X-Men: Unsung Heroes - Looking for some new mutant blood

[NightBird]

It happens to any game that lasts long enough: Turnover. X-Men: Unsung Heroes (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?board=290.0) is no exception, so NikitaFirestar and I are looking to add some fresh contributors to the game. We're at a cool point in the game with a rescue mission about ready to get underway and a SHIELD liaison just arrived at Xavier's school, drawing it reluctantly into connection with the Superhuman Registration Act.

The game is a loose interpretation of canon, more about having a good time than recreating a particular moment in the Marvel universe with precise fidelity. That being said, canon characters are permissable, and though the school is a 'home base' for the game, characters are not required to be students. Full X-Men and non-combat instructors are fine to propose. More information is in the Rules thread in the game, and there is an Approved Characters thread which might give some ideas, at the top of which is a list that indicates which characters are still active.

C'mon, all you superhero fans! You know you want to play a mutant! Here's a great chance!


Modified after Cast Status thread was rolled into Approved Characters thread

[NightBird]

Hey, Josh!

That's absolutely enough to be a part of the game. Most of the currently active characters are originals, which alone prevents it from being perfectly canon, and the continuities aren't exact, either.

What are you thinking about playing? Let's talk about it. *smiles*

[Tobias Drake]

Being a devout Marvelite who reads Marvel comics constantly, this strikes me as an interesting idea. The mention of the Superhuman Registration Act especially grabs my interest; I think I'm the only person in existence who actually likes the idea. *grumblegrumble*

In any case, this definitely sounds like fun. I'll just need some time to put together a character idea.

[NightBird]

Awesome, Tobias! Hop over to the game threads and take a look at the character thread. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[Tobias Drake]

Alright, repeated complications in my personal life may soon limit my internet time, so I won't be joining just as of yet. But once I've worked through some things, then I'll look into it.

[NightBird]

I'll have to admit, Josh, that more guy characters would be welcome, *smiles* but please develop a character you'd like to play. I'd like to see more. I think your idea has great potential.

And Tobias, I fully understand RL complications. When things settle down, please send a PM or something, and we can talk more then.

[PurpleBlasphemy]

I might consider joining. I have a mutant-esque character whose powers are a lot like mutant powers. Basically, his flesh combusts upon impact* with itself, and combustion heals him. So he can blow up himself and be just fine. Or, if he's injured, he can throw himself in a fire and heal. He's really for an idea that could grow into a book, but I figure that, by playing him in another setting, I might get a better idea of who he is.

Also, I'm not 100% certain about this, but I decided to stick my head out and let you know that it's possible that I'll join. I'll think about it. I like the idea of the Superhuman Registration act, especially the effect it has on mutants. I'm not the most avid of comic readers, but I have a clue (and the first book of Avengers - The Initiative.)

*When that impact is above a certain threshold, and clothes negate it.

[Aelroth]

I love X-Men, mutants and the Marvel Universe in general, and I've got a few character ideas floating around in my head, but I've pretty much reached my game threshold right now.  If this is a onetime opening then I might consider expanding it, but if the game's going to remain open to new characters, you can be sure to hear from me in a while.

[HybridHalf]

I sorta follow the Excalibur Comic, always thought about RPing as Sage.....

Question is, do I go for her current look (Before she went blonde), or stick to her Hellfire Club duds?

Current Costume (sorta):



Best I can find on her Hellfire Club wear:

[NightBird]

*contemplates the combustion idea, what a snap of the fingers could do and grins* I like it, Sam! I'd love to hear more! Extensive knowledge of the comic story lines isn't necessary, as it's not really practical in a game like this to be perfectly faithful to canon. This is a fanfic alternate universe where things may not turn out the same on any level.

And Aelroth, the game will always be open to new characters, but I'll be happy to talk more when you have the bandwidth.

Sage would work for the game. Do a write-up on how you're envisioning her for the game, please! *smiles*

[NightBird]

If the concept fights you, then don't push on the gender issue. Write the character the way that works. *smiles*

[NightBird]

*grins* Spoken like somebody who's customized a fig or two. ;)

It's good, well-balanced, and intriguing. I like the name, but I question if it's practical that he'd still know and be using the name given to him by parents he's not supposed to contact. I won't say it's unacceptable, but I'd think the government would have given him a new identity like they do with witness relocation. Even with that, I'd say you do pretty well when sleep-deprived. The only power that I'm not sure about is the prophetic dreaming, though I can probably give you hints of things for him to dream about from time to time. Nikita might be able to do more when she's feeling better. As dreams, though, I don't think they're necessarily game-busting, and as prophecy, they're likely to involve some symbolic elements, I'd imagine.

With those caveats, I think he's looking good. Why don't you go ahead and write him into something like this format and post him in the Approved Characters thread.

Name:
Aliases:
Position at School:
Age:

Appearance:

History:

Known powers:

Weaknesses:

[NightBird]

If you've not explored the minipainter group on Yahoo Groups, I recommend it. I teach figure painting at local events as well as Origins and Gen Con, and it was that group that gave me some of my best advice in improving my skills. :)

The limitations on the dreams sound great, and an alias will work just fine. He can arrive in the Main Room thread or, if you prefer, you can presume he's been there a few days or something, and has been quietly listening to the events of the evening in-game in case you'd like to get involved with the rescue, whichever way you'd rather craft his entrance.

[HybridHalf]

Sage would work for the game. Do a write-up on how you're envisioning her for the game, please! *smiles*

Kay, post it up later.

[Xerial]

Mmm... Sage... *eyedart*

I'm working up an application as Elijah Bradley (aka Patriot), though I am altering historya bit... I'm thinking when the Mutant Registration Act came about he went underground, maybe fell in with a resistance group of dubious origin... he'll likely arive to the school in irons...

[NightBird]

More than welcome Josh. Anything to help further a case of figmentia. ;)

Thanks, HybridHalf. *smiles*

And Xerial, the irons can be arranged. Tinkering with history a bit is fine, likely necessary in a game of this sort. I can't wait to hear more...

[NightBird]

Army Transport systems are the best I've seen, but any of the foam-sectioned carriers will do. If you have large figs, you'll need the deeper trays with perforated squares so you can custom-sculpt the spaces for each fig. Often, though, the foam has a rough surface that can be tough on paint film, so cutting up plastic grocery bags will give you a great lining. Also, be sure you use a good primer that will adhere strongly to the metal, then finish with at least one coat of gloss varnish before going over it with a coat of matte varnish. The gloss is tougher because it hasn't been thinned by the addition of matting agent. Krylon makes some with UV protection to help keep the pigments from fading or shifting with exposure to light, and Krylon is unlikely to yellow the way that I've seen Testor's do to figs.

If you want display storage, I found a really great system in the stacking clear boxes used for model car collections. Here's the type I bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-24-CLEAR-NASCAR-DISPLAY-CASE-DIECAST-MODEL-CAR_W0QQitemZ140124089101QQihZ004QQcategoryZ225QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hope that helps!

[NightBird]

*grins* Varnish is important for figs you want to get out on the table. Be aware, though, that when spraying them in high humidity, or when there's a substantial temperature difference between the air on the one hand and the fig and can of spray on the other (like there often is here in NE Ohio!) you can end up with clouding. I use Golden's brush-on varnish to avoid this.

There are a lot of helpful tricks out there, and one of the things I like the most about this hobby is that nobody tries to make a secret out of them.

[NightBird]

So... Josh is up and running. Other takers out there? There's lots of room for students and full-fledged X-Men, originals or canon characters... There gotta be some dashing heroic or moody anti-heroic types out there!

[Avi]

I think I might have an idea for a character.  I'm not too familiar with the comic storylines, more of the movies, but I have always been a casual fan.  I've got an idea for a variant on the typical "manipulation of energy" type mutant.  If you could give me some tips on it, I'd appreciate it.

[ZK]

I have a character designed and ready to submit. :D If you don't mind a mix between a "hero" and "anti-hero" (see Wolverine) Don't worry, she may be a snake, but she isn't a snake in the grass, all the time.

[Xerial]

I really do need to get to applyin', now don't I?

[Mindhazingsquid]

Do you have room for Nocturn? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_%28comics%29
The daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch?

[Dynadin]

Alright, it looks like this is where we're submitting the characters... if I'm wrong, let me know and I'll be happy to re-post or PM.
Feel free to let me know if there's anything I should change to help out the GM or just for general reasons.

Name: Alex Rielly
Aliases: Contagion
Position at School: Student
Age: 19

Appearance: Alex is a handsome young man of average height and athletic build, with a wide, prize-winning smile... when he chooses to do so. Windswept auburn hair falls just to his shoulders, framing a youngish face that could pass for seventeen if it weren't for the tired look in his cobalt blue eyes. His clothing tends to match his over-all personality; He's almost always found in a worn, but comfortable pair of old jeans, a thin long sleeve shirt, old hiking boots and a pair of worn leather driving gloves.

History: Alex has never been good with people; whether it's his shy nature or the simple talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, fights and loneliness have plagued him most of his life. Even his parents had little interest in him, deigning that their job was done as long as he was housed, clothed, fed, educated and physically healthy. This complete disinterest ended when Alex entered his senior year, and his powers manifested during a fight with the head of the school football team. The fight was going badly, and Alex being the smaller of the two boys took an intense beating. As a last grab for pride Alex swung at the face of his attacker, expecting to leave nothing more than a bruise... And the jocks lower law was torn clean away from his head. Shocked and horrified, Alex fled as the other boy howled in pain, hiding out on the streets until he was calm enough to return home.
His homecoming was not a warm one; Both his parents and the police were waiting for him. His parents only stayed long enough to inform him that due to an impending lawsuit, he no longer had a place to live. The police attempted in vain to cuff him; any of them touching the bare skin of his arms came away with burns, the flesh melting easily from their hands. Alex took their confusion as an opportunity to escape, and ran to the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back.
Since then, he's lived on the streets, trying to learn to control his newfound powers. He recently heard of the Xavier institute, and has traveled there to see how others of his kind live.

Known powers: The ability to melt and mold flesh. Though he has yet to gain enough control to make anything other than grotesque alterations, he's seen the possibility to do good with his powers, possibly even as a healer. In most cases however, flesh simply melts on contact with his bare skin unless he applies his upmost concentration. His power only works on bare, flesh to flesh contact. (hence the gloves and long sleeves.)

Weaknesses: Alex's inherent shy personality combined with his dangerous power makes it very difficult for him to interact with people. Also, his power seems to be ineffective as a damaging agent on anyone with a healing factor, but he can (with great difficulty) direct the healing or reshaping of their flesh if the party is willing.

[NightBird]

*huge grin* Now this is what I needed, coming back after a few days of insane home improvement and computer updating.

So... in the order of the posts above:

I think I might have an idea for a character.  I'm not too familiar with the comic storylines, more of the movies, but I have always been a casual fan.  I've got an idea for a variant on the typical "manipulation of energy" type mutant.  If you could give me some tips on it, I'd appreciate it.

That's doable! The movies are plenty adequate as general background, and there's some good overview information on the Registration Act on wikipedia and marvel.com, but we're not trying to duplicate what occurred in the comics, so general knowledge is all you'd need. I'd love to hear more about a character, so let's talk. Are you thinking student, X-Men team member, or even a research staff member? What's your take on manipulation of energy? Just one type (fire/heat, ice/cold, etc.) or something else? Please, respond here, or PM me if you'd rather. *smiles*

I have a character designed and ready to submit. :D If you don't mind a mix between a "hero" and "anti-hero" (see Wolverine) Don't worry, she may be a snake, but she isn't a snake in the grass, all the time.

Sure! Post her here or toss me a PM! And this is the comics! There's plenty of room for that sort of gray area on motivations.

I really do need to get to applyin', now don't I?

*bats eyes and smiles* Pretty please? I'd love to have you in the game... ;)

Do you have room for Nocturn? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_%28comics%29
The daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch?

You bet! Apocalypse is even one of the current villains the team will be facing in the current rescue mission, and we could use a telepath to operate Cerebro right this minute in-game, so please get me a write-up as soon as you can.

Alright, it looks like this is where we're submitting the characters... if I'm wrong, let me know and I'll be happy to re-post or PM.
Feel free to let me know if there's anything I should change to help out the GM or just for general reasons.

This is good. Anywhere I can read the character info is fine by me. And I like the character. Can he affect his own flesh in any way (the healing, for example) or just that of others? Given the current game events, you have the choice of whether he'd seek out the school on his own, or be brought there by SHIELD as a mutant requiring training, but I want to stress that the decision on that is yours. Clarify the one question on affecting himself, and I think he's ready to start.

[Dynadin]

This is good. Anywhere I can read the character info is fine by me. And I like the character. Can he affect his own flesh in any way (the healing, for example) or just that of others?

Ah! I knew I forgot something... yes, he can affect himself, but it's still at a relatively crude level. He can close up large wounds, and with a little sculpting practice, he can make physical changes to himself: IE. 'I wanna look like tom cruise today!' two hours with a mirror and a pic later, bam! decent look alike. 

Given the current game events, you have the choice of whether he'd seek out the school on his own, or be brought there by SHIELD as a mutant requiring training, but I want to stress that the decision on that is yours. Clarify the one question on affecting himself, and I think he's ready to start.

Ohh... tough decision, but I think I'm gonna have to go with him seeking them out. He needs a new home after getting kicked out like that; a warm bed and an understanding ear sound like exactly what he's looking for.
Lemme know when I can post him and start up in the RP!
And thank you SOOOO much!

[NightBird]

Ah! I knew I forgot something... yes, he can affect himself, but it's still at a relatively crude level. He can close up large wounds, and with a little sculpting practice, he can make physical changes to himself: IE. 'I wanna look like tom cruise today!' two hours with a mirror and a pic later, bam! decent look alike. 
 
Ohh... tough decision, but I think I'm gonna have to go with him seeking them out. He needs a new home after getting kicked out like that; a warm bed and an understanding ear sound like exactly what he's looking for.
Lemme know when I can post him and start up in the RP!
And thank you SOOOO much!

Cool! Add just what you said above on how he can affect his own body, post him in the Approved Characters listing, then bring him in through the front door, wandering through the gardens, watching the two currently leaving the stables, or whatever seems to make sense. I've been planning on making an NPC counselor-type character to help bridge connections in game, so I may not reply to an initial IC post until tomorrow, when I'll have her written up.

[ZK]

Once I get some screenshots of the character model I designed, I'll post her. :)

[NightBird]

Once I get some screenshots of the character model I designed, I'll post her. :)

Awesome! I love what I've seen of the character modeling you've posted. I can't wait to see as well as read about her. :)

[Xerial]

Alrighty, here we are... I was tempted to pare it down a bit and remove his time with the Young Avengers entirely... but that would cheapen things too much in my eyes... first link is an image, second the Marvel Universe bit on him.


Name: Elijah Bradley
Codename: Patriot
Age: 18
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald (Black)
Unusual Features: None


Elijah Bradley is the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, known best as the black Captain America. Elijah's grandfather, and to some extent his Uncle Josiah (the hero Josiah X), have cast a large shadow over his life, and that of his own father.

As part of an expiriment with striking similarities to the Tuskegee experiments, an effort to re-produce the lost Super Soldier serum using a test run of all African-American soldiers, Isaiah became the sole successful subject. While not as refined as the serum which was given to Private Steve Rogers, Isaiah's already impressive physique was enhanced greatly. While the clandestine experiments were deemed a sucess despite the extreme mortality rate of its subjects, Army Intelligence decided to pull the plug, and to deal with Isaiah in the process. He was given a uniform styled after that of Captain America and sent unwittingly on a suicide mission into heavily occupied Nazi territory. His target was a think tank working on developing a Nazi supersoldier. While he was successful in his mission, Isaiah was arrested upon his return, charged with theft of military property (the uniform) and conducting an unsaction operation. He was tried in quiet and shipped back to the US to serve time in Levenworth prison. Isaiah was eventually pardoned by President Eisenhower, and returned to active duty at the head of a Special Operations squadron, tasked with taking the fight straight into Nazi territory, officially counteracting the fledgeling Nazi supersoldier program. Isaiah served with distinction until he was killed in combat shortly before D-Day. Isaiah was buried a hero, and his legacy serves to this day as an example for young African-Americans, mutant, meta, or human.

While in prison, Isaiah's blood was drawn by military scientists whom wanted to re-create the expiriments in Europe which had granted him his near Super Soldier physique. The thirty-nineth subject born was the great success of the program, but the baby was soon smuggled from the facility by his surrogate mother. Fearing a re-capture by the government the baby's mother left her baby boy in a Boston orphanage with only his name left for him: Josiah. Josiah's own powers manifested in his teens, leaving him feeling responsible for the death of a young girl in the orphanage. In his anger at himself, Josiah entered the Army, determined to see combat in Vietnam. He served three tours deep in the jungle until his unit, comprised of mainly African and Mexican-Americans, was sent on a mission that got all but Josiah and two others killed. Enraged at the inconsiderate and racist officer who had sent them on the mission, Josiah confronted and assaulted the man earning himself a court-martial and a ticket back to the United States and to Levenworth himself. While in prison, blood tests revealed to Josiah that he was in fact the missing Super Soldier baby. His surrogate mother was brought in to confirm the results, and while there she helped him to escape. In order to spare his surrogate mother the possibility of retribution, Josiah left the country, heading to Africa to work as a mercenary. While in Africa he discovered Islam, and became a Muslim minister. Determined to make something of his life Josiah returned to America where he eventually tracked down his real mother. Saddened by the discovery that his father was dead, but bolstered with pride at his legacy, Josiah took the name Josiah X and took up his father's costume to fight injustice in the Americas.

With his grandfather a legend and his uncle an active hero, Elijah was left in the shadows of his family name. His own father was without the superior genetics of his family, but bore them no ill will. Elijah took this in weakness, and on his sixteenth birthday he denounced his father and left home to try and carve out his own legacy. With no powers of his own, though, Elijah was in for some hard knocks. His attempts at vigilantism were met with harsh failures. He took several beatings at the hands of local gangs, and was nearly killed by a several men whom he had confronted during an armed robbery. It was while in the hospital that he was introduced to Mutant Growth Hormone. One of the less scrupulous doctors in the hospital offered it to him as an edge in his efforts to combat crime. While reluctant at first, Elijah's misgivings were won over by his youthful arrogance, as he thought he could master the drug, whatever the side effects might be. The drugs indeed worked, activating some of the latent genetics passed on through his father from Isaiah. This gave Elijah enhanced strength, agility, and a resiliance he had not enjoyed before. With his unlocked powers, Elijah set on cleaning up his own neighborhood, enjoying some successes. While he had removed several problematic gangs from the area, though, neighbors came to fear him. They worried over his notorious temper, and feared he was going to make a bid for power of his own.

When Iron Lad came to the Bradley household, where Elijah had returned after his hospitalization, looking for Josiah X, he was met instead by Elijah. Wanting to escape the neighborhood to greater glory, Elijah lied to Iron Lad, telling him that he possessed powers granted to him by a blood transfusion from his Uncle. Believing the lie, Iron Lad recruited Elijah into the fledgeling Young Avengers. Taking on the name Patriot, Elijah became a founding member of the Young Avengers. Taking on the mantle of leadership offered to him in the group, Patriot continued to hide his drug use, despite the irascibility that came of it. Tensions between him and Kate Bishop, the third Hawkeye were obvious, and though they clashed often, the fires led them to develop a somewhat rocky relationship. During the course of the relationship Kate made a gift to Elijah of a sheild bearing a remarkable similarity to Captain America's original triangular sheild, which presumably is one of the various replicas Captain America himself had made during his career. The relationship was doomed, however, as Kate was the team member to discover Elijah's dependance on MGH for his powers. Disgraced, Elijah quits the team, and goes into rehab at the behest of his father and his uncle.

Shortly after leaving rehad, one of Elijah's former teammates, known as Hulkling is kidnapped by the Super-Skrull. His former teammates, with Kate in the lead, sought him out and convinced him that without his leadership they wouldn't be able to rescue Hulkling. Showing his true mettle, Elijah joined his teammates without the benefits of MGH, a plain, if excellently conditioned, human. During the course of the mission Elijah once again showed his mettle by diving in front of an energy blast meant for an unsuspecting Captain America. Elijah was gravely wounded by the blast, and survived only through a transfusion of blood from his Uncle. It was this transfusion, ironically, which transferred true Super Soldier powers to Elijah. The refined genetics of his Uncle, combined with the remnants of MGH in Elijah's system, resulted in the first true Super Soldier since Captain America himself. Empowered once again, and without the burden of drugs, Elijah once more took on the mantle of Patriot, and took leadership of the Young Avengers.

Patriot's renewed leadership of the Young Avengers was short lived, however. During the Civil War the team was arrested by S.H.E.I.L.D. for failure to register under the Mutant Registration Act. The team was eventually freed by Captain America, with aid from Falcon, and they were secreted away to Captain America's hidden base. While Patriot wanted to join the resistance, the rest of the Young Avengers did not share his zeal. Angered by their lack of resolve, Patriot left the base and struck out as his own one man resistance. Elijah's successes as a freedom fighter were mixed. While he was able to gather a small following to himself, it consisted mainly of dissafected African-American youths looking to rally behind any cause that would allow them to clash with authority. There were several mutants amongst his followers, however the majority of the youths who rallied behind him were in fact MGH users, a fact which Elijah turned a blind eye to despite his own past abuses. This proved the downfall of his resistance, as the increasing violence of those following his flag drew the attention of S.H.E.I.L.D., and brought them under the heal of a supression squad.

While the majority of his followers were sent either of juvenille detention facilities or rehabilitation for their MGH abuse, Elijah was given special consideration for his time as leader of the Young Avengers. Rather than detain him and risk losing him to his own anger, S.H.E.I.L.D. has brought the young Patriot to the Mansion, believing him worth the training.

[Mindhazingsquid]

Name: Talia Josephine "T.J." Wagner
Codename: Nocturne
Age: 20
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125 lbs.
Eyes: pupilless yellow
Hair: indigo
Unusual Features: Retractable prehensile tail, indigo fur, three fingers, two toes, pointed ears
Powers: Enhanced Agility, can project Hex bolts, enhanced night vision, minimal telepathy (can use Cerecro and not much else), can possess others for up to 12 hours and leaves the victime unconcious for 24 hours.

History: Born to Curt Wagner (Nightcrawler) and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet witch) Talia (Or T.J.) spent most of her time with her father who was head of the X-men.  She trained hard and eventually became a valued member of the team.
After many adventures she suddenly found she was unstuck from time where she joined the Exiles.  After more adventures the team was forced to leave her behind, where she is once again a part of the X-men.

[NightBird]

Xerial: Patriot is a go. Feel free to post him in the Approved Characters thread, and then probably show up under guard in the Main Room thread, since that thread has come to include most of the first floor public areas. I'll have an NPC available this evening. *chuckles* His guards would ask for Abner Jenkins, the S.H.I.E.L.D. rep at the mansion and for either Mrs. Worthington-Jenkins (no relation to Abner-an original character) or Ms. Jones (another original character, the one I'm finishing at the moment). The latter two are counselors at the school.

mindhazingsquid: Sounds good! How long are you thinking she's been with them currently? That'll help me get her started in the game and give you a good lead-in. A little more on the background would be helpful for anyone who's not familiar, or possibly link to her Wikipedia and Marvel listings to save on typing. With that added, go ahead and post her in the Approved Characters thread, and, like I said, I'll help you ease in once I know how long she's in there.

Now if there was just somebody out there who'd enjoy playing Gambit... gotta love the bad boys... *laughs*

[ZK]

Lookies at my pics NightBird. I'll have more info on the character and better pics later.

[NightBird]

Oh, sweet! I think she's awesome already! Can't wait to hear more...

[Avi]

*grins* Having Gambit around would rock.

[Mindhazingsquid]

mindhazingsquid: Sounds good! How long are you thinking she's been with them currently? That'll help me get her started in the game and give you a good lead-in. A little more on the background would be helpful for anyone who's not familiar, or possibly link to her Wikipedia and Marvel listings to save on typing. With that added, go ahead and post her in the Approved Characters thread, and, like I said, I'll help you ease in once I know how long she's in there.

Say a month?  She was off on an adventure until now, or something...

[NightBird]

*grins* Having Gambit around would rock.

*nodnodnod* I admit, I'm a fan of Wolverine in the movies (a lot of that is Hugh Jackman, who I like equally well doing a Broadway song and dance routine), but Gambit's been a true comic-book crush for many years. I remember some really hot fanfic I used to have from usenet... *sighs*

Say a month?  She was off on an adventure until now, or something...

That works just fine. You can either create a room for her and start her there, hearing a telepathic message from Lizzy (NikitaFirestar's character, currently not in active play due to Nikita's illness) asking her to please go to the Gym where a group is gathering for a rescue mission, or you can just as easily start her arriving in the gym after taking action on the message. Your choice of how much lead-in you'd like. Let me know if you have any questions!

[Xerial]

Well now, Remy's always been a favorite, and I'm suprised I never thought of him... *ponders*

[NightBird]

*laughs* Well, now you know one of this GM's soft spots... I warn you, I can be tempted! ;)

[Xerial]

 ;) I do believe I may just tempt...

I did have an original in mind, too, mind you... so many ideas...

[NightBird]

Well, additional characters are welcome. There have been several other players with multiples, and not all always on the heroic side. But play what feels good... *chuckles* Now there's a site motto...

[ZK]

Don't Worry. Lysaraa will have that Wolverine Syndrome. ^.^

[NightBird]

Awesome! Attitude is more than welcome!

[Astalinnon]

Is it still open? I'm up for some X-men roleplay after a long vacation from are-pee =D

[PurpleBlasphemy]

Actually, after contemplating it, I think I would prefer to play a technopath (one who talks to machines.) I've got a really cool idea, and technopaths are bad-ass (Hana Gitelman and Micah Sanders are both awesome.)

Name: Rachel (No known surname, but legally it's Basque, from the indigenous people in Spain her ancestors came from. She just doesn't know it, and nor does anybody else.)

Superhero Name: Signal

Background: All her life, Rachel Basque has been a resource. Her mother drew away from a perfectly loving home just to go live with her fiancée, whom she thought she loved. He turned out to be no good for her. Eventually, she ran away, pregnant with his child, before he beat them both to death. Upon gaining her independence, Rachel's mother embraced the status of a young working poor single mother. It was great: all everybody wanted to do was help her out. She'd sit in homeless shelters with Rachel on her hip and the generous men in suits and the emotional people volunteering their time would all come up and wish her luck and say what a good job she was doing in the circumstances. And if she hadn't eaten enough yet, what with the baby breastfeeding, why they'd buy her a sandwich and an extra children's meal with the toy for ages three and under. The government gave her money, churches housed her and nobody gave her crap. She had a baby, after all, a cute little girl named Rachel.

Rachel's mother died rather unceremoniously. One of the other mothers at one of the homeless shelters had tired of her feelings of entitlement and, one night, stabbed her to death. Fortunately, Rachel was in the other room and her mother made no screams, so there was no trauma, just a sudden move as the volunteers sent her off to the foster family system. She got adopted by a happy family with three children aged out of the foster care system and two more growing up. The thing was, aside from Rachel, the foster family only had one child. It was a secret that their cousin, who never spoke at all, wasn't really a foster child named Will. The real Will had vanished long before and the family continued to claim money for him, using the mute cousin as a stand-in. Rachel, herself, was kept primarily for the income supplementation. They fed and clothed her much better than her mother ever could have, though, so she didn't complain. Looking back on that time, she might say that she waited rather patiently for the time when the universe would pay her back for what she had paid it.

When her powers manifested as a teenager, she decided to have some fun. For a while, she stuck her head into any computer she came into contact with, and ATMs were her own private money trees. This was all fine and dandy, until she was caught. A computer hacker managed to trace her back to her laptop while she was diving in others' files in a café. He kidnapped her and managed to get her to spill her secrets. Unfortunately for her, he had contacts. He sold her to an underground MGH lab. Having previously had only a single line of superpowered cell cultures available, the lab jumped at the opportunity to refine the drug from a live specimen. The hacker who had kidnapped her became the first of a gang of people who went around and spoke to computers, not eliminating the process of bypassing security but making the whole job easier.

These hackers themselves slipped up once or twice. Exactly where or how is unknown, but soon they had the authorities close on their tails, authorities who, convinced that their quarry was using superhuman powers, accepted the help of some superpowered individuals. The gang was cornered and arrested, the underground MGH lab uncovered. Rachel the genetic material donor, Rachel the guinea pig, was found to be the only true superpowered one there. She had never had formal training in her powers, so her rescuers left her with the people best equipped to teach her: the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Powers: Signal communicates inherently with computers, through a process very similar to telepathy. She can store and retrieve data on hard drives, or redirect thought processes to processors so that she can concentrate on other things. It's somewhat difficult for her to do, but it gets easier if the devices are hooked together, and even easier if they can receive aerial transmissions of some kind. (Since she uses brain waves, it doesn't terribly matter what kind of transmissions they can receive. A hastily cobbled-on radio antenna works just fine.) Signal is almost constantly wearing a backpack fully wired up with a hard drive, a DVD drive, a motherboard and some RAM (all inside, of course) so that she can dump data and computation on the hardware and seem like some kind of genius.

Just as she is telepathic with complex machines like computers, Signal has an empathic ability to feel how lesser machines are functioning. She knows the moment her motorcycle takes a hit in efficiency, and knows where the problem is and how to fix it.

Cyborgs present an interesting problem, as do machines with security systems. Signal can control cybernetic components, but if the cyborg decides to usurp her control, there's not much she can do. Unless the cyborg is incredibly weak-willed, being attached to the machine parts beats talking to them any day of the week. To security systems, Signal appears like any other intruder, except that there's no way to reliably trace her. Usually, if she's hacking, she's doing it from the terminal or server being hacked, so any trace leads right back home. Human intuition, combined with an ability to offload computation onto computers, usually allows her to get the upper hand.

[Astalinnon]

Well then.. instead of asking for permission, let me just post my character I had in mind and you guys can choose what goes on from there.

Name: Johnathon Ross
Aliases: Stormspike
Position at School: New student, wanna-be X-man
Age:19

Appearance: 6'2", very atheletic build, probably around 210 pounds or so. He has short, black hair normally kept spiked, and is normally found sporting something simple, tennis shoes, jeans, and a T-shirt, although despite his mundane attire, he is very obviously a mutant. Sparks of electricity occassionally jump from his skin, arcing from between his fingers, around his body, and even between spikes of hair, helping them stick straight up. With every electrical bounce or jump, John's naturally brown eyes spark bright blue, only for a moment, only as long as the spark lasts. He doesn't have a costume yet, but from the way that he looks and speaks of the X-men, it is obvious that he wants one. Also, despite is plain clothes, he always seems to carry around a black, sheathed katana behind his back, always in plain sight and always cleaned and polished, as though he wants to show it off.

History: Johnathon Ross was born into a very, very wealthy family in Southern California. Born to Jeffrey and Mary Ross, the former the CEO of a major conglomerate, and the latter a supermodel turned major fashion designer, he never saw either one of his parents, who were off on business meetings and trips more than they were around to raise their own children. His younger brother Tyler was his only real companion growing up, since most families lived too far from the Ross estate for either of the brothers to really get to play with. Both of them shared an insatiable appetite for adventure and exploration that lasted throughout their teenage years. The picture of rich teens, both drove very expensive cars in very expensive clothes to the only two things either one of them really cared for: parties and girls. Jeffrey ignored most of the teen's obvious shortcomings, including several brushes with the authorities, if only for the one reason that he had children to begin with: to have someone to leave the business to when he died.

John never liked business or numbers, and never grew out of his sole desire to adventure and explore. Tyler was more what his father wanted, showing signs that he was not only interested in business, but also interested in taking over after his father died. Seeing this, Jeffrey Ross began to obviously favor Tyler, all but ignoring John as he took Tyler to business trips, and began teaching him how to take over the company. This hurt John deeply his father all but admitted that he no longer loved his eldest son, and his brother breaking the bond the two shared by joining his father in ignoring him in his training to become the next head of the company. All of this came to a head when John and Tyler broke out into a fight in the estate, which eventually led to John throwing his brother into the pool, then jumping in after him. His powers manefested at that moment, as the electricity shot from John's skin and poured into the pool, frying his brother almost instantly. He paniced and started making plans to hide the body, trying to make it seem like an accident, but was interrupted by his father returning home to find his rejected son dragging his prodigal son's corpse into his car. To Jeffrey Ross, it was apparent that John had killed Tyler and that he was now trying to hide the body, and he lost his sanity. John's father began screaming how he never loved him and how he would have him killed and no one would ever miss him, so John, still in a state of panic, drove off, hoping to run from his enraged father.

He began to try to train himself in the use of his powers, hoping that one day he could join the one place he thought would accept people like him, Xavier's Academy, so that one day he could join the team of extraordinary individuals that he so dreamed of joining: the X-men. Wanting to be thought of as worthy instead of just another lowly mutant, he trained hard before stepping in front of the gates of the Academy, he is now a rather powerful mutant, one he most certainly thinks is prepared to join the ranks of the X-men

Known powers: Stormspike has the ability to produce and control electricity and electrical current. While he hasn't attained the sort of finesse needed to control electricity in things like wires or other non-conductive material, or any form of current outside of a one hundred yard radius, he has gained enough power to do some rather extraordinary things, namely:
-Lightning Projectiles: John can form either balls of explosive electricity to be thrown like grenades, or can shoot bolts of lightning from any part of his person to any target he chooses. Both projectiles can be controlled, to the point where he can throw a ball of lightning and have it circle him for a few seconds before launching itself at its target, or have a bolt of lightning arc around a corner to hit its target.
-Lightning Nova: If needed, John can unleash a destructive wave of lightning that expands like a sphere in all directions. However, John cannot control how powerful the nova is, and it is more often than not powerful enough to act as high end explosives, destroying almost everything in a ten yard radius. Dangerous though it may be, it leaves John sapped and helpless afterwards, draining him of most of his energy.
-Light Travel: While Stormspike is trained in controlling lightning outside his body, he has also learned to control it within him to a lesser extent. A few times a day, John can basically turn himself into a bolt of lightning, traveling at the speed of light to his destination. However, this power can only transport him to somewhere he can see, and it drains him of most of his energy. It is something that he rarely does, and is something that is rarely feasible to use in combat.
-Faster reflexes: His powers have also given him slightly faster than average reflexes which coupled with his very athletic build, is something that would make him a formidable opponent even without his powers to control lightning.
-Trained swordsmanship: While not truly a power, John has trained himself to use a katana he had made for him, and has gotten rather good at it. His blade also works as a magnificent conductor, something that he uses to focus his lightning bolts just as often as he uses as a weapon.

Weaknesses:
-John is truly, truly afraid of water. Ever since the accidental death of his brother, John refuses to swim, surf, dive, or do anything that involves water short of drinking it.
-Most of the training he has undergone is informal and things he picked up from either various dojos or things he taught himself, so while he is pretty good, he has more raw talent than finesse or structured training.
-John grew up very rich, so despite not being nearly as spoiled as he was before, he is very ego-centric and is very quick to show off, especially to women.

[NightBird]

Thanks for going ahead and posting him, Astalinnon! Consider him approved. Go ahead and post him in the Approved Characters thread, and to show up at the mansion, you'd arrive in the School Main Room thread. I'll figure out a way for you to hear about the current crisis, and get you involved in the rescue mission.

And Sam (yes, I remember from your intro thread *smiles*), you've got a great concept, but there's a very similar character in the game already; although, Caitlin isn't really anybody's idea of a badass. *chuckles* I'm not totally against having two people who interface directly with computers in the game, but how do you feel about it?

[PurpleBlasphemy]

Huh. That's interesting. Their early childhoods are somewhat similar, even (though not too much.) Given that Rachel's powers are slightly different than Caitlin's (without using computers, Rachel is rather math-stupid, and I saw no mention of lesser machine empathy in Caitlin's entry,) and given the redundancy of other powers in the Marvel universe, I'm disinclined to throw out Rachel just because she'd be one of two technopaths.

[Xerial]

I, for one, welcome our technopathic overladies.  ;D

[Mindhazingsquid]

Huh. That's interesting. Their early childhoods are somewhat similar, even (though not too much.) Given that Rachel's powers are slightly different than Caitlin's (without using computers, Rachel is rather math-stupid, and I saw no mention of lesser machine empathy in Caitlin's entry,) and given the redundancy of other powers in the Marvel universe, I'm disinclined to throw out Rachel just because she'd be one of two technopaths.

That's true, I can think of 4 technopaths off the top of my head and 3 of them are/were x-men or lived in the mansion.
Forge, Wiz Kid, Cypher, Shadow Cat
Not to mention practicaly everyone and their brother can teleport.

[NightBird]

I'm convinced! I liked the character concept from the first read-through, but I've known a few gamers who don't like close similarities. *chuckles* And having been one of those girls whose best friend wore the same dress to prom, I can't ever blame them.

There definitely isn't any need for edits or clarifications. Go ahead and post Rachel to Approved Characters, then post her arrival in the Main Room thread. Given the current situation as we've described it in-game, she'd probably be accompanied by at least one S.H.I.E.L.D. representative or one of the federal bureaus that are interacting with S.H.I.E.L.D.