ProPro — Roleplayer Guild

The Pitch

You can read the original work here.

The year is 2005 on Earth Bet. This earth is much like our own. Human civilization rose at the same time. The Babylonians, the Roman Empire, Great Britain, the American Revolution, industrialization, two World Wars, so on and so forth. There is, however, a point of divergence. May twentieth, 1982 is a day that irrevocably transformed the world. A man appeared floating over the ocean. A golden man radiating his golden light like a beacon was found by a group of people on a ship, one of them dying. After a brief, silent interaction with this golden man, the sick aboard the ship were cured, healthy as the day they were born. The golden man turned and left, but his impact on the world was far from over.

The golden man traveled the world for many years, simply watching. Simply observing. Any who caught a glimpse of the golden man could feel only one thing from him: sadness. A deep, disquieting sadness that seemed to define his very existence. In the wake of it all, more like the golden man began to show up. More people with superpowers. These people were once normal, but gained amazing abilities through a process still unknown by the world at large. These people, newly dubbed "parahumans," became the biggest topic of discussion the world over as more and more of them began cropping up. Some began using their powers for selfish gain, while others became heroes like the comic books and stepped up to fight crime. Meanwhile, the golden man was not yet done making his presence known.

For years the golden man zoomed around the world nonstop, helping people. He would save orphans from wars, stop burning fires, cleaned up after disasters, destroyed a nuclear test missile, a gesture the world governments took to mean that the Cold War was over and he would intervene if any country wanted to continue it. Then in 1999, shortly after appearing with a brand new white body suit, something unprecedented occurred. The golden man was caught on camera helping put out the fire of a burning library. In the midst of it a woman spoke to him, asking his name. He moved in closer to her and, for the only time ever on record, spoke. "Scion." Then Scion was gone, off to help with a different disaster elsewhere in the world. 

Scion is not the only larger than life figure to appear, however. In the last couple decades many heroes and villains have come and gone, the largest and most well known being the Protectorate. However there exist beings of unimaginable, horrible power: The Endbringers. Nobody knows where they came from, but the Endbringers are believed to be parahumans of unstoppable magnitude. The three are Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Simurgh. Ever since Behemoth made himself known in December of 1992, they have taken turns attacking one at a time approximately once every five months, leaving countless dead in their wake with each encounter. In 1999, Leviathan's attack on Kyushu, Japan, left the country devastated. Japan practically became a third world country overnight, and Japanese immigrants have flooded the States. The Simurgh turned most of the Swiss nation into violent, psychotic murderhounds. Behemoth himself is known as the "hero killer" for his body count alone. When an Endbringer shows up, everyone bands together, hero and villain alike, just to fight them off. Killing them is largely considered an impossibility, and the only individual in the world powerful enough to take them on is Scion himself.

Whether you like it or not, you are a parahuman. You have developed super powers. The world is going to Hell, so now the real question is will you take a stand to stop it? Or will you act in your own interests while you can?

Parahumans at Large

There's a lot that goes into a parahuman. They're certainly not your standard superheroes and villains, that's for sure. This section will detail the essentials you need to know about parahumans, including how they function and how you become one, starting with the biggest: Trigger Events.

Trigger Events, sometimes also known as "the worst day of your life," are how you become a parahuman. Well, it's just one way, but we'll cover the other one later (top secret, hush hush). Someone who has the potential to become a parahuman unlocks their powers via some traumatic event. It can be anything, from the death of a family member, getting the ever loving shit kicked out of them, to just one bad day. This will cause them to "trigger" and manifest their powers for the first time. What type of powers they receive is always in relation to the trigger event in some capacity. Their parahuman abilities manifest as a direct result of this event as a way of dealing with it. Unfortunately powers almost never allow you to actually overcome your trigger event. They either come too late, only help you cope with the issue, or "solve" it in a rather ironic and nefarious way. So with that out of the way, it is time to cover the classifications of powers.

Power Classifications fit into 12 different categories, and they can certainly cross over between one another. The classifications, and the kind of trigger events that cause them, are:
Mover (Effects that move you. Flight, speed, teleportation, etc.) - Drive to escape, flee, run.
Shaker (Wide area effects) - Environmental danger, ambient danger, often nonhuman or only abstractly human.
Brute (Enhanced Strength and/or Enhanced Durability) - Experiencing physical harm or pain.
Blaster (Pewpew - You have ranged attacks built in, like lasers or fire shots) - Man vs. Man, threat approaches from a distance, or in great number, being surrounded.
Breaker (You alter yourself in such a way that rules of physics apply differently. You toggle an "on/off" switch to completely change states, such as becoming living acid.) - Abstract physical danger or harm, difficult to define pain or stress (not mental or physical.) Frequently arises from the hardest triggers to label.
Master (Minions, pets, affecting the thoughts and moods of others.) - Isolation, alienation, exile.
Tinker (Gadgeteer genius, you can build technology way ahead of our time, like hoverboards and laser guns and power armor. Every tinker has a specialty.) - Issue proves difficult to resolve, unsolvable problem, typically over an extended period of time (weeks or months).
Thinker (Perception, knowledge, skills, this includes precognition and remote vision, however true telepathy does not exist in this setting.) - Emotional or mental strain, reaching a crisis point in a short period of time.
Striker (Touch effects. If you touch something, something happens to that thing.) - Trigger results from immediate, in-your face threat, usually a singular object or individual (ie. knife, being strangled, mofo up in your grill)
Changer/Shifter (Shapeshifting and alteration of the self’s physical form.) - Issue in physical state. Body image, or a crisis of self image vs. society’s expectations.
Trump (Powers that affect other powers: add, remove, complicate, compound) - As other triggers, but altered further by involvement with other powers. Rare.
Stranger (Powers related to stealth, infiltration and subterfuge.) - Attention of a group/individual threatens emotional/mental security (vs. physical, which would be more blaster). Almost inverse of Master, but not opposite - very possible and common for there to be overlap (often creating a more influential sort of master/stranger cross).

So for example, let's say we have a parahuman that teleports, but it's not just simple teleportation. Every time they teleport, the space around them explodes. We would classify that as a Mover/Shaker, mover because of the teleportation, and shaker because of the wide damage the explosion can cause. There's plenty of combinations you can come up with, get creative! Of course, not every parahuman ends up ok, even when they're a paragon of justice. The very nature of how you become a parahuman can cause psychological damage (which is believed to be the primary reason why more become villains than heroes), but it isn't limited to just that. 

Derangements isn't a recognized term in the universe, but it is fairly apt for something that affect a large number of parahumans. Sometimes their mental state isn't damaged just by the trigger event itself. Sometimes the power itself somehow alters how they think in harmful ways. After triggering, some parahumans have been known to become more violent than they ever were before, while others are affected in ways that couldn't possibly be predicted. For example, a parahuman that can manipulate emotions might have had their own emotions torn out in the process, rendering them effectively a sociopath. A parahuman that can empower dogs with greater strength may now herself think in ways similar to a dog, recognizing alphas and packs and intimidate, but have lost the ability to comprehend social cues from normal human behavior. It's a sad state, really. But enough about that, it's time to discuss one of the most well researched yet least understood facets of parahumans.

The Manton Effect, named after the famous parahuman researcher William Manton, is a theory that explains some rather odd behavior of powers. You see, the vast majority of parahumans can affect living matter, or inorganic matter, not both. For instance, a Striker may be able to supercharge anything he touches with energy until it explodes, but it could only work on non-living material, while another Striker may be able to heal damaged tissue and mend broken bones, but could never hope to reconstruct a damaged building. Years of study have gone into attempting to understand the Manton Effect, but so far nobody has any solid results. Those few parahumans that can bypass the Manton Effect are feared, and for good reason. 

The Cape Community

The Protectorate: The Protectorate is the biggest organization of super heroes in the world, sponsored by the American government. It is thanks to the Protectorate that the world has a defense against the Endbringers, as many of the most powerful parahumans in the world work through them. Most tinkers are also part of the Protectorate, thanks to the government funding (after all, most of the equipment they need can't be found in Radio Shack!). They have multiple teams posted across most major cities in the United States, as well as many of the not so big cities. The Protectorate is headed by the Triumvirate, three of the most powerful capes in the world (Legend, Alexandria, and Eidolon), and they are governed by the PRT.

The Wards: The junior division of the Protectorate, the Wards are where parahumans under the age of 18 train and get experience before becoming of legal age and graduating to the Protectorate proper. They are usually kept out of the most dangerous missions when possible, though many of them are registered to help against Endbringer attacks.

The Parahuman Response Team: The PRT, as it is most often referred to, is the branch of the government which both administrates Protectorate and other parahuman matters, as well as responds to villain threats. The PRT is composed entirely of normal humans with no special powers, armed with the latest in government hardware and whatever Tinker-tech can be mass produced for them (which sadly is not very much). Anywhere there is a Protectorate team stationed there is a PRT HQ headed by a director.

The Birdcage: The Birdcage is a relatively recent creation. It is the maximum security prison exclusively for parahuman offenders. It has one way in, and no way out. Once you're inside, you're inside to stay. The very first inmate was the legendary Glaistig Uaine, otherwise known as the Faerie Queen, and even she has not made it out. Reports the she voluntarily gave up and volunteered to be the first inmate of the Birdcage should be dismissed as unfounded rumor.

Case 53s: Case 53s are an unfortunate lot. They are very rare to come by, but sadly not unheard of. Nobody knows for certain why, but some parahumans are physically mutated by their trigger events, and thus are dubbed the Case 53s. The mutation can be something small and innocuous, such as having a few feathers mixed in your hair, to the extreme and grotesque, such as being made completely of living metal or being a mass of writhing tentacles. It's enough to make them pitiable, but most of them dodge the question about their trigger event, and some are complete amnesiacs, not remembering anything about their lives before becoming a parahuman. Hmm... 

Cauldron: Ah, now we've come to a most fascinating topic. Cauldron is a top secret organization, very hush hush. Why? Because they sell superpowers. Yes, you can become a parahuman without the nasty trigger event, so long as you can pay big heaping sums of cash. Well, and you're lucky enough to be approached by them, or already have a way to get in contact. Cauldron's formulas aren't perfect though, as they are the source of all Case 53s. One thing they are though is effective. Nobody who knows about them has been able to blow their whistle yet, and those who try... Well, let's just say there's a good reason that Cauldron's top enforcer is known as "The Bogeyman."

The Endbringers: Nobody knows who or what they are, but these monstrosities have been attacking ever since 1992 with no signs of stopping. They simply appear, taking turns one at a time, and wreck everything. Heroes and villains alike team up just in an effort to drive these creatures off, but even in the best of fights the death toll is 1 in 4. They are unstoppable, unkillable, machines of pure conflict. If they were ever human, they sure as Hell aren't anymore. Even with all that isn't known about them though, there is one undeniable fact: They've been holding back in every single attack.
Behemoth - A forty-five foot tall engine of destruction, Behemoth is a dynakinetic. It can manipulate all forms of energy without limitation. It is also not limited by the Manton Effect. Behemoth is the biggest and slowest of the Endbringers, but also the most durable.
Leviathan - The second Endbringer is thirty feet tall with a long tail and scaly skin. It also just so happens to be a macro-level hydrokinetic that only a few months ago sunk Newfoundland. Leviathan's arrival is heralded by storms and tsunamis, and once it has shown up in person it will create wave after wave of torrent, each stronger than the last, until it can crush anything it so desires. While submerged, Leviathan moves faster than nearly any speedster recorded.
The Simurgh - Appearing as a multi-winged woman of alabaster white skin, fifteen feet tall, the Simurgh is the least physical and durable of the Endbringers, but largely considered the most frightening of all. It is an unbelievably powerful telekinetic to start, and is also capable of using the powers of any Thinker and Tinker type parahumans within its psychic range. That would be frightening enough, if it weren't also capable of seeing and manipulating the future. With the Simurgh, you win the battle, but lose the war. It psychically attacks everyone in the area and behaves in just such a way so as to turn the people around it into ticking time bombs, or Rube Goldberg devices, in order to cause devastation at some point in the future. Could be tomorrow. Could be next year. Could be in ten years. Only the Simurgh knows.

Local Knowledge

Since you will be playing a resident of the Denver cape community, it's best to give the information that anybody in the area should be aware of. The following is a list of the major players, hero, villain, and otherwise, that you should know.

Director Kens: 62 year old Rogers Kens is the director of the local PRT, meaning he is effectively the most powerful and influential official in the area. He began his career by joining the air force at age 18 and transferred to the PRT the same day the organization as founded. He's known as a no nonsense, all business kind of guy who nonetheless has shown himself to be compassionate for the Wards and soldiers under his command. Not so much for the grown Protectorate, though.

Inkscape: The leader of the Denver Protectorate team. Inkscape is a Case 53 that looks like a humanoid octopus. His costume is a blue business suit and he carries a briefcase full of papers everywhere he goes. Classified as a Blaster/Shaker and Mover (but only in water), Inkscape can generate ink and telekinetically control any ink within his range. Some villains have been carted off to the Birdcage after the coloring from their own costumes forced itself into their eyes. He's known for being exceptionally great at paperwork.

Noble: The second in command of the team, Noble is a tall blonde woman with a white leotard costume with bubble designs. She is known to be lighter than a normal human and can emit various types of gases from her pores. Known to battle by levitating upward and shooting at criminals with two guns that use pellets of containment foam. Referred to as "Crop Duster" by the villain community, a moniker which she despises. Classified as a Mover/Shaker.

Decoy: The only evidence that Decoy even exists is his inventions. A tinker that specializes in the creation of holographic interfaces, Decoy and interact with any computer system and display anything he wants in the form of a fully interactive holographic display. He only interacts with the public via holograms, projecting the image of an overweight Japanese male. Acts as mission control for the rest of the team.

Captain Morales: A tall and exceptionally well built Hispanic man, Captain Morales has gone on public record that he is an ex commando, and his battle prowess in the field shows. He's well trained in multiple close quarters combat forms and can use nearly any weapon with proficiency. His powers are classified as a low grade Master, able to project confidence in people, using this to bolster morale for his team, or to make his opponents overconfident and slip up.

Protean: The final member of the Denver Protectorate is Protean, a shifter/brute. He doesn't wear a costume, but that tends to not be a problem for the whole "secret identity" issue on account of him being a shapeshifter. Protean is able to transform any of his body mass to resemble the physiology of any animal he knows, but is limited by conservation of mass. He is well known to have an excellent sense of humor and has been placed on probation multiple times for humorous stunts that were dubbed "bad for PR."

Sonar: Not technically a member of the Protectorate proper, Sonar is the leader of the Wards at the start of this RP (don't worry, he won't be around very long!). This 15 year old teen boy has been a member since he was 9 years old. His powers include a supersonic scream, and the ability to hear all sounds within a half mile of his vicinity no matter how quiet or the obstacles. You might think that hearing everything in such a wide area would have driven him batshit crazy by now, but he seems to have coped pretty well with it.

The Community is the largest, most powerful gang organization in all of Denver. The city used to have a problem with its gangs. Now it just has a problem with its gang. The Crips, the Bloods, and all the others folded under the leadership of a single parahuman calling himself "Patriarch."

Patriarch: A black man in his late 20s, Patriarch has a criminal rap sheet as long as your small intestines. Real name "Dominique Douglas," he started as a small time drug dealer until he triggered. Ever since he has systematically gained the undying loyalty of every major gang around. Any infighting was quickly quelled once he stepped onto the scene. His powers are currently unknown, but he is believed to be Master class.

Xolotl: A Mexican American that is, if his cape name indicates anything, well educated, Xolotl (real name unknown) is a Breaker/Mover, able to transform his body into living lightning for small bursts of speed. Thankfully he is subjected to the Manton Effect, so he cannot electrocute anybody, but he is able to swing very fast punches, shock the environment, and travel through electrical cables. Wears a costume inspired by Aztec mythologies.

Master Baiter: For PR reasons, the public knows Samantha Harris as "Troll," a name which infuriates her because she prefers to be called the "Master Baiter." Classified as a Thinker, she is able to instinctively understand a person's insecurities and pet peeves, then mashes their buttons for all it's worth. Doesn't bother with a costume.

Eyeblight: Fernando Garcia, known by his cape name Eyeblight, is a Shifter/Breaker. Known for being difficult to pin down through any conventional methods, Eyeblight can shapeshift into a being made entirely of straw at his will, becoming a scarecrow-like being. In this form most physical trauma does nothing to him while he is incredibly agile and quick, retaining all his normal strength without the weight or physical makeup. Additionally, he exudes some kind of aura that makes his new appearance difficult to stomach. Those to look at him find Eyeblight unnerving, or grotesque.

Limbo: Francine Chambers, better known by her street name Limbo, is the last of the major lieutenants within The Community. She is classified as a Breaker/Master, able to create an astral projection of herself which she can control and perceive through simultaneous to her own physical body. The exact nature of this projection is not yet known, but it looks the same as its owner in the form of a rotting corpse, is capable of flight, and is completely intangible and ethereal. For reasons currently unknown, the projection is known to stay away from large deposits of metal.

The Rockers are a small gang from Boulder, Colorado, that occasionally attempt to move in to Denver territories, They have a combination theme of punk and metal music, with earth. The unpowered foot soldiers of the gang have a tendency to fight using pickaxes.

Ceramix: This 17 year old teen is the leader of the rockers. He was caught once, but escaped from his prison transport thanks to the efforts of his lieutenant. Ceramix is classified as a Striker/Brute with the power to physically mold any stone or earth with his hands, most often applying this in the form of stone armor with which to enhance his durability and strength. He runs his gang like a rock band manager on crack and is largely considered a joke by the parahuman community, if only because he absolutely refuses to use his full potential.

Shatterpoint: The right hand man of the Rockers and the only reason they're able to get anything done. A black teenager that doesn't speak much, wears rectangle rim glasses, and wears a custom set of stone armor crafted for him by his boss. Considered to be a significantly higher threat than Ceramix, Shatterpoint is a Thinker and a Brute, capable of super strength and durability on a small scale. He won't be lifting cards overhead anytime soon, but he's still capable of much more than his small, wiry frame should allow. In a moment of idiot bragging and monologue made by Ceramix, it was learned that Shatterpoint's real power is the ability to see the weakness in any object and know exactly how much force to apply to break it.

Sabotage: Denver's most notorious cat burglar. Sabotage is a woman in her mid 20s with dark brunette hair, shoulder length, that wears a traditional black catsuit. She is classified as a Tinker specializing in deconstruction, and limited Mover. Whereas most Tinkers are able to build physics breaker technology, Sabotage is the opposite, able to deconstruct and break anything you put in front of her. The Mover aspect comes into play with her hands, which are the only part of her that has super speed. No security has thus far proven to be an obstacle for her, and although she has been captured on three separate occasions (as she is not a fighter), she has continuously broken out. A number of Tinkers, Decoy in particular, are infuriated and working hard on a form of containment that can hold Sabotage. She is known to sell her skills to anybody that can afford it.

Broker: A complete and total unknown entity to the Protectorate and the PRT, Broker is only known by a select few in the underworld. He is the man that has put together the game's local villain group and tasks them with their missions, if they so choose to accept them. He's not picky if you do them or not. Broker's powers are not understood, but he is unquestionably Trump class as he has shown himself to be completely immune to all attempts at using powers on him. Thinkers cannot account for his actions or glean information by observing him, blasters either miss or he absorbs their attacks, brutes' attacks have no more strength than a non-powered human would have on him. Whatever his game is, he hasn't told anyone yet.

Purge: The capo of the local mafia, Purge has traveled from Chicago in order to take out a piece of the Denver pie for the family. His mafia is small in number, but great in resource and aptitude. Despite being a well known criminal, nobody has ever been able to link a crime to Purge or his mafia, and those that cross him simply... Disappear without a trace.

Furnace: A young hero that made his debut a little under a year ago, Furnace is a man apparently in his early twenties that has shown himself capable of manipulating his own body temperature to boiling lava hot or extreme coldsnap extremes, while remaining immune to the effects of heat, or lack thereof, himself. While decidedly not a tinker, Furnace is an intelligent and enterprising young man that uses low-end gadgets designed to work with his powers.

Retcon: A virtual unknown, Retcon is a small time villain evidently happy with larceny and theft. Retcon has never been known to kill, injure, or even fight capes and civilians alike. The nature of Retcon's abilities are currently a highly debated topic, witnesses claim to have seen one event unfold, while the end result is something entirely di-SILLY PRT FILES, RETCON LAUGHS AT YOU HAHAHAHAHA.

More to come.

Being Parahuman

When you use the character sheet below, there are three character slots you can go for: Ward, villain in a local gang, or an independent cape (hero or villain). The story will primarily be driven around the Wards and the local gang, of which there are only 5 slots each, so I strongly encourage you to go for one of those roles before going for an independent. As the GM, I will control all of the important NPCs (such as those listed above) but you may feel free to create your own support community around your cape (family, friends, etc.) as well as portray your own minor skirmishes. If you are an independent then you will have more room to expand how you like, which includes popping in and out of the main story at your leisure, but that also means that you will not have a good deal of my focus. It is a trade off. Sorry about that. So without further ado, I give you your character sheet.

[center][h3][b]Cape Name Here[/b][/h3]
[img]Picture here if you have one[/img][/center]
[b]Name:[/b] Their civilian identity
[b]Alias:[/b] Their cape name. Yes I want it twice.
[b]Age:[/b] If you're a Ward, anywhere 10-17. Otherwise whatever you want.
[b]Alignment:[/b] Hero? Villain? Anti-hero? Other?
[b]Loyalty:[/b] Are you a member of the Wards, the local villain team, or independent?
[b]Appearance:[/b] Pictures are fine and dandy, but I want you to be able to describe them in words. Include their costume design here as well. Remember to be realistic. A 14 year old kid off the street isn't going to be able to make a high end costume without funding or resources outside what's normally available, and most materials can be tracked.
[b]History:[/b] How has their life gone up until now? Be sure to cover all the major events, including their trigger. Remember that you're a relatively new cape to the scene. You don't have to have triggered just yesterday, but it's only within the last year or so that you've decided to start using your powers. And yes, you can have bought your powers from Cauldron, just remember that it's a tremendous secret you should never attempt to reveal, lest you draw the attention of "The Bogeyman."

[center][h3][b]Personality[/b][/h3][/center]
[b]Motivations:[/b] What is it that they want? What are they working toward as a larger goal? Feel free to get as creative or as simple as you like.
[b]Sexuality:[/b] Straightforward enough, right?
[b]Likes:[/b] [list][*]At
[*]Least
[*]Three[/list]
[b]Dislikes:[/b] [list][*]At
[*]Least
[*]Three[/list]
[b]Derangement:[/b] A side effect of your powers affecting your personality or thought process. Thinking like a different animal, losing your sense of direction, increased aggression, so on and so forth. It's not a required field, but it is encouraged, and does not have to be major.

[center][h3][b]Parahumanism[/b][/h3][/center]
[b]Skills:[/b] Non-power based abilities you have. The things you know and things you can do, like great memory, martial arts talent, video gaming, etc. 
[b]Classification:[/b] Mover? Shifter? Tinker? Blaster? Mix and match?
[b]Details:[/b] Get into the details of your power and how it works. The general overview, if you will, goes right here.
[b]Limitations:[/b] All powers have some sort of limitations built in, no exceptions. And you are not to just put down "Manton Effect" as your only limit, everyone is subjected to that. 
[b]Equipment:[/b] What sort of goodies do you have on you when you're in costume? If you are a Ward, you automatically start with a Protectorate Communication Earpiece and your costume will get to incorporate a holographic computer interfacing tool, courtesy of Decoy.

Please visit the CS 0th for Team Rosters. 
IC TLDR, compiled by @PlatinumSkink, and ongoing edits by @Old Amsterdam:

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