RETIRED PLOTTING & ENGAGEMENT

[metamods]

RETIRED PLOTTING & ENGAGEMENT
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This plotting post exists to serve as a hub for players to confer with the mods about running a plot for their characters, be it personal or game-wide. The goal of this post is to facilitate player creativity, and the best way to approach these requests is for players to convey to the mods what the intended outcome/result of the idea is so that the mods can collaborate with players on a way to make it happen within the context of the setting.

There are three primary ways for players to bring plots to this post: to brainstorm, to seek approval for wide-reaching player plots, or for players to report their own character's IC actions to discuss consequences.

BRAINSTORMING

Players who have an idea of something they want their character to do but don't know the best way to go about it or who don't have enough information about the setting to act upon it may make submissions here seeking mod guidance and support in the brainstorming process. Often, this takes the form of a player sharing a goal or plot point of interest and asking how to make it happen.

These requests are less formal and more freeform, acting as the start of a collaborative discussion about engaging an element of the setting. Submitting a brainstorming request does not mean committing to the IC actions being discussed, so this is a good way to explore possibilities.

Examples of brainstorming requests:

• If my character robs a bank, how much money can they get away with?


• What would the happen if my character tried to hack the Guardian Alliance's databases?


• I'd like my character to get employment in a Guild-run organization or a job that would give them substantial influence in the form of power or money. Is that allowed?


• I want my character to run for mayor of Sunset Falls. How do I make that happen?


• I really want my character to forge a telepathic bond with someone, but I don't know how to do it.


• What would happen if my hero stole every hero's left shoe?

PLOT APPROVALS

Plots affecting only a few characters, or those which cause minimal damage and no casualties, do not require mod approval. These plots only require information that players already have about the setting and do not involve and mod NPCs. Players may invent throwaway NPC villains for characters to fight or have characters use their powers in fun and interesting ways. When in doubt, players should reference the FAQ regarding what breaks the setting.

Plots that need approval by the mods involve any of the following:

• Affect 8+ player characters;


• Alter, threaten, or damage the setting in a large-scale or notable way;


• Result in multiple casualties;


• Change the setting in some way;


• Or involve mod-established NPCs or NPC organizations.

Essentially, no submission is required for fighting Dr. Doofenschmertz, but the mods need to know when someone would notice a character fighting him, such as if said fight causes significant property damage. Likewise, the mods don't need to know if villains are running around causing trouble, only if it's noticeable trouble or would lead to a potential reaction or fallout from an element of the setting, such as an organization or mod NPC.

These plots cannot be implemented until approved. If a player wants their plot to be a surprise to the rest of the game, they can feel free to bring it over to the MOD CONTACT post.

DO NOT REQUIRE MOD APPROVAL:	REQUIRE MOD APPROVAL:
A character encounters a player-developed NPC villain with a baby ray! They're now de-aged. A character uses their powers to heal or change another character. Your character invents a tiny teleporter that jumps between their house and their friends house.	A character or group of characters stage(s) participate in a conflict that destroys a city block. A character or group of characters engage with a mod-run NPC character, guild, or business. A character uses a baby ray on important political figures to take over the tri-state area. A character is revived more than two hours after their death.

REPORTING CONSEQUENCES

This post is also for reporting character actions that might result in IC consequences within the setting, such as characters destroying property, committing crimes, causing casualties or taking actions that might affect more than 4 characters. These plots do not need to be approved; however, the mods ask players to wait for mod acknowledgement before making wide reference to these events, as we may request additional information and clarification. Please report these events as soon as possible so that the mods are aware of what's going on, and bear in mind the FAQ guidelines on death.


HOW TO SUBMIT

After reviewing the information above carefully, label your request type in the subject line with "BRAINSTORMING," "PLOT APPROVAL," or "REPORTING CONSEQUENCES," and post your response using the following form:

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: (and usernames)
Summary of Plot: (if reporting, please include links to relevant threads)
OOC Goals: (what do you want out of this idea, plot, or consequence?)
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: (how do you want this to affect the characters involved?)
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: (how will this affect the game at large? how do you see people — including mod-run NPCs — reacting?)

<b>Name(s) of Character(s) Involved:</b> (and usernames) <B>Guild Affiliations:</b> The guild affiliations of the involved player characters <B>Summary of Plot:</b> (if reporting, please include links to relevant threads) <B>OOC Goals:</b> (what do you want out of this idea, plot, or consequence?) <B>Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters:</b> (how do you want this to affect the characters involved?) <B>Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs:</b> (how will this affect the game at large? how do you see people — including mod-run NPCs — reacting?)

Examples of plots to report:

• A character opens their own business.


• A character destroys a building in a fight.


• A villainous plot leads to the death of civilians.

code bases by tricklet

Comments

(frozen comment) BRAINSTORMING RESPONSES - DO NOT REPLY

[metamods]

As players post their brainstorming questions and setting questions to this post, the mods will upkeep this comment as a link to the various threads to make them easier for mods and players alike to navigate.

New brainstorming, plot approval, and consequence reporting requests should be made as new top-level comments in reply to the PLOTTING POST, not in response to this comment.

BRAINSTORMING

[sunmon]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Alina Starkov (sunmon)
Summary of Plot:

My basic thought is this:
- Getting recruited by some predatory PR person after her light powers come out in the haunted house event (she had been hiding them).
- Winding up in some weird talent audition thing going "but I can't sing."
- Being used for Hannah Montana-style "hero idol" branding as a prop and winding up in the super fake world of Performing Heroism without the actual violence that she's been shirking (she doesn't want to fight battles for other people / be used as a weapon like she was in Ravka).

OOC Goals: I want Alina to become a popstar/idol for the Guardian Alliance. Is there anything I need to know about timeline limitations on scale?
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Alina has an unhealthy relationship with wanting lots of attention and not wanting to be dehumanized by it. Since she's not a saint here, I wanted to find a good substitute that's setting-appropriate that helps engage that conflict and responsibility.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: This would involve her joining the Guardian Alliance and probably gaining financial resources, but people would also be invested in restricting her movements/behaviors for PR reasons. A setting impact would be making her chosen idol name a household one.

[metamods]

Hey, Tifa!

Great (?) news for Alina: The Guild is absolutely starved for new heroes with flashy powers and talent and there's a sharp uptick in metahuman interest due to the Confluence. This means that Alina can be fast-tracked to stardom within a few months if she plays her cards right.

There are a few options for how this could go:

LIBERTY SPARKS, talent manager and retired teen hero, would gladly scout Alina and take her under her wing. Liberty believes in the power of heroism and that heroes have an obligation to be good influences. Alina and Alina's well being and health will be her priority over a career.

KEVIN DE VERE, a talent manager who has never been a hero himself and only wants money, believes only in the power of cold hard cash. He's more cut-throat and controlling, and though he says all the right words about heroism and doing a service, he doesn't really believe in them. Alina will be more of a product than a person under his management.

You're free to rename/reimagine these NPCs!

Alina may also find she's slipped a card from MORTICIA GRAVES of UNEARTHED TALENT, who is not Guild-affiliated but has a number of metahuman talents. She has a reputation for turning messy, chaotic celebrities around and reviving their careers.

Let us know which (if any) of these sounds interesting to you!

BRAINSTORMING

[voicelog]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Tony Stark (voicelog)
Summary of Plot: Tony wants to start up a nonprofit business. It is going to be focused on giving back to the community through volunteer work, free technological and engineering-related assistance from simple repairs to construction work, and a pseudo-workshop for innovative projects/ideas/inventions that can provide support and better communities as a whole. It is also an unofficial mentorship for any aspiring engineers/inventors who wants to learn from him. He doesn't want to rely too heavily on the GA, so depending on how hard it is for him to find investors, he might start a for profit business to fund it first. He figures that a for profit would garner more immediate interests since he is relatively unknown on this Earth and investors aren't going to throw money at him to do nonprofit work. In any case, would it be difficult for him to find investors/suppliers without GA assistance overall?
OOC Goals: I just want him to get back into the business game. He's left it for too long.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: It will give him something substantial to focus on while he tries to work through all of his issues. Something to keep him stable, busy and sane if you will.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: His nonprofit business will have a positive outcome for the setting as a whole since it is all about giving back and helping out. It will also offer job opportunities for interested characters.

[metamods]

Hey, Laws! We love this idea.

The fastest option for Tony to get his nonprofit off the ground is to take advantage of the doors that his membership in the Guardian Alliance opens for him. The Alliance name carries weight, providing him with the permits and funds to pull something like this off. Their credentials and reputation mean that his nonprofit will have many eager donors, and they'll easily be able to secure a space with a workshop for his nonprofit to operate out of. Despite this, it might take a few months before he has sufficient donations to his workshop to accrue the high-end equipment he's used to. Another limitation of this option is that the nonprofit would be intrinsically associated with the Alliance in public opinion, which means they'd have some stake in its operations.

If he doesn't want to rely on the GA and its name whatsoever, Frances Starling will assist him as best she can. Frances is an incredibly overworked lawyer who has no time for heroes but significant investment in making the world a better place without relying on the Alliance. She can put him in contact with other human and metahuman rights associates, and they may be able to assist him in getting his company off the ground — provided he presents a thorough business model and is able to offer services beneficial to their causes. Under this approach, he may need to open up a for-profit business to fund the nonprofit until the nonprofit is able to stand on its own, and he'll likely spend more time waiting to accrue the finances to secure high-end equipment. If he starts small, visibly doing charity work and selling his services to existing groups, he may be able to quickly secure the connections needed.

Let us know which option is most interesting to you and/or if you have any further questions!

BRAINSTORMING

[rehandle]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Stephen Strange (rehandle) & whoever wants to play?
Summary of Plot: Okay so quick background:

- Rich family has big old house in Sunset Falls
- House has fallen into disrepair and become the spot all the local kids go to start testing out their magic and wreaking havoc in a contained space. Instead of drinking and graffiti we've got blood pacts and summoning circles cast by magically talented under 21s, so it's kind of just heavily cursed
- The owners have put out an ad locally for someone to clear the place out and de-curse it
- None of the locals really care to get involved because the owners abandoned the area and while the kids are using that one house they're not out menacing the rest of the neighbourhood


Some of the PC kids have heard about this place through the grapevine and decide to go there to practice some cool (shady) magic stuff they found tucked away at the back of the school library, and end up causing an even bigger mess than any of the local kids have because they have 0 idea what they're messing with. (Possibility for establishing a bit of ongoing continuity here if the book they pick up is a plant by an as yet unspecified NPC.) -- it doesn't necessarily have to be PCs but I think it would be cooler to hold off until there are some PC kids interested in this role.

My thought for this is maybe the spell, fuelled by the aura of Sunset Hills and the Cursed Vibes of the house itself and the energy of meta kids and how broken dimensional magic is at the moment, turns the inside of the house into a House of Leaves style yawning, shifting, bad energy maze and the mission becomes to get everyone out so they can seal up the rift caused by the spell. Time sensitive on account of the magic being wildly out of control having been cast by inexperienced practitioners in a place imbued with too many years of chaotic power, and the spell therefore seemingly being on a trajectory of exponential growth.

The kids are trapped inside, Stephen who is headed to the house to magically decontaminate it for the rich owners and whoever he brought along to help him are then instead confronted with a Big Magical Mess they need to fix and some kids that need rescuing.

Could potentially be extended to a bigger plot depending on how many people want to play with it, ie the house could start dragging random metas from wherever they are into the maze and those outside would need to pile in to help retrieve them while magic folk work to contain the spell.

The plot would end once those trapped inside are rescued with Stephen (and any other magic folks?!) binding the spell to the house.
OOC Goals: I want Stephen to have a big cursed spooky house in Sunset Falls... the dream would be for Stephen to move in as caretaker to maintain the safety of the binding spell keeping the house mostly in check and to stop people from blundering into or intentionally disrupting what is now an even more cursed, but at least contained, property.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: He might be putting a fairly significant dent in any anonymity he could've had with this one, which isn't ideal when he has no intentions of keeping separate identities. It's also going to be a pretty rough few days at the office trying to keep the spell from expanding while waiting for the rescuers to do their thing. also maybe? accidentally becoming a teacher when he goes to complain about the book after the whole fiasco's over? whoops
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Depends on the scale really! At the very least our flying high school should probably hire a more attentive librarian

[metamods]

We love this idea, Gee! We agree that it would benefit from a clearer way of getting other players involved, so perhaps any door in Sunset Falls might lead into the maze of the house and trap them, further playing up the eldritch/psychological horror elements. We're interested in helping you develop it further for a March event, if that works for you.

The first step to this would involve drafting up a post pitching your plot to the OOC community and asking for teen volunteers while people are touring the cities on the Guilds' dime — especially in Sunset Falls. This will be really good timing to give people a good reason to be there in anticipation of a March event.

Once you've got volunteers, we can make further decisions on timing and duration. Let us know if you're interested!

BRAINSTORMING

[portolan]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Balthier portolan and anyone who wants to play
Summary of Plot: Balthier accidentally releases or activates a curse that causes people's worst fears to literally manifest. The spell may cause objects or even people to exist temporarily (ex: supervillain or ex-lover who isn't here on this world). These objects, people, etc. CAN interact with the environment, and depending on the fear, others can see and interact with the person's fear manifestation. The fear manifestation goes away when the person either surmounts their fear or gives in, or the curse is contained.
OOC Goals: I want player characters to deal with fears literally manifested and rattle them about things they thought they were safe from here. I also want others to be able to see their fears. I'd probably contain it to a specific city so people can physically opt in/out. I specifically want Balthier to have a meltdown about his worst fears and figured hey the more the merrier.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: This can potentially rattle characters due both to the fears manifesting, seeing things they don't want to, and having their vulnerabilities exposed, but also has potential for bonding or healing in overcoming them.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: This can have some setting impact, if people choose to have the fear manifestations be physical. I imagine it would put people on edge because they aren't sure what's real for a little while, and for fear that a lot of Bad Things have suddenly appeared. I could also see the guilds wanting to control this object or curse source.

[metamods]

Hey, Taylor! We love this idea, and we'd love to help you develop it into a game-wide player plot. How do you feel about running this in May?

The first steps to fleshing this out would involve deciding what triggers it — is the curse cast by a villain NPC? Is it deliberately set up for Balthier to trigger? Is it just a leftover curse from some Old Magic^TM?

We can use this to decide on the tone of the event and what city might be best for it (e.g., spooky/mystical emphasis in Sunset Falls, grimdark inner demons in Central City, pastoral horror in Little Love; it sounds like Excelsior is probably out).

From there, we'll want to expand on the specific ways the fears will present. What determines whether they are hallucinations or tangible? To what extent can they influence characters who aren't the ones who manifested them? How must characters overcome them? What would break the curse? Additionally, you might consider what's stopping the manifestation of these fears from leaving the city limits.

If we schedule this for May, we'll have plenty of time to take these steps in slow stages. Just let us know what you think.

reporting consequences

[jikukan]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Sasuke Uchiha + Peter Parker (the interloping one)
Summary of Plot: I wildcarded Zelly with a bigass snake. They're in some sort of kinda run-down but not-quite-abandoned skid row sort of warehouse-y place. Aoda (Sasuke's main summon, who is Giant Snake) might eat a villainous henchman, not sure yet.
OOC Goals: not really anything intended except 'what can i do in a wildcard that's interesting enough to have fun with'. If it results in consequence or not is fine, he tried to do it away from others but also isn't... hiding it... he IS hiding his identity tho (trying... to?)
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Sasuke's an asshole. ICly he won't respond to any sort of consequence with grace. If he lands in jail he's going to dig his way out with a spoon.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Not massively? Possibly a henchman won't be returning home for dinner.

[metamods]

Hey, Rhys!

The henchman's family will be compensated for their loss, no one will otherwise be doing much about the death. When they sign on, henchmen knows the cost of doing business! To that end, Sasuke is free from legal repercussions in this instance.

However, the Society will take an interest in him for being a wildcard. They will want to know what he's up to and what he's after if he's willing (and able) to have a snake devour one of theirs. They will approach him with a renewed offer of membership in exchange for information (and if he refuses, make a threat that he should keep his nose clean).

Let us know if you have any questions about this!

brainstorming;

[morozova]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Aleksander Kirigan (morozova)
Summary of Plot: Aleksander wants to join the staff at Lofty Heights, particularly if he can be involved in training kids in the use of their powers. He has some experience in this, particularly with children with elemental focused powers.
OOC Goals: More or less exactly what I stated above. Since he's new and untried I'd definitely understand if he were to have to work up to it or be supervised, etc. This is a good way for him to invest in the setting but also puts him in contact with some vulnerable promising young minds that he can help mold, etc.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: He has to learn to work with people toward a common goal while not being top dog anymore. Fun times for him.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: The school gets a new teacher.

While I'm here, and related to this, could you please also tell me:

- is the school year-round? what is the schedule like?
- what, if any, exams/qualifications are done for kids with powers?

[metamods]

Hey Mal!

Because the United States abandoned its democratic ideals by gutting its public school system, schools strapped for personnel and resources are emergency certifying instructors to fill positions. Lofty Heights is under particular stress, its staff stretched thin by the recent Confluences and the resultant influx of metas.

Therefore, with Alliance support, Aleksander can easily secure an emergency certificate as a "kinetic wellness instructor" (good for one year and renewable based on the interim completion of certification coursework). For one month, he'll act as a student teacher under Roland Embers, department chair of Physical Education, who will help teach him the basic pedagogical principals of the 21st century. Following that, he will be free to independently run his powers training class as he sees fit — for about 150 students.

School is indeed year-round, so he'll have time to get to know his pupils. While there are short breaks between marking periods (in March, June, September, and December), additional extracurricular opportunities are offered to kids to keep them out of trouble. As faculty, Aleksander may be invited to oversee (read: chaperone) some of these and other school events at your convenience.

In addition, you can expect Aleksander to proctor the PWRS test (Power Work-Readiness Survey) in September, which involves stress-testing students' metahuman abilities to evaluate their fitness for powers-based careers. Other basic nation-wide standards-based tests on curriculum are also conducted during the school day.

Being federally funded and a higher risk job, Lofty Heights will offer its faculty better benefits than the average teaching gig in the United States. If you would like Aleksander to move to a position of higher authority in the school at a later time, please reach back out.

Let us know if you have further questions.

brainstorming;

[fastandcurious]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Drift (fastandcurious), Spinister (optionwhatever)
Summary of Plot: The area around Excelsior, WA, has seen a weird rise in an extremely odd category: fuel trailers, the sort that are so often used to refill gas stations or airport fuel stocks, have been going missing lately. Some of them been found on the outskirts of the city after the fact, but mysteriously drained of their contents! Someone (or something) is targeting the local fuel supply and the price at the pump has been going up, leaving locals disgruntled and demanding action of some kind!

The culprits of this caper are none other than Drift and Spinister, who are in the midst of some sneaky thefts to make sure they have enough of the local fuel sources to last them through lean times in the future. While Drift is more amenable to following local laws than Spinister, he's also not the type to let himself starve if he can help, even if the local stuff is really gross.
OOC Goals: I'd like to have Drift and Spin cause some trouble and ideally I'd like to recruit some other PCs to do the investigating, maybe some player conflict that brings Spin and Drift into contact with either of the guilds who might be interested in recruiting giant robots or stopping them from casually breaking Earth laws.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Drift and Spinister end up with a less onerous source of fuel that helps get them off of local supplies, though the source may still be of dubious legality if a baddie decides to pay them off or what have you.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Maybe some of the fuel that's pilfered belongs to someone important (private source of jet fuel meant for a private plane, local businesses having to pay more to ship things in the local area, etc.). Basically I want people to get annoyed and give them a reason to want to either hire, pay-off, or go after the resident Cybertronians.

Optional Mistaken Identity Component

[optionwhatever]

Spinister is going to think to borrow people's likenesses to use as his holomatter Avatar. So, pending opt-ins, any players can choose to get their characters in some trouble by being 'spotted' at these very inconvenient crime scenes even if they were never there.

Brainstorming;

[howlett]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Logan (howlett) and any other characters who like to do good in bad ways.

Summary of Plot: Logan's settled in the city to try and get a foothold in the seedier sides of town, because he's the cynical suspicious type to think what goes behind the scenes is what really makes any place tick. He's been looking to make contacts in the corrupt corners of Central City. The places one goes for blackmarkets and illicit trade, organized crime, whatever other criminal activity happens behind closed doors. He's also looking for a non-guild related form of income— apart from cage fighting and cheating people at cards. Always the type to do unsavoury things for well intentioned reasons he might find he can make good money faster by selling something that comes naturally to him— Like organs or plasma maybe.

OOC Goals: Mostly just looking for a way to keep afloat in a very chaotic neutral sort of position that's also more connected to disenfranchised citizens of the setting than notable people or people on the up and up. Knowing he won't find himself at arms length from either guild forever I'd love to establish something like this that might help make those future relationships kind of rocky. I'm just a big fan straining his relationships through a checkered past and questionable morals.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: For now it's probably little more than independently earned income and a bit of status amongst the worst parts of Central City. I'd love to get him enough money to dirty the waters of totally legal businesses like whatever Stark is getting off the ground. (Player approval on that of course.)

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: It could result in some temporary in-world advances in medicine/healing stuff, but long term, I'd love this to come back to haunt him somehow. Maybe someone starts noticing some surprising side effects of this mystery plasma / organs that incentivizes them to find the Golden Goose at the source? Could be the unwitting start of a rash of experimentation on metas or something equally horrible.

Thanks for reading! Love what you guys are doing with this game.

[metamods]

Hi Roximonoxide!

If Logan is willing to give up a kidney or two (or ten!), he'd have an easy-in with the corrupt parts of Central City crime and enough money to live very comfortably. Black market organs are highly profitable and he won't be the only person with a regenerative power who makes money this way.

However, in true criminal fashion, the selfishness of man is not to be underestimated — if he reveals his power and where the parts are coming from, he might find people want to stop paying and instead capture and entrap him, turning him into their farm.

This career path would make him a supplier to one of the organized crime organizations, [NAME], run by [NPC]. Feel free to use this group as you see fit to create interpersonal conflict and let us know on a Worldbuilding Meme if you decide to characterize their special merchandising strategies.

In the Central City underworld, he'll spend a lot of time around addicts, drop-outs, ex-cons, and former gang members. These people are the disenfranchised who feel forgotten by the people and systems who are supposed to support and save them, and no longer believe in salvation through heroes. Most of them are mistrustful as a result, and insist on doing things themselves.

Let us know if you have further questions, or if you're interested in the situation in other cities.

brainstorming;

[morozova]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Aleksander Kirigan, anyone who attends Lofty Heights

Summary of Plot: I would like to flesh out what the facilities for powers-training look like at Lofty Heights. I think right now it makes the most sense for them to have a gym that parents who don't know their kids are metas could tour as a "kinetic wellness" space for normal sports — however, the gym would be highly reinforced to resist powers. The equipment room is probably stocked with fire extinguishers and similar ways to shut down dangerous powers quick. In the future, I'd be interested in pulling in tech-savvy players who could help construct a more advanced Danger Room-style training space UNDER the gym floor that is able to create VR battle simulations and the like.

OOC Goals: Just to make sure I don't get things wrong about a mod-operated organization when I'm writing about Aleksander's job.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: I think it'd be fun to get tech-savvy adult characters involved in the school in ways that aren't teaching so it helps open the school for more plots later.

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Determining physical description of the powers training.

[metamods]

Hey, Mal! Thanks for checking on this.

The Lofty Heights gymnasium is a typical gym most of the time. Because most NPC students don't have powers on par with the PC metahumans, the school has not seen a need for the heavy duty equipment seen in the X-Men's Danger Room.

They have are gym mats, ropes for climbing and swinging, jumping horses, etc. Their VR capabilities in the combat department are uninspired. There are a few combat simulations, but they appear to be somewhat out of date and the holograms are not sophisticated enough for interactivity.

However, for the students on the hero track, the school occasionally runs endurance challenges and real time scenarios like Save the Citizen — though they learned their lesson pretty quickly, and the spikes are now holograms. They also invested in "Bubble Suits" for combat training to ensure that the students won't hurt themselves or others while practicing. There's also an aerial obstacle course that can be deployed for fliers, but it's in a state of disrepair as none of the current staff can actually fly... and Fantastic was the last student to use it, which means its in rough shape due to his careless showboating.

Frankly, it seems like the gym is most often used for "Magic School Bus"-esque adventures. In a shocking inverse of how it is in the real world, the kinetic arts are wildly underfunded and the sciences get most of the money - largely due to the fact that most of the donors for the school are from Excelsior, and want to train students to be scientists rather than superheroes.

In short, the climate is ripe for a player plot pulling together some tech brains to improve the offerings. Let us know if you have further questions.

brainstorming | adding a business!

[dothelokimotion]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Loki Odinson |
Summary of Plot: Loki starting his own business, aka a theatre.
OOC Goals: I want it as a way for Loki to establish himself and form a direct connection to his location. In this theatre, people can run productions or even see movies. No fourth-walling but perhaps variations of events/moments of character histories? (with permission of course).

Also at some point, there'll be a musical event, just because.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Drama, seeing things they didn't expect to see, encouraging people to play out different roles and moments.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: People will flock to a God's theatre, making it a hit even if most of the time it plays out cheesy dramas and greek tragedies.

[metamods]

Hi Timmy!

If Loki intends to sign on with one of the Guilds, this will be a relatively simple thing for him to acquire. Should he sign on with the Guardian Alliance they will require he submit a business plan outlining how intends for this venture to be profitable. And if he joins The Society, they will want to know how they can use this location and whether its viable for money laundering. Once either Guild has confirmed that this works for them, they'll provide him the funding to purchase it.

Should he strike out on his own and refuse registration at either guild, though, it will be a little more difficult. Real estate isn't cheap and people will be reluctant to lease to him without credible connections or credit. Loki is welcome to fool and connive his way into attaining this business, we'd need to know how he intends to go about it.

[the_caped_crusader]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Bruce Wayne/Batman the_caped_crusader and MORE???
Summary of Plot: Since Bruce's arrival, he's very notably gone off the beaten path. Since his arrival, I've already established him a little with his PI business and the MYTHOS OF THE BAT-MAN, that little blurb you hit me up with in my inbox, etc., I wanna have Batman and maybe some street level heroes who are interested in punching criminals to start CLEANING UP THE STREETS of central.
OOC Goals: I want to build cr, obviously, but I want to work on a long process of changing the city. This is sort of a long project, but on a smaller scale, this can be the start of something. My thoughts are nebulous af, but I am willing to flesh things out with you guys/interested players if/when I throw up an OOC post/Plurk about it.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: I want to maybe establish CR between some street level heroes, i.e., your Spider-Man's, Yelena Belova, Jessica Jones, etc., etc., and maybe butt heads against the Alliance or criminals or whatever groups who might not be happy with them doing things outside of established circles. I would also like to, as mentioned above, sort of use this as a launching point to work on lasting Change /obama.jpg
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: I think I just mentioned that above idk lmk if you need me to elaborate anything. I could easily see more than 8 characters getting involved, but I do intend to keep this more on the small side with less heavy hitters involved. I mean, the Defenders were only like 4 or 5 people in the show.

[metamods]

Hi Thirteen!

To lay some groundwork, there's no shortage of crime within Central City. Due to the corruption in the city it often goes ignored by baseline human law enforcement and is deliberately kept from the Guardian Alliance. Like Gotham, Central City is trapped in a hopeless cycle.

The most prominent ne'er do wells are the D'Amico family, a staunchly anti-meta crime syndicate which has been around since well before the first confluence. Their fortune is vast and is used to buy their way out of any trouble they happen to find themselves in as they continue to grow their empire. They frequently shake down civilians for protection money and have been known to target meta-human businesses. The Guilds are not aware of this due to the pressure put upon victims to keep quiet and play along. Their threats are also not empty - the D'Amico's are brutal and to the point. If they feel someone will not play along, they simply take them out.

Should anyone delve into this, they'll also hear rumors of a drug which temporarily creates metahuman powers in civilians. This drug is being passed out to the poor and a hefty sum is being offered in exchange for their willingness to test it. By the handful of witness accounts one can glean, this is an exceptionally dangerous drug which has devastating side-effects as the powers are often incompatible with the human body.

Experimentation like this runs counter to The Society's goals and so is unlikely to be linked to them.

If this appeals to you, as you mentioned you would like to use this as a means to get CR with other heroes, it may be a good idea for you to float this early idea on the OOC comm to see who would all like to sign up. Knowing who wants to be involved will allow us to tailor the scope as well as insert hooks tailored to individual characters. Once we know the scope, we'll be more than happy to help hammering down more concrete details and a means for players to sink their teeth into this.

Brainstorming

[hevenly]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: ...everybody...?
Summary of Plot: possible confluence/event idea?? sky ocean/underwater city. Maybe a portion of a city gets (temporarily) teleported to the bottom of the ocean, underneath a safe (but permeable?) bubble of air. characters have to figure out how to return it to its proper location.
OOC Goals: I don't really know how either of my characters would cause something like this to happen without getting in way over their heads with forces they know nothing about, but I thought the visual would be neat and striking, something fun and different for people to play.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: could be fun! maybe they meet some merpeople.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: as I said, maybe new relations are forged with some merpeople... Or maybe there's a possibility that they *can't* teleport the city block back to solid ground, and there's just a little mini underwater city location now.

IDK this is all very loose and spitball-y. I've never submitted any plot ideas before so it's new to me.

[metamods]

Hi Chris!

We think we can work this in to the upcoming months!

Just as a note, event / confluence suggestions don't need to be so formal! If you'd like to have Angela explore the world under the waves and/or inadvertently cause a confluence which sends everyone underwater, that's typically when the plotting post comes into play. We use it get an idea of the scale you're looking for and the goals you're hoping to achieve. Mod contact has a space just for informal confluence & event suggestions that we welcome players to use!

We appreciate this and look forward to sending you all under the sea!

brainstorming

[the_caped_crusader]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Bruce Wayne/Batman the_caped_crusader
Summary of Plot: No plot. Technically handwaving activity through April, unless you had some NPC to yell at him. Or for him to yell at. Wanted to know if Bruce could/would find out any information on the world's past regarding Confluences, arrivals, and/or the Alliance and the government supporting them.
OOC Goals: There's not a real big OOC goal besides maybe opening up more opportunities to explore the world around them. Bruce himself is an answer seeker, and the fact that he's here and there's a problem affecting the world is certainly a big problem. He may not necessarily solve it, but it'll be easier for him to know that there are know answers than to just rest on his laurels, you know?
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Same as... above?
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Unless there's some CRAZY INFO or something idk. It won't? It'll help Bruce understand his situation and this world better, perhaps work on a solution. As writers (and mods) we both know that this may not necessarily come to fruition, but having him go through the process of trying to assess what's happening around them is more IC than just waiting around for answers to drop into his lap. I know I requested the street level stuff above, so I guess on the other turn this is more on the Batman end of things-- sort of above the street level pay grade. If this gets him tagged or in trouble, that's always a risk he and I are willing to take.

[metamods]

Hi Thirteen!

Bruce will find that metahumans have always existed. Cosmic events, divine or unholy beings, radiation, freak accidents, genetic mutations - all of these created metahumans throughout the ages, though only a few every generation. Most would hide their abilities and those that didn't would fall into the realm of legends and myths.

The first known Confluence (June 6th, 1947) occurred within Central City, when a science experiment focused on cosmic radiation went wrong. It created a sudden, catastrophic storm within the city and all those who were caught in the eye of it suddenly developed powers. It happened again a few months later - this time in a city clear across the country, Sunset Falls, in which a portal to hell opened in the center of town and the survivors developed powers. And then again in Little Love, Kansas. And then again in Excelsior. The leading theory is that these cities have always had the highest concentration of meta-energy (a catch-all word to describe what fuels the supernatural, scientific, divine or alien) and so the storms are drawn to them. Occasionally, a confluence will occur in another city but these four locations seem to be the most frequently hit.

For three decades, Confluences were a common occurrence, resulting in an explosion of exceptionally strong powered individuals who could do little to hide their abilities. Some began to use these powers to wreak havoc, and others rose to fight them. The fallout of these events sometimes caused more metahumans to be created - being exposed to radiation, or toxic waste, or bitten by animals augmented by science.

This was also three decades of messy vigilante justice and never ending fighting. There were no rules of engagement, no training for heroes, anyone could put on a cape and decide they had authority. It was a brutal, bloody time and casualties were often high when metahumans engaged in a fight. There were a number of near-misses and almost-apocalypses.

After the GODFALL EVENT in 1985 there was a change in the way the government handled metahumans metahumans. They established the Godfall Protocols, which require the following:

The Godfall Protocol requires:
All metahumans to be cataloged with at least partial disclosure of their powers
All metahumans to be in control of their abilities
All metahumans to use their powers (if useful in combat) in the event of an apocalyptic event

The metahuman community then came together in the aftermath to try to protect themselves. They thought it was a short jump between this and ending up being used as weaponry. The guilds were founded and heroes were properly trained, the villains began policing their own, and Frances rose up to be the champion for a normal human life for people.

There has been a steady decline in occurrence of Confluences and a sharper decline in the strength of the powers that were gained from them. There are roughly 1.3 million metahumans worldwide. The bulk of the metahuman population has been somewhere between 50 and 80, as that was when confluences were most common. Though younger metahumans do exist most of them are second or third generation who inherited abilities from their parents. While there are a handful of dimension hoppers and time travelers, almost all of them are here by choice and none arrived during a confluence. People being dimensionally displaced is a new and unexpected occurrence.

It's worth noting that January was the first major Confluence in almost twenty years. No one can determine just why it happened.

This is publicly available information. Wikipedia and history books have documented these early times extensively, and any sources Bruce follows up with will corroborate it.

BRAINSTORMING / CLARIFICATION

[portolan]

Hi mods!

I want Balthier to have two villain personas if that's okay, one that's more goofy and public facing for things like the expo, and one that's "real" and more secret for actually using. (a) is this okay (b) would he face any kind of extra hurdles or limitations from this? I presume he has both registered with the Society.

I was going to tie this in part to his taking over the shop with the under-the-table goods as a way to sort of throw distance that he's not related to it.

[metamods]

Hi Taylor!

Balthier can absolutely maintain two villainous personas! So long as he abides by the Code and isn't using it to get around giving them their cut they'll even assist him with keeping up the charade should he need it.

brainstorming

[the_caped_crusader]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Bruce Wayne the_caped_crusader
Summary of Plot: Bruce will be visiting scrapyards and working on both a serviceable Batmobile and Batcycle. For visual purposes, think "The Batman." For reference, googling scrapyard frames of classic Challengers and Ducatis for a $1500-2000 or so each, so he'll be doing that this month. Say he finishes the Batcycle mid-to-end-month May and the Batmobile mid-to-end-month June, if that seems like an okay timeline to you all.
OOC Goals: This is a continuation of Bruce's own personal growth in Central and settling in for the long haul.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: He'll be able to respond quicker to emergencies, get places faster, expand his operation of PUNISHING CRIME in Central, and further the myth of "The Batman."

[metamods]

Hi Thirteen! This sounds fine by us.

Please bear in mind that these vehicles may draw unwanted attention from the authorities and the Alliance as unaffiliated vigilantism is technically illegal.

BRAINSTORMING

[hiyakai]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: kai parker (hiyakai)
Summary of Plot: this is going to be twofolds.

kai is going to compel himself a business! he plans to pick a nice pub in the sketchier part of central city to obtain. pretty much gonna compel the owner to sign over the business (and all its revenue) to him and then he's going to get to work on renovating it into a classy karaoke bar/pseudo-living space for himself. it will all be seemingly aboveboard.

kai also plans to start cozying his way up into the criminal underworld. get his fingers in all the pies etc. he is going to be paying some prominent crime lords a visit for networking purposes. (compulsion may or may not play a factor dependent on reception.) back in new amsterdam, he was an established criminal free agent where he helped broker deals, make particularly headache-inducing problems disappear etc. very neutral, very efficient, very amenable. short-term goal will be to reach that status once more in meta.

long term goal may be some mastermind puppeteering through mind control because we all love a boy who has no qualms about controlling crime lords to make his own business endeavors thrive and more smooth sailing. would love thoughts on potentiality for this!

OOC Goals: at the moment, he needs a front (and a place of residence). the pub is going to serve as a place of meeting and networking for his future criminal ventures. pub goal is for it to turn into a sort of switzlerland for mercenaries, criminals and karaoke lovers alike to chill out, strike deals and sing some fun tunes together. character goal is for him to actually curate a life for himself and explore his morality (or lack thereof) further and see how much he can get away with and where it will eventually take him. he's here to play the long game.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: the pub will be a stepping stone for him while he acclimates to the setting and begin to plot out his course in game because it's important to do research first. i expect there to be both benefits and consequences to his more criminal plans. he's going to be a new player on the board and he expects there to be competition (and resistance), but aforementioned, he is here to play the long game and he will be fronting a more harmless "free agent" stance for a while. that being said, kai is kai so there will be some possible murder and chaos in between. he's really just here to have fun ok?

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: the pub will be potentially great for the economy (if we ignore the more illegal side of it). it'll certainly open the door for jobs. unfortuantely, any npc crime lords will have to be dealing with this guy, but he's smart enough and discreet enough for his actions to go unnoticed. he will not be fucking with the society for now, but he'll still be playing by their rules.

[metamods]

Hi Laws!

You're good to go on this!

Please create an OOC post on your journal containing the information about this business. You're welcome to post it on the Collaborative Worldbuilding Meme as well. We'll be making adjustments to the Locations Post in to display this information soon!

PLOT APPROVAL

[hevenly]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Angela (hevenly)
Summary of Plot: In an attempt to rid herself of the remnants of the Fog God's curse within her, Angela recruits someone magical (either an NPC or a willing PC, I haven't put out feelers for this yet though) to extract any traces of the Fog's influence from her soul/being. However, once extracted, this ball of Fog magic becomes too powerful for Angela and her magic partner to control, and explodes outward, creating a magic-rich fog that settles over (insert city/area here, I haven't decided where this will happen). Characters in the affected area run the risk of becoming afflicted with the Fog God's curse themselves, and being transformed into one of the many variety of monsters found in the Ryslig peninsula. (I have compiled the list of available monster types in this google doc. I have removed all references to cannibalism, as I don't want to make players uncomfortable, but if people want to play with that then they are welcome to, provided they use all applicable CWs. I might pare down the list of available options a bit bc 22 monster types is a lot for a limited-run event...)

Eventually, the fog will either be contained or dissipated, and the curse will fade from all those afflicted (except Angela, whoops). It might also be cool if people choose to have their characters keep some lingering effects, but I'll leave that up to mod/player discretion.

OOC Goals: Give people the chance to play out monster stuff!

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: This will further Angela's goal of trying to rid herself of the Fog God's influence. As I said, the possibility of characters having long-lasting effects from their monster transformations (such transforming on the full/new moon the way Angela does, maintaining some physical or personality traits left over from their monster forms, etc.) might be fun, but obviously not necessary. If people just want to go back to the status quo, they absolutely should be able to.

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Obviously a giant magical fog cloud that's turning people into monsters would garner the attention of the guilds and other authority figures. Player characters can either find themselves trapped in the fog, or enter the fog willingly to try to rescue people. And of course, if players want to opt-out then they can just say they either weren't in the affected area, or the fog just didn't effect them for some reason. The resolution of the plot could involve PCs teaming up to find a way to contain or disperse the fog.

[metamods]

Hi Chris!

We'd be very interested in running this plot. Given the scale though, this may be best suited for a Confluence/Arrival (for either May or June) or an event for July. Did you have any preference for the time frame you wanted to run this?

BRAINSTORMING

[mostdangerousbird]

If this is incorrect, please let me know. I think it’s more brainstorming than reporting of consequences.

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: (and usernames) Tim Drake mostdangerousbird
Conner Kent lowercase_el

Summary of Plot: Tim is going to be putting a toe over the line into unaffiliated vigilantism, very slowly. By the end of his two months at the hotel, he wants to know how well his brand of vigilantism and being unaffiliated agree with one another.

The first week or two, it will be strictly research, much conducted as just plain Tim. Building up a sense of where everything is, what neighborhoods are rough, what the guilds get up to, etc. The digging into the guilds will be predominantly limited to public information and what can be gleaned through conversations. He may join an unaffiliated support group eventually.

By the end of week two, nights he’ll patrol in costume from rooftops. Superboy will sometimes join him, and from this point it can be assumed that Superboy would continue to occasionally be involved. He would only intervene if something happened in front of him and didn’t appear to involve metahumans. If it did, then anything that doesn’t qualify as immediate danger would be reported anonymously to OurPowers. Tim isn’t looking to engage in metas; this would be mostly learning the lay of the land. He will avoid the guilds like the plague.

By week 3, he’ll start looking into missing kids cases, predominately runaways. He’ll try to follow up on their friends, look for them in various teen shelters, etc. This will eventually (in several months and arranged with the player, will be submitted at that time) lead to an interaction with Grease Monkey and Robin. As he’s doing this mainly as a wellness check, not much will come of this in game aside from GM. Tim won’t tell parents or police where a runaway is if they were afraid for their safety at home. This is just to say where Tim’s time is going without it having to be A Plot, as there’s no chance of him not doing anything. This is also provide a tidy reason for Tim to be poking around alone in abandoned buildings for a plot that Korel and I will be submitting in the next few weeks.

By the start of his second month at the hotel, he’ll start building up profiles on a teen gang - let me know if I should develop this further in specifics at this time, or if you have suggestions for the gang details.

A week before the two months end, I would like him to do something a little more noticeable. Maybe stop a drive-by or robbery.

OOC Goals: By and large, I just want a sense of what Tim has going on in the background aside from larger plots, as he’s not the sort to just exist.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: I will accept whatever comes of him testing the water like this. Ideally, I’d like for him to be able to get away with these sort of low-level, non-meta investigations without drawing the eye of the guild. However, given the nature of the game and his unaffiliated status, I wanted to check in advance.

I want to also note that I ran this past the Bart Allen mun as well - there may be a chance that Bart will very occasionally participate in patrols, but not to the same extent as Superboy due to their different affiliations and the need to keep up appearances.

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Variable depending on whether or not the guilds would notice and whether he would be forced to enlist at that point.

If he was nearing the end of his two months and still unsure of what he wanted to do, he would attempt to reach out to Frances Starling to ask her opinion on why there is no third option for those who wish to do good with their powers legally and prudently without the corporatization and baggage of the Alliance.

[metamods]

Hi Marie!

Run of the mill heroism/villainy/vigilantism does not need to be run by the mod team. As that is the premise of the game we assume most of this to be occurring in the background. It only needs to be brought to the plotting post if it's something you're seeking mod input on, or if its something that would impact the setting enough to draw attention.

This would be something like: excessive property damage, excessive theft (museum robberies, bank robberies, etc), character death, npc death, civilian causalities, engaging with mod created NPCs, visible overt vigilantism, and anything that breaks the Villain's Code.

We're happy to provide consequences for Tim's actions if that's what you prefer! However all of this falls within the realm of things you can comfortably handwave the guilds failing to notice or act upon. If you'd like to develop the Teen Gang you can do so here with us, or provide the details on the Collaborative World Building post.

BRAINSTORMING

[industrialisms]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Silco (industrialisms)
Guild Affiliations: None
Summary of Plot: Putting some very ambitious meat on the bone for this point related to Silco's steady takeover of a construction company by means of slow infiltration and gradual blackmail/coercion using his powers to eventually make a full corporate acquisition of the company.

Since arriving during the first Confluence, Silco has set his sights on one of the largest construction companies in Central City, Hern LLC, currently sitting under CEO Dudley "Dud" Hern Snr. for its scope and reach across the city. It's not the biggest construction company in Central City, but Hern LLC has built over the years through means of acquiring several smaller and mid-sized companies and now sits at around 1,000 employees (excluding contractors).

As Silco's only able to use his i'll show you who you really are ability once a day, Silco has necessarily needed to target key players at the company with care and precision to maximise his upward movement from the bottom.

Having started with night time security and janitors to gain basic indirect access and floorplans for the company HQ in Central, next, he'll have targeted clerical interns and employees in IT for up-to-date details on the company structure and systems to assist with plotting future moves, including setting up meetings with middle management at the company under the pretence of a worthwhile client with prospective development projects. Positioning himself this way allowed Silco to then push himself to the level of mid-level project directors and wind his influence and connections at the company further, even allowing him direct eyes on and some decision-making sway over some smaller-scale, early-stage developments already held by Hern LLC, including a dilapidated underground space that perhaps used to be a shooting range, but has so much more potential.

At this point, he's got about 100 days worth of work under his belt in this area, meaning he will have worked his way through around 10% of the company. Silco's goals are never to directly influence everyone at the company, but instead pick members of staff who will organically spread his influence through their teams and integrate his impact at an infrastructural level for him, like an infection.

Ultimately, his final goal is Hern LLC's board of directors to initiate the agreement of him acquiring Hern LLC through majority endorsement. There are 8 directors on the board--though one has taken a leave of absence through an unexpected bout of sickness and has been incommunicado from everyone at the company. Such a shame.

Silco, therefore, needs to solidly influence at least four members of the board for his goal, but he is aiming for 6, knowing very well that Dud Hern Snr. would rather die than hand over his company. With this in mind, Silco will be looking to set up dinner dates with each of the other six members of the board and lean on them hard with his abilities to find the most potent skeletons to leverage the acquisition. He will be offering to buy the company for a single shiny cent--y'know, like Central City, which seems like a solid business proposal :')

Upon takeover, Silco would kick out Hern Snr., restructure the company to his own benefit, rebrand as Zaun Enterprises, and start to split the function of the business between development and repairs specialising in Meta and Confluence-based damage.

Silco is also, at his heart, a gangster, so Zaun Enterprises is the clean façade for other more criminal ventures and a springboard for future plots.

OOC Goals: As mentioned in the screened comments, I want to set Silco up as an established presence and potential antagonist for morally-aligned PCs to come into conflict with, grey-aligned types to begrudging partner with, and more morally corrupt-types to potentially gravitate toward for opportunities. As a player, I know that for villain-types to have longevity in RP, I'd like to create an IC structure for Baddie Shit to happen that would often make it difficult to tie Silco directly to, not to avoid IC consequences but to avoid those IC jail-type scenarios and find ways to maintain a kind of tension for Hero Types to butt up against and grind their teeth about.

tl;dr: we're talking white collar legal-but-not-ethical shit as a front for other darker enterprises with lots of moving parts that, if traced, could seem to point back to Silco, but hard evidence would be hard to grasp.

Looking way, way, way further down the line (like, years, if we get that far/can find viable plots), Silco would expand the scale and shape of Central City through construction, not upward with skyscrapers, but by building downward to emulate as much of the underground city he's been snatched from as over time as possible. This could also be another city location entirely, if viable.

Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: I would love this to start to elevate Silco's overall standing and his reputation and voice to get out more and whispered about around Central in particular. This venture will almost certainly make him some enemies and dodgy allies along the way as I'm sort of looking forge him into the MH answer to Wilson Fisk, but more willing to get his hands dirty.

Silco knows the risks of surviving in urban underworlds first hand and as such is always aware of the knives dangling over his neck, from friend and foe. He expects that there is no comfortable, relaxed life in store for him at any point in time, and he generally anticipates retaliation which he is willing to meet and confront as it arrives. On an OOC level, this means I expect to have to manage and deal with the consequences of his baddie shit in whatever forms that arrives in ways that will hopefully be enjoyable for all involved :>

Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Ideally, this should feel--especially for NPCs in both the business world and the underworld--like a pretty big shark fish has just swam right into the pond seemingly out of nowhere.

It should offer opportunities for grey/evil mortally inclined folks to find shady work and see a notable up-tick in criminal activity as Silco starts a slow power grab in the city's underworld. This should be an opportunity for both PCs and NPCs to play out or handwave criminal conflict opportunities.

This could obviously be something for Rue Moore to report on, both in the short-term takeover and long term.

And, additionally, this should impact the shape and scope of Central City's physicality over time.

Apologies this is very long and, again, I'm aware this is prettyyy ambitious as a suggestion, but heck, I really want to try and offer something substantive and chonky to folks while playing an power-grabbing bastard :'>

[metamods]

Hello Ghost!

We absolutely love this and are happy to approve this! You're welcome to have Silco take control of the company within whatever timeframe you deem appropriate. We'd like for you to a page for Hern LLC and will ask that it be submitted to the locations page once we've revamped it to include player created locations and businesses.

As this is a long term plot with multiple stages, we'll ask that you check back in with us whenever you feel Silco takes any action that would impact the setting or draw the attention of the guilds. There will be elements of the setting pushing back against his rise to power but these will be fun obstacles for him to creatively overcome rather than blocking his advancement.

Let us know if you need anything else from us!

BRAINSTORMING

[frenchkissed]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Eddie frenchkissed and Peter tinglesense
Guild Affiliations: N/A
Summary of Plot: From some locals, Eddie picks up a lead about an abandoned compound beneath the city of Excelsior with experimental technology locked within it — something of an urban legend, as it’s been unable to be opened by all who’ve tried. Enlisting the help of Peter Parker with his technomancy abilities, Eddie and Peter are able to access the vault. Inside appears to be a treasure trove of defunct technology, all the work of an unknown organization. In investigating, Eddie and Peter accidentally activate a machine that not only throws the city of Excelsior into a blackout, but also appears to drain all the residents of the city of their powers! Uh-oh!

Now without powers, Eddie, Peter, and ever other Meta within Excelsior have to contend with the thought of being a normal human forever, and what their powers (or lack thereof) mean for their identity.

Eventually, the machine responsible for absorbing powers is overloaded, since it was built during a time prior to the recent Confluences and was never meant to handle so many meta abilities at once, and all of the powers are returned to the people. But, uh-oh, not all the powers go the the right people, like that scene in Scooby-Doo. Power hopping can occur once, or over a dozen times for the unlucky ones, until the right power eventually returns to the right body.

OOC Goals: Build CR with people working together during the blackout, and playing with some de-powering + power swapping hijinks!
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Likely earning the attention of the Guilds and the public alike.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Locals who are already skeptical of those with powers will probably grow to become more distrustful and, among the more outspoken members, there might be a public cry to invest in this technology and depower all superheroes for good.

[metamods]

We'd be delighted to greenlight this plot. As June looks to be filling up with intense plots, would you be alright with holding off on this until July?

BRAINSTORMING

[scrlies]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Adam Parrish scrlies
Guild Affiliations: n/a
Summary of Plot: Upon arrival, Adam's immediate response is to hone in on how he can feel the magic, like he had been able to back home: his previous ability to pick up on ley lines has returned to him, and he intends to use it to seek out the ley lines and their abilities, what they are connected to, so he can try and connect with them to figure out more about where he's landed. Given Adam's previous connection to a dream forest built on a ley line, he's interested in using them to track down anyone who may have a similar skillset to the Dreamers back home.
OOC Goals: Maybe find out some data and spread it icly to the other PC characters! Mostly just a CR building exercise.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Assist the ley lines themselves by clearing paths where needed and placing other objects in their flow to help redirect it. This helped him connect with the ley lines back home, and may assist him with getting a better grasp of the landscape.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Might strengthen the bond for anyone else who also relies on the ley lines for power, and miight cause things to shift a bit, magically speaking, pending how much influence they have.

[metamods]

Hi Jessi!

Adam will find that the leylines of this world are very different from the ones he's accustomed to. The ones of Henrietta are practically a trickle in comparison to the rushing river that flows through Sunset Falls. These primal forces are delighted to have someone taking interest in them, though, and will be glad for his help.

Every city save Excelsior has a leyline running through it. Central City's are the weakest and most in need of aid. They will first ask him to direct some energy from an offshoot line towards the city.

BRAINSTORMING

[mightiestmortal]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: God knows
Guild Affiliations: Probably just the Alliance. Maybe the Guild+some bystanders?
Summary of Plot: So you've got a psychic assassin (name pending) who either wants to make a name for themselves or has been hired to take out some Confluencers/Alliance members or is going after a Guild member in revenge (I don't know, I'm kinda just providing excuse plot here) hits a bunch of them at once with a mind-net dingus that links all of their brainwaves or something. In short: they're all linked so that if one of them dies, all of them die.

Obviously not an ideal situation.

So with all of those people linked, characters need to go in (either from outside or by seizing the initiative within the link) and explore one another's memories (Represented somehow, so that the tampered-with memories are obvious) to try to find the assassin and put a stop to them before they all die. (It's been suggested to have the entrance to the memories be like paintings or photographs with really obvious signs to show that they've been tampered with so that people aren't just exploring willy-nilly.)
OOC Goals: It's just a fun way to get a memshare going, let's be honest.
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Who doesn't want the drama of someone's deepest and most formative memories being laid open to people like a book?
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: I honestly don't know. Probably a few people get closer together while others get all huffy. And maybe an assassin gets in trouble with the Guild for breaking the rules?

BRAINSTORMING

[mightiestmortal]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Probably lots.
Guild Affiliations: Likely Alliance and Unaffiliated
Summary of Plot: This one should probably wait until people are more established, but I was thinking of a magician or something seeking to make heroes easier to defeat by deaging them, JLU-style, so that they have the memories of their adult forms, but the minds, and, more importantly, abilities, of their younger selves.
OOC Goals: I have no goals save for chaos
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Seems like a fun time to bond with folks.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: Lots of cute little heroes running around! At least temporarily, until the spell's reversed.

Re: BRAINSTORMING

[metamods]

Hi Platnium!

You would be fine to run with this idea.

Please note that plots like this do not require mod approval. We would most likely not have an entire event dedicated to de-aging characters, but we want players to play around with some of the more fun comic tropes that exist. A villain using a baby ray to de-age people is fine, so long as the de-aging is temporary and doesn't result in mass casualties. We would only require you to check in with us if your character is the one de-aging people as there would be consequences for this.

brainstorming

[the_caped_crusader]

Name(s) of Character(s) Involved: Bruce Wayne
Guild Affiliations: Unaffiliated
Summary of Plot: If Bruce took a look at city blueprints and microfiche, would he find any caves? Underground tunnels throughout the city? Abandoned areas of note? For ways to get through the city/other locations fast, potentially think about ideas regarding a cave, even if it starts small.
OOC Goals: N/A
Intended Personal Outcome/Consequences for Characters: Just further expanding Bruce's influence and presence over the city/his operations as Batman.
Impact on the Setting or Mod NPCs: This doesn't really affect the above city, but Bruce will be considering routes and personal space under the city.

[metamods]

Central City is sorely lacking in any natural caves. However, there are some collapsed subway tunnels in the south end of the city. These tunnels are not very stable and travel through them is generally not recommended, but it would be possible for a small crew of metahumans to make them safe enough to travel or live in.