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, welcome to MARVEL NOIRVERSE

08:45, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Welcome to the Noirverse.

Posted by The WatcherFor group 0
The Watcher
Fri 11 Jan 2019
at 17:54
  • msg #1

Welcome to the Noirverse

[The scene begins in darkness, the only sounds being the clacking of a typewriter and the static of an old radio playing a forgotten brass band.

Darkness turns to black and white with shades of gray as Venetian blinds open, striking horizontal lines of light across a heavy-set bald man in a pinstripe suit. He sits in a swivel chair behind a heavy wooden desk with an antique lamp and phone on it. A ceiling fan spins overhead, stirring the smoke from a cigar in an ashtray on the desk.]

"I'm glad you could make it. I'm sorry about your dimension collapsing and all, but these things happen all the time. So...introductions. They call me the Watcher. And this...is Earth-90214."

[He picks up the cigar and takes a few puffs as he leans back and points outside the blinds. You suddenly realize that the circle of light illuminating the scene isn't the full moon. It's the Earth!]

"Yeah, it's beautiful isn't it? Grime and all. So listen, pal. Here the year is 1934. The Great Depression is gripping the world, and in the States, Prohibition's made it so you can't tell the cops from the crooks anymore."

"Now the funny thing about this world is that people are starting to show up with...superhuman abilities. It started with Captain America in the Great War. Compared to the worlds my associates watch over, we're only about ten years early. Then there's that world in 1601, but that's a special case. But I digress."

"The problem is..."

[He pulls a flask from his drawer and takes a swig.]

"Okay...long story short. A lot of these heroes, and even some of the villains, have gone missing and are NOT coming back. Since you got no home left to go to, I'm giving YOU a chance to replace your analog in this world. You'll get a full set of memories and you'll forget you came from someplace else. Even your Uncle Benjamin won't recognize...*winces* oh..."

[He takes another swig]

"Now where was I? Right...so you'll be going deep undercover. I need you to investigate whatever's sending this universe to the edge of oblivion and stop it. Considering you got no place left to go home to, it's an offer you can't refuse."

[He pulls out a sheet of paper from a typewriter and offers you a pen from his inkwell.]

"So...we got a deal?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:18, Fri 23 June 2023.
The Watcher
Tue 15 Jan 2019
at 15:49
  • msg #2

Welcome to the Noirverse

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 1):

Some guidelines for character creation:

This world is darker that 616 and 1610.

This world not literally black and white like Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir in the Spider-Verse movie. It's closer to the NOIR MCU series.

Nobody on Earth knows about the Multiverse with the exception of Stephen Strange. To Reed Richards it's only a theory.

The first known super-hero was Captain America in the Great War. He inspired scores of vigilantes in the 1920s, most of them with no superpowers except for a strong right hook, or borderline abilities at best. A few of them even survived into the 1930s.

Heroes and villains are generally less powerful in this world. That's why Spider-Man carries a revolver. If your character's been in a recent movie, imagine what the 1930’s TV version of the character was like or would have been like. That's more what your character would be like. Yours powers, if any, are secondary compared to your wits and grit.

Do NOT flaunt your abilities. If you're TOO powerful (like the Hulk) you'll be hunted down relentlessly by SHIELD. The government even tries to squelch news stories of superhumans with varying degrees of success.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:21, Fri 23 June 2023.
The Narrator
GM, 34 posts
Your GM
The Watcher
Tue 15 Jan 2019
at 16:56
  • msg #3

Welcome to the Noirverse

In 2019, we've got a problem with racism and sexism.

In 1934, they weren't a problem. They were the norm.

You had celebrities like Charles Lindbergh hoping America will join the German side when the war starts. When the KKK held rallies, crowds gather to cheer for them. Segregation was law and civil rights were a long way away.

Hell, read between the lines in H.P. Lovecraft's stories. Or watch a cartoon from the 30's that reinforced these attitudes on your grandparents or greatgrandparents when they were growing up.

Your Narrator abhors racism, sexism, and homophobia and all their forms. These societal evils are as dangerous as any megalomaniac who graced the pages of Marvel Comics.

If an NPC spews something vile at a PC, it will be censored. Such as N*****. K***. F*****.

I hope you all take similar measures and cast a light of tolerance and acceptance against the darkness.
The Watcher
GM, 257 posts
Your GM
The Watcher
Fri 23 Jun 2023
at 16:14
  • msg #4

Welcome to the Noirverse

SOFT REBOOT

After four years I’m resurrecting this campaign.

If you ran one of these characters four years ago, you get first pick of your character again.

Otherwise you’re free to pick up one of the pre-made characters and adjust them to the reboot, or make a new one.

KARMA points - these are points you accumulate to push your luck or save up to increase your abilities. You get them by great an ingenious role-playing, achieving character goals, and rolling a d616.

DICE CHALLENGES

I'm making this super-simple and inspired by the latest Marvel game, but bringing in a kind of Botch roll to simulate how in film-noir things will quite often go wrong.

Roll 3 dice, in order. The second die is your Marvel dice, which you should color red.

If you roll 6-1-6 you have a JACKPOT roll and get a KARMA point.

If you roll 6-6-6 you have a JINX roll and something goes wrong. You counteract a JINX by spending a KARMA point.

Whenever you have a JINX, bad luck starts cascading out of control. If you can't or won't spend KARMA you have a SCRATCH. Each SCRATCH you have lowers the Marvel die result for another JINX. So if you have one SCRATCH you get a JINX on a 6-5-6 or on three sixes. No matter how many SCRATCHES you get you can still get a JACKPOT roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:15, Sun 30 July 2023.
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