Hybrid World (Inactive)

Game Master Reckless

Congratulations on your selections.

We have a bit of cleaning up to do before getting started in regards to backstories, complications, and finalizing character builds.

If anyone would like suggestions on tweeks of their character builds, I'll be happy to take a closer look and offer suggestions for changes.

We need to decide the nature of the group's relationship, maybe work out a "group origin story".... also part of the needed finishing of the backstories.

I'm thinking of having the campaign start it focus on Starling City, which,as I mentioned, is located in place of Atlantic City and the former home of the vigilantes known as the Hood and the Punisher.

I'd like to get people to have finalized backstories, builds, and a group consensus on team origin and name by the end of the week. Once we've gotten there, we'll start up gameplay thread in earnest.

Feel free to "dot and delete" in the gameplay thread.

Thanks for the selection Reckless - am pretty humbled as thought my concept was more of a reach than some of the great pitches :)

For me - think I mentioned in my pitch that OMAX-23 is points bust at present (not by much but still). So any input into what currently works and what doesn't would be appreciated by yourself and the collective.

RE: Complications - am still trying to nail down the background in terms of backdrop. Wondered if there was an equivalent of the Weapon X Programme kicking around in the your vision? If so care to share for to include... Am presuming it might have connection to Sinister's experiments on young mutants? (this would tie into OMAX-23's accelerated biological age - possibly an "Older Than She Looks complication or I make her a Fierce child aka Dafne Keen in Logan)

Also took the story liberty of reinvented OMAC's controlling AI "BROTHER EYE" as "CEREBROTHER" - essentially a sentient AI version of Cerebro with Charles Xavier's moral imprint. Need to read a little more into OMAC as how this could best manifest in game - possibly some resource advantages that can only be accessed via the Comms Link to CEREBROTHER.

On the collective background, a domino effect recruitment trope is always cool. A recruits B, together they recruit C and so on. Just need someone to be the catalyst. Or there are greater machinations at work and our group has been forged by the influence of someone pulling strings etc.

Looking forward to this one regardless!

Thank you for the selection as well! I'm super excited for this. I'm working on getting my profile set up and expanding a bit on Amelia's backstory.

I think a Domino effect could work well too, I also took the liberty of looking though folks current background write-ups and just writing connections, seems like we are rather closely grouped in the North East which also could help, 2 of us have direct links to Gotham, I could easily work one in (Gotham/NYC being the preforming arts capital of the world).

Here's what I found, if I messed something up let me know!

Dazzling Canary (Green Arrow, Sterling City, Ithaca New York)
Mariner (Possibly Sinister, Westerly Rhode Island, Groton, Connecticut, Coast Guard)
Nightwing (Circus, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Gotham)
Oddball 2 (NYC/Gotham, Circus of Crime, Batman, Green Arrow)
OMAX-23 (Unknown)
The Sentry (Stark, New to the world, New York from Stark?)

I should have a more in depth preliminary history write up for Canary done by end of night tonight!

Super excited for the selection and game.

I'm very open to any feedback about my build and complications. At least to ensure we're on the same page with the Features and Immunities.

Mariner is a mutant, I asked some setting questions in my origin that I'll repost here:
* Do you want to create an Atlantis (underwater station or submarine) as a refuge of mutantkind, instead of Morlocks living in sewers? That would match both Aquaman and Storm riffs
* If yes, who built Atlantis and sponsored it?
-> Did Savage/Sinister build it for a mutants sanctuary?
-> Did Stark let the mutants live there to 1) escape Savage/Sinister's experiments, 2) to isolate the mutants from humankind, and 3) to be able to flush them if he wants.
* If no, what kind of relationships would be best for Mariner?

cheers

The Sentry is a created hero. He isn't likely to have a lot of connections to anyone (although he could have some inclinations programmed in).

Reckless, do you imagine he is brand new on the scene? That he is actually launched for the first time with this first problem we are facing?

I'm not quite clear on where the heroes will stand vis a vis Stark? Do I need a reason to hate him? Should people bust me out of a cloning tube?

Sorry to be more questions than answers. I hope those are plot hooks and not burdensome.

Alright I added significantly more detail to the backstory for Amelia and tied her more to Gotham so we can have easier connections, I'm happy to rework anything if folks wanna work themselves into it!

I could easily add moving to NYC to get out of Batman's shadow or pursuing a lead.

And I've cut down a bit to bring my fort and will up to speed.

Here

I could easily add moving to NYC to get out of Batman's shadow or pursuing a lead.

And I've cut down a bit to bring my fort and will up to speed.

I think Reckless said in recruitment that NYC is Gotham, but also we will end up based in Starling city which is Atlantic City. At least if I'm recalling correctly

Sara Brown is the Daughter of The Rabbit a mix of Marvel's White Rabbit and DCs Penguin who is a member of the Circus of Crime Ring Master leads them (Ring Master/Mad Hatter), Bruno the Scaled Man (Bruno the Strong Man/Killer Croc), The Clowns (Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb/Mixed with the Jester), Oddball(Trickster/Oddball), Princess Python (Princess Python/B'wana Beast) and Eggsbert (Egghead(Marvel)/Calculator) Her father is of unknown patronage, but Oddball seems to regard her as his daughter.

At least that is what I have as the Circus of Crime angle.

Her Father can be a mystery but I thought it would be interesting to be a costumed hero. Thinking Maybe Oliver Queen.

Is there a way to up her Technology Skill, she is trying to become an Engineer despite her connections to the Super Villian underworld.

Is there a way to up her Technology Skill, she is trying to become an Engineer despite her connections to the Super Villian underworld.

I think it works to get rid of Improved Defense and change the Precise Attack (All) to (Ranged-Cover, Ranged-Concealment) will free up 3 points which converts to 6 ranks putting you at 8 ranks/+12.

Super excited for the selection and game.

I'm very open to any feedback about my build and complications. At least to ensure we're on the same page with the Features and Immunities.

For me - think I mentioned in my pitch that OMAX-23 is points bust at present (not by much but still). So any input into what currently works and what doesn't would be appreciated by yourself and the collective.

I'll take a closer look at both of these and PM y'all some suggestions.

RE: Complications - am still trying to nail down the background in terms of backdrop. Wondered if there was an equivalent of the Weapon X Programme kicking around in the your vision? If so care to share for to include... Am presuming it might have connection to Sinister's experiments on young mutants? (this would tie into OMAX-23's accelerated biological age - possibly an "Older Than She Looks complication or I make her a Fierce child aka Dafne Keen in Logan)

Weapon-M, a holdover from earlier experiments by Savage in his efforts against the Kree in 1999. Trying to jumpstart the mutant genome and/or weaponize it against the Kree. He abandoned the project in 2003 when he realized his efforts were in vain due to the suppression of the mutant genome by Legion, but the project was continued by Doctor Dabney Donovan and Professor Andre Thorton, funded by the Canadian Government.

Donovan and Thorton had a falling out in 2009 after the Phoenix Disaster, with Thornton wanting to continue the work on mutants and Donovan becoming more interested in experimentation with alien DNA. Donovan moved to the US, gaining government funding for Kal-Elmus.

I imagine Sentry as a result of the work at Kal-Elmus and OMAX-23 the Weapon-M project's result, making you a kind of cousins.

* Do you want to create an Atlantis (underwater station or submarine) as a refuge of mutantkind, instead of Morlocks living in sewers? That would match both Aquaman and Storm riffs
* If yes, who built Atlantis and sponsored it?
-> Did Savage/Sinister build it for a mutants sanctuary?
-> Did Stark let the mutants live there to 1) escape Savage/Sinister's experiments, 2) to isolate the mutants from humankind, and 3) to be able to flush them if he wants.
* If no, what kind of relationships would be best for Mariner?

cheers

I'm thinking of it more as a Deviant-built sanctuary. They would allow "disfigured/misshapen" mutants as well, naming themselves the Vodyanoi, and it may be a refuge for mutants who escaped/fled/were rejected by Sinister. Since they know of his experiments and co-mingle with alien-altered humans, it might become a target for his Marauders at some point.

Mariner's backstory may include his rejection from Atlantis by the Vodyanoi or Deviants because his appearance is too human, or maybe his acceptance in particular if he was experimented on by Sinister in the past. In either case, keeping Atlantis' secrets would be a Complication for him.

The Sentry is a created hero. He isn't likely to have a lot of connections to anyone (although he could have some inclinations programmed in).

Reckless, do you imagine he is brand new on the scene? That he is actually launched for the first time with this first problem we are facing?

I'm not quite clear on where the heroes will stand vis a vis Stark? Do I need a reason to hate him? Should people bust me out of a cloning tube?

Sorry to be more questions than answers. I hope those are plot hooks and not burdensome.

He could definitely be relatively new, and if we want the group to be introduced to him in a breaking out scene, that could happen, or it could be part of the group backstory and have happened relatively recently.

Given the domino suggestion, perhaps OMAX-23 discovered his existence and broke him out of Kal-Elmus after being reminded of her own creation?

Stark is the President! He is well-loved by everyone, except people who know him. :) More seriously, his machinations have always been several layers of blame away from him as far as the world knows, bad people are attracted to him because of his fame and influence. Sure he's arrogant, narcissistic, and somewhat misogynistic, but he's rich and famous and "always talks straight".

Not at all burdensome; these are the kinds of details we want to iron out this week.

I figured Oddball 2 would be brought on as a Friend of Night Wing. Having known of each other and both left New York to start fresh elsewhere?

Especially with Sara going for her Masters at Princeton. Maybe Sara and Kurt know each other's secrets? She also is probably living in Sterling. Maybe a really good secondary School is in Starling? Like ESU of Marvel but here in Starling.

He could definitely be relatively new, and if we want the group to be introduced to him in a breaking out scene, that could happen, or it could be part of the group backstory and have happened relatively recently.

Given the domino suggestion, perhaps OMAX-23 discovered his existence and broke him out of Kal-Elmus after being reminded of her own creation?

Stark is the President! He is well-loved by everyone, except people who know him. :) More seriously, his machinations have always been several layers of blame away from him as far as the world knows, bad people are attracted to him because of his fame and influence. Sure he's arrogant, narcissistic, and somewhat misogynistic, but he's rich and famous and "always talks straight".

Not at all burdensome; these are the kinds of details we want to iron out this week.

I love the idea of OMAX-23 and The Sentry being "cousins."

Otherwise I'm good with however you and the group want to get him started.

I figured Oddball 2 would be brought on as a Friend of Night Wing. Having known of each other and both left New York to start fresh elsewhere?

Especially with Sara going for her Masters at Princeton. Maybe Sara and Kurt know each other's secrets? She also is probably living in Sterling. Maybe a really good secondary School is in Starling? Like ESU of Marvel but here in Starling.

Starling City Academy of Technology?

I can see us randomly out on the street, both in civvies. When suddenly a bus loses control, as they do. I bamf onto the bus to try and get control and see you bouncing a couple people out of the path.

We end up on a rooftop b+!~!ing about being the junior members of the team. You talk about leaving the circus and going to college. I talk about living in the shadow of an OCD control freak. We both decide to move on.

SCAT? Um. That’s not a great real world acronym but a funny comic one

For the group origin, Mariner would join when the nascent team pursues bad guys to the shore or docks and cannot follow on or under water. Mariner would respond capturing the bad guys and joining the team. Good?

Should we invent rogues gallery nemesis for each hero?

Cheers

This team has a real New Mutants/New Warriors/Teen Titans/Young Justice feel to it. I'm digging it.

I talk about living in the shadow of an OCD serial-adopting control freak.

Amended. :P

Yeah seems the general feel I l9ve New Warriors.

As for a Villian...maybe a special Metallo like hunter bot meets Deathlok that is coming for Sentry and OMAX? Basically wanting to capture them for the Government?

Or a science based disaster that creates a new villian

I could also be a recent SCAT graduate, though probably another school in town, Music Performance isn’t very “technological”.

For a villain, I feel like the most natural would be someone controlling sound. But also, the Canary is rather new on the scene of having powers so she probably doesn’t have any dedicated nemesis yet.

So in terms of "getting the band together" my initial idea is for Oliver Queen, either under guise of the Hood or not, to recruit me. I possibly had worked with Oddball just in college and somehow learned their secret so I go to them. They recruit Nightwing from the bus incident. Nightwing as a mutant with a visually obvious mutation might know of Atlantis, and possibly have heard wind of the Mariner who he recruits. Assuming that works for you all and the story that gets four out of six

Still working on how to get the two engineered weapons into it though, maybe Atlantis had found out about the underwater base that the Sentry was in?

If we say the Sentry is already an active hero (and propaganda piece), he is easy to get into any encounter. I built him to be able to do the whole "hang in the stratosphere and listen for trouble" thing.

Also, while I'm excited to get started, I am going to be on a work trip from Wednesday 22 thru Sunday 26 with very little chance to post, so If I need to hang back for a bit that is fine.

If Sentry hangs in the sky, he'd eventually hear >Bamf< and then a wing cape deploying. They are somewhat damped, but not inaudible.

Nightwing will sometimes teleport into the air and glide on patrol.

So in terms of "getting the band together" my initial idea is for Oliver Queen, either under guise of the Hood or not, to recruit me. I possibly had worked with Oddball just in college and somehow learned their secret so I go to them. They recruit Nightwing from the bus incident. Nightwing as a mutant with a visually obvious mutation might know of Atlantis, and possibly have heard wind of the Mariner who he recruits. Assuming that works for you all and the story that gets four out of six

Still working on how to get the two engineered weapons into it though, maybe Atlantis had found out about the underwater base that the Sentry was in?

I would say they probably did a basic class together like Biology 101, and in her dorm room probably stumbled upon her supposed "Halloween Costume" complete with weaponized juggling balls.

The Misfits would be a great name

The Misfits would be a great name

That was a really great series. One of my two favorite British series about working community service.

I love the idea of OMAX-23 and The Sentry being "cousins."

Same here ST - think it will make for a fun dynamic.

Pretty much done with OMAX-23's build and just chipping away at her complications and origin notes. Kept a couple of points free should we require Equipment/Base input etc.

Guess with Sentry being publicly "launched" its likely that either the team have (or will) liberated OMAX-23 from the Weapon-M facility... or one or more of them encountered her as a protagonist when she attempted to assassinate a target. They've successfully broken/blocked her conditioning and now provide sanctuary to her?

Weapon-Musings

X-23 in the comics has a trigger scent that sends her all berserker killer mode. I'm floating around an idea to adapt this:

• Rather than a vague "trigger scent" plot device was mulling her having an imprinted kill-list. One could have been Doctor Dabney Donovan (formerly of Weapon-M programme, now US backed Kal-Elmus project). This attempt could be what brought her to the attention of The Sentry? Might the President himself be on the "list"??

Right Misfits was great

Also will we have a Secret Lair for everyone? Maybe go the Ghostbusters route and make it an old Fire Station? of Darkman and make it an old Factory Complex

I can also easily hollow out a few points to contribute to a lair if we would like! Though maybe finding or buying one later would be better since it seems like the team will be rather new and possibly not yet fully formed at the start!

I can also easily hollow out a few points to contribute to a lair if we would like! Though maybe finding or buying one later would be better since it seems like the team will be rather new and possibly not yet fully formed at the start!

Good point

I was just wondering since it seems we have at least 2 team mates tat won't really have regular money coming in for food and shelter.

Though it'll be cool when we come together.

How about the Liberators

I think either Misfits or Liberators would be good, Liberators feels more general but that's not necessarily a bad thing. if we want the scrappiness of Misfits but on more general we could also do something like The Salvagers or the Challengers.

do we wanna put it to a vote, current contenders are

Misfits
Liberators
Salvagers
Challengers

Wait till end of day tomorrow for more submissions then do a ranked choice vote?

And Canary is rather rich with wealth 3 and status 2, I would assume she could get accommodations for the two new folks that would stay quite if worst came to worst.

It’s not clear to me the order of team building. Meaning who joined who when.

If it’s clear to someone, or if you just want to propose the team building steps, it might inform our choice of team names.

Cheers

If this campaign has the potential to go off-world, then I suggest that Challenger might not be the best name. Just sayin'

I don't think it's easy to say when people joined. Some people knew each other and then only later became a group.

Misfits would work - sounds more of a street level team, but does fit as describing a collective who don't.

Liberators is more "grand" - perhaps they were once a team from the Golden Age/WW2 era? So we'd be a modern rekindling.

I’ve always liked Outsiders.

If this campaign has the potential to go off-world, then I suggest that Challenger might not be the best name. Just sayin'

Ha, showing my lack of age by the fact that even after you pointed it out it still took me a moment to see why!

Outsiders sparks my interest personally too!

Outsiders absolutely works.

As a more marvel reader I forget about the Outsiders

Eh, I still vote for misfits. I don't think that's been used in Marvel or DC.

To be the devils advocate, outsiders and misfits should have establishment hero groups to be outside. Maybe I’m missing something, I understand that the hybrid world has super individuals acting with “invisible hands” or acting individually or in partners.

While the accepted characters have a youngish vibe, wouldn’t the team up be one of the first hero teams?

If we’re based in Starling City, which is nicknamed Star City, should we consider more establishment names like the Star Guard or the Protectors?

Food for thought.

Cheers

To be the devils advocate, outsiders and misfits should have establishment hero groups to be outside.

Well some of us have left groups - the batfamily and circus of crime. We also have some experiments and some of us can't interact with normal society without adaptation.

And The Media might end up calling us something we don't necessarily want like "The Misfits" which would be appropriate.

So just to clarify,

Nightwing and Oddball are on team Misfits,
Sentry OMAX and Canary are on team Outsiders
Mariner hasn't piped in because of team order

Is that all correct?

In terms of team order I think that it is Canary Oddball and Nightwing as the first three all pretty quickly together, then Mariner is recruited a bit later, and finally, OMAX and Sentry are recruited in a similar timeframe. Unless we recruit Sentry in game which he proposed might be an option.

At least that's the order I proposed earlier.

So just to clarify,

Nightwing and Oddball are on team Misfits,
Sentry OMAX and Canary are on team Outsiders
Mariner hasn't piped in because of team order

Is that all correct?

In terms of team order I think that it is Canary Oddball and Nightwing as the first three all pretty quickly together, then Mariner is recruited a bit later, and finally, OMAX and Sentry are recruited in a similar timeframe. Unless we recruit Sentry in game which he proposed might be an option.

At least that's the order I proposed earlier.

This works for me.

Sounds good. I’m in the minority of team names, so defer to the plurality.

Cheers

Regardless of the final team nom du guerre I've always liked Marvel's perchance for a dramatic prefix... The Mighty Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Uncanny X-Men etcetera, etcetera... so hope we run with something suitably hybrid :)