[HEADING=2]The Goldmar Incident[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]A Superhero Role-Play[/HEADING]
It is May 2013. The city of Silverhollow is just one of many modern cities in the United States of America. Life is pleasant, for the most part, with many people making their homes and livings here. It is a rather idyllic place, very quiet. Trouble in the local news has mostly been coverage of the turfwar in the Brightfields district.
Recently, however, weird reports are on the news, both in Silverhollow and other parts of the USA and the world. People have been caught on camera performing highly unusual stunts, or wielding bizarre... powers, people want to call them, in fights that are breaking out or other public displays. Some claim to have seen people vanish in the blink of an eye and a flash of light, or ignore the laws of gravity and take flight unaided.
The questions on the minds of many are: Are superheroes and supervillains, previously thought confined to movies and comics, becoming real-life occurrences? Do they walk among us, hiding their true nature behind secret identities? And what can be done to keep these people in check? What are governments doing to regulate them?
In answer to the latter two, the world's governments are looking to ways to adapt to the rise of these strange and troubling people. But the variability of powers means it is difficult to provide regulations for all 'supers' or 'gifted', as the media has begun calling them.
But even with the advent of superpowers, life as normal goes on for ordinary citizens, like yourself. You are a resident of Silverhollow: a student attending Goldmar University. However, your life, and the lives of your peers, is about to take an unexpected turn...
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Author's Notes: Please Read
- Welcome to The Goldmar Incident. I am your GM: my co-GMs are [user]RatRace123[/user] and [user]Pm0n3y[/user].
- This role-play differs from your usual superhero thread in one major way: in most other threads, the player-characters already have their powers at the start of the in-character events. Here, they do not. They will be given randomly-generated powers during the prologue. We want to explore what happens once they gain their powers and begin learning to control them: their origin stories, if you will.
- As stated in the opening paragraphs, all of the player-characters will be in the same place, Goldmar University, during the course of the prologue. This is in order to facilitate the event that gives everyone their powers.
Silverhollow is a large, widespread city in the state of Michigan, the neighbour city to Grand Rapids. There are five major districts surrounding a central hub, as follows:
- Glassgate: Primarily a residential district, it is home to suburbs and apartment blocks, as well as a large convention center and Silverhollow's largest mall complex.
- Stonefalcon: Also a residential district, it accommodates parks, leisure centers and the city's major hospital.
- Millennial: Silverhollow's home of commerce, business and industrial production. Goldmar University is located here.
- Brightfields: Despite its name, not many would willingly take up residence here; it is the side of Silverhollow which few want to acknowledge. Fights often break out between rival gangs despite the strong law enforcement presence here.
- Lake Alabaster: A more rural district than the others, a good portion of it is given over to farmland with the rest taken by residential areas. It is named for the large lake connecting the district to the City Center.
- City Center: Contains Silverhollow City Hall, judicial buildings and the homes of the upper-class and wealthy.
The university that the player-characters are attending, Goldmar University, is located in the Millennial district. Each district is also home to police and fire stations, and each contains general practitioners and A&E (Accident & Medical) centers; the city's largest and best-equipped hospital is found in Stonefalcon.
There are a handful of high schools in Silverhollow, spread through all of the districts: chief among the eight are Sage Row High in Glassgate, Millennial Secondary School in Millennial, and Harrier's Run High School in Stonefalcon.
The Brightfields district, on the east side of Silverhollow, is in the middle of a turfwar. Chief among the feuding sides are three gangs: the Burning Brands, the Titans and the Watchers. Each side is in it for the long haul, equally as likely to fight each other as they are the Silverhollow police. Whoever comes out on top will likely claim the entirety of Brightfields for themselves, but there is not likely to be a 'winner' any time soon.
- Glassgate: Primarily a residential district, it is home to suburbs and apartment blocks, as well as a large convention center and Silverhollow's largest mall complex.
- Stonefalcon: Also a residential district, it accommodates parks, leisure centers and the city's major hospital.
- Millennial: Silverhollow's home of commerce, business and industrial production. Goldmar University is located here.
- Brightfields: Despite its name, not many would willingly take up residence here; it is the side of Silverhollow which few want to acknowledge. Fights often break out between rival gangs despite the strong law enforcement presence here.
- Lake Alabaster: A more rural district than the others, a good portion of it is given over to farmland with the rest taken by residential areas. It is named for the large lake connecting the district to the City Center.
- City Center: Contains Silverhollow City Hall, judicial buildings and the homes of the upper-class and wealthy.
The university that the player-characters are attending, Goldmar University, is located in the Millennial district. Each district is also home to police and fire stations, and each contains general practitioners and A&E (Accident & Medical) centers; the city's largest and best-equipped hospital is found in Stonefalcon.
There are a handful of high schools in Silverhollow, spread through all of the districts: chief among the eight are Sage Row High in Glassgate, Millennial Secondary School in Millennial, and Harrier's Run High School in Stonefalcon.
The Brightfields district, on the east side of Silverhollow, is in the middle of a turfwar. Chief among the feuding sides are three gangs: the Burning Brands, the Titans and the Watchers. Each side is in it for the long haul, equally as likely to fight each other as they are the Silverhollow police. Whoever comes out on top will likely claim the entirety of Brightfields for themselves, but there is not likely to be a 'winner' any time soon.
On the Global Phenomenon of Superpowers:
Across the globe, there has been a strange outbreak of people developing bizarre powers and displaying them. The first reports began just over halfway through the year of 2012, though much of it was set aside, or quickly forgotten, in favour of more widespread news like the details of Hurricane Sandy and the presidential elections. People with these strange 'powers' have been described as being able to 'vanish in the blink of an eye', 'cause the earth around them to shake and deform', or 'walk straight through [a] wall'. Nowadays, however, they are seen more often on both local and international news networks. The originally isolated reports are becoming slightly more widespread.
According to international news reports, some people have already adopted personae or aliases and begun what appears to be vigilante justice according to the morals of the individual. Often these people have crossed paths with law enforcement, and found themselves equally likely to be detained. The governments of many countries are already in heated discussions on the subject of these individuals - 'superheroes' as the public and media have taken to calling them - and how best to ensure they remain within the law at all times.
As mentioned above, the public and media have taken to nicknaming individuals who show displays of unusual powers 'superheroes'. Some take kindly to the moniker, perhaps thinking that with the civilians on their side they will become more accepted into society or one of a hundred other reasons. Others, however, do not. Some news stories have shown live footage of people fighting each other using their powers, the ensuing damage causing more concern over the safety and well-being of the general populace. 'Supervillains' have sometimes been pointed out as they battle their heroic counterparts.
Some people decry the existence of these 'superpowers', claiming them to be the new thing in celebrity fashions after the rise in films based on comic book characters, or countless other explanations. These protestors are in the minority, however, often lumped in with conspiracy theorists and the like. The majority of the public has proven to be far more interested in seeing when and where another hero will appear than listening to 'crackpot theories'.
Despite the evident rise in 'heroes' and 'villains', scientists and researchers have yet to explain the origins of the powers these people possess. Some countries are forming multinational efforts to understand and explain the presence of 'superpowers' and the people who possess them.
As far as the Silverhollow Police Department (SHPD) have gathered, the city is home to three prominent individuals willing to stand up and be recognised, and at least half a dozen others with their own motives and goals. The three 'heroes' that have come forward are as follows:
- Detective Jack Hartfield, alias Bastion; gifted with technological knowledge, he has designed and built a full set of electronically powered armour, referred to by himself as 'hard-light shielding' or 'holodef armour'. Detective Hartfield is a member of the SHPD, concentrating his efforts on containing and ending the Brightfields turfwar. He has granted permission to select companies to replicate his designs to an extent: at the present time they are still working on copying his technology.
- Kara Sterling, alias Ghost; she is capable of invisibility. She combines this with considerable skill in various forms of martial arts. Ms Stirling acts in conjunction with governmental forces and law enforcement, but does not consider herself an official operative or officer. She is of the belief that she was given her power for a reason.
- Zeke Chang, alias none; he can use various forms of breath weapon. So far the SHPD has confirmed that he can breathe fire and frost clouds, and spit darts of electricity, stone or plant life. Zeke thinks of himself as a jack of all trades, constantly drifting through Silverhollow but never settling in one place. His sense of morals are rather different from those of Hartfield and Sterling in that he believes if someone has the capacity to defend themselves against a threat, they should do so instead of relying on others for help.
Across the globe, there has been a strange outbreak of people developing bizarre powers and displaying them. The first reports began just over halfway through the year of 2012, though much of it was set aside, or quickly forgotten, in favour of more widespread news like the details of Hurricane Sandy and the presidential elections. People with these strange 'powers' have been described as being able to 'vanish in the blink of an eye', 'cause the earth around them to shake and deform', or 'walk straight through [a] wall'. Nowadays, however, they are seen more often on both local and international news networks. The originally isolated reports are becoming slightly more widespread.
According to international news reports, some people have already adopted personae or aliases and begun what appears to be vigilante justice according to the morals of the individual. Often these people have crossed paths with law enforcement, and found themselves equally likely to be detained. The governments of many countries are already in heated discussions on the subject of these individuals - 'superheroes' as the public and media have taken to calling them - and how best to ensure they remain within the law at all times.
As mentioned above, the public and media have taken to nicknaming individuals who show displays of unusual powers 'superheroes'. Some take kindly to the moniker, perhaps thinking that with the civilians on their side they will become more accepted into society or one of a hundred other reasons. Others, however, do not. Some news stories have shown live footage of people fighting each other using their powers, the ensuing damage causing more concern over the safety and well-being of the general populace. 'Supervillains' have sometimes been pointed out as they battle their heroic counterparts.
Some people decry the existence of these 'superpowers', claiming them to be the new thing in celebrity fashions after the rise in films based on comic book characters, or countless other explanations. These protestors are in the minority, however, often lumped in with conspiracy theorists and the like. The majority of the public has proven to be far more interested in seeing when and where another hero will appear than listening to 'crackpot theories'.
Despite the evident rise in 'heroes' and 'villains', scientists and researchers have yet to explain the origins of the powers these people possess. Some countries are forming multinational efforts to understand and explain the presence of 'superpowers' and the people who possess them.
As far as the Silverhollow Police Department (SHPD) have gathered, the city is home to three prominent individuals willing to stand up and be recognised, and at least half a dozen others with their own motives and goals. The three 'heroes' that have come forward are as follows:
- Detective Jack Hartfield, alias Bastion; gifted with technological knowledge, he has designed and built a full set of electronically powered armour, referred to by himself as 'hard-light shielding' or 'holodef armour'. Detective Hartfield is a member of the SHPD, concentrating his efforts on containing and ending the Brightfields turfwar. He has granted permission to select companies to replicate his designs to an extent: at the present time they are still working on copying his technology.
- Kara Sterling, alias Ghost; she is capable of invisibility. She combines this with considerable skill in various forms of martial arts. Ms Stirling acts in conjunction with governmental forces and law enforcement, but does not consider herself an official operative or officer. She is of the belief that she was given her power for a reason.
- Zeke Chang, alias none; he can use various forms of breath weapon. So far the SHPD has confirmed that he can breathe fire and frost clouds, and spit darts of electricity, stone or plant life. Zeke thinks of himself as a jack of all trades, constantly drifting through Silverhollow but never settling in one place. His sense of morals are rather different from those of Hartfield and Sterling in that he believes if someone has the capacity to defend themselves against a threat, they should do so instead of relying on others for help.
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All the player-characters will be given their powers during the prologue. However, you may not pick the powers they have: they will be determined randomly from lists below. This is because the way the player-characters will obtain their superpowers is through a volatile, unstable and untested process.
There are two lists of powers that will be used: Primary and Secondary. The Primary list features powers that are oriented towards combat situations (but are potentially usable outside of combat). The Secondary list includes powers that are non-combative in nature. Each power - from both tables - grants both the necessary talents needed to use the power, as well as the drawbacks and weaknesses of these abilities.
Each Primary Power has its advantages and disadvantages: for example, someone with Fire Manipulation will find themselves and their abilities weak against Water Manipulation and Earth Control, but strong against Plant Control and Ice Manipulation. This leads to a more-or-less rock/paper/scissors system for most of the Primary Powers.
When the time comes to grant each character their superpowers, the GM will roll a dice or use a random number generator to determine what Primary Power you receive (the order in which characters receive powers will also be randomised). You may ask to receive a Secondary Power, if you wish, but there may be consequences or drawbacks for acquiring a Secondary Power.
If you do not like the power or powers that you receive from the initial roll, you may ask for a second rolling of the dice: again, the in-universe explanation of this is that the means by which you obtain your powers is a rather unstable one. Once the second roll has been made, you may choose between the two options you are given. If the result of the re-roll is the same as the original roll, you may ask to re-roll until you receive a different power.
- If you choose to take a Secondary Power, but you want to re-roll your powers, you must choose whether you want to re-roll on the Primary or Secondary Table.
- Receiving a power or powers that you do not like is a risk you will have to take; we have, however, tried to make each power in the two tables seem desirable.
Once powers have been determined for each character, they will be added to the appropriate character sheets in the list of accepted characters.
Keep in mind that the initial stages of this role-play will focus on the player-characters learning to master the powers they have been given. They will not instantly know how to use their new skills.
There are two lists of powers that will be used: Primary and Secondary. The Primary list features powers that are oriented towards combat situations (but are potentially usable outside of combat). The Secondary list includes powers that are non-combative in nature. Each power - from both tables - grants both the necessary talents needed to use the power, as well as the drawbacks and weaknesses of these abilities.
Each Primary Power has its advantages and disadvantages: for example, someone with Fire Manipulation will find themselves and their abilities weak against Water Manipulation and Earth Control, but strong against Plant Control and Ice Manipulation. This leads to a more-or-less rock/paper/scissors system for most of the Primary Powers.
When the time comes to grant each character their superpowers, the GM will roll a dice or use a random number generator to determine what Primary Power you receive (the order in which characters receive powers will also be randomised). You may ask to receive a Secondary Power, if you wish, but there may be consequences or drawbacks for acquiring a Secondary Power.
If you do not like the power or powers that you receive from the initial roll, you may ask for a second rolling of the dice: again, the in-universe explanation of this is that the means by which you obtain your powers is a rather unstable one. Once the second roll has been made, you may choose between the two options you are given. If the result of the re-roll is the same as the original roll, you may ask to re-roll until you receive a different power.
- If you choose to take a Secondary Power, but you want to re-roll your powers, you must choose whether you want to re-roll on the Primary or Secondary Table.
- Receiving a power or powers that you do not like is a risk you will have to take; we have, however, tried to make each power in the two tables seem desirable.
Once powers have been determined for each character, they will be added to the appropriate character sheets in the list of accepted characters.
Keep in mind that the initial stages of this role-play will focus on the player-characters learning to master the powers they have been given. They will not instantly know how to use their new skills.
1) Fire Manipulation - Beasts fear flame, but you do not. Instead you hold power over it, creating and manipulating the element of fire.
2) Electricity Control - The primal force of electricity and lightning dances to your tune. You can short-circuit electronics, bring down bolts of lightning and generate electrical shockwaves.
3) Water Manipulation - Over two-thirds of the world is covered by the sea, and you are in tune with this massive force. You can control water in many forms, from summoning rainstorms to breathing underwater to throwing orbs of water with surprising force.
4) Ice Manipulation - Winter's chill responds to your power, as you trap people in blocks of ice, throw shards and icicles at targets and encase yourself in tough armour of frozen water.
5) Earth Control - The ground itself bends to your will: you can punch stone spikes up from the ground, hurl rocks, don stone armour, and even split the earth open if you are strong enough.
6) Plant Control - Nature is at your beck and call, with the power to manipulate plant matter. Vines, leaves and thorns can be weaved into powerful combative tools under your guidance.
7) Metal Affinity - You command the ability to control most if not all metals. You can slap bullets aside with a thought and a gesture, tear a gun from its owner's hand, and shape metals into any form you desire.
8) Poison Generation - Your body produces a powerful toxin that you can spread in multiple different ways. Among them are: through skin contact; throwing bolts of poison at targets; breathing a stream of thick, visible poison gas; and creating a cloud of that same gas, which you can direct and control.
You can change the effect of your poison at will between a lethal toxin, a pain inducer and a simple sedative, to avoid inadvertently killing someone should you so desire. You are, of course, immune to your own body's poison regardless of its effects, and are rendered immune to all other diseases as an added side-effect (including those of other users of Poison Generation).
The skin tone of a character with Poison Generation becomes slightly greyer than normal as a result of harbouring poison within their body.
9) Superhuman Strength - One of the classical comic-book powers, you gain considerable strength, able to lift heavy objects like vehicles, punch clean through walls and crush rocks with your bare hands.
10) Tendril Mutation - You have the ability to sprout numerous prehensile tendrils from your arms, hands and torso. These are biological in nature and can be controlled as one would an ordinary limb. A tendril can reach considerable lengths and still remain lightweight, depending on how many are being used at a time.
11) Sonic Scream - Your vocal cords have mutated to allow you to generate powerful sonic attacks. Easily capable of shattering glass, you can cause damage to living beings as well.
12) Weapon Proficiency - You find yourself with the capacity to skilfully operate weapons of most kinds. From ranged combat to close-quarter fighting, weapons become precision instruments in your hands.
2) Electricity Control - The primal force of electricity and lightning dances to your tune. You can short-circuit electronics, bring down bolts of lightning and generate electrical shockwaves.
3) Water Manipulation - Over two-thirds of the world is covered by the sea, and you are in tune with this massive force. You can control water in many forms, from summoning rainstorms to breathing underwater to throwing orbs of water with surprising force.
4) Ice Manipulation - Winter's chill responds to your power, as you trap people in blocks of ice, throw shards and icicles at targets and encase yourself in tough armour of frozen water.
5) Earth Control - The ground itself bends to your will: you can punch stone spikes up from the ground, hurl rocks, don stone armour, and even split the earth open if you are strong enough.
6) Plant Control - Nature is at your beck and call, with the power to manipulate plant matter. Vines, leaves and thorns can be weaved into powerful combative tools under your guidance.
7) Metal Affinity - You command the ability to control most if not all metals. You can slap bullets aside with a thought and a gesture, tear a gun from its owner's hand, and shape metals into any form you desire.
8) Poison Generation - Your body produces a powerful toxin that you can spread in multiple different ways. Among them are: through skin contact; throwing bolts of poison at targets; breathing a stream of thick, visible poison gas; and creating a cloud of that same gas, which you can direct and control.
You can change the effect of your poison at will between a lethal toxin, a pain inducer and a simple sedative, to avoid inadvertently killing someone should you so desire. You are, of course, immune to your own body's poison regardless of its effects, and are rendered immune to all other diseases as an added side-effect (including those of other users of Poison Generation).
The skin tone of a character with Poison Generation becomes slightly greyer than normal as a result of harbouring poison within their body.
9) Superhuman Strength - One of the classical comic-book powers, you gain considerable strength, able to lift heavy objects like vehicles, punch clean through walls and crush rocks with your bare hands.
10) Tendril Mutation - You have the ability to sprout numerous prehensile tendrils from your arms, hands and torso. These are biological in nature and can be controlled as one would an ordinary limb. A tendril can reach considerable lengths and still remain lightweight, depending on how many are being used at a time.
11) Sonic Scream - Your vocal cords have mutated to allow you to generate powerful sonic attacks. Easily capable of shattering glass, you can cause damage to living beings as well.
12) Weapon Proficiency - You find yourself with the capacity to skilfully operate weapons of most kinds. From ranged combat to close-quarter fighting, weapons become precision instruments in your hands.
1) Flight - You can take to the skies, whether it be through sheer thought or a pair of wings that have sprouted from your shoulder blades.
2) Armoured Skin - Your skin becomes resistant to damage, able to withstand considerable impact. Armoured Skin may vary in strength, depending on the character's concentration: the tougher one's skin becomes, the more physical differences there are. At its toughest, Armoured Skin can take on the appearance of being made of metal or rock.
3) Healing Factor - Your body can recover from grievous injuries. You can also apply this power to other people in the form of a beam of white light produced from your hand. As long as the beam makes direct contact with the target, they receive the same healing properties you normally have. However, while you are healing another person, your own regenerative capabilities are drastically reduced.
4) Enhanced Speed - Your running speed has been drastically increased, and you have the fitness and reflexes to use such a talent effectively.
5) Thoughtspeaking - A thoughtspeaker can communicate with others via telepathy: they can send silent messages as if they were speaking to the recipient. However, they cannot pick up on the thoughts of others unless the target is directly intending for them to hear what they're thinking: this will be referred to as 'thinking at the thoughtspeaker'.
6) Acute Senses - Your five senses have sharpened to superhuman levels. What others would think silent, you hear perfectly. You can see perfectly at great distances, and your sight is better at night than that of a regular human.
7) Enhanced Agility - Your reflexes, fitness and reaction time have been heightened to peak human levels. While it is not enough to dodge a bullet, you demonstrate the ability to avoid close-ranged attacks and use the environment to your advantage when covering ground.
2) Armoured Skin - Your skin becomes resistant to damage, able to withstand considerable impact. Armoured Skin may vary in strength, depending on the character's concentration: the tougher one's skin becomes, the more physical differences there are. At its toughest, Armoured Skin can take on the appearance of being made of metal or rock.
3) Healing Factor - Your body can recover from grievous injuries. You can also apply this power to other people in the form of a beam of white light produced from your hand. As long as the beam makes direct contact with the target, they receive the same healing properties you normally have. However, while you are healing another person, your own regenerative capabilities are drastically reduced.
4) Enhanced Speed - Your running speed has been drastically increased, and you have the fitness and reflexes to use such a talent effectively.
5) Thoughtspeaking - A thoughtspeaker can communicate with others via telepathy: they can send silent messages as if they were speaking to the recipient. However, they cannot pick up on the thoughts of others unless the target is directly intending for them to hear what they're thinking: this will be referred to as 'thinking at the thoughtspeaker'.
6) Acute Senses - Your five senses have sharpened to superhuman levels. What others would think silent, you hear perfectly. You can see perfectly at great distances, and your sight is better at night than that of a regular human.
7) Enhanced Agility - Your reflexes, fitness and reaction time have been heightened to peak human levels. While it is not enough to dodge a bullet, you demonstrate the ability to avoid close-ranged attacks and use the environment to your advantage when covering ground.
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Name: This should be easy enough.
Age: All characters should be within the age constraints of 18 to 30 years of age.
Sex: Male or female.
Appearance: Describe your character's looks. Things such as height, weight, preferred choice of clothing, physique, hairstyle and eye colour come to mind here.
Please do not just post a picture for your character's appearance, for two reasons: first, I would like to see original characters and not just copies of others from anime and games and suchlike. Second, a picture does not give me enough information to work with. You may use a picture if you so desire, but it should be supplementary rather than the focus of the Appearance section.
Personality: Your character's attitude and demeanour. Character personalities are not entirely locked in and set in stone; they should allow room for development and expansion, especially in a setting such as this. Basically, a character's personality is the little quirks, perks and flaws that make your character human, rather than a soulless vessel for the writer's thoughts.
Biography: Your character's history up until the present day. Where were they born? Have they lived in Silverhollow their entire life, or did they move into the city from somewhere else? What was growing up like for them? Did they have any friends, enemies, or past romances? What brought them to Goldmar University?
Notes: Anything you feel is necessary to flesh out your character a little more, that does not apply to any of the above sections. A Notes entry is entirely optional.
Age: All characters should be within the age constraints of 18 to 30 years of age.
Sex: Male or female.
Appearance: Describe your character's looks. Things such as height, weight, preferred choice of clothing, physique, hairstyle and eye colour come to mind here.
Please do not just post a picture for your character's appearance, for two reasons: first, I would like to see original characters and not just copies of others from anime and games and suchlike. Second, a picture does not give me enough information to work with. You may use a picture if you so desire, but it should be supplementary rather than the focus of the Appearance section.
Personality: Your character's attitude and demeanour. Character personalities are not entirely locked in and set in stone; they should allow room for development and expansion, especially in a setting such as this. Basically, a character's personality is the little quirks, perks and flaws that make your character human, rather than a soulless vessel for the writer's thoughts.
Biography: Your character's history up until the present day. Where were they born? Have they lived in Silverhollow their entire life, or did they move into the city from somewhere else? What was growing up like for them? Did they have any friends, enemies, or past romances? What brought them to Goldmar University?
Notes: Anything you feel is necessary to flesh out your character a little more, that does not apply to any of the above sections. A Notes entry is entirely optional.
The character sheet template is rather short, since there is no Powers section, but that will be remedied once powers have been determined. After all, these are meant to be normal people... for now.
When the time comes, the superpowers of each accepted character will be edited into the appropriate sheet.
Note About Character Sheets: When writing a character sheet, please remember that your character does not possess any powers at the beginning of the role-play, and they should certainly not be aware that they will be gaining powers. To reiterate, they will be given their powers during the prologue.
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) When it comes to the Appearance section of the character sheet, I will not accept any sheets that give me nothing but a picture of what they look like. That is simply not enough for me to work with: I feel that the Appearance section of most character sheets is often neglected and ignored during the course of most role-plays.
2b) Appearance and Personality should be more than just lists of appropriate traits. Expand them into paragraphs, with more detail than just the basics.
2c) No-one should apply with more than one character.
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.
3a) If you submit a character, are accepted, and receive powers you do not like, leaving because of the powers you get will not be appreciated. Negotiation may be possible, depending on the circumstances.
By posting a character sheet you understand that you are taking a gamble in regards to your character's powers.
4) I expect all participants to have a high level of competency in regards to spelling, grammar and post length. Anyone - and I mean anyone - who writes a post with a length of one line or less, with little detail or action, will be placed on a warning system. After three warnings, you are dismissed from the role-play and your character will be killed, written out or ignored to death.
4a) If I deem your posts to be not up to my standards, I as GM reserve the right to ignore them and their poster until the problem is resolved.
4b) 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) In order for all participants to communicate effectively, I recommend that everyone intending to be a part of The Goldmar Incident downloads the instant messaging / conference-call program Skype, if they do not already have it. I and many of my Escapist friends have found this program to be just as effective, if not more so, than an Escapist-based usergroup... plus it helps us to get to know each other better. I enjoy writing alongside people I know much more than working with people who are practically strangers.
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.
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) When it comes to the Appearance section of the character sheet, I will not accept any sheets that give me nothing but a picture of what they look like. That is simply not enough for me to work with: I feel that the Appearance section of most character sheets is often neglected and ignored during the course of most role-plays.
2b) Appearance and Personality should be more than just lists of appropriate traits. Expand them into paragraphs, with more detail than just the basics.
2c) No-one should apply with more than one character.
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.
3a) If you submit a character, are accepted, and receive powers you do not like, leaving because of the powers you get will not be appreciated. Negotiation may be possible, depending on the circumstances.
By posting a character sheet you understand that you are taking a gamble in regards to your character's powers.
4) I expect all participants to have a high level of competency in regards to spelling, grammar and post length. Anyone - and I mean anyone - who writes a post with a length of one line or less, with little detail or action, will be placed on a warning system. After three warnings, you are dismissed from the role-play and your character will be killed, written out or ignored to death.
4a) If I deem your posts to be not up to my standards, I as GM reserve the right to ignore them and their poster until the problem is resolved.
4b) 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) In order for all participants to communicate effectively, I recommend that everyone intending to be a part of The Goldmar Incident downloads the instant messaging / conference-call program Skype, if they do not already have it. I and many of my Escapist friends have found this program to be just as effective, if not more so, than an Escapist-based usergroup... plus it helps us to get to know each other better. I enjoy writing alongside people I know much more than working with people who are practically strangers.
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.
I am looking to accept a reasonable number of characters, while keeping the number at a state where the chance of two characters with the exact same powers is reasonably low. Anywhere between eight and ten characters, including those belonging to the GM and co-GM, will be accepted. Accepted applicants will have time to discuss sharing a background, or part thereof, with other applicants.
After the player-characters gain their powers and begin learning to control them, the writer behind each character may add a Powers section to their character sheet, detailing the character's power or powers and preferences when using them.
