Ruby

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

Some GM notes for everyone;

I've had a few offers for co-GM already, and I love them for offering. So right now I'd be more interested in those willing to help write certain NPCs (Alfred and Jim Gordon come to mind), or someone to help handle villains.

I'm beginning to map out a starting post in my head. I think I know how that's going to go, assuming the character I'm wanting to use for it isn't gobbled up. (Nope, you won't see Batman for a little bit.) More to the point, I could see us starting later this week. No later than the weekend.

People PMing me to hammer out histories and to pick Bruce's brain, absolutely keep them coming. You're not bugging me. Just throw something at me if I go a few days and don't respond; I've almost let several people slip through the cracks already. I suck. =/

Expect a face lift for the roster. One of the player's is handy with the steel, if you know what I mean. (I mean Photoshop, actually, which has nothing to do with steel.) They're being very kind and helping me with that. So thank you, Jinny. <3

Night of Owls is our first episode. I'm gonna drop the first post to open the IC, and let people do intro work if they want, maybe some lower key interactions--and if anyone's insane enough to try the Nykawa Complex. I'm not sure exactly how much time I'll give you, but not that much before your scenes might get rudely interrupted by a Talon hellbent on going medieval. Some of you won't get Talons--let's be honest, your characters wouldn't survive. In that scenario I'm thinking a small group against one Talon, maybe two.

Villains are encouraged to take advantage of busy heroes, or go after the Court of Owls themselves--because it's Gotham City and let's be honest, most the rogues won't love the idea of the Court. Might want to show them who's really the big bads on these mean streets. Or just twisted curiosity. Or just because. You guys do you--feel free to PM me if you get a particular idea and want to set something up, or don't get one and want nudged in a direction.

Pretty sure that's all I got right now. Whew.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

@RubyOooh, That sounds nice :) Thank you, i'm up for the idea if you're serious (Of course I understand that I can't power play and whatnot ; and that there'll be some shit happening through X's actions B)) Which makes this even more better and amusing ).

@Yvain

No need to thank, it makes sense the street level people will need some GM help if they're going to be in the same weight class as Talia al Ghul and Nightwing, etctc.

Hence my comment about cop characters earlier; they'll need the help, but so will all the lower level characters. This is Gotham City, anything can happen and everyone should feel their characters are in danger when things start going sideways.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

@RubyI'm aware, thank you :) But I think I may just go with a genderbent-version of cheshire with some OC elements perhaps.. Plus I don't know to much about wildcat and Catman truly either (Some information about them, but other than that not a lot) so yeah. I mean I was meaning to make Cassandra Cain, but It seemed like there was plenty of heroes so I decided not to and had the idea of an infiltrator/information broker/assassin-type thing. I guess similar to Red-X with the 'Cheshire' name since a 16 year old assassin wouldn't be allowed yet or at all (maybe later in the role-play--Heck if I know)? :)

My ideas are all over the place. I can't explain it clearly without it being jumbled up!

Edit: uff... now that i think about it, the idea is similar to red X I guess <_< oeihfoiefhoewhf

@Yvain

I like the idea. And I can work with you, as the GM, to make certain your information broker has information the other players would want...though I can't promise it'll be always be easy to come by.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

@ProProAwesome! I'll make a neutral ; It seems like most of the cast are 'old' and theres basically only 1 kid/tween/teen whatever you wish to call the robin, So.... I might try the teen thing out and make a 16 year old I guess.
He shall be catwoman/cheshire-esque.. I'll keep it street level, so most likely I guess he'll be like the cattleman (damn macbook corrections) from Gotham. Don't know yet, the idea is very vague in my mind.

@Yvain

There is a canon Catman, and Wildcat.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

I hope it's fine for me to join? :)

@Yvain

Yup!

Come Yvain! We can use some more villains or neutrals. Plenty of heroes at the moment.

@ProPro

Nope, try again: still accepting Heroes.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

@Ruby great, shall i put it in the CS tab?

@Catchphrase

Yup!

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

Name: Vincent Costello

Alias: Tommy Gun Tom

@Catchphrase

LOVE this concept. Approved.

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

<Snipped quote by Ruby>

To be fair, Riddler pretty much went, "fuck this shit, I'm out" for No Man's Land. XD But he's also arguably one of the "saner" villains, at least among the Arkham frequent flyers.

And I'm pretty sure Crane thrives in Gotham because it's so fucked up. XP

@LePouvantail

No Man's Land saw Ivy, Harley, and Nigma straighten up a bit.

It is, by the way, part of this game's history.

...also, absolutely he thrives in Gotham because Gotham. lol

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

Talon

Name:
- William Cobb

Age:
- 27 (Physically)

Alias:
- The Talon
- The Last Owl

Appearance:

William as a Civilian

Skills/Abilities:
- Knife Throwing
- Acrobatics
- Hand to Hand Combat
- Escapology

Weaknesses:
- Emotional Instability: William is emotionally unstable and despite his usual calm and collected demeanour, when things don’t go his way, he is prone to losing control and making decisions on a whim.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Will suffers from the debilitating heart condition known as HCM. He could literally drop dead at any second. This is a side effect of Batman’s tampering with his body.

History

On a Knife Edge
William Cobb was born on October 10th 1901 to middle class family. Tragedy struck early on when his father died in an industrial accident when building a bridge for Cameron Kane. Unable to make ends meet, William and his mother fell into adversity. Resorting to petty theft, the young boy by chance crossed paths with a thief known as Miro Volkov. Taking pity on the little man, Miro brought him under his wing and into Haly’s Circus. His mother sadly passed a short time after, murdered by an unknown assailant. Miro taught William how to juggle and eventually this graduated from balls to knives and the boy became the circus’s post popular knife thrower; all the while aiding Miro in his more and more spectacular heists. The two worked seamlessly together, everything running like clockwork. Everything was timed and precise, with jobs being planned out months in advance. They were living on a knife edge and life couldn’t have been better.

The Gray Son of Gotham
When he returned to Gotham City at the age of twenty, a large crowd applauded their hometown celebrity. One woman caught William’s eye though. Her name was Amelia. She was the daughter of one of Gotham's elite and an original child of Gotham. The two fell in love at first sight. The two began dating and they were happy together. They were two children in love. Little did they know, it was the beginning of the end. One day when walking into her house, Amelia's father Burton Crowne asked to speak with Cobb. He told William that there are only two people in life (the rich and the poor), no room for grey. Burton had banned him from ever seeing Amelia again, but not before making her pregnant beforehand. Despondent, William told Miro whom in turn revealed a secret, he was an assassin and all the time they had been together, he had been training William to take his place. With that, Miro finally revealed his true colours. He offered the man a choice, get revenge on Burton and become the next Talon or Miro would kill Amelia and the unborn child. Taking option A – William and Miro broke into the Crowne estate and murdered Burton in his sleep. He then was ushered away in secret and began his training to become the Talon.
12 months later, William returned to Gotham and he broke back into Amelia's house. Aware of the legacy of the Talons, he resided himself to steal his then born son into the night. Outside of the house, he met Nathaniel, his boss at Haly’s Circus and handed him the baby, "Raise him in secret, Nathaniel...prepare him for my legacy. My son. The Gray Son of Gotham". This baby would become John Grayson's father, and his son, Dick Grayson's grandfather.

Night of Owls
Part of becoming a Talon meant giving up your mortality and becoming dependent on a substance known as Electrum. Kept in a form of stasis, a Talon is only revived when necessary. The stasis allowed William to keep is magnificent physical abilities as well as his youth even whilst the Court of Owls continue to change over the decades. Revived once again during the 21st century for a massive assault on Gotham, all the Talons were given targets to assassinate. William was given Bruce Wayne. Attacking Bruce in his home, William was not expecting the billionaire playboy to put up a fight. The two men battled for what felt like hours until finally the arrival of Bruce’s one time ward Dick Grayson turned the tides of the fight and Cobb was struck down. Imprisoned and interrogated in the Batcave, Cobb recognised Grayson’s eyes as the same as his beloved Amelia’s and put two and two together. When a large group of Talons began an assault on Wayne Manor, something stirred inside William and just as one of his brethren was about to strike Grayson down, the Talon intervened and helped Batman and Nightwing repel the attack. Rediscovering a code of honour he had long forgotten, William swore on the soul of Gotham that he would try to repent for his sins and he would do so in Amelia’s memory.

Last Owl Standing
Before his reform however, William had one last pressing bit of business. With his dependency on Electrum gone thanks to some genetic tampering by Batman, William returned to the Court and in one night, systematically slaughtered many of the members there. Content that he had dealt a serious blow to the Court that had corrupted him, William began training with Batman and his family, slowly coming around to their decree of “Justice. Not Vengeance”. Intent on transforming the Talon identity from one of fear to one of honour, William is now striking out on his own. The Last Owl standing.

Beware the Batman Family.
Watching all the time.
Protecting Gotham from their shadow perch.
Behind granite and lime.
They watch you at your hearth.
They watch you in your bed.
Speak not an evil word of them.
Or they’ll send the Talon for your head.

@Xtreme

Approved, though I'm conscripting the character for GM plans. At least for the start of the game. <3

Gotham City: Shadow of the Bat

<Snipped quote by Ruby>

It doesn't help that for the most part I know precisely squat about the finer points of the DCU and the Batfamily in particular.

And I just generally have no inspiration.

@Lost Cause

Ah, I can help with the former, not the latter though...