Enarr

Absolute Comics Presents - What If? [A DC & Marvel One Universe RP]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

T H E Q U E S T I O N

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^{_{C H A R L E S V I C T O R S Z A S Z ♦ I N V E S T I G A T O R ♦ I N D E P E N D E N T ♦ P R I M E}}

W H A T I F...?:

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^{"I can tell you that in the spring of 2020, it was impossible to meet the consumer demand for toilet paper because Lexcorp had been buying it all up to block the Suez Canal in order to drive demand for their own proprietary waterway. What else would you like to know?"}

Charles Victor Zsasz was raised in an orphanage. Through an abundance of notetaking, observation, and sheer immersion learning, he came to know the true tongue of the city around him. Under the name Victor Sage, he ministered for the municipalities, casting judgement upon their Judases, just as Jonah spoke to Ninevah, only on live television for a local news network.

Upon exorcising the city of a maniacal pharmaceutical executive's reign, he was able to rescue Doctor Aristotle Robor, a chemist. In order to protect Vic from future retaliation, Robor has since provided him with a supply of Pseudoderm, a material that looks and feels like flesh but can be seen through when applied over the face. He has since taken to finding many of his answers as The Question.

Lately however, Hub's been different. She hasn't been speaking to him like she used to. In fact, she's been downright hostile with some of the near misses he's had with the law lately. Sure, she's always had a mean side to her but never to him before. Not like this. If he didn't know any better, he might describe the change in behavior as truly alien. Fortunately for Hub, however, Vic is committed to not knowing better.

He's since taken to the road, chasing down leads to find out who's really behind the changes he's been seeing. He just can't bear to stick around while she keeps giving him the cold shoulder. But he'll be back to work things out.

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ):

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With the Question, I think it'd be delightful to write about him stalking people and uncovering alien conspiracies in cities across the US in order to tie it all back to major Skrull activity in Hub City. I'd actually love to collab with other players this time around.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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My version of the Question is fifty percent Denny O'Neil's gritty investigative reporter and thirty percent Richard Veitch's urban shaman versions of The Question. The remaining twenty percent of inspiration is split between the way that hunters negotiate with devils in Chainsaw Man and the "shivers" perk from Disco Elysium.

That is to say that this version will refrain from taking psychoactive drugs like Veitch's depiction where he had induced breakthroughs using hallucinogens, like he were performing Invisibles style chaos magic. This version of Q makes sacrifices to cities and negotiates with them in order to gain their blessings. Conversing with them by listening to an approving church bell or a critical choir of car horns. He knows that it's all connected.

The relationships that The Question has with different cities are quite different. For example, I have it in my head that New York might actually be a raging bitch towards him where Chicago would be rather friendly, seeing the windy city as something of an old flame for him, much more willing to give up her secrets if he treats her right.

Also, this version of The Question blogs and leaks documents online as The Question, or Q for short. And his investigations are crowdfunded via cryptocurrency by his online supporters.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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Question 1.01 - Going Live

Absolute Comics Presents - What If? [A DC & Marvel One Universe RP]

Pain. Sometimes Chrome will resupply whatever I had in boxes if I hit the back arrow after a connection fails. But yeah, sorry to hear that, man

Absolute Comics Presents - What If? [A DC & Marvel One Universe RP]

Just lost the entirety of my first post to an internet outage.

@Simple Unicycle

Ouch. Are you writing on Google Docs or just in the reply box on the Guild?

Absolute Comics Presents - What If? [A DC & Marvel One Universe RP]

Now that would be

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

T H E Q U E S T I O N

---

^{_{C H A R L E S V I C T O R S Z A S Z ♦ I N V E S T I G A T O R ♦ I N D E P E N D E N T ♦ P R I M E}}

W H A T I F...?:

---

^{"I can tell you that in the spring of 2020, it was impossible to meet the consumer demand for toilet paper because Lexcorp had been buying it all up to block the Suez Canal in order to drive demand for their own proprietary waterway. What else would you like to know?"}

Charles Victor Zsasz was raised in an orphanage. Through an abundance of notetaking, observation, and sheer immersion learning, he came to know the true tongue of the city around him. Under the name Victor Sage, he ministered for the municipalities, casting judgement upon their Judases, just as Jonah spoke to Ninevah, only on live television for a local news network.

Upon exorcising the city of a maniacal pharmaceutical executive's reign, he was able to rescue Doctor Aristotle Robor, a chemist. In order to protect Vic from future retaliation, Robor has since provided him with a supply of Pseudoderm, a material that looks and feels like flesh but can be seen through when applied over the face. He has since taken to finding many of his answers as The Question.

Lately however, Hub's been different. She hasn't been speaking to him like she used to. In fact, she's been downright hostile with some of the near misses he's had with the law lately. Sure, she's always had a mean side to her but never to him before. Not like this. If he didn't know any better, he might describe the change in behavior as truly alien. Fortunately for Hub, however, Vic is committed to not knowing better.

He's since taken to the road, chasing down leads to find out who's really behind the changes he's been seeing. He just can't bear to stick around while she keeps giving him the cold shoulder. But he'll be back to work things out.

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ):

---

With the Question, I think it'd be delightful to write about him stalking people and uncovering alien conspiracies in cities across the US in order to tie it all back to major Skrull activity in Hub City. I'd actually love to collab with other players this time around.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

My version of the Question is fifty percent Denny O'Neil's gritty investigative reporter and thirty percent Richard Veitch's urban shaman versions of The Question. The remaining twenty percent of inspiration is split between the way that hunters negotiate with devils in Chainsaw Man and the "shivers" perk from Disco Elysium.

That is to say that this version will refrain from taking psychoactive drugs like Veitch's depiction where he had induced breakthroughs using hallucinogens, like he were performing Invisibles style chaos magic. This version of Q makes sacrifices to cities and negotiates with them in order to gain their blessings. Conversing with them by listening to an approving church bell or a critical choir of car horns. He knows that it's all connected.

The relationships that The Question has with different cities are quite different. For example, I have it in my head that New York might actually be a raging bitch towards him where Chicago would be rather friendly, seeing the windy city as something of an old flame for him, much more willing to give up her secrets if he treats her right.

Also, this version of The Question blogs and leaks documents online as The Question, or Q for short. And his investigations are crowdfunded via cryptocurrency by his online supporters.

P O S T C A T A L O G:

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A list linking to your IC posts as they're created. This can be used for a reference guide to your character or to summarize completed arcs and stories.

Young Justice Renegades: A Team Worth Dying For

I'll think about it. I've learned a lot of things about writing since and might scratch up a new character after catching up on the IC

Gotham City: The Gordian Spring

Okay. I lied. I just got back from work after what shook out to a thirteen hour shift. I'll see about getting a proper thread up soon, though.

Gotham City: The Gordian Spring

Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I don't really need this to be an unusually big crew and I think this is quite enough to keep arrangements fast and easy. So I figure that I can throw an OOC thread together Monday or Tuesday night and start taking applications upon launch.

But until then I want to know your opinions on what gangs this ought to revolve around. Unless I get suggestions otherwise, I figure we can launch with The Penguin and Killer Croc.

As far as overall impetus for the central thrust of the narrative, I reckon that it could be about the two gangs scrambling to capitalize and thwart a prophecy of sorts. The Calculator's Criminal Almanac prophecies that on the first April rain, a penguin will be consumed by a dead crocodile.

Gotham City: The Gordian Spring

I'm interested if you'll have me.

@Sep

I'd love to have you, Sep.

Gotham City: The Gordian Spring

The Gordian Spring

According to a yearly report published by the Gotham Globe, Wayne Industries had been the single largest employer in all of Gotham City, just as it had been from the turn of the century up until the stroke of midnight on January 1st 2022, when Wayne Tower had exploded into a ball of green flame, killing hundreds of workers, poisoning thousands of citizens, and putting thousands more out of work.

Responsibility was proudly claimed by none other than Gotham's very own clown prince of crime, The Joker, who was apprehended by The Batman before being placed in police custody. In the months since, he has been undergoing rehabilitation in Arkham Asylum. In his wake, however, the city's southernmost and largest landmass, Miagani Island, has been in a state of emergency.

But none in Gotham City have felt the impact of New Year's Blaze more sharply than the city's landlords, who have simply had no choice but to evict their tenants out of the increasingly scarce properties they had been occupying. Mayor Sebastian Hady's broken window policing has done its utmost to fight the spread of vagrancy taking root but the police can only persuade so many itinerants not to make the situation worse. The jails are overpopulated and the city has had no choice but to make temporary accommodations in the low security wings of Blackgate Prison.

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The Gist

In this game, we'll be taking on the roles of members of supervillain gangs in Gotham City. Usually when my friends and I play superhero games, we play global sandbox games where you can be any canon character and do anything. This isn't that. Instead of going for that sort of breadth, this game is meant to drill down into what it's like to take part in the scheming and politicking within a supervillain's gang.

For the most part, you guys will be playing original characters. Desparate men and women who have found themselves taking on incredible risk. To keep things simple and tight, we're only going to be playing two gangs for the time being. I really want this to be about the tete a tete between the members of each faction as they scramble to meet their independent goals while cross pollinating and, one way or another, complicating the operations of the other since both outfits will be rubbing elbows operating on the southern Miagani Island in the Old Gotham district, a few months after the collapse of Wayne Tower.

Nobody's going to be playing the Batman or any superheroes, though they'll probably play a role in the finale. Inspired by a couple older roleplays my friends occasionally run, this is going to be a seasonal affair running for about three months. If things go well, we'll take a break for a while and make plans for the next season, probably with different criminal organizations. Players are extremely welcome to bounce off of each other and drive your own plots as long as they tie into the overall goals of your team. Try to keep it snappy.

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The Factions

Motivations for any individual player character would likely vary greatly but try to keep in mind what kind of person would be valuable to each of the following supervillains. If you have any ideas for other factions and what their organization might look like, feel free to make suggestions below. I just thought these seemed like some low hanging fruit that might be fun.

The Joker: Having just broken out of Arkham Asylum an hour prior, The Clown Prince wants to know that you've been stockpiling resources, like chemicals and weapons, for the upcoming ten year anniversary of the first time he fought The Batman. The Joker's crew would likely involve a mixture of fighters, engineers and scientists recruited by offering the opportunity to be truly free for the first time in their lives. With sky high turnover, The Joker's organization is rather unstructured beyond the fact that insubordination is usually frowned upon. And nobody wants to see a sad clown.

The Penguin: Coming from old money with lots of fingers in the political pie, Oswald Cobblepot largely facilitates transactions between other criminals as a mediator, though he has been known to offer protection from external criminal elements. While he personally has a security detail at any given time including hired muscle, his retinue includes a rainbow of businessmen, spies, and thieves. The Penguin's associates tend to operate through proxies and blackmail in one of the more multi-tiered and long standing operations.

Killer Croc: Waylon Jones is one of the more simple criminals operating in Gotham at the moment. He had once made a bid for kingpin status but it cost him an arm and a leg. Actually, two arms, but who's counting, anyway? His crew consists of blue collar working class joes taking on simple work, like stealing building materials and selling them to Mayor Hady's construction company at a discount. His operation is one of the more intimate organizations to be found on the island, familial and straightforward, though still illicit.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

God of War is an incredible game and I don't really know anyone that thought it was 'just OK'?

@Dion

My little brother, who plays far fewer games than I, has taken the week of Ragnarok off to play it upon release based entirely off the strength of the first game. We did not grow up playing the series. It's just super solid.