AndyC

Justice League: World in Crisis

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

T H E F L A S H

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^{_{B A R R Y A L L E N ♦ F O R E N S I C S C I E N T I S T ♦ C E N T R A L C I T Y , M I S S O U R I ♦ J U S T I C E L E A G U E}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"Seriously? Stealing ice? Isn't that a little cliché, even for Captain Cold?"}

Some years ago, notoriously slow-paced CSI Technician Barry Allen was hit by a lightning bolt that doused him in dangerous chemicals. Rather than kill him, Barry awoke in a hospital with nary a scratch or burn on his body. Trying to catch an Uber after he was discharged, Allen discovered that he'd been fundamentally changed forever: that the lightning gave him the gift of superhuman speed. Ever the closeted nerd, Barry took what could have been a corrupting influence and turned it into his greatest dream by deciding to become a superhero, utilizing old propaganda comics about another fast guy - Jay Garrick of the Justice Society - to become The Scarlet Speedster of Central City, The Flash!

Since stuffing the iconic red and gold suit into a specially designed ring, The Flash has made fast friends and even faster enemies, ranging from the villainous Rogues comprised of Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heatwave, Captain Boomerang, The Trickster, and others. He's also tangled with abnormal foes such as Gorilla Grodd, The Turtle, and a particularly nasty customer from the 35th Century - Eobard Thawne, aka Professor Zoom, but better known as The Reverse Flash.

But it's not all bad guys in the world of The Flash. After revealing his secret identity to savvy television reporter Iris West, who already put two and two together, Barry and Iris married and have been in wedded bliss for the last seven years. When his step-nephew Wally revealed himself to be The Flash's number one fan, an accidental recreation of Barry's origin turned him into a trusted sidekick, Kid Flash, before Wally grew to maturity and became The Flash of Keystone City. And in truly the most outrageous development of Barry's career, a chance encounter with fellow speedster Max Mercury revealed to him the presence of the interdimensional Speed Force, allowing Barry to go backwards and forwards in time, hone his vibrational abilities to escape any trap, create speed duplicates of himself, and tap into a whole host of powers that he would have otherwise thought to be impossible!

But Barry's greatest strength is his nature as a force for good. Whether it's taking Iris on a dinner date on the other side of the Earth and having her back within the hour, mentoring Wally through his growing series of responsibilities, rescuing victims of a housefire within the same second as dousing out the fire itself, or simply showing up for his weekly game of checkers with The Trickster over at Iron Heights, Barry is the definition of a true hero in that he always puts others before himself. Sometimes to his own detriment, but always for the benefit of mankind.

And hey, if The Justice League comes calling? He'll always be there in a Flash.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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The Flash is one of my all-time favorite characters in all of comicdom! So of course I was gonna jump on the chance to play him. One of the reasons I love the character so much is that unlike Clark, Bruce, Diana, Hal and others, he doesn't see his role as a duty or greater calling more than he sees it as just plain fun. He loves being a superhero, which in turn makes him embody all of the best parts of that type of character. And he certainly doesn't need some tragic backstory to motivate him, either, so no dead mom shenanigans here. This is purely and simply The Flash as he's meant to be - fun, heroic, and out of this world!

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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With it being Barry, I'd also like to explore his knack for crime scene investigation and accelerated thinking a little more in-depth than alot of iterations. The Flash has the potential to be both a strategist and a frontline combatant in any given fight thay's on The League's level, so I want to play around with that. Speed is key!

S A M P L E P O S T:

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Later, I promise. Currently at work and it took me all day to write even this much!

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

@Peter Porker

Flash is APPROVED!

Justice League: World in Crisis

AndyC, do you have a more specific timeline for the events happening prior to the start of the roleplay? Just to get an idea of exactly how long the League has been around, when Batman and Superman first made their appearances, etc.

@RenegadeRunaway

Well, I deliberately kept things vague in terms of the timeline, but it can be assumed that at least the founding seven have been active for between ten to fifteen years. If Superman and Batman debuted in Year One, and present day is Year Twelve, then the Justice League itself was founded somewhere around Year Three, Superman died probably around Year Five and came back around Year Seven, the Teen Titans were likely formed somewhere around the same time, and something roughly along the lines of Crisis On Infinite Earths happened around Year Ten.

Justice League: World in Crisis

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

B A T M A N

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^{_{BRUCE WAYNE ♦ PHILANTHROPIST ♦ GOTHAM CITY, NEW JERSEY, USA ♦ THE JUSTICE LEAGUE / THE GOTHAM KNIGHTS}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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"I'm not much of a 'people person'. But when you need a hand... and you will, call me."

Over a decade ago, billionaire industrialist and heir to one of the wealthiest fortunes in America, Bruce Wayne, launched a secret war against crime by creating a masked alter-ego designed to strike terror into the hearts of his enemies: The Batman. And as The Batman's status as an urban myth shifted and his reputation grew for getting results where the Gotham City Police Department couldn't, the self-styled 'Dark Knight' began to realize that he couldn't fight a war alone. The first, aside from his faithful butler Alfred, was Lieutenant - and eventually, Commissioner - James Gordon. Then came Richard "Dick" Grayson, similarly orphaned to Wayne by criminals and in need of guidance. Grayson would become the first Robin, The Boy Wonder, before maturing and taking up his own mantle as Nightwing. Barbara Gordon would become the first Batgirl, before a fateful tragedy would turn her into the wheelchair bound hacker known as Oracle. And so the list of Batman's closest allies grew, from the doomed Jason Todd to the damaged Cassandra Cain, the brilliant Timothy Drake and even his own son, Damian.

But Wayne's most heroic undertaking was undoubtedly his decision to embark on a mission of a much greater scope with The Man Of Steel, Superman, and the Amazonian warrior known as Wonder Woman. Their unequalled alliance forced the trinity to consider an idea: what if, by combining their forces with other 'super-humans', they could form a united defense against all enemies of peace and justice? What if they could build a team that stood an entire league above Earth's greatest champions? And thus, The Justice League of America - with it's founding seven, including Batman - were born.

Unlike the vast majority of his peers, Wayne is completely without superhuman powers and relies on decades of training, both physical and mental, to master his way through even the most gruelling battles. With nearly unlimited financial resources, Batman also brings an impressive arsenal of self-styled weapons, vehicles, and even the orbiting 'Watchtower' satellite that The League sometimes calls their base of operations.

While The Caped Crusader remains at The League's disposal for the right crisis, he can often be found terrorizing the criminal fraternity of Gotham City by the shadow of night, battling alongside Robin, Batgirl, and other members of The Gotham Knights against a collection of diabolical rogues such as The Joker, Two-Face, The Scarecrow, The Penguin, Ra's Al Ghul, and other denizens of Arkham Asylum.

It's a war he'll never win. But it's a battle he'll fight until his dying breath.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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Maybe I'm taking the title of the game too literally, but an angle that's always interested me with Batman is the idea of putting him through a mid-life crisis. He's amassed all of this insanity that invades his life on a daily (and especially nightly) basis, whether it's trading blows with Bane or trying to prevent Poison Ivy from rendering the city her own personal garden of mindless drones, all while maintaining a double life that requires him to serve the city beneath a facade that only continues to make even his closest allies question his sanity. What if, in a moment of extreme personal crisis, he starts to doubt himself? Not only in his ability to be Batman, but in his ability to simply remain sane? And what would that look like in the face of a story that involves his direct workings with The Justice League, the seemingly infallible team of super-beings he's always tried to live up to despite his human frailties? I hope to take Bruce on a journey of self-discovery that, through his work alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and the rest will lead him to a place of reassurance that he belongs alongside them - that it's not only Gotham that needs Batman, but the world.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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As I'm trying to go with the 'Crisis' motif in Batman's personal life, I'm portraying him as a little older than usual. I'm not going to go too specific with it, as that throws alot of unnecessary questions up in the air, but this is gonna be a Batman with a little gray in his hair and alot of scars, both on his body and in his mind, that have yet to fully heal - if they ever will.

S A M P L E P O S T:

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Batman Sampler

BOOOOM!

"GASP! Somebody better get that guy an ambulance!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute... I think that guy was in an ambulance!"
"Well, let's just hope they hurry, because I think he needs another one!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It's always the laugh. That godforsaken laugh.

It's the one thing that always lingers above all else.

It began three nights ago, when the clown managed to utilize a laundry list of ingredients - household chemical agents, packaged food, acidic beverages, whatever he could get his hands on from pickpocketing the guards, threatening the other inmates, and reaching out to his unseen, all-encompassing network of freelance agents - to formulate a homemade bomb within his cell at the maximum security wing at Arkham. Commissioner Gordon's forensics team at Gotham Central formulated a rough sketch of what it might have looked like before it went off, and it tells the tale. He'd been working on the bomb as a side project for years. One of many "failsafes" that he kept working on in secret, tinkering when everyone's back was turned or a camera was off of him for just the right amount of time. The media have often scrutinized Arkham's security for his frequent successful escapes as being one of a corrupt system, but it's never been that simple. For as insane as he truly is, as demented as he portrays himself, the one thing about him that truly scares me - divorced from that feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever he's out there, knowing that the bodycount is only going to rise until I find him - is his inhuman capacity for patience. There's no telling what kind of things he's hidden within the Asylum, half-finished or near completion, that will buy his way out the next time that something like this happens. I've scanned the grounds of Arkham Island with state-of-the-art imaging technology multiple times, and he always somehow finds a way.

This time was ...particularly brutal. Whenever he mixed the components of the bomb together, it set off a chain reaction throughout the entire ward that he was being held in. Thirty-seven patients in Intensive Treatment, gone in an instant. Thirteen guards. Fifteen doctors, nurses, and general staff. An untold amount of injuries on the lower floors. And what saved his own life when the explosion laid waste to the entire wing? The glass of his cell was coated with a special polymer that was specifically designed to withstand multiple types of attacks. He's used many from the inside. Joybuzzers that emit a sonic frequency. Squirting flowers that spray a military grade chemical agent capable of melting solid concrete. Whoopie cushions filled with poisons and toxins that can slip through the tiniest cracks of a structure and immediately shut down any security officer's nervous system. To say nothing of the bombs, bullets, and brute force that his hired thugs have used in the past to break him free.

That glass was created by Waynetech. And it helped him to perpetrate his own escape without so much as a scratch. He literally couldn't have asked for a better substance to seal himself inside with, and whenever the debris settled from the blast, he simply pushed the door to the cell open after allowing the locks to melt. I could count the number of people capable of pulling off a stunt like that on one hand, but the person I always think of first - the one man in Gotham City who has routinely taken hundreds of lives with every new crime spree - is the one that's currently howling at the chaos he's already began to seed. Following a raid on a Luthorcorp weapons' depot just outside of Bludhaven, the clown actually managed to get his hands on a fully armored caravan. With even a small fraction of Luthor's abandoned military ordinance at his disposal, he and his group of "Hecklers" took to the streets of Gotham and began blowing up random pedestrians with RPG's.

All to hide an intended other crime, of course. He had also managed to spring his latest 'Harley' from Blackgate, one of a dozen women that he personally groomed to look, act, and sound exactly like Harleen Quinzell. The original Harley Quinn managed to see him for the monster that he is and leave him years ago, after all of his physical and psychological abuse finally took their toll. So he's been replacing her ever since, preying on the abused and disenfranchised to get them to see the world in his heavily askewed point of view. He's practically turned it into a science, mentally torturing his marks until they become another cog in his twisted machine. But the most insane part of this is that this latest Harley may actually mean something to that sociopathic degenerate, because I managed to figure out the intent of these so-called random acts of violence: he's been pulling a kidnapping of every practicing Court Judge in the tri-state area. Each one loaded onto an unmarked van, they were driven to a single church in Amusement Mile.

The psychopath... wants to marry his newest Harley. And he wanted to make sure that for every judge that he kidnapped, he could have his assets legally bound to his new bride one at a time. Every single asset he's ever owned. Weapons, safehouses, every piece of his criminal empire. One at a time. It's an act obviously made by someone crazy enough to spend years formulating a bomb powered entirely off of generic cleaning supplies and vending machine leftovers, but it's certainly an act that few would have seen coming. Mercifully, his attempts to kidnap the judges went sideways a little under an hour ago, when each van was intercepted by a member of Oracle's Birds Of Prey, Black Lightning's Outsiders, and Robin's Knights. They've all been identified and placed under the protective custody of Jim's crisis management unit. All that's left now is to bring The Joker himself into custody.

Naturally, that responsibility is one that I'm not willing to take any chances with. Gordon's men have been warned to steer clear, as have the aforementioned groups of agents that made tonight considerably easier. I've already had Alfred tap into the Gotham City Central Power Grid in an effort to create a parameter that spans five blocks of the East End. The Joker's armored van, the last of five that were dismantled by The Batmobile's counter-attack systems, is currently speeding straight into Sprang Avenue and wildly firing a minigun onto the streets. At least five vehicles have been torn apart. My boot slams on the accelerator of The Batmobile's turbo-infused quad engine, bringing me ahead of the traffic and shielding any potential other victims. He won't get the chance to kill anyone else tonight.

"HA! Why, if it isn't my favorite little town mascot! The Gotham City Guano Gifter!", he calls out from the passenger seat. "Fashionably late, as always! You may have ponied up the judges, Bats, but I still hold the trump card! Care to help me shuffle the deck?!"

I'd rather just break your goddamn neck.



No more games. No more of his sick, twisted jokes.

Just me and him. The way it should be.

"Jim, I'm about to intercept. Tell Blackgate that they can hold whatever's left when I'm through."

"Careful with him. We need him relatively intact to be able to stand trial. He's committed a capital offense this time. An insanity plea might not be enough to keep him off of death row."

"At this point..."

I hit the boost on the throttle. The Batmobile's speedometer hits 200 MPH within seconds.

Years ago, I made it my life's mission to reform this city. To clean up it's streets and permanently turn the desperate and the superstitious, cowardly lot that infested Gotham into honest citizens, repentant for their crimes. But The Joker will never repent, and after all these years of trying, I'm done trying to reform him.

"They'd be doing us a favor."

Tonight's the last time he breathes air outside of a concrete block.

I swear to that on my parents' graves.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

@Master Bruce

Batman is APPROVED

Justice League: World in Crisis

Might as well get this one in......

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

S U P E R M A N

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^{_{Clark Joseph Kent/Kal-El of Krypton ♦ Reporter, Daily Planet ♦ Metropolis, Delaware, USA ♦ Justice League}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"By myself, sure, I can do a lot. Together, though? We can do anything."}

By now, most people in the world know the basic story of the Man of Steel and where he came from. On the doomed planet of Krypton, the brilliant scientists Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van placed their infant son Kal into an experimental life-pod, and with him went the last desperate hopes of their world. The pod would land somewhere on the planet Earth-- most likely somewhere in the Midwestern United States-- where a kindly couple (who has remained safely anonymous) raised him to do right by others and use his phenomenal gifts responsibly. Kal would grow up to become Superman, champion of the oppressed and fighter for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

In the years that he has patrolled the skies over Metropolis, Superman has toppled crime lords, foiled invasions from beyond the stars, outwitted malevolent tricksters from higher dimensions, even died and returned to life. He has grown a small family of proteges, including his cousin Kara who once protected National City as Supergirl, his half-human clone who fights crime as Superboy, the genius inventor John Henry Irons who defends against high-tech threats as Steel, and even a super-powered dog he affectionately calls Krypto. Superman has experienced soaring triumphs and heartbreaking tragedies, and he has never faltered in the line of duty, cementing his place as the standard by which all other heroes are measured.

That is the story the world knows, and it happens to be the truth, but not the whole truth. Only a scant handful know that Clark Kent spent most of his childhood and teenage years struggling to fit in, that the idyllic rural town of Smallville, Kansas, never seemed to have a place for him. Or that Clark was very nearly married right out of high school, or that he spent the better part of a decade wandering the world under dozens of aliases, or that he would spend most of his professional career fighting tooth-and-claw for bylines with a rival reporter who would in time become the great love of his life. Even fewer know how hard he took the death of his adopted father, how the loss of his cousin haunts him, how many nights he has woken in a cold sweat thinking of his own demise at the hands of the monster Doomsday. While the whole world watched his funeral, only the closest of his friends and family were there for his wedding to Lois Lane, and only two other members of the Justice League know about Lois and Clark's son Jon, who has begun to develop abilities of his own.

As a new chapter in the life of the Man of Tomorrow begins, Clark faces not just the threats of disasters and super-powered criminals, but the pressures of leadership, the challenges of fatherhood, and the simple strain of getting older. In a world now full of costumed heroes and villains, it gets more and more difficult for him to keep up, and it may be impossible for Superman to stay on top for much longer. Still, Clark has determined to do what he was always done: clench his teeth, ball up his fists, and make the impossible happen.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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I want this to be a very straightforward, back-to-basics approach to Superman. While putting him later in life will hopefully make for some interesting character moments in down-time scenes and when bantering with other heroes, the goal in action is to get back to the core of the character and what he does best: action-adventure heroics. Save the day, fight bad guys, and make people feel better as you do it.

I want to show Clark at the top of his game, with action that is intense and exciting to read, clever uses of his considerable powers, and interactions with the other heroes that are fun to play out. He may not have the exuberance of youth anymore, but with age has come experience, discipline, and wisdom learned the hard way. This is as close to a quintessential Superman as I believe I'm capable of writing.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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Clark has been active long enough that he has encountered most if not all of his more notorious villains multiple times, and while his secret identity is hardly common knowledge, there are a relative handful who have sussed it out-- including Lex Luthor.

Kryptonite was successfully synthesized a few years ago in LexCorp labs and then distributed among criminal syndicates and rogue nations by the Legion of Doom, though the synthetic "K-2" is significantly less potent than pure Kryptonite, which is still exceedingly rare.

Kara Zor-El was Supergirl for about three years, before she died heroically in a "Crisis" event that threatened the universe. Her death haunts Clark in much the same way that the loss of Jason Todd haunts Bruce, and is why he is not only uncomfortable with Conner's career as Superboy, but reluctant to let anyone know about Jon's existence, let alone his powers.

S A M P L E P O S T:

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Hider

It had only taken a few seconds for me to chase down Metallo's projectiles, but apparently that's all he needed. I hear what's going on before I see it: the twisting and groaning of a colossal metal structure. Whatever Corben's doing, he's bringing down a whole building around him.

I race towards the sound, and focus my vision on--

Oh boy, here we go...

"LET'S SEE YOU TRY AND STOP ME NOW, BOY SCOUT!"

Metallo's absorbed a skyscraper's worth of steel, adding it to his own frame. All of his upgrades since we last fought have made him deadlier than ever...or so he thinks.

Really, all he's done is given me a great big target.

I fly towards the monstrous cyborg, slow enough for him to keep his attention on me instead of swinging wildly and causing more damage, but fast enough that he can't focus his attacks...or worse, use his Kryptonite.

"Metallo," I say to him, "you're just never going to learn, are you?"

He swings his massive claws at me. I easily dive out of the way.

"You've got so much power, so much potential, and all you do with it is try and hurt people. And if all you know about 'power' is destruction, then you don't deserve any of it."

"SPARE ME THE LECTURE, BLUE! IF YOU WANNA TALK, MAKE YOUR WORDS COUNT, BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA BE YOUR LAST!"

Metallo swings again, and while I could avoid it just as easily as before, he's getting dangerously close to hitting another building. Rather than risk him harming the people inside, I take the full force of Metallo's swipe...before tearing his arm off.

Corben reels back, more from surprise than pain. His kind always seems caught off-guard when I actually start fighting to win. Underestimating me is a mistake that too many of my enemies make.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH! I--....I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

"No, you won't," I say, still holding a schoolbus-sized chunk of what used to be his arm. It's not a boast or a taunt, just a fact. Corben is too much of a danger to everyone around him, and it's well past time to shut him down today.

Metallo's chest plate begins to open up, and his eyes begin to give off a sickly green glow. He's going to try and use the Kryptonite that powers his reactor to poison me.

Too bad for him, he's not going to get that chance.

As he's about to unsheathe the deadly green rock, I hurl the huge piece of debris towards him like an over-sized javelin. The makeshift weapon finds its mark, slamming straight into his chest and covering up the Kryptonite. Metallo staggers back, and I let loose a long burst of heat vision to fuse the metal shut.

With his most powerful weapon taken away from him, I move in for the finish.

"In the end, Corben, you're just a schoolyard bully, who doesn't like it when people start hitting back. And believe me, ...I can hit a lot harder than you."

With that, I swing for the fences.

The shockwave shatters glass for several blocks in all directions, and reverberates throughout Metallo's body. The head has all but caved in, and the rest of the enormous frame begins to buckle and come apart as he falls backwards.

I swoop underneath him, quickly grabbing the few stragglers who haven't cleared the streets yet, and get them to a safe distance before speeding back towards Metallo. If he hits the pavement all in one piece, the impact will bring down the surrounding buildings and kill God knows how many people.

I pick up speed, aiming for a critical location. I find my target, and punch straight through Metallo's body at several times the speed of sound. The resulting explosion rains down debris into the streets, but small enough that it won't cause any serious damage.

I bank hard left and turn around, heading back towards the disaster area to put out the fires and make sure Corben survived. Sure enough, there's enough of Metallo's original frame left to keep him alive, but he's in no condition to keep fighting.

"We're done here, Corben. All that's left now is to clean up the mess you've made."

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

Justice League: World in Crisis

JUSTICE LEAGUE

WORLD IN CRISIS

Years ago, the world changed in ways no one could have ever imagined. The change came first in Metropolis with the appearance of a man in the sky, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Not long after, a caped crusader arose in Gotham City, a dark-night detective waging a one-man war on crime. This was followed by the arrival of a maiden of might, defeating men and monsters alike with a golden lasso and unbreakable gauntlets. More super-people arose, from the Fastest Man Alive to the King of the Seven Seas. In time, the various heroes and crimefighters would cross paths, forging loose alliances and friendships. These would solidify into a formal alliance: the Justice League, the greatest humanitarian force the world has ever known.

With these new protectors and champions, new threats and dangers arose for them to face. Almost as soon as the term 'super-hero' was coined, their opposite number, the super-villains, began to crawl out of the darkness. Superman would find himself in perpetual conflict against the machinations of Lex Luthor, the brutality of General Zod, the otherworldly weapons of Brainiac. The Batman would wage war against the madness of the Joker, the diabolical mind-games of the Riddler, the shadowy plots of Ra's al Ghul. The Flash would be tested time and time again by the combined villainy of the Rogues, the Green Lantern would battle across the stars with the tyrannical Sinestro, and Aquaman would find his reign of the seas threatened by the treachy of the Ocean Master and the firepower of Black Manta. As the Justice League would come to embody virtue and heroism, the Legion of Doom would strike fear into the hearts of many as personifications of evil.

Years have passed since the first time the people of Metropolis were made to look up in the sky. Since that time, the Justice League has only grown, both in number and in influence. Comprised of thirteen of the world's most capable heroes, and at the center of a larger network of crimefighters and rescuers numbering into the hundreds, the League has done the impossible on innumerable occasions. Thwarting alien invasions, global catastrophes, international crime syndicates, incursions from parallel universes, and omnipotent hostile gods is, as some say, all in a day's work. Still, the work is never done; even at the height of their power and influence, the Justice League is far from unbeatable. Dangers arise at every turn, arch-villains plot in the shadows to strike once again, and innocent lives hang in the balance.

For every hero, there are more than their fair share of villains. For every victory, another challenge arises. For every day saved, another calamity looms to throw the world in crisis.

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GameMaster: AndyC
Assistant GM: Master Bruce
Discord Chat: (Coming Soon)

S Y N O P S I S:
World in Crisis is a co-operative RPG set in the DC Universe. In it, players will portray members of the Justice League, and will attempt to stop disasters, solve mysteries, and fight villains thrown at them by the Game Master. While it does include a very simple dice mechanic (described in the Gameplay section), that is meant primarily as a writing prompt for the players, hence me putting it in Advanced instead of Tabletop (though I will move it there if the mods deem it necessary). As this is more of an experimental format, this game is not meant to continue perpetually, but will end after one “Season” once the larger Crisis is concluded.

G E N E R A L R U L E S:

Hider

* Stay true to the personality and abilities of the character. Batman doesn’t dance in the flowers. Clark Kent is not Homelander. While we are not playing in any particular iteration of the DC Universe, it should at least be recognizable as a "mainstream" DC setting.

* Do NOT talk down to other posters or disrespect another poster’s writing. We are not all Stan Lee or Shakespeare. Constructive criticism is okay as long as it is not offensive. This rule applies even if a poster asks for feedback.

* Communicate with others in your arc. This is key to the fun. It doesn’t matter how many fights you win, it matters if the fights were written well.

* If you are collaborating with another player and you do not hear from them for 1 week, and they have not let us know of an absence either in the OOC or through PM's either directly to you or the GM's, feel free to move on without them.

* The Game Masters have the final say in matters of character acceptance. You are welcome to alter the character to make it less powerful or more creative, but arguing with the Game Masters is not allowed. This is a game, let it be fun.

* You are allowed one character at a time.

* This is a working environment, so you can travel to different places using your powers or vehicles. Don't miraculously pop up unless you're a teleporter or such.

* Don't do anything RANDOM like chopping off board user's heads or what not, unless you're a villain chopping off NPC victims heads, then whatever, go with it, as long as it's not technically RANDOM. Again, remember to stay true to the character's personality and abilities.

* If you want to take part in this, just fill out an app and your name and character will appear on the roster, pending approval. Applications will have a 24-hour period for competing players to put in their own application, before the GMs decide upon and approve or decline it.

* This game is essentially a PG-13 game. Use your discretion for swearing and explicit content in posts. Some swearing is okay, but don't overdue it. Please don't make me amend this down the line.

* No obscene topics! NO exceptions will be made for the RPG.

* People who disobey these rules, some more major than the others, will get BOOTED by the Game Masters.

*If you violate the rules and manage to get yourself banned from this game (or the discord chat), we reserve the right to write your character out of the game in any way that we as GM's see fit.

G A M E P L A Y:

This campaign uses simple dice mechanics to generate Events, and for the heroes to put Effort towards resolving them. The die roller for this game can be found here.

Hider

At the start of the game, the GM will generate a Crisis, a large world-spanning threat perpetrated by a Mastermind villain. The exact nature of this Crisis and who is behind it is unknown to the heroes, but will be uncovered as they resolve Events.

Twice per week, the GM will roll on a table to generate a new Event that the players can resolve. These can be Disasters that endanger the lives of civilians, Mysteries that require keen eyes and sharp wits, or Villains that attack the heroes directly. The exact details of the Event and how the players resolve them shouldn’t be too different from any standard play-by-post RPG, though there are a couple of mechanics that make the game unique. Each event has three factors that the players must account for: the Location, the Target Number, and the Timer.

The Location is the area in which the Event is taking place: a character in Gotham City cannot suddenly show up to help with an Event happening in Tokyo, for instance. The Target Number is the amount of Progress the heroes need to make in order to resolve the Event-- think of it like the Event’s “Hit Points.” The Timer is how long the heroes have to resolve the Event. The Timer is set at the start of an Event, and is reduced by 1 every time an attempt is made to resolve the Event, or if a full day passes with no heroes attempting to resolve the Event. If an Event is resolved, good things happen. If an Event Timer reaches 0 without being resolved, bad things happen.

Each day, the GM will provide an update post, reducing the Timers, and potentially adding a Twist to a current Event. Twists are new elements that change the landscape of the Event for better or for worse. These can be good things like an NPC hero or sidekick arriving on the scene to provide assistance, or bad things like a villain exploiting a hero's weakness to reduce their ability to make Progress. Like the Crises, Twists are generated at random.

Players are allowed 1 post per day, with a minimum of 3 complete paragraphs, recommended no more than 10. In that post, they can do the following:

Make Progress in an Event: Before the player begins to write the post, they will determine how much Effort their character is using, then roll a die to make Progress towards resolving the Event. The die roll signifies how well your character is doing at resolving the Event, and should be reflected in how the player writes the post.

Minimal/Struggling Effort: 1d4
Standard Effort: 1d6
Empowered Effort: 1d12, can only use again after spending one post with Minimal/Struggling Effort
Maximum Effort: 1d20, cannot use again without a Down Time post

For each additional Hero at an Event, add +1 to the die roll.

Extra Effort, Stress, and Catastrophe:
If a player is dissatisfied with the result of their die roll for Progress, they can choose to put in Extra Effort and roll an additional 1d6. If they do this, however, their Stress Level goes up by 1. If a hero has at least 1 Stress, then they run the risk of causing a Catastrophe during an Event, if their next Effort roll is lower than or equal to their Stress Level (for example, a hero with a Stress Level of 3 will cause a Catastrophe if their next die roll is 3 or lower). A hero’s Stress Level remains the same unless they Banter with another hero, or spend a post in Down Time to reduce it to 0.

A Catastrophe will render the hero unable to contribute to the Event-- this could be the hero being severely injured by a villain, causing a horrific amount of collateral damage that they must break away to contain, or otherwise being taken out of action. A character who has suffered a Catastrophe must make a Recovery post to be able to participate in another Event.

Banter:
A player can reduce the Stress of another hero at an Event by playing out a short skit with them. This is the only instance wherein players are allowed to post more than once per day, in order to keep an interaction going, but for mechanical purposes the entire Banter only counts once. All characters engaging in Banter reduce their Stress by 1.

Travel:
A hero cannot suddenly appear out of thin air in order to participate in an Event; they must first spend time traveling to the correct Location.

Down Time:
A hero can spend time with friends, loved ones, etc, to clear their head for the next Event. Reduce the hero’s Stress Level to 0. A player can only make a Down Time post if they are not currently participating in an Event.

Recovery:
If a hero suffers a Catastrophe, they cannot participate further in the Event, and must spend time Recovering to be able to participate in another Event. This can be seen as spending time in the hospital, training harder after a defeat, getting a pep talk from a mentor, etc. Their Stress Level will remain the same as it was before suffering the Catastrophe, but otherwise they will be back in the game.

Once per day, the Game Master will post to update the Timers on all active Events, and roll to see if there are any Twists that occur. A Twist is a change in the Event that may be good or bad-- such as raising or lowering the Target Number, extending or reducing the Timer, or affecting the type of Effort a hero can put into their next attempt to resolve the Event.

R O S T E R & C A N O N

Hider

The roster is limited to members of the Justice League. Since the canonical membership of the League is gargantuan, to keep things simple, the initial active roster of the League is 13 members (2 of whom act as a duo):

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
The Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
Green Arrow
Black Canary
The Atom
Hawkman and Hawkwoman
Zatanna

Other members can only be added if all 12 have been claimed, or if one of the initial 12 dies and must be replaced. Other heroes in the DC Universe do exist, and can show up as assists or peripheral characters to interact with, but for the moment will not be playable.

This game subscribes to a mentality of “casual canon,” wherein the exact details of a character’s history can be fudged a bit, so long as they are still immediately recognizable as the character being portrayed. Major events such as the Death and Return of Superman, the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Knightfall, etc., have happened in some form or another, but the exact details and sequence of events is not particularly important; this is a game that is meant to focus on the here and now. It can be assumed that all of the major heroes, villains, and legacy characters have already debuted and are active somewhere in the world.

You can mix and match elements from a character’s various incarnation to play them how you want, so long as the core elements of the character are preserved. The Teen Titans iteration of Robin, for instance, is canonically Dick Grayson, but uses the look and equipment of Tim Drake. Similarly, Green Lantern doesn't necessarily need to be Hal Jordan, for example, but it should be at least one of the 'main' Green Lanterns.

Also, while this is not a particular iteration of the DC Universe, it is not meant to be an alternate or "Ultimate" DCU either. Wild reinterpretations of a character or alternate casting will be looked at on a case-by-case basis: unless you've got a really great concept for Kong Kenan, for instance, it should be assumed that Superman will be Clark Kent.

A P P L I C A T I O N
To apply, please copy, paste, and fill out the Application below:

Hider

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

A L I A S

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^{_{B I R T H N A M E ♦ O C C U P A T I O N ♦ L O C A T I O N ♦ A F F I L I A T I O N}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"Witty Quote"}

This is where you outline your vision for the character including a basic biography, a summary of their abilities and equipment, and prominent NPCs that may show up in the story.

C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:

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Why do you want to play this character, what is the driving motivation behind both this desire and the character themselves. What do you hope to accomplish and where do you want the character's story/stories to go?

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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Any additional notes you want to put either for yourself, the GM's or other players to help clarify your vision or continuity.

S A M P L E P O S T:

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A sample post that can be used in the IC if you so desire upon acceptance. This post should provide an example of your vision for the desired character. This sample post should meet all standards outline in the rules and additionally include dialogue, mannerisms and other actions representative of your intended portrayal.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

Battletech; Jihad

Interested. I've never been crazy about the Jihad era, but I'm down for some Battletech in any form.

DC Universe: Genesis - Justice For All

"Whoooah, did you feel that?!"

"....feel what?"

"Oh, that's right, your abilities are from boring old 'science.' You're not tuned in to the greater goings-on in the metaphysical dimensions. It really must be so dreary, only seeing the world through one plane of reality."

"Yeah, keep talking down to me, and you'll get flattened. See how you like your dimensions and planes when you're only two-dimensional."

"Whatever. Point is, something big just made a splash in the higher realms. Like, your mom doing a cannonball off of the high-dive, that's the kind of splash we're talking."

"Screw you, Jinx."

"In your dreams. Anyway, normally anyone accessing magic doesn't leave much of a ripple-- even the more powerful casters can't be felt from too far off. But that, that was something powerful. And dangerous."

"Think it's got something to do with the girl that the fat kid is after?"

"I'd bet on it, and I'd win. I knew the charm I'd put on Tubby would increase the likelihood of him bumping into them to an eventual certainty, but I didn't think we'd get our payoff so soon. Who would've thought good old Fatso would get lucky before you?"

"Bite me."

"Loser."

"Brat."

"Oaf."

"Bitch."

"......."

"....you wanna make out a little before we go find them?"

".....thought you'd never ask."

---

"What the hell?" I say to myself, looking around my room in disbelief. "What is this?"

Everything has gone black, the world around me enveloped in a darkness beyond the deepest shadow, the strongest ink. Yet I can still see the shapes of things, outlines in stark white. No shades, no gradients, only black and white in razor-sharp contrast.

My vision isn't all that's changed. I can feel everything in the room-- every piece of dirty laundry crumpled in the corner, every page of my mother's old books of magic and occultism, every molecule of air. Everything that the darkness touches, I feel as if I am touching them, holding them, maybe even able to move them....

I look at a sock near the corner of my bed, and imagine it moving a few inches to the left. It moves a few inches to the left.

".....you can't be serious," I say, still not believing what I'm seeing. "I did not just accidentally discover how to control my magic powers. That would be stupid."

Right. As stupid as a bubbly alien space-princess crash-landing right in front of me.

I imagine the sock lifting into the air. It lifts into the air. I imagine my clothes neatly folding themselves and being sorted into their drawers. They neatly fold themselves and sort into their drawers. I imagine--

I imagine seven billion mortal souls bending to my will--

--....I imagine my mom's old journal floating into my hand. It floats into my hand. I--

I imagine oceans of blood and fire, the air choked with ash and ringing with the screams of--

...I imagine my feet lifting off of the ground. I lift off of the ground, hovering in the air with my sock and my book, and I imagine--

I imagine the innocent defiled, the weak trampled, and the proud laid low for all of eternity--

Rachel!

"........Mom?"

---

"....and that's why Fourth Edition was basically the worst thing since cancer," my new friend Alex of the Dorks regales me with his knowledge.

"Truly, it sounds to have been a dark time," I say with solemnity. "But I have the confusion: if you had already purchased the rules from the Third Edition, did these Wizards of the Coast come and steal them from you when they released their evil Fourth Edition?"

"....well no, we still had all the rulebooks and stuff."

"Did the ruling class of your city impose an unjust decree and declare it illegal to play the Third Edition?"

"....I mean, no, there was nothing like that."

"Then why did you not continue consuming the entertainment you enjoyed, and merely avoid that which you did not?"

Alex sputters and stammers for a moment, before exclaiming "I-it's not that simple, okay?!" I believe I have somehow offended him with this line of query. Even if he is not the mighty warrior I believed him to be, I do not wish to hurt the feelings of those I would have as my friends.

"I see I still have much to learn," I nod, hoping to assuage him as I change the subject. "Tell me more of this LARP and your conquests in--"

There is a sound like a roar of thunder, and in the apartment above, I hear Rachel wail in anguish.

Righteous fire burns in my hands, and I take leave of gravity as I rush to her aide.

---

I'm vaguely aware of my body collapsing back onto the floor, but at the sound of my mother's voice I barely notice it. I've been seeing her, hearing her, more often in my dreams lately, but this isn't a dream this time.....I think.

Rachel, you have found the Sigil Words. You have awakened your Soul Self. I.....I'm so proud of you, my little Raven.

"Don't call me that," I say, almost by reflex. "This isn't real. You're not real. You're......Mom, you're......"

I'm gone, Rachel. I was able to leave an echo of myself here for you, but even that will fade. My true soul is....where I belong now. With your father.

"...my father? You mean Sebastian?"

Sebastian Blood was only a vessel, a shell to be used by his master. I did not know who he was, what he was, until it was too late. Even so, I did his will, and for that, I can never be forgiven. But you can fight him, my Raven. You can deny him, and you can defeat him. You must--

DAUGHTER.

"Mom?!?! What's--"

Rachel, listen! You must--

I SEE YOU.

"You.....what are you?!"

You can defeat him, Rachel, but not here, not yet! First, you--

YOU HAVE GROWN POWERFUL. THAT IS GOOD.

"Get out of my head, get--"

YOUR POWER WILL BECOME MINE. AND TOGETHER, WE WILL BURN THIS WORLD.

"No! I'm not going to burn anything, I'm not going to hurt anyone!"

Resist him, Rachel! Deny him!

YOU CANNOT RESIST. IT IS WHAT YOU ARE. AFTER ALL....

...YOU HAVE TOO MUCH OF YOUR FATHER IN YOU.

"N-no, that's.....that's not--"

RACHEL!

RACHEL...

---

"RACHEL!

I fly as quickly as I can up the stairs and force the door open. I find my friend engulfed in darkness, her face a mask of horror and dismay, as her furniture and trappings spin through the air like a whirlwind.

"I'm not.....I won't....." is she says between gasps and sobs. "....no......n-no...."

I do not know what has overcome her. But I cannot let her suffer so.

"I am here, Friend Rachel!" I call out, stepping into the darkness and swatting away a pair of jeans that whirl through the air towards me. "I will assist you in whatever ways I can!"

More detritus from the room assails me. A chair, a sharpened writing implement, a pair of undergarments, all try to bludgeon or pierce or smother me as the darkness and chaos of the room swirl and crash. Still, I persist.

"....no...." Rachel whimpers, her eyes full of tears.

"Hear me, Friend Rachel!" I implore. "Whatever this is, you must fight it! I have seen your strength, I have seen the good in your soul! You can resist this, you can defeat it!"

Since coming to this world, I have often felt like a failure and a fool. But I persist, because I must. I am Starfire, and the flames of Starfire must burn ever bright, even the darkest of shadows.

Here, in the deepest blackness I have ever seen, I let my light shine, and I take my friend's hand.

"You can defeat it," I assure her, with all of my heart, "But you will not have to defeat it alone."

I see her blink. I feel her hand tighten around mine.

And what she had said as a whimper, she now says with conviction.

"No."

The darkness shudders, and the debris flying around in the room falls to the floor.

"NO," she repeats, staring at some point beyond me. "You won't have me. Or anyone else. This isn't your power. It's mine. And I'm going to use it to stop you."

The swirling, chaotic mass of shadows suddenly goes still. And it takes form.

Around Rachel, what was a whirl of grasping tendrils becomes a pair of wings. The shape of one of this world's avian creatures.

A powerful black bird, which lets out a piercing cry.

.....then she collapses into my arms, and the darkness dissipates like fog in smoke.

"Rachel!" I exclaim as she flutters in and out of consciousness. "Are you all of the right? Do you require the assistance of a healer?"

"Nnnnngggghh," she groans. "I'm.....not really sure. I must have, I don't know....blacked out. I had a crazy nightmare, I started moving things around with my mind, and then--"

"...I do not believe this was an event of the dreaming," I tell her. "Your gifts of power, they were active. I saw them throw this whole chamber into darkness."

She blinks in disbelief, and looks to me. "So that was all real? I'm not seeing things?"

"I believe you are still capable of sight," I answer, unsure how that is relevant, "but yes, I believe your experience was true."

"........shit."

"....you are in need of evacuating your bowels?"

"No, it's.....it's an exclamation. Something you say when things are about as bad as they can get."

"I see," I say to her. "If you would like some comforting, I would be happy to provide an application of the snuggles."

"Not right now," she shakes her head, and stands up, dusting herself off. "We've got some work to do. But first, I think we ought to come up with an explanation for that Alex guy. We probably scared him pretty bad there."

"Oh, of course!" I exclaim, as I begin to float toward the staircase. Then, remembering Rachel's admonitions about 'freaking people out' by flying around them, I place my feet on the floor and walk down the stairs. "My apologies, friend Alex, but friend Rachel has--"

I look down into the book store, and see that friend Alex is nowhere to be found.

Justice League: World In Crisis (GM-led co-op superhero game) Interest Check

Well, between myself, MB, Renegade, MST, and Peter Porker (and possibly Hound), that gives us 5, which I believe is enough to justify moving forward. I'll work on the sign-up/OOC thread over the weekend, and should have it up by Monday.

Justice League: World In Crisis (GM-led co-op superhero game) Interest Check

Also, this may technically belong in Tabletop, so if need be, I'll move it there.

Justice League: World In Crisis (GM-led co-op superhero game) Interest Check

JUSTICE LEAGUE

WORLD IN CRISIS

S Y N O P S I S:
World in Crisis is a co-operative RPG set in the DC Universe. In it, players will portray members of the Justice League, and will attempt to stop disasters, solve mysteries, and fight villains thrown at them by the Game Master. While it does include a very simple dice mechanic (described in the Gameplay section), that is meant primarily as a writing prompt for the players, hence me putting it in Advanced instead of Tabletop (though I will move it there if the mods deem it necessary). As this is more of an experimental format, this game is not meant to continue perpetually, but will end after one “Season” once the larger Crisis is concluded.

G A M E P L A Y:

Hider

At the start of the game, the GM will generate a Crisis, a large world-spanning threat perpetrated by a Mastermind villain. The exact nature of this Crisis and who is behind it is unknown to the heroes, but will be uncovered as they resolve Events.

Twice per week, the GM will roll on a table to generate a new Event that the players can resolve. These can be Disasters that endanger the lives of civilians, Mysteries that require keen eyes and sharp wits, or Villains that attack the heroes directly. The exact details of the Event and how the players resolve them shouldn’t be too different from any standard play-by-post RPG, though there are a couple of mechanics that make the game unique. Each event has three factors that the players must account for: the Location, the Target Number, and the Timer.

The Location is the area in which the Event is taking place: a character in Gotham City cannot suddenly show up to help with an Event happening in Tokyo, for instance. The Target Number is the amount of Progress the heroes need to make in order to resolve the Event-- think of it like the Event’s “Hit Points.” The Timer is how long the heroes have to resolve the Event. The Timer is set at the start of an Event, and is reduced by 1 every time an attempt is made to resolve the Event, or if a full day passes with no heroes attempting to resolve the Event. If an Event is resolved, good things happen. If an Event Timer reaches 0 without being resolved, bad things happen.

Players are allowed 1 post per day, with a minimum of 3 complete paragraphs, recommended no more than 10. In that post, they can do the following:

Make Progress in an Event: Before the player begins to write the post, they will determine how much Effort their character is using, then roll a die to make Progress towards resolving the Event. The die roll signifies how well your character is doing at resolving the Event, and should be reflected in how the player writes the post.

Minimal/Struggling Effort: 1d4
Standard Effort: 1d6
Empowered Effort: 1d12, can only use again after spending one post with Minimal/Struggling Effort
Maximum Effort: 1d20, cannot use again without a Down Time post

For each additional Hero at an Event, add +1 to the die roll.

Extra Effort, Stress, and Catastrophe:
If a player is dissatisfied with the result of their die roll for Progress, they can choose to put in Extra Effort and roll an additional 1d6. If they do this, however, their Stress Level goes up by 1. If a hero has at least 1 Stress, then they run the risk of causing a Catastrophe during an Event, if their next Effort roll is lower than or equal to their Stress Level (for example, a hero with a Stress Level of 3 will cause a Catastrophe if their next die roll is 3 or lower). A hero’s Stress Level remains the same unless they Banter with another hero, or spend a post in Down Time to reduce it to 0.

A Catastrophe will render the hero unable to contribute to the Event-- this could be the hero being severely injured by a villain, causing a horrific amount of collateral damage that they must break away to contain, or otherwise being taken out of action. A character who has suffered a Catastrophe must make a Recovery post to be able to participate in another Event.

Banter:
A player can reduce the Stress of another hero at an Event by playing out a short skit with them. This is the only instance wherein players are allowed to post more than once per day, in order to keep an interaction going, but for mechanical purposes the entire Banter only counts once. All characters engaging in Banter reduce their Stress by 1.

Travel:
A hero cannot suddenly appear out of thin air in order to participate in an Event; they must first spend time traveling to the correct Location.

Down Time:
A hero can spend time with friends, loved ones, etc, to clear their head for the next Event. Reduce the hero’s Stress Level to 0. A player can only make a Down Time post if they are not currently participating in an Event.

Recovery:
If a hero suffers a Catastrophe, they cannot participate further in the Event, and must spend time Recovering to be able to participate in another Event. This can be seen as spending time in the hospital, training harder after a defeat, getting a pep talk from a mentor, etc. Their Stress Level will remain the same as it was before suffering the Catastrophe, but otherwise they will be back in the game.

Once per day, the Game Master will post to update the Timers on all active Events, and roll to see if there are any Twists that occur. A Twist is a change in the Event that may be good or bad-- such as raising or lowering the Target Number, extending or reducing the Timer, or affecting the type of Effort a hero can put into their next attempt to resolve the Event.

R O S T E R & C A N O N

Hider

The roster is limited to members of the Justice League. Since the canonical membership of the League is gargantuan, to keep things simple, the initial active roster of the League is 12 members:

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
The Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
Green Arrow
Black Canary
The Atom
Hawkman and Hawkwoman
Zatanna

Other members can only be added if all 12 have been claimed, or if one of the initial 12 dies and must be replaced. Other heroes in the DC Universe do exist, and can show up as assists or peripheral characters to interact with, but for the moment will not be playable.

This game subscribes to a mentality of “casual canon,” wherein the exact details of a character’s history can be fudged a bit, so long as they are still immediately recognizable as the character being portrayed. You can mix and match elements from a character’s canon to play them how you want, so long as the core elements of the character are preserved.