Just in case you missed the Game Introduction:

This forum was put together by three friends after much frustration with existing X-Men games.  We hope to provide a place where we can enjoy ourselves without being bogged down by powergaming, godmodding, favoritism, etc., etc.

What we are:
Three very experienced roleplayers who want to enjoy an X-Men type forum without all the baggage that comes with most other X-Men forums.

What we are not:
A place where you can fulfill your fantasies of defeating Wolverine with your little finger.  We're based on the X-Men theme.  Your character will never meet any cannon Marvel characters because none of them exist in this world.

The setting is simple.  Crime in (intentially generic modern day east coast city) is at an all-time high.  The police are over-worked, and under paid.  The Mayor is repeatedly denied the use of the National Guard.  Those who choose to help as volunteers are legally deputized and are cut a lot of legal slack to catch bad-guys without having to worry too much about being sued for doing so.  Characters are expected to be far less powerful than the typical X-Man.  The events will be appropriately low key like stopping a convenience store robbery or arson.

  To flagrantly steal a line from someone else,

  As a warning, multiple GM's have worked on this rules post.  I'm going to come out and say it.  Application of the rules will not be strict.  Unless you're really asking for it.  Or someone kicked my dog that day (Breach of Rule 4 and 5 makes GM Joe cry though).  Now for the specifics:

Rules: The things you need to read.

1. Paste this rule into your app to show you have read the rules.  Popular rule it seems.
   
   
2. Have fun!  (Yes.  We mean it.)
   
   
3. No Adult Material!  (This is a Mature rated game, not an Adult rated game!  Learn the difference: )
   
   RPOL Mature Games Policy:

   Mature games are games which have (as some minor portion of them) mature themes, strong language, drug use, and/or extensive violence.  Mature games use the Mature Content flag to warn potential readers that some of the game material may be considered offensive.  Despite this flag, Mature Games must remain suitable to all ages.
   
   The difference between a Mature game and an Adult game is the descriptive level and the amount of mature content in the game.  Games which focus exclusively on mature content for their plot or which describe such content in graphic detail are required to display the Adult rating.
   
   
   
4. No Godmodding or Powerposing.  This is not a matter of degree, it is a matter of 'at all' or 'not at all'.  Posting you smash an ice brick over someone's head is just as bad as 'only' posting you grab them, or completely bypass them unchallenged.  (See the thread No Godmodding or Powerposing link to a message in this game )
    As an inverse and the more tricky part to both handle and judge, unless everything thrown your way is guaranteed to cripple or kill you if it hits, you may raise some eyebrows if you avoid every single problem.  This is a Comic Book Superhero Game, if everything would kill you then something is going wrong somewhere.  We're also kicking around the idea that Mutants are inherently somewhat resistant to Mutant powers to explain why the blast intended to knock about Mr. Made-Of-Rocks didn't vaporize Captain Talks-To-Flowers.
   
   
5. Along similar lines, powers are intended to be very cut and dry along with the 'low tier' vibe we're going for.  This means no implying that 'I can shoot lightning' = 'I can control the electrical impulses of your brain'. General sense of  'Despite what Magneto would have you believe, Magnets can not do everything.'  Especially considering rule 4.
   
   
6. That thing up above that we asked you to paste into your application? That's a trap. Don't paste it into the app.
   
   
7. Powers that significantly effect others require special attention. (See rule 4 above.)  As a side effect this means most psychic powers aren't allowed because they by their very nature powerpose.  Things like Empathy are still doable though.
   
   
8. While this is a Mature rated game, please avoid swearing or other things done solely for the sake of Mature rating.

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Thanks, GM Joe! This is GM Timothius continuing the thoughts above. Please remember, we are not here to be rules mongers. We just want to make the game fun. So I'll say this right now: Use common sense and you won't really need to think about these rules much. Read them, nonetheless, to see where we are coming from. And always remember, you can ask the GMs questions about rules, what might have you going "huh?" and other such question-provoking things! Especially questions on theme and making a character. Here are my two cents for the rules.

1. We are all invincible. That doesn't just mean the GM characters, such as Joe, Timothius or Mittens. This means you! Do not fret too hard over how hard it is to kill your character unless it's just the theme of your character because as GM Joe hinted earlier, "Captain Talks-To-Flowers" can not be vaporized. The main characters in a story can not die. There is an exception to this rule: If you want your character to die, you may have that happen.
   
   
2. Faction changing is permitted, but keep it believable. Wolverine would not just one day suddenly decide he was going to work for Magneto in a mission to kill and eat baby seals. If you stay in your character's role, this shouldn't be hard to do. We all have ways to become Darth Vader, but that can vary from "If I kill children, my girlfriend will love me" to things more like "The badguy will destroy a bank if I don't do a small favor for him." Remember, the side you chose is a big part of your character. An American patriot does not wake up one morning and decide to be a Russian spy (Well, OK, maybe that happens, but only after prior mental conditioning, which would be in your character's background anyway). I think you get the idea.
   
   
3. Speaking of factions, beware applying for the "loner" type character. I'm saying this from experience: Loners usually wind up just that. Alone. That means less RP for you. Which defeats the purpose of being on an RP forum. Along those lines, be careful about applying for a "neutral" character. "Neither good nor evil" is permitted and all, but remember that saving orphans from flaming sharks is usually something heroes do and if you aren't a hero, you'll be left out of the fun. And if you're neutral, you aren't likely a hero. :)
   
   
4. No villains. Only GMs can play villains, which will really be just to provide plot.

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Rules of Thumb:

1. Expect a new post from one, two, or three of the GMs Monday through Thursday.  Friday maybe.  Saterday less likely.  Sunday probably not.
   
2. If you don't post, we will go to little effort to excuse your absence IC.  Your character will simply fade into the background until such time as you pose again.  If once a weekday is too fast for you, consider telling other players your inability to keep up.

A word on post order:  Not going to strictly enforce any particular order, but we want to avoid a situation where two dozen things happen before a player can react.

Example of a bad scene:
Emerald, Mittens, and Officer Bridget are having a conversation over lunch.  Emerald says, "I sometimes wonder about the authorities making criminals join us as a punishment."

Bridget says, "We shall see. Be patient and go along with it. You will learn in time their judgment had nothing but moral standing in mind."

Mittens snirks the moment Bridget asserts 'only morals in mind' but makes no actual comment.

Bridget looks at Mittens and says, "Is something funny?"

"Well when you said 'nothing but moral standing in mind,' I found the way you framed your point to be rather exaggerated," Mittens answers, "Something I don't expect from you.  I'm sure they at least had SOME thoughts in mind at the time besides just moral ones when choosing whom to send."

Bridget is cold as ever and seems unaffected... maybe. "Exaggeration is not something I practice on a regular basis. However, I did not even mean it as an exaggeration as I have lived here my whole life and thus understand the authorities here, at least the ones I choose work with, are paragons of good and justice. Mock that if you wish, but you only laugh because of your ignorance of the people here. I hope you will learn to have more respect for these people I speak of as they deserve nothing less. Some day you will look back to today and laugh at yourself for laughing at the idea that they are, indeed, that hero-minded."

"In other words you're completely convinced that they would agree with every last one of your answers to the limitless moral questions there are," Mittens answers Bridget, "And the thought of simply eating doesn't cross their mind when their hungry.  No they only eat because it's the moral thing to do.  If that's not an exaggeration, I don't know what is.  But don't take offense to my lack of understanding your point of view, no offense intended.  I laughed not in mockery of your heroes, but in amusement to my own thoughts of how one uses the bathroom with only moral thoughts in mind."

What's wrong with this picture?  Emerald only got to say one thing compared to the six from Bridget and Mittens!  At this rate, it'll be as though Emerald's not even in the scene even though she started it!  Hence the concept of pose order.  The occasional out-of-post-order post is fine, but if two players want to have a one-on-one without giving other players the chance to react, please take that to Private Messages (PMs) or request a separate thread.

It may be beneficial if the players were to give everyone an idea of the times they'll be available to post.  As mentioned elsewhere, I'm usually available to post all week except for Sunday.

A second word on post order:

If it's your turn, but your character doesn't have anything to add, please say so.

From the above example:

Emerald, Mittens, and Officer Bridget are having a conversation over lunch.  Emerald says, "I sometimes wonder about the authorities making criminals join us as a punishment."

Bridget says, "We shall see. Be patient and go along with it. You will learn in time their judgment had nothing but moral standing in mind."

Mittens snirks the moment Bridget asserts 'only morals in mind' but makes no actual comment.

Emerald has nothing to add and says nothing.

Bridget looks at Mittens and says, "Is something funny?"

"Well when you said that" Mittens answers, "I imagined you turning into a blue eagle muppet."

Emerald has nothing to add and says nothing.

Bridget is cold as ever and seems unaffected... maybe. "How very childish."

"Why thank you!" Mittens answers Bridget.

Emerald has nothing to add and says nothing.

By saying "My character says nothing" you let the other players know it's OK for them to continue their conversation.  If you post nothing, the other polite players wait for you to post and weeks go by with nobody being able to post while they wait for you to post something.  This is not good.

Even if you post only 2 words, "Skip me" it would be much appreciated.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:23, Wed 21 Sept 2011.

The Garbage Bin:
Here I list rules that didn't make it to the official lists and why.

If you are fail at RP for whatever reason, we will help you via PM.  We will not tell you how to play your character or demand that you use a certain style.
I'm not going to make a rule about common sense stuff like "don't be a Nimrod."  If you're having a bad day, we will ask who kicked your dog and try to work things out.
Seriously.  Actual rule from another forum.  No.  Just... no.  GMs do not have the "power" to break their own rules here.  If you catch any of us here being hypocrites, please point it out in private messages.  When in the course of human events....
Again... "GM is always right" is made of fail.
Common sense.
No duh.
Not going to make this a hard rule.
Give me a break.  What... call the cops?  Please.
I'm not making this stuff up!  Actual quote!
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:18, Tue 22 June 2010.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Hi. I'm interested in possibly joining the game, but I was wondering if you could clarify for me what, exactly, you mean when you say the characters are lower powered than the X-Men. Could you be a little more specific? For instance, if I want to play say, a super-strong character, does that mean he has to be less strong then any super-strong X-Men, or just less strong then Colossus (the strongest X-Man I can think of off-hand, since I don't count Juggernaut's run on the team)?

Answer: Mittens:
Greetings!  Very good question.  What we had in mind for this forum was to avoid the power creep ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_creep ) so prevalent elsewhere.


For above example, shooting lightning.  We'd be looking for something along the lines of "T-Bolt is a dynamo capable of generating up to 1.21 gigawatts of electricity!  That's enough to power a time machine!  But he can't sustain his peak for longer than an instantaneous bolt and it leaves him exhausted.  When fighting crime, T-Bold can shoot bolts up to 1000 kV (stun gun level) and never run out of juice!  Using his power on electronics is more likely to fry them than power them, but with a lot of practice he may be able to have enough control not have to worry about his cell phone battery running low again!"

Example man, T-Bolt, doesn't have flight powers.  No super reflexes, super smarts, super speed, the ability to travel through the power lines, pass through metallic objects, etc.  He's got one thing going for him.  But even the one-trick ponies of the X-Men like Cyclops tend to have a one-trick that could level a city block if they're not careful.  Let's look at the example you gave:



Never mind his invulnerability alone would make him too powerful to fit into this setting.  How strong is he?  He's now in the 100 tonn category from what I've read.  Meaning he can juggle 5 ton panzer tanks with ease.  People talk about him being able to go toe-to-toe with Juggernaught.  That's just ONE X-Man.  Colossus would probably be able to handle every last villain in this forum with both arms tied behind his back, blindfolded, and chewing bubblegum.  On his own.  Without any help from the rest of us.

By comparison GM Tim has a "tough girl" character concept that would likely wind up maxing out at "bullets feel like punches," but that's all she gets power wise (beyond her other physical abilities being able to match an athletic human man.)

A "strength only" type character here would probably peak at a one-time lift of a school bus (14 tons tops) if he didn't have much else beyond being as tough as your typical bar brawler. (Opinions, Tim? Joe?)  Edit: As Joe points out in his reply, he'd need to at least be tough enough to not get squished by the bus.  Comic book physics would allow him to both punch through a brick wall with his bare fists and say "OW!" when hit by a brick to the head hurled by a street thug.

We'd like to provide a situation where our untrained super team is about as awesome as a squad of commandos.  We're trying to avoid a situation where just ONE of us is as awesome as a squad of commandos all by himself while the rest of us look like tinker toys by comparison.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFuMpYTyRjw

Power creep for us will probably consist mainly of: "You've done so much for this city, we've decided to issue you all police style bullet-proof vests!"  Joe: "Great.  That means street thugs are going to be carrying flame throwers now, doesn't it?"  Narrator: "How'd you know?"

Joe Darkthorne
  At the very least strength as primary gimmick should be able to tear up street signs/parking meters/bike racks etc to hit people with.  Admittedly my sense of scale is very inaccurate when it comes to 'how much strength does being able to do X require?', but I think punching a fist sized hole through a brick wall when you hit it as hard as possible may be the range we're looking at?

  There is of course that always confusing situation of 'how do they survive punching scenery if they aren't super tough too?', but at the very least not breaking your own hand when you punch things of collapsing your spine when you lift them is a good freebie.  Whether or not someone hitting you with a baseball bat hurts you as much as the next guy.

  Joe's degree of toughness is mostly side-effect wont-splatter-if-they-miss-that-skyscraper-jump physical durability, though he'd definitely feel like he got hit by a car if he, well, got hit by a car.   It's mostly there so I don't need to think too hard about 'wait will this kill him or send him to the hospital?'.  And so I don't spend Joe's 'I'm really Agile' carrier avoiding literally everything.

 just saw this turn up approved elsegame and showcases nicely the sort of thing we're trying to avoid.

Mutant Powers:all powers are half-strength from the original wielder on earth 616: mainstream Marvel universe: an eyebeam, healing factor and claws(titanium/steel alloy) organic steel skin with increased physical strength/mass, teleportation, enhanced sense of smell/hearing

  They go on to list limitations as 'can only lift Olympic levels of 450 pounds when unarmored' and Weaknesses as 'his healing factor is only half as fast as wolverines'.  Yeah...

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Question: Can my character have the power to turn lead into gold?

Answer: No.  No "unlimited wealth" powers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:53, Fri 08 Oct 2010.