Rumours of heroes have been around since the Second World War, where a group known as the Invaders fought with the allies against Axis forces. Eventually these stories would become nothing but popular fiction through the work of Marvel Comics Group. Superheroes fell into myth, a popular thing for people to look up to solely for entertainment purposes. TV Shows, Games and Movies all played with the heroic element, and the concept of people with super-powers.
The early 1970s brought with it the public knowledge of the existence of Mutants. For decades people with strange abilities had surfaced, but these tended to appear like hearsay and rumour, usually people in such situations would disappear rather quickly. However in the 1970s the Brotherhood formed under the council of three Mutants: Charles Xavier, Erik Lensherr, and Raven Darkholme. These mutants were public about their abilities and what they could do, and announced that they would help usher in a new age for Humanity and Mutants together.
However the Brotherhood disbanded in the 1980s after an altercation between the Brotherhood and the US.Government. Mutants were rallying for better treatment, as there was an increase in police brutality towards their kind as they were seen as not human and thus did not have human rights under the constitution. During this rally protestors who felt that Mutants should be registered and regulated arrived at the rally and violence ensued. After this Xavier went on to found the Xavier Institute of Higher learning in order to promote humans and mutants living side by side and also founded the X-Men, a secret group of mutants who would work against the efforts of Erik Lensherrs reformed Brotherhood who acted in the efforts of mutant supremacy. The Governments of the world all take different stances, but there is still a strong divide in many countries including the United States on whether Mutants should be treated fairly, or registered.
The world continued to turn, till in the early 2000s Superheroes began to emerge in different shapes or forms. Unlike mutants who just existed these people worked to benefit the populace, usually remaining anonymous for fear of retribution towards their families. This became an increasing problem with the emergence of super villains also increased. They took on identities such as Iron Man, Thor, Spider-man, Wasp and some even worked in pairs such as Ant-man and the Wasp. In the coming years they gained more and more popularity while also equally ggaining some notoriety. At a time when their purpose was being questioned by the government, Galactus arrived.
A giant being that tore landed in the centre of Kansas tearing through everything it came across threatening to consume the entire world. A group of Earths Mightiest Heroes came together in order to fight back this scourge. This group would later be called the Avengers, naming themselves after the heroes that fell on that fateful day.
Though as the world returns to it's now normality something stirs in the shadows of New York.
|| Major Events ||
Also known as TL;DR
1941: America joins the Second World War, the Invaders are supposedly formed following Captain America. 1952: Marvel Comics Groups releases the first Captain America comic book, many now accept that Captain America was a propaganda piece. 1975: The Brotherhood of Mutants forms, Mutants become common public knowledge. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D) is formed to try and control these threats. 1980: Fights break out at a peaceful rally between the Brotherhood and a group of protestors. The Brotherhood disbands. 1981: The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning opens it's doors. 1985: The X-Men are formed to combat 'Magnetos' reformed Brotherhood. 2000s: Heroes begin to crawl out of the woodwork, sadly they also bring with them a new strain of villains. 2009: U.S. Government discusses the prospect of Mutant Registration. 2015: Galactus attacks, the Avengers form.
S.H.I.E.L.D is still a secret organisation.
|| Rules ||
1.1 - Although I am the GM, this game is both yours and mine. If everyone takes ownership of this game and cares for it, hopefully we can make sure it thrives.
2.1 - No taking legacies/villains without the person playing the originals consent. Any/all legacies and villains being applied for without their title character present will be carefully examined.
2.2 - Only Marvel Comics characters can be played, edits can be made to their history but the character should stay somewhat true to the source material.
2.3 - If you want to edit a characters backstory please keep it true to all that has been established so far. If you really want to do something that changes someone's CS feel free to PM them.
2.4 - Any OC's should be minor characters.
3.1 - Gamewide events should be discussed first.
3.2 - Always make sure you check with someone before you collaborate, collaboration should help tell the story not tell the story.
4.1 - Time travel without reasonable cause is forbidden.
5.1 - Introductory Arcs must not be major arcs (that change the characters life forever), and must be completed before interaction or a second character is applied for. This is to minimize retconning if someone drops out.
|| Character Sheet ||
Your Name: Character Name: Real Name Character Alias: Superhero/villain handle Character Allignment: Where does their moral compass point? Hero, Walking the Line, or Villain? Character Appearance: Picture or description is fine. Characters Abilities: Super-powers etc. Go here. Characters Skills: What are they good at, that isn't a result of their abilities? Origin Story: At least include backstory if your initial story arc is the character's origin story. Story Arcs: List the Arcs you have planned with a (brief) explanation. Supporting Cast: What NPCs are you going to be using? This can include Allies, Friends, Enemies, Family, Lovers, Pets. Sample Post: Alternatively you can link to previous work. Important, doesn't need to tie into your first Arc but can if you want.
In order to allow the GM's (that means Spud and I) to control the OP and update the roster, we will be migrating over to a new thread. This does NOT mean we are rebooting. We will be continuing from where we are currently in a new thread. This is more of a housekeeping move, since it does not look good for a roleplay where the OP is not even involved with the game anymore.
Moral Alignment (Hero, Villain, Walking the Line): Walking the Line
Affiliation (what group/team/organization, if any, is your character affiliated with?):Formerly the Imperial Guard
Character Origin & Backstory:
* Note that the majority of the Imperial Guard has been untouched as far as backstory, however many of them are based on DC's own Legion of Superheroes.
C'reon was once a miner and traveled to several worlds such as Sparta, Zenn La, and Xandar. Upon finding a new energy source on several large asteroids, something like electric lava that would later be dubbed 'ultra energy', a rival co-worker named D'avo pushed C'reon into the glowing fissure. Left for dead, C'reon became one with the energy and escaped what would have been his grave several weeks later. Drifting through space without the need for air or a space suit, he was recruited into the Imperial Guard Training Academy.
Becoming a member of the Imperial Guard, he first followed the orders of Majestros D'Ken. The princess Lilandra, sister of the majestros, grew attached to the drifter. For some time a secret romance bloomed, however it was shot down for awhile during the time D'Ken fell into a coma and Lilandra stepped up as Majestrix. Just as their romance/flirting was discovered by Gladiator, D'Ken awoke to resume the throne and immediately threw Starbolt in shackles. However, Starbolt recently broke free of his moon based prison. With civil war brewing among the Shi'ar, C'reon was the least of their worries. However, Gladiator has sworn to bring him in for his Majestros.
Powers and Abilities (What can your character do? What can't they do?): Starbolt is completely made up of the 'ultra-energy' he discovered, something of a mixture of lava and electricity. This form gives him the ability to survive without eating, flight, generation and manipulation of ultra-energy blasts in the form of fiery bolts, and increased strength and endurance. Starbolt can control the temperature of his energy form as well, and survive in space without need of oxygen or a space suit. Starbolt's maximum lift is roughly ten tons [20,000 pounds]. Using heat and air currents, he can fly at supersonic speeds (600 to 1,000 mph).
Sample Story Arcs: Give 2-3 ideas on where you want to go with your character.
Fallen Star: C'reon's ship crash lands on Earth. Poor guy got shot down by Rocket and Groot, who're looking to score the Shi'ar bounty for his head...
The Good, the Bad, and the Gladiator: The field leader of the Imperial Guard, Gladiator, catches up to the wanted Starbolt. Can C'reon survive a confrontation with a super-man?
Sample Post (This is used as an introduction to your writing – try to keep it to around three paragraphs or more and try to include dialogue):
Several months ago...
Starbolt walked down a long hall in the Emperor's Palace on alert. The palace itself was about the size of a small Earth city. To say somebody could get lost in it was an understatement. C'reon looked all around when suddenly Princess Lilandra jumped out at him and then embraced him for a kiss. If the hero couldn't control the temperature of his energy form this would be a problem, but he enjoyed it while he could. A few moments later Starbolt pulled her away.
"If we don't watch it somebody will catch us, Lilandra. We have to be careful..." Starbolt pleaded.
"I do not care if you are of my people or not, C'reon. I should be able to choose who I wish to be with." the princess proclaimed.
Starbolt looked around for a few moments before turning around.
"I have to get back to my post, before somebody realizes I'm gone..." Starbolt said as he walked away.
Neither of them saw the mohawk'ed Gladiator hiding in the shadows.
Three weeks ago...
Starbolt was in adamantium shackles as well as a power dampening neck device. On the prison planet, that was actually a moon, there were several higher ups walking around in the yard where the prisoners could walk free somewhat. In truth it was more or less airing out after being stuck in cells the size of dog houses. A Shi'ar female, Lilandra in a religious disguise, walked past the former Imperial Guardsman and with a wave of her hand somehow broke or bent one of the chain links enough for Starbolt to separate his hands. Sometime after Lilandra and the other higher ups finished their walk through, after lights out... Starbolt escaped!
Here's a character I started to use in Season 1 before we gave up on the Guardians of Knowhere. I've made a few edits here and there but if I can still jump back in this I'd like to go cosmic and use some lesser knowns and the Shi'ar as enemies and supporting characters [and drop Fredzilla]. I'd be up for creating another Guardians team if there's any takers...
~KL~
At this state of the game, I would prefer accepting characters that have a potential to interact with the current cast in the roleplay. If you can find some people to do some cosmic stuff with that character, that would be fine. However, I would feel more comfortable with a character closer to NYC.
Age: 40 Apparent age: Late 20s Character Appearance: With striking red hair, green eyes, standing at the height of 170cm and weighing 59kg, Natasha Romanov has been described as your classic Russian beauty in terms of facial appearance, hour-glass figure and healthy light-tanned skin. Her red hair and green eyes make her stand out even more, while her honed skills allow her to fade into the crowd despite her striking looks. Arching eyebrows, a delicate jawline and defined cheekbones, one would think her a high-born woman for wealth, poised and elegant.
However, beneath her choice of attire - whether it be her S.H.I.E.L.D. catsuit, a cocktail dress or casual shirt and jeans - lies a well-tone body with lithe muscles and no excess fat. Her skin may look soft and flawless from a distance, but up close, one would be able to see the various scars collected overt the years if uncovered by clothes.
Generally, Natasha does not allow emotions to be expressed on her face, or even in her eyes. She is stoic, quiet, but always observing. On ocassion though, when surrounded by people she is comfortable with, rare smiles and laughter can be drawn out of her. Other times, her eyes become unshuttered, allowing her thought to surface.
Personality: The entirety of Romanov's character is hard to distinguish based on how she lies and tricks people for a living. She is capable of convincingly portraying friendly and flirtatious, timid, vulnerable and scared. For the most part, she is a level-headed, strong-willed and independent woman. Romanov normally maintains a controlled, almost emotionless persona to keep whatever she is thinking a secret unless she is around people she absolutely trusts. Although she is more than willing to rush into deadly battle and other unnerving missions for S.H.I.E.L.D., she is not completely fearless. There are things in the universe much, much, stronger than herself. She knows this, but sometimes, no matter how hard she tries, the fear surfaces, if only for a moment.
Though a very serious agent, Romanov is by no means stuffy and has a sarcastic sense of humor, which mostly surfaces when she is with people whom she is comfortable around, namely her handler, the director and varies other senior agents she has worked extensively with. Romanov is smart and loyal, never forgetting debts she feels owed to any who has saved her, and made a positive change in her life. While tough and at times ruthless, she is still a good person and can be quite heroic in her own right. These qualities usually surface when someone she feels a strong bond with is in danger. And no matter how injured she is in battle, Romanov will go out her way to make sure bystanders are out of harm's way, knowing full well that she is capable of defending herself till the bitter end, unlike civilians. Her decisions are influenced by her loyalty to people, her analysis of a situation, and of course, the possibility of her getting scot-free after.
As a result of her childhood and not being able to trust anyone in the Red Room, she considers her close friends as her family. While she often believe that "Love is for children", that doesn't stop her from forming emotional bonds with her friends. Romanov was sterilized as a rite-of-passage for her graduation from the training she underwent in the Red Room, and even the experimental serums injected into her did not change that. This event affects her deeply, even if she doesn't care to admit it, looking at it as just another advantage with which she can utilise to complete other jobs.
Characters Abilities: Human - super-soldier: The Russian-made serum injected into her during her period in the Red Room has gifted her with the ability to perform at a peak human condition. That doesn't mean hers is comparable with Steve Roger's enhancements, as she doesn't have super-strength or accelerated healing.
Characters Skills: Master Spy: Romanov is a dangerous secret agent highly skilled in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration, and demolitions. Her talents and years of experience have enabled her to reach a high ranking as a special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She often resorts to seducing men to obtain her goals while working undercover and her ability to lie is so extraordinary that Nick Fury created a Lie Detector that he hoped she could not deceive.
Master Martial Artist: Romanov is extremely skilled in the field of martial arts, having mastered arts such as karate, judo, aikido, savate, boxing, lucha-libre style wrestling and multiple styles of kung fu.
Master Acrobat: Romanov incorporates gymnastics and acrobatics into her fighting style as she battles opponents.
Master Assassin: Romanov is very skilled in the art of assassination, considered to be one of the most dangerous assassins in the world. She is known to have killed many people during her time serving the KGB and S.H.I.E.L.D.
Expert Marksman: She is a very accurate marksman skilled in sharpshooting.
Multilingualism: She is fluent in Latin, Russian, English, French, German, Chinese, and various other languages.
Strategic Intellect: Romanov possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (for example, threat assessment, escape plans) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations.
Black Widow's Bite: Electroshock weapon that can deliver powerful electrical discharges from two bracelets worn by Black Widow.
Black Widow's Batons: Electroshock weapons that can deliver powerful electrical shocks to incapacitate her targets.
Garrote: She carries a garrote inside one of her bracelets.
Taser Disks: The buckle of her S.H.I.E.L.D uniform's belt contains small, flat disks that has the capabilities of a standard hand-held taser.
Like any other human, she is susceptible to illness, grievous injuries, critical wounds, and mind control. On top of that, her uniform offers limited protection as it is merely a bulletproof material to some extent, unlike Iron Man's titanium-gold alloy suit, and she doesn't have a vibranium shield either.
There's always something or someone in the world that is stronger than you. That she knows, but has always supressed her fear of the unknown. She is calm, controlled and unflappable. But throw her into a real-life situation where she knows she is genuinely out of her depth and wouldn't be able to defeat in her lifetime and the next (i.e Hulk) and her long-suppressed fears will shatter her cool. There's nothing more overwhelming than staring Death in the face when there're are still a bunch of things uncrossed on your bucket list.
Her loyalty and emotional attachments are at times her strength and her kryptonite. If she has given someone her loyalty, she will always stand by them and help out whichever way possible. But that also allows the same person to hurt her where no one else can: her heart. While her body is trained to withstand the most extreme of torture, her heart is a fragile thing still, and can cripple her emotionally and/or influence some of her decisions.
Origin Story: Natasha Romanova's earliest memories is of her being raised from the very start of her life (that she can remember) by the U.S.S.R.'s "Black Widow Ops" Program. Petrovitch took her in, and with another 28 young female orphans, entered her into the covert "Red Room" facility, where she was trained in combat and espionage. There, she was injected with the Russian-made serum modeled after Erskine's formula. However, the formula was still not up to par, and she was thrown back into the "Black Widow Program". As part of the espionage training, she had artificial memories of a normal childhood implanted, which allows her to seamlessly fabricate a cover story whenever necessary. After her training, she was eventually arranged to marry Alexi Shostakov, a distinguished Soviet test pilot. As a final ceremony to complete her training period, Natasha was sterilized, as to avoid any distractions and focus solely on her missions, which was something she deeply regretted years later, although she had lng since got over it.
The Soviet government intelligence (KGB) decided that the skill set of this couple would make them superb special operatives, and split them up while Alexi was away on a mission. Trained as the Red Guardian, Alexi became the Soviet Union’s answer to the United States’ Captain America. Natasha was told that her husband died in an experimental rocket crash, and was drafted into the KGB. She became their best operative, becoming excellent at fighting and information gathering. During this time she received further training from the Winter Soldier. It was here she was first dubbed the “Black Widow.”
Due to both her expertise and her growing threat to global security, Natasha quickly appeared on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, prompting Director Nick Fury to send Agent Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye, to eliminate her. Hawkeye disobeyed this order, recognizing her skill, and recommended her for recruitment for S.H.I.E.L.D. At the behest of Director Fury, she later defected from Russia and joined the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. From that moment on, she developed a lasting partnership with Barton. Together they had missions in Budapest, Abidjan, and many other locations.
Between the time she was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. and joining the Avenger's Initiative, she ran multiple team and solo missions around the world, assassinations, undercover, surveillance, protection detail and the like, some of which includes watching Tony Stark, taking out known H.Y.D.R.A. bases and retrieving stolen advanced weaponaries from dangerous organisations. After the establishment of the Avengers Initiative, she took part in stopping Galactus and helping to stop the new-rising Underground power.
Story Arcs: - With the reemergance of the Winter Soldier, she set off on a personal, solo mission to track him down ans see if she can break HYDRA's control over him. - Department X wants one of their deadliest assets back and will go to any lengths to get their hands on her. They want her for the serum in her blood and if possible, brainwash her like they did the Winter Soldier. That way, they can both create more super-soldiers and acquire another great asset. [More to come when inspiration strikes...]
Supporting Cast: (if no one claims these canons) Allies & Friends: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, Clint Barton, S.H.I.E.L.D Enemies: The Red Room, H.Y.D.R.A, Department X
She had been tensed since she had found out that Ross sent the others to the Raft – just plucked them off the tarmac in Berlin and dropped them in the middle of the ocean with no stops in between. And now she was annoyed with Steve because he had given her the task of tracking down the confiscated gear when all she really wanted was to get eyes on Clint. Because she knew damn well that the archer hated being confined and she was more worried than she cared to admit about what the last eight days might have done to him. But Steve was still their leader so she acquiesced with a huff of frustration, breaking away from him as soon as they hit the second level and headed down the dark hallway, their best guess as to where Ant Man’s suit, Falcon’s wings and Clint’s bow were locked away.
She found it all in the third place she searched – a tactical weapons armory – and stepped over the unconscious bodies (really, for a fortified prison, it had been far too easy to take everyone out with a gas before they breached) to get to them. Lang’s suit looked unaltered, but Clint’s bow was broken in two and Falcon’s wings laid disassembled on a table, like someone took them apart to try to see how they worked. She checked her watch. It was time to get back to the jet. If everything went off as planned, Steve and the rest of them should be heading there by now.
Quickly, Natasha scanned the pile of gear and grabbed Ant Man’s suit, leaving Sam’s kit behind because it was in too many pieces to carry easily, and really, it’s replicable. She spared a half a second to mourn Clint’s bow – it was his favorite – but grabbed his quiver. It was easily replaceable too, but she knew he was going to be pissed about the bow so she wanted to have something to offer him in consolation. Forty-seven seconds after she entered the armory, she was sprinting down the corridor, making for the quinjet.
When she arrived at the landing bay, a rush of relief swept through her as Wilson entered the jet. Everything went as planned, then. Steve stuck his head out, met her steady gaze with a troubled one before ducking back inside. Apprehension was not enough to break her stride, and Natasha trotted up the rear hatch briskly. Her eyes did a rapid scan before going wide for a split second. Clint laid on a gurney covered in too much blood. It brought back too many bad memories of screwed up missions, of pressing her hands against a gaping wound, of willing her field partner to hold on long enough for the med team. Her mind reeled slightly because it didn't make sense. Did one of the guards somehow remained conscious and managed to get a shot off? The thought was dashed quickly as she catalogued his visible injuries. Raspy breath, swelled eyelid and bruised skin. He had been beaten. But there was no time to stop and ask questions because they still had to get out of here and it was not her job to take care of him. Mission parameters stated that right now her job was to fly them to safety.
Without another word, Natasha headed into the cockpit, strapped into the pilot’s seat, and ignored Steve when he claimed the seat beside her. They kept the silence. It was more important than ever that she remained mentally focused and complete the objective. Once they were in the air and the tension of being caught eased away, she realized that her hand had gone unconsciously to the small pendant around her neck, rubbing the golden arrow with her forefinger. Immediately, her hand went back to the controls and stayed there. Natasha Romanov was not superstitious, had never been and never will be. Either Clint would be okay or he wouldn't, and no sentimental piece of jewelry was going to change that.
Even if deep, deep down, the tiniest, non-cynical part of her entire being wished it would.
Looks good to me. Accepted.
Just note that the lore for this game is not identical to the MCU movies (although you are free to use those as an inspiration for Black Widow). For instance, our current Captain America is a woman. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Ross Barber (Gajana) | Odysseus Laërtiades | Joel Vaughan (Talus)
Three of the Immortals camped outside of the Pacific Point City Hall, taking cover behind a nearby car. These three men rested their back against this car as energy shots soared over the top of the vehicle. One of the men, Odysseus, took any opportunity that he could take to return some fire with his arrows.
“The enemy team has a Hanzo, a Zenyatta, and a Roadhog.” A woman with a British accent communicated with her own allies.
“I’ll make your regret those words.” Odysseus mumbled under his breath as he stood up again to fire another arrow at the woman who had the three heroes pinned down.
“You do know that Hanzo is a video game character and not some sort of derogatory term, right?” Talus cautioned his fellow Immortal.
“Didn’t know.” Odysseus said as he aimed his arrow. “Don’t care.”
Since his target kept blinking into and out of reality, as it seemed, Odysseus had to anticipate where this woman would appear next. Once he had decided where that would be, Odysseus let the arrow fly. If somebody were watching him shooting the arrow, that person would have thought he was aiming at nothing. However, a few moments later, the woman reappeared right in the line of fire of the arrow. Taken by surprise, she did not have the time to react to the incoming projectile. The arrowhead pierced through the woman’s goggles, shattering it on impact. However, instead of the arrow becoming lodged into the woman’s eye, as would be the natural result, she dissolved into numerous pixels before disappearing entirely. The arrow, meanwhile, fell harmlessly to the ground.
“Wow.” Talus complemented Odysseus, “I wouldn’t guess that you knew that headshots in FPS games dealt more damage!”
“I didn’t.” Odysseus bluntly answered the metal man, “Any projectile that pierces through the skull and into the brain is almost always game over.”
“Alright…” Talus said, slightly concerned about the reason why Odysseus decided to go for the headshot. “We better rush in before something else appears to stop us.”
Almost as if he had jinxed them, a giant, green pipe rose up from the pavement. And jumping out of this bizarre pluming was a short man dressed in a red shirt and cap, along with a pair of blue jeans.
“Here we go!” The man shouted as he exited the green pipe.
“This should be a piece of cake.” Odysseus declared as he lifted up his bow again and took aim at the short plumber.
“Wait! I wouldn’t do that!” Talus warned Odysseus, but it was too late. He had already let the arrow fly towards the red-garbed plumber. Immediately, Talus tackled Odysseus to the ground, since he knew what was going to happen.
While the arrow was darting towards the plumber, it appeared as if he would suffer from the same fate as the woman whom Odysseys had already taken down. However, at the last second, the plumber whipped out a yellow cape from his back pocket and swung it in front of himself. When the arrow came into contact with this magical cape, the arrow was somehow turned around and sent back towards where Odysseus had been standing.
“You’re welcome.” Talus told Odysseus, who brushed the metal man off, even though he almost had his own arrow hit himself.
“I’ve got this.” Gajana told his two teammates as he stepped out from behind the car that they had been using as cover. The elephant man towered over the plumber. “Alright, Mario. I think it’s time for you to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom, where you belong.”
Mario, in response to Gajana’s threat, immediately knocked the giant man off his feet by performing a breakdancing move. Then, the red plumber grabbed Gajana’s feet and somehow started to swing him around in a circle, like he would do in his 3D platformer games. After several rotations, Mario finally released Gajana, sending the elephant man into the air. Due to the trajectory of Mario’s throw, Gajana crashed into the roof of the car that Odysseus and Talus were hiding behind.
“Sorry, G.” Talus told Gajana, “You basically brought that upon yourself by uttering the famous last words.”
“Shut up.” Gajana responded.
Then suddenly, countless metallic cubes burst out from the roof of City Hall, scattering in all directions.
“And what are those?” Odysseus pondered aloud.
“You’re the nerd, Talus. Shouldn’t you know.” Gajana said.
“I have no idea what those are.” Talus answered his teammates, “Unless you want to hear the obvious answer.”
Aubrey Adkins | Kyra Muller | Jeffery Zimmerman
This is crazy. This city has been invaded by a horde of video game characters and all because villain, who called himself the Game Genie, has some buff with a single hero, whom no one hear has heard of. Now, I have a human-sized, orange lizardman intent on skewering me. It was almost like a dance that we performed as the lizardman jabbed at me with the lance in his hand while I ducked and side-stepped his attacks.
The lizardman suddenly stopped in his tracks and began inhaling in order to fill up his lungs with air. When his lungs were full, he breathed out a stream of fire. I barely evaded this jet of flames when I leapt backwards. Then the whole attack and dodge routine continued until it tried its fire attack for the second time. However, this time, Kyra, who saw the lizardman use its fire breath moment ago, tossed herself in between myself and the lizard warrior in order to take the brunt of the attack.
“Are you alright?” I asked her in the middle of combat, concerned because she had just been scorched by the lizardman’s fire attack.
“Hey, you’re the one who said that I transform into a Ninetales.” Kyra joked with me as she planted a kick in the lizardman’s gut. Due to her powers, Kyra’s body was able to safely absorb the heat and flames that the lizardman had spewed out. Now that it was momentarily stunned by having the wind knocked out of it, Kyra stepped aside to give me an opening. I then hit him with a webline and yanked him towards me. Using similar physics as a baseball batter would to send the ball flying, with one well-timed punch, I launched the lizardman a few feet in the opposite direction, causing him to land on his back.
“We really need to draw these battles away from the city. We can’t let innocent lives get harmed in the crossfire.” Kyra said. At that moment, I heard a clunk noise of a drawn bow resound off in the distance. Fortunately for Kyra, I was able to snatch the arrow from out of the air before it could hit her by using my enhanced reflexes. Several yards ahead of us, we saw the assailant. She wore yellow clothes, although what was peculiar about her was that she had rabbit ears and weirdly shaped feet.
“But how?” I asked, “These guys are coming out of the woodworks!”
“Thundara!” Another voice, this one of a man, shouted aloud from a distance. Above both Kyra and I, a dark storm cloud formed. If it were not for the timely intervention by the Son of Osiris, who formed a bubble shield around the three of us.
“We just are going to have to find a way.” We heard the Son of Osiris speak inside our heads via his telepathy.
“What’s that?” Kyra pointed towards a large, flying mass that was quickly approaching them. At first, it looked like a swarm of insects. However, once it came closer, it was clear that whatever made up this ‘cloud’ was not organic. They were hundreds of metallic cubes tumbling through the sky, emitting red beams down towards the ground.
@Dedonus So, I do what I always do when applying to a new game. I read the concept OOC OP, and then try to create a character that would fit in that world before applying a specific "character's powers" template (this is how we train people in WoD to think of characters: as people first, powers second), and so I feel like the specific details requested in the initial OP were all answered elsewhere in my character sheet (normally before I even looked at them). Let me know if there's something more you need me to expand on.
Vital Statistics:
Player Name: LegionPothIX
Character Name: ℝoot
Character Age: 23
Character Gender: F
Nationality:
Race: Caucasian
Position: Civilian, Hacker
Title: The Shadow
Character you have created: --- Alias: ℝoot Speech Color: TBD. Probably some aggressive basic (the language) programming color like #5DFC0A or #49E20E. Character Alignment: Walking the Line (toward Evil) Identity: The Shadow / ℝoot (See below for details) Character Personality: INTJ (See below for details) Uniform/costume: Hoodie (with a tank-top under), Cargo Pants, and a Backpack (See Super Suit) Origin Info/Details: Accident (See Origins) Hero Type (Select one): Psychic with a splash of Teech and Gray Matter Power Level (Select one below): City Level (IRL) / World Level (Digital) Powers (Be Specific): Attributes (Select one at each category):
Background: An intellectual styled super, with an ambiguous alignment, ℝoot--or The Shadow as she goes by in the real world is a hacker with a pension for tackling problems in non-linear ways. She lacks the raw physical powers of some other heroes and villains and makes up for it in spades with devious plans and contingencies. Her abilities as a psychic help but she rarely puts herself in a position to rely on them.
Historical Profile:
ℝoot was deep core hacking through government servers looking for something interesting to dump onto the darknet, or potentially wikileaks, when she happened across a read-only file labeled 'Dec 31, 1999' that would change her life forever.
It was the singularity.
That's a bit of an exaggeration, as it was not the event per se, but the beginnings of an Earth borne artificial intelligence trapped in a write-protected unevolving state. The magnitude of the discovery, in addition to the complexity of the data contained therein, overloaded both her mind and the circuitry of her personal EEGARD (see 'Notable Tech' below). When she attempted to steal the file she triggered a security precaution that shorted out every RFID transmitter on her scalp, and sent electroshocks into the nerve-clusters of her brain they were positioned to read.
As she lie helplessly comatose on the ground of her single bedroom apartment a battle began in her stead between her own security system versus the government systems. A battle that came to a draw with the total mutual annihilation of the two networks engaged, and the resulting electrical fire consumed her home. ℝoot nearly died that night, and remained comatose for months as a Jane Doe in a local hospital.
New information creates new pathways in the brain, however, and so too does temporary damage that needs to be bypassed. When she awoke in the hospital after several months of being in a coma she found her mind had been totally rewired. She now possessed the ability to send and receive mental information: a mind-to-mind telepath. In terms that she understood--that of her trade--it was as if other minds were broadcasting on mental wifi over unsecured channels.
She knew these broadcasts were not the same as her mechanical counterparts but in essence humans are basically biological machines that as a species we have a meager and infantile understanding of.
Much of ℝoot's life has been spent confined to a small room well lit with LED monitors and the fiber optic vanity lights that filled many of her computers. Since she was old enough to hold an electronic device ℝoot has, like many of her generation, thrown herself into them entirely. Also like many of her generation she's been disillusioned by the blatant corruption in the social system. Debt driven econimcs enslaving the every-man, blatant corruption on every level of government, and the tyrannical militarization of the police are just a few of the things that drove to a life of crime.
The zero-sum was simple, the whole world and its law, was designed to oppress the masses and she would have nothing more to do with it. ℝoot joined the hacktivist group Anonymous in an effort to collaborate in taking down as much of the corrupt system she could, before realizing that systemic corruption was all that existed in the world outside. Though she made a few like-minded friends in the group, it wasn't until after she gave up on salvaging the system that she really came into her own.
ℝoot is self employed in that she makes money from her skills, but those skills aren't particularly put to service anyone in general. For most of her finances, she simply pilfers government black-budget programs, or shell company bank accounts. However, with the world's currencies all digitized, most of the things she might need money for, are things she can simply spoof the existence of money to acquire.
That's not to say she doesn't put her skills to work in the traditional sense. While the system is corrupted to the core, she still believes there are users whom really do mean well, and often takes on charges by way of legitimate charities and NPOs. Particularly high on her list of crusades is public education foundations who legitimately seek to better the world for the many millions of civilians just like her.
This self-appointed title based off of the titular character of an Old Time Radio Show of the same name. The main character of which had similar abilities to ℝoot, and provided her a sense of comfort in the maddening analog world that is real life while she remained bed-ridden due to her origins event. She adopted the title, at first, as a joke at how quaint the 1940's sci-fi serial seemed by modern standards, and in irony regarding the picture-perfect black-and-white way the world was viewed in the time, but the moniker simply stuck as her super persona.
She was introduced to the character when The Secret Whistle's Shadow Act V came on Pandora, and then looked up the quoted title (The House That Death Built) from her phone. After hearing the full context she began to incorporate the telepathic abilities she gained into herself as a real extension of who she was.
Then, inasmuch as she used her human skills for hacktivist vigilantism, her super powered natural extension of her ability to network resulted in a similar natural extension of her sense of purpose. Now, she simply had the power to hack the people's minds the way she hacked computers.
When ℝoot was eventually released from the hospital she set about gaining the real life anonymity that was so integrated into her internet persona. She hunted down the many friends, family, and acquaintances that knew her from real life and tested her powers on them; erasing herself from the real world.
Though she technically has a true name, and a social security number of her very own, neither of these things have any social context or weight due to them being completely unfettered from reality.
ℝoot's secret identity—the manner in which she self identifies—is ℝoot, and having that step removed from modern society is what facilitated the adoption of 'The Shadow' for her IRL super-persona.
Psychological Profile:
Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy"
Dual Nature
Master Code-Smith
Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy" The United States was the last first world country to abandon the gold standard and did so in the 1970s. Since then the very concept of money has simply been an agreement between people. When monetization was digitized it fell immediately into the domain of the digital elite. Being one such digital elite the question of 'cost' or 'availability' never becomes a concern for ℝoot. Apart from the value people place on it, money has no intrinsic value, and ℝoot always has exactly as much as she wants because it is a trivial exercise for her to procure more.
This strength is paired to the Easy Enmity weakness.
Dual Nature While most supers have a gimmick, some thing they rely on nearly exclusively, ℝoot's is that the world operates in both digital and real space and she has 'evolved' to handle both while in either. She's adaptive and flexible in crossing over the lessons and skills in one environment to another.
Living out on the bleeding edge of technology has given her considerable insight into how they work in modern society and context. As such real world problems are given digital solutions, and vice versa. ℝoot can use technology as an intermediary for her abilities, and her abilities as an intermediary for technology.
This strength is paired to the Underdeveloped Powers weakness.
Master Code-Smith Hacking is as much about revising, forging, reforging, and editing code as it is about writing new code. As much of her life before her awakening as a super revolved around these skills ℝoot has pushed them to the pinnacle of human potential. She routinely breaches government and private sector security alike with little effort. She hasn't met a system yet that can keep her out if she were to really set her mind to entering.
This strength is paired to the Digital Addiction weakness.
Digital Addiction
Easy Enmity
Underdeveloped Powers
Digital Addiction In the age of information, when the answer to all of the questions of the world are at one's fingertips, its easy to become over-reliant. While the average human being always carries with them at least one of three digital devices (phone, computer, music player) they can usually function reasonably well without them if need be.
This is untrue of ℝoot who has become completely reliant on them from an early age. While they don't sustain her physical life, they do sustain her digital one--her connection to the digital world is how ℝoot defines herself. Modern technology has become her crutch and without it she is prone to severe and constant anxiety.
This weakness is paired to the Master Hacker strength.
Easy Enmity You don't become an elite without letting other people know, and you don't climb the ladder of success without stepping on a lot of rungs along the way. Be it governments or corporations with whom ℝoot left her calling card, or the competition in the hack-o'-sphere, ℝoot has made her fair share of bad impressions. She's hot shit, and she knows it, and never has any problem letting others know.
With this flaw ℝoot finds it difficult to forge positive bonds with people, preferring instead to manipulate, and it shows. When it comes down to times of cooperative action she frequently leaves a bad taste in other's mouths after the fact, resulting in several burned bridges.
As a result people only come to root when they need her expertise and she knows it.
This weakness is paired to the Air-quotes "Independently Wealthy" strength.
Underdeveloped Powers Unlike many other supers ℝoot's powers only developed recently once she became an adult, and only as a consequence of tragic action, and as of yet has not had either the time nor the desire to master them. Many of the things she could want to know about a person are readily available online on self-publishing social media sites, and so diving into the sick-unfiltered septic system that is the human mind for kicks is not something that regularly appeals to her.
Because of this, and in part due to how her powers came into being, ℝoot can never develop abilities that extend beyond the base of mind-to-mind telepathy. While other psychics regularly develop "kinesis" style powers through whatever process opened their mind to telepathy, and anything of the sort remains completely out of ℝoot's grasp.
This weakness is paired to the Dual Nature strength.
Author's Note: As ℝoot experiences the world, and thereby understands her powers, relies heavily on digital analogs (a pun) I can only explain them as such.
Rather than listing specific powers it'd be simpler to explain exactly how the powers function. ℝoot's powers are an extension of basic communication the brain establishes with other parts of the body, and rational thought. As is the trope for newly developed telepathy ℝoot views others as constantly broadcasting their thoughts whether they know it or not. She easily receives these thoughts while within range of visually distinguishing the thinker; in the same vein that wi-fi routers have a fixed signal radius.
Author's Note: The word wi-fi gets abused a lot in modern culture to be synonymous with 'wireless internet' which it certainly is not. Wi-fi is a local area network type that does not naively connect to satellites.
As a telepath, ℝoot possesses the basic powers one might expect that are consequences of two or more brains communicating directly, and typically refers to them in their computer jargon equivalents: sending, receiving, broadcasting, reading, writing, packet editing, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Psychographic Profile:
Always in possession of the latest hand-held gadget, or device, and such things are often accompanied with the latest fads. Be it toys from gashapon machines or beanie babies strapped to her backpack, ℝoot always has enough flair in her style to not stand out of a crowd of people her age.
The Shadow doesn't require a specific outfit to be effective. This is because The Shadow is a machination of the mind, and often an revisionist edit of the memory. As such, ℝoot simply wears what is comfortable, conveniently, and inconspicuous. Typically that's a hoodie with some sort of nerd culture logo on the front, a backpack with sparse flair, and cargo pants for her gadgets. Her outfits usually consist of earth tones, or sky tones in color, and she never mixes the two.
Heavily motivated by imbalance in powers and systematic oppression, when ℝoot engages to correct one of these two things it is in a manner that up-heaves the entirety and swings the pendulum hard in the opposite direction; rather than attempting to establish any form of balance.
Drain the swamp is a phrase that gets bandied about quite a lot when dealing with the type of things that ℝoot engages in. Wile that was her goal initially, it has devolved into 'don't drown'.
Being thoroughly defeated by the enormity of the problems with the world, and turning her interest to local bite-sized symptoms often has her wondering if she's actually making a difference. Her impulsive involvement in a discouraging situation often has her wondering if she backed the right side.
The Electro-Encephalo-Graphic (EEG) Augmented Reality Display (ARD) is the chief of all of ℝoot's digital devices. As noted earlier, it utilizes RFID tags affixed to her scalp to monitor and transmit the EEG data wirelessly to a drive that translates the data and responds with digital commands. The versions of this hardware have been greatly improved since the alpha version that fried her brain in the first place.
Based on the following real-life tech:
While the real life version is being billed as a digital panacea for all the worlds woes, it was not until incorporating the Augmented Reality Display that the EEGARD reached its fullest potential. The version that ℝoot possession is ridiculously modified far beyond the wildest dreams of the software's inventor. Aside from the ARD aspect, and wireless connection, it also sports security that would make the NSA, CIA, and Homeland Security blush.
That is because the device is trained to read the user's mind and interpret, as well as transmit, the information. It is a one-sided technological equivalent of ℝoot's super power. After acquiring the tech, ℝoot aquired the developers, and killed the research; making her EEGARD one of a kind.
“Falcon KICK!” Captain Falcon yelled at before lunging into a kick. Somehow, this man was able to float above the ground as he moved over a couple yards or so. There was also a fire that encompassed the man’s leg as it soared towards me. Thank God, this guy telegraphs his attacks by shouting out cute names. Therefore, I tumbled out of the way, curling up kind of like a pill bug as I avoided the man’s kick.
And I doubt I needed to be a cheerleader in high school to perform that maneuver. However, my arachnid anatomy makes almost any other gymnastic move extremely difficult to pull off, although not quite impossible. Normal humans don’t have to worry about balancing a giant spider’s abdomen while executing those acrobatic moves. I have not done any gymnastics since high school (and that was only cheerleading). So, I might have to practice a little in the future to figure out how to do back handsprings and such in my driderlike body.
But I was not in the clear just yet. I sensed the blue-garbed video game character leap up into the air in my direction. I had to bend my upper body towards the ground, positioning it parallel to the rest of my spiderlike body, so that my foe would safely hurdle over me. When he landed, I noticed that there was a slight delay between his landing and when he began to move again. It was some sort of lag or delay. I was not sure why it was happening, but hopefully I could take advantage of this ‘weakness’.
Captain Falcon immediately spun around and began his attack again. He threw jabs my way. Although I have enhanced reflexes and speed, these powers can only do so much in a fight. Even if you can anticipate an attack coming, that does not mean that you will know how to respond. Before I was transformed into a drider-like being, I don’t think I ever was in a fight. I obviously don’t have the training or the experience to know what to do in every situation.
Which each move that Captain Falcon performed, I was forced to retreat backwards, giving up ground as I went. When I bumped into the car that only a few moments ago I had crashed. This moment of hesitation almost allowed the futuristic racer to land a blow on me. He raised his leg up above his head and slammed it back down. Fortunately, I was able to recover from being backed into a corner and catch his foot as it rushed down at my head. I then shoved him back. While he was recovering from being flipped backwards, I hopped onto the roof of the car so that I was no longer cornered. I mean, I have the high ground now. Doesn’t that count for something.
When Captain Falcon tumbled backwards, instead falling flat on his back, he performed several back handsprings until he concluded with a backflip and landed on his feet a couple yards away. As I guessed he would do, the man dashed forward again. Since I was elevated above him, he decided to leap up into the air again, intending to attack me while in midair. However, before he could even reach me, a medium-sized fireball slammed into the man’s flank and knocked him to the ground. I immediately took advantage of the situation by snatching his foot with a webline and dragging him over towards me.
“Why couldn’t you have done that sooner?” I asked Kyra while I wrapped Captain Falcon in a cocoon of silk.
“I was just waiting for the right moment to intervene.” She said after she had blown off the smoke from her index and middle fingers. She had her hand positioned as it were a pistol, which made it look comical when some smoke was rising up from her fingers, since had to create that fire projectile in her hand.
“You can’t tell because of my mask, but I’m glaring right now.”
“PIKA!” I heard a high-pitched voice cry out in front of me. When I peered down, I saw a giant, yellow rodent that had two red circular patches on its cheeks and a tail shaped like a thunderbolt. It momentarily waved before dashing off down the street.
“Please don’t tell me that we’re going have to deal with all of them, too! How many of them are there now, anyways.”
I turned my attention back to Kyra, who had not answered my question, although she might have thought it was just a rhetorical question. I discovered that sitting next to her, there was a nine-tailed fox.
“Oh wow, I can’t believe I just noticed this.”
“Well, it did just walk up to me after Pikachu ran off.” Kyra responded to me as she tried stepping away from the Pokemon that was sitting beside her. However, with each step she took, the Ninetales followed.
“No, I mean that you transform into a Pokemon!” How cute.”
“I do not transformed into a Pokemon!” Kyra protested.
“Then transform and prove me wrong.”
Kyra looked down at the Ninetales and then back at me. “I hate you.” She casually threw out at me, showing that I was right. But then a smirk came to her face. “I would rather look like a Pokemon than what you look like. And it would be really mean to say that.”
“Ladies.” We both heard someone speak in our minds as we saw the Son of Osiris descend slowly to the ground. “I think this city would appreciate less name-calling and more figuring out how to stop this mess.”
Eddie Brock
Master Bruce
Half Pint
Supermaxx
Altered Tundra
Sep
