I am craving an apparently specific type of roleplay I can't seem to find anywhere.

Slice of Life superheroes, I am talking old school costumed adventurers in skin tight - uniquely designed outfits. The struggle of balancing the life of their alter ego with their day responsibilities, and the public image of their heroic identity. This would be an 18+ setting with real and heavy topics characters can explore while working together to thwart the scheme of the antagonist. This would be an OC only world, a unique superhero universe we can create together. I tend to get artwork done for roleplays that last and think this could be a good visual roleplay. A group of 4 dedicated role-players would suffice, but we could allow more of everyone involved agrees.


Here is the storyline idea:
The fictional city of Winstein is a foreboding place rife with crime, grime, and corruption. Those who reside there, remain there due to lack of financial freedom, gang ties, or pride for their home, though most have managed to flee the city's sticky grasp. Public workers are understaffed, the police force rendered almost entirely corrupt and in control of the city's crime lords. All of this is happening while somehow remaining unknown to the rest of the country, with the powers of Winstein keeping its secrets hidden. The city itself has become a nexus for transport and storage of drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. The criminals are wealthy, equipped with advanced technology and weapons, breaking any resistance down before it peers its head.

We introduce Jefferson, a comic book geek and technological genius, who also happens to be the son of a rich crime lord of the Lionshead clan. During a battle between opposing clans, before the city entered a darkened age, Jefferson sustained a head injury. Having recently awoken from a coma, heir to his father's fortune, Jefferson found out that his father had died, and the city is in a state of total corruption. Uninterested in leading the type of crime filled life his father had led, Jefferson planned to flee the city with his fortune, but after seeing criminals walking around in exo-suits, wielding weapons he had never seen made before, inspiration from his comic books struck him. He was going to recruit a team of potential warriors to become the first real superheroes.

Jefferson spent the next few months designing superhero suits and building weapons leveraging a skill of those he had his eyes on recruiting. The suits were made of expensive synthetic alloy fabric Jefferson had invented, equipped with technology that would allow him to monitor the health of those who wear those suits. The weapons, a variety of outlandish ideas brought to life, had different functions and capabilities that he believed would match against the criminals of Winstein.

The roleplay begins with our OCs. Each have received some sort of cryptic message, either by phone, physical letter, or any other creative way you can think of. The message was a summon to the sewers, which our OCs reluctantly - but curiously obliged. A hideout reveals itself down there, where the purpose of their summon is explained to them. Your OC could be anything between a circus acrobat, a boxing trainer, a hacker, a skilled doctor, frustrated cop, a firefighter, or just a common individual with secret abilities that Jefferson had become aware of. On that note it should be mentioned there are no straight up super powers you'd expect from such a story, the powers that exist are more minor if any, and could be caused by an evolutionary mutation that provides enhanced durability or minor telepathy (so no straight up fire bending for example) - with the other more extreme abilities of our characters being achieved through advanced technology.

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I could go more into the gangs and the villains that we would be facing, but I feel some of it could be made up by you in your character's stories if you wish so.

Anyway this is an interest check. Wondering if it would be possible to capture the interest of 3 other people to go on this adventure with me :). Btw, for easier communication, we would be using discord for OOC.

So, I'm interested.

Are OCs with mental illnesses/physical handicaps okay? I'm kind of thinking of an OC with DID, but I do understand that that could be a bit hard to manage, and it's okay if you don't allow it/think it would be too hard for me to run.

interested! seems like a fun idea.

So, I'm interested.

Are OCs with mental illnesses/physical handicaps okay? I'm kind of thinking of an OC with DID, but I do understand that that could be a bit hard to manage, and it's okay if you don't allow it/think it would be too hard for me to run.

As a 18+ rp all mental illnesses/physical handicaps are okay, and would actually be a pretty interesting story view on such things in this setting, trying to get by in this city and all. I honestly don't really see it as an issue. It comes down to your confidence on how you'd manage it. All I ask is that your OC would have something useful about them that would have led Jefferson to choose them.

interested! seems like a fun idea.

Any ideas you might already have we could doodle with? :P

I like to ask questions. So I want to preface this by saying I like superhero RPs and this seems like a fun idea. Tons of folks here like Superhero RPs and a good dozen at least are well in to OC Superhero RPs.

That said, it might help to flesh things out a bit more.

Is this a Modern Age type setting or like 1950s or Future?

How did Jefferson (is that a first or last name?) find out about these people?

With superpowers being unknown to the world at large and superheroes being non-existent, it would seem, what are you imagining for villains?

What sort of genre are you going for?
You say Old School Costumed Adventure with Skin Tight Suits, but also crime, grime, corruption, and custom superhero suits and weapons. Are you thinking like 1960s/70s Batman Camp (think Adam West Batman and that weird Robin) or the 90s Batman the Animated Series (think Noire with a lot of Mafia villains and troubled villains) or like Spiderman/X-Men sort of more Standard Issue Comic Book stuff. Or hell something like Marvel Knights which is closer to Grim Dark (think more violent, more killing, more twisted villains and drug use or other adult stuff)

I like to ask questions. So I want to preface this by saying I like superhero RPs and this seems like a fun idea. Tons of folks here like Superhero RPs and a good dozen at least are well in to OC Superhero RPs.

That said, it might help to flesh things out a bit more.

I like to answer questions :)

Is this a Modern Age type setting or like 1950s or Future?

I was thinking to leave this somewhat obscure. Leaning near future with sci-fi elements.

How did Jefferson (is that a first or last name?) find out about these people?

First name. Think of him as the computer genius who hacks into surveillance coms and gov records to narrow down his search. Or it could simply be from more simple relations with the characters who were directly affected by the criminals of the city, a hook for him to leverage their willingness to join. I am leaving this for the role-players to decide or brainstorm with me.

With superpowers being unknown to the world at large and superheroes being non-existent, it would seem, what are you imagining for villains?

Inspiration can be derived from Kingpin for example, but also, having illegal tech out there leaves a lot to imagine with exo-suits, freeze-guns, or whatever outlandish idea we can come up with. I have not come up with the entire criminal enterprise yet, though I do have some solid ideas.

What sort of genre are you going for?
You say Old School Costumed Adventure with Skin Tight Suits, but also crime, grime, corruption, and custom superhero suits and weapons. Are you thinking like 1960s/70s Batman Camp (think Adam West Batman and that weird Robin) or the 90s Batman the Animated Series (think Noire with a lot of Mafia villains and troubled villains) or like Spiderman/X-Men sort of more Standard Issue Comic Book stuff. Or hell something like Marvel Knights which is closer to Grim Dark (think more violent, more killing, more twisted villains and drug use or other adult stuff)

By these examples alone, probably a mix of Spiderman/X-Men and Marvel Knights. Leaning on the adult stuff with Mafia villains and troubled villains, but focusing on the theme of comic book superheroes coming to real-life, the public's reaction to them. The idea is to explore the culture shock that this would bring - and hopefully eventually reach a storyline where they become a permeant part of this world's culture. The best example I think would be the KickAss series.

Alright!

So, I'm going to need to do a whole lot of research on DID, and if I do go with a character with that, how about this: My character technically has 3 personalities, and while 2 of them are the best at what they do, the 3rd one is a Fragment alter(an alter who doesn't really have much of an identity or personality) who holds the most painful memories that the original alter had from their abuser. As such, the other two alters try to ignore the 3rd one, as they don't really like to think about their abuser, but eventually have to in order to come to terms with his abuse/those memories in particular have really important plot-related information inside of them.

Or maybe I could do a failed super soldier experiment, who got schizophrenia and slightly enhanced capabilities instead of anything reliable, and now is a cop, trying to do good while also being very frustrated at their line of work and the annoying voice in their head.

(Also, as long as we don't do the clone saga, we're good. xD)

Alright!

So, I'm going to need to do a whole lot of research on DID, and if I do go with a character with that, how about this: My character technically has 3 personalities, and while 2 of them are the best at what they do, the 3rd one is a Fragment alter(an alter who doesn't really have much of an identity or personality) who holds the most painful memories that the original alter had from their abuser. As such, the other two alters try to ignore the 3rd one, as they don't really like to think about their abuser, but eventually have to in order to come to terms with his abuse/those memories in particular have really important plot-related information inside of them.

Or maybe I could do a failed super soldier experiment, who got schizophrenia and slightly enhanced capabilities instead of anything reliable, and now is a cop, trying to do good while also being very frustrated at their line of work and the annoying voice in their head.

(Also, as long as we don't do the clone saga, we're good. xD)

I like the super-soldier idea! And would help flesh out more of the possible supers out there in this somewhat limited setting.

The only quarrel I have with the DID idea, is how would Jefferson design the superhero suit for this character to accommodate both known personalities LMAO. I'm sure we could come up with something but this would def need some good brainstorming on your end

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I like the super-soldier idea! And would help flesh out more of the possible supers out there in this somewhat limited setting.

The only quarrel I have with the DID idea, is how would Jefferson design the superhero suit for this character to accommodate both known personalities LMAO. I'm sure we could come up with something but this would def need some good brainstorming on your end

Yeah, me too!

As for the DID idea, maybe their suit has some sort of mechanism that could change the suit and its powers depending on what alter has surfaced? It's the near future, after all. Anything's possible! xD

Now I have to choose between these two ideas...xD

<Snipped quote by Kkushmar>

Yeah, me too!

As for the DID idea, maybe their suit has some sort of mechanism that could change the suit and its powers depending on what alter has surfaced? It's the near future, after all. Anything's possible! xD

Now I have to choose between these two ideas...xD

falls down to you haha. Personally if you are not using the super soldier idea, I would have probably still incorporated that into the story at some point! If you do choose it, we'd use your character to introduce it haha.

The DID idea would be a lot of fun to rp with as well and can make for some awkward social interactions haha - but yeah maybe a suit that changes depending on the personality. Like a freeze gun changing to a flame gun LMAO.

Random note - I plan to design each character to your specifications, I have a paid subscription for a really good program for it factoryofheroes.com. Since its a superhero inspired RP, I find visuals very important

Bump, curious if anyone else is interested. Seems like we'd need one more person.

This seems right up in my alley. I love superheroes and have always enjoyed RPing in that specific genre. Totes down to join this when it gets going, if you'll have me :)

I am also very interested in this if you have the room!

<Snipped quote by udonoodles>

Any ideas you might already have we could doodle with? :P

in terms of characters, i was considering a burnout who recently graduated from high school and is looking for a purpose—they'd willingly throw themselves into the thick of things, possibly at a detriment, and their more malleable and proactive personality could be shaped by the people around them. as for powers, i'm not sure yet: i generally like to see what other people do first and create abilities that can synergise or bounce off of others well. i was considering a more conventional fighting style for them, however, which would lean towards more passive abilities like enhanced strength or speed rather than psychic powers or super intelligence.

ultimately, though, i'm big into cooperating and synergising with other players, so my ideas will definitely start to solidify as more characters begin to form.

poop, looks like you already got 4 :(. I'll keep watching this rp though!

poop, looks like you already got 4 :(. I'll keep watching this rp though!

Well nothing is confirmed yet! I'm ok with going a little more just didn't have big expectations haha.

I am also very interested in this if you have the room!

Yup!

This seems right up in my alley. I love superheroes and have always enjoyed RPing in that specific genre. Totes down to join this when it gets going, if you'll have me :)

with opens arms :)

Now I have to choose between these two ideas...xD

come to any conclusion? haha

ultimately, though, i'm big into cooperating and synergising with other players, so my ideas will definitely start to solidify as more characters begin to form.

I'm like that too.

@everyone, before I make anything official, just want to workshop ideas that everyone will be interested in. I am hoping to find a committed group that wouldn't end up ghosting so I want to make sure that when/if we start, it would be smooth and welcoming.
Do you all mind dropping some rough ideas on what kind of character you would like to play? (Profession or skills, or even role in the group like support or spy or whatever) and then we can discuss on possible connections and relationships, and the worldbuilding we can base off of these characters.

I would want to write up more about the city and the criminal groups in it, and do worldbuilding as a whole based around your characters so the roleplay will feel as natural as possible.

If at least 3 of you will confirm you'd be committed to this, ill start a discord group so we can discuss more.

coming in once again to confirm i'm committed, and i'll mark my character's role in the group down as a frontline fighter: he's mainly in the thick of battle throwing hands with enemies to create openings for the specialists to do their thing—protecting the healers, causing diversions for spies or infiltrators etc. he'd be well rounded and good in a fight, but he lacks the specialised talents of other roles. as for his specific combat role, he'd tackle up close hand to hand combat rather than long ranged.

Alright!

I'm going to commit, so-

I guess who I choose will be up to who the other players choose?

If I choose the split personality dudes, one of them(we'll just call him Doc for now) is a registered doctor and will probably be the healer of the group, while the other(who we'll call Juggler for now) banked real hard on his and Doc's circus/runaway child background and is mainly support, acting as both a buffer, morale, and sometimes a distraction.

...Okay, I'll probably choose the split personality dudes, but only because I just don't want another front line fighter. That slot can be filled by udonoodles' character and someone else, thank you very much.

After my own Superhero roleplay fell through due to personal problems on my part, I've been meaning to redeem myself and get back in the game. You've got a great premise here and If you'll let me, I'd be happy to at least try to be part of things as best I can.

I am 100% committed. Been needing my RP itch scratched for a while now.

As for characters. My initial instinct was a support-type hero. I was thinking of a telekinesis/force field user a la Invisible Woman. Though I suppose she could be classified as the spy type too if I want Invisibility. But I am also open to talking more to make a character that fits. As for profession/personality, I am making a female character. I was going to make either a lawyer/private detective type, someone whoo aims to help those who have nowhere else to turn.