TheUnknowable

So, you want to be a Supervillain?

Superhumans have existed throughout human history. Usually they would become the gods or heroes of the area they lived in, but because the children of superhumans usually inherited their super genes in an inactive state, these supers would only last for a few generations before dieing out.

During WWII, however, the research of the Allies, Soviets, and Nazis into super humans bore fruit as they learned to increase the chance that a super gene would be passed on in an active state. While the children produced through this knowledge didn't help in a war until Vietnam, their research lead the way for civilian scientists to learn to activate superhuman genes directly, and in the late 70s super humans started returning to the world.

One of the leading scientists in superhuman studies, Dr. Stan Lee, put together a team named the Avengers and, under the Super name "General Isimo" lead them to fight crime and defend the US and its allies, even when the planet was attacked multiple times by aliens.

In 2005 the UN brought him out of retirement by offering him a job. He was asked to produce a tv show, a talent contest in which supers competed to be part of the new Avengers.

That isn't us, though. Last year a super villain/ scientist by the name of "Cerebrum" approached multiple criminals, offering to awaken their dormant super powers if they would compete in a contest to see if they had what it took to become his right hand man.. er.. Person. This contest would run concurrently with Dr. Lee's and would pit them against those want to be heroes.

And that's where you come in. You are one of those criminals, and the show is one of the most popular Dark Web shows, especially among criminals.

May the most devious person win.

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There are a lot of superhero RPs on here, so I figured we'd switch things up by playing villains.

Cerebelum: a secret history

Name: He has gone by many over the years. The most popular was Joe Schuster, who's biographical comic "Superman" about being a superhuman and an immigrant among normies in a foreign land, started the public obsession with supers.
While some people know this, very few people know that he was also Jack Kirby, a writer who teamed up with Dr. Lee to learn about his own powers while teaching Lee about his, but who was dismissed by Lee after Lee stole some of his ideas and made millions off of them.

Powers: Biokinesis: He can consciously control the cellular activity in his body and others, with contact. This lets him reverse the cellular age of his body, alter his appearance (though this takes weeks or months to complete), heal injuries and birth defects, turn on or off genes, and grow new tissue. This is limited to normal human cellular activity.
Superhuman intelligence: He can use the massive amount of processing his brain normally does to conciously control his cells to speed up his mind for logic or learning.

History: Born in the early 1500s, his powers frightened him and the people around him. Some saw his powers as gifts from God, others as a curse from the devil. He moved to the city and got a job as an actor to get away from those people, and that's where he met the man that taught him about writing, William Shakespeare. William also had a Power. His creativity and intuition was far greater than that of a normal man.
Centuries later, after living a normal live dozens of times under a different name each time, he decided that the US's growing interest in Supers meant that it was time to tell his story. He wrote a fictionalized autobiographical story, and later comic, in which the main character was an alien that came to earth and used his powers to help people. It became a hit and soon gave birth to a whole new genre of fiction.
A few decades later he met a young research assistant named Stan Lee who he believed was a descendant of Shakespeare and had his same gifts. He taught the young man to use his gifts and the young man studied his powers. They even published fictional tales of Supers together. A few years later, however, Lee decided to start a Superhero team without Kirby's help. He cut Kirby loose, taking full credit for several scientific and creative ideas Kirby had, and founded the Avengers. Kirby, realizing that he couldn't win a law suit, moved on, changing his face and becoming a minor contributor to several films.
A few years ago, however, Lee got paid to recreate the Avengers and he changed his name to Cerebrum, realizing that it was finally time for Lee to pay for his wrongs. At first he tried to bring down the Avengers by himself, but he merely became one of their Rogue's Gallery and they became more famous. Last year he had a different idea, though. If you want to bring down a team of Heroes, you should use a team of villains. Thus his mockery of Lee's program was launched on the Dark Web and he began searching for criminals to fill his show's roster. As one of the few ways to experience criminal actions live, his show took off, funding his efforts even more than he had hoped.

Prison World

@AsteriaDelosSure. It's still open.

Prison World

@RaptraYeah. I'll even add that to the sample CS.

Prison World

@RaptraI like it so far. Feel free to add an implanted comm like mine. I figure they would be the equivalent of a smartphone in modern times.

Prison World

Another bump.

Looking for at least a few players.

Surviving Krypton

I was just thinking that we could incorporate a few aliens into the expedition if you can think of a good way to justify them being included. I don't know how believable it is that Rann(sp) or Oa sent someone to join us, but we could include a metahuman we meet when we arrive on Earth as a guide if someone wants to play one. We could also awaken a single Kryptonian leader to help decide on the planet the refugees will be sent to. Maybe a reimagined Supergirl? If we did that, though, they would be limited in strength to never get stronger than a Veronian. We'll say that they are still sick from the cryostasis, or they are just now being exposed to yellow sunlight and learning their powers, or something similar.

Surviving Krypton

When I started a DCU RP several months ago I had several people try to play Kryptonians even though it didn't really make sense in universe. I tried to come up with a way for all of us to be Kryptonians, but because I didn't want to play on Krypton where we'd have no powers I couldn't figure out how. I had an idea of how to do it today, though, when watching someone talk about how stupid the new movie Krytonians are, so I'll post it to see if anyone else wants to RP in that world.

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The Kryptononians first discovered faster than light travel twelve thousand years ago. Curious about the universe they began visiting other systems, including Earth. On Earth some of the xenologists told the natives of Earth of their god Rao and the humans incorporated this into their religion as the sun god Ra. At this point Kryptonians reproduced almost entirely naturally and had not yet engaged in the extensive genetic engineering that they would later use, so while they possessed superhuman abilities due to the yellow sun they were fairly weak.

Though they traveled to 11 other galaxies, cataloguing everything they found, their colonization was limited to rare worlds which were similar to their homeworld, terraforming them to match Krypton as closely as possible. Eventually the scientific community realized that it would take thousands of years to analyze all of the information that they had gathered and built a great library on Krypton to store it all.

Their civilization thrived for thousands of years until a radical, monotheistic faction of Raoists came to power. They demanded that all convert to their sect of the religion and, after conquering the homeworld, began to conquer the colonies, killing any who refused to convert and forcing any who did convert to move back to Krypton so that they could live under Rao's light and return to him upon death.

One of these colony worlds was Veron, which orbited an orange star which granted the inhabitants improved health and abilities. Though it was one of the last worlds to be terraformed, its people devoted themselves to science, a large percent of their population studying the records of the 12 galaxies to discover any scientific secrets it held. When the radical sect came to attack them, they used that knowledge of science to destroy the invaders. The sect sent many more ships but eventually the attacks stopped, as they no longer wished risk death outside of Rao's light, where they would be forced to forever wonder the darkness, never returning to him.

The people of Veron then dedicated themselves to becoming as self sufficient as possible. They greatly expanded their mining operations and, through trade with other spacefaring races, they expanded their robotics and manufacturing to become completely self sufficient.

In the Krypton system the radical sect transformed into a much less violent form. The new form preached that genetic engineering would lead to them becoming true servants of Rao, as they could be born with genetics designed for the purpose Rao had chosen for them. They set up a caste system and giving natural birth became unheard of outside of rare accidents. And while the people were engineered for a specific purpose, there were certain genetic traits which everyone received, increasing their strength, cellular activity, etc.

The people of Veron engineered these same improvements into themselves, though not nearly as extensively, without the religious devotion that the Kryptonians did. The Veronians also continued to reproduce almost entirely naturally, while the extensive genetic alteration of the Kryptonians lowered their fertility rate more with every new iteration.

About 20 years ago several major events happened on Krypton which became major new on Veron, despite the fact that the Kryptonian government refused any official contact with Veron. The first event was the birth of a natural-born Kryptonian, an event which hadn't occured in hundreds of years if not more. The geneticists of Veron believed that one or both of the parents must be a mutant with an atavistic trait which gave them the ability to naturally reproduce.

The second event was Veronian scientists discovering that the planet Krypton was dangerously seismically unstable. A large fleet of transport ships was sent to the system to warn them and transport anyone who wished to leave to Veron. General Zod refused them entry to the system, however, threatening to destroy them if they tried to enter or spread this propaganda. He did inform the Council of this, but they agreed with him that it was Veronian propaganda, nothing more.

The third event was the destruction of Krypton. With its death, and the hibernation of all of the people at the in-system colonies, Veron could do nothing more for them. They considered waking up any cryogenically stored Kryptonians that they could find, but decided against it, as that could lead to another religious war. The few survivors would need to live among other beings for a time so that they could learn to accept other races and religions.

The Veronians began searching the galaxies for a world which they could send any survivors they found to, and in their search they came across radio transmissions from the planet Earth which mentioned a Kryptonian named "Superman". Wanting to learn more about this, the Stellar Relief Organization, the group which was searching the Rao system for survivors and trying to find a home for them, brought together a team to travel to Earth and meet this Kryptonian to see if perhaps Earth could become a home for the few hundred survivors they had found so far.

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The RP would start with us arriving on Earth and landing outside Metropolis. While Veronian powers are similar to Kryptonian powers, we are not as strong physically (the strongest of us can lift just over a megatonne when fully charged on Earth). Our cells aren't optimized for solar collection to the same degree, as we didn't need it due to our sun putting out much more yellow light that Rao, so we don't absorb yellow sunlight near as quickly as Superman.

We do, however, get powers outside the standard set. Some of us have psychic abilities, some can tap into other forms of energy than heat, cold, and X-rays. We can fly, however, and have durability comparable to our strength.

Prison World

bump

Prison World

@JrVader@GuntherI created an OOC for this.

Prison World

2032: Geneticists discover that a few key genes in the human genome can be turned on or off to give people superhuman abilities. Some scientists believe that the instability of the gene's effects is what prevented it from becoming a dominant trait of humanity. The first new Superhumans are created using an engineered retrovirus which alters those genes. The specifics of the superhuman abilities are extremely unpredictable, though. Society doesn't know what to make of them, so some of them create a colony in Antarctica.

2048: The first interstellar ship Earth built is sent to Proxima Centauri.

2063: One of the superhumans, now called Homo Mutantis despite not being a separate species or actual mutants, loses control of their powers in the middle of NYC, exploding like a fusion bomb. Over 1 million people died. People turn against Superhumans, branding them terrorists, and they are driven out of all countries except their colony. The UN places a defense force on Antarctica to guarantee that they don't leave their home.

2107: The ship arrives in Proxima Centauri and discovers that the innermost planet is covered in life. A device is constructed in both the Sol and Proxima Centauri system to stabilize and expand the communications wormhole that was sent with the probe.

2110: A ship is sent through to study the world, but is completely lost less than a week later.

2111: After several superhumans escape their city, leading to human injury or death in many cases, the UN decides to solve the Mutant problem by sending the one group that may survive Proxima Centauri I to that world. They send in large numbers of troops to tranquilize and freeze everyone in Mutantis City, putting them in cryostasis for the trip.

2113: The first superhumans arrive on Proxima Centauri I.

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We are those "Mutants".

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Sample CS

Name: Volt Simmons

Power: Electrokinesis: He can generate, project, and absorb electricity. His body acts as a capacitor.
Technokinesis: By absorbing or generating electricity at specific points in a circuit he can control a device. This is directly dependent on how well he understands how the device works.

Issues with your power: Under stress his body generates more electricity. This can cause him to produce more electricity than he can control.

Implants: Comms device: Common implant. This is implanted in front of his ear. It ties into his ear, vocal cords, and left eye, able to transmit voice and vision, send sound to his ear, and sights to his left eye. Generally used for HUD elements such as GPS guidance. It can be set to use radio broadcasts in situations where their isn't a cellular signal, and will act as an emergency transmitter should the person be injured enough. This allows people trapped in rubble or in a burning building to be rescued. Volt's version is specifically altered to be insulated against his body's natural electrical buildup, as most people with similar powers have.

Skills: Doctorate in Electrical and Computer engineering.

Personality: Analytical. His constant need to control his power and emotions has made him rarely show emotion.

Bio: Like almost everyone he knows, he was born in and grew up in Mutantis City. He had an average life and when he grew up he dealt with repair jobs that the standard maintenance robots couldn't handle. He had a girlfriend named Diana (Super agility and strength powers), though he only got a chance to see her a few times a week, as his job kept him busier than most people.

What were you doing when you were captured by the UN?
Volt was on top of the wall surrounding the City when a call came through from Diana. He mentally accepted the call, as his hands weren't free at the moment. "Hey, Volt. Busy?"

"Yeah. One of the wall sensors are acting up. I can't seem to track down the issue."

"Oh. In that case, I'll let you work. I need to tell you something important, though. Can you come by my place later if you get the chance?"

"Sure," Volt responded. "I'll come by whenever I get this sensor fixed."

"Cool, see you then."

The call ended and another maintenance guy came over. "Any luck?"

"Well, it isn't a technical problem that I can tell. Maybe some sort of interference? Any new tech? Heavy metals in the area?"

"Nope. I mean, we upgraded the sensor six months ago, and the area between our wall and theirs has been thoroughly checked by survey teams. No metals within 200 meters of the surface."

"Weird." Volt stood up and looked over the wall. "Could be Runners trying to get out. Maybe Polar bears." He saw a weird shimmer in the snow a few hundred meters away. "Hey, what's that?"

The other guy looked out there, using him implanted eyes to get a better look. "I don't see anything. Nothing on the wall cameras either."

"Huh. I guess I'll go check the records, then. See if I can find the source of the interference." He walked down the steps to the computer room, but after a few minutes checking the records he couldn't find evidence of anything worse than a snow storm.

There was a cargo caravan heading to the UN wall in a few minutes so he went to the loading bay to see if he could go outside the wall to check the area of the disturbance in person. A few minutes later the foreman and he were standing by the outside door as foreman ran the final checks on the trucks and the door began to open. "Look, I can't let you leave the wall to track down a sensor shadow without the Guard Captain's approval. We've got to be sure that only authorized people are out there, in case the UN decides to enter the neutral zone."

"Look it will only take a few minutes. Getting authorization could take we-" There was a pain in Volt's neck as he reached up to feel a dart there. He fell to the ground as a weird shimmer came through the open door and other people started to fall.

Some time later Volt opened his eyes to a blurred vision of floating heads. He was inside some sort of pod. "Chameleon suits? Designed to fool cameras?" he asked. A combination of anger and concentration let him focus a bit of electricity into his hand, but whatever sedative they used made it hard to concentrate enough for a proper blast of lightning. The hair on one of the floating heads, a woman probably, began to stand up and she came over. There was another pain, this time in his arm, and he started getting tired again.

"Tough one." she said, as he lost consciousness.

Basic CS (may be changed later)

Name: (Mutant Custom is to use a "Super Name" as a first name instead of a normal first name, though not everyone does this. Nouns and Deity names are common. They can tell what powers you'll have before you are born, so parents usually try to match their children's powers.)

Power: (including what the different uses are)

Issues with your power: (common issues are loss of control, loss of power under certain conditions, disruption of normal body functions, and diseases or symptoms of diseases.)

Implants: (Most minor implants, like communications devices, computer processors, and basic neural repairs (IE: augmented/repaired visual cortex) recharge themselves from your bioelectricity. More powerful ones like replacement or upgraded limbs will require recharging from an outside source. There are also e-books that can be loaded onto implanted computers, so you could have classes or texts you haven't finished stored in them.) (most people will have a commlink, as it is the equivalent of a smart phone in Mutantis society)

Skills: (What you can do. Most people in the 2100s have at least a doctorate, due to decreased cost of classes and improved training techniques.)

Personality:

Bio:

What were you doing when you were captured by the UN?
(This is to establish backstory and so that we can have an example of your writing style, so write it in character like a post. Feel free to make up NPCs. I may use them in the RP if they are a "Mutant". Or they can talk to us from the Sol system.)

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Etiquette Rules

1) Please post at least once per week. If you can't, please tell us so that those you are interacting with can continue posting.
2) If you interact with someone's character in a post, please @ notify them when you do, so that they know to respond.
3) Don't metagame or god-mode. Standard rule, but I just wanted to mention it.
4) Try to meet up with the others. Too much time without interacting with other players turns this into more of a creative writing project than an RP.
5) Feel free to create new NPCs, just don't do too much with them and don't create huge numbers of them. They should be background characters and shouldn't significantly increase the known population of Mutants on the planet.