Lurking Shadow — Roleplayer Guild

I've been watching a lot of the DC cartoons lately so I'm kinda stuck in this Schick of supers right now. On top of that, I just recently got my Hellboy RPG book, so role-playing a super hero/Villain sounds fun! Would we be able to play a Villain instead?@Cao the Exiled

(I'd like to move discussion here from the interest.)

I am currently not allowing anyone to play a villain, seems I need to clarify that. At least not with certain restrictions. Another has shared with me a amoral character, won't divulge as it was a secret of the character, which I am fine with but I will note the same things I said. 

This is a 'group' RP, the plan for the story accounts for a more or less cohesive group to fight together and overcome challenges. For the group to stick together, there must be some factor to them, some redeeming quality, that the rest of the group would like. If a character were to go around and rob banks, murder civilians, or otherwise be villainous, I don't see how the other characters would put up with them and they would get kicked out of the group. Which will cause problems towards the 'endgame' of the RP with matters concerning the story and the climatic final battle. I have told the other person is that it is fine for characters to not start out heroic but they should grow as a character to be at least around 'anti-hero' as the RP progresses. But if you really want to play a villain, I might be able to fit it in with restrictions. PM me and let's see if we can work it out.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I will edit the OOC to clarify this.

Grailham City, founded in 1884, was originally created as a hub from which to launch for archeological expeditions throughout the world. The expeditions had varying success over the next few decades, that is until the ill-fated Carlyle expedition in 1919. Led and funded by millionaire playboy Roger Carlyle, the expedition traveled to various places around the world including Egypt, China, Africa, and Australia among others and perform several excavations following a tip from an undisclosed source. Over the next two years, a trove of artifacts from early human history was sent back, though some were rumored to be not of human origin. In August of 1921, the expedition traveled to the African wilderness and vanished. In October of that year, the gruesome remains of the expedition was found by a search party hired by Roger’s sister. While rumors suggest that their demise was from inhuman hands, ultimately blame was pinned on Nandi tribesmen who were tried and hanged. Despite the tragic end, the findings of the expedition were groundbreaking and brought wealth into the city and some of the artifacts remain on display at the posthumously named Carlyle Museum, one of the largest museums in the world. 

The spike in money flowing through the city naturally attracted more than just archeologists as corporations in the tech, medical, research, and many other fields either moved in or were founded. As the century came to a close, Grailham City has transformed drastically from its simple beginnings and into one of the largest cities on Earth with a GDP to rival many small countries put together. Naturally, as wealth poured in, many criminals begin to take notice and the city’s first supervillain The Pallid Charmer emerged in 1946, shortly after the city’s first superhero Incognito emerged to challenge him. Ever since, Grailham City became a popular place for both heroes and villains to emerge, earning the nickname ‘The Crucible’ from some of the locals as the battles between heroes and villains became a regular occurrence in the city by the end of the century.

Fortunately for the citizens of the city, there always seemed to be enough heroes to deal with the villains and the heroes were usually pretty good at being heroes. Not to mention the villains never seemed to ever group up and try to dominate their foils with numbers, whether it was pride, principle, or a general feeling of superiority over the ‘lesser’ villains that ensured any cohesion did not last. Until recently that is. A mysterious newcomer has shaken things up in the criminal side of the city, somehow managing to sway others under his cause through trickery, bribes, intimidation, or something else. Whatever the case, it seems almost, if not all, of the villains answer to this mysterious individual. Something big is going down, and whatever it is is can't be good.

This RP is about a group of novice heroes teaming up to overcome difficult odds, discover and subvert a grand scheme that may potentially doom the world, and learn to harness their powers or master their abilities. Heroes may rise from any origin, whether they inherited their powers, harness futuristic technology, come from outer or inner space, from the distant past or even other dimensions. You may have any origin and any power (or martial skill, some of the greatest heroes can be exceptionally talented but otherwise mundane individuals) save for certain restricted ones that will be listed in the Rules below. As this is a city filled with as many villains as heroes, you may also create a villain character for yours or someone else’s hero to foil but this is optional.

Regular occurrence of time manipulation is restricted for plot reasons. You may not slow down or speed up time, travel to the past or future, or otherwise disrupt the normal movement of time in anyway on a regular basis. This includes powers, gadgets, magic, etc. there are exceptions, mostly for one time or very rare occurrences, but PM me first.
Power Manipulation types of abilities are also restricted. This is for things like copying, removing, or diminishing powers. If your character has a secondary power that augments their main one in some conditions, that may be fine.
There will be milestones in the RP where PCs overcome weaknesses/limitations or otherwise become more effective with their powers. PCs may also gain new powers at these points in the RP subject approval.
Posts should be at least a paragraph or two
There is no set post timeline. I know that there are points in the RP where posts may come more or less frequent. I do ask that if you are unable to post at around the same pace of everyone else for any reason, you notify me. Whether it be because family is dying, mental break, or simply unable to compose a post. If it has been a substantial time since your last post and there is no communication, I may have to assume things which may cause problems for the both of us.
Romance is allowed but keep anything beyond pg-13 in your head or PMs. It may be implied, but not ‘seen’
One hero character per player, though I may grant an exception if you PM me.
Your characters are heroes. Unless otherwise written, it is assumed that generic henchmen were beaten to unconsciousness at most. Yes you may have stabbed that mook really really hard but he is definitely going to be fine. Exceptions are monster-y mooks like a horde of deep ones or something, you can kill those and still be heroes.
Similar to the above, while your characters behavior can be not befitting of a hero at the start, they should grow as a character to be more heroic as the RP progresses. They don’t have to be clear as day ‘good guys’, somewhere around the realm of ‘anti-hero’ is fine. This is primarily for the sake of group cohesion, this is a super ’hero’ RP after all.
If your character originates from outer space, PM me.
This RP chiefly follows the ‘rule of cool’ for impractical matters. When it benefits the story, plausibility can get stretched. Sure, it is not likely you can survive falling seventy-two stories by ‘window-surfing’ your unconscious nemesis, Mr. Indestructo, down the skyscraper but that would be pretty cool. Just do not stretch it too far.
This is primarily a collaborative story. I do have certain directions I’d like to take the plot, but if you have an idea for a side adventure, mini-quest, or whatever, feel free to share it.
This is a group RP. PCs are some sort of hero, not blanket villains. For story reasons, I am generally not accepting villain characters but feel free to PM me and we might be able to work something out.
If there is anything you are unsure of, let me know.

Name: can be a full name, just the first name, or a nickname

Superhero name: If applicable, they can forgo this or perhaps they have not settled on a name yet.

Gender: If applicable. Something like a robot may not appear male or female for example.

Race: A hero could emerge from any heritage, even non humans. They could be a mutant, an alien, a demon, even a dragon. If their race imbues them with a trait over a normal human such as breathing fire, please list it in the power section. If not human, they likely do not come from Earth or at least not one of this plane/dimension.

Age: 

Appearance: provide a picture, description, or a combination of both.

Personality: This can be something as short as a few words such as ‘bold, arrogant, never backs down from a fight.’ Or more descriptive. This can be skipped if you are not quite certain of your character’s behavior yet.

Power: What super/preternatural abilities do they possess? And how can they use it? For example, they might be able to manifest fire from their hands and use it to fight foes or ignite flammable objects. If they don’t possess a power per se, what are they skilled in that is a focus of their superhero identity? Perhaps they bear some skill with a sword or archery like Zorro or Green Arrow. 

Limitations: Restrictions of their power that they have yet to master and overcome. For example, with fire powers they might not be able to keep a flame manifested without physical contact or they can only throw a fire ball a few dozen feet. You can skip this for something like martial skills where I will assume proficiency but not mastery if you don’t want anything specific.

Flaws/weaknesses: This is specifically for ways to disrupt, disable, or otherwise shut down certain powers. Perhaps their regeneration is halted when they are on fire or unconscious, or they can not manifest fire when being electrified. This is for things that specifically affect the character’s abilities, something like their fire being extinguished with water is not a flaw. These might eventually be overcome as the RP progresses.

Skills/Talants: Perhaps they are a good cook, or they may be very responsible with their finances. This section is for the little ‘extra’ things they possess that does not directly relate to their powers.

Background/Bio: Who are they? Have they lived in Grailham city all their life or have they moved in from the town over? Or another planet? Or another dimension? Why do they want to be heroes? Feel free to answer these questions and more with as much or as little description you want. If there is something you want to keep secret from the others, PM me.

Extra: Feel free to add a section to list a theme song or another section for some fun facts/quotes or whatever you can think of.

Much of the same requirements for the Hero CS applies to the Villain CS, usually the only difference is the nameless goons they can afford to employ with the occasional named one. Feel free to add some new sections of your own.

Note: Villains are NPCs for our heroes to fight. If you would like to play a villain, I might allow it. PM me with details. 
Name:

Supervillain name:

Gender: 

Race:

Age:

Appearance:

Personality:

Power: 

Limitations: 

Flaws/Weaknesses:

Skills/Talents: 

Background/Bio: 

Henchmen: Yes/No? if yes, how many? A dozen, a hundred? Are they armed? These are to describe the mooks, the nameless goons that often serve little more than a speed bump to our heroes. Usually, the only threat they impose is with sheer numbers but sometimes one or two gets crafty and sneaks behind the hero while they are distracted by the classic villain taunting or maybe they have a ‘look out master!’ moment. Your basic level villain usually has no henchmen, a handful at most.

Unique Henchmen: Yes/No?  Treat these guys like junior villains. They could be goons notable enough to get a nametag and a pat on the back or maybe the villain found someone with powers to complement themselves. Only villains who are in, or just a few steps below, the 'big leagues' have enough infamy to attract them.
Henchman name:

Gender:

Race:

Appearance:

Power: Their power level should be notably weaker than their boss.

Extra:

For more convenient communication, there is a discord server. I would prefer for those involved or interested in joining the RP to join it but it is optional. 

discord.gg/jn6mQZS6xw

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