[HEADING=2]Egomania[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]An Absurd Anime-Inspire Action RP![/HEADING]
In an alternate future of our very own reality, a stunning, sexy man named Tyrone McNamminus set his illustrious, alluring gaze upon the jewel of the USA's west coast: Boss City. Considered to be prosperity personified, Tyrone felt it was the perfect setting for his mission.
You have just turned 21-years-old and are now, by America's standards, a true adult. With your whole life ahead of you, you could do anything! Be anyone! So why the hell are you just some nobody? Some young, anonymous face among millions? Whether this fact is debilitating you or you've chosen the path of blissful ignorance, Tyrone will not judge! He is simply here to guide you. To set you on the path to self actualization. The path of a God!
It went down differently for everyone, but at some point after your 21st birthday a fabulous black man descended from a spotlight in the sky. His shutter sunglasses and the gold chain around his neck nearly blinded you as the yellow sun's rays reflected off their metallic surfaces. Was he flying or were you just high?
He offered his hand to you, and though you may have hesitated, you took it. He was just... too cool. You couldn't divert your eyes. Then you felt a light and a darkness wash over you. You're not sure which, really, you just know it felt really weird.
"This, you feel within your soul, is the swagosphere. It is a plane of existence between our minds and the material universe. One in which the ego reigns supreme. Don't be scared, kid, embrace the power. Take control of your life! Of your destiny!"
When you finally woke from your concussion it was with a strange pair of sunglasses in your hand and a note that read:
You have no idea what to think, understandably. But what the hell, you try the sunglasses on... and your life changes forever...
I can see how this OP may have raised a few eyebrows. If you've made it this far I assume you're intrigued, at the very least. Great! So, what is this clusterfuck all about, you ask?
At its core, this RP is meant to be a fun, wacky parody of action anime. If these names mean anything at all to you, think properties along the lines of: Kill la Kill, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Durarara!!, Gurren Lagann, etc. Basically, over-the-top action that defies every natural law that can be conceived, even within its own lore and universe.
Mechanics of this universe work as follows: The player characters are known as "Egomaniacs", young people that can tap into the "swagosphere" and unlock the true potential of their egos. This results in super human strength, speed, reflexes, durability, etc. When wearing their special sunglasses they may "see" the swagosphere, or rather, they can see their own ego and those of other egomaniacs in their vicinity.
How does one see an ego? Well, here's a fun little quirk about this RP: egos are player characters as well, except you don't control your own ego... someone else does. We'll get into that in the Character Information section bellow, but essentially Egos are beings that exist within the swagosphere and wield incredible power. Though they are their own entities, they are each connected to a human in the real world. They cannot, however, interact with humans directly unless they are awakened to the swagosphere.
Together with their ego, the PC's are to battle each other in a battle royale in order to achieve whatever it is their heart desires. There's more to it than that, of course, but that's for the players to discover as the story progresses. Also, how their Ego actually functions in combat will be explored when we get to that point in the story (it will vary per player).
The RP will begin with the players just arriving at Boss City. Though they have awakened to the swagosphere, they have yet to actually meet their own ego. That will change in due time, however.
At its core, this RP is meant to be a fun, wacky parody of action anime. If these names mean anything at all to you, think properties along the lines of: Kill la Kill, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Durarara!!, Gurren Lagann, etc. Basically, over-the-top action that defies every natural law that can be conceived, even within its own lore and universe.
Mechanics of this universe work as follows: The player characters are known as "Egomaniacs", young people that can tap into the "swagosphere" and unlock the true potential of their egos. This results in super human strength, speed, reflexes, durability, etc. When wearing their special sunglasses they may "see" the swagosphere, or rather, they can see their own ego and those of other egomaniacs in their vicinity.
How does one see an ego? Well, here's a fun little quirk about this RP: egos are player characters as well, except you don't control your own ego... someone else does. We'll get into that in the Character Information section bellow, but essentially Egos are beings that exist within the swagosphere and wield incredible power. Though they are their own entities, they are each connected to a human in the real world. They cannot, however, interact with humans directly unless they are awakened to the swagosphere.
Together with their ego, the PC's are to battle each other in a battle royale in order to achieve whatever it is their heart desires. There's more to it than that, of course, but that's for the players to discover as the story progresses. Also, how their Ego actually functions in combat will be explored when we get to that point in the story (it will vary per player).
The RP will begin with the players just arriving at Boss City. Though they have awakened to the swagosphere, they have yet to actually meet their own ego. That will change in due time, however.
As you can imagine, PvP is going to be a big part of this RP. I hesitate to call it "PvP", however, as it makes me think of the word "competition". I will say this once, so remember it: this RP IS NOT a competition. PvP is to be worked out and organized out of character (over Skype, preferably) and victories, defeats and draws will be determined between the players involved in order to better serve the narrative, the characters and the players' fun-factor. You cannot "win" this RP, and if you want to join just so you can kick other players' asses, look somewhere else. This is not the RP you are looking for.
In the end, the point is for everyone to have fun. Everyone.
In the end, the point is for everyone to have fun. Everyone.
Every player has two characters to play: their human PC and another player's Ego. In terms of sheet submissions, just worry about your own human character for now. Once the players are chosen, I will randomly match up players to determine who is playing who's ego and from there the two players should collaborate on what/who their ego is. Once the egos come into play no PC will ever truly be alone. Their ego is ever-present.
Human characters should all be 21-year-olds with some kind of quirk/motif. Whether they love a particular sport or writing poetry, their quirk will be what ends up defining their combat capabilities and those of their egos. We're parodying anime here, so it is important to be silly and maybe even a little cliche if it fits the character concept. None of the human players should be flawless, Mary Sue-ish or more powerful than any other player. We want believable, if not somewhat exaggerated issues for our characters. These are clueless, college-age kids we're talking about here!
(Here's a hint: Tying your PC's flaws to that of the RP's theme will work out wonderfully for you!)
Human characters should all be 21-year-olds with some kind of quirk/motif. Whether they love a particular sport or writing poetry, their quirk will be what ends up defining their combat capabilities and those of their egos. We're parodying anime here, so it is important to be silly and maybe even a little cliche if it fits the character concept. None of the human players should be flawless, Mary Sue-ish or more powerful than any other player. We want believable, if not somewhat exaggerated issues for our characters. These are clueless, college-age kids we're talking about here!
(Here's a hint: Tying your PC's flaws to that of the RP's theme will work out wonderfully for you!)
Name:
Age: Forever 21
Sex:
Profession: Student, Professional, Part-time worker, Unemployed, etc.
Appearance: This doesn't just include skin color, hair and clothing choices. You may want to describe how the character presents themselves whether it be sloppy or professional. Do they slouch a lot or like to sport stupid grins?
Personality: Try to be detailed here! A well thought-out personality is the most important and distinguishing aspect to a character!
Biography: What your life as been like up until your character's introduction. A good biography establishes and supports your character's motivations.
Motif/Quirk: What is that special thing about them that really sticks out and defines them.
Age: Forever 21
Sex:
Profession: Student, Professional, Part-time worker, Unemployed, etc.
Appearance: This doesn't just include skin color, hair and clothing choices. You may want to describe how the character presents themselves whether it be sloppy or professional. Do they slouch a lot or like to sport stupid grins?
Personality: Try to be detailed here! A well thought-out personality is the most important and distinguishing aspect to a character!
Biography: What your life as been like up until your character's introduction. A good biography establishes and supports your character's motivations.
Motif/Quirk: What is that special thing about them that really sticks out and defines them.
1) All participants should abide by the rules of the Escapist forums, wherever possible.
2) I would like to see a variety of characters in terms of ethnicity, sex, appearance and personality. Too many Caucasian males with similar mind-sets results in a rather dull role-play.
2a) Appearance and Personality should be more than just lists of appropriate traits. Expand them into paragraphs, with more detail than just the basics.
3) Anyone who submits a character must be willing to give their full commitment to the role-play. If you have to drop out, at the very least let everyone else know, so I can properly write you out of the story. No-one likes it when ten people are accepted into a role-play and only five are still actively posting a week later.
4) I expect all participants to have a high level of competency in regards to spelling, grammar and post length.
4a) Godmodders and/or god-moders will be removed from the RP upon repeated instances of the offence.
5) To ensure clarity among writers, I request that all participants follow these formatting guidelines when writing posts:
- Italics ([ /i]) for inner thoughts, or for emphasis;
- Bold ([ /b]) if you want to copy over something that someone else said, or for emphasis;
- Please use plain black text for your posts. If people constantly use coloured text for their speech it quite often becomes a jumbled mess, in my experience;
- All posts and character sheets should be written in third person, past tense, where applicable.
- If out-of-character comments must be made in the thread, please keep them within spoiler tags so as not to break the flow.
6) Get Skype! It's a great way to communicate with your fellow RPers. Once players have been accepted they will be invited to the RP's Skype group chat.
7) Romance is allowed between characters - I fully encourage romantic subplots - but if things do end up going too far, I think that it is best if mature content was taken to private messaging, should the involved parties wish to pursue it. The Escapist tries to remain PG-13 at all times, if I remember correctly. Yes, even in the role-playing forum.
8) In the event that player-versus-player (PvP) combat takes place, I expect all participants involved in PvP to discuss the situation at hand and work together to determine the outcome of the combat, rather than attempt to win at all cost, independent of the plans of the others. Previous experience has shown me that a lack of negotiation and compromise has led to PvP fighting degenerating into each side trying to one-up the other, or forcing the opposite side into taking an action against their will, and eventually both participants end up distrusting each other out-of-character. AKA, remember what I said about PvP above?
2) I would like to see a variety of characters in terms of ethnicity, sex, appearance and personality. Too many Caucasian males with similar mind-sets results in a rather dull role-play.
2a) Appearance and Personality should be more than just lists of appropriate traits. Expand them into paragraphs, with more detail than just the basics.
3) Anyone who submits a character must be willing to give their full commitment to the role-play. If you have to drop out, at the very least let everyone else know, so I can properly write you out of the story. No-one likes it when ten people are accepted into a role-play and only five are still actively posting a week later.
4) I expect all participants to have a high level of competency in regards to spelling, grammar and post length.
4a) Godmodders and/or god-moders will be removed from the RP upon repeated instances of the offence.
5) To ensure clarity among writers, I request that all participants follow these formatting guidelines when writing posts:
- Italics ([ /i]) for inner thoughts, or for emphasis;
- Bold ([ /b]) if you want to copy over something that someone else said, or for emphasis;
- Please use plain black text for your posts. If people constantly use coloured text for their speech it quite often becomes a jumbled mess, in my experience;
- All posts and character sheets should be written in third person, past tense, where applicable.
- If out-of-character comments must be made in the thread, please keep them within spoiler tags so as not to break the flow.
6) Get Skype! It's a great way to communicate with your fellow RPers. Once players have been accepted they will be invited to the RP's Skype group chat.
7) Romance is allowed between characters - I fully encourage romantic subplots - but if things do end up going too far, I think that it is best if mature content was taken to private messaging, should the involved parties wish to pursue it. The Escapist tries to remain PG-13 at all times, if I remember correctly. Yes, even in the role-playing forum.
8) In the event that player-versus-player (PvP) combat takes place, I expect all participants involved in PvP to discuss the situation at hand and work together to determine the outcome of the combat, rather than attempt to win at all cost, independent of the plans of the others. Previous experience has shown me that a lack of negotiation and compromise has led to PvP fighting degenerating into each side trying to one-up the other, or forcing the opposite side into taking an action against their will, and eventually both participants end up distrusting each other out-of-character. AKA, remember what I said about PvP above?
I am looking for anywhere between 6 and 8 players, about. You can submit multiple sheets, but I am only looking for one human PC per player.
If you have any questions you can ask them here or PM me or either of my co-Gm's: Daystar Clarion [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Daystar+Clarion] or Doge [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Dogmatic99].
Thanks again, and good luck with your submission(s)!
