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SETTING ENGAGEMENT
SETTING ENGAGEMENT
BLANKET PERMISSIONS
Players do not have to ask permission to thwart or cause villainy. Our assumption is that as this is a superhero game in a world where superpowered people have existed for decades, daily life is going to involve supervillains and general mayhem.
Examples of things that do not require permission or engagement requests.
You are welcome to have your characters interact with the game's NPCS at any time.
Players do not have to ask permission to thwart or cause villainy. Our assumption is that as this is a superhero game in a world where superpowered people have existed for decades, daily life is going to involve supervillains and general mayhem.
Examples of things that do not require permission or engagement requests.
You develop an NPC villain for a log! This villain doesn't cause any major damage or many casualties. Maybe they have a de-aging ray, they give people temporary amnesia, turn people temporarily into animals, etc. You are welcome to use these for temporary effects.
Your character steals anything up to 5000 dollars. You can assume that they got away with this, or if they were caught, the guild paid law enforcement to look the other way.
Your character uses their powers to heal or change another character or player created NPC. This is a superhero game after all. We expect you to be using your powers and testing them.
Your character invents a tiny teleporter that jumps between their house and their friends house. This technology exists and is normalized in this world. We encourage players to create their own systems like this.
You are welcome to have your characters interact with the game's NPCS at any time.
SETTING ENGAGEMENT
The Metaheroes setting is designed to be interacted with. Our approach to this is best compared to a tabletop roleplay system. Your character will take an action and the mod team will provide you with the outcome of that action.
You do not need to pre-plan these actions. You're free to approach us as they evolve in threads to ask the consequences of your characters actions. Some of these consequences will be immediate, and others will appear down the line. Some may be expanded into full blown player plots.
Please note that these engagements are developed as ongoing storylines. We gently discourage players to rush to a conclusion as they're designed to be evolving based on character actions. We'd like to know how your characters are reacting, what actions they're taking, etc. We encourage reporting back to us with any developments or changes your characters are making to their approach, we will adjust the plot and add new elements accordingly.
To better keep track of these engagements, please reply to the corresponding monthly top level. You can continue to reply to that comment thread if your plot extends out from the month it begins in. Or you can begin a new one and link to the previous one if it helps you better track your character's specific movements through the months.
The Metaheroes setting is designed to be interacted with. Our approach to this is best compared to a tabletop roleplay system. Your character will take an action and the mod team will provide you with the outcome of that action.
You do not need to pre-plan these actions. You're free to approach us as they evolve in threads to ask the consequences of your characters actions. Some of these consequences will be immediate, and others will appear down the line. Some may be expanded into full blown player plots.
Your character kills someone. If they're a hero, are they reporting themselves to the authorities? The mod team needs to know how your character is handling the body.
Your character tries to use their powers to heal, harm, manipulate a Mod NPC.
You want your character to dismantle a major crime syndicate.
You want your character to develop a following / a cult / etc.
You want your character to steal everyone's left shoe.
You want your character to enter a pact with a God and become their champion.
You want your character to gain power and influence.
You want your character to learn the magic native to the setting.
A character or group of characters stage(s) participate in a conflict that destroys a city block. There may be fallout, fines, and a loss of public favor for this.
You want your character to open up a business.
A character or group of characters engage with a mod-run NPC character, guild, or business. The NPCs will react accordingly and their opinion of your character will change.
A character uses a baby ray on important political figures to take over the tri-state area. You need to inform the mods to find out whether or not you're successful or if you're thwarted by Perry the Platypus.
Please note that these engagements are developed as ongoing storylines. We gently discourage players to rush to a conclusion as they're designed to be evolving based on character actions. We'd like to know how your characters are reacting, what actions they're taking, etc. We encourage reporting back to us with any developments or changes your characters are making to their approach, we will adjust the plot and add new elements accordingly.
To better keep track of these engagements, please reply to the corresponding monthly top level. You can continue to reply to that comment thread if your plot extends out from the month it begins in. Or you can begin a new one and link to the previous one if it helps you better track your character's specific movements through the months.
EVENT FOLLOW UP & SETTING INVESTIGATION
There are a number of mysteries for players to solve. Most events have an investigative element that requires player collaboration to uncover.
An example of some mysteries currently unsolved are:
To ensure that this is visible to all players and isn't lost in the shuffle, there is a dedicated toplevel to investigations HERE. Please reply to this comment.
There are a number of mysteries for players to solve. Most events have an investigative element that requires player collaboration to uncover.
An example of some mysteries currently unsolved are:
What really happened to Starstruck?
Who was the person who hacked the Expo exhibits?
What caused the first confluence?
Who and what brought you all here?
What exactly are the flowers in Sunset Falls? Are they here to stay?
To ensure that this is visible to all players and isn't lost in the shuffle, there is a dedicated toplevel to investigations HERE. Please reply to this comment.
MOD PERMISSION REQUESTS
Actions that will significantly affect or impact the game must be run by the mod team before being introduced into play.
These would be things that alter the shared setting of the game environment in a way that cannot be easily ignored.
For this, we ask players to visit the PLAYER PLOT & Mod Permission page. Below is an example of actions that go beyond consequence reporting or investigation. You can use this page to develop a plot in this direction, but these actions cannot be taken until approval has been given.
These actions are still doable! However, as they may greatly impact the setting and may count as mini events, we ask players submit them on the Player Plot page.
Actions that will significantly affect or impact the game must be run by the mod team before being introduced into play.
These would be things that alter the shared setting of the game environment in a way that cannot be easily ignored.
For this, we ask players to visit the PLAYER PLOT & Mod Permission page. Below is an example of actions that go beyond consequence reporting or investigation. You can use this page to develop a plot in this direction, but these actions cannot be taken until approval has been given.
A character is killed and not revived two hours after their death. Characters will still revive after this happens. However, this must be brought to the mod team.
Your character installs surveillance equipment around town that would allow them to spy on NPCs or player characters. This would require a permissions post and a post on the OOC comm to notify players that it has occurred.
Your character destroys established areas of the setting. Guild HQs, established landmarks, or large parts of the cities.
Your character causes mass casualties.
Your character enters an agreement with a God / Demon for power (outside of an event).
Your character kills an Mod Created NPC.
Your character kills and becomes a God.
Your character breaks Guild Law.
Your character tries to go to the Underworld.
Your character attempts to destabilize the guilds or government.
These actions are still doable! However, as they may greatly impact the setting and may count as mini events, we ask players submit them on the Player Plot page.
PREMISE | SETTING | GUILDS | FAQ | RULES
TAKEN | CALENDAR | ENGAGEMENT | NPC ENGAGEMENT
RESERVES | APPLICATION | MOD CONTACT | PLAYER PLOTS
HIATUS & DROP | CANON & POWER UPDATES
JULY 2022 - Setting Engagement
no subject
These are follow up to fear event for Balthier I wanted just some general guidance on:
-If he looks into who murdered his boss and/or who gave the cauldron to the shop, will he find anything?
-Are there any guild consequences to him for the fear event happening, or is this pretty par for the course with accidental mishaps? Balthier is working on shoring up gaps in the system, but would the guild step in and offer resources/funds, or a punishment?
-Balthier accidentally got filmed using magic during the fear event and got outed as a meta. Can the guild do anything to help him pass this off as just fear manifestation, or is he pretty stuck being outed?
no subject
1. Yes, he would. We're more than happy to lay out a little mystery if you'd like to have him investigate just how that cauldron found its way to the shop.
2. The Society will preform an investigation into this, just to be certain that Balthier wasn't attempting to break their Code. As he wasn't, they aren't going to hold him liable. This was clearly the doing of a magical artefact that he could not have anticipated. Both The Alliance and The Society will offer assistance with ensuring things like this don't slip through the cracks again.
3. They can certainly step in and claim the footage was doctored and offer experts who will claim that it was magically induced and the power faded once the fae were subdued. And, if that proves to not be enough and the footage hasn't become too widespread, Mechanima will employ the services of his most trusted friend to strip the internet of the footage.
no subject
I'd love a little mystery for (1) when y'all have time. Super happy to wait.
no subject
As nothing has killed Balthier in the shop yet, he's finally being given the proverbial skeleton key. Now that Balthier is the owner, he has access to all of the previous owners items that were mystically sealed. In particular, there is a safe in his office that will now open for him. Inside is a stack of paper, piled high, a small measure of gold, the deed for the shop, a black book full of contacts for black market mystical items, and what appears to be a human skull broken into two pieces. When Balthier holds the paper in his hands, words begin to spread across them. Since he has inherited the shop, all the possessions in it react to him as they did the old owner.
Most of them are relatively boring. Old friends writing back and forth, discussing their lives, their partners, their work. The bulk are signed by someone known only as MG.
The last letter, sent 04/16/2022, reads as follows:
While it pains me to say this, you are correct. I watched her this meeting and she did look guilty, something she seemed truly incapable of. It was in stark contrast to her previous enthusiasm for the chaos.
While I doubt she is the one sending you threats, she is tied to forces beyond her understanding. Forces that do not want you threatening her or alerting her to just how much power she possesses. I would strongly recommend caution.
We will talk further when next we meet.
Much Love,
MG
P.S. Do treat this new employee better than the last. I cannot fix any more broken boys until June."
Magic Study @ Sunset Falls
Character Alignment: The Society
Summary of Actions Taken: Five wants to study the real basic, fundamental things about magic, leylines, how these things work and interact with each other, how people are meant to access or manipulate the energy of them, etc. Strictly in a book-knowledge sort of sense at the current moment. I was wondering what sort of things he might come across in library searches or any sort of museums or other places of info on that sort of thing he might stumble into.
OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: I'm expecting this to be a slow-burn, background project he's working on over a few months, but otherwise I'm open/all ears to whatever you guys might want to throw my way to play with.
no subject
Our apologies for the delay in response.
Sunset Falls has a vast (and very cursed) library that likes to rearrange itself when unattended, ensuring that the wrong books fall into the right hands. Five will find no shortage of basic guides to magic written for laymen seeking to understand the secret arts.
Through study, Five will find there are many different ways in which magic is harnessed:
Magicians, who use themselves as a means of channeling magic, are normal humans with no mystical augmentation who have taught themselves how to harness magic spoken spells or symbology. This is the easiest kind of magic to learn, but the most taxing on the physical body.
Sorcerers/Sorceresses (smushed together over the years from SOURCE USERS) are humans whose power is derived from a mystical source, most often an enchanted artifact. Without this object they hold no power of their own. One must seek a magical artifact in order to use power of this kind. The Society may be able to point him in the direction of one.
Magic blooded, those who are born (or were created) innately magical. They don’t need to learn magic, it’s simply part of them. This can be limited to a single ability (TRC Dreamers) or they could channel it the way Magicians do. This would be the only kind of magic that Five could not attain as its present from birth.
Cursed, those who have been turned into magical creatures. These transformations are considered to be curses as they come with sharp side-effects and are difficult to cure. LYCANTHROPY (feral transformation magic), ZOMBIES (controlled undead) and VAMPIRISM (parasitic undeath) all derive from curses. One can infect themself with a curse if they want access to certain kinds of magic - though it's not generally recommended for obvious reasons.
There are also Divine Arts that require a God or Goddess' blessing. This is the hardest means to obtain power as it requires gaining the attention and favor of the fickle divinities, but is undoubtably the easiest to master.
no subject
no subject
Character Alignment: Guardian Alliance
What are they investigating? Can she please have her Masters without having to undergo further schooling and simply sign up for college level classes.
What will be their investigation style? Bothering as many people as possible.
OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: I would love for River to either attend college level courses that will challenge her or see if someone will see her talents and offer her work in her field.
no subject
Our apologies for the delay in response.
River can absolutely obtain her masters without requiring further schooling. The Guardian Alliance will craft credentials for her civilian identity. They are also willing to set her up with any business she may like to work with in order to obtain her goals, as well as open the door to any classes she may wish to attend or even teach. Lofty Heights is always in need of part time teachers who can assist with their advanced classes.
Is there a specific field you are looking to have River join and investigate? We're happy to craft an NPC organization and plot if so.
no subject
Oh gosh imagine River teaching, that would be fascinating. Anything in either physics or mathematics would be her field of expertise, so if Lofty Heights would like a slightly eccentric math or science teacher, she's you're girl.
As for what River is investigating, that's sort of a secondary request I think. She wants to figure out how people are getting pulled here from different places, times, even universes. Right now she's just sort of murderboarding based on her experiences in the city and people she's spoken to, but I might request a plot for a more formal investigation at a later date.
no subject
Underground Music Scene
Is there an underground music scene in any of the major cities in-game? He lives in Little Love, but he's willing to travel to get to major concerts or music festivals.
kiddo might need a chaperone though, considering he's fourteen...
Main thing I'm poking around for is:
no subject
Excelsior is... interesting. It has a very futuristic sound, with the punk scene being affectionately known as cyber punk. The sound is very synth heavy and 80s inspired. Unfortunately, many of the musicians there are industry plants and the most popular bands are all heavily produced acts that are masquerading as indie. The most notable (real) acts are the Rusted Transistors and AImusic are the biggest acts and both are metahuman - the Transistors are cyborgs, and AImusic is an AI that preforms concerts in hologram form. Their concerts are extremely underground due to the fear their performers feel. You need to work to get a ticket to it, and prove yourself an ally to metas.
Anti-metahuman sentiment is very strong in the city. Many of the shows are met with protestors. Though security will be doing its best to keep these shows a safe place, there's no guaranteeing safety for either the preformers or attendees.
Sunset Falls' brand of music has clear influences from folk music. It would also be the safest of all the cities, as the people there are very accustomed to weird bullshit and genuinely believe that metahumans have made their lives better and have made it easier to weather this. The biggest band out of their is FROM BELOW, a metal/punk band. All its members are baseline humans but they are enormous metahuman supporters who will not tolerate any shit happening at their concerts.
Central City has a thriving underground music scene comprised of both metahuman and human acts. It has the most variety in terms of sound and aesthetic. While the bands are supportive, the club scene here is less so. Metahumans may find themselves victims of harassment as they wait in line for the show. There will be drunks eager to pick fights after the show.
The biggest act in the city is Between the Curtains and Me and the lead singer is an unaffiliated meta whose only power is a pair of instectoid pixie wings on her back.
no subject