For out-of-character chatter...

Hello, all! I'll be starting to add characters soon. We received a lot of applications and I'm still trying to decide how many characters I want, but expect the cast list to fill out today and/or tomorrow.

Though you will each be starting solo, feel free to introduce yourselves and chat here.

When creating your character, please try to stick to the M&M 2e main book. If you want to use something from another source, ask me first. As posted elsewhere, characters will be Power Level 8 with 120 power points. Be sure to send me a PM when you have your character sheet completed.

Otherwise, let me know if you have any questions.

First!  ;)

Hello, I'm Jess.  I'm a medical resident, and I seem to have gone all Elastigirl in my breakthrough.

I'm still trying to decide which field of medicine I'm in.  ANy suggestions?

Hi!

I'd say something like thoracic would make sense.

Hi!  High schooler with a head fulla dreams and yoga!  Lots of TikTok videos.

Hello fellow powered people!

I'll be playing the character with the criminal past, who always seems to find a way to get around. I'm excited to be creating stories with you :)

And perhaps psychiatry? Sports Medicine? Best of luck :)

Emily is a recently moved on clerk at Antonio's Savings Barn a family owned Super Store, an aspiring electronics technician and definitely not an unregistered paranormal.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:12, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

Hey there folks!

Technically I'm playing two characters - the first of which is Jacob, who is one of those cheesy tv ghost hunter characters.  The kind who shoot a lot of night vision scenes in old houses, trying to make a "scary" episode for his (somewhat lame) show

The other is Vic "Two Guns" Vincenzo, the actual ghost of a 1920's mafia hitman who has possessed Jacob during the breakout.  Vic's on a quest for redemption and will have a suite of ghost themed powers.

Anyhow glad to meet everyone!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

Question to the group.

Vic and Jacob don't like each other too much.  Because of this, I feel like there should be some sort of limitation on how and when Vic can take over Jacob's body.  Otherwise, why wouldn't Vic just stay in control all the time?

Should it be like only at night?  Or only for a limited amount of time?  Some other sort of limitation?

When Vic is driving, Jacob might not have memories of that time, so he fights for control of his own body? He only knows that he’s possessed by the spirit of a killer, so he’s probably not keen to let Vic traipse around.

I think what sort of drawback you take will depend on the dynamic you want for them. Like if Vic muscles in and takes the wheels when he thinks Jacob isn’t doing a good enough job at whatever Jacob’s up to. I don’t want to impose my views of what would be most interesting on you or your characters!

So like a spontaneous takeover where my character loses his powers?  That is an interesting idea.

Vic used to be a murderer, sure, but the afterlife hasn't been much fun for the guy, (you know - the whole remorseless hitman thing), so he is trying to do good deeds in order to make amends.  Problem is that he kinda sucks at it - being a vigilante doesn't come naturally to the guy.

Jacob on the other hand, just wants to go back to making crappy ghost hunter shows for cable/YouTube.

That's kinday idea at the moment.

Sort of the opposite. Spontaneous takeover where his powers turn on. Vic has the ghost powers, but his morality is questionable even if his intentions are good. Hell might’ve been Hell, but he also might not know how to do better. Meanwhile, Jacob wakes up and learns he’s been seen doing heroics, and he has no idea what people are on about. When he finally tapes himself, he reviews his blackout footage and sees himself going Danny Phantom, so he can start putting two and two together.

Mechanically, you have access to whatever powers whenever, because Vic can assert himself. But perhaps Jacob starts trying to fight back? That would be the unreliable power and things of that nature. Just spitballing.

Edit: sorry, yea, spontaneous takeover of Vic by Jacob. You were right, I just didn’t comprehend properly.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:12, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

Emily, there is no registration of paranormals yet. When the story begins, your characters will have had their breakouts, and there will be other unconfirmed reports of breakouts around the country and the world, but there will not have been a big, public Breakout to let the whole world know about the existence of paranormals, though that will be coming. So we are in the very beginning of the Paragons setting.

Re: msg #7&8

How popular/famous was this ghost hunter show?

You could do something like a moderate weakness to using your own powers that drains charisma. That'd be very common +2, Moderate +1, Slowed to once per hour would be -1 for a 2 value drawback once per 5 hours would be a 1 value drawback.

Like taking over the mind of the living burns you both out slowly on a subconscious emotional level.

Re: msg #12.
Okay simple enough so, that only changes Emily from being too nervous to follow the registration law to talk to anyone in the government to too nervous to talk to anyone in the government because this is weird and she doesn't want to get neuralyzed by Will Smith or in universe equivalent.

Are we doing the wealth optional rules?

Oh snap, I totally forgot about the wealth benefit. I should probably snag a bit of that.

Edit: Double oh snap, if we're using the optional rule then we start with a base wealth stat, so never mind!  Middle class Bex remains safe.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:03, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

So are you sure about attractive 3?

So by mutants and masterminds convention your average model has doesn't gain the attractive feat, as this is sort of the baseline of how superheroes look.

Super models and equally attractive people get the feat 1 time in canon characters. Super human super models and goddesses often get the feat 2 times. So having the feat 3 times is incredibly remarkable.

If you had charisma 12 (+1) you'd be at the power level limit for diplomacy and bluff (+13) That'd mean given favorable circumstance essentially based on your appearance alone someone who wanted you dead, spends 6 seconds talking to you decides you're alright, people who dislike you decide they actually like you, and everyone else decides they'll go out of their way to help you. That's just what routine use of diplomacy as a full round action does at that point.

My point is attractive 3 isn't pretty, it's so earth-shatteringly hypnotically beautiful everyone around you who swings that way should be deeply effected by the sight of you.

At least according to Hero Lab--which I will absolutely admit I'm leaning on, because I've got roughly 2 weeks of actual experience with this system--the power level for skills at this is PLx2 for a maximum of 16.

I was just clicking buttons to make the numbers go up the way that made sense.  I figured Becca doesn't have any remarkable talent at convincing people--she has a few skill ranks, but nothing you wouldn't expect in a teen.  (I ended up using escape artist as my best stand in for yoga, because I have no idea when I'll use escape artist but I wanted to replicate her experience with it!  Escape artist is her highest skill, followed by disguise--which I figured represented the best version of 'she does a lot of makeup and costume design for her social media stuff'.)  But if they're attracted to her, then they're more likely to do what she's asking.

Maybe folks don't find her appealing, so that's totally fine!  But that was sort of the mentality I had going into the build.  And given the power outline I gave to the GM, Becca having a supernatural level of attractiveness makes sense, so I feel pretty confident in that option.

In reply to Becca Gershwin (msg # 16):


I thought the skills limit was PL +5 for 2e. Am I missing something?

I'm asking to makes sure that doesn't change things for me in my build.

Also, if this affects anyone else (which I doubt), my character's theme is based on space manipulation. Primarily that comes in the form of teleportation :)

Nope, you and Emily are correct, it's PL+5.  I'm trying to figure out why HL isn't throwing a validation error.  Additional testing seems to show HL doesn't factor attribute into the cap, so I'm checking errata to see if the program is wrong.  It'll free up some PP though, that's for sure!

Edit: Thanks for catching that!  I edited my sheet accordingly.

Edit2: Apropos the description of spacy, that's more that Becca daydreams a lot, not that she has anything to do with space.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:47, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

So checked on the level limits to answer the question.
Max Rank is PL+5
Max bonus from ability score is also PL+5

So just you'd be limited to 1 rank in bluff/diplomacy but you could have a high charisma bonus as well.

My main concern is people often put down crazy high attractive and then everyone reacts like it's no big deal. I consider "selling" (pro-wrestling jargon) other people's powers part of the roleplaying social contract, but I hate being the only one "selling" something because that makes my character look like an idiot which isn't fair to me.

Assuming your charisma is at least 16 (+3) those things I said would be true even untrained.

Compare to the equivalent bonus from the charisma scale
Attractive 1 - 18 highly gifted ie only a few in the US like a supermodel.
Attractive 2 - 26 Low Superhuman ie beauty slightly beyond what is humanly possible like a superhuman super model
Attractive 3 - 34 High Superhuman ie beauty of god of beauty or a powerful superhero who's power is beauty.
Attractive 4 - 42 Very High Superhuman ie rare beauty even among gods of beauty.
Attractive 5 - 50 Cosmic ie the cosmic entity embodying the concept of beauty.

I am fine with even the charisma 36 (+13) attractive 3 (+12) with a rank in diplomacy character. It's a perfectly fine shtick but to looking up the routine behavior for that shtick at that point is someone who wants you dead, talks to you for 6 seconds and decides to help you instead, and everyone else will take risks to help you after short interactions. And you've got a 35% chance someone who started out your friend will become an obsessive fanatic willing to die for you. If someone like that walks into the room and gets no reaction that's a "no-sell" type situation which I dislike.

Oooohhhh, very cool!  Thank you for that breakdown, that's super helpful for understanding the system.  And yes, Charisma 16 seemed like a good spot for her, so that's where I had her originally (and just put her back to).  I figured people might want to react or might want to actively not react to her mechanics, so that's why I even mentioned it in the biography in the first place.  Just seemed like the sort of thing that might come up.  And the complication I took is related (the fame complication, especially given this is the start of the Paragons breakout phenomenon) so the downside to being visible is represented to some degree!

(As a general apology to everybody, I am super new to the system.  I've made characters before, but the games I've been in never got past the 'and now everybody meets one another' phase, so if I'm doing something wrong, do not hesitate to let me know.  It's out of a place of ignorance, not malice. ♥)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:12, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

Ya know, after I asked my question and thought about it, I realize I already had my answer.  It's emergency medicine, for reasons covered in her backstory.  Still, thanks for the suggestions.

---

re: attractive

While I'm largely onboard with what Emily is saying, at least with Attractive 3 being fairly extreme, I do have some concerns, such as the GM having the final say and all. ;)  Or whether Attractive = Charisma, and if comparing it to skills would be a better analysis.  But my larger concerns mostly breakdown into how tightly we stick to these benchmarks, and what exactly our baseline and measures of reality are.  I mean, should we be limited to 6 ranks of skills, since we were all PL 1 civilians until recently?  Should I have 0 ranks of Attack and Defense since I don't get into fights?  Or are we going with a more cinematic version of things, and I've got some ranks in each so that I can easily fight thugs like a proper protagonist?

I suppose I'm asking the GM if he could elaborate a bit better on expectations for the game, in tone, style, and power level.  Are we leaning more towards NBC's Heroes, where it's just talking to save SFX budget and 'real people with powers'?  Or are we going more Fantastic Four, where they manage an origin story and stopping Mole Man from attacking nuclear plants around the world in one issue, and are only 47 issues away from Galactus?

Also, are we expected to spend all our points on something right away?  Or should we just spend what makes sense for our newly empowered characters?

re: Jacob & Vic

So, mechanically, what you are describing is a Normal Identity Drawback with an Involuntary Transformation Drawback.  This is described in the core rule book, p126-27.  You make 2 characters - Jacob, and Vic possessing Jacob.  You need to define how the possession works - is it whenever you can find Jacob with his guard down, or are there further conditions?  And then you define the circumstances in which Jacob can kick Vic out of his body.

Beyond that, it's whatever you think makes a good story and that the GM signs off on.

I appreciate all the game mechanic chat. It's been a few years (4ish?) since I last played M&M2e. The game was a blast before it died.

Question about PL; is it true that the PL restriction doesn't apply to the ranking of feats?

As long as any Rank wouldn't cause any restricted attributes (Atk bonus, skills, etc.) to exceed the PL+5, it makes sense to me that the rule wouldn't apply to feats.

There isn't a general case that I'm aware of but every feat except inspire and master plan, are explicitly limited by power level limit.

Inspire and master plan explicitly can exceed the power level limit.

"This bonus cannot increase your total effective skill rank higher than the campaign's power level limit." (Attractive) for example is very explicit that power level limit does apply.

Are there instances of ranked feats which don't impact a restricted attribute?  Like, ostensibly you could take 120 benefit (wealth)s if you wanted to, right?

In reply to Emily Lorraine (msg # 24):

Thanks for the reply Emily, I appreciate your insight.

I don't see where it explicitly says anywhere that ranked feats are restricted to PL.

In the case of Inspire and Master Plan, it does explicitly state that the bonuses they offer (applying to the previously mentioned skills and powers) are allowed to override the PL limit, but still it doesn't say anything about their rank or the rank of any other feat. I didn't see anything in the errata either.

I could see it going both ways, as a hero with no powers would need to compensate with feats, and while feats are useful they can only hold up so much against most powers.

Did I miss something in the book where any of the restriction is worded at all to apply to feats?

@Becca That's another great example of what I'm talking about.

Just going through Hero Lab--attack focuses are stopped by PL level, attractive is stopped by PL level, defensive roll is stopped by PL level, dodge focus, endurance--environmental adaptation doesn't appear to be, so you could take as many instances of it as you wanted, I think.  Evasion is limited to 2 ranks, favored environment and opponent are capless, improved block doesn't appear to be limited, improved critical isn't, improved initiative isn't...

So there are some which plainly are, and some which don't appear to be, and some which probably aren't.  That's as best as I can surmise poking around the program.

So power limit doesn't typically apply to things it doesn't explicitly apply to. For instance a PL 1 sidekick robot can have fortitude immunity which is a rank 30 power because it has neither an attack nor a save.

In reply to Jessica Kowalski (msg # 22):

Oh certainly, I know how to make it work, as far as numbers.  What I am trying to think of is the exact circumstances that his transformation occurs.

So more like the narrative explanation.  I'm cool with the numbers

I don't think he show was very famous.  I mean, even at the height of their popularity, could you even pick one of those guys out of a crowd?  This might be just me, but without using Google, I can't remember even one host from that style of show.

I do like the charisma draining.  Like after a certain amount of time, Jacob/Vic just looks completely wrecked, and maybe all punchy and irritable.  Something like that.

• Dodge focus is power level limited.
• Endurance might be but there's basically no reason to do so given its strictly worse than 10ranks of immunity.
• Environmental adaption doesn't give a numerical bonus or stack and is eventually just a waste of points.
• Evasion isn't a numerical bonus so it isn't ranked that way.
• Favored enemy and environment are both capped at +5 and capped by power level limit though you could always add another type of enemy or environment but that gets inefficient fast.
• Improved block is unclear. If it is allowed it's a strange way to be vulnerable to ranged attacks.
• Improved criticals isn't changing a value PLL applies to and the +5 effect can exceed PLL if you choose that critical.
• Improved Initiative there's no PLL on initiatives but going first when not surprised will only get you so far.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:38, Mon 07 Dec 2020.

In reply to Becca Gershwin (msg # 27):

So Becca, your character has a Youtube following?  I am thinking that Jacob's former show has been cancelled (poor ratings, and also his erratic, post-possession behavior).  So he's taken to posting his "show" on Youtube and other social media to try and keep it going.  The two of us might know of each other through that?

Assuming we are even going to character connections, and that sort of thing

You guys have been talkative! That's a good thing, though it is a lot for me to go through all at once.

It looks like Emily is very familiar with the rules, and everything she's posted so far appears correct to me (at least at a quick scan). If you have specific rules questions relating to your character, please ask me in a PM.

There was a question about using the optional wealth rule. I'm not too worried about keeping track of wealth, but I know that it might be relevant for a couple of you, so let's go ahead and incorporate the wealth bonus.

As far as combat stats, etc. do whatever makes sense for your character. Just because you have superpowers doesn't mean you are automatically going to be a skilled combatant, especially right after acquiring those powers. That's something you can work toward as the story progresses.

I see I have some PMs to read. I'll get to that now.

And then I'll work on getting those of you who have your character sheets completed started.

In reply to Jacob Pittman (msg # 32):

YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, all the social media!  Becca wasn't all that well known before she broke out, but now she's substantially prettier and she can bring imaginary creatures onto the videos to help her--such luminaries as her electric lamb with actual springs for legs named Wooly Jumper, or the impossible duck Roger Duckington, or the chef with the oven in his tummy named Chef Rumblesteak, or the bovine greaser named Jimmy the Fish, etc etc--her following has definitely grown.  That's how I'm justifying the fame complication, so Jacob knowing Bex and Bex knowing Jacob would definitely work!

Rules/charagen question, guys.  I'm making two characters - the unpowered normal identity, and then the powered character form.

How many points do I make the unpowered normal identity?  I want him to be somewhat lame in comparison to when Vic possesses him

In reply to Jacob Pittman (msg # 29):

Ah.  Well, that's harder to answer, especially since I'm not that familiar with the setting and its particular take on ghosts/the afterlife.  Still, I can try and help you reach answers.

Let's start with, "Why Vic?"  Why is he a ghost?  Is he back from heaven/hell, or is he desperate to actually get to one?  To me, ghost generally implies a spirit stuck in this world after their death, unable to pass on as most dead do.  Maybe he thinks this is some kind of limbo, and once he performs his penance he can finally go to heaven?  He'd almost certainly have been raised Catholic.

There also, "Why Jacob?"  Is he the only one that Vic can possess?  He's almost certainly the first, as blatantly paranormal stuff only recently started happening.  Hmm, even if Vic can possess others, Jacob is his favorite for some reason.  Why is that?

Going one step further, could other ghosts possess Jacob?  Is he some kind of spirit medium, and Vic is just his first guest?  There is a whole world of possibilities and plots that way. ;)

I know these aren't answers, but I'm not sure what else to tell you based on what you've said.  Still, sometimes answering more specific questions can point you in the right direction.

---

re: msg # 35

Less than 120 pp.

I know, not very helpful.  But it's the only accurate answer.  Just build him to where he should be.  Look at the benchmarks for abilities and skills, or the sample NPCs at the back of the book, and give him the appropriate numbers for stuff.

Hmm, I'm not sure I buy Jacob and Bex knowing each other before the game starts.  Social media is a large space, and the crossovers there seem to involve personalities/channels with logical connections.  Not sure where the Venn diagram of those two overlap before the game starts.  After Bex breaks out, sure, then there is a reason for Jacob to get involved.

But that's just me.

---

Though, on that note, I'm not sure that Bex should be famous just yet.  Bex going viral seems like the sort of public Breakout that the GM said hasn't really happened yet.  Might be worth double-checking your timeline versus his. ;)

---

Also, for the record, Jess is slightly known figure.  She competed in college gymnastics a few years ago.  So not actually famous, but she did get to be on cable TV a few times. :)

So I didn't build Emily that way but Emil without powers and things that require powers is a 40pt PL-2 character. It's the women's self-defense course those always up your power level a notch or two.

I wouldn't stress too much about it and I'd probably start with an NPC and then customize near that point.

So a reporter is the closest I could find to ghost hunter youtuber.

Str 9, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Bluff 4, Craft (Writing) 4, Diplomacy 4, Gather information 6, Investigate 4, Knowledge (Current events) 6, Knowledge (Streetwise) 2, Notice 4, Profession (reporter) 4, Search 5, Sense Motives 5
Feats: 1 Equipment
Equipment: Digital Recorder, Camera
Combat Base: Base Attack +0, Base Defense +0
Saves: Toughness +0, Fortitude +0, Reflexes +1, Will +3
21 pt Power level 1 (minor detail, but book is in error 6 ranks in a skill requires PL 1+)

So like maybe you're profession is youtuber instead of reporter and instead of knowing about current events you know about the occult. Stuff like that.

In reply to Jessica Kowalski (msg # 37):

The connection I had in mind was the "Becca creates imaginary characters and Jacob thinks she might know something," or some variation thereof, but your second point vis a vis the GM's earlier comment about the breakouts just starting does make a lot of sense.  I still would like the fame complication, I think it makes the most sense for the character, but I think I agree with you that she's ascending as the game begins.  So it would be a way for Jacob to meet Bex, but they probably wouldn't know each other ahead of time.  Good thinking, Jess!

Hey! Sorry for the silence. Things got really busy the last couple of days. I should have some time later this afternoon or evening to work on this game, though. So hopefully I'll be in touch with each of you sometime today.

To answer a question from Jessica, you don NOT have to spend all of your starting Power Points if you don't want to.

And I'd prefer if no one has any connections to each other when the story begins. But if you have ideas regarding how they might come to know each other as the story progresses, be sure to share those with me.

Talk to you all soon!

Thanks for the update. I'm chillin' like an anti-villain :)

Hi, sorry I didn't check in before now. I'm looking forward to interacting with everyone.

Now I'm already invested in Darius by the simplicity of the description!

Unfortunately I'm going to have to bow out of this game because of rl issues.  Sorry everyone - wish I could have played.

Best of luck out there, Jacob.  I hope you and yours are safe!

Best of luck! Completely understandable.

Sad to hear that we had our first drop.  is it just 5, or will the GM offer one of the applicants who just missed the game a spot? ;)

Also, I'll mention up front, that I do have some intermittent depression issues.  I may end incommunicado for a few days or week at some point, with little advance warning.  I'll try to get back on as best I can.

---

One more detail for our setting, is that there is no COVID-19 in the game.  GM mentioned that in my private messages, and I thought it worth mentioning to everyone.  No need for masks or social distancing.  In game, at least. :)

I'm enjoying my 1 on 1 so far. Everybody else okay?

Just got started myself a few days ago, but it looks promising. Glad you're having a good time of it :)

I'll be very busy for the next couple of days. I'll try to post, but I don't want to make any promises.

That's completely diggable. You do you :)

Things are busy, I think we all understand that. Thank you for GMing.

Things have finally calmed down a little. I'm working on responding to you all now.

Completely understandable! It's that time of year :)

Glad to know you're okay.

Due to asking too many questions, I've only finally got my initial thread.  I'll have to wait and see what comes from the stage dressing both of us put in. ;)

Welcome Lucas!

Yes, hello.  And what can you tell us about yourself, Lucas?

I missed this! Welcome in Lucas :)

Well, Lucas is/was a grad student working on his Master's. He worked for the city part time as kind of an internship in Dept. of Planning. So, anyone who say might want to sneak into condemned and abandoned buildings might have talked to him.

He went a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs - either because of the circumstances of his breakout or because of his powers. He has settled down now, though he is still a little....strange compared to how he was before.

I am trying to think of a compact way to describe his powers.

In reply to Lucas Morgan (msg # 59):

What, did he find the eponymous mask from the 1994 Jim Carrey movie?

Okay, clearly I need help if that's what pops to mind on reading your description. ;)

I hope you all have a happy holiday season :)

Happy Holidays!
Actually it is more like he is the son of the Engineer and Jack Hawksmoor? I guess that might make sense. While building him an going over infrastructure of Chicago so that is always interesting.

So finished Lucas 1.0 and was wondering if anyone wanted to offer comments and see if there is any obvious rough spots that need to be smoothed out?

I would be happy to take a look at Lucas and give any thoughts.

Btw everyone, Happy New Year! :)

Happy new year to you all, too!

I'll try to get caught up here tomorrow. The last few days have been unexpectedly busy.

So, as I try and fill in details of my character, I've got one I'm not sure how to fill.  Namely, what she and her ex-fiance connected over.  He's a lawyer, she's (almost) a doctor.  I think for both of them, they hadn't dated much - too busy with school and extracurriculars, like good little upper middle class kids.  And they saw something of a trophy husband/wife in the other; maybe not in the traditional sense, but certainly in the sense that marrying the other would count as winning at life.  But the relationship was a bit fragile - he flipped his shit when she revealed her new stretchy powers to him, and broke up with her.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what they had in common and connected over.  And I thought I'd try crowdsourcing the answer. ;)  Anyone have any suggestions?

They met in her 3rd year of Med School? During a rotation in which perhaps one of his parents had a illness related to that particular residency. Perhaps, as part of his work load he was doing pro bono work for medical patients. They bonded over patient care and how it relates to the law and their relationship grew from there.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:26, Mon 11 Jan 2021.

Hey Jessica, you decide on anything yet?

I just think about how my SO and I bounded, and we started off being best friends for 10 years. We dated 3 years before we got married.

I always consider that most poeple I've known generally bound over anything not related to occupations. Maybe they met over a shared hobby? Maybe they actually met over playing darts at a bar.

Mayhaps they actually met because one hit the others car. Or perhaps one of them called as a wrong number.

Maybe they met at a wedding of another friend of theirs.

Maybe she met him in a shared student organization (Chess Club, Theatre...it's been like 10 years for me so I don't remember what they do these days).

Maybe they simply both got on a social dating app for the first time and just hit it off.


If you already figured it out, don't mind me, but if you haven't, I hope this helps :)

Hey, everyone! I want to apologize for not posting in the last week. I don't know why, but I have been having difficulty finding time to get on here to post. I'll get some posts up now and will try to keep up with it better moving forward. Thanks for your patience.

This last week super super sucked for me, so I totally understand!  I hope everything's okay! ♥

Sorry to hear that! I hope next week is better for you.

Everything's good here. It just seems like I never had the time or energy to post. I would intend to get on here but then the day would be over and I would need to get to bed.

I work for a small business and 2021, we've finally added a sales team.  Yay!  But that means we've gone from "wow, January is busy!" to "wow, I worked 55 hours!"  Which sure, some people do all the time.  It's just super tiring to train people, to get in depth answers to their questions, and try to get them using a software that isn't intuitive at all.  It'll be fine, I just feel like my brain was juiced. XD

@Becca that sounds exciting and tiring! Congratulations though! Big moves.

@GM honestly, I needed the break...but I'm just glad youre ok :)

In reply to Asani Ndiaye (msg # 69):

Still haven't managed to decide yet.  I'm easily distracted. :/

I'm having a blast with this game, and I hope everybody else is, too! ♥

I as well, Becca, am having fun in immense amounts. :)

Having a bit of a moral quandary honestly.

Allow me to lend an imaginary machete to your intellectual thicket.  What's on your mind, Lucas?

Lucas is in a bind - he is in a situation that he could have solved fairly easily with the threat of violence. The good old hauling someone up one handed and letting them dangle. Instead he has been told nothing is wrong even though it is fairly obvious it is. So he has opted to not do anything without an explicit invitation to intervene. This is obviously not good because the person who needs to ask for help needs to believe he can resolve the situation before they are going to ask for help. Which they probably don't, so he is now left to either let them go and have the situation continue on or intervene directly without the asking.

Meanwhile I'm tormenting the Gamemaster with an art museum trip to explore artwork in relation to Native Son.  Intervene!  Get in there, but don't go overboard with it!  "This doesn't appear kosher to me, and I'm willing to intervene in order to ensure everyone is safe.  It is our duty as citizens and friends of the Earth to treat each other with respect, and so let us all take a moment and enjoy the liberatingly cold breaths of air."

Ha, Becca! I wouldn't say you're tormenting me. I'm enjoying it, though where your thread has gone has been a bit unexpected. :)

I figure someone will jump out and try to stab Bex at some point, so until then she's just gonna blithely go about her day!

I'm not going to get around to posting tonight, and I'll be busy until pretty late tomorrow night. If I can get something up during the day tomorrow, I will; otherwise, I probably won't have time to post until Thursday. Sorry.

You do you. Thanks for the update :)

Yeah Lucas tried, but he has noped out of that situation.

Golly, these 50 hour weeks are starting to really compound on one another. o_o  My brain feels like it's made outta jelly.

Checking in with the hero crew!  How we doin'?

As a heads up, I'm looking to jump things forward one week in the game relatively soon and bring in some more characters, once a couple of you get to good points for that.

Sounds like a plan!  I'm just gonna casually introduce an eldritch horror element to an art field trip.

Oh man, there'll be a time skip?

aaaaAAAAWESOME!

@Becca and I thought Asani was a bad guy. Eesh!

Becca's not bad, she's just got an active imagination!

(And something's attempting to get out of a painting, or someone has ensorcelled a painting, or the painter was enhanced in some way--I figured I'd make it vague just in case the GM had anything in particular they wanted to impose on the idea.  Or maybe it's just a painting that sparks Becca's imagination and nothing comes of it.  All good either way!)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:01, Thu 04 Mar 2021.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte - a tentacle rises from the water and every day the scene changes a little more as everyone reacts as it drags down on the ships the people painted in the scene try to flee, but are stuck as they can't leave the painting.

@Lucas is that from something? Sounds like a totes killer idea.

@Becca I can dig it. My character so far hasn't been particularly...heroic, so looking forward to seeing what happens soon XD

The pic I submitted for Becca back in early December finally got uploaded. XD

The painting is one of the more famous ones that are in Chicago. It is featured in Ferris Bueller and a slow moving horror lovecraftian horror just sounds like a good idea.

Welcome Danielle!

From Lovecraftian horror to something even scarier... a teen awkwardly reacting to someone flirting in her general vicinity.

I am welcomed!

Hello, people! I'm new, obviously, and looking forward to being secret supers with you all.

Bex did not get the memo about being secret, unfortunately.

Wait, wait, wait. We are secret? Was I not CC'ed on that memo? Now, I have to go back and discredit a whole bunch of witnesses. Mmmmmm.....spike their drinks with some LCD or something?

The outbreak has only just occurred recently, and there'll be no major public expressions of superpowers prior to the time skip that's upcoming, as I understand it.  It sounds like Lucas might be in a similar situation to Bex, who just kinda uses her abilities whenever.

Right, maybe not secret supers then! But supers, all the same.

Welcome to Karl and Alison, also!

Hello, fellow new players!

Welcome newest, coolest cats 8)

Hello everyone!

Thanks for the welcome messages!
I'm glad to be part of the second round and getting a chance to join the fun.  I've been watching the OOC board from the start and it looks like all of you have been enjoying the game so far.  I'm looking forward to seeing what might be in store for our characters.

It has been a joy so far, and I know it's just going to get compounded once everybody meets up.  I can't wait to toss the bundle of chaos at y'all!

Sorry for the double post, but welcoming Ryan Cardier to the team necessitates the impropriety!

Thanks and hello everyone!  (RL decided to swamp me a bit, hence the delay.)  Looking forward to playing with folks.

No problem, Ryan. RL should always come first.

I'll be working on getting the new characters started over the next week.

Hey new folks,

Out of curiosity, are there any hints as to what you have for your hero concepts coming in? If you want to keep those cards close to your chest, I can understand that too :)

‘Hero’?

;-)

I’m guessing once I get started threads will be visible to everyone? I can only see OOC myself right now. Or are everyone’s separate?

If things go as expected Karl’s powers should be known pretty quickly.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:56, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

We're all in separate threads presently, so no one can see anybody else's except for the OMNISCIENT ALL SEEING GAMEMASTER, WHOSE FEL EYES CAPTURE ALL.

Did you mean power sets/concepts?  I assume, to one degree or another, most of us are heroes or at least hero-ish.  ;)

So far haven't done much that is heroic really. Might want to go Christmas shopping though. Maybe by myself something nice.

So seems like there's more than Asani right now that may, at the very least, be more hero 'in potential' than 'in fact'. XD

Asani is definitely not 'hero' material. Yet? Might get there...I guess...we'll just have to see how the turns table.

Thanks for your patience as I work on getting everyone started.

We've got some interesting new characters joining us. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when some of you start to interact with each other.

I am sure we are going to get on like a St. Patrick's Day Bar where half the patrons are Cubs fans and half Sox.

So there was a Wanted - GMs post awhile ago looking for a MnM 3e game where they wanted something based off of Young Justice Season 1 or Teen Titans or Claremont Academy. This for some godawful reason got me to thinking and I came up with a character for such a setting. It was actually mainly based off of a Young Justice idea where like in the show every character at least at the beginning would have been connected to a JLA (or since two member of the JSA were on the JLA) the JSA. So, I got to writing and this is the final build I came up with for a game that is likely never to happen and if it does this character most likely won't be accepted:

Jayin Meikon
Strength 0      Agility 2      Fighting 2      Awareness 2
Stamina  3      Dexterity 2    Intelltect 4    Presence  1

Dodge 4, Parry 4, Will 10, Fortitude 5, Toughness 10/3

Advantages: Fearless, Inventor

Skills: Insight 4, Perception 3, Investigation 2, Ranged Combat: Power Ring 4, Intimidation 3, Technology 2

Powers:
Ranged Detect Fear

Yellow Power Ring  76 pts (-15 removable) 61
AI and Database
Flight 6 (Movement 2: Space Travel 1, Zero-G)
Force Field 7 (Impervious 5), Immunity 8 (Cold, Heat, High Pressure, Radiation, Vacuum, All Suffocation, Aging)
Dimensional Pocket 1
Comprehend 4 (All Languages - Read, Speak, Undertand, Understood)
Scan (Analytical All Auditory, All Chemical, All Visual)
Yellow Light Manipulation Array 21 pts.
   Ranged Damage 10, Affects Insubstantial
   Create 10, Precise
   Move Object 10, Precsie

Abilities 32 + Powers 63 + Defenses 14 + Advantages 2 + Skills 9 = 120

Hell yeah some Sinestro vibes. I dig it.

Well done sheet :)

(Granted I've yet to try 3e)

Used to be an MnM site (dunno if it still exists) called Atomic Think Tank where folks would put build examples at various pps for unique chars or heroes and villains from comics.

That was the Green Ronin site. It was mostly replaced by echoesofthemultiverse.com which has discussions and sheets for both 2 and 3e.

I've been sick the past couple of days, hence the lack of replies on my part. I'm feeling better now, though, and will work on getting posts up today.

Glad to hear you're feeling better!

It's all good and glad you're on the up and up :)

Ditto!

Well glad you are feeling better.

Yay for a return to health!

Sick sucks! One of my least favorite things to be.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate it. The side effects of my second COVID-19 shot were rough, though I'm grateful to have received it, and even more grateful to have not contracted the actual virus.

I hope everyone else is staying healthy and safe!

Yeah, had a headache, muscle ache, hot and cold flashes, and just felt awful. My wife who got both shots at the same time had.....a slight pain at the injection site.

She felt that was unfair as she didn't feel like she was getting vaccinated if she didn't get even slightly sick. While I felt it was unfair that I felt like crap for almost three days. We politely agreed to disagree.

Welcome, Stephanie! Let me/us know if you need any assistance with your character sheet. We will get your story started as soon as your sheet is done.

Everyone else, I know a few of you are ready to move on to the end of the current day / the beginning of the next day. However, I would like to finish playing out the current day's events in a couple of threads before we do that, especially because those threads might affect what happens in the others. So please be patient; I'll move things along as soon as it is feasible and makes sense.

Welcome Stephanie!

I'll pump the brakes on my side, GM!

Your pace is fine right now, Becca. I'll let you know if we need to slow things down (or speed up).

Mwahahaha, then suffer more of Becca's nonsense! >=D

Hi all!

I'm new. Nice to meetcha ^_^

Welcome!

Welcome Steph!

Welcooooooome!

Thanks everyone!

Just your run of the mill overworked underappreciated Filipina family-restaurant working university-going wallflower turned bee-swarm bee-queen/budding raging environmentalist ^_^

You know, nothin' flashy <3

All your characters look pretty exciting too! Dani, I absolutely love yours in particular.

Oh wow!  I love that concept.  Excited to see how that manifests in the game, Stephanie!

Aw, thanks Stephanie! I'm terrified of the idea of getting swarmed by bees, so your powerset gets a gold star for that.

Really excited to meet the character herself, too. It sounds like you've come up with someone cool, with a lot of depth. ^_^

Thanks! Just trying to figure out how best to embody that in my sheet atm. Bees do so much it's kind of hard to capture their essence on a budget '_' I'll figure it out though.

Definitely looking forward to crossing paths with everyone.

So how goes the Queen Bee? Alternate forms are always fun to build.

And for fun you might check out a story called Nemesis by BeaconHill. The Misadventures of the Bumbling Bumblebee!

Rule of thumb from Champions but applies elsewhere is ‘reason from effect’. Figure what effects you want to have, build the powers from there.

That said, a limited animal control seems obvious if she controls bees. Does she just control them, does she boost them, does she turn into a bunch like the Marvel character Swarm?

Control could lead to things like obscure, environmental distraction, ‘blast’ esp targeting an area.

Bee-Swarm body some insubstantial effects, pass through small spaces, let attacks pass through etc. type of things.

I could see a lot of powers with Limits suitable for’bees’ to help keep costs down too.

Affliction could be a good one for someone being swarmed and stung. There's a power extra in Ultimate Power you might be able to make use of (with the GM's permission) called Independent. Basically makes a sustained effect into a fire-and-forget missile that keeps working on the target without you doing anything, but ebbs over time (I think it loses 1pp of effect every round, so high-price powers last a while). Could easily describe a swarm of bees attacking a person or area, but slowly dying from stinging people, wandering off or returning to Stephanie, as appropriate for whatever they're doing.

With a power set of Swarm Form there are just so many ways you could go with it - it really just depends on how much you are willing to spend and what you want to emphasize. I mean I think we could probably build half a dozen different swarm forms and have them all be equally valid while also only have a few powers in common.

I mean something like this would be what I would come up with off the top of my head for something bee related.

Swarm Form:
Alternate Form 8
(3)  Flight 1  AE: Burrowing 2
(5)  Insubstantial 1
(2)  Immunity 2 (Critical Hits)
(4)  Senses: Ultravision, Radius Sight, Scent
(2)  Begeneration 2
(12) Impervious Protection 8 (Limited: Physical)
(1)  Elongation 1
(11) Nauseate 10 (Limited: Sicken Only) AE: Paralyze (Extra: Alt Save: Fort, Limited: Slow)

Swarm Form:
Alternate Form 7
(3)  Flight 1 AE: Burrowing 2
(10) Insubstantial 2
(2)  Immunity 2 (Critical hits)
(4)  Senses: Ultravision, Radius Sight, Scent
(11) Nauseate 10 (Limited: Sicken Only) AE: Paralyze (Extra: Alt Save: Fort, Limited: Slow)
(5)  Growth 4 (Limited: Dispersal) AE: Shrinking 4

With Animal Control (Limited: Bees probably worth a -2 as limited to insects is -1, Sensory Link, Communcation and maybe just a straight up Area extra so you can use every bee within a radius as a spy maybe with Quickness: Limited Bee Sensory Input or something.)
Possibly with Environmental Control linked to Swarm Form as you flood the area with bees. Built both with an eye towards gaining more pp and more options as you grow.

Oh and visually the difference between the two forms is that in the first you would be a humanoid tightly bound together bundles of bees. The second is more of an amorphous vaguely humanoid grouping of bees.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

It seems that the last couple of days have gotten away from me. I'll try to get caught up tomorrow.

Thanks everyone that's all really helpful food for thought. I admit I struggle with the mechanics a bit when it comes to MnM2e ^-^;

Hi Stephanie! (And to anyone else I missed).

Was on a hiatus myself for the last week, and looking forward to being back :)

Welcome back! Nice to meet you :)

I've been quite busy this week so far (and probably will be the rest of the week), hence the lack of posting. I'll try to get a couple of posts up now, and will get to the rest of you as I find time.

No worries :) Good luck with your busy week! On behalf of the bee community, your industriousness does us proud!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:41, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

What she said!  (Without the bees though. ;)  )

No no! With the bees :) Bees are like cowbell that way; you always need more.

This made me laugh out loud. Thank you.

And no sweat, DM. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, took it back, got the suit.

:)

One of the things I was supposed to do this afternoon didn't work out, so I ended up having some time to post today after all.

I'm way behind on here this week. :( I'll try to get caught up tonight and tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Cool beans. I'm glad you're half decent :)

I exist again!

I suffered a longer stretch of depression there.  Contacted the GM once I was better, and he was willing to give me another shot.

So, hello to all the new players.

Also, having looked at all the profiles to try and get some inspiration for writing mine, it stood out to me that most of us are 20-somethings and attractive.  Talk about Hollywood casting. ;)  Makes me wonder how old Asani and Becca are.

I blame life experience (I know how to write a 20-something) and the fact that most of the portrait options in the RPoL gallery are attractive 20-somethings or not human.

Welcome back!

And yeah, pretty much...

Really they're more like attractive 30-somethings most of the time, but Hollywood is Hollywood. Anyway, yeah, welcome back!

I'm glad you're back, Jessica. And depression's awful. Hope you're able to take the time you need to take care of yourself :)

I definitely left Asani's age vague because I didn't know how to roleplay him yet. I'm actually still always working on that. From what I gather, he's also a 20-something but more like mid-late 20's.

And he doesn't have the Attractive trait, but the Wealth feat is a decent compensation for the perception of beauty XD

I think Danielle said it best. I tend to fine tune my character against their portrait so it lends itself to a certain age demographic. That and I think early to mid twenties always feels the most exploratory age without being a minor :) you know? The age where characters can still be brash but forgiveable, inexperienced but not unworthy, energetic and hopeful, all without truly stretching suspension of disbelief.

I think the attractive part is just the comic book/tv show esthetic :p

And there's my early morning analysis that nobody asked for. Sometimes my mind wanders at the analytical and structural questions ^_^

Hope everyone's having a good day and welcome back Jessica. Depression xan be a real beast, glad to hear you're feeling a bit better.

Hey, all! I know I'm going to be very busy tomorrow evening, and I need to get to bed soon tonight, but I'll try to find some time during the day to post tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

You gotta rest up to bless up. Sleep well :)

Eh, depends on the show, but true enough.

And I will grant that 12-28 years old is a good age for telling stories.  I was just figuring that with nine players, there would be at least one or two people going for something different.  A super senior, or someone with at least one school-age kid.

I might have gone that way, but I already had Jessica sitting around in my archive of character concepts.  And she's kinda built around being one of the first wave of supers, so this was a somewhat rare chance to play her. ;)  Hopefully the game last long enough for that plot to come up. [evil smile]

Becca is in fact the school aged kid!

Lucas is the age he is because I wanted him to just be finishing an advanced degree and just about to leave being a nearly permanent student and with that uncertainty he also now has powers and abilities that he is struggling to understand.

Gah, so many comment, so far behind!  Life's been nuts!

GM, take all the time you need.  We've all been there.

Ryan is in mid-20s mostly because I've done the kid/teenager/school age thing who knows how many times and felt like playing an adult.  ;)

And yeah, lots of attractive people.  I've very genre.  Supers games are like the world of Baywatch or James Bond.  Everyone is pretty.  If they aren't, there is something suspicious going on!  ;)

Yea, GM, take your time. Life is life!

Stephanie's 24 so I can explore the dichotomy between her sudden investiture with confidence and power against a more traditionally passive temperament while also pursuing the question of traditional familial duty versus the global responsibility she feels to save the bees and mother them instead of children all her own, all while trying to maintain some form of self-identity and personal life. So she's got a lot of balls in the air, most of them really hinging on an intersection of her gender, age, cultural traditions and modern social norms all through the lens of responsibility to others versus responsibility to self :)

Given Becca's weird power set, a more naïve and whimsical optimism was called for.  One of my favorite M&M characters was a very old gentleman by the name of Daddy Thanatos, who used the power of death to heal people.  Christopher Lee for the face, so still absurdly pretty.

I think I'm pretty much caught up here. :) Some of your stories are starting to intersect, which is exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything plays out.

On another note, if any of you play Dungeons & Dragons 5e, I am starting up a new game that is invite-only right now. Because I know that you are all excellent players (albeit in a different genre), I want to extend the invitation to any of you who are interested: link to another game.

Have a good weekend!

Apropos of intersections--it feels like a good spot for my thread to do a time skip.  Was there anything else you wanted to do with Bex before we get into the group stuff? =D

I apologize for the silence on my end; I haven't been feeling well all weekend. I'll try to get some posts in tomorrow if I'm feeling better.

OMG so sorry for my silence, I totally just fell off the face of the earth for a minute there ^-^

Welcome back, Stephanie!

Welcome back.  We’ve all been there!

Thanks!

If anyone else is tracking me down that first night let me know and I'll work you in, otherwise I'll be ready to move forward a little soon.

Watched your videos! You are pushing Lucas to possibly doing something stupid.

Also to the other person I met - we were ships passing in the night and Lucas might have just committed a felony so was deliberating not introducing himself.

Still trying to meet up...

Hey, buddy! Nice to see you again!

In reply to Karl Brennan (msg # 181):

Well, I'd like to meet you.  Well, or any other superhuman, really.  But you asked for some alone time, and it would be hypocritical to ignore that...

So, ya know, like Monday. ;)

Amazing that a place this big (RPoL) and you still run into folks you play with repeatedly. ;)

_I_ never asked for alone time! ;)  I did try finding someone in my solo thread...but Ryan isn't exactly a detective or skilled at anything in this "super" stuff.  And screwed it up nicely. ;)

We did some hero-ing together! We saved a kid from being beaten! It went better then the last time Lucas tried it. Though Lucas might have committed a felony, possibly a misdemeanor to do so.

Lucas is considering performing a superhuman feat where people can see in order to see if he can draw others out, but is considering if he can do so and then disappear without being followed.

I don’t see that as hypocritical.

Rude maybe, but not hypocritical. ;-P

Thought I replied to this but apparently not!

This Ryan...really doesn't have any useful heroing skills (yet).  He's got powers, yeah, but otherwise, he's just a regular guy.  Got to work up to it!

Ryan is pondering the feasibility of a secret lair.  (Secret base sounds to nerdy. ;)  Lair has more gravitas.)  Just not sure if anyone but him could use it.  Assuming he can meet folks who would get along with and hero and all that.  (Again, not idea how to meet folks 'subtly'.)

Lucas already has his spot picked out and if he doesn't meet anyone is probably going to start renovating it soon.

Hey! I had intended to get caught up tonight, but my internet keeps cutting out, so it looks like it will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry. :(

No one sweatin you, fam :)

I figure I'll go round-robin in group threads, so that everybody has a chance to interact.  That may get unwieldy as we have larger groups of people, but for these pre-team up threads, I figure that's not the worst idea!

Yeah I think that’s the general expectation. A, B, C, A, B, C etc.

Glad to hear people are grouping up!

Just say the word, Lucas, and Becca will find you too! ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 18:39, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Set up a meeting already, we will see how it goes.

Has there been anything in particular that someone might notice?  Which is a very expansive question, but if one of Becca's friends can tell her they felt a disturbance in the force, it'll help in getting a meeting going. =D

No worries GM.  Life happens.

What he said.  Poor Ryan is pretty bad at finding people! ;)  And he's been trying (badly).  Might have to do something "obvious" he's getting so desperate!

Smeddly will have to gather you all!

Left a note - though if that doesn't work he is going to perform a demonstration and see if that gets some interest.

I claim the 1000th post....out of boredom mostly.  ;)

eh, just hanging out waiting for the timeline to catch up with me. The perils of being probably a little to passive and paranoid.

Well it does help you avoid the Collectors I would imagine.

Right there with ya!

Sorry to keep some of you waiting. Hopefully, we'll get you into some action soon. Thanks for your continued patience.

I don't know if I missed this but I just noticed a new name on the Cast list.

Welcome to the game, Jaecy!
(Or is it Tanzy?  The character description referred to her by a different name.)

Fixed it!! posted that on a phone. Sorry.

Thanks, and its Jaecy. Silly me. :p
Its nice to be here.!!

Welcome!

Great to meet you, Jaecy!

Welcome!

I still feel a little disjointed but have met a few others, maybe more paths have crossed already/will cross in the near future.

Right there with you!

Thank you all. I also hope our paths cross. :)

I'm doing little fishing expeditions to inflict Becca on you all.

Trying to set up a meet. We will see if it happens. And now hot on the trail of a second person.

Lucas is being a pain in the ass. Normally, my character's voice and personality get hammered out in his first few interactions with other pcs. This didn't happen in this game so his voice is not exactly done. So to whom I am interacting with I apologize that he is in my opinion being something of a paranoid dick.

We can't be nice all the time.

More examples coming soon! ;-)

Becca will be the extreme positive to buoy anybody's negativity.

For what it's worth I think a few of us are prowling around cautious and somewhat careful, if that's any comfort, Luke :)

Paranoia never killed anyone. The paranoiacs did. :p

Sadly, I’m with Stephanie.   Makes it hard to find people.

Also, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

Let me be clear, I am actively out to get you.

I'm exceedingly ineffective at getting any of you so far, which does not do me a great deal of credit, but gosh darn it, I'm comin'!  And I'm bringing the crystals!

I knew it!

Right there with ya…

I feel relatively confident that Bex is the least stealthy of any of the supes rummaging around the Windy City at the moment, given her TikTok presence and her inability to control her abilities.  Follow her for yoga tips and magical adventures around Chicago!

In reply to Ryan Cardier (msg # 221):
You reminded me of a JL meme. It's not arrogance if you can do it. With Batman and Superman.



In reply to Becca Gershwin (msg # 224):

You just gave me some tips for my posts.

Hooray!  I don't want to collude or break any social mores in this thread, but if I can give ideas then I'm happy to!

Posting tomorrow. Lots of things to do, so little time....

Hello all!

I guess someone left the door unlocked so I snuck in here.  :)

Welcome Dennis!

Hi Dennis!  Welcome to the show!!

Welcome!

Nice to have tou here!!

Welcome welcome!

Sorry everyone, I'm out until Thursday.  I'll get a post up as soon as I'm back!!

Oh, right; I should probably duck my head in.

Hi everyone!

Welcome!

Leon...does he turn into a swarm of lions?

A swarm of forges! Or metal lions!

Metal lion? Omg we were just over by him!

Forget the wrong ballpark - you guys are in the wrong sport.  But I do have some ideas now for my next character....

He just needed a badass sounding name to replace tame 'ole 'Alan Smith.'

Welcome Leon :) Stay off my lawn (when it comes to being a swarm ^_~ )

Does that mean I can tell people to stay off the L?

Also, talking about lions has sent me down a rabbit hole for a game idea.

Looks like I'm late to the party on this one --
Welcome to the game Dennis and Leon!

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I'll try to get caught up today.

Thank you for all the welcomes!

@GM - no worries, real life certainly will try to keep everyone down.  Just come up for air once in a while when you can. :)

Gamemaster:

I know Karl's been on a few things, and there's been mention of other supers in the news, especially recently. Any chance we could get a common reference thread for things people could easily find or common events happening, an easy thing for "I look at the news", plus save you the trouble of repeating?

No one shall ever catch wind of Becca.  She's a shadow in the night.  The stealthiest of geists.

Quiet, like the wind. Like the wind in a tornado.

Like white on white in a snowstorm. Like a tiger in a pumpkin patch :p

Truly she blends. Lucas would have no idea that she was anything but an up and coming influencer. I have made that same comment to one other character already that there is nothing at all suspicious or superhuman about her.

She's having way too much fun being a paranormal investigator today.

FYI updated cast listing with info on Karl's various public appearances so far, which should in varying degrees be findable by anyone who was trying.

Oh good idea!

Just got back. Just dropping real quick to say I will post tomorrow.

May you all Breakout to Happy Holidays!

Ditto here, and same to you!

Indeed!  Happy Holidays all!

I hope everyone is safe and sound, and had a very happy holiday! ♥

As a heads up, I'll be traveling today and will be out of town the rest of the week. I should still have time to post during the week but it might be more limited.

Happy New Year, everyone! I'll be traveling again tomorrow, but then should be home and back to a more regular schedule.

Happy New Year, and safe travels!

Happy New Year and let's hope this one is better then the last few.

Hells yes!  Be safe, be healthy, be happy is the goal for the new year.

Hello everyone, I am going to be your new member.  Reyna Devine reporting to duty. :)  Still need to finish writing her up though. :)

Welcome to the fun, Reyna!

Welcome! Hope you enjoy!

Welcome!

You came at just the right time! You can easily lone wolf it or join up with the growing number of people making an appearance! Great timing.

Kewl, first I have to finish my character sheet and then will see how the Gamemaster wants me to enter the fray. :)

The Bean. It is going to be the Bean.

Stephanie I think you should come back and be a hero and save me.

Steph got grounded by her parents lol. But good luck!

Karl's heading to the Bean section soon after a brief stopover.

He may not be the hero you need, but may be the one you deserve. Or something like that...;-)

Or at least the one you're gonna get!

Mama always said life is like a junk drawer. Everything's in there but you probably ain't gonna find what you're after.

Okay, Reyna Devine has been approved and will making her entrance soon! :)  I am looking forward to gaming with everyone. :)

Well come aboard!!

Welcome!

And happy new year!

As for me, I'm discovering just how much fun it is to type one-handed.  I had a cast put on my right hand today, and it's at just the right angle to make typing with it difficult.  As for the wrist, I sprained it just before Xmas.  I was making do with just a brace, but at the follow-up visit today, they decided that there were a few small fractures in the wrist that warranted immobilizing while they healed.

In reply to Jessica Kowalski (msg # 277):

Ouch! That is no fun!!  I hope it heals quickly, Jessica.

Happy New Year!

Welcome Reyna!

@Jessica- I hoe you heal quickly and pain free!

In reply to Jessica Kowalski (msg # 277):

Lots of milk sister.!!

Hope you get better soon.!!!

Hope everyone's thriving in the New Year :) Stay safe out there!

Agreed!  Stay safe and be well. :)

Sorry for the small post, I didn't want to fait accompli anyone into entering the mysterious Trader Joe's!

You would be hard-pressed to stop Whistler from finding out what's on the other side!

Sorry for the silence this week. I'll try to get caught up over the weekend.

Karl you might want to post, as Lucas' post right would literally be:

.........Lucas' mind shut down for a few moments and then started to reboot as he sat staring at the cat.

Karl, while I love the idea, it pains me to no end that his name isn't Tabbypedia Jones.

Also, https://www.austinchronicle.co...reens_feature3-1.jpg this is the outfit I was trying to describe. I don't know that I quite got there, but hopefully it makes ya smile!

Sorry for both the double post and the delay -- my dad has been taken to hospice and we've been trying to get everything in order, so it's sort of taken priority.  I'll get a post up today!

Family comes first Becca.  Hope things go smoothly for you.

That's pretty rough.  Hope it goes as easily as possible.

Sorry to hear it.  Been there.  Take care of you and yours first.

Hope he gets better.

I've been down that road, Bex. Take the time you need, no pressure.

Take whatever time you need, Becca. Wishing you and your family all the best in this difficult time.

Sorry for my silence this week. I'll probably be a bit spotty when it comes to posting for a while longer. We've got a house guest who will be here for about ten more days.

Totally cool, GM. Life happens ^_^ I can say soundly I'm very much enjoying the game and I appreciate all your efforts. Take the time you need.

Boo..house guest!  But hope you are having a good visit with them, GM. ;)

And I agree with Stephanie. :)

Ditto!  No worries.

It's been busier than normal at home and work this past week or so. I haven't forgotten about you all. I'll get caught up when I find some time.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 299):

Thanks for updating us!  Hope your home life settles down soon. :)

Things happen. Hope things get better soon.

Eh, Lucas is just hanging out having a lonely Christmas and drawing up renovation plans so it is all good.

Sort of in same boat.  Ryan is spending Christmas with family.  So not a lot to do RP wise.

Take your time, GM :) We appreciate 'cha!

We'll still be here when ya get back so no worries on this end!

So, while we wait I have decided to ask you all for a little bit of help, if that is alright? I found a MnM game on rpol a while ago and submitted an RTJ. I didn't make it, but eh. You win some, you lose some. While going over my ideas though I came up with another one and now need some ideas for a scenario in this character's backstory. I was hoping you all might come up with some interesting answers to the age old question - What do you wish for?

To set the scene to answer this question - it is, oh about 1805? or so. The players are a group of young second and third sons of English nobility and gentry. They have just purchased their commissions and within the next few weeks are to set out on their new military career against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. They are also drunk and high on opium. So, as a lark they do something they shouldn't and summon a being who grants them all one wish. The wish has to relate to them personally. They can't with for Napoleon to die or something like that. So, what do they wish for? I have several answers, for a few of the people involved, but was hoping to get some more from you all.

"I wish for endless personal happiness."

Lots of ways to twist it, but on the whole, it's the sort of thing a self-centered drunk-n-high son might request, and the way the wish interacts with the story has a number of opportunities.  Lots of nucleation points to make for drama and intrigue.

"Perpetual interesting life."

If you want the anime version its kinda like the Ranma half. If you go with a more serious theme it could be like the movie "The secret life of Walter Mitty". Good movie.


"Want to overcome my mortal encounters."

In lieu of not being clear with the devil, not being clear what its mortal(death kind or against people), the devil made it half and half. The character gained short range hypnosis that works thru right and can read body language and voice. Bam! Face mortal dangers by reading people like book (Also work on combat.), place hypnotic triggers so people react the way you want and so on.

I think at least one interpretation of such a character would make the foolish, unfiltered wish to be the first-born, or possibly "to matter," or "to be first in my father's eyes."

Which would, of course, disgrace or kill his elder brother(s) and create enough pathos for that character to sink a ship of the line.

It's not as much of a plot-driver as Becca and Jaecy's options, but the ways that kind of pain and guilt could evolve a character is significant.

Go with inspiration from period pieces.  Some classics;

To marry up?

Everlasting youth?

Power over live and death?

Long lost and mysterious treasure?

Or take it from the perspective of the situation.  Going off to war:

"Don't want to die."
"Want my friends to survive."
"Want to go home."

Just for a different take.

Thanks for understanding.

I'll work on getting caught up over the weekend. I'm hoping to get everyone to December 26th as soon as possible.

'I wish to live a long and prosperous life.'

'I wish I could fly.'

'I wish to be the strongest man alive!'

'I wish I could feel this like this whenever I want.'

'I wish I could overcome my limitations.'

'I wish to know how to make my parents proud.'


What day of the week is Christmas? I have lost track and can't find it.

I don't think it's really possible to provide truly good answers to that question without an idea of who the given people are when you want the wishes to mean something personal to the wisher.

The brash third son with nothing to truly inherit and much to prove wishes for something very different from the callous first born who's already got all his ducks mostly in a row but insists on leading from the front. The unrequited lover racing off to war to prove his mettle and manhood to his dismissive paramour wants something different from the poet-hearted ponce who already holds the heart of his beloved but is being dragged along by his childhood chum. The restless daughter masquerading as a man for the thrill of war and the need to be more than her gendered lot wishes for something different than the duty-bound son of a military line who just wants to teach in the hallowed halls of academia but is obligated to carry on the family tradition of war.

Just my thoughts.  Not trying to be unhelpful or anything.

If you feel you couldn’t come up with a wish without knowing more about the character that is fine. Only two of them had a backstory - any of the examples you used could be in the room.  So, saying sorrowful second so who wanted to be clergy, but was forced into being a soldier might wish for - ……. Would be fine.

After all the in-depth analysis and interesting answers of others I feel kind of crass mentioning it, but I rather expect a lot of the people in that state would simply wish for more booze and drugs.

Esmée "Eddie" Feyette Dupont, with her short cropped hair and her willowy, androgynous build, reels under the sweet kiss of the dragon, blood bubbling and skin prickling with the endless warmth of summer bliss. She is not accustomed to the tug and pinch of the bindings that wrap her breasts even yet, and fights the gleeful urge to remove them like a butterfly eschewing it's cocoon. Drunk on port and swaying, she bumps shoulders with Patrice, her thin lips quirking into a wry smile.

"Désolé, mais moi d'abord!" she says, seizing the opportunity to wish first. She asks of the eldritch and arcane entity they have conjured to make her the match of any man she meets. so she might never feel small or out of place again, she thinks.

Her companions nod and laugh and cheer at the cleverness of their brother and compatriot, unaware just how much the wish means to her, and just how far those words will go.



I guess something like that?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:08, Wed 30 Mar 2022.

They have plenty of both, so aren't really concerned about having more of both when they already have so much.

Posting tomorrow. Cant keep eyes open for long.

Sorry for the delay from me, everyone!  This week decided to be A Lot, but we're back in action.

Is there a timeframe for when we're expecting to jump to the next day and meet up post prologue?

When are people at, in the game? I'm on Christmas Day, but can easily move ahead if needed.

On morning of 26th.  Think I'm on hold?  Not 100% sure though.

Most characters are around Christmas day...

I have to admit that I've been having a hard time keeping up with this game lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. It is largely my fault; I took on more stories than I could manage easily. I really love most of the characters/stories in this game, but lately, it's begun to feel like a chore to post here. I don't know if I can keep this game going right now.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 324):

is there anything we can do to help you out, Gamemaster?

Obviously rl comes first. If the game is overstimulating you or otherwise draining you, it is what it is and you should look out for you :)

That said, I really love the game and similarly would be happy to see maybe some formatting changes or other tweaks that might help you keep running it?

And though I hate to suggest this... if you're just... overwhelmed by stories, we could prune people? Though I would not be want to leave, I could recuse myself if you thought one or two less people might swing the needle back into maintainable ground? Or we could roll dice for it, or whatever. Obviously that's maybe the last resort but I'm just suggesting that cake for some is better than cake for none? A good thing needn't end just because it's a little overfilled. But again, that's just me thinking out loud.


Was there anything we, the players, could do to ease the burden or grease the creative wheels? A timeskip to consolidate us? Group us into a set of characters so you only have to manage a handful of threads instead of a dozen?

We're here to help :) And if this is goodnight and goodbye, then that's fine too if it has to be <3

I second the idea of grouping us up.  I've only been in prologue up until now and would very much appreciate swimming in a slightly larger pond.

I'll second Stephanie. If you need fewer people, I'm willing to go on hiatus/become a spectator/etc. I don't want to, I like this setting and the story threads that are blossoming, but I'm a logical drop compared to the folks who have been active for a much longer time.

And if there's anything else we can do, or if it would be beneficial to start splicing threads together so you only have to juggle 1-3 group threads instead of 8+ solo threads, happy to accommodate those changes. The park group thread went really well, and the great thing about groups is they can self-propel quite a bit with you having to be directly involved.

If you just need to take a break, by all means! It will probably be much more relaxing for you to say the game is officially on a pause while you let the burnout heal and decide how you want to proceed/who you want to proceed with. I speak from experience when I say that trying to take a fake-break, where you post less often to heal burnout but end up feeling guilty about it, is no kind of recovery at all.

Agreed, open to whatever works. Taking a break, bringing in a co-gm, adjusting how the game is organized, whatever.

The way things are set up now, it is a heavy load for the gm, with everyone siloed off. Maybe a switch to more location based threads vs character based could lessen the load, letting us move around and interact without hand-holding. Give us some guidelines on how much to control npcs and we could do a lot, only needing gm to interact for plot things and things like time changes.

I'm pretty much in agreement with what everyone else had already proposed.

If it's time to take a break or end the game, that's completely understandable.  This should be fun for everyone.  If the game is starting to feel like a chore, then you aren't having fun and that's not fair to you.

As much as I have enjoyed this game so far, I'm also willing to step aside if it would help to let others continue, especially if my character concept doesn't inspire what you had originally intended for your game.

If we can continue this game together, I also think that larger groups would help to reduce the workload of having to maintain all of the individual storylines. The additional interactions between characters should lessen the amount of interactions with the NPCs that you have been providing.

Thanks for all of your feedback, everyone! Give me some time to think about how I might proceed with this game. I'll post here to let you know what I decide later.

Well... I suppose that's it then. I want to thank my writing partners and the GM for the time we all shared. It was fun.

Happy trails and helpful muses, all!

Thanks all for the times we had.

Was going to build a series of beehives around the city. Along with a base in an abandoned L station.

If I had the time, I'd consider picking it up to keep it running.  Ah well.

:( I keep meaning to try to get this game running again, but then never get to it, so I suppose it is time to say goodbye. Thanks for the good times, everyone!

Hi, everyone! It's been several months since I closed down this game, but a lot has changed since then. Specifically, as it relates to you all, I have considerably more time to post and anticipate that will continue, and I have a desire to continue with this game. I really miss you all and your characters, and would love to continue to build and explore this world with you, if you're willing to give it another shot.

If you're still interested in this game, please post here and/or send me a PM. Once I know who is still around, we can figure out how to proceed.

Thanks, and I hope to hear from you soon!

I'm still around!

I am still around and looking forward to playing. :)

Still kicking.

I, too, still live!

This is really great news!

I'm here and still interested in playing this game.

I am alive, if just barely.

I could be up for it.

I'm around.  Not quite sure on my current freetime budget, so I'll see once you start laying out the new plans.

I'm glad to see that most of you are still here. :)

Let me spend some time reviewing where everyone was in their individual stories when we left before I get things going again, but I'm thinking that I'd like to do a short jump forward in time to New Year's Eve.

Once you've had a chance to review your stories, send me a PM, and we can start discussing what your character has been up to during the week or so between where we left off and where we'll be picking up again.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 346):

Will do!  :)  Fairly easy for me, haven't done much yet. ;)

Buzz Buzz! I'm still here too ^-^ And excited to rejoin. I'll brush up shortly!

Hot damn, that's all ten of us! Nice to see everybody.

Indeed! I'm glad to see that you are still around and interested in continuing.

I'll be busy with work today and most of the day tomorrow, but I should have time on Sunday to start working on getting things rolling again.

I realize that we might want to take care of a couple of things before New Year's Eve, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

If you haven't sent me a PM yet, be sure to do so soon. I'll be working on going through everything today.

Hi, everybody. Looking forward to joining in.

Hello Jacques, welcome to the madhouse.  :)

Welcome...I think. ;-)

Hi Jacques!

Welcome welcome!

Welcome!

Howdy!

It is a madhouse... :)

I've gotten a few of you started already. If I haven't gotten you (re-)started yet, please hold tight. I expect to get to everyone within a week.

It's time for bed for me now.

I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of personalities and powers there'll be in the group. I'll likely have to make some adjustments. There's times when it comes to M&M that make you want to hire an accountant to help with character creation.

Well so far I think Lucas has met...4 of the other PCs? So, you might have time to ease into it.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:05, Sat 22 Oct 2022.

I will be forcibly meeting you soon, be not afraid.

Be afraid! ;)


Although Devine hasn't meet anyone yet either, but is looking forward to it. :)

I have to agree. Be afraid of meeting Becca.

Meeting Becca is great, don't stress!

Dani being damn near fearless has nothing to do with this endorsement.

It's my mission to personally terrify each and every one of you.

Outside of written (and some email and a phone call or two), I've met 1. ;)

In reply to Becca Gershwin (msg # 366):

I rest my case!! :)

Jackie knows dental surgery. I think he's got one hell of a head start.

She wins.

Hey, all! Real life has been busier than usual the past couple of days, so I haven't had much time to post. However, I expect things to calm down starting tomorrow, so I should have time to get caught up again. Thanks for your patience.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 371):

Thanks for the heads up GM :)

No worries at all, c'est la vie.

Out of curiosity, and if no one minds, I was wondering what sort of powers the various characters have. I did assume that they'd all form a team eventually.

Jackie is a fairly unimposing polymath who devotes himself to doing good deeds. He just happens to turn into a nightmarish creature of living darkness now and then.

No problem.   Understandable.  Thanks for the heads up.

I seem to recall being asked not to share that here?  But I admit my memory isn't great and things blur together...  if I'm wrong, someone remind me please and will follow suit.

Oh dear, sorry about that.

I don't have a problem with you sharing that here. But no one is obliged to do so, either.

Reyna is a Theatre Star in the making with Sonic powers :)

I stand corrected!

Ryan's elemental powers are pretty obvious... *points to one of the dozen or so stone `pillars`*