The Arcane Order of Pandora

Just an idea at present, but one I'm having fun pondering. Posting now to see if there would be interest in such a game, or if this stays in the self-amusement pile.

The year is 1851. Queen Victoria rules half the world, and after the defeat of Napoleon, the Pax Britannica has kept the world safe from the threat of world war. The fortunes of Britain continue to wax… but she has many enemies, some of which are possessed of abilities beyond the ken of mortal men.

In response, Lord Elphinstone, an intimate of the queen, has sought out gifted British citizens of all stripes to protect Her Majesty's interests. Thus is born The Arcane Order of Pandora.

As I said, this is only an idea I'm working on at this point. Here's some of the major notions I'm tinkering with...

- This world's history parallels that of Earth; the existence of super-powered individuals has not significantly altered the course of history.

- Super-gifted people are quite rare. The AOP would include NPC members, but not many.

- Technology of this world is that of the historical time period. Steampunk devices are exceedingly rare.

- I would want original characters, not period homages to supers in the comics.

- The power-level would be fairly low.

- Use of abilities would be narrative-driven – I don't want to use a game system to slow down the action scenes. At this point I foresee players declaring their character's attempted actions, and me responding with the outcome of those attempts.

- Additionally, I'd like to avoid existing legendary characters (Sherlock Holmes, Spring-Heeled Jack, Captain Nemo, etc.). I don't want this to be a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen type of thing in that respect.

- Adventures would be GM plot-driven, but player contributions to plots and sub-plots would be welcome.

- The game would start with the characters having known one another and worked together. The group would spend a bit of time establishing relationships before actual play began.

Sound interesting?

This sounds incredibly fascinating! Definitely interested and already got a character in mind!

Victorian vibes are pretty wonderful.

Interested.

Interested!

Intrigued.

What sort of power limits would you be wanting to do? I do have an idea for a character that could either just have light manipulation or have that and teleportation depending on how you're defining low-powered.

Very much interested!

Would also like to know what are these limits and how developed these gifts would be

@CyraniaOne of the drawbacks of eschewing a game system is defining power levels. 😊

We're definitely not talking Avengers or Justice League. I'd say probably more along the lines of Netflix's Defenders. Some rough examples:

Physical strength: You can snap an anchor chain, but you can't lift the ship of the line it's attached to.

Super-running: Out-run a cheetah? Yes. Outrun a bullet? No. (But you’d have a good chance of dodging one…)

Wind powers: Wind speeds like a tropical storm? Yes. Wind speeds like an F5 tornado? No.

Another comparison might be to Golden Age heroes (minus Superman or Wonder Woman, obviously). This might be more apt because it's more along the lines of what I'm thinking: heroes that don't have vast suites of powers, but rather a few powers they can use well.

@PyxisI'd say the degree to which a character's powers are developed depends on the concept. The neophyte and the well-seasoned adventurer are equally valid concepts.

Starting out in-game, the AOP is an established organization. It is not a full-time team, but members are contacted on an ad hoc basis when trouble arises. The members all know one another to at least some degree and have worked together in various combinations. Obviously, the player-characters are considered "core members" of the group.

All this points to player-characters having at least some prior experience using their abilities.

@Clever Hans

I see, I do want to create a lady who's gifts revolve around water. She would be able to manipulate water, much like water benders from Avatar. Just that she would have limitations and wouldn't have much experience.

She'd only know some basic moves, like how to freeze water or move it around. Just enough to make her one of those "core members"

sounds fun

I'm game

👀

Definitely interested

Do characters have to have powers or can we Batman/Green Arrow/Zorro it?

Interested

Hmm. Could I play a morally ambiguous vampire?

Hmm. Could I play a morally ambiguous vampire?

My initial reaction is that difficulties revolving around staying out of the sunlight, staying out of scared spaces, arranging a proper place to sleep, etc. would not make for a viable player-character.

@Clever Hans Fair enough points. What if the vampire was tweaked so that he could operate in sunlight but was merely weakened by the sunlight in that he has to wear shaded spectacles to see properly? Certainly eliminates a majority of issues then

@LordOfTheNight Not to mention that the idea of an organization like the Order of Pandora employing rather than hunting something like a vampire seems

EXTREMELY

unlikely

@Jarl CoolgruufThere have been demons that have been superheros before in comic book history. A vampire wouldn't be that far of a stretch, especially if you also got it so the vampire didn't need to commit murder in order to stay alive.

@Cyrania Yeah but most demons don't feast on human blood to live. Hellboy doesn't need to drink human spinal fluid or whatever to keep his heart ticking.

Ultimately not my decision, but there's my 2 cents