Greetings, true believers! Prepare for an exciting new(ish) take on roleplaying Earth's Mightiest Heroes! It'll have action, excitement, mystery, monsters, and more! And the best part is, it's all starring YOU!
Stan Lee-esque shilling aside, I'd like to try a slightly different take on the standard superhero roleplay by introducing a mystery component: a 'Mastermind' villain played by the GM. Like in a murder-mystery RP, the Mastermind's identity is secret, and it is the heroes' job to expose and defeat them, while the Mastermind engineers various crises to make the heroes' job more difficult.
RULES:
-The game world has a predetermined Stability Level, which is threatened by Crises perpetrated by the Mastermind. If this Stability Level reaches zero, the world collapses into anarchy and the game ends.
-The Mastermind has a set Threat Level, a pool of resources they can spend to throw Crises at the Heroes. Each Crisis has its own Threat Level, depending on how many points the Mastermind spends from their own Threat pool, and takes away a corresponding amount of points from the world's Stability Level if it goes unresolved. A Threat Level 1 would be something minor like a simple bank robbery, while a Threat Level 20 might be a cosmic incursion from Galactus. The Mastermind can have up to three Crises going at any one time.
-A Crisis's Threat Level equals the amount of unique posts the heroes have to write before the Crisis can be considered resolved. Each post must contain the character making a genuine effort to either resolve the Crisis or at least mitigate its side effects (panicked crowds, falling debris, etc), and should be roughly between three and ten full paragraphs. The heroes have one real-world day per each point of Threat Level to resolve the Crisis (a Threat Level 7 Crisis, for example, has a real-world time limit of one week to resolve). Upon the resolution of a Crisis, the heroes will gain a clue towards the Mastermind's identity.
-During a Crisis, the Mastermind may choose to make the heroes' jobs more difficult by posting an Interrupt. This is a complication caused by the Crisis-- an out-of-control train, a crashing airplane, etc.-- that the heroes must divert attention from the main Crisis to resolve immediately. Resolving an Interrupt does not count towards the amount of posts needed to resolve the Crisis, but if the Interrupt is not resolved, 1 point is taken from the world's Stability Level. The Mastermind can only play Interrupts equal to the amount of clues the heroes have already collected.
-The game ends when either the heroes expose and defeat the Mastermind, or the world's Stability Level reaches zero, allowing the Mastermind to complete their own master plan.
Example:
The Mastermind hires Bullseye to assassinate a high-profile target at the UN Building in New York; this is designated a Threat Level 5. Captain America, Spider-Man, and Black Panther respond, and over the course of two days, they write three posts, where Cap and Panther engage the assassin while Spidey works crowd control.
Meanwhile, the Mastermind stages a heist at the Triskelion in Washington, DC, designating it a Threat Level 2. Hawkeye and Black Widow both investigate, quickly putting up two posts to search the SHIELD facility for signs of the intruders. With this Crisis quickly resolved, they gain a clue-- namely, that the Mastermind sent the intruders to steal the original schematics for Vision-- but this also gives the Mastermind an Interrupt.
Back in New York, the Mastermind uses this Interrupt to have Bullseye shoot out a lighting fixture, which threatens to fall on a group of diplomats. Black Panther has to break away from the fight to save the endangered civilians, while Cap gets in a fourth post to continue the fight with Bullseye, until finally Spider-Man chimes in with a fifth and final post to web the mercenary up. The heroes interrogate Bullseye, who gives them their next clue: that whoever the Mastermind is, he isn't human.
(In this instance, it would eventually be revealed that the Mastermind is Loki, and he is trying to recover the Mind Stone to reform his staff)
Player Name: (Provide whatever name or handle you wish to be called)
Character Name and Alias: (Provide both the character's hero name and their civilian identity, so players may distinguish which incarnation of the character is being used)
Origin and Brief Bio: (Provide one paragraph summarizing the character's origin and the highlights of their career up to this point)
Powers and Abilities: (Describe what the character can do)
Brief Sample Post: (Provide between two to five complete paragraphs showcasing how this character would be in action)
Stan Lee-esque shilling aside, I'd like to try a slightly different take on the standard superhero roleplay by introducing a mystery component: a 'Mastermind' villain played by the GM. Like in a murder-mystery RP, the Mastermind's identity is secret, and it is the heroes' job to expose and defeat them, while the Mastermind engineers various crises to make the heroes' job more difficult.
RULES:
-The game world has a predetermined Stability Level, which is threatened by Crises perpetrated by the Mastermind. If this Stability Level reaches zero, the world collapses into anarchy and the game ends.
-The Mastermind has a set Threat Level, a pool of resources they can spend to throw Crises at the Heroes. Each Crisis has its own Threat Level, depending on how many points the Mastermind spends from their own Threat pool, and takes away a corresponding amount of points from the world's Stability Level if it goes unresolved. A Threat Level 1 would be something minor like a simple bank robbery, while a Threat Level 20 might be a cosmic incursion from Galactus. The Mastermind can have up to three Crises going at any one time.
-A Crisis's Threat Level equals the amount of unique posts the heroes have to write before the Crisis can be considered resolved. Each post must contain the character making a genuine effort to either resolve the Crisis or at least mitigate its side effects (panicked crowds, falling debris, etc), and should be roughly between three and ten full paragraphs. The heroes have one real-world day per each point of Threat Level to resolve the Crisis (a Threat Level 7 Crisis, for example, has a real-world time limit of one week to resolve). Upon the resolution of a Crisis, the heroes will gain a clue towards the Mastermind's identity.
-During a Crisis, the Mastermind may choose to make the heroes' jobs more difficult by posting an Interrupt. This is a complication caused by the Crisis-- an out-of-control train, a crashing airplane, etc.-- that the heroes must divert attention from the main Crisis to resolve immediately. Resolving an Interrupt does not count towards the amount of posts needed to resolve the Crisis, but if the Interrupt is not resolved, 1 point is taken from the world's Stability Level. The Mastermind can only play Interrupts equal to the amount of clues the heroes have already collected.
-The game ends when either the heroes expose and defeat the Mastermind, or the world's Stability Level reaches zero, allowing the Mastermind to complete their own master plan.
Example:
The Mastermind hires Bullseye to assassinate a high-profile target at the UN Building in New York; this is designated a Threat Level 5. Captain America, Spider-Man, and Black Panther respond, and over the course of two days, they write three posts, where Cap and Panther engage the assassin while Spidey works crowd control.
Meanwhile, the Mastermind stages a heist at the Triskelion in Washington, DC, designating it a Threat Level 2. Hawkeye and Black Widow both investigate, quickly putting up two posts to search the SHIELD facility for signs of the intruders. With this Crisis quickly resolved, they gain a clue-- namely, that the Mastermind sent the intruders to steal the original schematics for Vision-- but this also gives the Mastermind an Interrupt.
Back in New York, the Mastermind uses this Interrupt to have Bullseye shoot out a lighting fixture, which threatens to fall on a group of diplomats. Black Panther has to break away from the fight to save the endangered civilians, while Cap gets in a fourth post to continue the fight with Bullseye, until finally Spider-Man chimes in with a fifth and final post to web the mercenary up. The heroes interrogate Bullseye, who gives them their next clue: that whoever the Mastermind is, he isn't human.
(In this instance, it would eventually be revealed that the Mastermind is Loki, and he is trying to recover the Mind Stone to reform his staff)
AVENGERS: HEROES UNITED
Character Sheet
Player Name: (Provide whatever name or handle you wish to be called)
Character Name and Alias: (Provide both the character's hero name and their civilian identity, so players may distinguish which incarnation of the character is being used)
Origin and Brief Bio: (Provide one paragraph summarizing the character's origin and the highlights of their career up to this point)
Powers and Abilities: (Describe what the character can do)
Brief Sample Post: (Provide between two to five complete paragraphs showcasing how this character would be in action)
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