Mankind Versus Mutantkind—Mutantkind Versus Itself

 

 

Earth 777... one of myriad and potentially infinite Earth dimensions.

 

The year is two thousand and seventeen, as reckoned in the Common Era. President Gage Reinheiser, a hardline Republican faces off with an increasingly dangerous and erratic Vladimir Putin. And relations between normals and mutants have never been so strained.

 

In many cities, mutants have been relegated into ghettolike districts. With few exceptions, law enforcement displays a heavy-handed intolerance in dealing with powered individuals. The civilian police is now highly militarized, armed with anti-mutant equipment and training, provided bu the Reinheiser administration.

 

District X, in Manhattan, is one of the exceptions.

 

Spanning the neighborhoods once known as 'Alphabet City' and 'Greenwich Village', the District has become something of a Mecca for mutants. Headed by a progressive and sympathetic police captain, the Third Precinct is far more accepting of mutants and their issues. However, the rising mutant population in District X has become a cause for concern, and eyes are watching.

 

District X, the United States and the world itself—all are powder-kegs. Can Earth survive?

 

 

 

 

Rules Of Engagement 

 

1.  In recent years there has been an online trend of people treating each other like shit. That's not going to happen in here. There will be no bashing of people's characters, RP style, profiles or fandoms. The by-line is 'Be excellent to each other.' It will be enforced. 

 

2. Because of constant problems with them, original characters now have a different procedure for play than canon characters. Please see below.

 

3.  This room has an expectation that people remain IC. We do not 'half-and-half' in here. If you are OOC, use some way of indicating this, like (( )) or [ ] around your speech. Failure to do so or snark regarding it will be grounds for a kick. Repeated offenses are grounds for a ban. 'Half and half' KILLS roleplaying dead. Memes, links and other 'fluff' are to be kept to a minimum. If you are asked to knock it off by people actually roleplaying, you do it. We will have an OOC room for such things. Use it.

 

4.  People abuse lurking in the Marvel rooms. At this point, because this is the case, I am not going to allow it any longer. I get that sometimes, things happen that pull us away. But people that come in to just spectate and never contribute any play are going to be approached about the matter from hereon out.

 

5.  A certain amount of crossover is allowed. I am okay with things that come from other hero-verses like DC. However, I need to ask that we keep things in the ballpark comic book believability. No, manga don't count as comic books unless they are specifically superhero-based. No anime anything. Ever.

 

6.  Although duplicates are allowed, only one iteration of any given character can be allowed per major scene, for obvious reasons. 

 

7.  This room is meant to be inclusive. That means we don't ignore new arrivals or ostracize others. While no one is asking anyone to play with people they don't get along with, I want this to be a welcoming room filled with accepting roleplayers. Cliques kill games.

 

8.  This room is a 'player consent' environment. This means that if someone says that an action your character have taken is unacceptable to them, you need to respect that. I strongly suggest that players talk ahead of time if it looks like there will be a combat situation. This applies triply to situations that cause permanent effect to another character. No one likes to bust their ass working on a character just to have someone sweep in and maim or kill them.

 

9.  One of the few things I will ban the shit out of someone for doing is godmoding.  This includes but is not limited to autohitting, rhino-hiding (not taking hits at all), metagaming and playing ridiculously-overpowered characters (including canons) without clearing them with me. Open-ended actions are to be used at all times. The only time when they will not be is when a moderator feels the need to stop a situation using IC actions to avoid drama. Please respect this.

 

10. No drama. This means no mod sass or bashing of other rooms or players, even when said player is not present.

 

11. No dramaqueening. If you come in dying, suicidal, or in some other kind of crisis on a daily basis, it annoys the hell out of other players. We all like to have the spotlight, and I understand this. But one cannot constantly come in and steal the scene.

 

12. Avoid writing Mary Sue/Marty Stus. This is touched on above with the rule on godmoding, but it bears a little repetition. I should not need a fifty-foot crane to suspend my disbelief.

 

13.  This room is accepting of GLBTQ players. A certain latitude is allowed with how even canon characters are played, in that I am willing to accept iterations with a differing sexual preference from the books. Since duplicates are being permitted, if you don't like how a player interprets a canon, your recourse is just to not play with the person.

 

14.  Disputes can always be brought up in PMs to me. I'm always willing to listen. All I ask is that you do so maturely and politely so we can resolve them.

 

15. Your character can be killed, especially if said character is an OC. Because we all know that no one ever stays dead in the comicsverse, resurrection is possible. You will need to speak to a co-owner regarding this, as resurrections are handled on a case-by-case basis. There will be situations in which we may refuse to permit a resurrection, usually because the character in question has created some kind of problem.

 

16.  Magic is a powerful force. Although there is a good bit of it in the comics, because of its impact on game balance, I am restricting it to characters played only by moderators or co-owners.

 

17.  No smut in the main room. Anything any more risque than passionate kisses needs to be taken to PMs. This room has had issues with this in the past. Likewise, don't PM people in this room if that is all you seel. That's cause for a ban.

 

18.  Write well and have fun! Know that Marvel Universe is a labor of love for this fandom, and I welcome all roleplayers to enjoy themselves. ♥

 

 

On Original Characters

 

Original characters can be a little tricky in comics roleplay. Because there is a real rash of people playing overpowered or poorly-thought-out characters, I've decided to put the following set of guidelines into place.

 

 

1.  To prevent disputes from arising over what your character is and is not able to do, please message me with a complete list of all your character's abilities. You don't have to have them listed publicly, but I need to know what the character can do in the event of needing to make a mod call in a fight. This also prevents people from accusing you of popping up with godmoded powers to turn the tide in combat.

 

 

2.  You don't have to do the above, but do please understand that if you do not, that means that preference will be given to canon characters over any OC in a battle. Why? Because a canon character is presumptively much more experienced in the use of his or her abilities than any OC.

 

3.  It is preferred that you start play on a canon character as opposed to jumping straight into an OC. This way, we can get an idea of how you play.

 

4.  No one is to play an OC blood relation to any canon character. This includes characters that have been played in other rooms. It causes too much confusion and people tend to play these characters as way overpowered.

 

5.  If you send us a list of powers and I tell you that it's too much, you have two choices: accept the edits I make, or don't play the character. I don't like telling someone they can't do what they want. If I tell you a power isn't available it's because the character is either overpowered or there are too many OCs with too similar a power set. So please be mature about it.

 

 

6.  If an OC starts to generate complaints from others, especially others who are playing canon characters, then you may be asked to tone your character down. As above, please be mature about it.

 

7. Canon players are not required to interact with OCs beyond polite acknowledgement. I don't want anyone ostracised, but at the same time, I don't want anyone to feel they have to play with anyone they don't wish to.

 

 

On Original Character and Canon Interaction

 

Over the past decade or so, I have noticed a huge divide in comics-based roleplaying regarding the playing of original characters. I am a centrist on this issue.

 

I do completely understand the frustration that players of canon characters feel when dealing with a badly-written and overpowered original character. As a player of both, I understand that OCs should not make the canon characters irrelevant. Our love for the original comics is what has guided us to roleplay in these worlds. To then effectively rewrite and dismantle them is actively disrespectful to the canon itself.

 

On the other hand, it's extremely frustrating to those of us that play OCs to have a canon player assume that we are going to be disrespectful to the books simply because we are playing a creation of our own. I put a lot of time, care and thought into building my characters. I am careful to add flaws and weaknesses to balance their powers. And if I am playing off of a canon character and they ask me to tone something down, generally, I will—very cheerfully, because I feel the canons deserve to remain the stars of the show. So, when I encounter a canon player that is dismissive or nasty to me as a player, it annoys me.

 

Another thing that makes me angry is other OC players who are dismissive of the books. Players who create invincible characters, that metagame and godmode, and are otherwise deleterious to the game environment pretty much ruin it for everyone. They make the canon players hate all OCs, and then the responsible OC players cannot get any interaction with the canon players or are excluded from games entirely. 

 

While I understand and respect the right of other gamemasters to exclude OCs from their games, this is not my decision in my own. I am, however, going to be far more strict regarding their play, in order to respect and preserve the canon background. I am not going to allow canon players to be abusive to players of OCs that I know to be responsible with their characters. Canon players that do not want to interact with OCs might be happier in a game other than this one. Both character types are welcome and both are going to remain so.

 

And on behalf of the canon players I am going to state right now to all OC players... expect me to go over your character with a fine-toothed comb. I will insist that players new to this game prove to me that they can support and enhance the gaming envorinment rather than being a source of frustration and disruption. And if at any time, I am contacted by one of my known and established canon players and shown logs where there has been metagaming or godmoding, expect me to take you aside and ask you to tone your character down and/or cease the improper play.

 

Anyone with an issue that they feel is a grey area or something they don't want to handle—on either side—is free to log it and then message Sabretooth or Lady of the Violets, and we will take care of it from there.

 

Also, please be advised that if any moderator or owner sees egregious behavior on the part of any player, we will retain the log and share it amongst ourselves. And that person will no longer be welcome in the room if the incident was a serious one and the player not receptive to correcting their play.

 

I want Marvel Universe to continue to be an environment in which both character types can feel welcome.

 

 

 

The Default Locale

The default location for the room is Nth Degree Books and Music—a little slice of avante-garde heaven located in Greenwich Village in New York City.

 

As you enter the shop, the first thing you see is a huge cork bulletin-board. Bands, tarot-card readers, people looking for roommates, gaming groups, New Age weirdos... pretty much everything is represented on it. The only things the proprietress, Sindra, will take down and tear up is anything outright illegal... and anything anti-mutant.

 

One has to pass through the security gate to enter; it's set up not only to scan for such pesky things as shoplifters... it will also allow Sindra to know who is and is not armed in the store. If you are someone known and trusted, it's all good. If not... you may have a problem.

 

The Café—called, charmingly, Shut Up And Drink It—is a new addition to the shop. It's been in construction for some time, and just opened. They have a truly astonishing variety of teas and coffees, as well as fruit juices and Italian sodas. The cuisine is not the standard coffee-shop sweet rolls and so on, either; it's good breads, world cuisine, sandwich wraps and other savory fare. For dessert, there are things like baklava, ice cream, creme brulée and gelato.

 

The Reading Room has several tables, and is open to the rest of the shop. There are listening stations where music can be previewed, although if you just rip something open without bringing it to the counter, you might get slapped around. The Reading Room is also where one can sit and enjoy treats from the cafe. There also is a glassed-in section which sports a sign that reads 'Rare and Antique Books'.  This room is kept locked and one can only access it in company of one of the store managers.

 

Nth Degree is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, including even major holidays.  It is also known as a safe haven for mutants in need, and has more than once stood duty as a Red Cross shelter during nasty winter weather.