After the Fall Out of Character Community

So, we apparently never posted about it, BUT we figured it might make it easier on everyone involved if new characters weren't thrown right into the mix when we're all going to be trying to find our feet with our old ones again, but we didn't want to ban new characters while we're doing that. SO, with that in mind, we decided to rip a brand new portal open in Genosha. It's waaaaay down in Carrion Cove, at the southern tip of the island and about as far from any of the previously known locations as it's possible to be. So the established characters have no reason to bother to patrol down there, and it'll hopefully take at least a little while for the newbs to get around to exploring far enough north to get picked up on the established surveillance systems.

The Portal opens in a small clearing that apparently used to be the town square of a small farming community that has since been just about completely swallowed by the jungle. Massive trees have pushed up through the concrete and asphalt and the remains of a few square blocks of shops, businesses and homes are mostly overgrown by vines and trees. The barely identifiable rusted hulks of cars, trucks and buses can be seen here and there. The fields surrounding the town are still thick with sugarcane, now gone wild, and the island's ubiquitous wild goats roam freely through the area, as do troops of monkeys and flocks of vividly colored tropical birds. The best preserved building in the area was a large stone building near the center of town which was probably city hall, though all the furniture inside has either rotted or was taken by the residents when they pulled up stakes. The ocean is nearby, and there are game trails leading into the woods and to beautiful white sand beaches.

For everyone's edification when planning threads, the downstairs rec room is very well equipped with a variety of entertaining items. This includes a pool table, air hockey, assorted (now VERY high tech) gaming systems, a GIANT flatscreen television and a satellite television system that gives access to an insane selection of movies, both modern and 'classic'. The lounges on each floor can be furnished/equipped however the residents of each floor like.

( Drinks and drugs )

Okay guys...it's time.

Pet sound off!

Go!


(Otherwise known as the post in which we draw up a list of pets inhabiting the mansion.)


Please fill in the following and answer in the comments. We will make an easily accessible list when we have all the answers.


<*b><*u>Owner(s):</ u></ b>
<*b><*u>Name:</ u></ b>
<*b><*u>Age:</ u></ b> Youth or Adult?
<*b><*u>Species:</ u></ b>
<*b><*u>Breed:</ u></ b>
<*b><*u>Colors/Markings:</ u></ b>
<*b><*u>Personality:</ u></ b> Friendly? Sociable? Will piss on your shoes in revenge? Etc.
<*b><*u>Nicknames:</ u></ b> Any terms of endearment or names the animal will respond to.



Feel free to add pics if you wish.

Okay guys, it's definitely time to shake things up a bit and get some action going on, so we want to throw out some ideas we've come up with and ask you for your opinions and suggestions as well. We're considering everything from big stuff that'll include/affect large numbers of characters to private plots that might only involve one or two. Also, bear in mind that the latter are ALWAYS welcome. Really. You don't even need to clear it with us if it only affects your character or a few others who are also good with it. Want to thwart a mugging? Have a run in with some kid hopped up on MGH? Go for it! You only need to worry about talking to us if it's going to impact the group as a whole or require leadership/one of our characters to get involved.

That said, we really do want to shake things up a bit so we're throwing out this list of potential plot ideas for your perusal. None of it has to happen but any or all of it can if you guys are interested.

MGH-clone related mayhem:

We intro'd the idea of an MGH-type drug in this verse for a couple of reasons. One was to give the characters a 'cover' for if they use their powers in public so we don't have to always be on our best behavior or be outed. Something goes amiss and someone powers up in public it can just be blamed on someone shooting up that weird drug the kids like that gives them special powers for a few hours.

Another alternative is to give us powered opponents. Want to run into some kids hopped up on the stuff and causing mayhem and get to play hero? That's what it's there for.

We've also tossed around the idea of some mass event - drinks at a bar spiked with the stuff and dozens of unsuspecting flatscans suddenly powered up and going wild. A group of PCs could be at the bar or in the vicinity and deal with it, it could be someplace local and someone hears about it on the news/radio/whatever and they run to the rescue. Could even possibly have some PCs affected by it. Screw with their existing powers? Give them new ones they can't control? Knock theirs out or destroy their control temporarily? There are a lot of ways this could be done so let us know what, if any of this, interests you!

Cult of Mags:

Remember them? They had a lovely little vigil off the coast a good bit back. They're not super common but they're out there. Someone want to run into some of the loonies? Or even some other random mutant junkies. Maybe a Mutant Con. Some folks could attend to see just how weird and crazy their modern day fans are. Maybe have a few random haters picketing the event, protesting either that mutants never really existed and it's all a myth or that they did and WE'RE GLAD THE FREAKS ARE GONE!

Mystique:

She's out there somewhere still and she will be back, though for now she'll just be sneaking about and checking things out on the sly. Volunteers welcome for cluelessly threading with the blue bitch in disguise.

Big Fucking Robots:

We had one pretty much entirely defunct Sentinel as a scare earlier, but how about one in MUCH better repair showing up and raising some Caine? Maybe meticulously restored as part of a traveling museum exhibit on mutants that is making its final, grand stop in NYC or maybe Salem itself as the 'ancestral home' of mutants. This one would take some fiddling about to make happen without outing them, but it could be done if you guys are interested!

...and that said, there's also the issue of potentially Outing Them:

It's not something we've really planned on, but it's an option we're willing to consider if you guys would like to see it happen. It has some definite pluses - no longer having to hide, being able to use powers (responsibly, of course) for those whose powers are so flashy that they really can't be used without being spotted. But there are definite downsides too - being able to pass and just move about in public is probably a huge psychological bonus to many charries and that would be gone once they were outed. But there could be interesting ramifications to it, as the world's history makes it as likely they'd end up with fan clubs and groupies and wannabe followers as they would neurotic haters trying to figure out how to eliminate or control them.

Crack!:

Liked the chibis/X-babies? Want to see a repeat or something similar? We have three reality-warpers plus an island full of unidentified, abandoned, and potentially malfunctioning equipment. We can come up with ways to do more things along those lines, either game wide or for just a few people if desired - as evidenced by Bobby's current state.

And there are always just Random Flatscan Encounters:

Like we said above, stop a mugging or a bank robbery! Get assaulted and carted off to the hospital! Make a devoted admirer! Heck, Doug still needs to get shot...by someone...for some reason...eventually...if Zhen's still interested.... And it could possibly be worked in to some other plotty thing mentioned above, or just be a one on one run in.

Seriously, is there something you'd like to see happen to one of your characters? Go for it, or run it past us for ideas on how to make it happen, that's what we're here for. Honestly, we could just randomly inflict plot, but we'd much rather do things that you guys want and are invested in, so please let us know what sounds good so we can get cracking!

This is the list of characters currently presumed to be members of the community's leadership. If we've included your character by accident or failed to include them when you feel they should be on the list please let us know:

( Leadership )

This is a repost of the information originally included with the expedition plot back in October. As the information is still accurate and is now relevant for many of them again as they're out in the real world we're reposting it here and linking for ease of reference. This is also a place where you are welcome to ask any questions you might have on general world history and mythology, as we have no delusions that we've exhaustively covered everything that anyone might possibly want to know about the world.

( Read more... )

( Business, Finance & YOU! )

Since we'll be heading out into the real world soon (very soon for some), everyone is going to need legal identification. It would, however, be incredibly suspicious if people who looked shockingly alike also had the exact same names. So for those with alts, this is just a little run-down on how the naming process would have been done.

Middle names would have been encouraged first, and then alternate names. It would be preferable to change last names before changing first names. The important thing to remember is that they will need to remember their fake names. So as much as Chibi!Kurt wants to go by Peter, Errol or Han, that would be inadvisable due to the fact that neither he nor anyone else will remember to use those names when referring to him.

( List behind the cut )

So! Those of you with alts feel free to fight over who gets to be called what and let us know here and we will add them to the list!

Also known as "just how big a shit heap will they be wading into on arrival?"

And the answer is pretty damned big. It's not been uninhabited the entire 300 years, but it's been pretty much completely abandoned for a good 50 or so now. The wiring is shot to hell, as is the plumbing, and they'll both have to be pretty much rebuilt from scratch. The basic framework is salvageable and the foundations are strong, but much of the interior is completely gutted. Holes in the drywall, floorboards rotted away, windows shattered and only some of them boarded up. In some rooms old furniture is rotting away under dust covers and once elaborate draperies are hanging in tatters while others were pretty much stripped bare and only have old rotting bits of debris drifted into corners. The stairs can be navigated if you are very careful, and the attic and basement storage rooms actually are still full of old boxes and trunks, some of them completely gone to rot and others in remarkably good shape. There is some graffiti both inside and outside, pretty much obviously the work of bored local teens looking for something to do.

...has gotten pretty full, so I want to make sure that I'm remembering everything he is/should be doing with everyone. This isn't an OMG IT'S TOO MUCH post, he likes to be busy, just to get it all in line. So below is what I'm fairly sure he's doing daily/weekly and who with. If your charrie's on there and shouldn't be or should be and isn't just hit me below.


( cut for listies and such )

Okay, some set up details for Jono's birthday, which we're going to be opening for play today rather than waiting for Wednesday, in order to give folks a bit more time to get through things given the number of characters potentially involved.

( So, remember how we mentioned that there are a wide variety of legal drugs in this time and place? )

Just some more detailed info that may or may not be of use to our intrepid explorers.

The worldwide age of consent is 16, drinking age for beer and wine is 16 and it's 18 for hard liquor. The driving age is 18.

Homosexuality has been an accepted part of life for well over two hundred years (yay progress) and gay marriage is no more stigmatized than heterosexual marriage.

Body modification, while no more common than in anyone's home world, is significantly more technologically advanced and thus can be very...drastic...and creative in the sub-cultures that are into it. One of those sub-cultures is, of course, the rather small, radically fringe group that's obsessed with the mythology of mutants.

A whole slew of cheap, legal, and non-addictive recreational drugs are available and moderately common, though there are still a few that are illegal, expensive, addictive and dangerous.

One of these is a drug that gives humans a limited and unpredictable range of superpowers for a short period of time. It's very expensive and very illegal, but there's a significant black market for it and it's not unheard of to see news reports of disturbances caused by 'abusers' who couldn't control whatever temporary powers it gave them or simply abused those powers.

For the museum displays involving mutants. There are not many photos, they were salvaged from estates and what not mostly long after the epidemic had run its course. Most of them are news photos of the X-Men in uniform and 'in action' and of Genosha and its royal family. There are some few 'candids' as well, which include a very few pics of the X-Men at home at the Xavier Institute, some of them with students visible in the background. If your character's alt appears in one of the pictures the resemblance should be evident but not to the point of people thinking they're the reincarnation of some ancient mutant though they might be taken for some distant descendant of a depowered survivor if people are paying attention...unless they have the misfortune to run into a mutant obsessed freak.

If there's anything else we haven't covered that you'd like info about, feel free to hit one of us up or just ask here. There are all sorts of details that can be filled in.

Sorry for it being so late folks, but here's the summary of what happened in today's foray out to the UN boats with the info and items that each team will have collected:

Illyana, Jean-Paul & Sage – hacked computers and got info on the current balance of power in the world. Continents are still the same as are many national borders but some have changed. They managed to copy a digital map which shows trade routes and the patrol schedule of the UN forces. The information they retrieved indicates that the UN is essentially a worldwide summit with a membership including all the nations of the world that helps guide world policy on trade, the use and allotment of natural resources, and response to/prevention of famine and epidemics among other things. So they're a real power, but they're a gathering of Nations, there's no ruler of the planet. In a quick tour of the ship JP managed to collect a tube of topical anti-biotic, a bottle of over the counter pain killer and a box of bandaids for Billy to duplicate upon return.

Billy, Tommy & Kitty (M) – This team will have discovered that there is a universal ID that functions as a passport/ID/greencard for all citizens of every country of the world and Billy will have used his powers to duplicate one of those for their use as well as a significant amount of cash, all of which will have been returned . Kitty will also have done some hacking and have found more information on the Cult of Magnus that the blockade was beefed up to deal with. They worship the first and last ruler of the mutant race as a god and expect him to come again someday in mankind’s time of greatest need, much like the Once and Future King myth associated with King Arthur.

Rogue(GA), Pietro & Kitty (Z) – This team didn’t have as much luck with the hacking, as the control room was never left unoccupied and no computers were left lying about either, but they did have collect a few useful items, most notably a couple of bottles of oral antibiotics, a tube of topical, both prescription and over the counter painkillers, bandaids, peroxide, rubbing alcohol and vinegar, all in small quantities unlikely to be missed or easily written off as lost or misplaced if noticed. In addition, Pietro got a bit enthusiastic and grabbed white flour, sugar, confectioner’s sugar, a package of pasta, a few bars of chocolate, half a loaf of whole wheat bread, and a package of cookies (he ate half of those before they got back).


As for general information on the cultists, if any of them caught sight of them as the boats they were on attempted to intercept them. They will have noted that all of their boats were either red or purple with highly polished metal accents, and all of the followers bleach their hair white and wear red and purple frocks and polished metal bangles. They also paint/have tattoos of his classic helmet dip over their brows. None of the cultists’ boats made it closer than two hundred yards offshore, though they made repeated attempts throughout the day to evade the UN blockade and repeatedly lowered small offerings into the water. These mostly consisted of little dolls made of metal, fabric and yarn, bottled prayers, poems, pictures and photographs, food, and coins, many of them on elaborately detailed paper and wooden boats. After sunset they also released a flotilla of candles. Any of these items may wash ashore over the next few days as the UN boats made no move to intercept them, just the cultists’ boats.