officially, been renamed "Metatropolis", embracing them much like Salem and their witches. 5. Magic Yeah, it's real. However, it's common knowledge existence has risen along side the rise of Metahumans, and thus is also considered recent. 6. Metahumans Metahumans are very similar to what one might expect from DC characters such as Beast Boy or Terra, or The Mutants of Marvel. They can come into existence through a variety of circumstances, or even simply by birth. These represent the bulk of Heroes and Villians, but many still either make use of genius and technology, magic and the supernatural, or even the odd individual with no special abilities whatsoever who still manages to be extraordinary in their capability. Some try to maintain a persona to protect their personal lives and identities, while some, for one reason or another, can't, and instead go into hiding, revealing themselves only as necessary. 7. Aliens Hard to keep a secret when something escaped from Area 51 only 3 years ago, and actually created a lot of very public problems around Groom Lake and Roswell. Then there was a similar incident 1 year ago where some angry aliens nearly declared war on Earth; a survey vessel had been shot down, and survivors taken into protective custody while medical treatment was sorted out were presumed to be hostages by the home world. Turns out the aliens have been paying very close attention to us and Area 51 in particular and got tired of our shit. The incident got resolved, but not before everyone on Earth figured out that we are, indeed, not alone in the Universe. Other incidents such as this have not occurred since, but, many think it's only a matter of time before aliens are living among us. Without further introduction, here's the character sheet: [hider=Might and Mayhem Character Sheet] Character Name and Age: Alias: Appearance: (both in and out of costume, please) Alignment: (Hero, Villian or something in between) Powers: (list/detail whatever, even if your character isn't a Metahuman and instead operates with tech armor or something) Personality: (include the difference between the character and their alias, if they take on a persona with their mask [spiderman being a really good example of this]) Status: (Is your character like an X-Man, Reed Richards or Cyborg, i.e., out in the open with no secret identity? Do they lead a double life?) Background: (give some details about your character leading up to the present, including how they got their powers, if need be.) [/hider] please make good use of hiders when submitting characters, and await GM approval before posting in the Characters tab. on that note, some rules: [hider] Posting- speed posting is not much of a concern to me, just remember this is a group activity, and try not to leave other participants in the dust? On the opposite end of that, please try to post no less than once a week. I know we all have lives outside of RPG, but players dropping out, even with notice, is a good way to end a game entirely. Please consider this before applying. Lastly, this game will be starting in a single location, but in anticipation of participants increasing in number, I have to anticipate clarity of communication: at the top of posts where one is explicitly interacting with some characters, but not others, @ them at the top of the post. This is to avoid characters trying to interact with characters who aren't present, say, for being in a different city, or on another planet. Power Level- I know it's tempting, but please, no Dr. Dooms or Black Adams. I'm fine with villians and even heroes being the leaders of groups in some way, but having an entire nations resources and the shield of international politics at ones disposal is too much to ask. aside from that, super powers also aren't the whole story; Captain America is [i]not[/i] as strong as Hulk, or even Spiderman, [i]but,[/i] unlike the latter 2, he absolutely knows how to fight. seemingly normal skills can make the difference for one's character. Another good example from the DC end of things? When you leave Earth, there are suddenly a lot of characters who can force superman to fight with some effort, not only because there are characters of similar strength or better, but also characters at his strength level who [i]know how to fight and didn't have the luxury of relying on there strength alone[/i]. Batman has been able to find ways to effectively combat powered opponents on multiple occasions; The Kingpin is literally just a big guy who knows how to throw his weight around and can manipulate people through sheer intimidation/willpower alone. Don't be afraid to be something less than "Wonder Woman" in terms of power and capability. Combat- No god-modeing, alright? That means not being invincible, and no auto-succeeding. Give other players a chance to win, but more importantly, embrace the story value of effort and even failure. Originality- Don't sweat it, guys. DC was really good about being cool about this sort of thing; DC Earth has several Green Lanterns, multiple characters who either learned how to hero from batman, or just have a similar power set (gadgets and a theme), 3 different super stretch characters and is practically crawling with speedsters. There have been multiple Red Hoods, same for several members of The Flash's Rogues Gallery, and I don't know how many different iterations of "Toy Man". I'm not saying go ahead and copy paste entire characters, I'm just saying, if you want to draw inspiration from or emulate a particular character of DC or Marvel to some extent or another, I won't judge you. Do whatever you think will be fun. (I will have to disappoint you and suggest alternatives if somebody else beat you to it, though) Worldbuilding- feel free to contribute to this world/setting through your rp; I'm open to treating this as a collaborative effort, I'm open to discussions of ideas or material a player isn't sure of, and I'll even establish and maintain a reference post/database, if need be! I may be the GM, but that doesn't necessarily make me the god of this world. Everybody get's a say. [/hider] alright, that's it for the initial OOC. I'll conjur up some NPC's, both heroes and villians, this weekend. in the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of characters come through submissions ^_^