The Secret War:

A modern day thriller adventure roleplay:

Modern day, alternate universe. The government controls everything. After the end of World War 2 there was no Cold War; the world powers united to create an authoritarian world government with the interest of uniting the world, but those interests soon turned to greed. The leaders in power became corrupt and took over. They controlled people's thoughts through propaganda on every media outlet. They controlled speech and secret police have patrolled the streets for years, waiting for any sign of rebellion.

Every day life is fairly normal, except every conversation is monitored. Black vans that drive back and forth down the streets of every town and city are a common sight. It's fairly common to see people being arrested and shoved in the back of these vans, never to be seen again, taken to secret prison complexes in the world's oceans.

But recently, there has been unrest. The rise of the internet and the anonymity that came with that has been causing problems. The government still monitor what they can but the sheer volume of traffic on the internet has made it impossible for them to see everything. Still, everyone that they could find who opposed the regime was rounded up. With every attempt the government made to contain, the unrest increased. The rebels were getting too organised. The idea of 'democracy' is returning into people's minds, and it's making the leaders nervous.

Making the problem worse, is the rise of the 'Supers'. Powerful humans whose powers awaken during their teenage years. Each Super has one extraordinary ability. Some can see inside the others of other minds, others have super fast reflexes, and the like. The powers are fairly limited as of the current time, but for every new Super that is discovered the government become more and more nervous. What if they were to band together for a rebellion?

Supers, therefore, are rounded up in their masses and put in prison the moment they are discovered. They are taken without trial, whether or not they show signs of any unrest against the government. They are taken to the same harsh prisons in the oceans as all the other potential rebels and locked away to be forgotten. Some lucky ones are selected and trained turned into warriors for the government's police, if they show loyalty. The rest are left to rot.

You are a Super, whose power has just surfaced. That means right away, you are noticed and arrested by the secret police, then sent to a prison complex in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

***

The roleplay will center around a group of Supers who band together to escape the prison and vow to topple the regime.

The idea is your powers will be limited. You can't just make yourself into the biggest badass ever. Every power has to have a weakness. For instance, my character will be able to read others' thoughts, but his weakness is that he has to spend a lot of energy just to filter through them and read what he wants. If he is distracted too harshly, he will lose his grip on sanity as endless thoughts race into his mind without his consent, filling up his mind with so much it's practically painful. Be creative and have fun with that idea.

This is an interest check for a modern-setting rebellion-story roleplay. It will be in the thriller genre primarily. That means there will be fighting, but also drama. I want to focus on the story primarily. Writing a good, fun thriller story with a group of writers is my goal here. It doesn't have to be fantastically well-written, just fun to do.

The tone of this will be primarily mature and dramatic. There will be action but also character development. I will allow romance if it fits in with the characters, but no sexual scenes, you can keep that in the PMs if you must have them. I would like the plot to focus around fun action and thriller sequences and plenty of dramatic scenes where characters can talk and get to know each other, etc.

I hope this generates enough interest. I feel there aren't enough modern-setting, non-fandom based roleplay plots out there!

Sounds cool, count me in.

Interested, looking forward to the story.

Interest

Interested. Sounds familiar to an RPG I GM'd a few years back, only without the "Super" bit. Different website, obviously.

My requested power: Limited invisibility. Imagine the "HALO" Active Camo perk: You blend into your surroundings, but you become more visible as you move, and the invisibility only lasts 30 seconds or so. Anything being held is also invisible, but footsteps and breathing are still audible.

Will you be deciding the outcomes of encounters? Let's assume you grant me the Limited Invisibility power. I approach an open door, peek out and see an armed guard. I become invisible and slowly make my way across the room, heading for a nearby passage. Who determines if the guard catches me?

MatthiasAngel said
Will you be deciding the outcomes of encounters? Let's assume you grant me the Limited Invisibility power. I approach an open door, peek out and see an armed guard. I become invisible and slowly make my way across the room, heading for a nearby passage. Who determines if the guard catches me?

There are some options. My idea was that as this is a story based roleplay I was hoping we could just go by what makes the most sense plot wise. As you have this ability, it makes sense to use it in such a situation and it is a certainly smart way of using the Supers. I like that you're limiting your powers in a smart way too, so of course, I would be happy to let you have that power.

Either we could go by what makes the best story, and just write collaboratively, or we could go by dice-roll. I'm sure there are plenty of dice-roll websites out there that would automate the process for you (or, failing that, get your own dice), and we could use that to decide the outcome. I'm more in preference on writing a decent story with the focus on smart and consistent usage of the character's abilities, so it is not particularly important to me how the outcome is decided. Of course, to make things more interesting, occasionally I could 'over-ride' the success for what would make the more thrilling path, like you would suddenly lose your ability to camo just as the guard is about to turn around giving you a few seconds to react in the best way you can, but primarily the idea is to write a story, not play a game.

If I'm going to use a limited power, I don't want it to "malfunction."

Can they be enhanced later by either experience or serums or something?

And don't worry. I can make a story. I might let myself get caught. I don't like OP players either and it wouldn't be any fun if I used invisibility to slip through everything.

EDIT: Can we get a better name for these people than "Supers?" It's a bit cliche. Maybe "Anomalies?"

I'm gonna watch this for now but it seems interesting.

I feel there aren't enough modern-setting, non-fandom based roleplay plots out there!

I agree, and that is EXACTLY what I've been looking for.

I'd like to throw in my interest, as well.

What the hay I'm interested too.

Interested. ^_^

Did this die? o_0

I'm interested. I just think you need to get an OC up, before people forget about this. I'm trying to figure out a useful power that isn't OP.... I'll think of something eventually XD

I have a good list of potential powers if you're interested! I'll post a few for people to peruse, or get an idea from.

Invisibility
Description: Identical to the "Active Camo" armor ability in the HALO series, this turned the OC and all clothing/inventory nearly invisible. You blend into the surroundings but are exposed if you move rapidly. It lasts 30 seconds and requires a brief cooldown.
Pros: Invisibility. Excellent for sneaking past guards, cameras and motion-activated alarms
Cons: Does not mask breathing or footsteps. Lasts 30 seconds and requires a short cooldown. Overuse can lead to exhaustion.

Strength Boost (needs a more original title)
Description: As the name suggests, this power multiplies your strength without changing the shape of your body. It can be used at will and is fueled by adrenaline\
Pros: Strength! Punch extra hard, lift more weight, force locks open, smash metal with your bare hands and whatever else comes to mind
Cons: Runs on adrenaline. Once you use it up, you become exhausted and nauseated. Use in moderation if you don't want to pass out.

Warp
Description: Transports you instantly from one location to another within your field of vision. Disappear in a portal, cloud of smoke, flash of light, etc (take your pick).
Pros: Fast travel. Instant access to vantage points, cover and vehicles. No cooldown.
Cons: The warp effect makes noise and is visible. When you exit warp, the same effect occurs, alerting anything nearby to your location. You are vulnerable once you reach your destination.

Ghost Clone
Description: Create a clone of yourself that looks identical to you and thinks the same. Excellent for two-man actions, a diversion or a person to ride "shotgun" if it comes down to it. Clone is vulnerable and has literally no health, hence the name "ghost"
Pros: Instant clone with an identical mind. You can pass information and commands through eye contact alone. Ghost clone has no cooldown and stays alive unless harmed.
Cons: Dissipates instantly if harmed. Spawns unarmed. If you want your clone to have a gun or key card, you must equip them. If the clone is harmed, the items they were carrying will drop to the ground wherever they are. You have no mental control over the clone and, if separated, will have no way to communicate with them.

Eye Dive
Description: Allows the OC to dive into the eyes of another human or species and see what they see. Does not affect the target mentally or physically in any way. The character must select a target (any form of digital camera is included), close their eyes and focus. Upon opening their eyes, they will see what the target sees.
Pros: Get all the information you need on nearby enemies and locations. Dive into the eyes of a guard and watch him enter a password or a security camera to see if it has infrared vision or not.
Cons: Player is essentially blind while diving. Intense concentration is required, so the player will have difficulty moving as well, although speaking is uninhibited. Can cause stress and temporary weak vision if overused.

Perception
Description: Player can become fully aware of everything around them, essentially "seeing" 360 degrees. They can point at and identify (and attack) anything within eyesight all the way around them.
Pros: Excellent coordination. Hidden traps and cameras are immediately visible. Identify nearby objects that may be of use or even otherwise hidden doors. No cooldown.
Cons: Does not increase stamina or speed. Cannot see through walls or solid objects. As it requires a significant amount of focus, the player may lose touch with reality and lose physical reaction speed. Paranoia is a potential side effect, especially if the ability is used constantly.

More to come if I think of any.

I hope the GM comes back, I had the most delightful idea for a character... :3

I know right, I'm still trying to come up with a character.... Gah....