Roleplay Idea: Mutant Haven
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Plot
3. Rules
4. Profile skeleton
5. Characters
6. Roleplaying tips
7. Favorites/Banned
8. Banners
9. Locations
10. Updates
11. Reserved
Introduction
Tired of all those X-Men roleplays that don't care about the facts of the X-Men universe (comic book or movie)? Tired of joining roleplays that sound awesome but turn into nothing more than a romance roleplay? (no offense to those of you who love romance RP, but I wish people wouldn't join an RP with an awesome plot and then only worry about fake online romance with somebody) Do you like playing literate roleplays? How literate would you call literate? Been looking for a serious roleplay that's so awesome, it should be a novel?
Well, then join us and write that novel!
This roleplay is a serious, literate roleplay that I've decided to try and start up. It's the first roleplay I've ever bothered to start, but I've seen a lot of roleplays in my time, joined a few, and have played a roleplay enforced MUD before, so I hope this turns out well.
This roleplay is, as the title hints at, one where you play as a mutant. Well, you can be a human if you want. I don't see many people doing that, but I do give you the option.
The main focus of this roleplay is that humanity has begun to evolve. It's much like X-Men, yes, but I really only started this to avoid messing with the X-Men universe and thus give us more creativity.
I really leave a lot up in the air though. We're not limited to one part of the planet. Not so much as even a single country, though our characters will still have to meet each other, so we can't just wander about wherever. I also allow you to choose your character's viewpoint on the events in the story. You don't have to be limited to good and bad. Reality is rarely like that. I want your character to be real, with emotions and personality flaws affecting their judgements. You can have the ultimate hero or the ultimate bad guy, but I don't want too many of those, all right?
I will say right now, although it means a more awesome story if the bad guys win sometimes, I want the good guys to win in the end, all right? Just keep in mind, you evil folk, neutrals, and double agents, that if this turns out very well, I may go for a sequel when this story reaches it's end, so if you lose, that doesn't mean it's all over.
If you have a suggestion about anything, please send me a polite PM. I will listen, but only if you're polite about it, or at least not overly brash. I will seriously consider your suggestion, but I won't guarantee that I will go through with it.
Serious?
Yes, serious. I mean I want this to be an awesome roleplay. When I roleplay, I like to treat it as if I'm writing a novel, but am only capable of directing one character. Let's just call this roleplay an interactive novel...or maybe even a team effort. No, I'm not trying to turn this into a novel, but I want to have something good here. I hope you know what I mean. It's hard to get across what I mean, because I haven't really seen any other roleplays that go for this. I love awesome stories, and it pains me to see roleplays that have a lot of potential to be an awesome story, and then people who don't know what they're doing go and ruin everything and lead their characters down paths that simply don't make sense.
Literate?
You know, I see this term thrown around rather loosely on the Gaia Online forums. I think people are losing sight of what it means to be literate. It's not just about spelling your words right. It's also about having proper sentence structure. It's about using detail in your posts. It's about being sensible about your posts.
No, I won't be super nit-picky about your grammar and spelling. I'm lenient, though it bugs me to see the English language chopped up. Just try to make sure you get your message across and attempt to use proper English.
Remember: treat it like you're writing a fantasy novel. Or maybe imagine it as a movie, if you must. What would your character do if the roleplay was a movie? Picture it in your head and describe what you see.
I like detail. Don't do posts completely consisting of your character's spoken reply to another, if that's all you're looking to do. Post something about his body language. Maybe he chuckles. Maybe he turns his head away to stare at nothing as he replies. Maybe his hair or some other long garment streams out behind him in the wind to accentuate his heroic response. Catch my drift? This sort of thing can even allow your character to not say anything, if you work it right.
I make you an offer: if you ever want help with a post, whether it be your grammar or how to make it a better post, feel free to PM me or even IM me (if I'm online). Don't hesitate to ask.
Worried?
Don't worry. Roleplaying is about having fun. I have fun roleplaying as I've described. Rather, as I've tried to describe...I'm not sure if I've gotten across what I mean. Everybody has a bit of writer's block sometimes. It happens, so either don't post or just deal with it as usual. Sometimes, there won't be much to say or do anyways, you know? Also, everybody gets typos. Don't be ashamed of it. Don't worry about me beating you up with the grammar bat. If you make a typo, all I ask is that you go back and correct it. Especially big typos, like somebody posted while you were typing yours out and it caused yours to not make sense. Like if somebody throws a rock at you, but I catch it while you're typing your response. If that happens, don't leave it and then post saying to ignore. Go and edit it as quickly as you can. Also, before pressing submit on a new post: do a preview first. Scroll down and check the most recent post.
Plot
[I hope you don't find that this is too long of a read...I got carried away. ^.^;]
My name is Doctor Darien Trask. I'm 30 years old, six feet tall, with long brown hair and green eyes. I am one of the foremost experts in psychology. I am the sole heir to a vast fortune and the family land, upon which lie many buildings, including the family mansion. I am also a mutant.
Humanity is evolving. This is something you hear everyday in your science class. But humanity is evolving right now, before your very eyes. It started slowly at first. A teenage boy in Arizona putting out a fire without any water. A thief in New York being thrown through the air by some invisible force, with only an eight-year-old girl as witness. A little boy lifting up a turned over minivan to rescue his injured mother.
Humanity is evolving in some very amazing ways. We're becoming something other than human. We've been given wonderful gifts.
Normal humans, those without powers, have taken to calling us mutants. Many of them fear us, as though we're some new threat. Many of them support us, even idolize us, as the future. The next generation of humanity, destined for greatness. And there are also those who are undecided. Some even simply don't care, as though it does not affect them.
There is even division among mutants themselves. Many of us seek merely to be treated as equals. Though we acknowledge our uniqueness, we don't want to be seen as different. We don't want to be feared. We don't want to be shunned by our families, friends, and co-workers.
There are also many mutants who have come to believe mutants, being superior to humans, deserve to rule. Some mutants want to destroy humanity, forgetting that they were once human themselves or that they were born of humans.
And then there are the mutants that just want to be left alone. They barely acknowledge their own powers. They just want to live out their lives without much fuss, choosing not to let their powers alter their world.
Perhaps they're merely undecided, and trying to choose. There are even some mutants, I'm afraid, who play both sides against each other, their true goals unknown.
Yes, I am a mutant. I am one of the earliest-known mutants and one of the most powerful. My gift is telepathy, telekinesis, and even a limited precognition. Some may call me a psychic.
I secretly lead an organization to help mutants gain equal treatment by humans. To accomplish this end, I have turned my family's land, which has been in the Trask family for generations, into a haven for mutants. It is a place for those mutants who have nowhere to go or no one to turn to. It is also a place where mutants can learn to control their powers and to be trained in their proper use. In a fit of artistic flair, I have named this organization Magi.
Publicly, this is the Trask School for Gifted Youngsters and I am it's headmaster. It is also known as the Trask University, also headed by me. I personally approach young mutants in their teenage years, about when they first discover their powers, and invite them to my school. It acts as both a high school and a university. It is my hope that in doing so, not only do I provide these young people with a strong education, but the knowledge and training required to control their powers. I also seek to teach them to not abuse their power. It is important, especially at this critical time for mutantkind, that we not appear to normal humans as anything dangerous.
There are others taking mutants under their wings. Unfortunately, they do not hold the same views that the Magi do. They seek to rule mankind. They masquerade as an organization for helping troubled teens and young adults. They personally approach mutants, especially those who have trouble fitting in with their new powers. Those who have been discriminated against. They invite these mutants to join their group, offering them power over those without power. A seat in their new world order. They call themselves, in a fit of obvious originality, The Organization.
There are other mutants out there as well. They do not name themselves, they do not reveal themselves often, and are few in number. I only know that they are there and seek to eradicate humanity. It is my theory that they approach only the most powerful mutants, seeking aid in their cause to rid the planet of humanity, leaving behind only mutants to form the world as they wish.
There is a war coming. I try to prevent it, but it will inevitably come. Which side are you on? Are you even on a side?
Rules
Oh boy, the rules. I know what you're thinking: skip to the next section. At least take a glance, okay? Roleplay rules are put up for a reason: to make sure that everybody has fun and that nobody is offended. If you think I should add another rule, or would like to make a rule less strict or something, feel free to message me through PM or IM. Just be polite.
--Obviously, be literate. Post in third-person, check dictionary.com for your spelling, make sure your grammar at least somewhat makes sense. Read it aloud, and if it sounds weird, fix it. If you need help with grammar, feel free to ask me through PM or IM.
--Be serious. I do NOT want this turning into a romance RP. I don't want this turning into nonsense. By all means, have fun, but don't do stuff like randomly blow up New York, okay? I understand this is a vague rule, so just try your best. Pretend you're writing a novel with several other people, okay?
--Be as creative and original as possible. Obviously. I don't want to see people with mutant powers that they are the wielder of the keyblade, okay? That's stupid. Come up with your own power.
--Obviously, follows the Gaia rules. I personally don't care if you start swearing. Just don't drop the F bomb and don't swear every other word. If the Gaia mods would get on your case for it, don't do it.
--Romance IS okay. Go ahead, flirt, kiss, have your characters date, but I will NOT let this become a romance RP. Also, with this, follow the Gaia rules. As I've said: if the Gaia mods would get on your case for it, don't do it. However, don't romance it up too much. This is a serious roleplay. If I think you're overdoing it, I'll ban you from the roleplay. I'll give you a warning first, as I'm not cruel. The plot may pass you up a bit if you overdo it, as well, so hopefully you'll realize it'd be good to take it down a notch.
--If you join the RP, you must be involved in the main plot. You will be ignored and the plot will move on without you. Don't be a loner. Don't go doing your own thing seperate from the plot. This ties in a little with the romance thing: it may be okay, but if the plot moves on, and you choose to keep romancing it up, you will be left behind.
--I don't mind side-stories for your character. Those are always fun. Just make sure you get other people involved. Especially be sure to let me know you want to go into a bit of a side-story to develop your character. Wait for me to give you the okay to do so beforehand, too, so that the main plot doesn't pass you by. This way, I can also find a way to tie it in smoothly with the main plot that I have in mind.
--If you're going to do romance, don't be retarded about it. I'd prefer it look somewhat like real romance, but also not be too cheesy, (unless you want your character to be cheesy for some reason...just don't overdo it)
--No controlling of other characters without their permission. The one exception to this is if your character is unconscious. Be aware that if you're knocked out and drugged to sleep, your character can be carried or dragged somewhere else. There's not anything your character can really do to stop them anyways. Deal with it.
--No killing without permission. I doubt anybody will actually allow their character to die. Personally, I think it'd be awesome for the storyline if a tragic death occurs at least once, but if death does happen, permission must be granted.
--No gods. You can't be all-powerful, immortal, and/or undefeatable. No matter how powerful your character gets, he ain't flawless. There is the chance that you will lose.
--Let us know when you go offline with a simple and short OOC message. It helps others out with their roleplaying so they know to be patient.
--No spamming. I will be somewhat lenient with this, but I don't want several pages of OOC discussion. Use PMs or Ims for that please.
--No bumping. This subforum ain't that active anyways. I will put up a recruiting thread in Barton OOC which you can bump if you really want something to bump.
--I don't care if your character is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or even if you're a guy playing a girl, just don't get carried away with it.
--Go ahead and post anime pictures if you want. I don't mind. You can also post real photos, that's even more awesome. Especially if you go to the trouble to modify it in Photoshop or something. I especially applaud those of you who put up text descriptions, whether it's because you don't want to steal images, don't like images, or just like the text descriptions. I absolutely forbid using the "looks like avatar" routine, though. Out of the question.
--DO NOT POST YOUR PROFILE!
All right, first thing: if you want to join, PM your profile to me. Try to make your character somewhat deep. I like characters to have emotion and history. Also, don't say something like "Shy and quiet, but sometimes random and crazy and a party animal" because that sorta thing doesn't happen. It's like you don't want to limit yourself to one personality, so you just say something vague enough to let you do anything and everything.
Also, I will be listing requests. It's sorta like pre-made characters, except I'm just asking for certain powers or certain personalities, and I leave the rest up to you, so it's more like requests. If you want to make a request, say you want a certain kind of character as an important part of your own character's history or perhaps that would be important for future plot in the story, just let me know.
The more people who join, the better, so I'll try not to be picky. At least, I won't outright reject you. I may reply with suggestions on how to improve your profile. Please do not be offended if I do this. I'm just trying to help improve your roleplaying. I don't want to cramp your roleplaying style, though.
Explanations of stuff on the skeleton:
When I say nickname, I mean like Scott Summers is called Cyclops, not like a guy named Alexander will be called Al by his friends.
Under Misc, you don't have to post anything, but like..if you just want to mention extra things you don't feel fits elsewhere, put it there. Like maybe your character has a phobia of the dark. Or your character likes to fight with a weapon instead of just his powers. Maybe your character always has some object with him, like a piece of clothing that he doesn't leave home without. Maybe if you want to mention where his family is, or if they're dead. Anything can be put there if you don't want to put it somewhere else, but it's optional.
Political standpoint means where your character stands on mutant/human relations. Equality? Eradicate the humans? Mutants should rule? Double Agent?
Mutants, put either Magi (good guy group), Organization (bad guy group), Total Evil (want to destroy humanity), or Other (double agents, neutrals, and undecided). Humans, put For (you support mutant equality, possibly team up with Magi), Againts (seek a "cure" to the mutant "disease" or something similar), Evil (hate mutants, want to totally eradicate), or Other (undecided, uncaring, double agents). We'd like a good number of good and evil. Neutral, undecided, and double agents aren't really necessary, but I give you the option because having one or two of those around spice things up. Double agents tend to play either Magi and Organization against each other or the For and Against humans against each other. Don't get the eradicating groups involved, since they are a bit of a...less public group, let us say.
Note that you can choose to be a human, in which case, under powers, you can list weapons they use, what sort of martial arts they use to fight, what kind of technology they use in combat, etc. Don't be like "Antimatter gun" or "Ultima Weapon" but don't just give your character a dagger or something. If you do that, you won't have much of a role to play, trust me. We don't need humans for this plot, but it would add to the story. If you are a human, expect the possibility that you mostly lose to mutants, but still try your best to get your character to win. Mutant powers aren't necessarily superior and there will be battles where you win. Really, whether your human character beats another mutant character is entirely up to you and your foe...not to me.
If you want your mutant to have dormant powers that may later be awakened, that's cool. You can also choose not to reveal these dormant powers and thus make the story more dramatic (I've got something awesome in store with my main character).
The only thing I ask about your mutant powers is to try your best to be original. If there's already a guy with pyrokinesis, try to come up with something else, or maybe add something more. Maybe you don't just control fire, but you can do lava, too, and can convert your whole body into fire. It'd be better if you tried something totally new, but I understand that you can only be so creative with these powers.
If you're having trouble choosing your mutant powers, check out the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_powers_in_superhero_fiction
As stated before, you can use an anime pic (good), an actual photo (better), or a text description (best), but not your Gaia avatar (forbidden).
If I accept your profile, I'd like for your first action to be roleplaying how your character discovered his mutant powers. Consider it as a sort of preview of your ability to roleplay and whether I should have accepted you or not.
Finally! On to the skeleton. This is what you will fill and out and post in the Character Profiles section of this subforum. You must PM me with a link to that filled out profile.
Skeleton
| Quote: |
| Gaia Username: Character Name: Nickname: Gender: Mutant or Human: Age: Height: Weight: Sexuality: Country of Origin: Political standpoint: Personality: Powers: Bio: Misc: Pic/Appearance: |
Requests
--A mutant with powers over darkness and shadows would be awesome for either the Organization or Total Evil groups. Even better if he starts out with the Magi or Neutral as a mutant with weaker powers, (maybe he can only do something like turn invisible, I dunno), but then his powers of darkness are fully realized after some crisis and he is affected by the power, going crazy and suddenly deciding he wants to destroy/rule humanity. You don't have to mention that he has the dormant shadow powers if you want to surprise the other players as to who is this particular evil guy. In fact, that would be awesome. Imagine how things would be with the character's friends at the time he goes discovers his power and is corrupted by it.
In the case that this mutant discovered latent shadow powers and had been with the good guys until the discovery, he/she would need to be best friends, or at least really good friends, with my character (Static).
I'll try to constantly add to this section as I think of more ways to help out your roleplaying. Also, feel free to PM me your own Roleplaying Tips, and I'll post them up here. For now, my brain is fuzzy from typing so much already, so I'll just put a little bit here for now.
--Stick to third-person. It really helps add to the feel that this is an interactive novel, which is what I consider a true roleplay to be.
--Add body language if you don't do much but verbally respond to somebody. Body language plays a big part in conversations between real people, such as smirking, smilling, your eyes glinting mischievously, turning your head away from the other person, staring at the ground, mumbling...all sorts of stuff. Maybe your scarf or hair streams out behind you.
--Add what your character is thinking with italics. This sometimes helps let the other players know why your character is acting the way he is, and is useful for telepaths.
--Don't be afraid to add random weather. You can suddenly decide it starts raining in your area, assuming you don't change the weather too rapidly (of course, if you control the weather, you don't have to worry about this too much)
--Be creative and original. Repetition gets dull, so make sure your character is at least little dynamic and human.
--Before you post, click on preview and look it over. Be patient with your posts, okay? We're not in a rush. If you try to rush art, it comes out horrible. If you take your time and remember to preview, you may notice that somebody else posted while you were typing, causing you to have to modify your post. You may also notice typos and bad grammar.
--Above all, have fun! This is a roleplaying GAME!
Favorites
These are the people that are really awesome roleplayers and deserve a medal for contributing a lot to this roleplay, and perhaps even for advancing the plot in surprising ways I did not foresee. I hope to make this a long list.
Banned
These are people I shall not allow in this thread, and will appeal to mods to keep out of my thread. Try not to get on this list. You have to try really hard to piss me off, and if you do, I will show no mercy. Please keep this list empty.
Banners
I would love to either get some art I can make into banners for this or to get some banners for this. Consider using the words Serious Mutants or Magi and portraying a mutant exercising his mutant powers. Like my character, Static, showing off his electrokinesis.
Locations
This will be a list of locations in the roleplay. Obviously, it's located on planet earth in the real world, so there are places like New York City and Baghdad and Hong Kong...but this will be a list of specific places in the roleplay. I will be continuously be adding to this as the roleplay goes on.
-- Trask Mansion : the Trask Mansion is owned by Doctor Darien Trask, one of the world's richest and most powerful men, and a world-renowned expert in psychology. The Trask Mansion is located on a large plot of land in the state of New York, far from any actual cities, with many buildings upon it.
-- Trask Family Estate : a large, gorgeous plot of land owned by Doctor Darien Trask. Several buildings have been built upon it, but it's natural beauty and charm has been left largely intact. The Trask Mansion is, obviously, located on the Estate as the most prominent building and located closest to the single road that leads to the Estate from the nearest city. Many of the buildings serve as housing complexes for mutants that choose to stay on at the Estate afterwards. Some of them become the teachers at the schools, while others join with the Magi and help fight for mutant rights while protecting humanity from the Organization. Others stay at the Estate simply because it is a haven for mutants everywhere.
-- Trask School for Gifted Youngsters : a special school for teenage mutants, still discovering their powers and learning how to use them, run by Doctor Darien Trask. Only the students and teachers at the school know that every student that attends is actually a mutant. This is to protect the budding young mutants from being attacked by mutant-haters, although their only defense against other mutants are their own powers. The school is located on the Trask Family Estate in several of the buildings, including the Mansion itself. The students live in a building which has been set up as a dorm.
-- Trask University : a special college for mutants, though this aspect of the college is kept secret. This is for mutants who choose to stay on at the Mansion Grounds to learn more about their powers, while still remaining under the guise of leading a normal life. The students attending this University live in a seperate dorm from the students who attend the Trask School.
-- Magi Compound : a secret facility located underneath the Trask Mansion, only known to a few select residents of the Trask Estate, and trusted friends, where mutants train their powers for combat use. It contains the latest, most advanced technology, including a supercomputer with the ability to locate any mutant in the world. There are advanced medical and research facilities which human scientists can only dream of. It also houses several highly advanced vehicles, including a specialized jet far more advanced than anything the military has. It is a vast, multi-level complex that only be accessed from the Trask Mansion itself via secret elevators that react to DNA scanners.
OOC Updates
6/20/2006 : The roleplay is opened; waiting for people to join
6/22/2006 : Realized I needed to add a list of locations; also realized I needed to add an update section; still waiting for people to join
IC Updates
None yet, the roleplay has not yet started
Reserved




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