Howdy folks! For those that don't know me, I am the Grinning Man. (See My Writing ability
here.)
I am in the process of making a roleplay, about Hobo's who fight evil, travel across the city using magical doorways in cardboard boxes, have a secret order that is spread all across the world committed to protecting mankind from evils it refuses to acknowledge, and all have some inhuman powers.
Now... at first glance I know that sounds goofy as fuck. But, take a step back and think for a moment. You know those crazy dirty men who are constantly talking to themselves or preaching the apocalypse with tin foil hats or other strange items and live lives that seem impossible to our western mentality? Well. What if they are right? What if the hell they are constantly babbling about, their imaginary friends, the monsters they see that you can't see... what if they are there, and for some reason a part of these poor souls minds have unlocked that allows them to see these horrors? Think about it. How often you have snubbed them, didn't even acknowledge their existence, considered them sub-human. What if their actions were what allowed you to continue your little life, and without the maybe the world would end.
That is this story. The story of a group of people dedicated to protecting people who couldn't give a shit less about them. Who snub them and spit on them and look at them with disgust.
In this tale, you take up the mantle of unlikely hero and battle Terrible MONSTROSITIES...
As it stands so far. We are the Hermetic Order of Wanderers. An organization that has been around since mankind finally got his primordial soup together and made civilization. Esoteric and Occult, the H.O.W. are an ultra secret orginization who fight anything that threatens life on earth. From the simplest murderers, to the most horrible Gods. Their organization is very difficult to get into, and has very strict rules that must be followed.
1. Thou shall not accumulate wealth. Money in itself is not evil, but the greed that it breeds has unleashed some of the worst catastrophes upon mankind. The H.O.W. has no money, they survive off donations alone and and money garnered from the Begging Ritual is to be used only for food or tools towards fighting evil.
2. Be ever Vigilant. Death waits for no-one, a thousand eyed unspeakable writhing creature from beyond the stars has even less patience. For the H.O.W. even sleep is rare. They must constantly be in the streets, only resting when the body absolutely demands it.
3. Humility over Hubris. The H.O.W. does have a hierarchical system, but it is more of a system for protecting important information than putting one member above others. The Order frowns upon doing things for personal recognition, that is why generally members are dressed in rags, and though are not forbidden from being clean, generally have a disheveled look to allow themselves to be detached from their pride.
4. Promote Good, Strike Evil. When their is no threat members of the order are expected to do good deeds around town, spread warnings of potential evil, clean trash up off the streets and dedicate themselves entirely to the betterment of civilization.
It is a rough life, and not a rewarding one. Only those truly dedicated to goodness can survive in the Hermetic Order of Wanderers.
The Heirarchy goes something like this
Apprentice- Someone who has just found out about this hidden world of horror and has been initiated by someone else in the order. This is generally where the Order measures a members strengths and weakness and sees how well they can cope with all the impossibilities... and the fact that their entire life might have been a lie.
Wanderer- A majority of H.O.W. members are at the wanderer level. They are granted their first EvilsBane weapon. These are usually random items that can be used in weapons in some way (walking sticks, Pipes, Broken bottles, rusty kitchen knives, etc.) and are blessed in a sacred ritual giving them the power to smite evil. Normal weapons cannot combat the invisible monsters, but EvilsBane weapons can, and quite effectively. Wanders are also given protective attire, usually in the form of sacred rags, that offer protection from things that would pierce or slash through them. Not quite strong enough to stop bullets, but still better than nothing.
Elder- An elder is someone who has risen a step above wanderer. There is only one Elder per city and are the owner of a Lodge... which is not an actual building, but more of a branch of the organization. They oversee activities around the city, and are in charge of keeping track of every member in the city. They are generally granted more powerful EvilsBane weapons.
Illuminate-These are rulers of the different districts of H.O.W. Not much is known about them
Grand Illuminate- We don't talk about them...
Alright... Now everyone in this roleplay will be granted a power of some sort. This is something VERY small. we are not superheroes, we are mortals facing impossible odds for the good of all mankind. An example is a character of mine who made me think up this roleplay had only one eye, and with that eye he had premonitions, it would itch when danger was near, and sometimes it could see things. That is it. No more powerful than that. No exceptions.
And now for our enemy. The first enemy we will be facing is a daunting one indeed. Think about how many screens you look at in your life, think about your phone, your computer, your television...
Now think about the radio...
Now think about the invisible waves that carry this information accross space, flying through everything to reach whatever device you are using. Now imagine if inside those radiowaves, inside those cell phone signals, were entire universes, and inside those universes were nameless entities. Forgotten Vile gods whispering messages in our ears, slipping through the cracks of our minds. These will be our enemies. They are infecting humans. They are hunting humans. they know everything about us, we tell everything on our social networking sites, we are constantly tracked through our GPS signals in our phones, our eyes are glued to the screens writing messages across our brains. Infecting us. Now there are monsters growing inside of us, twisting our bodies, growing in our wombs and hearts and eating us from the inside out. Imagine looking at a television screen, watching your favorite anime when suddenly an image flashes across the screen and a sound pierces your ears and suddenly your body is seizing on the ground, and something has taken control of you. You can only watch in horror as your body stabs your family to death, as you flesh tears open and you grow extra limbs and arms and terrorize people in the street.
It is Up to The H.O.W. to discover the source of this evil, and destroy it.... It will be an uphill battle to be sure, but for the good of mankind, the Hermetic Order of Wanderers will Prevail...
All of this is subject to change of course (this is only what I brainstormed myself today.)
NOW I accept all of your input.... and I need help organizing everything into an understandable layout.
Originally Posted by TheGrinningMan
I wasn't too sure what your thoughts on that were, so I thought I might as well toss ideas around. I still think my thoughts are running more parallel with the hat guy right now, but I'll try to make my decision final before too long. 