For those who play Cortex/MHRP,

 - I've read some spectacular and grueling interaction between players, without even needing a Watcher's presence in some instances, and wondered if any Watcher ran a game where there were NPC Heroes and Villains just as much as there are PC Heroes and Villains. Whatever the PC Villains goal, whenever engaged in a 'criminal action', the Watcher may introduce a Timer as stated in MHRP Annihilation, whereas should Timer reach D12+ status, a 'General Alert' is posted, allowing for the possibility of direct PC Hero intervention?

 - Probably making it more complicated than need be, but I was just thinking of some kind of hack that would make use of the PBP format, allowing for multiple story genres to be played, both heroic and villainous...with an interesting twist that may find your Hero/Villain experiencing a crossover with another Hero/Villain as Heroes can activate a 'General Alert' as a means to call in additional help...or a Villain triggering the alert to ambush a Hero.

 - All this while the various PC's attempt to complete their milestones and advance their story. The 'General Alert' remains active as long as the scene is active, and can be used as an asset to arrive at the scene. An inactive 'General Alert' can be used as an asset for research, detective, or related purposes specific to the alert in general. I can imagine a couple of PC's involved in a social interaction, but on the side, one of them is researching series of 'General Alert's...only to find out the person responsible for the series of alerts is the person they're seeing. ^_^

 - Anyways, just thinking aloud - creative feedback appreciated. :D

Sounds like a cool idea! Don't know anything about Cortex, but I've been reading up a bit on Marvel Heroic RP...
I'm wondering about the third part you wrote, using the timer as an asset to arrive at the scene - that is with rolls to see if you succeed in finding and making your way to the scene?
Also, would separate stories be hidden from the players, to enable this researching inactive general alerts etc?

I think what you're describing is a cool way to play this, and force the opportunity to interact! :)
Did you ever try this system in pbp? I didn't, and I'm wondering if there isn't an unusual amount of interacting with each other's actions (using the 1s, using the 1s from someone elses reaction, etc, could take several posts for just one action) - although since I haven't tried, it might just seem that way at first...

Just FYI: Marvel Heroic is based on the Cortex+ system.

In reply to badpenny (msg # 3):

Cool, so in this case would it refer to "the marvel rpg built on cortex+" or is there a cortex game that's relevant here? :)

Thanks for the feedback guys. :)

 - No, I haven't actually tried something like this before, but what got me considering this was an old MMORPG called City of Heroes with it's prodigy - City of Villains. It was possible for Heroes and Villains to interact, either violently or cooperatively, depending upon the scenario. I liked how loose the Cortex system worked and wondered how easily it would be to convert City of Heroes over into MHRP format. Atlas Park could be a Setting while City Hall and Atlas Statue could be prominent locations, and areas like PTA Monorail Station or Atlas Plaza could be a Scene. Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, even Praetorian Earth are really nothing more than Settings so that got me thinking of some really fun questions. How would the effects of something like Marvel's 'Civil War' impact 'The City of Tomorrow'?...or the Mutant Registration Act? Would Incarnates be sufficient enough to withstand the 'Annihilation Wave'? Will Paragon's finest respond to a Breakout at The Raft? Stop the Wrecking Crew's wrecking spree?...or a rampaging Hulk? Who knew Rhode Island was so close to New York? So, what do you guys think? Probably just works for CoX fans. ^_^
This message was last edited by the user at 00:44, Fri 02 June 2017.

I remember playing in a similar sounding game using GURPS, where the Players were both Heroes and Villains (one Hero, up to three Villains).  Heroes were created slightly weaker than the Villains, but would gain XP by taking them down (more for taking down one of the other Player Villains, a bit less for taking down one of your own with help) if I remember correctly.

Each Hero would do what Heroes do, each Villain had their own set of agendas, but because everyone was in the same City, there could be multiple story arcs going on at the same time.  It started off really well but then we lost our GM.  I guess there are a few ways you (or any prospective GM) could set this up for a cohesive storyline which gave everyone (Hero and Villain) a chance to shine.