The Official OTC TBRPG Planning and Organization Topic

[Van Hohenheim]

You, know, it is possible. Here is what I suggest:

 

Everyone makes a couple characters, all related to each other. The one in the modern timeframe uses the Animus, and goes into the rest.

I hereby declare you a genius, Canis.

 

An Assassin's Creed RPG might benefit from a split from the game's storyline. An alternate universe is freeing. For instance, with an order that hasn't been massacred, you'd have a better starting structure for the Assassins.

I think this would be a good idea too. then fans of the games could play without knowing the storyline

edit: I found a problem with Canis' idea. if a player is in a tight situation that needs knowledge, he could have his ancestor inscribe it somewhere easily reached.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Strack

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Only, of course, if his/her ancestor is already privy to that knowledge, and can access the place where the character needs it written. Otherwise, the player would have to pull off some seriously beautiful bits of clever to make something like that work without being plain, easily-caught metagaming.

[Van Hohenheim]

Assassination

In the dawn of time, there was peace for a thousand years. then something sparked. a mysterious piece of technology far beyond today's knowledge had appeared. in it was inscribed a riddle.

Scattered throughout time

in memory of a terrible crime

what was lost must now be found

and he who finds it shall be crowned

naturally, confusion over what it was reigned widespread. it was then that a noble warrior society, named the Templars, took the item into their custody. they were respected, and no one thought to stop them. then they showed their true colors. they still didn't know what the riddle meant, but the words "shall be crowned" were ingraved in their memory. they struck, wreaking havoc across the land. then another organization stepped in. they named themselves "Order of the Assassins" and combat the Templars. in the middle of their war, another piece of technology appeared, this time in the hands of the assassins. on it was inscribed the same riddle. with these techonological advances, the Templars and the Assassins fought. throughout history, the war has remained, secret, the common man not knowing a thing. and so other pieces of the object appeared, with them being seized by the two factions. even today, the war rages on. now, the war has entered a new time. the technology of today allows the Templars and the Assassins to go back in time and re-live their ancestor's life. stay true to your faction, and remember The Creed.

this is the future.

don't destroy it.

 

The Creed (Rules)

1: Obey all forum rules. This includes the General BZPower Rules and Guidelines and the COT Rules and Guidelines

 

2: Keep the gore down. Yes, this RPG is based on an M-rated games, but instead of "He smiled, stabbing his enemy from behind, feeling the blood gush onto his hands as the man fell" try something like "He struck once, and the man slumped against the wall". Notice that no mention of blood was in the second example, but you get the idea.

 

3: No God-modding. This includes Auto-hitting (automatically hitting everything), Bunnying (taking control of another Player Character without the "owner's" permission), Deus Ex Machina's (an unrealistic or improbable way of getting your characters out of a bad situation), disregarding your weaknesses, breaking the fourth wall, and editing your character's traits directly before a fight in order to make them more suited to that fight. on the Animus time-traveling(ish) ability, you can't change the past to affect your future. For example, if my character I was RPing needed a piece of knowledge, and his grandfather knew it but was dead, you can't, say, scribble it on a wall nearby.

 

4: Respect all staff (also known as The Council and War Commanders in RPing). Simple, just listen to staff, do what you're told by them, and we're good. also note that they take care of promotions

 

5: Use IC and OOC. IC =in character, OOC= out of character. keep OOC-only posts to a minimum.

 

6: Have fun!!

 

7: unless given permission (which can be asked Via PM to me), start as an Assassin or as a Warrior

 

Character Creation

Character sheets for you to use. Feel free to add any fields you like, should you want to give more detail about your character. you will also probably have to have multiple characters. Post these in the Discussion Topic

 

Name:

Gender:

Faction: (assassins, Templar, or a custom one. or none)

Appearance: (keep in mind that along with his actual appearance, describe his/her usual clothing)

Weapons: (what weapons do your characters carry?)

Equipment: (a notebook? spare candles? glass bottles?)

History: (as long as you want)

Personality: (obvious)

Skills: (is he a parkour master? piano man?)

Occupation: (see below for Assassin and Templar Occupations)

Year/Era: (500 B.C. aaaaaalll the way to 2013)

 

Occupations

Assassins

-Assassin (obvious)

-Scholar (teach the younger assassins)

-Retired (former assassins, serve as veterans, usually wise)

-Weapon Maker (maker of the Assassin weapons)

-The Council (Staff Members. don't expect to be this)

Templars

-Warrior (fights with sword, the normal class)

-Battle Master (teaches younger Warriors in the way of the sword)

-Wisens (were Warriors, now retired)

-Forger (forges the swords and other traditional weapons)

-War Commanders (the Templar version of The Council)

 

 

edit: capitalization, fixed links, fixed color.

edit2: added more Character Fields.

edit3: added story, added background.

edit4: deleted double spacing in PC creation

Edited May 24, 2013 by Strack

[Canis Lycaon]

Okay, why does the color suddenly change? Also, this is covered in capitalization mistakes. The type of mistake I hate the most. Then, you need to go more in depth on the story. A lot more in depth. Then, I would uncenter it.

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

Do you have a general overarching story in mind? Without that, I find that RPGs (especially video-game based ones) can end up foundering.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Madara: Mangekyou Master

[Van Hohenheim]

not particularly. as I said, first draft. the main idea is a constant secret war of the Assassins VS. the Templars.

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

That's a very very general background. I recommend that you brainstorm with someone with (successful) experience running an OTC RPG on how to expand the story. :/ What Canis said then (for the love of what is good, please uncenter your writing). You really need to work on the structure of the game. A central plot would be helpful in that endeavour (otherwise you end up with nothing but players aimlessly running around killing NPCs).

Edited May 21, 2013 by Madara: Mangekyou Master

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

How about a central plot involving some secret from really far back, that echo's through every time period until a big finale in the modern da-

Wait. That sounds like the games plots xD

[Van Hohenheim]

Okay, why does the color suddenly change? Also, this is covered in capitalization mistakes. The type of mistake I hate the most. Then, you need to go more in depth on the story. A lot more in depth. Then, I would uncenter it.

the sudden color change...I dunno . the capitalization mistakes are probably me trying to push a First Draft for your comments. the story is being worked on. a lot. and the uncentering is taken care of.

 

That's a very very general background. I recommend that you brainstorm with someone with (successful) experience running an OTC RPG on how to expand the story. :/ What Canis said then (for the love of what is good, please uncenter your writing). You really need to work on the structure of the game. A central plot would be helpful in that endeavour (otherwise you end up with nothing but players aimlessly running around killing NPCs).

thanks for the advice. this is the first RPG I actually plan to work on to perfection. as stated earlier, i'm working on the story. hrm...hrm.....what...what about a technology that was hidden in every time period...that...once it was assembled correctly...I'll let it come to me. it's coming to me gradually, so...yeah.

 

How about a central plot involving some secret from really far back, that echo's through every time period until a big finale in the modern da-

Wait. That sounds like the games plots xD

yeah, trying to stay off the original plots.

 

edit: this is what's gonna happen, I think. long ago, there was an object. one that would allow the user of it to rule the world. deemed too powerful to keep together, it was scattered throughout time. the Assassins want it to destroy it and keep it out of Evil's hands. the Templars want it for world domination. what do you guys think?

Edited May 22, 2013 by Strack

[Bundalings]

Comments/criticism much appreciated. Important NPC profiles will go in the discussion topic, but we have them.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

It has been ten years since the Reach were forced off this planet by its heroes, and five since the Light has resurfaced. They are more dangerous than they have ever been, with a Parademon army.

After the Reach had been defeated, Lex Luthor started selling a variant Reach soft drink that was designed to make the inhabitants of Earth docile. This drink, unlike the original, made metagenes activate more frequently and even gave people without them metagenes.

Five years, ago the Warworld arrived in the solar system carrying two original members of the Light; Savage and Klarion. With them was a new member; Darkseid. The Brain, Lex Luthor, Ra's al Ghul and Queen Bee were brought to the Warworld, and the reformed Light plotted.

Not long after that, Sportsmaster realized that the best way to train new villains was to start young, and have the trainees be willing. It had worked, to an extent, with his daughters, after all. He started the Unjust League to do this.

This organization trained young villains, and quickly became a large criminal group. But, during this time, the Team and the League also grew in number, making all three organizations quite large.

Next, Cadmus was bought by the government as a defense against metahumans. All genomorphs were disposed off, and the organization is neither hostile nor friendly to the Light, Unjust League, the Team or the Justice League.

Factions

The Justice League: The most famous heroes there are. This organization is one of the largest there is, and is based in their satellite, the Watchtower. It is led by Black Canary, and most of the original Team is a member. The minimum is age is 18.

The Team: The young counterpart to the Justice League, the Team's age lets them pass unnoticed by many and act as a stealth team. They are covert ops, and not many people know about them. They operate out of the Watchtower in conjunction with the League. They are watched over by Aqualad and Nightwing, two founding members. The three most prominent heroes are the Tornado Twins, children of the Flash, and Tabby Cat, child of Chesire and Red Arrow, all three of whom are ten.

The Unjust League: In some ways, both a counterpart to the League and the Team. They are both young, and famous. They were founded and are trained by Sportsmaster. They have several bases scattered across the planet, but their main base is in the remains of Mount Justice.

The Light: A large organization of evil villains, who only allow season operatives into their ranks. The actual members of the Light are the members of the leading council; Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, Darksied, The Brain, and Klarion. Everyone else is merely a pawn. The 'lead pawn' is Deathstroke. Gordon G. Godfrey is the voice of persuasion for the Light, and is secretly a New God.

Cadmus: Soon after the Reach was defeated, the US government, following suit from all others, bought up several genetic research firms, including Cadmus, and bundled them together as Cadmus. This was as protection against any sort of metahuman uprising. Gone are the genomorphs of old, and here to stay are clones and specially adapted weapons to each hero and villain. They are neutral in this war.

Important Locations

Earth: The biggest hot spot for activity of metahuman nature, Earth is an incredibly fragmented planet on the political spectrum. All five of the major factions in the metahuman war are primarily based here.

-The Watchtower: This is not exactly a location on Earth but rather a satellite orbiting the planet. It looks like a large tower atop a meteor and is the base of operations for both the Justice League and the Team, both of whom operate in conjunction.

-The Cadmus Facility: The base of the Cadmus Military Corporation, this facility is located underground in Washington DC and is the US government's response to the growing metahuman situation. They employ their own metahumans, and are finding ways to defeat every public villain and hero.

-Unjust Cave: This is a base for The Unjust League, located right underneath where Mount Justice could have been found before it was destroyed by the Light, in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Sportsmaster uses it as a base for his team because of his sense of humor and the fact that no one would look there.

-Atlantis: This is an underwater kingdom populated by humans adapted to breathing and living underwater. The country is ruled by their king, known on the surface as Aquaman. Atlantis joined the UN approximately five years ago.

-The UN Headquarters: This is where the General Assembly of the UN is located, and is used by the Team and the League to contact the governments of the world. Currently, the relations between the League and the UN are going well. It can be found in Manhattan, New York.

-STAR Labs: STAR Labs is a private organization devoted to advanced technology and superpowers. They, unlike Cadmus, are trusted by the League. STAR Labs is the go to place if someone on the team doesn't recognize a piece of technology. They have many locations across the US.

Mars: This is world is a peaceful one, seeing as how it only has two governments: The Co-Nation Colony and the Martian Government. The Martian government is a monarchy, with the Red Martians on top, Green in the middle and White on the bottom. Martians have a wide variety of powers at their disposal, but Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian are the most skilled and powerful.

-Olympus Mons: This is the Co-Nation Colony founded by the UN and is both the only human colony on Mars and the only colony on the surface. A large dome covers the entire dormant volcano, and inside are buildings. The Justice League and Team have bases here.

-N'Herzz G'Alm: The capital city of the Martians, this city is underground. The Red Martian Royal Family G'Alm have their palace here. The city is has three main layers: The high class Red Martians on the bottom, as that is closest to the core and warmest, the middle class Green Martian section in the middle and the White Martian slums on top. The entrance to the city is near Olympus Mons. The Unjust League has a base in the White Martian sector.

Warworld: A giant artificial world that is more of a huge planet-city. The entire inside of the planet is just mechanics and city spots, and the outside is covered in rockets and weaponry systems. This is the base of the Light and sits between Saturn and Uranus.

How to Join

Simply fill out the form below, post it in the Discussion Topic and wait for a staffer to approve it.

There is a three character maximum. Choose how to spend your characters wisely. Characters may be retired to make way for new ones, but you will need to wait a week between retirement and new character submission.

Note that while you can directly join the Justice League or the Light, they have more rigorous screening than the other factions so its very unlikely you'll be able to sneak a double agent in there. PM a staffer if you want to try, but you'll probably be shot down unless you have a really good story to tell.

Alias: (your superhero/supervillain name. Will not apply to all characters, naturally)

Name: (the actual name of your character)

Age: (derp)

Faction: (the Team, the Justice League, the Unjust League, the Light, Cadmus, or freelance)

Alignment: (choose from the nine classic D&D alignments [Lawful Good, True Neutral, Chaotic Evil etc.]. Optional.)

Equipment/Abilities: (here describe metahuman abilities, batarangs, mech suits, magic styles etc.)

Weaknesses: (must have at least one weakness. If your powers are very strong, more weaknesses must be outlined)

Appearance: (derp 2.0)

Origin: (tell us how your character came to be the man, woman or it that he/she/it is today)

Rules

1. This may be a game about metahumans, but no metagaming. That is, don't let your characters have impossible revelations just because you as a player know something about the plot or other characters.

2. No bunnying (controlling other people's characters without permission).

3. No autohitting.

4. No deus ex machina.

5. Direct OOC posts to the Discussion Topic.

6. Please be courteous, and don't refuse to lose out of pride.

7. All BZP rules apply, naturally.

8. Do remember to give an indication of time and place at the start of each IC post. For example,

 

IC: Unjust Cave, Night

Sportsmaster sighed. "Pathetic. We'll have to do that whole training run again."

Or something. This will keep things in order (try to be mindful of other people's timestamps).

Good players will be rewarded, but disobey rules and your characters may be brutally maimed and/or you, the player, will be cast out of the RP. For justice!

Staff

Bundalings - Host

Canis Lupus - Story Master

[Canis Lycaon]

Okay, I just want to say that the name of the RPG is Young Justice: Aftermath. Really, I'll answer story questions, and I guess Bundalings will answer gameplay questions.

[Van Hohenheim]

so it's a sort of a DC RPG?

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

.....

I have seen season 1 of YJ, but not 2. Hence I have no clue who the Reach are

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

This is so awesome!

[Canis Lycaon]

so it's a sort of a DC RPG?

Yep. It's based off a show about the Team, but you can be a Leaguer.

 

.....

I have seen season 1 of YJ, but not 2. Hence I have no clue who the Reach are

The Reach are the main villains of Season Two/Invasion. They are an alien race that tried to invade Earth. For more info, here.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

The 'lead pawn' is Deathstroke

Hmmm, Deathstroke's really more of a bishop...

Hehe, couldn't resist

 

 

I think my main issue with the RPG is how without...kick it feels. You mention all these potential story arcs like the Warworld hanging around and Luthor's machinations but don't really do anything with them. They're just used as in-game reasons for a boost in metahumans and a base for the Light.

I suspect there might be aspects of the RPG that might be confusing to someone with less know-how of the show than me or Wanderer as well, you might want to ask someone about that

[Canis Lycaon]

Well, there is going to be a major mission when the game starts. I'll put it here.

 

 

Sportsmaster has ordered his agents to steal a valuable experimental nanobiotech device from Cadmus. What do these nanobots do? They give their host reprogrammable superpowers, allowing anyone to become a superhero with whatever power they want, and change those powers at a whim.

Basic idea of this: Unjust League steals nanobots, Team tries to stop them, Cadmus officials try to stop both. Good fighters in the Team and Unjust League get to be team leaders.

As for the Warworld, that was from the show itself. There really is no way to avoid it. It was a pretty crucial element.

But the Reach soft drink/Luthor's machinations? That was solved ten years ago. One of the final lines of the show is the leader of the Team saying, 'Lex Luthor is selling the Reach soft drink under a different name.'

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

But its not mentioned in either the show or your RPG that the Reach drink was ever stopped.

 

Thats one mission, not really a central story that people can build on. Thats what I think is missing really, something more than just background

[Havelock Vetinari]

So, long story short, I have another metahuman genocide to plan....

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

It could use a more overarching plot to tie the various little conflicts together. Right now, it does look a bit scattered. :/

[Havelock Vetinari]

It could use some more detail really.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Basilisk

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

The profile form could also be tweaked. The D & D alignment chart is rather limited. I would recommend substituting it with "Personality," which would allow players to detail their character's psychology.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I mean, I'm joining up. I've got wicked plot ideas but you do need to work out the mentioned kinks.

[Bundalings]

We're discussing a larger arc right now.Personally, I really hate personality sections on RP profiles. I find them restrictive, and they make it difficult to grow a character or make them act organically in a given situation, because an individual is quite diverse and difficult to describe in a paragraph. I thought the Alignment would offer the ability to give a compass heading for the personality without directing it. If this is something that a several of you want changed, I may.Elements of psychology could fit easily into Origin, if they're important.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Bundalings

[Van Hohenheim]

question: does anyone else have any constructiv critisism for the Assassin's Creed RPG? anyone want to help GM? if not, i'll post it in the Request topic

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

What does your most recent draft of the Creed RPG look like? What changes have you made since the last draft?

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

Star Wars: Galaxy at War is up! @Strack - You should probably consider changing the double-spacing on your profile form in your new version of the RPG.

Edited May 23, 2013 by Madara: Mangekyou Master

[Canis Lycaon]

Okay. Me and Bundalings went and thought of some missions. Here they are:

 

 

Missions:

-Raid Cadmus: Sportsmaster has ordered his agents to steal a valuable experimental nanobiotech device from Cadmus. What do these nanobots do? They give their host reprogrammable superpowers, allowing anyone to become a superhero with whatever power they want, and change those powers at a whim. As a reward for working well on this mission, well performing agents on both the Unjust League and the Team will become field leaders.

-The Matrix of the Spectrum: Centuries ago, the Guardians of the Galaxy created the 'Matrix of the Spectrum'. This device could charge up any item with a power of the Emotional Spectrum, allowing someone has that item to use that power. The Guardians realized this artifact was incredibly powerful, and broke it into eight pieces, sending it to a distant solar system. This was the Sol System. The pieces of the Matrix are scattered across the planets of the Sol System, with one piece per planet. None of the pieces have been found, and all five major organizations in the metahuman war want the Matrix.

As for a long-term goal for the Light, they are trying to make more metahumans, as metas are more 'fit' than baseline, and they believe in survival of the fittest. Once they do so, Darkseid will get control of baselines, and some territory.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Hm. Any rules regarding PC-created organizations?

 

/Totallynotplanninganything.

[Van Hohenheim]

@Lord Adders the edits are at the bottom. the newest version is what's posted here

 

@Madara fixed.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Strack

[Canis Lycaon]

Hm. Any rules regarding PC-created organizations?

 

/Totallynotplanninganything.

We haven't thought about that yet, but Cadmus's goals are very similar to metahuman genocide. I'll go consult Bundalings.

[Havelock Vetinari]

 

Hm. Any rules regarding PC-created organizations?

 

/Totallynotplanninganything.

We haven't thought about that yet, but Cadmus's goals are very similar to metahuman genocide. I'll go consult Bundalings.

Unfortunately someone presented me with a well-reasoned arguement regarding that. Isn't viable in the DC verse.

 

There are other, more important and pressing things to genocide.

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

Out of curiousity, is there anyone whom I might talk to about commissioning a banner for the SWRPG?

[Van Hohenheim]

you might be able to ask Phantom Terror. I MIGHT be able to make one, but no promises

edit: I'll start trying to make one. a banner in the topic or a sig banner?

Edited May 25, 2013 by Strack

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Hmm, I've had a few ideas incubating but I need someone who could host and help work out any kinks

 

• Various fictional worlds are all colliding together allowing characters to move between them, like the Disney RPG we had a bit back but open to more universes. Sort of hoping that harnessing the popularity opre-existing franchises would bring a little success to an original RPG since we're a bit short on those
• Something set in a futuristic prison made up of bits and pieces of the worst part of the galaxy in a sort of time bubble. But its starting to break down and the prisoners (that would be the players) have their chance to escape
• Players are members of a salvage team operating in deep space that have come across the wreck of an ancient warship. They go poking around but perhaps they shouldn't have...Supposed to be spooky and atmospheric rather than blam blam action

[Havelock Vetinari]

The first one is similar to an idea I once had. I think it could work. Quite well really.

 

Runaway success really.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

I was hoping it might evoke Reality (though I'm not sure how many people there are who actually remember Reality) with essentially unlimited scope for character creation and world building. But it would also place some limits on magic, which tended to dominate in Reality whenever it was brought out, as you have to obey the rules of whatever universe you're in. If there's no magic in a universe, you don't get magic. Encourages a bit more strategic use of location in conflicts. If you're a mech captain who's tired of having the Wicked Witch of the West blasting you aside with sorcery, find some way to lure her somewhere like Barsoom, where her magic is gone and your strength is amplified a hundredfold

[Canis Lycaon]

What was Reality? But I think I would be interested in this. Science fantasy world, here I come!

Edited May 25, 2013 by Canis Lupus

[Havelock Vetinari]

....Reality? I remember it well.

 

Do it.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

What was Reality? But I think I would be interested in this. Science fantasy world, here I come!

An old and enormously popular RPG. The setting was the entirety of reality. Any world, any time. We had an empire of power-armour wearing marines, a council of space wizards (no, really, thats what they were called)...Heck I played as an Aztec god and teamed up with a pal of mine's 7ft cyborg berserker.

It was a fun game, is what I'm saying