metamods | 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 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.

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:

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.

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

If you have an action in mind, or a goal you want to accomplish that seams out of reach or you aren't certain of the scope of a plot, here's where to ask us questions.

Examples:

I want my character to start their own team, what can I expect from that?

What would happen if my character quit their guild right now?

What would happen if I stole everyone's left shoe?

I want my character to be mayor of Sunset Falls, is this possible? How do I go about doing that?

I want my character to be Mayor of Sunset Falls. Is this actually possible? What would need to happen?

It is! If you want your character to be mayor, you'll need to run a little IC political campaign. Kiss some babies, pose for the cameras, make some promises to the people of Sunset Falls.

Mayor West will more or less abdicate the role as soon as there's a viable candidate waiting in the wings. There's a reason why he's doing this, but unfortunately, you won't find out until you're sitting in the mayor's seat!

If you're open to this mystery you can go ahead and start this campaign at any time.

To ensure that this information isn't lost, please reply to this comment when investigating any mysteries or elements of the game.

Character Name: Joe, Bob, Sam
Character Alignment: Unaffiliated / Alliance / Society
What are they investigating? What is up with the basement in Sunset Falls?
What will be their investigation style? All three of them are magic and so they'll be trying to use their powers to figure out what's going on there.
OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: They want to know if the power can be harnessed

( This is non-canon and is only an example. )

Given his connection to Hell, Sam will immediately pick up on the fact that the magic in the basement is infernal. It's fused with some kind of high chaotic energy that makes it difficult to get a read on, and even harder to harness.

Should Bob use his chronoskimming power he'll see that the basement of the highschool was once a altar. The time warps and skips and so it will be a hard to get an exact read on what he's seeing, but as the altar is painted with blood, it's safe to say that the God they were worshipping was not a benign one.

Joe's empathy will pick up on the despair and hatred in this space.

They can stay here for up to an hour with no consequences. However, beyond that, it's hard to say. Are they going to stay or go?

To better keep track of player actions, we're going to be creating toplevels for each month. Please reply to these comment with your character's setting engagement actions.

Edited 2022-07-02 00:56 (UTC)

Character Name: Bob The Builder
Character Alignment: Guardian Alliance
Summary: After the destruction of the last event Bob sees an opportunity to step up and seize power. He's been going around submitting contracts to major companies and wants to become the new construction powerhouse in town.
OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: I'd like him to fix it.

Edited 2022-07-02 00:57 (UTC)

Bob can fix it... if he offers them the right price! The CEOs of Dynatech, Flugelhorn, and Franciosi Entertainment are in need of a new construction man.

All three companies will jump at his offer if Bob charges them the lowest rate possible. The only way he'll make a profit off of this by cutting corners. However those cut corners may cost him down the line.

However, if Bob wants to charge a reasonable price for his work, only Flugelhorn will take him up on the offer. They have much less influence than the other two, but more integrity, and so there will be a modest boost in his business.

Which option would Bob like to take?

Bob will take the second option. He values his integrity!

Please reply to this comment with your character's setting engagement actions.

Hi mods!

If I want Balthier to develop additional applications for his powers, do I need approval for that (example: learning he can permanently attach an illusion to a piece of paper to make it Doctor Who psychic paper and make people see whatever credentials he needs them to; developing illusion powers deeper to be able to mess with people's mental perception such as making them believe they are somewhere else or planting false memories)

If I want Balthier to get a new power, can I just update my app + have an in game way he does that? (Ex: at a confluence, as a side effect of an event, something awakens it, etc.)?

Hi mods,

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?

(OOC: This investigation would have been ongoing since the confluence it was a part of.)

Character Name: Darth Nox, Stephen Strange
Character Alignment: Unaligned
What are they investigating? The events he witnessed in this memory from a few confluences back.

What will be their investigation style? While both would rely on their knowledge of magic and sorcery (including Sith sorcery) to investigate, Nox would likely be the one least suited to magical investigation and would instead devote his time to more traditional means of identifying just who the cult in question is, as much information about the victim as possible, and try to piece together what their goal had been that way. As someone trained as a Sith Assassin, he also has the advantage of being able to cloak himself and move silently to stalk potential suspects unnoticed and investigate any potential leads (such as former or current locations used by the cult) without being seen or heard. There's also at least the chance he could use a mind trick to force someone to divulge any information they didn't want to disclose, but given that's the field he's weakest in there's always a chance a mind trick would fail. At which point he'd resort to torture--something he's both trained for and suited to--though he'd be careful not to do so with Stephen around.

Stephen, being much better versed in the sort of magic the cultists would have likely been using (e.g., actual magic, not the Force), would be in a better position to understand specific details about the ritual in question--such as the intended outcome--by searching for clues in the memory of the ritual itself. However, he would also be assisting Nox in trying to identify both the perpetrators and the victim (whether through a more conventional approach or a magical one). Stephen will also be thoroughly scouring the cursed house he's taken custody of in Sunset Falls to see if it may have been used for anything similar in the past. That way if he does find anything, it'd be comparatively easy to study.

The goal is to determine what the cult intended to accomplish, whether the ritual was successful, what sort of threat it poses if it was, and if they're still active where the cult could be found. So that they can be dealt with. ~~Or, if Nox gets his way, quietly eliminated.~~

OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: (N/A)

Edited (Forgot to fill out the alignment field) 2022-07-03 22:05 (UTC)

Character Name: Number Five

forasecond
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.

You do not need approval for this! So long as his powers don't transform into something setting breaking or go outside the original scope, you're free to have him experiment with them.

And yes, if you'd like to have him develop a new power you submit a request the same way we handle canon updates. Just reply to the acceptance comment with the requested updates.

Hi Taylor!

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.

Character Name: River Tam
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.

Thank you! This is super helpful.

I'd love a little mystery for (1) when y'all have time. Super happy to wait.

Character Name: Tim Drake (although this will be included in a log so others may wind up assisting)
Character Alignment: Unaffiliated
What are they investigating? Edyth Summers and her son, Ethan, as Bruce has asked him to check in on them, which Tim is assuming is busy work to keep him in Little Love and out of Central City.
What will be their investigation style? Inobtrusive but thorough, a mix of surveillance and nosing around on the internet. He would say hello in person first, because he can say who he is, that he's visiting a friend's farm in the area, and that his dad asked him to see how they were getting on since he'd be in town. He'll dabble in following them, and if there's an opportunity + anything remotely suspicious, engage in a little light B&E in their house/apartment.
OOC Goals & Intended Outcome: Anything no matter how mundane will be given to Batman in a needlessly comprehensive report.

Hello Kayla!

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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SETTING ENGAGEMENT

QUESTIONS & GUIDANCE

Example Question

Example Answer

INVESTIGATION

(frozen comment) Example Investigation

(frozen comment) Example Investigation Response

(frozen comment) EXAMPLE Setting Engagement

(frozen comment) EXAMPLE ENGAGEMENT

(frozen comment) EXAMPLE RESPONSE

(frozen comment) EXAMPLE CHOICE CONFIRMED

JULY 2022 - Setting Engagement

AUGUST 2022 - Setting Engagement

SEPTEMBER 2022 - Setting Engagement

OCTOBER 2022 - Setting Engagement

NOVEMBER 2022 - Setting Engagement

Additional or Deeper Powers ICly?

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Sunset Falls Investigation

Magic Study @ Sunset Falls

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Little Love NPC Investigation

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