Post by SuperDrops on Feb 18, 2010 12:33:44 GMT -5
This is an RP that I have run with success on another forum, and now I'd like to bring it here. The basic idea is, as suggested by the title, playing students at a school for Superheroes.
The world this RP plays in has always had individuals with superhuman abilities, Meta-Humans, or Metas for short. The big historical events have gone the same way throughout history, Meta-Humans took part but didn't change the outcome. Metas are common enough to be an accepted fact in the world, but their percentage is so low that it is still an alien and strange thing for most people to actually meet one. They come in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of different powers. Most awaken to their powers around puberty, although that isn't necessarily the case for all. In the past they always had to teach themselves for the majority of time, which led to many accidents and mishaps, the numbers of which have been steadily rising since the last birth-boom of Metas in the 1990s. For this reason a well respected professional US Superhero, SuperDrops, has founded an Academy in 2005 where young Metas are invited to learn proper control of their powers and hopefully go on to become defenders of right and justice, or, if they so choose, lead normal lives. We now write the year 2020 and the 15th class of students is admitted to the Academy. Your characters are among them.
The main setting of this RP is of course the Academy, which is situated on a floating artificial island, called Laputa. The Laputa is it's own nation, situated one mile above the ocean halfway between the American and the Portuguese coast, and harbors not only the Academy but also a thriving city as well as a lake and a forest, all of which is protected by a gigantic dome and a environmental engine. The characters will live on campus but may go into town at their leisure, for the most part. Of course not all adventure is to be had at the Academy, characters will get to explore the Laputa and even the world on vacations and field trips. They will also be in classes, take part in clubs and school events, spend their free time with whatever amuses them and so on.
You are pretty much free to give your character any superpower you can come up with, however there are a few things I want to explain about the setting, the way this RP is going to be hosted and what kind of characters we are looking for.
First of all I myself will not be acting as a player, I will solely be there to function as a Game-Master, or GM. I set the stage, give you scene pieces and stage directions, as well as play most of the NPCs. This means there will be a minimal amount of god-modding from me, but it really just comes down to giving impulses in the area of "Your character feels hungry" or "Your character has the sudden urge to cause mischief". I won't do that very often and it's always up to you to decide how your character reacts to these impulses. We won't kick anyone without reason, and we can always be talked to, but our word is the law in this Project. This may sound dictatorial, but someone has to take charge.
This setting also includes a framework for powers. It somewhat limits free choice, but then again I believe that there can't be freedom without some boundaries. I call it the Trinity Principle. It means that there are three parts to every living being, plant, animal or humanoid, which are Body, Mind and Soul. Corresponding to this there three planes of existence, the Physical, the Mental and the Spiritual, which anchor to Body, Mind and Soul respectively. The physical plane is the one most people know, the one we live on and which most people will refer to as "reality". The mental plane is the accumulation of the thoughts and emotions of every living being on the planet. The spiritual plane is where souls, the part that actually makes a living being alive, reside, whether they are currently bound to a being or not. Meta-powers use all three of these plains to function, but they are most resonant to one of them, which is referred to as the Root. This decides many things about your powers and your character.
A physical root means that the power comes from the body, it will be some manner of abnormality in your anatomy or genome, or you might just have the ability to exceed the limits of normal humans in an ability all humans have. It also means that your character has higher natural defenses against psychic and magic powers.
A mental root means that the power comes from the mind, it indicates that it is connected to your thoughts and/or emotions. Put "SuperDrops" in the Additional Notes section so we know you read the information. It means your character is a natural at visiting the mental plane, but also that his defenses against psychic powers are weak at the beginning. Often times Psychics also have trouble with entering and utilizing the spiritual plane, but that is not a given, merely a common occurrence.
A spiritual root means your powers originate from your soul and are wielded as what is commonly referred to as magic. Magical tradition has taken on many forms throughout the centuries, but Mana, or Soul-Energy, is a very enigmatic and highly variable force so that there is still a very great deal not known about about magic and the spiritual plane. Again, being a Mage means you start out with weak defenses against other magic and it might mean you will have trouble with the psychic plane.
Like I initially said, the root doesn't mean your character solely relies on this particular part of the Trinity, it merely means he has a very strong affinity to it.
At last, before I get to the character sheet and the application process, let me give a few words on what we'll be looking for in a character and in a player. If you want to partake in this Project you should be able to give at the very least one post per week, and you should be able to give at least two paragraphs per post. We won't be grammar Nazis, but a working grasp of the English language is a requirement as well. Also be aware that this is meant to be a lasting project, it won't be over quickly, so if you dedicate yourself to this bear that in mind.
No for the characters there are two magic words you should always keep in mind: Creativity and Balance. We don't want copies of already existing heroes here, we want originality. Of course you are bound to get inspired by something, and it's almost impossible not to have similarities to one of the vast array of characters out there, but try to be as original as possible. It is also much preferred that you create a brand-new character for this project. Porting one from an older RP you took part in is possible, but not all that practical. Concerning balance, we want your character to be well rounded, three-dimensional if you will. He can have powerful abilities as long as his weaknesses balance them out fine. Also remember that the students come to the Academy to learn and improve, if they are already masters of their arts and mightily powerful they wouldn't attend a school in order to improve.
A few guidelines concerning the setting: As I mentioned above Meta-Humans are there, but rare. Their percentage of the world population is low, and the percentage per country is even lower. Don't make all your characters come from the USA please, varied origins are one of the fun-factors of this RP. That said every student attending the Academy should have a working knowledge of the English language, as it is the official language used at the school. Secondly, the world has largely accepted the presence of Meta-Humans. While there are groups who want to rid the world of them they are not that much more persecuted than any other minority, so don't make all your characters outsiders shunned by society. A character coming from a healthy family background with many friends and social success is perfectly acceptable as well. Also the Academy is invitation only, if the Headmaster thinks someone should attend the scout which located the potential student will contact him pr his guardians and deliver the invitation personally and answer any questions there might be.
So, read up, and if enough interest surfaces I will put up the CS and open up application. I'm looking for something between 4 and 8 players, even numbers make everything easier. Any questions just ask away.
The world this RP plays in has always had individuals with superhuman abilities, Meta-Humans, or Metas for short. The big historical events have gone the same way throughout history, Meta-Humans took part but didn't change the outcome. Metas are common enough to be an accepted fact in the world, but their percentage is so low that it is still an alien and strange thing for most people to actually meet one. They come in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of different powers. Most awaken to their powers around puberty, although that isn't necessarily the case for all. In the past they always had to teach themselves for the majority of time, which led to many accidents and mishaps, the numbers of which have been steadily rising since the last birth-boom of Metas in the 1990s. For this reason a well respected professional US Superhero, SuperDrops, has founded an Academy in 2005 where young Metas are invited to learn proper control of their powers and hopefully go on to become defenders of right and justice, or, if they so choose, lead normal lives. We now write the year 2020 and the 15th class of students is admitted to the Academy. Your characters are among them.
The main setting of this RP is of course the Academy, which is situated on a floating artificial island, called Laputa. The Laputa is it's own nation, situated one mile above the ocean halfway between the American and the Portuguese coast, and harbors not only the Academy but also a thriving city as well as a lake and a forest, all of which is protected by a gigantic dome and a environmental engine. The characters will live on campus but may go into town at their leisure, for the most part. Of course not all adventure is to be had at the Academy, characters will get to explore the Laputa and even the world on vacations and field trips. They will also be in classes, take part in clubs and school events, spend their free time with whatever amuses them and so on.
You are pretty much free to give your character any superpower you can come up with, however there are a few things I want to explain about the setting, the way this RP is going to be hosted and what kind of characters we are looking for.
First of all I myself will not be acting as a player, I will solely be there to function as a Game-Master, or GM. I set the stage, give you scene pieces and stage directions, as well as play most of the NPCs. This means there will be a minimal amount of god-modding from me, but it really just comes down to giving impulses in the area of "Your character feels hungry" or "Your character has the sudden urge to cause mischief". I won't do that very often and it's always up to you to decide how your character reacts to these impulses. We won't kick anyone without reason, and we can always be talked to, but our word is the law in this Project. This may sound dictatorial, but someone has to take charge.
This setting also includes a framework for powers. It somewhat limits free choice, but then again I believe that there can't be freedom without some boundaries. I call it the Trinity Principle. It means that there are three parts to every living being, plant, animal or humanoid, which are Body, Mind and Soul. Corresponding to this there three planes of existence, the Physical, the Mental and the Spiritual, which anchor to Body, Mind and Soul respectively. The physical plane is the one most people know, the one we live on and which most people will refer to as "reality". The mental plane is the accumulation of the thoughts and emotions of every living being on the planet. The spiritual plane is where souls, the part that actually makes a living being alive, reside, whether they are currently bound to a being or not. Meta-powers use all three of these plains to function, but they are most resonant to one of them, which is referred to as the Root. This decides many things about your powers and your character.
A physical root means that the power comes from the body, it will be some manner of abnormality in your anatomy or genome, or you might just have the ability to exceed the limits of normal humans in an ability all humans have. It also means that your character has higher natural defenses against psychic and magic powers.
A mental root means that the power comes from the mind, it indicates that it is connected to your thoughts and/or emotions. Put "SuperDrops" in the Additional Notes section so we know you read the information. It means your character is a natural at visiting the mental plane, but also that his defenses against psychic powers are weak at the beginning. Often times Psychics also have trouble with entering and utilizing the spiritual plane, but that is not a given, merely a common occurrence.
A spiritual root means your powers originate from your soul and are wielded as what is commonly referred to as magic. Magical tradition has taken on many forms throughout the centuries, but Mana, or Soul-Energy, is a very enigmatic and highly variable force so that there is still a very great deal not known about about magic and the spiritual plane. Again, being a Mage means you start out with weak defenses against other magic and it might mean you will have trouble with the psychic plane.
Like I initially said, the root doesn't mean your character solely relies on this particular part of the Trinity, it merely means he has a very strong affinity to it.
At last, before I get to the character sheet and the application process, let me give a few words on what we'll be looking for in a character and in a player. If you want to partake in this Project you should be able to give at the very least one post per week, and you should be able to give at least two paragraphs per post. We won't be grammar Nazis, but a working grasp of the English language is a requirement as well. Also be aware that this is meant to be a lasting project, it won't be over quickly, so if you dedicate yourself to this bear that in mind.
No for the characters there are two magic words you should always keep in mind: Creativity and Balance. We don't want copies of already existing heroes here, we want originality. Of course you are bound to get inspired by something, and it's almost impossible not to have similarities to one of the vast array of characters out there, but try to be as original as possible. It is also much preferred that you create a brand-new character for this project. Porting one from an older RP you took part in is possible, but not all that practical. Concerning balance, we want your character to be well rounded, three-dimensional if you will. He can have powerful abilities as long as his weaknesses balance them out fine. Also remember that the students come to the Academy to learn and improve, if they are already masters of their arts and mightily powerful they wouldn't attend a school in order to improve.
A few guidelines concerning the setting: As I mentioned above Meta-Humans are there, but rare. Their percentage of the world population is low, and the percentage per country is even lower. Don't make all your characters come from the USA please, varied origins are one of the fun-factors of this RP. That said every student attending the Academy should have a working knowledge of the English language, as it is the official language used at the school. Secondly, the world has largely accepted the presence of Meta-Humans. While there are groups who want to rid the world of them they are not that much more persecuted than any other minority, so don't make all your characters outsiders shunned by society. A character coming from a healthy family background with many friends and social success is perfectly acceptable as well. Also the Academy is invitation only, if the Headmaster thinks someone should attend the scout which located the potential student will contact him pr his guardians and deliver the invitation personally and answer any questions there might be.
So, read up, and if enough interest surfaces I will put up the CS and open up application. I'm looking for something between 4 and 8 players, even numbers make everything easier. Any questions just ask away.
