Topic: British superheroes!

[Primarch]

Right? I'm torn between my genetically augmented not-quite-paragon British Sportsman, and an actual wizard masquerading as a stage magician. Not the most original concept I know, but it has the sort of appeal that's just too good to pass up.

I think if a Captain Marvel or Thor type paragon would be alright, I'll go myth background. If not I'll ponder up some other ideas. Maybe a Feral/Rider type...or a Possessed Elamentalist/Blaster. Or maybe an Aquatic Brick like Namor.

Oh man I hate when this happens. 

[chaoslord29]

I think if a Captain Marvel or Thor type paragon would be alright, I'll go myth background. If not I'll ponder up some other ideas. Maybe a Feral/Rider type...or a Possessed Elamentalist/Blaster. Or maybe an Aquatic Brick like Namor.

Oh man I hate when this happens.

Right? And at present there's no character sheet and the proposed GM is offline so we can only let it spiral all the more out of control?!!

[Primarch]

Right? And at present there's no character sheet and the proposed GM is offline so we can only let it spiral all the more out of control?!!

I didn't sign up for this. I can't handle the pressure. I need to lay out an idea and commit to it!

[RubySlippers]

I'm backing out to.

[MzHyde]

I think he was just joking.

[chaoslord29]

I'm backing out to.

Oh please don't, we're taking this seriously, we swear.

[Primarch]

Me? I was certainly joking.

[Ramael]

Well knock over my teapot and call me a ruffian.

What a nice surprise.

Thank you all for the lovely interest, after having read this, you all seem to have good handles on this RP.

Now let me start working this over from the top.

I take it the BDP are a lot more influencal than the current BNP....also being a right leaning tory bastard, that I am ,who grew up in poverty (comparative) and in the most crime infested part of New Zealand...I kind of understand the thinking of some of these BNP (or in our case BDP) prats thou of course don't agree with their more extremist views or their tactics.

One big question writing for this character may and probably will mean writing views that many, if not all, other writers will disagree with is that something you'd be okay with or would you want the political motivations to be ditched form the character and just make him what he is ...disconnected prat on a power trip...personally if you want to model this on the BNP the motivation (fears) have to be included otherwise you could just as easily model this on a powerful left wing Union bringing Britain to its knees in order to create yet another workers paradise ....

edit oops just realised the villain team will be created last ....well just throwing my interest out there if and when the time for villains comes about

Yes, they are a more influential and powerful version of the real life BNP, though don't let that colour your interpretation of the bad guys, especially if you intend to play one at some point.

I am certainly OK with a writer playing a "bad guy" and expressing some distasteful views whilst doing so IC. I've sort of set it up like that anyway, and as long as all players are happy not to get into a political debate every time an IC fight happens, them I'm easy with it. Us writer types need to be able to delve into bad places at times anyway.

At the same time, anyone wanting to play a villain without the nasty taste in your mouth, feel free. You could play a character whom simply disagrees with Union, or is almost "accidentally" working for the BDP, like George was previously.

Likewise if one of my players wants to use genuine political thoughts that already exist to power their characters emotions and basis for actions, I would be one happy GM.

I've done enough of these to know what a character sheet should typical look like.

You're right, BlackestKnight, you've pretty got much of what I would've asked for in there. I'm certainly no stickler for a uniform, set-in-stone character sheet that everyone has to copy, as I assume that most people know what they look like and if not, they can use someone elses as a rough guide. Put in what you think is important, and if we/I want to know anything further, we'll ask.

In this case, there is one thing I want from everyone's characters, and that is - 1)What they think of the BDP (they are a well-known organisation in the UK by this point, though their underhanded super-shadyness isn't) 2)What they think of other "superheroes" (St George is semi-famous at this point)
3) You have been approached by a representative from Union or been sinisterly attempted to be recruited by the BDP, or maybe your character has been approached by both. Your characters thoughts on joining one or the other, and please bear in mind any potential "lone rangers" that this will be very much a team RP, looking to build relationships within Union as a hardcore frontline British superhero team. Once that is done, we can afford to have the lone wolfs, if anyone wants to play any.

Basically, stuff relating to the general story of this RP.

Other than that, with a couple more tweaks, I think Midnight Tiger is good to go. Oh also, you'll definately need to make him older. I'm not looking for gritty Alan Moore-Watchmen reality with this, but a tiny dash of that here and there certainly wouldn't go amiss - it's a bit of a stretch for him to be that good at so many different things and only be 18!

Good Question, but from the intro I was inclined to think that the St. George figure was likewise a 'paragon' type superhero.

I had read it as a Captain America, but perhaps.

Weirdly, you're both right. I had him as exactly halfway between the two in terms of power, and very much like both of them in style, just with a British flavour to him (I won't say any more in case whomsoever ends up playing him has different ideas in terms of personality). I love all the ideas you're both spouting by the way, keep 'em up.

Someone asked about terms of power.

Fittingly with Britain's relation to the US, we're not looking for city-levelling powers like the Avengers and the Justice League, but we are looking at more powerful than Batman. Use Spiderman as a rough guide for strength and abilities. George will likely be one of the strongest (if not THE strongest) in the game. He's the posterchild for Union (and bred specifically by the BDP), after all.

It's fine to go with a magic-based character, just don't make their magic abilities universe or even earth-altering. More Derren Brown with a dash of Merlin rather than the Scarlet Witch.

  *Chuckles8  Don't really have time for another freeform game now, but I wanted to give you props on a fun idea.   

Cheers mate!

Once it looks like we have a potential core playerbase that can make up a Union team (any extraneous lone wolves and villains will be surplus to this as it's essential) I'll get an OOC and character sheet up.

Please don't feel like you have to put up a whole character sheet here, just a rough breakdown of your character would be great.

 

I'm backing out to.

Couldn't tell if this was joining in with the fella's joking or not. It's only been like half a day! 

[MzHyde]

I have two, submitted for your approval. I can play one or both.

Elizabeth B. Falkmore, The Governess

Hero Name: Governess
Real Identity: "Miss Elizabeth B. Falkmore"
Sex: Android (Female)
Age: 5
Nationality: British
Powers: As an android, Elizabeth possesses superhuman strength, intelligence, speed, agility, and reaction time. Elizabeth is quite durable and much stronger than any human, able to punch down a brick wall with one blow or leap several dozen feet into the air. Her armored body can shrug off conventional firearms with ease and she can even withstand explosive impacts to some degree. Heat and temperature (to a point) are meaningless. She can also obviously survive without air and is immune to any toxins and disease. While built to serve, she is an adaptive machine and can learn from things she sees or mistakes she makes. She is self-aware, though has trouble grasping human emotions. Elizabeth also has several onboard weapons systems, her hands custom made to allow each fingertip to fire a variety of projectiles such as bullets, rubber pellets (for non-lethal attacks), water, smoke, etc. She also has the ability to link with electronics systems, provided she can find a port, as she cannot link with anything remotely. Her primary weakness is electricity. While she does have dampening systems, too great a shock could cause her to shut down for a moment at least, and completely fry her memory at worst. Strong magnetic fields could also disorient her, and things such as chaff grenades or scramblers might interfere with her systems in adverse ways. Also, as a robot, she may from time to time make choices that, while logically sound, may not be the best moral choice in the eyes of a human.

Bio: Android, model GvRN-5, was created by the British government for protection of the Buckingham Palace grounds and it's guests. Originally intended as a replacement for the Queen's personal guard, the project was extinguished when costs were found to be much too high to make such a thing feasible. Only a single unit was ever produced. Given the name "Elizabeth", she was put to work at Buckingham Palace where she served the Queen herself and any visiting guests. Wearing formal clothing to hide her robotic nature, Elizabeth blends in fairly well with the staff, despite being seen as 'cold'. None save the Queen and high-ranking government officials know of her true nature. With the rise of BDP, she has been called upon to extend her duties to the defense of England as a whole and shield her from villainy by working closely with other gifted individuals.

Personality: Cold, slightly sarcastic and with a dry wit.

Jack The Ripper

Hero Name: Jack The Ripper
Identity: Jacqueline Ravensdale
Sex: Female
Age: 142
Nationality: British

Powers: As a daywalker, Jack possesses superhuman strength, endurance, agility, slow regeneration, and slow aging. While not able to punch through walls or toss cars around, she can stand toe-to-toe with trained fighters and easily trade blows. As a fairly young vampire, she has not yet demonstrated advanced powers like shape-shifting or telekenisis and more than likely never will, due to her half-human heritage. She has, however, demonstrated limited teleportation ability - though only to places she can actually see.To make up for this deficiency, Jack has spent her life honing a wide variety of skills. She is a gifted boxer, fencer, pianist, painter, machinist, and inventor. She builds a wide variety of tricks and traps to help her outwit stronger opponents. Her proudest invention is her umbrella. The tip can fire bullets, shoot fire, act as a stun gun, or even extend a small blade. The handle can be pulled out completely and function as a proper sword, or even be used as a grappling hook. The canopy is quite durable and able to protect the wielder from fire and conventional firearms.

Unfortunately, Jack shares some of her kind's weakness'. She is not immune to sunlight, it causes her some mild irritation. Fire is extremely deadly, as is silver. She has no fear of holy symbols, can cross running water, and staking her would only likely upset her. Jack has a craving for blood, though not to the extent of a 'typical' vampire. She can go without it for quite a while but will become increasingly irritable. Raw or rare meat is a fine substitute.

Bio: Yes, she is that Jack The Ripper. Dracula was real, vampires are real. While most see them as monsters, many vampires simply try to survive. At the same time they depend upon and desire the destruction of all humans. Humans are a food source, but also quite capable of rising up as a whole and exterminating vampires as a species. It is an uneasy existence and balance must be had at all times. Most 'rogue' vampires that become blood-thirsty killers do not survive long, quickly found out and exterminated by vampire hunters or lucky humans. Many modern vampires live amongst humans to this very day. In the 1880's, Vlad Dracul became one such vampire. He moved to London and set his sights upon making it a haven for vampires the world over. His 'brides' roamed the streets in the guise of prostitutes, often preying on the impovrished. They roamed Whitechapel with murderous glee, feasting upon the poor and unfortunate who would be largely ignored by society. One of these brides had a change of heart when she fell in love with one Regenald Ravensdale. Their child was born soon after, but Dracul was not pleased. He sent the other brides after this woman and had her killed, leaving the child an orphan. It wasn't long before 'Jack The Ripper' was in papers and an enraged Jacqueline was stalking the streets, killing bride and fellow vampire alike. Jack doesn't disclose what happened after the newspapers lost track of her spree, but to this day she continues to rid the city of London of it's vampire problem. As BDP tightens it's chokehold on England, they too turn to the supernatural for their twisted experiments. In turn, the kingdom has turned to Jack The Ripper.

                                                                             Personality: Energetic, with a morbid sense of humor. While she often prefers to go her own way, she can work with others if necessary.

[Dim Hon]

I think you missed my question

Will this be a cishet game, or are you open to non-binary characters?

[chaoslord29]

I have two, submitted for your approval. I can play one or both.

Elizabeth B. Falkmore, The Governess

Hero Name: Governess
Real Identity: "Miss Elizabeth B. Falkmore"
Sex: Android (Female)
Age: 5
Nationality: British
Powers: As an android, Elizabeth possesses superhuman strength, intelligence, speed, agility, and reaction time. Elizabeth is quite durable and much stronger than any human, able to punch down a brick wall with one blow or leap several dozen feet into the air. Her armored body can shrug off conventional firearms with ease and she can even withstand explosive impacts to some degree. Heat and temperature (to a point) are meaningless. She can also obviously survive without air and is immune to any toxins and disease. While built to serve, she is an adaptive machine and can learn from things she sees or mistakes she makes. She is self-aware, though has trouble grasping human emotions. Elizabeth also has several onboard weapons systems, her hands custom made to allow each fingertip to fire a variety of projectiles such as bullets, rubber pellets (for non-lethal attacks), water, smoke, etc. She also has the ability to link with electronics systems, provided she can find a port, as she cannot link with anything remotely. Her primary weakness is electricity. While she does have dampening systems, too great a shock could cause her to shut down for a moment at least, and completely fry her memory at worst. Strong magnetic fields could also disorient her, and things such as chaff grenades or scramblers might interfere with her systems in adverse ways. Also, as a robot, she may from time to time make choices that, while logically sound, may not be the best moral choice in the eyes of a human.

Bio: Android, model GvRN-5, was created by the British government for protection of the Buckingham Palace grounds and it's guests. Originally intended as a replacement for the Queen's personal guard, the project was extinguished when costs were found to be much too high to make such a thing feasible. Only a single unit was ever produced. Given the name "Elizabeth", she was put to work at Buckingham Palace where she served the Queen herself and any visiting guests. Wearing formal clothing to hide her robotic nature, Elizabeth blends in fairly well with the staff, despite being seen as 'cold'. None save the Queen and high-ranking government officials know of her true nature. With the rise of BDP, she has been called upon to extend her duties to the defense of England as a whole and shield her from villainy by working closely with other gifted individuals.

Personality: Cold, slightly sarcastic and with a dry wit.

Jack The Ripper

Hero Name: Jack The Ripper
Identity: Jacqueline Ravensdale
Sex: Female
Age: 142
Nationality: British

Powers: As a daywalker, Jack possesses superhuman strength, endurance, agility, slow regeneration, and slow aging. While not able to punch through walls or toss cars around, she can stand toe-to-toe with trained fighters and easily trade blows. As a fairly young vampire, she has not yet demonstrated advanced powers like shape-shifting or telekenisis and more than likely never will, due to her half-human heritage. She has, however, demonstrated limited teleportation ability - though only to places she can actually see.To make up for this deficiency, Jack has spent her life honing a wide variety of skills. She is a gifted boxer, fencer, pianist, painter, machinist, and inventor. She builds a wide variety of tricks and traps to help her outwit stronger opponents. Her proudest invention is her umbrella. The tip can fire bullets, shoot fire, act as a stun gun, or even extend a small blade. The handle can be pulled out completely and function as a proper sword, or even be used as a grappling hook. The canopy is quite durable and able to protect the wielder from fire and conventional firearms.

Unfortunately, Jack shares some of her kind's weakness'. She is not immune to sunlight, it causes her some mild irritation. Fire is extremely deadly, as is silver. She has no fear of holy symbols, can cross running water, and staking her would only likely upset her. Jack has a craving for blood, though not to the extent of a 'typical' vampire. She can go without it for quite a while but will become increasingly irritable. Raw or rare meat is a fine substitute.

Bio: Yes, she is that Jack The Ripper. Dracula was real, vampires are real. While most see them as monsters, many vampires simply try to survive. At the same time they depend upon and desire the destruction of all humans. Humans are a food source, but also quite capable of rising up as a whole and exterminating vampires as a species. It is an uneasy existence and balance must be had at all times. Most 'rogue' vampires that become blood-thirsty killers do not survive long, quickly found out and exterminated by vampire hunters or lucky humans. Many modern vampires live amongst humans to this very day. In the 1880's, Vlad Dracul became one such vampire. He moved to London and set his sights upon making it a haven for vampires the world over. His 'brides' roamed the streets in the guise of prostitutes, often preying on the impovrished. They roamed Whitechapel with murderous glee, feasting upon the poor and unfortunate who would be largely ignored by society. One of these brides had a change of heart when she fell in love with one Regenald Ravensdale. Their child was born soon after, but Dracul was not pleased. He sent the other brides after this woman and had her killed, leaving the child an orphan. It wasn't long before 'Jack The Ripper' was in papers and an enraged Jacqueline was stalking the streets, killing bride and fellow vampire alike. Jack doesn't disclose what happened after the newspapers lost track of her spree, but to this day she continues to rid the city of London of it's vampire problem. As BDP tightens it's chokehold on England, they too turn to the supernatural for their twisted experiments. In turn, the kingdom has turned to Jack The Ripper.

                                                                             Personality: Energetic, with a morbid sense of humor. While she often prefers to go her own way, she can work with others if necessary.

Awesome character submissions, Hyde!

Those are going to be hard to top, and I couldn't tell you which one I though was cooler . . . okay it's Jack 

[Primarch]

Aye, Jack is very cool.

[eiselmann]

Just one thing ..in the bios so far..theres mixed reference to weakness...one character appears to have no weakness...one reacts badly to being called British but that's hardly debilitating while the other has issues with fire (a common issue for many people) and silver


Speaking as someone wanting to oppose the 'Union' it would be nice to have some ability to hamper/hurt  characters otherwise you'll all end up like Superman without his aversion to kryptonite

[MzHyde]

Not sure what you're talking about, as both of the characters I posted have clearly marked weaknesses. Elizabeth is a robot and vulnerable to things you'd expect her to be; powerful magnets, electricity, chaff, etc. Jack is vulnerable to common vampiric weakness'; silver, fire (moreso than normal people). Both are strong, but far from indestructible. They might be superhuman but their powers aren't expressly invulnerability, so it's not like you can't hurt them. Both can still be dismembered (or dismantled), wounded, etc. Power wise they're also fairly tame so I'm not sure what you mean about them being like Superman with no weakness.

[eiselmann]

HI wel of your two characters l I only looked at Jacks bio since that's the character previous posts suggest you might play...I mentioned your characters weakness of fire and silver


but the other two bios for other characters have no stated weakness I could find other than one super hero doesn't like being called British which is actually listed as a weakness

[MzHyde]

Those are both works in progress and Ruby Slippers dropped out anyway, I guess. So, just give people some time first.

[chaoslord29]

HI wel of your two characters l I only looked at Jacks bio since that's the character previous posts suggest you might play...I mentioned your characters weakness of fire and silver


but the other two bios for other characters have no stated weakness I could find other than one super hero doesn't like being called British which is actually listed as a weakness

Eiselmann, I think you're fixating too much on this idea of weaknesses being like Kryptonite. Lots of superheroes don't have a strict weakness, and considering both Midnight Tiger and the Welsh Dame are more of the costumed adventurer sort (like Batman or perhaps more closely Green Arrow), they're weakness is that at the end of the day, they're only human.

The point of being a villain is getting creative and finding your opponent's weaknesses isn't it?

[eiselmann]

Wow...okay if they are works in progress then the advice still stands if you have strength you have weakness as well...now the villain does have to find the weakness...but are you suggesting (as you appear to be) that  if superhero A has a weakness its up to the villain and the villians writer to figure it out...then because it literally could be anything I as the writer might never stumble upon the weakness as  the list of possible weakness is potentially endless do you really expect the story to work if the person writing for the villians spends all their time trying to figure out what each individual writer for a superhero has as a weakness ....does the super hero writer  suddenly say...'ah got me'  ...no  I don't see an issue with doing what has been done for Jack the ripper,... as a writer I would know fire and silver are her weakness...however that doesn't mean I automatically go straight to that as a tool to defeat Jack without having some experimentation and/or information that my character would do

As for the suggestion I'm fixating on kryptonite type weakness I most certainly am not I simply used it as an example of what I was seeing with two characters all strengths no weakness .....I used Superman sans his kryptonite weakness as an example of an all powerful super hero which was as I said ...what I was seeing......

I don't' care what the weakness is I do believe it should be listed even if its something as mundane as can be killed/hurt /injured like any other human


Look okay if listing a super hero's weakness is really that big an issue and you believe the villain and the writer for the villain has to figure it out ...fine..iif that the way forward but it does work both ways ...its just easier to list the weaknesses not sure why that would be an issue 

[chaoslord29]

Wow...okay if they are works in progress then the advice still stands if you have strength you have weakness as well...now the villain does have to find the weakness...but are you suggesting (as you appear to be) that  if superhero A has a weakness its up to the villain and the villians writer to figure it out...then because it literally could be anything I as the writer might never stumble upon the weakness as  the list of possible weakness is potentially endless do you really expect the story to work if the person writing for the villians spends all their time trying to figure out what each individual writer for a superhero has as a weakness ....does the super hero writer  suddenly say...'ah got me'  ...no  I don't see an issue with doing what has been done for Jack the ripper,... as a writer I would know fire and silver are her weakness...however that doesn't mean I automatically go straight to that as a tool to defeat Jack without having some experimentation and/or information that my character would do

As for the suggestion I'm fixating on kryptonite type weakness I most certainly am not I simply used it as an example of what I was seeing with two characters all strengths no weakness .....I used Superman sans his kryptonite weakness as an example of an all powerful super hero which was as I said ...what I was seeing......

I don't' care what the weakness is I do believe it should be listed even if its something as mundane as can be killed/hurt /injured like any other human


Look okay if listing a super hero's weakness is really that big an issue and you believe the villain and the writer for the villain has to figure it out ...fine..iif that the way forward but it does work both ways ...its just easier to list the weaknesses not sure why that would be an issue

Woah, slow down their friend. I was offering a little friendly advice is all, not trying to get combative. I don't think it's all on the writer for the villain, I think it's a give and take process like in any RP. Mz Hyde was kind enough to spell out her weaknesses a little more clearly (though depending on the interpretation of Vampire she goes with, fire and silver may only be so effective, I might point out). I was simply suggesting that rather and put it on every hero to come up with a set list of weaknesses for you to exploit, try and read a little more deeply into each character. It more or less goes without saying that if characters like Midnight Panther and Welsh Dame are putting on bullet resistant nano-fiber suits, they're probably doing so because their flesh will provide no such protection. I don't think anyone here is going to make you guess what they're weakness is, I think so far the submissions have been perfectly fine in spelling out the weaknesses of each character even without explicitly stating them as such. I mean, there are plenty of super heroes who's weaknesses are never explicitly stated, or vary based on their incarnation or even which author happens to be writing them.

When you say "if you have strength you have weakness as well" that's where we agree. Every strength a superhero thinks they have is just a weakness in disguise, something to make them overconfident or find a way around and thereby exploit them even when they're at their best. If you want some help discussing potential ways to challenge the heroes submitted thus far, I'd be more than happy to discuss it over private messages.

[eiselmann]

Its all good I'm sure your way is best .....if and at this time its a big IF I write for the villain I'll leave weakness clues in the bio I'm sure will be picked up on with a bit of effort...its a ll about the challenge I suppose

[Ramael]

I think you missed my question

I did, you're right. Looking back over it, I have no trouble in admitting I have no idea what it means. Care to explain? Or does my ignorance answer your question?

Awesome character submissions, Hyde!

They ARE awesome submissions. Really well thought out and lovely backstories. I'm going to come down on them, but it's not your fault, it's mine for not putting this up as I didn't think we'd get android or vampire submissions so early on!

They're a bit too "out-there" for the initial team of Union. I can see one of them working, but I don't think having both would gel with the continuity very much. Unless! We could alter Jack so that its a human with vampire qualities? Tone down the inhuman-ness a little, and maybe it's someone whose adapted vampiric abilities. I'm looking to keep your characters so you don't have to re-write too much (mainly coz they're great little gems).

I've just re-read them for the third time. Fuck what I said, they're too good to even tweak. I'm letting them both in as you've explained their "out-there"-ness really well, but I would recommend you choose one as your main character to focus on as part of Union (I'm looking at the Governess). I kept my strikethoughs so you can see what I WAS going to say on vampires in this medium, but I just thought "What if the BDP ever found out that a serial killer vampire works for Union?" And that was so wonderful in twisting public opinion that it made me backtrack.

On the subject, while I'm up for a bit of magic in this game, I would like to keep the amount of supernatural characters low. No more vampires or werewolves UNLESS they are in a domino mask, cape, and whose story is mainly about crimefighting!

Chaoslord, you summed up what I was going to say on the subject of weaknesses, though eisel you brought up a good point. I think having no character at Superman-level is enough to warrant we have no impervious or invincible characters (the fire thing was a good point, however, no one likes fire in their face no matter if they are the undead or not).

So, rollcall in progress;

Midnight Tiger

The Welsh Bowmistress (really couldn't tell if Ruby was joking or not, so this is a maybe)

The Governess and/or Jack

Primarch's character

Chaoslord's character

ElvenKitten's character (maybe)

Dim Hon's character (maybe)

St George

Eiselmann's character, potential villain

Have I missed anyone?

Since we've had not very much interest in anyone playing the reincarnated genetically engineered English patron saint, I will take him over as generic leader unless we get someone who really wants to create a character for him.

Likewise with the recruiter (MzHyde, could one of your characters play this? That way you have one active character as part of Union and the other one still gets to be part of the action in a different sense. Android computer system and vampiric agelessness are both good for acquiring knowledge and imparting information).

[Dim Hon]

Of course. "Cishet" is short for cisgender and heterosexual. Cisgender  is when the gender and the sex are the same, the opposite of what a transgender is. Transgender is when a person is born with the incorrect sex organs.

The character idea I had would be to take a powerful male from Britan's ancient past and put him in a female body. 

[Ramael]

Do it. You have the green light :)

[BlackestKnight]

For all those curious to know Enzi's weakness

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

For future reference if anyone want to get any ideas.

[Ramael]

That is ri-THICK-ulous. Shopped?