IC | Wiki | Web Serial
'It's all one giant balancing act, being a supervillain. Get powerful enough so that no one except the real big players can screw with you, but not so powerful that the big players actually decide to ruin your nice day.'
T H E S T O R Y
'Never know what the world will throw at you next. Could be nothing, could be the Endbringers. You never quite know.'
In this RP, you'll be playing as a group of parahumans, more commonly referred to as 'capes', in the city of Toronto. Exactly what the end goal of your group of parahumans is, well, I'll leave that up to you; you can lead a group of heroes trying to rid the city of their villainous counterparts for however long that might last, a group of villains trying to drive out all competition, a lone hero or vigilante on a revenge quest, a rogue simply trying to get by without being caught in between.
Although it will be quite a sandbox RP initially, as I'm leaving goals to be determined by the players, I can and will be throwing in spanners in the works every once in a while as the world is moving on around you, and your actions within Toronto may have ripple effects into the larger world.
The RP will be starting on the 1st of March, 2011.
T H E S E T T I N G
'We're all here in our little slice of hell for different reasons. Money, fame, infamy, revenge, duty, glory. Or simply because you had no other option.'
The RP will be primarily set in the city of Toronto, Canada, although on rare cases we may travel outside of the city depending on various plot-related factors. It takes place in the larger Worm-verse; no knowledge of the Worm-verse is necessary, as everything necessary and relevant will be provided here in the OP or explained in the IC as it becomes relevant, but I've provided a link to the wiki and the web serial at the top of the OP if you're curious.
H E R O E S
Toronto has a presence from two of the largest hero organisations in North America, the Protectorate and the Guild. The Protectorate is the largest single superhero organisation in the world, and has a presence of some form in most cities in the United States and Canada, with Mexico being in negotiations to join. The Protectorate is under the umbrella of the Parahuman Response Team (PRT), specialised police trained and equipped to deal with parahumans without involving the Protectorate. In the case of Toronto, the Protectorate and PRT both have a presence in the form of PRT Department N. There is also a Department N Wards team, formed from powered individuals under the age of 18, who are effectively the junior Protectorate.
The Guild is a far smaller, far more selective group. Nearly all parahumans in the Guild are also members of their local Protectorate department, but not all members of the Canadian Protectorate are members of the Guild as they are far more selective in their recruitment of parahumans than the Protectorate. The Guild focuses more on international issues than domestic ones, but as their headquarters is located in Toronto, they have a vested interest in ensuring the city remains relatively stable. The leader of the Guild, Narwhal, is also the head of Protectorate Department N, but as she is normally off dealing with international incidents, command of Protectorate Department N is normally delegated to her second-in-command.
There are a number of lone independent heroes, and smaller three or four-man independent hero teams within the city in addition to the Guild and the Protectorate.
V I G I L A N T E S
The line between a hero and a vigilante is simple; a hero has obtained permission from the government to operate, and is accountable to them; a vigilante has not and is not. There are always two or three vigilantes in Toronto, but they tend not to last long, either being forced into a larger hero team after overstepping a legal line, leaving the city or being killed off by one of the local villain groups.
Vigilantes, as a rule, operate alone or in ad hoc groups with other vigilantes formed to deal with powerful villains; larger groups almost always register with the local Protectorate and PRT to become an independent hero group. Toronto tends to have two to three independent vigilantes at any given time.
R O G U E S
Rogues are parahumans who use their powers for business purposes rather than fighting, and they are extremely rare, due to unfavourable legislation, the heroes viewing them as one step away from villainy, the villains viewing them as targets to be recruited into their group and because most powers simply aren't that good for running a business off. Toronto has maybe one or two rogues at most.
V I L L A I N S
Toronto has several main villain groups, the largest of which are the various Toronto Bratva. Formed primarily from Russian migrants, the Bratva is unique in that although they will fight each other, their parahumans will never fight one another, and they will often form a united front against any other villainous gangs or hero groups that attempt to challenge them. Their unpowered rank and file will skirmish with one another occasionally, however. The Bratva can muster fewer parahumans than Department N, but normally hires in the Dragonslayers, mercenary parahumans from outside Toronto or calls on allied Bratva groups in Russia or New York if they feel particularly pressured.
The Dragonslayers, mercenaries equipped with suits of tinker-built warsuits, are based in the city, but normally operate outside of the city. They have been a continued thorn in the side of the Guild hero Dragon, and she holds a special ire for their continued defeats of her, so any situations involving them will almost always involve her assisting the opposing side, although she is based out of Vancouver.
A pair of parahumans from the Montreal-based gang the Heartbroken are currently in town, although they are quite keen to emphasise that they won't be staying long in Toronto or intruding on anyone's territory.
The Butcher and the Teeth, an itinerant villain gang, have been known to stop in Toronto every once in a while, although they have no permanent presence in the city. They are currently in New York.
In addition, there are various other, smaller gangs; normally having between three to five parahumans in them, organised around all manner of things; there are Neo-Nazis, various ethnic gangs formed for protection from the Neo-Nazis, along with other gangs formed purely for the sake of money or power or gangs that just sprang up around a parahuman. Although none of these groups are as well connected to external groups as the Bratva, they can and will hire mercenary capes as needed. There are also independent villains who commit low-level crime and often act as mercenaries for the larger gangs.
Overall, villains outnumber heroes in Toronto, simply because having a traumatic event leading to powers doesn't exactly lead to a heroic bent.
O N P O W E R S
'Powers are a roll of the dice. You just need to use what you're given, since it's not like you can ask for some shiny new ones.'
There are several ways to gain powers in Worm; however, only three are relevant for this RP. The first, and by far the most common and the only one that anything is really known about, is to 'trigger' on what is usually described as 'the worst day of your life'; some extremely traumatic event which spontaneously causes a person to develop superpowers, almost always related to the trigger in question. Triggers can also cause monstrous traits to appear, but this is extremely rare.
There have also been rumours of 'powers in a can'; vials that when drunk can grant superpowers to the drinker. There is no substantiation to the rumours, but apparently, if you look hard enough, they'll find you. If you want powers from a can, TG me about it. I'm limiting the numbers, and there will be a price to pay for your character in the IC.
Thirdly, there are the Case 53s. No one knows how their powers appear; they have no memory at all, often awaking in a field or alley somewhere with no memory at all, the only common mark resembling variously a Greek Omega, a strange Latin 'U', or a stylized 'C' depending on the angle. Most Case 53s also exhibit various monstrous traits, being mutated in some way, likely by whatever granted their powers. If you want to be a Case 53, TG me, since their powers are normally related to their mutations.
Finally, someone with power-granting powers can grant powers to unpowered people. However, these powers are almost always temporary and can be highly addictive, and power-granters are very few in number. Needless to say, you can't have gained your powers this way.
There are twelve power classifications in Worm, which are in the spoiler below, and trigger events that tend to cause that form of power. Powers can fall under multiple classes if a trigger overlaps multiple conditions.
T H E A P P
'Who the hell are you supposed to be anyways?'
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[color=#A9A9A9][size=200][b]A[/b][/size] [size=150]P P[/size][/color]
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[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Cape Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Build:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b] [floatright][spoiler=Appearance]Image goes here. If it doesn't fit, kill the spoilers and post a link.Or delete all of this and describe them.[/spoiler][/floatright]
[b]Costume:[/b] [floatright][spoiler=Appearance]Image goes here. If it doesn't fit, kill the spoilers and post a link. Or delete all of this and describe it.[/spoiler][/floatright]
[b]Weapons:[/b]
[color=#A9A9A9][size=200][b]P[/b][/size][size=150]E R S O N A L [/size] [size=200][b]D[/b][/size][size=150]E T A I L S[/size] [/color]
[b]Hometown:[/b]
[b]Religion:[/b]
[b]Sexuality:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Flaws:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[color=#A9A9A9][size=200][b]P[/b][/size][size=150]O W E R S[/size][/color]
[b]Trigger Event:[/b] This is what determines your power actually is. You give me a trigger event for your character here, and I will TG you a variety of powers suited to that event based around the theme. If you want powers in a bottle, TG me since powers in a bottle are... Risky.
[b]Power Theme:[/b] What your power is based around. These are normally quite broad, such as 'denial of information', 'miniaturization', 'escalation', 'fire', 'light', 'administration' or something similar. That, plus your trigger, gives you your power options. It's being done this way so that a balance between power choice and power level can be achieved.
[b]Primary Power:[/b] (Put what you choose from the options I TG you in here)
[b]Secondary Powers if any:[/b] (Put what you choose from the options I TG you in here, if you get secondary power options)
[b]PRT Ratings:[/b] (This is almost entirely flavour, and has no actual meaning beyond what the PRT's grunts will be sent at you with)
[color=#A9A9A9][size=200][b]G[/b][/size][size=150]R O U P[/size][/color]
[b]Group (if any) or Independent:[/b]
[b]Group Alignment (Hero or Villain): [/b]
[b]Position of Main Character in Group:[/b]
[b]Other Group Members:[/b] (Put the names of any other members in your group here; between 3-4 others at maximum)
[b]Other Group Member Powers and PRT Ratings:[/b] (I'll TG these to you; if you want to come up with a trigger and a theme for them, feel free to do so and put them in below, otherwise I'll give each of them a random power suited to their bio and personality)
[b]Short Personalities and Bios of Other Group Members:[/b]
[b]Territory/Base: [/b] (Choose a Toronto administrative district, this'll be where you're based out of; you might share it with other gangs, vigilantes, or heroes)
The numbers of your unpowered grunts, if you have any, will be posted in your section on the roster.
T H E R U L E S
'They're simple in these parts. Keep out of my damn way.'
OOC Rules:
Standard NS rules apply, as per usual. As OP I am your Lord, but I am not competely infallible, which is why I'll appoint Co-OPs as needed to run things and offer second opinions.
Also, although certain provisions are in place so that characters dying shouldn't be common, it can and likely will happen if you screw up, and even if you don't die, you might be arrested. Don't worry, as long as you haven't done anything too bad the jail system is quite porous for parahumans, and your team mates can likely spring you out en route to jail. Some of this is covered more below.
Regardless, if your character does die, take it with good grace, and move on; of course, their teammates will likely figure a spot of revenge is in order...
IC Rules:
In Worm, there are 'unwritten rules' regarding the conduct of capes, which are in the spoiler below.
The rules are not enforced by any single body; rather, if one breaks them, then one should expect that others will not follow them where the breaker is concerned. Killing a cape is inviting that cape's friends and allies to do the same to you; it's why independent capes, whether they be heroes, vigilantes or villains, last so short a time; there's no threat of reprisal from killing a lone cape of any kind for villains.
There are extra rules under some exceptional circumstances, and some groups like any Russian groups have extra rules, but they will be explained if they become relevant to players.
Arrested capes normally manage to escape from jail or their prison transport, or are rescued by team mates or mercenary capes specialised in that field of work; the sole exception is the Birdcage, where capes that have proven to be an escape risk and are dangerous but don't warrant a death sentence are sent. No one has ever escaped from the Birdcage, but breaking out en route to it is possible.
