So, a film sequel would be horrible, and a graphic novel sequel unnecessary.
However!We at E! love continuing dark, intelligent, sexy stories, don't we?
Basically, the film raises for me a bunch of great questions about morality and the law that I think can still be played around with. Don't worry, we don't have to all do Rorschach's painful zealous monologues, or Dr Manhattan's infinetismally detailed introspectiveness.
But this is an Alan Moore-verse, as we all know.
My setup?
Where the last masked vigilantes were seen and where the novel (that's right, the novel, not the film) leaves off. Under the rising enterprise of Veidt industries efforts, the devastated capital is coming to terms with the failed alien attack. After the resolution of the Cold War, Russians are now seen regularly on the streets of Manhattan, and as such there is a sort of blending of American and Russian cultures, loved by some and hated by others. Veidt industries vehicles and projects are everywhere, rebuilding after the devastation. Talk is rife of another alien attack...quiter talk is that an alien attack never happened. Conspiracy theories are rife and there are those that are paid to keep them silent...
It has been a couple of months into the rebuild that the first few masks were seen again. Some were taking advantage of the isolated pockets of devasation that still remained, in the poorer areas, some felt that they were simply helping out the depleted and by now desperately overstretched police force.
Whatever their motive, masks are back on the streets of New York. The Watchmen are no more, and some members of humanity feel the overpowering impulse to follow their lead...whatever the legacy they left in their wake.
Here's a few things to think about when creating your original (you didn't really want to play an overweight Nite Owl with kids and a wife...did you?) characters.
-
How has the alien attack on New York affected you? (here's a hint-we can't all be conspiracy theorists).
-
How do you feel about the new Russian influx into America? World War III was averted, and now we are best buds with our old-time enemies. Is this a good, or bad thing?
-
Where are you from? The psychic fuck-wave that resulted from the alien combusting on arrival into New York affected artistically sensitive minds the world over, affecting thousands of people in thousands of different ways. Some of these people, from whatever country, for whatever reason, have decided to get closer to the source of their discomfort. (My character will be one of these impulsive tourists, though by all means not everybody else has to be).
-
What’s your costume? None of us will be super-rich playboys like Veidt, so something vaguely realistic would be better. At the same time, it doesn’t have to be as moth-eaten and smelly as Rorschach’s. When describing your costume, or finding a picture, keep in mind that while you’ve gotta look distinctive, you’ve also got to be at least a bit protected and disguised. A bikini and some thigh-highs won’t do! Although I wouldn’t mind if it was an alternative costume of your characters
-
Do you seek to heal and protect the city, or exploit it for your own ends? This will be as close as we get to "good" and "bad". I expect everyone to basically be morally grey, with plenty of stuff in their bios and histories, but this one's just to get people lumped together. It stands to reason that masked vigilantes would know about each other, given a couple of weeks on the same streets lurking around the same hangouts, those who could help you, those who you need to confront, etc.
-
How disturbed are you?.........Bear with me. I don’t want complete psycho nutcases, expy’s of the Joker from the Dark Knight, but we all know that we humans aren’t completely well-balanced at the best of times. Least of all, those of us who decide to put on a mask and run around town chasing other people in masks. Your character’s personality should house some minor kooks, hang ups, prejudices, phobias, secrets…basically you’re neither squeaky-clean, nor perversely corrupt. You’re somewhere in that delicious miasma of in-between that makes up 99.9% of our human race.
Lingo; Masked Vigilantes and Costumed Criminals
The most commonly used term, used by both police and by the press, for anyone wearing a mask, is…”mask”. A bunch of masks, those masks, he looks like he could be a mask, etc.
For those of you (starting off, at least) as what could be mistaken for the “good guys”, you’re more commonly known as “masked vigilantes.” For the other types of you, “costumed criminals”. I thought this would make things easier for us to help distinguish camps. They also sound cool and will be used by sensationalist journalists everywhere.
I will post more, but I wanted to gauge interest first. Obviously, I believe sex will come into it, in fact I’m actively encouraging it. I just don’t want this roleplay to turn into “people in questionable costumes finding the lamest excuses to have sex”, and neither do I want it to be too dark and gritty with no room for romance (even a bad romance. They’re the best).
“All the E! kinks and masked hero fanatatics will look up at me and they’ll shout “Set up a Watchmen-based roleplay!”…and I’ll look down and whisper…”…..Okay.”
