Let's keep this short and sweet.
"The Empowered" is a game about people who exhibit superhuman abilities living in a world analogous to our own. In this world the Empowered are a small fraction of the population, not unlike mutants in the Marvel Universe, and the Empowered meet the same kind of misunderstanding and fear-mongering mutants do.
Since the late 1980's all children are tested at birth for the genetic markers that make them Empowered. With a careful regiment of repressive medication their Empowered abilities will never surface. This systematic repression is the way it's been for almost 20 years, but a surge of good, old-fashioned angst and uproar has thrown a curve ball to the man.
The Empowered have begun to resist taking their medication. For some it's a personal journey and others it's driven by a renewed sense of anti-authority, but the reasons for "why" are as numerous as the Empowered themselves. These people celebrating their full selves are called Bloomers, individuals awakening a repressed and buried part of themselves.
It's a movement popularized in social media by using the tag "#Bloomers", and no location in the United States has embraced this more than Lookout, New Mexico. It boasts the largest population of Empowered in the country and is the origination of the "#Bloomers" movement. A majority of the denizens believe that the Empowered are a step forward for humanity as a whole.
Doesn't hurt that the town was sorely in need of an economic boost, but hey, nothing wrong with that.
Now the Empowered and the Bloomers of Lookout, New Mexico are at the forefront of a social movement that could change the course of history.
I like bullet points, do you like bullet points?
- I feel it helps to say that this is a super hero game set in the modern world, but it is not a "four color" supers story. Likewise it is not a gritty "life sucks" story either. And lastly, it's not about plain cloths heroes, a genre that seems ever popular.
Characters are relatively mundane and normal people, but they have exceptional abilities. As the town fills with anyone who is Empowered, there are going to be a number of bad eggs who try to take what they can get. Somebody has to stand up to this abuse of power.
- Characters may also play regular humans, who have as important and vital a role in this story as the Empowered.
- Powers can be totally unique and do not need to follow one specific "trend", ie: everything is fire-related. However, I am not looking for a crew of players with infallible abilities or who can twist the metaphysical world at will but luckily they're good people so it won't ever happen but it could so don't get them mad.
That's annoying and lame, isn't it? Your character should be defined by their personality, their history, their actions, their sense of right and wrong... all special abilities are a compliment to the character itself. Do not come here looking to play a god-like super hero, because that's not the story I'm looking to tell.
- This is an Adult game but it is not focused on sexual interactions, so if that's your primary appeal to gaming there are better options on RPOL for you to peruse than the Empowered.
- This is a game for writers of all levels, but you must be willing to put in the work for a good, quality post. In a perfect world we're aiming for posts about 500 words in length, sometimes less and sometimes more. I want to stress that all levels of writers are welcome here. From the rules of The Empowered,
GM:
- We are striving for effort and quality in every post. While that level of effort may be relative to each writer, everybody in-game should seek a post that is edited, detailed, and complete. Check your spelling, sentence structure, and grammar. I don't expect or desire perfection, but I do want players to contribute quality content every time they click "Post Message".
- Because "effort" is relative, all levels of writers and writing are welcome. I love the idea of combining seasoned writers eager to teach and encourage with those first exploring the craft. For this reason the more experienced writers should expect to offer some guidance and novice writers should be open to receiving it.
- Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have on The Empowered; I will not reply to messages on this thread or via rMail.
Thanks for checking this out and I hope you're interested. Best of luck in your pursuit for the perfect game.
