Welcome!
aka is set in a world much like our own, save for the existence of people with extraordinary abilities. Metahumans, as they have come to be called, derive their powers from multiple different sources and origins, but ultimately what matters is where they place themselves in the battle between heroes and villains.
Since the mid-1980s, metahumans have gone through a series of trials and training to become 'Sanctioned', allowing them to legally do battle against the forces of villainy. The global organization Argus monitors and tracks all hero activity, acting as both a support network and policing agency. Unfortunately, you seem to have found yourself outside of Argus' reach, as far as you can tell.
The world of aka is still full of mysteries- the origin of powers is unknown, and mysterious events that even the most hyper-intelligent metahumans can't rationally explain crop up from time to time.
Your character likely had a past in this world of heroes and villains, but they've woken up to find themselves away from all of it. You've found yourself in a cabin, surrounded by a thick pine forest and an always-present fog. You remember your life outside, but you have no recollection of being brought here. It's probably in your interest to figure out where you are and what's going on, then to make your escape. But the woods are dense, and you don't think you're alone...
This RP is something different from the usual superhero RP, taking inspiration from books like Maze Runner (Co-OP's idea, not mine, I haven't read it). The setting should give you some decent freedom in creating your character while also allowing us to keep the players together enough that character interaction isn't sparse. Character Creation will be explained in greater detail further down in this post.
Our setting is a cabin in a forest clearing, surrounded on all sides by a thick pine forest. The forest seems to always be shrouded in fog, but the daring may be able to explore further out. Danger and mystery abound.
There will be a light mechanics system- don't worry about keeping track of numbers, the OPs will take care of that, but the idea is that it'll help make it easier to define what your character is good at in a given scenario. Those of you familiar with TTRPGs should find it fairly intuitive, and for those who aren't, more will be explained once characters are created and the IC gets going. This should hopefully make freeform superpower text-based RP a little more structured and fair to all types of characters.
Rules
- The words of the OPs (Okayanos, Cyberiad, Skyggeheim) is final in any arguments.
- Disrespect or otherwise being unnecessarily mean to other players will result in you being banned.
- A small number of superpowers are banned, see the character creation section.
- Don't godmod or egregiously metagame.
- Don't post WIP applications- any finished app will be looked at and commented on.
- Try to enjoy yourself, and work with other players to craft your posts.
Character creation
Rules on Powers: A small number of powers are banned. The first is Time Manipulation abilities. If your character can stop time, there is literally nothing any other non-time manipulating character can do to stop you from acting however you wish. So, characters are not permitted to stop time, freeze time, slow time, accelerate time, or time travel either forward, backwards, or sideways (timeline hopping).
Second is super speed greater than 100 mph. Speedsters present much of the same complications that time manipulators can cause, namely the ability to kill other player characters before they have a chance to defend themselves sans metagaming or godmodding.
Third is long-term precognition. This is only partially due to 'cogs ability to metagame with an IC excuse, but they can ruin plot twists (if the op allows them to by telling them what is going to happen) and/or they can state things and say 'well, my char has precog'. Short-term 'Combat Precogs' can be included with sufficient downsides to their powers.
Fourth is direct mind control and similar abilities that take control away from other players (note this is basically the general theme for the other banned powers; they take away other player's freedom or lessen it).
All of these bans assume a power without any real, crippling downsides. There remains potential for any of these to be allowed if the weaknesses of the ability balance out its flaws, but expect me to be a hard-ass regarding this.
Weaknesses, Drawbacks, and Limitations: Balance is very important to ensure things are as fair as possible, and on that notion I want to talk about balancing your character. Just so we're using like-terms I want to define 'weakness' as something that your character has, either physical or mental, that could be exploited by another character to lower their effectiveness in combat. This means that 'being human' is not a weakness, so don't try to pull that as justification for having op powers. Your character does not necessarily have to have a weakness, but if that is the route you choose to go in an attempt to balance your character, there are some things to consider. Firstly, having something like a 'kryptonite' is not really a solid weakness. If it's a really rare and obscure substance then how or why would other character's have it? And if it's really common, how can you be effective at all? To top this off as a bad weakness, if it is a true analog to Superman's kryptonite, it would make your character basically useless if it is present. Try to have a weakness that is common enough to keep you from super saiyan, but that doesn't make you useless when exploited.
Drawbacks are another way to balance your character that instead of relying on external factors, focuses on ramifications of character powers. Possible drawbacks could include, but are not limited to, needing large caloric intakes or ways that using powers harm your character, like having flame powers that can still burn the user.
Limitations are hopefully self explanatory, but in short, they are limits that you put on powers that could otherwise be overpowered. Some limits could be something like being able to fly, but only be able to fly carrying less than 50 lbs of extra weight. Keep these things in mind when making your character to increase the likelihood of your character being accepted.
Species: Aliens or alien hybrids are not allowed in this setting.
Magic: 'Magic' as it is classically defined is non-existent in this setting. Some metahumans dress as Sorcerers and present their abilities as magic, but that's purely a fashion statement.
Tech: The tech level for this RP is roughly modern-tech. So if it isn't in current use it is not available to your character(that means experimental tech and prototype tech and theoretical tech is not allowed). The exception to this is having your character specialize in making advanced technology- this will count as an ability for your character, granting them access to said advanced technology.
Application
- Code: Select all
[box][align=center][size=150][b][u]Cabin Dweller[/u][/b][/size][/align]
[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Alias[/b]: (If any)
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[floatright][spoiler=Appearance](place appearance description or image link here)[/spoiler][/floatright]
[b]Powers[/b]: (please list and describe. Do not just put links to superpower wiki)
[b]Drawbacks & Limitations[/b]:
[b]Weaknesses[/b]: (If applicable)
[b]Equipment and weapons[/b]: (please list, if applicable. Try and be reasonable.)
[hr][/hr]
[align=center][size=150]BACKGROUND[/size][/align]
[b]Nationality[/b]:
[b]Hometown[/b]:
[b]Personality[/b]:
[b]Bio[/b]:
[align=center][size=150]ADDITIONAL INFORMATION[/size][/align]
[b]Fears/Phobias[/b]:
[b]Skills[/b]: (additional languages, mechanical skills, etc)
[b]Theme Song[/b]:
[/box]