"When A Clown Becomes King, The Palace Becomes A Circus" -Turkish Proverb (modified)
About the RP
The Oval Office is a political comedy RP that can be best described as The West Wing meets The Office. It’s set in the dysfunctional administration of President Liam Anderson with different quirky staff members and government officials dealing with national crises, antics, hijinks, and interpersonal drama. The plots will be episodic, so a different scenario every few weeks. Players would be the President’s staff, government officials, or other interested parties. I will play the President and the VP. Liam is a manchild , a gullible fool who does whatever his advisors say while perusing his own whacky antics. The Vice President is his older brother Tom, who is a level-headed, if uptight politics nerd who acts as the only sane man/comic straight man to everyone else’s quirks and hijinks (especially his brother's). It’s all supposed to be comedic in nature, much like a sitcom.
Characters will be members of the President’s entourage. So aides (Chief of Staff, Press Secretary, etc.), members of his security detail (Secret Service agents), or advisors (National Security Advisor, Director of the CIA, or make up your own advisor for a very niche issue, etc.). If you need any more ideas, just look up “presidential staff members”, or let me know and I can give ideas. Bonus points if you can work in Liam’s backstory into your character.
When writing your characters, please try to make them funny in some way. The whole point of this is to be funny. This isn't a "serious" political RP, so you don't worry too much about being "realistic" (in the political sense), as long as you stay within the bounds of reality. So anything from farcical slapstick to sharp wry satire works. Look, it's an RP where a slacker got elected president, I don't think it'll matter if your character abides by some obscure Senate bylaw or whatever. That said, while the tone may not be serious, I do hope that you can take this fairly seriously. Just because it’s not a sophisticated political simulator doesn’t mean you can be lazy or just do whatever you want.
The Backstory
Liam Anderson is an average joe who ran for President in 2024* as a joke. It all started one fateful night, at an open mic event at a local comedy club, a half-drunk Liam preformed a stand-up routine about his recent unlucky streak (his girlfriend kicked him out, he lost his job, etc.). It was a big hit with the bar's patrons, one of whom started recording. But Liam had already used up his best jokes. So, he turned to the lowest common denominator for all comedians. No, not sex, politics. Liam ad-libbed a rant about the 2024 election. He expressed discontent with the unpopular liberal incumbent, and mocked the controversial conservative firebrand running against him. Fueled by the applause of the packed bar, Liam promised to run for President. The next morning, a hungover Liam awoke to find he had gone viral, and had become something of a meme candidate. He thought he was being funny, just trolling the establishment. But the people were fed up with partisan politics, and saw him a much-needed change. So he decided to take his campaign seriously. Liam enlisted his brother Tom as his running mate. Tom came up with a platform, and Liam energized people with his ideas. Once asked "What will you do about the economy?" he replied "Make it cheaper". When asked about crime he said; "I'm gonna make it illegal to do crimes". Tom's carefully curated combination of policies was a hit with undecided voters, independents, and millions of Americans who were disillusioned with politics. It helped that Liam was an everyman, a man of the people, but also a fun guy. He wrote and recorded diss tracks against his two opponents. Celebrities endorsed him out of fear of alienating half their fanbase. He was elected in a landslide. But now must run a country with absolutely zero experience, and only a motley crew of trusted aides...
*In this universe the minimum age for President isn’t 35. Everything else is the same unless otherwise stated.
Rules
1. If there is an issue of dispute, take it up with me.
2. No godmoding, trying to control someone else's character or an NPC.
3. Keep it PG-13, swearing is allowed, but don't go overboard, we can't risk getting sued by Veep.
4. Keep is civil OOC.
5. No low-effort posting. This means no one-liners or short posts. At least one paragraph per post.
As long as you follow these simple guidelines, you'll be all right
Important Characters
Character Application Form
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[align=center][b]Character Application[/b][/align]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Sex:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Appearance: (description and/or photo)[/b]
[b]Position:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Weaknesses:[/b]
[b]Likes:[/b]
[b]Dislikes:[/b]
[b]Goals:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b] (At least one paragraph)
[b]Misc.[/b]
DO NOT REMOVE THIS
Player Characters
Josephine Markwell - National Security Advisor (United Mafias)
Walda Momento - Occasional Lobbyist (Voxija)
Jane Doe - Secretary of Moderation (-Liberty-)
Tricia Patters - Former Presidential Candidate/Secretary of Heights? (Honghai)
Sean Olinsky - Secret Service Agent (Tikrav)
Johnny Rick - Deputy Director of Communication (Malorossi)
Tony Blinkblink - Secretary of Defense (Antony Blinken, surprisingly enough)
Thomas Westel - Secretary of State (New Atlantic States)
Gerard Louis Orgueilleux - French Ambassador (Constaniana)
Prof. Moses McKinley -
"James" - Chief Houseguest of the President (Countesia)
Vladislav Tepes - Secretary of Homeland Security (Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States)
Oliver Doyle - Director of the CIA (Alvosa)
Dr. Arnold Appleby - Chief of Staff (Kreigsreich of Iron)
Chase "Chad" Riggleton III - Director of Intergovernmental Affairs (Catalaonia)
Jonny Kwan - Speaker of the House (Kunskil)
Andrew Indie - Attorney General (Corleson)
Sean Spyros - Press Secretary (Singgasana)
Maysa Nasr - Chair of the FTC (Cybernetic Socialist Republics)
