NSWRPF Archive Capes: Superheroes in Gene City

Background: Gene City was created out of the ashes of a city destroyed by natural disaster. It is built on Earth of the mid 21st century. From an in-story point of view, Gene City is all about new beginnings. A an aged rogueish billionaire is most responsible for the building of the city - he owns a genetic engineering hospital (GEH) that gives the city its name. There is a monorail. The police ride around in small two-man rotocopters about the size of a minivan. Civilian vehicles requre special licensing: motorcycles are the typical means of transportation; compact cars are allowed with minimum hassel; larger vehicles require major paperwork and are prohbited in certain central districts without special endorsements: handicapped, temporary medical requirements, and commercial use.

Roleplaying Concept: Characters should have human or altered-human concepts; realistic in their attitudes with mid-range power levels (to me that means bricks can chuck cars but not sky scrapers, blasters can blast big holes in buildings but not level them, mind controllers can make thugs do what they want, and maybe even a few simultaneously, but only temporarily and only with great concentration). Non-powered individuals should likewise be realistic or perhaps soap operaesque in their attitudes and skills.

Character Creation:

Name:
Story Role:
Background Filler:
Powered/Unpowered: powered characters have great power and great responsibility. Unpowered characters tend to play very secondary roles, though they maybe excellent sources of love triangles, getting kidnapped or offering helpful information.

Powers (if powered) / Skills (if unpowered) - Name four powers or skills that consistently determine the outcome in the storyline... You can narrate the character having powers besides the one you list, but the ones you listed will be the ones that help turn the tide in the privileged conflicts we create. Number them 1-4. The 1 is typically less apt to turn the tide later in the scene while the 4 is more apt.
-1-
-2-
-3-
-4-

Styles - Name four typical actions or ways of acting your character takes. Number them 1-4. The 1 is typically less apt to turn the tide later in the scene while the 4 is more apt.
-1-
-2-
-3-
-4-

Attitudes - Name four personality types, emotions and points of view your character has. Number them 1-4. The 1 is typically less apt to turn the tide later in the scene while the 4 is more apt.
-1-
-2-
-3-
-4-

Drives: For powered characters it is important that we know what their powers are to be used for in the cosmic scheme. Here is a list of the drives you can choose from (pick up to five - you can pick from the good or the bad or mix and match))

-Good- Hope, Truth, Duty, Love, Justice
-Bad- Obsession, Pride, Power, Despair, Fear

Exemplars: another character you are connected with and have a continuuing conflict with that can never be resolved.

Go to the Capes website at muse of fire games for more information. Their downloads section maybe particularly useful for character creation ideas; look under their click and lock section.

I reserve the right to veto characters to keep this at the power level and level of seriousness that I hope to see.

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Narration: Each post should be one paragraph of narration (no more than five sentences) and a short sentence either introducing a conflict or explaining which current conflict the narration should be affecting.

Limits on narration: Besides being short in length (no more than five sentences of narration per post), one should not post more than once in a row. Narration can, and should, include actions by any characters in the scene. The final sentence of your narration should include something that is found in your powers/skills, styles or attitudes. Try to diversify your final lines (i.e. you can be using your super strength as many times as you'd like, but try to make sure your final line of narration incporporates a different power/skill, style or attitude with each post. You ca

Scene 1 - It is a beautiful day in Gene City. Rotocopters flutter about. Monorails go whirring by. The matron looks STERNLY from her office overlooking a beautiful city, contemplating the effect the slow month has had on DetectaCorp's finances.

New Conflict: DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.

To set the tone, I'll play another character in scene 1. This should also give some more insight into the character creation and narrative play process.

Name: Mr. Black
Story Role: Lawyer, personal assistant and representative of the Billionaire who founded and financed Gene city's rebuild and owns the Genetic Engineering Hospital (GEH) the city's largest employer.

Background Filler: Hired by the billionaire (who should get a name eventually) when the last assistant resigned due to personal illness. Very lucky to be in this position. He's new to the job at this point and has yet to really get his feet wet. Mr. Black hopes that he will prove his mettle during his first major assignment: approaching DetecaCorp to do some kind of task for the GEH or the billionaire himself.

Powered/Unpowered: Unpowered

Skills:
-1- Business Acumen
-2- Meet
-3- Delegate
-4- Research

Styles:
-1- Firm Handshake
-2- Professionalism
-3- Tailored Suit
-4- Make the deal

Attitudes:
-1- Friendly
-2- Adventurous
-3- Optimistic
-4- Assertive

Drives: Unpowered individuals do not need to pick drives for the underlying mechanics of the game, but just to be interesting I would say Mr. Black is a Duty, Hope, Pride sort of fellow.

Exemplars: I'm not sure about this one yet. Perhaps the billionaire as someone who will never show him that he fully respects him, but we'll flesh that out later if we ever meet the billionaire.

Scene 1 - It is a beautiful day in Gene City. Rotocopters flutter about. Monorails go whirring by. The matron looks STERNLY from her office overlooking a beautiful city, contemplating the effect the slow month has had on DetectaCorp's finances.

[Matron]New Conflict: 1. DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.
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A hallway connects the Matron's office to the cubicles where DetectaCorp interns make phone calls and research minor cases on their computers with holographic monitors. One of the interns, a plain woman with frizzy brown hair, doubles as a receptionist. Her hearbeat races when she sees the potential client, Mr. Black, standing at the empty kiosk for greeting such clients. "May I help you?" she asks. Mr. Black gives a FRIENDLY smile.

[Mr. Black]New Conflict: 2. DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.

(Note that this conflict is good because it is something in which the characters Matron and Mr. Black and the player (me) are all intersted AND can be resolved in very different ways depending on which character resolves. In the real Capes game, a player gets to narrate the resolution themselves at certain points in the game. In this abridged version I am at least starting by resolving all conflicts in ways that favor the character that wins a conflict.. This is all based on behind the scenes mechanics which involves some die rolls and using the levels of stats (such as STERN or FRIENDLY) used. In general, it is best to start by using low level abilities in a scene and work your way up. You can go to the muse of fire games under downloads and take a look at Capes light to get a better idea of the game mechanics, or you can just trust me!)

Scene 1 - It is a beautiful day in Gene City. Rotocopters flutter about. Monorails go whirring by. The matron looks STERNLY from her office overlooking a beautiful city, contemplating the effect the slow month has had on DetectaCorp's finances.

[Matron]New Conflict: 1. DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.
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A hallway connects the Matron's office to the cubicles where DetectaCorp interns make phone calls and research minor cases on their computers with holographic monitors. One of the interns, a plain woman with frizzy brown hair, doubles as a receptionist. Her hearbeat races when she sees the potential client, Mr. Black, standing at the empty kiosk for greeting such clients. "May I help you?" she asks. Mr. Black gives a FRIENDLY smile.

[Mr. Black]New Conflict: 2. DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.
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"Good morning. I'm here to see Ms. Masterson (aka The Matron) if she is available. I do not yet have an appointment, but I thought I would drop by this morning just in case she might have a few minutes available." The receptionist/intern goes to the kiosk computer to check Ms. Master's schedule. Mr. Black looks up and sees The Matron in her office through some glass, vacuuming under her 200 pound hardwood desk with the vacuum cleaner in one hand and her desk hefted above her head with her other hand (SUPER STRENGTH).

[Matron]Affect Conflict: 2. DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.

(Note that the Matron might have added another conflict if she wanted to, but instead she wants to try to take control of this one. Frequently Capes requires you to choose which conflict you are most interested in resolving at the expense of others. As much as I would like for The Matron to get a client so she can pay her bills, I think if the Matron had to choose between getting a client OR having a company that had high levels of excellence, she would choose the latter, and that is how she hopes this will turn out. It should also be noted that we know that Mr. Black wants something from DetectaCorp; the worse case scenario at this point is that Mr. Black affects Conflict 1 and decides to narrate Mr. Black picking another company to do the job, but this is unlikely for a few reasons (1) I know the player of Mr. Black (me) wants DetectaCorp to be involved and (2) there are many better things to narrate the conclusion of getting a new client, such as coming up with terms of the arrangement and defining the next scene better by describing just what it is that they need DetectaCorp to do for his client)

Scene 1 - It is a beautiful day in Gene City. Rotocopters flutter about. Monorails go whirring by. The matron looks STERNLY from her office overlooking a beautiful city, contemplating the effect the slow month has had on DetectaCorp's finances.

[Matron]New Conflict: 1. DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.
----------------------------------------------------------------
A hallway connects the Matron's office to the cubicles where DetectaCorp interns make phone calls and research minor cases on their computers with holographic monitors. One of the interns, a plain woman with frizzy brown hair, doubles as a receptionist. Her hearbeat races when she sees the potential client, Mr. Black, standing at the empty kiosk for greeting such clients. "May I help you?" she asks. Mr. Black gives a FRIENDLY smile.

[Mr. Black]New Conflict: 2. DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.
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"Good morning. I'm here to see Ms. Masterson (aka The Matron) if she is available. I do not yet have an appointment, but I thought I would drop by this morning just in case she might have a few minutes available." The receptionist/intern goes to the kiosk computer to check Ms. Master's schedule. Mr. Black looks up and sees The Matron in her office through some glass, vacuuming under her 200 pound hardwood desk with the vacuum cleaner in one hand and her desk hefted above her head with her other hand (SUPER STRENGTH).

[Matron]Affect Conflict: 2. DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.

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The Matron wears a business professional women's pant suit. She continues to vacuum and then puts the desk back down. Mr. Black smiles, "that must be her. I'll just let myself in." He bypasses the secretary and knocks on the office door that says Marilyn Masterson. (ADVENTUROUS).

[Mr. Black]Affect Conflict: 1. DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.

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"Come in," says the Matron. Mr. Black, coming in, "Ms. Masterson? I'm sorry to bother you, but might I trouble you for a few minutes of your valuable time?" The Matron waves Mr. Black in. "To be HONEST, I am not busy at all this morning."

[The Matron]Affect Conflict: 1. DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.

Stop making these posts man. If no one is showing interest it means that you have something wrong with your story.

OOC: ScaPaCamem makes a very good point. The last dozen posts have all come from you, and it seems that it is nothing more than detailed "spam" in a sense.

Scene 1 -
[LL - Matron]It is a beautiful day in Gene City. Rotocopters flutter about. Monorails go whirring by. The matron looks STERNLY from her office overlooking a beautiful city, contemplating the effect the slow month has had on DetectaCorp's finances.
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[LL - Mr. Black]A hallway connects the Matron's office to the cubicles where DetectaCorp interns make phone calls and research minor cases on their computers with holographic monitors. One of the interns, a plain woman with frizzy brown hair, doubles as a receptionist. Her hearbeat races when she sees the potential client, Mr. Black, standing at the empty kiosk for greeting such clients. "May I help you?" she asks. Mr. Black gives a FRIENDLY smile.
----------------------------------------------------------------
[LL - Matron]"Good morning. I'm here to see Ms. Masterson (aka The Matron) if she is available. I do not yet have an appointment, but I thought I would drop by this morning just in case she might have a few minutes available." The receptionist/intern goes to the kiosk computer to check Ms. Master's schedule. Mr. Black looks up and sees The Matron in her office through some glass, vacuuming under her 200 pound hardwood desk with the vacuum cleaner in one hand and her desk hefted above her head with her other hand (SUPER STRENGTH).
----------------------------------------------------------------
[LL - Mr. Black]The Matron wears a business professional women's pant suit. She continues to vacuum and then puts the desk back down. Mr. Black smiles, "that must be her. I'll just let myself in." He bypasses the secretary and knocks on the office door that says Marilyn Masterson. (ADVENTUROUS).
----------------------------------------------------------------
[LL - Matron]"Come in," says the Matron. Mr. Black, coming in, "Ms. Masterson? I'm sorry to bother you, but might I trouble you for a few minutes of your valuable time?" The Matron waves Mr. Black in. "To be HONEST, I am not busy at all this morning."
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[LL - Mr. Black][CONCLUDING Conflict 1 DetectaCorp secures a new paying client.]
"I find that surprising given your track record with the Jenson case.... Yes, your familiarity with the..."gifted" make you doubly qualified to help Mr. Wilhelm. You see... He's lost something precious to him. He will pay you what you're worth if you get it back for him."

[LL - Matron][CONCLUDING Conflict 2 DetectaCorp proves its worth to Mr. Black.]
"I think you will find we are worth quite a bit."

Buzzzzzz....

"Ahh, Mr. Black, this is my associate Mr. Psyche."

"I don't understand we are just beginning..."

"To talk about the little blue box."

"Mr. Psyche... Did you do some preliminary research into your preminitions of today's customers?"

"Of course. I know exactly where we need to start."

"You didn't....steal the box did you?"

"No no no no no. Mr. Psyche just has talents that are quite illuminating in these cases. Perhaps we should discuss our fee in more detail."

"He's authorized to offer us up to $50,000..."

END OF SCENE 1