Supearth OOC: Canceled Until Further Notice.

[WhiteFox]

Alright... since I have three confirmed characters, I'll be finalizing my plans for the RP. I should be able to do introductions starting over the weekend, and the RP will start as soon as those are out of the way. If more people sign up before the RP starts, I will incorporate them.

If I have 6 or more people before Monday, I'll put up a poll to see if we want to start a second RP.

[Mechanisto]

Hi, all! I've asked Whitefox if it's ok for me to keep the precise details of my character's powers secret from the start of the campaign, and he's allowed it. Of course, I still gave him a full and detailed description of everything, and he's passed it as a balanced power.


Backstory

"My power is, effectively, thought without time. Meditation is the exact opposite of this... time without thought. If this isn't karmic balance, it's something just as harsh."

   Sonja Cross was a normal girl throughout most of her younger years. Partway through high-school, however, she became listless and withdrawn. She performed well enough in class, but gradually lost interest in almost all social events. Her friends described her as distant, and even callous in some cases. Her condition eventually worsened enough that her parents sent her to a psychologist.
   She was initially, to her parents shock, diagnosed as a psychopath; someone incapable of human empathy. However, she exhibited none of the harmful or destructive elements associated with most psychopaths. Eventually the truth was revealed; her lack of empathy was a side effect of her recently developing super-powers. She was quickly sent to a special academy where she could learn to control her abilities, but by then the damage to her psyche had left her almost autistic. Only after several years of psychological care did she begin to recover.
   After her recovery, Sonja swore to do everything in her power to prevent another relapse. When she discovered that both meditation and physical discipline helped greatly, she decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a policewoman. She took well to the discipline and responsibility required of her, and served for three years with an exemplary record; first as a beat cop, and later as part of a S.W.A.T. team. During that time, she trained in numerous martial arts, became an accomplished marksman, and acquired many of the skills used by professional detectives, bodyguards, and counter-terrorists. Coupled with her powers, she is a frighteningly effective combatant.


Character Profile

   Sonja Cross is of Swedish descent, but born and raised in the states. She has fair skin, long blond hair, blue eyes, and an attractive figure. Despite this, she's also physically imposing; tall and powerfully built, with lean, wiry muscles. She hates it when people assume her good looks came with her powers in some kind of cosmic package-deal; she's spent a lifetime keeping her body in peak physical condition. Her expression and mood don't usually stray far from calm and placid, and she usually remains confident even in dangerous situations. This calm confidence doesn't seem to survive long in social encounters.
   Though she has many acquaintances, she has very few actual friends. Most of these are contacts from her career as an officer, and she has an excellent reputation within the Service. She's brought down no few dangerous criminals in her time, but avoided the media spotlight whenever possible. Since her retirement, she's become a highly skilled professional bodyguard. She also teaches regular classes on meditation and self-defense.
   Sonja's life looks very empty from the outside, and she isn't well known outside her small circle of friends. She doesn't necessarily avoid social gatherings, but she never seeks them out and is rarely invited. She tends to spend as much time as possible in a meditative state, or doing repetitive things; this could include anything from martial arts katars and yoga exercises to attending dance raves and sunbathing at the beach. She's irritated by trivial interruptions to her daily routine, and even has trouble listening to music that isn't mind-numbingly repetitive. People who first get to know her often mistake her as having an mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a slight form of autism.


Powers

   Details about Sonja's powers (along with the rest of her her medical profile) are not publicly available without an appropriate police warrant or medical notice. She carries certifications that prove her powers are harmless to those around her, and renews them every month with voluntary medical and psych evaluations.
   Despite this, there is still enough public information floating around to give an idea of her powers and abilities; she is a speedster... of sorts. Her reflexes and accuracy are off the charts, and her skill at unarmed combat and marksmanship are easily in the top 1% of human capability. She's almost never caught off-guard or by surprise, and can make snap decisions even in the midst of a breaking catastrophe. Despite this, she has never actually exhibited superhuman physical speed; her body doesn't move any faster than an ordinary human's. It's almost certain she uses her powers in concert with her extensive combat skills, which makes it difficult to determine where the line between her powers and her training is drawn.
   The details of her power's limitations remain confidential, but her nature of her childhood handicap strongly suggests that the side-effects likely include some form of psychological trauma or brain damage. Her only official comment on the topic was her reason for retiring from the force; she wanted to better control her power's side-effects, which required her to use them less often than her responsibilities required.

[WhiteFox]

Hi, all! I've asked Whitefox if it's ok for me to keep the precise details of my character's powers secret from the start of the campaign, and he's allowed it. Of course, I still gave him a full and detailed description of everything, and he's passed it as a balanced power

Crap! I can't believe I didn't mention this sooner. (Actually, I hope I did mention this and forgot I had)

Posted character sheets do not have to have any more information on them then is publicly available. I will have copies of the full sheets, but the posted sheets are mostly for the convenience of other players trying to remember who is who.

[techmaster-glitch]

Finally got my guy written up. Enter the "super" with realistic electricity powers!



Name: Zak Ridgrey (yes, I used the same last name as my character in The City. No, they're not related.)
Gender:male
Age: 23

Physical Description: Zak is a moderately tall fellow, about 6' 2'' in height. His clothing is usually in a tattered state, and includes some patches of what look like burns. His body has burns and scars of varying degrees all around. In particular, his left hand is severely burned, with blisters, dead and missing skin, as well as the index finger being charred black. A short metal rod is always somewhere on his person, and often in the aforementioned burned left hand. Black welding goggles are always on his forehead. If one were to look closely, they would notice he also usually has earplugs.

Power (somewhat abridged version, more details available on demand): Zak has the ability to collect, store, and discharge static electricity (and only static electricity). He can draw the electricity from objects and the environment, the same kind of randomly roaming electricty that sometimes gathers to create electrical storms, and he can draw them in at a range.
   When he discharges electricity, the effect is basically a minature lightning bolt, with all the implications that go with it. It's not a dinky "I stun you/levitate metal/do some other strange thing", it is a high-voltage instant arc with an attendant flash and bang that's enough to stun and disorient anyone close by (even cause momentary blindness or deafness, Zak always wears welding goggles and earplugs for this reason), even if they aren't the target of the bolt. The target of the bolt gets it even worse; they suffer an instant burn and full temporary paralysis (and in some cases when enough current cross the heart, death). He also cannot set up any continuous electrical discharge, either; it's all instantaneous (though he can choose how much electricity to discharge at once).
   Zak also cannot actually "control" the bolt to do anything other than what is described above, and there is also some difficulty in actually singling out a target; to "suggest" to the bolt to strike a specific person or object, Zak must focus on them and specifically draw all static electric charge -away- from them, and in effect, ionize them. Even this isn't surefire, as closer objects, especially things of metal, can lead the bolt astray.
   Another important thing; Zak is not immune to his own power. While he can discharge the electricity without shocking himself (mostly), the intensely-hot arc burns his own skin almost as badly as any target. To help offset this, Zak usually "channels" a bolt through a metal rod. It helps since he is phsycially contacting the rod when discharging the elctricity, and thus there is no arc directly from his hand. However, this still does heat up the rod somewhat, and repeated bolts can still make the rod unbearable to hold. And in another case, Zak cannot get "charged up" by being stuck by another lightning bolt or otherwise electrocuted; this affects him in the same way it would an ordinary person, because he cannot absorb static electricy at such a high rate.
   In general, Zak cannot "accidentally" discharge, with the exception of two circumstances; he relaxes too much (falls asleep), or is otherwise rendered unconcious (even momentarily from a heavy impact). In this case, he loses control of any stored electricty, and it will burst in all directions.
   No, stepping in water is not a circumstance in which he can accidentally discharge.

History and "Training": Zak was a relatively normal person for most of his life. He read about the escapades of the more theatrical local "supers", as well as occasionally getting to see powers in more mundane use. He was fairly fascinated with it, as some people are, but he thought it as something beyond him. While it was known that some people could manifest a "superpower" at any time, he never imagined that it would actually find its way into his own life. Until...of course...it did.
   At the age of 19, Zak's power manifested in a rather spectaular, and rather tragic manner; his first electrical discharge was to his own mother. As police and ambulances were on their way, Zak panicked, and ran off. Naturally, a search was called out for him, as he was a recently-manifested super with a seemingly dangerous power, but Zak evaded them until they called off, figuring he'd return on his own eventually.
   Zak had followed his mother's progress whenever it was possible. Eventually, she was released to return home. However, despite Zak's immense relief, he could not bring himself to face his parents again, out of shame. He then fled to another town.
   Zak tried to start a new life, and forget about his power...at least, at first. However, he learned quickly that he always collected electricity when he went about his daily life, and therefore had to bleed it out every night before sleeping. And at first, he thought that was the only way his power could leave him. However, while out in a busy sidewalk one day, he got clipped hard by a passing bystander. This triggered a loss of control, and the worst discharge of his power to date as bolts flew everywhere in one instant. Zak and many of the bystanders in the immediate vicinity were seriously injured, and when Zak came too, people were already pointing at him and delcaring some kind of mad bomber or "super"-terrorist. With the authorities on their way, Zak limped away as fast as he could. He did not check to see if he had actually killed anyone, although he feared the worst.
   It turns out he almost certainly did kill one or more people, as there was a bit of a manhunt out for him after that. Zak completely abandoned any attempts to lead a normal, stable life (not that he had any choice at this point), and lived out on the streets, in the lower-class areas of town. But more importantly, he decided to finally learn to actually use and control his power. After several trips to abandoned lots and scrapyards later, his left hand was left in an atrocious state. It was from these that he learned to use a metal rod to lessen the impact on his own body.
   Zak knew that he couldn't ever reverse or take back the terrible things his power had done, but he did intend to turn his power to as much good as possible. Unfortunately, with the police still hunting him, his options were limited...so, the best he can do is prowl streets and back alleys of the gang-ridden lower communities, where the police don't have much power. Whenever there is violence, and Zak is in the area, there are always some lightning bolts flying to break things up. Initially, Zak remained plauged with difficulty directing the bolts, and injured more people than he intended more than once. By now, however, he's figured out how to ionize a target to make them the most likely place a bolt will strike.
   When Zak's out breaking up violence, he actually does it for only that reason. After dosing every perpatrator with at least one bolt, he leaves them there in a twitching pile, not even bothering to make sure they don't get up again. The police come around, and sometimes collect a few thugs, but not often as Zak never sticks around to do a real citizen's arrest because of the fact the police are looking for him, too. After awhile, the police caught on that the "terrorist-super" throwing lightning around was doing some good, and ended the manhunt, although there is still a standing warrant to arrest him on sight.
   
Personality and Other Notes: Despite everything that's happened, Zak remains a fairly good-natured and altruistic guy. He goes out of his way to help others (it's really the only thing he does or can do anymore), and uses his power to protect someone whenever he can, although he does it without word, and often without even showing himself. A blinding flash lights up the scene of a crime or gang-fight as a lightning bolt strikes from an unseen location, and the offenders are left twitching and incapacitated.
   Even though his power is dangerous to himself and others, trying to supress or ignore his power lead to more problems than actually learning to use it. He does have some small amount of cynicism/pragmatism, and doesn't really care much if some thug or criminal winds up dying by getting a bolt to the chest. However, he does do his damndest to protect victims or bystanders, and as such, he is careful and cautious when using his power when such people are nearby. He's hard far more accidents already than he can bear to face.
   Zak is an outcast, and doesn't really "live" anywhere (although he's managed to establish small "hideouts" around the city, mainly just places to sleep). The general community and public don't really know anything about him other than he's dangerous, and they're right. With his burn scars and especially his hand, he is painfully distinctive even when not using his powers, and as such, Zak has to keep a low profile by necessity, and hardly ever actually talks to another human being anymore, save for a few people he's helped and befriended in the past.
   Police don't like Zak. While he's doing some good in ending bouts of violence in the more crime-heavy areas of the city, the fact that he isn't doing it in accordance with legal procedures and the fact that he's hurt innocents before mean that most police will carry out the arrest order if they get the chance.

[Magic]

Finalized after two revisions from Whitefox.

Name: Ian Foster

Power: Chaos into Order. His power is to assemble chaotic elements and restore order to them. The best example of this is that he can throw a randomized deck of cards and he can will them to reassemble into a neat stack by the correct suit in order.  Restricted to non-sentient or inanimate objects in close proximity to him. He can for example shoot a shotgun blindfolded and the numerous pellets blasting out of the shell he has fired all line up and hit a single hole with perfect precision in a paper target. He cannot make an anarchist/terrorist change his mind about detonating C4 in a bus station. This ability is again limited to close quarters ranges and with sizes comparable to an average room, he cannot for example make the Solar System line up perfectly.

This power expends oxygen from his lungs, heightens his heart rate and builds lactic acid in his muscles (effectively making him artificially tired), depending on the magnitude by which he uses his power. A crumpled piece of paper reverted back into a sheet won't faze him, but a room full of scattered debris repaired into a pristine room will. He cannot use this power repeatedly and/or consecutively as it will have the same effects as tachycardia, paralyzing him with chest pain and putting him at risk of IHD. Worse, he may accidentally deplete his lungs completely of oxygen and kill himself if he is not careful.

His power will work only as long as he can concentrate, if he is disturbed or otherwise rendered incapable of maintaining his power the objects being manipulated with scatter chaotically and fly off at dangerous speeds. He also cannot make adjustments faster than he can react. He cannot for example make incoming shotgun pellets assemble orderly to a position away from him if he doesn't have enough time to think about it. Most people cannot see bullets until after the fact, so he cannot dodge them any more than an average person. He can make outgoing bullets change trajectory though, since he is thinking about the bullets he is going to shoot.

A separate but related power inherent in him is his resistance to any and all forms of unnatural control such as hypnosis or brainwashing. Most light forms of such will quickly be defeated by his deeply seated ideals of order defending his mind and although he can still be defeated with sufficient effort, it puts both him and the controller at considerable cost of fatigue.

Training: His power comes almost as instinctively as breathing, tempered firmly by his conservative mindset. Order comes naturally to him, as if a calming if burdening presence.

His combat skills on the other hand are poor and purely defensive in nature, consisting of basic small arms marksmanship training (although rarely issued a gun), some barely remembered eskrima training (he at least knows to point the knife the right way) and if all else fails, being able to run fast enough to get the duck out of fodge.

Description and Background: Ian was born as a British Overseas Territories citizen in a Gibraltar in the Royal Navy hospital and soon after was registered as a British citizen by law. (Coincidentally, Gibraltar is labeled the 5th most stable territory in the world.) At a height of 5'10" with average Caucasian features, blue eyes and strawberry blond hair he is not at all impressive nor remarkable.

As a teenager he found his power while wishing for a way to finish inventory at a book store, his part time job, in time to see a movie with a girl. He got his wish, unfortunately he fell asleep during the movie because he was too tired and was subsequently dumped the next day.

True to his power, Ian is a conservative to put it bluntly, but he would be more accurately described as a liberal conservative. He embraces the values of order, stability and continuity while keeping an open mind about liberal ideas. He is not, per say, mired in tradition but still deeply respects it for what it stood for. While this does make him somewhat inflexible in some cases, it is not totally without reason. He will not take unnecessary risks or break the law, without really good reason to do so. Honest to a fault and almost incapable of lying, he does have little sense in charismatic endeavors or bedside manners, but he at least would justify it in that the truth is better heard now than at an emergency.

Social Ranking: With his power having immediately obvious effects, he is hard pressed to keep it at all a secret, so knowing this he has decided to advertise his powers in his job as an analyst to his superiors who have agreed to sanction it's use in so far as it would be used towards the analytic tradecraft as well as be exercised in secrecy. Thus he is known to his employers, who consist of the national bureaus in the 187 countries that are a member of Interpol, but is otherwise seemingly an average man.

Career: Interpol analyst and part of it's active incident response team, a frequent contact of supers in international or super crime whenever relevant information in a given country is needed. He often acts as a liaison to local law enforcement or registered superheros rather than an actual superhero himself. He would also quite often be coordinating any damage control that must be exercised if a super oversteps his bounds or destroys public property. His current residence is in Lyons, France, headquarters of Interpol.

[WhiteFox]

Well, I currently have seven confirmed characters. At this point, I"m going to bring up the option of running a second RP. There are some fairly good reasons for this.

In my experience, I've found the more players there are in game, the less each of them has to do. This can lead to players sitting around and "waiting for their turn," or overlapping skills making players redundant.

Adding players to a game increases the amount of work for me as GM exponentially, since there are more people to juggle and more planning that has to be done to keep everyone involved.

That being said, there's three options here.

First, don't split the party. Not my first choice, but then I'm not the only one here am I?

Second; split the group with an even distribution of talent. This means that each group gets a mix of players, and a varied selection of talents.

Third; split the group by theme. This means that each group has characters that fit well together.

At first glance, the second option seems most appropriate. It's not as obvious as it seems, however. If the group is mixed, then there will be times when some characters are in the lime light, and others are not. I will have to work harder to keep the story relevant to everyone involved, and coming up with a good way to get the party together will take a little more work.

With the third option it'll be easier to keep the players involved with the story. I can focus on the game-play people people have in mind for their characters. There may be some overlap to the players roles, but I know how to take advantage of PC differences well enough that noone ends up redundant.

For option 2, my first guess would be to make sure the following players are not all in the same group:
Toric, Janus and Magic
techmaster, Mechanisto, and Ashen Star
And Drath being a wild card.

Option 3, I'd be inclined to split the party thus;
Toric Janus, and Magic, in a spy/detective themed RP
Techmaster, Ashen Star, Mechanisto, and Drathorin being street level heroes.
Mech and Toric would probably fit into either RP, though.

As a note, none of these groupings are final, nor are the themes.

[Note] The sign-ups are not yet closed.

[techmaster-glitch]

Personally, I'd prefer not splitting up the characters, if possible. Forum RPs are different from tabletop RPs, and the only RPs here I've seen split up are those with truly huge amounts of players (MGM and The City, though in The City's case it was actually unplanned, the players just went and did that). However, I'll be fine if there is a split-up in this game, but I do have one request;

At some point doing the RP (need not be permanent, need not be endgame), the characters in the groups either intersect, get shuffled, or on some other way interact with each other (merging would fall under "permanent", I can hope for it, but I wouldn't expect it). And if that doesn't happen...well, I suppose I'll just have to live with that, too.

[WhiteFox]

At some point doing the RP (need not be permanent, need not be endgame), the characters in the groups either intersect, get shuffled, or on some other way interact with each other.

A cross-over would be complicated, but I think would be really cool. I can't really plan for them, since timing would be the biggest problem, but I can keep a look out for opportunities.

I like to run series of shorter RPs that are part of an overall arc. People should be able to switch between chapters.

Magic expressed concern that if the parties are themed, they may not have the skills they need to get out of certain situations. I'd consider it bad GMing to put a party into a situation they can't get out of. If anything, I can avoid this problem because I can make sure the problems are ones suited to the group trying to deal with them.

[EDIT:] If there is a second RP, I will make a seprate OOC discussion and RP thread for them. I'll keep track of sheets, setting information, and what players are in which game here, however.

[techmaster-glitch]

I just want ever character to interact with the other charactes, at least once...otherwise, it kinda defeats the purpose of playing together, to me.

But that's just me.

[Mechanisto]

I just want ever character to interact with the other characters, at least once...otherwise, it kinda defeats the purpose of playing together, to me.

But that's just me.

I agree with you here; one of the things that would most interest me about an RP like this is seeing how different characters and their powers interact, working together in interesting and unexpected ways. However, an RP with seven people is huge, and I don't know if we could keep things going smoothly.

I voted for the thematic division, but I also love the idea of having the two groups working together... perhaps on two aspects of the same case. If we have an investigative team and a street-op team, the street-ops could end up finding clues to send over to the investigators. The investigators could likewise uncover names of villains to beat up, or places to infiltrate or shut down.

The teams wouldn't have to be dependant on each other; this would leave them locked in gridstep... but having a few connections to keep them related would be interesting.

I also like the idea of giving teams the opportunity to switch around, perhaps in between chapters of the overall story. Perhaps the last chapter could involve everyone in the same group, for a dramatic conclusion!

[techmaster-glitch]

I agree with you here; one of the things that would most interest me about an RP like this is seeing how different characters and their powers interact, working together in interesting and unexpected ways. However, an RP with seven people is huge, and I don't know if we could keep things going smoothly.

I voted for the thematic division, but I also love the idea of having the two groups working together... perhaps on two aspects of the same case. If we have an investigative team and a street-op team, the street-ops could end up finding clues to send over to the investigators. The investigators could likewise uncover names of villains to beat up, or places to infiltrate or shut down.

The teams wouldn't have to be dependant on each other; this would leave them locked in gridstep... but having a few connections to keep them related would be interesting.

I also like the idea of giving teams the opportunity to switch around, perhaps in between chapters of the overall story. Perhaps the last chapter could involve everyone in the same group, for a dramatic conclusion!

That's pretty much what I'm thinking of, yes

[Mechanisto]

That's pretty much what I'm thinking of, yes

Nooo! Stop stealing my brain-thoughts!!!

Or... was I stealing yours...!?

[WhiteFox]

Alright, break it up you two. Nobody's stealing anybody's thoughts while I'm GM, awright?

Grumble grumble....

[WhiteFox]

So, there I was, looking at the 8 votes, and thinkin' "wait a minute. I only have 7 players. WTF? Where did the eighth vote come from?"

Then I'm all like, duh, I voted.

At any rate. Votes being in, my initial thoughts are to split the party thus:

Magic, Jauns, and Toric doing investigation and intrigue type stuff.

Techmaster, Ashen Star, Mechanisto, and Drathorin being heroes in the rough part of town. Possibly the suburbs, even.

If you would like to switch groups, drop me a line. Soon. Plans are to get introductions done by Tuesday. Wednesday if I, like, lose a kidney and have to get surgery or something. But barring that, soonish.

Drathorin, send me a PM if/when you read this. Just so I know you're alive and still reading this.

[Keleth]

I am totally not reading this thread.

And this is . . totally not a response. 

[WhiteFox]

I am totally not reading this thread.

And this is . . totally not a response. 

Oh. Okay.

(... }

Hey, waittaminute!

Ahem.

Introductions will be starting this evening. I'll start sending out a few "Prologue" PMs to players to prime the pump and set the setting, and the IC topics will be up.

This OOC topic will be for the Detroit group, and I'll make another one for OOC discussion for the Philadelphia group.

[techmaster-glitch]

wait...what? we're going to be in different cities? when did this happen?

(and why split up the OOC topics, even then? It's really not that confusing to have it all in one thread...)

[psilorder]

Sorry bout not posting sooner. a family member came to stay with me during the weekend and kinda threw me off. (i even forgot to do my laundry cause  we went out and ate.)
can i still join? (posting a bio incase so as not to waste more time)
note: borring the cracter sheet from Toric.
second note: since it was ok to use forcefields instead of TK i'll do that.

Basic Description
Name: John Norn

Description:  6 feet even, tries to keep in shape so has somewhat developed musculature but but an "addiction" to soda means he also has a bit of a belly. keeps his hair short (about halv an inch so there is no hairdo to speak of) cause he finds long hair annoying (on himself), brown eyes.

Major Power: John can create forcefields up to the size of a sphere with a diameter of 3 meters within a sphere of 4 meters from himself.
(the intro said it was ok to have one major and up to 3 minor powers?)
minor power: doesnt need sleep but he does need to relax a bit from time to time meaning he cant work 24/365.

Drawback: whenever he uses his forcefield power he has to dedicate a portion of his mind to it and cannot use that portion for other purposes. He cannot control which portion is used. this means he can go blind or deaf, etc when he uses his power. this lasts about an hour after he shut the forcefield down.

Limitations: the forcefields can be shaped nearly as he wishes but they always start at  his right hand and he cannot make them very sharp.

Training: Standard police training

Career: Police detective. Has been authorised for "special activity".

Equipment: standard police equipment

[Janus Whitefurr]

wait...what? we're going to be in different cities? when did this happen?

(and why split up the OOC topics, even then? It's really not that confusing to have it all in one thread...)

a) Because it's less complex for the GM to have people in different cities, is how I saw it.

b) The OOC thing though, I don't get. That's mostly for us and him to keep track of people and things.

[techmaster-glitch]

b) The OOC thing though, I don't get. That's mostly for us and him to keep track of people and things.

yeah...it really wouldn't be difficult at all to just keep everything in one OOC thread, especially if the groups meet up or swap members or something in the furture. I mean, just look at MGM or The City and how many individual groups (and players!) they've got, and they do fine with only one OOC thread...

There was only one RP ever on this board that had more than one OOC thread, and that was Villain's League versus Hero's League, and the only reason that was possible was because the two groups were explicitly opposed to each other, and had set, permanent membership (there wasn't any characters swapping between groups. I suppose it could've happened if a character had a change of heart, but it didn't.)

Incidentally, that RP wound up fizzling...

[WhiteFox]

wait...what? we're going to be in different cities? when did this happen?

This "happened" fairly early on, when I mentioned the possibility of using Philly or Miami as a second locale in a previous status update.

I went with Philly instead of Miami because it is fairly close to Detroit (9 hour drive, according to mapquest, and a commuter plane would probably be much, much less). This should allow for some cross-RP elements, without having the parties stepping on each others toes.

(and why split up the OOC topics, even then? It's really not that confusing to have it all in one thread...)

Having two OOC topics would be more orderly, and sticking with one is not necessary. Players in Detroit have no reason to be suggesting things to players in Phillie, and vice versa. If you like, you can still read the other topics, comment, or discuss things over chat.

As a note: the second OOC would only be for discussion. All reference material and character sheets would stay here, in this thread.

There was only one RP ever on this board that had more than one OOC thread, and that was Villain's League versus Hero's League...

This is not that RP, and I am not that GM. If I have to run this, I need to organize things in a way that I can work with. Phillie and Detroit will be two separate RPs, with crossover elements where I can manage them, but set in the same universe.

And I've spent three hours typing this up instead of getting the RP started.



psilord:

Doesn't Need Sleep is significant enough to be a Major power. Requires Less Sleep would be reasonable as a minor power, though.

"Doesn't sleep" and "Generates Force-Fields" are not thematically similar, or complimentary.

Janus' character would be an example of complimentary powers: The seeking and summoning two major powers, but are specifically used together.

Ashen-Stars character would be an example of thematically similar powers: a grab bag of physical and mental qualities, all of which add up to "Super Feline"

One question about the force field drawback: what causes the backlash? Making the field, or the amount of force the field blocks?

Other then that, the only other thing I'm concerned about is his career.  More then half the players so far have are in professions directly or indirectly related to law enforcement. I can fit him into either group, but... I was hoping to have a more varied take on super-careers then just crime fighting. I'm not going to make you, but I would ask you to consider an alternative profession for your character.

[Azlan]

I myself would not view "Does not Need to Sleep" as a major power per se when considering super powers.  I would think it still could be a minor power... it does not specifically alter the environment or effect others and it only provides a defense against typically uncommon attacks verse limited defense or no normal defense type powers who list "does not sleep as a defense".  Example would be like a Nightmare attack or Sleep spell. 

Now if the lack of sleep were somehow a side effect of the force field generation, IE a mental based telekinetic field... but I see something like that as having both a positive and negative effect.  I'm sure they could be pulled together, he just has to be creative.

Sorry for jumping in, but I've been doing a lot of character creations in a Hero environment due to a weekly Champions game.  I love to talk about power creation.

[WhiteFox]

It's all good. I don't mind explaining my decisions, or open discussion. In moderation.

Sleep is not a small deal. It's about as necessary to life as food is.

Not having to sleep means his character could, in theory, work a second full time job or take full time college courses. It would be a lot of work, but he could do it. There's also other considerations, like having no trouble at all with shift work.

So, the No Sleep power is not a small thing. It would need a drawback of some sort.

I might consider "needs less sleep", or "sleep-restfully-on-command" to be a minor power.

Plus... well, I'd still worry about the theme. Heroes are not simply the sum of their powers. They have an identity, a purpose, and their powers reflect that purpose.

[Azlan]

Oh most definitely I agree that not having to sleep is not a trifle, but it is largely a roleplaying effect than a functionally useful power.  I was merely casting dispersions as to considering the power at the same 'level' or cost with such things as hurling bolts of energy, teleporting, or super strength.  I view the concept as paramount, with roleplaying restraint, responsibility, and balance as equally important measure.

You make a good point, they are not merely the sum of their powers, but super type heroes should also be larger than life.  More mundane concerns are less important, after all we are pulling this genre largely from comic books and grounding things too hard into the mundane ruins that 'feel' that super hero scenarios should have.  After all, how often do we watch Bruce Wayne sleep, eat and take care of personal hygiene.

If someone truly wanted to work a second fulltime job or take a full course load in addition to their normal fulltime job, then that should be his choice largely.  However, he is going to find himself out of a lot of the plot and action... but he will have lots of interesting roleplaying to do as he tries to explain his absences, abandonment of classes/jobs, and all the other situations that arise from trying to hold such a delicate weave together. 

No worries though, I understand where you are coming from, just thought I'd share a take on it.

[psilorder]

psilord:

Doesn't Need Sleep is significant enough to be a Major power. Requires Less Sleep would be reasonable as a minor power, though.

"Doesn't sleep" and "Generates Force-Fields" are not thematically similar, or complimentary.

Janus' character would be an example of complimentary powers: The seeking and summoning two major powers, but are specifically used together.

Ashen-Stars character would be an example of thematically similar powers: a grab bag of physical and mental qualities, all of which add up to "Super Feline"

One question about the force field drawback: what causes the backlash? Making the field, or the amount of force the field blocks?

It is the making of the forcefield that does it. He needs some part of his brain to be generating the field.

If a drawback would make it allright i could make it tie in to the main power. it isnt that he doesnt sleep at all but that he sleeps with parts of his brain at a time. this has the same effect as when he is using his forcefields but the brainpart is simply off instead of re-purposed.

Other then that, the only other thing I'm concerned about is his career.  More then half the players so far have are in professions directly or indirectly related to law enforcement. I can fit him into either group, but... I was hoping to have a more varied take on super-careers then just crime fighting. I'm not going to make you, but I would ask you to consider an alternative profession for your character.

I wanted away from the type of hero who does it in his spare time. I almost find spider-man comics tiresome when he sacrifices himself so much. this guy basicly just works 2 shifts. which was the reason for the "no sleep" thing. when do the heroes sleep really? especially spider-man and even more with bat-man, they seem to be up the whole night and then work the whole day.

but if it doesnt fit i'll change it. guess he could be a proffesional gymnast or something. would be kinda nice to have a hero who cant just make citizens arrests but full arrests tho.

[WhiteFox]

What I'm trying to encourage is

You make a good point, they are not merely the sum of their powers, but super type heroes should also be larger than life.

I wanted away from the type of hero who does it in his spare time.

This brings up something I really want to cover.

Peter Parker is a reporter. Mat Murdoch is a lawyer. Reed Richards is a scientist. Why do these people have to put aside their job, put on a pair of tights, and slug it out with bad guys to be a hero? The only reason they have day jobs is so the end up getting into trouble. Then it's again with the tights and masks.

Let's turn that around. What if Peter Parker wasn't Spider Man. He was just a heroically good super-reporter. His day job is to be incredibly super at doing that, and he doesn't have to hide anything. Adventure ensues.

Let's take it even further. Super librarians. Super secretaries. Super bus drivers.

It's not the powers that make heroes awesome, it's how they help people with them. People need help in all kinds of ways, not just beating up criminals.

If you're worried that being a super librarian will be boring, well, don't sweat it. I'll make it larger then life.

Cuz that's just the sort of thing I do.

[psilorder]

hmm, guess i really should have started at what proffesion he was and added power from that.....

can't come upp with anything more fitting for forcefields then police. except guard or something similar maybe. heh, soldier....
but the job and power dont have to line up i suppose.

[WhiteFox]

Goalie for a sports team?
Bomb disposal squad?
A roadie who protects band members from beer bottles?

[psilorder]

thought about bomb disposal squad but didnt you say you wanted something not related to law enforcement? and that would make him a cop wouldnt it?

anyhow, if it's allright i'd like him to be a geneticist working on the incomplete power problem. i mean the government may not be hunting supers and trying to turn them into weapons, but i bet there would be some organisation that wouldnt be satisfied with their powers having such weaknesses and to them being "incomplete".

this isnt me trying to work around that tho, there's nothing saying he, or they, would succeed after all.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

thought about bomb disposal squad but didnt you say you wanted something not related to law enforcement? and that would make him a cop wouldnt it?

Technically, you can be a member of the bomb disposal squad and not a police officer, hence not allowed to arrest people. Just out there making sure they don't get minced.

Admittedly, it's rare, because members of the BDS get access, by the nature of the job, to all sorts of classified information. But it can happen.