Superhero-themed Roleplay

[Prince]

Wikipedia said In modern popular fiction, a superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero[b] or [b]super hero) is a type of hero character possessing extraordinary talents, supernatural phenomena, or superhuman powers and dedicated to protecting the public.

A Superhero-themed roleplay. You see them fairly often. Some succeed, some don't; same with any roleplay, really. Sometimes, they're a GM's vision of a certain plot, organization or set of characters from their favorite comic series or continuum. Sometimes, they're a quick attempt to recreate the badass action seen on a silver screen. There are plenty of ways to embody the super hero genre, so I'm sure most roleplayers look at just that: the foundation of a super hero roleplay. Is it founded in the X-Men? Or, maybe DC's Batman with the Bat family? Alternatively, is it a series of vigilante heroes with slightly weaker powers, like seen in some iterations of Static Shock and the Bangbabies? Or, is it a parallel of Marvel's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes? The biggest question, possibly, is which major publisher does the tone of the RP lie in: DC, Marvel or a crossover?

I posed a lot of questions, and that's for a reason. I see, in quite a few threads I lurk on, people looking for and the demand of a superhero RP. What I'm going to offer is to design an RP based in the superhero genre tailored by the requests of a few with the single staunch point that there will be no canon in it of any kind. What I'm looking for, primarily, is a few people with some creative desires, maybe a sub-mod or two since I personally am not looking for a superhero RP as much as I want to offer the chance to assist in and help inspire the creation of a roleplay. That said, what I am looking for in addition to that is reference material for inspiration. A few comic series, some ideas on the standards of strengths, maybe a few requests of neat or effective resources/tools, such as stat systems or unique character sheets.

In short, this will be a community endeavor. That said, not everyone might get what they want. We might go in the complete opposite direction of what an individual wants. If you want to be part of this, stick around even if its not what you really wanted. If you can't bare what we make, I'm sorry, but I do appreciate any interest. Anyway, blow this up with ideas, links, examples, or just blatant interest - if this is an idea you like.

[Mixtape Ghost N]

I'm interested.

How many characters will we be allowed?

[Avanhelsing]

What the hey. I've been enough of these types to know what works and doesn't.
Count me in.

I was in one that required you make two characters or multiplies of two. Like if I made a hero I would have to make a villain sidekick. Same for the reverse. I liked that idea.

[Prince]

As of now, I have not considered or implemented dynamics such as character count, creation methods or limitations of any kind. This is a blank slate side from its one stipulation: all OC, no canon.

[Mixtape Ghost N]

Good, I prefer RPs with OCs.

I'm personally pretty open to any and all ideas. But I have a suggestion: what if we're a team of roving superheroes, going from city to city, solving crime and beating up bad guys? It's a pretty good way to keep things moving and fresh. Once again, a suggestion.

[Prince]

Plenty of possibilities. Still need more interest and input.

[Napoleon]

I'm interested

[Impulse]

Sounds excellent. I'm game, but I have two questions: will the role play be casual, intermediate, or advanced? and can we play as villains?

[ActRaiserTheReturned]

Enter Nicolai, The Summoner Of The Apocalypse. . .

[Sloth]

Mr Allen J said But I have a suggestion: what if we're a team of roving superheroes, going from city to city, solving crime and beating up bad guys? It's a pretty good way to keep things moving and fresh. Once again, a suggestion.

I might be ale to bring in an archer/magic character for this, but I'm malleable, so whatever.

[Wilson Wilson]

I'm interested. I have a masked vigilante character kicking around that I could bring to this. He has no superpowers, but neither do Nathan, Green Arrow or Hawkeye and they still hang out in the big leagues. Though I can use another if needs be.

[knightofhope]

i've got plenty of superhero OC's i can bring to the game~ so count me in

[Skallagrim]

This has potential, I will keep checking to see how the mechanics/storyline flesh out.

[Krein]

Definitely interested, I love these kinds of RPs.

[eyesonlyhacker]

I've been trying to get back into RPing and think maybe this one would be a good start. I have a couple of OC characters floating around. One from a Marvel Universe RP that I would consider semi-OC. I say semi because she was based off a marvel group, though this character was never specifically in any Marvel canon. The second is a purely OC character that I enjoyed creating, but never got the chance to RP with.

[Erebos]

This, yes. I absolutely love building the world with my Fellow RPers. Count me in.

[Erebos]

Mr Allen J said
Good, I prefer RPs with OCs.I'm personally pretty open to any and all ideas. But I have a suggestion: what if we're a team of roving superheroes, going from city to city, solving crime and beating up bad guys? It's a pretty good way to keep things moving and fresh. Once again, a suggestion.

If I may add an idea to this! I think roaming around is all well and good, however, I think it might be better to (at least at the start) we limit the "team" to a certain area, be it a city or small territory of sorts, with the occasional mission outside of said city/territory. In doing that we can ensure at least one decently developed area of play and can take our time creating a bigger world around us and figuring more things out from there.

Impulse said
Sounds excellent. I'm game, but I have two questions: will the role play be casual, intermediate, or advanced? and can we play as villains?

I would hope this ends up as a High Casual RP, but that's just my opinion. As for Villians, in my experience with Superhero RPs having players be both antagonists and protagonists leads to certain... Difficulties. Difficulties that I find are rather cumbersome in the face of an ongoing RP.

Something I'd like to suggest, not for the RP itself, but for the world building aspect is that we do it similarly to a Republic, where we would hold votes (anonymously if possible) and develop the world with both winning and losing parties in mind (unless they contradict each other) so that at least some of what the losing party wants can be implemented, even if the winning parties idea gets more development.

Edit: Sorry for the double post, I meant to edit that into my previous post, but misclicked when I went to copy.

[Sparx]

I too am very much interested. I'll keep an eye to see how things are developing.

[Prince]

I'm being provided with a lot of structural ideas, which is great. What I would like are... comic references, themes, general plot ideas, maybe some reference work to some specific heroes or groups. You had to be inspired by something. Show me what. I want to review whatever it is that we're working on, see what the critical acclaim is, use my social engineering skills to see how I can apply that to a collaborative storytelling adventure. Basically, I need the meat to the bones, and I'm really doing this for you guys, so... bam.

[Erebos]

Young Justice, in part, is what gave me the idea for a home base with the occasional away mission for the reasons stated above (though to be fair, my only experience with that series was the show on Cartoon Network, which didn't really go into great detail about the area around their base). The other reason I suggested that idea is that it is very flexible, it can be sustained indefinitely or done away with as the plot demands, while also adding some stability to the setting.

Of course, I do generally tend to like Superhero RPs like this to have a more small team centered feel to them, which is part of the reason I'm against adding villainous PCs. Though this is a preference I developed after experiencing quite a few RPs succumb to in-fighting and other such unpleasantness. It can also be attributed to a lesser extent to my long standing love of shows such as Justice League,Young Justice, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Teen Titans, where there is a clear focus on one side/team, and while it does deal with their opposition in a more person light from time to time, the focus never clearly leaves the main team.

Edit: I found a lot of inspiration in the DCU, specifically Justice League and Young Justice. Also, while it's not exactly superhero related, I get some inspiration from some manga I read and the music I listen to, specifically the lyrics and how I interpret them (even if I know the intended meaning of the song writer). I enjoy Rock/Alternative Rock for this purpose. I like the idea of a close group of young superheroes working together from Young Justice (I believe they were all teenagers in that, however, I favor an age range of about 18-25).

I love the dynamic of the Justice League too. All these great and powerful heroes, who can work very well on their own, but have such an incredible community that they can call on for help if/when they need it.

The idea of mentor heroes letting their proteges work on their own missions (granted, with a whole team of other proteges) in order to both further their training and give them the freedom of discovery to really understand what drives them, and allows them to step out of the shadow of their teacher inspires my writing as well.

And though it's not related to the superhero genre specifically, I absolutely adore the ability to put my character in a world with my fellow RPers and the GM in order to see how my character will both affect the world around them, and how they'll in turn change because of that same world.

Those are some of the things that inspire me to write in Superhero RPs, and in some cases, RPs in general.