Welcome to our new Co-GM, OakMaster! :-)
Free, free at last! Thank you for letting me in. I'm very happy to be here.
I suspect I might just be suggesting what the Watcher was going to do anyway, but I think it could be nice to have some pre-play interactions before assigning Influence and Relationships. Having seen that done in one Masks game online, I think that game was definitely better for that. It established some initial character dynamics rather than people just guessing.
For the record, I'm completely fine with the boarding school angle, and I don't think adult supervision would be necessarily a bad thing. It could be a fun element to deal with, especially if (when) we go against their wishes.
Nintaku, those are all great in my opinion. :) Are you sure that Indigo is not an Innocent? That said, out of all of them, I think I like Octopus most. Probably because I have a soft spot for heroic versions of villains in particular.
Speaking of which, I have a few ideas as to characters right now. Currently, one sticks out for me in particular, but we end up going the multiple characters route, I suspect I won't resist that temptation for long. Still, I'd rather pitch what I've thought about the most for now.
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What I have so far is (as far as I know...) an original character with a loose connection to the universe who doubles up on the Brain playbook. I'll take your word for all of that being okay, though I'd still really appreciate any feedback you (the Watcher and any other players) might have at this stage.
Basically... The kid prodigy daughter of a disgraced Russian scientist with a loose familial connection to many Soviet super-scientists of yore colouring her worldview. Her father had some revolutionary ideas about harnessing bio-energy, but wasn't quite brilliant enough to pull them off. The kid was. Her "improvements" to his devices got him hired by a Western corporation's local branch, and her brought along as an "assistant". She sought to use their resources to develop tech for harnessing various exotic energies swirling around in this universe. There were all sorts of benign uses in her mind, but also she thought that it could make superheroes obsolete. As far as she could see, they harmed a lot of people over the years, including her relatives. Besides, their superpowered drama had repeatedly endangered the entire the world. Wouldn't it be better if there was some way to check and to replace them?
Unbeknownst to her, the company actually agreed with that much - because it was actually a front for A.I.M.! When she created an experimental device that could harness, drain, and manipulate various energies in the field for law enforcement needs, they saw fit to use it in an attack on the Avengers. Long story short, they managed to capture some of them for use in human experimentation, the Brain found out, helped them get free, got captured herself, and was rescued. In the aftermath, the Avengers extended an invitation to this school (or the recruiting event or what have you). She wasn't sure whether to accept it at first, but the tech she developed was still out there, being used by A.I.M. and whoever they sold it to in the worst ways possible. According to how her grandmother had taught her, that was her responsibility. So she tuned up her miniature personal energy manipulator/force field generator and set off for America, hoping to find resources, training, and everything else she'd need to make this right.
I'll write everything down in my character thread once it's a bit more settled in my head, I think. Also, I guess that was two paragraphs, but I figure it's better to give you more info to work with at the start. What do you think?
My idea was to have someone who is mostly an outsider to the broader setting (since that would be sort of immersive for my level of knowledge) and with some negative preconceptions going in that were only somewhat challenged by her first run-in with actual superheroes. Her technology obviously has world-changing potential for good or ill, as I think a Brain's invention should. It could also have fun interactions with many other characters' powers, potentially. Of course, just how strong both her current device and the stolen tech are is something that can be adjusted. I have some tentative notions on that count, but I said too much already for the first pitch. :)
EDIT: I will add this, it doesn't have to be A.I.M. and Avengers. My research suggests that 1) A.I.M. are fond of all kinds of technology and are also capable of spreading something that could be wielded as a weapon against many types of supers far and wide and 2) Avengers have (historically had) some energy-based members and are high-profile and independent enough to fill this role. Also, there are many layers of irony in having, say, Iron Man be the one to make the offer to her. But if there are other suggestions, I would welcome them!
This message was last edited by the player at 11:10, Tue 04 May 2021.