Bay 12 Games Forum

"There are generally three kinds of cities with lots of supers. The first, and typically best-known, are big coastal cities with lots of trade coming in from across the nation and world; unsurprisingly, these attract superheroes and -villains, who then attract one another. The second is cities that are the only major city in their region, as they tend to become the nexus for all kinds of urban activity (and superheroics in farm country is suitable only to the dedicated, the super-fast, or the teleporters). The third and least-thought-about are cities with high crime or poverty rates; this leaves a large number of disaffected youth to attempt to become heroes, villains, or minions, as well as a hightened chance of gaining powers and of course the attraction that the criminals or poor people will attract fame- or minion-seeking supers.
"Out of all cities in the United States, Chicago fits these qualities best. It is on the coast of Lake Michigan, a Great Lake and hence connecting Chicago to the rest of the Midwest. Its location also forces significant amounts of land travel over it. While there are other large cities in the Midwest, Chicago is undoubtably the largest, and dwarfs other cities in northern Illinois and Indiana and southern Wisconsin. In addition, it has had historically high poverty and crime rates for decades, although not as bad as some areas of the nation. Combined with Chicago's sheer size--the third-largest city in the nation--its strict gun control laws, and a history of "super-crime" lasting back to Big Al, is it any surprise that over a third (about 1.5 million out of 4.8 million) of America's superheroes, and almost half (3.3 million out of 6.8 million) of its supervillains live in the Chicago metropolitan area? Its total parahuman population (estimated at almost 5 million) is highest in the nation, as well as the highest proportion out of any city which has been properly surveyed. This is testament to the 'common knowledge' that Chicago is where wannabe supers try to make their start."
--Dr. Orville Smith, Sociologist and Parologist, in Superology: How Supers Work In and Affect the World at Large

Superheroes--and villains--have been a part of our world for as long as we can tell. Paleoparologists argue over if parahumans (the technical term for superpowered people) began appearing tens of thousands ago, millions of years ago, or if they're as old as Animalia. What's known is that supers appeared before civilization. Demigods, Magi, Shamans; whatever you call them, they were probably supers. However, in recent centuries, more supers have been showing up.

"It started with the Industrial Revolution. The first recorded parahuman with an artificial origin was Steam Man, also known as Seymour Smith, who in 1857 fell into a coal hopper and became partly fused with it. When the engine was disassembled, it was discovered that Smith was still alive. Steam Man was superhumanly tough and strong, as well as being able to emit steam jets (granting greatly enhanced jumping) and both generate and fire burning pieces of coal. Smith, a Prussian, fled to America. He was followed in successive years by many others, and Steam Man gathered a team during the Civil War to combat a similar team in the Union. Since then, increasing industrialization of the world has brought increasing numbers of supers (and not just from industrial sources). The US--home of the first super teams--remains a major center of parahumanity."
--Superology

As noted at the top, Chicago is one of the top superhero cities in the US and the world. It is the base of operations for the PCs in this game. The Chicago metropolitan area contains almost 10 million people, and almost half of them are some variety of super. Many of them are not heroes or villains, and many of those who are are only part-timers. Regardless, gang wars tend to be fought with superpowers almost as much as firearms, muggings tend to require several muggers to deal with the inevitable band of random heroes who help out (and sometimes fight amongst themselves over who saves the muggee), and bank robberies rarely make the news.

Despite the number of parahumans in Chicago, the US, and the world, the end result of history is remarkably similar to the real world. This is partly because superheroes aren't sufficiently significant in number, even in this modern era, to affect events in most areas of the world; partly because both sides of every war had supers; and partly because this is a superhero game, not a chance for me to wax eloquent on an elaborate alternate history and map of the world. Now, before we get into the interesting bit, one last point.

Supers have affected not only the real world but that of fiction as well. In the 1930's, a new character was concocted: Superman, an alien hero who satired the assorted heroes running about the United States at the time and their easygoing attitude towards public safety and such. Over the years, most comics save certain old DC characters have become more serious and realistic in tone...
While a few comics are based on real supers, most such media are independent.
--Superology

You are a wannabe superhero or -villain who is in Chicago. Whether you were born there or moved there to make a mark on and an image in the world, you are here. You already got your powers...and your weaknesses. Only a fraction of supers are completely without any weaknesses, and the rest have to just deal with it. Regardless of who you are, or what you want to do...you'll be making a mark.

What you choose:
Name: What you were called as a child. (Codenames come later.)
Gender: Helpful to know. Since you are (probably) human, you must choose.
Age: Must be old enough to be able to leave home without triggering parental alarms and making people wonder why you are out on your own.
Description: What your character looked and acted like before becoming a super. Afterwards...who knows?
Backstory: Your character's life before becoming a super. (DON'T INCLUDE ORIGIN--that is randomly determined.)
Intended Side: Do you intend to be a hero or a villain?
Motivation: Why do you want to be a hero or villain? ("It would be cool" or "To be like X" is an acceptable reason.)
Favorite Superpower: Let's face it, even in the real world most kids think about being superheroes would be cool. In a world where supers are real, common, and almost everyday, most would have decided on which powers they would want, especially the ones that eventually follow through on becoming heroes or villains. Which was your character's?
[u]Name:[/u]
[u]Gender:[/u]
[u]Age:[/u]
[u]Description:[/u]

[u]Backstory:[/u]
[u]Intended Side:[/u]
[u]Motivation:[/u]
[u]Favorite Superpower:[/u]

What you don't choose:
Origin, Powers, and Weaknesses.
You can influence them, but not directly. Name, preferred power, background, personality--all can affect the results. Three dice will be rolled when a PS (Player Super) enters play.
Origin:
1: None! You are completely without powers, which won't stop you from trying.
2: A freak accident. Whether you got struck by lightning while inhaling radioactive hard water infused with genetically-engineered swamp gas or what, you got your powers...alongside with horrible injuries.
3: An item. Is it technological? Magical? Both? It will vary, but it will make you better-off than someone with just fists, cunning, and/or an illegal gun. Woe betide ye if you lose it or it is stolen...
4: Experimentation. While this gives pretty reliable powers, it often comes with some kind of little catch, like needing to take special pills, setting off metal detectors, or having the Mob angry at losing their test subject. (Kidding, of course. Superhumans are more of a Triad thing.)
5: Discovery. You found some kind of ancient artifact that gave you powers, or invented a power-granting serum, or something. You are probably unique, and aren't tied down, AND can possibly profit directly off of your power source!
6: Natural ability. You manifested this ability at a later date than birth, for some reason, or perhaps it was given to you as a blessing. While this lacks inherent downsides, it doesn't come with an instriction manual...

Power:
1: It's more of a curse than a power. Examples: The Thing or having your hands turn into snakes.
2: It's kinda pathetic, but can be used well with cleverness. Examples: Squirrel Girl or the ability to make flowers grow.
3: You have a moderately useful power, or a powerset that can be useful. Examples: Aquaman or (fairly) super-strength and toughness.
4: This is at the hypothetical "average"--a single powerful power or a number of less powerful ones. Examples: The Flash or shapeshifting.
5: Lucky you--you either have many powers, or one extreme power. Examples: Superman or micrometer-precision, multiton-strength telekinesis.
6: You have immense power or a number of powerful ones, but no control. Examples: Franklin Richards or being possessed by a major demon.

Weakness:
1: You have no weaknesses. Lucky you.
2: Your weakness is minor, or else is just a way to negate your powers.
3: Your weakness is moderate, or else it negates your powers and drains your strength (e.g. also incapacitates you).
4: Your weakness is pretty major, and basically incapacitates you if it comes up.
5: Your weakness is a full-out curse, severely inhibiting your abilities.
6: Your curse is also a boon...though it is not all good.

Have fun!

If there's anything you need clarified, let me know.

A summary of the rules

Each year, starting with 1915 (supposedly 1901, but the map is more like later in Europe's history), with several phases per year.

Spring Movement: Units move, or do non-movement things.
Spring Retreat/Disbandment Phase: Failed attacks resolve with retreating or dying.
Autumn: Like Spring.
Winter Build/Disband: You either build or disband fleets or armies until the number of your units equals the number of your supply centers.

Units can move one territory per movement phase--for instance, from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Baltic Sea, from Venice to Trieste, or from London's coast to the North Sea. The exception to this rules is convoys--if you have a line of ships reaching from one land territory to another, and all ships work on convoying, you can move an army directly between them. Only one unit can be in any one territory.

Obviously enough, attacking is pretty important. However, defenders have a pretty big advantage in Diplomacy. If one unit defends and one unit attacks, the attacker is simply "bounced"--it will retreat in the Retreat/Disband phase. In order to win, you need to support your attack with other units, or have allies do the same. Of course, you need to agree on who's attacking and who's supporting--if two units attempt to enter the same territory with equal or no support, both are bounced.

Aside from helping a convoy, supporting, or of course moving, a unit in the Movement phase can simply hold, defending its territory.

The first to reach 18 supply centers wins...because once you have half the map, you can crush the other half easily.

If any rules have been forgotten, added, muddled, or screwed up, inform me thusly and I will correct the error.

Actions will be PM'd, as should any secret plotting you do. Please include the phrase "Diplomacy Turn" in the PM. In addition, for posterity, I'd like to request that secret plans between players be CC'd to me. You have my promise of confidentiality--I will not spread intelligence around to other players or post it in the thread. (I can't promise this from other players, however.)

Actions should be in a simple but descriptive format, like "Venice Army to Trieste" or "Sevastopol Fleet to Black Sea." You can be more elegant if you want, but unless it's nice and clear you will want to make it clear at some point so I don't accidentally misinterpret your actions!

Each turn will be presented with a bit of flair. Half the fun of this kind of forum game is the stories being written, and I intend to fully utilize this. However, at the end of this story stuff is a simple list of what happened in the turn (aside from secret plots--those are confidential).

After each Movement phase, players have 2 days or so to respond with turns; after that, I let my intuition and/or you guys decide if they all just hold or if we send the issue to the Delinquent Players Thread. Once everyone has an action, the turn is created; once the turn is done and posted, the next begins. Retreat/Disbandment turns and Build/Disband turns work the same, except with 1 and 1.5 days time limit, respectively. If you know you will not be playing for a while for whatever reason, let us know and we will figure something out.

Nation: Which of the seven Powers you want to play. There is Russia, Turkey, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Austria. This will affect your strategy. If multiple players claim the same nation, the one to play the nation will be randomly selected.
Leader: The name and title of your leader. This will not--it's just for the storytelling aspect.
Promise: Where you promise not to let anything that happens in the game spoil your relationship with other forum-goers. It's more important in in-person games, but worth doing here given its negligible cost.

You can also explain other bits about your leader and why your country is different from the real-life version, but that is very much optional.

Nation:
Leader:

I, (insert username here), promise not to allow anything that transpires within this forum game to affect anything that transpires without said game.
[font=(Your favorite font)](insert username here)


Name: Obvious.
Gender: Equally so, if not more.
Age: Should be pretty obvious. Pretty much any age where a person can walk around and talk is fair game; just ask Gavroche.
Description: Appearance, history, profession, favorite color, whatever. The more the better.
Faction: You can be a Revolutionary, an Official, or anything else you can imagine. If you're not a Revolutionary or Official, make sure it's clear what you mean with your Faction! See below.
Talents: Choose one or two things you get a +1 to. You only get two if they're both fairly narrow (GM's discretion).

Aucun

Background:
Name: What your character is called by friends and colleagues.
Gender: Are you XX or XY? (Ignore chromosomal disorders, you know what I mean.)
Profession: What you did before being recruited.
Bio: What you did in your whole life, ideally including why you were recruited.
Position: What you are intended to do here. (Medical Officer, Technician, etc. Only one Leader may be present at a time, and the other players are under no obligation past good roleplay to listen.)

Attributes:
You get 25 points to spend between the following Attributes:
Academics--How learned your character is.
Body--How strong or tough your character is.
Cleverness--How good your character is at thinking quickly.
Dexterity--How fast or agile your character is.
These give bonuses or penalties to rolls associated with the Attribute:
0: -5
1: -2
2: -1
3: +0
4: +1 (Average Human)
5: +2
6: +3
7: +4
8: +5
9: +7
10: +10
You cannot spend more than 10 points on one Attribute.

Skills:
A. Primary Skills
You get either one skill at Skilled V level, two at Skilled III level, or three at Skilled II level for your Primary Skills. These must directly relate to your character's Profession.
B. Secondary Skills
You get two at Skilled IV Level or four at Skilled II Level. These must relate to your character's Profession or Position.
C. Tertiary Skills
You get three at Skilled II Level or five at Skilled Level. These should relate to your character's Profession or Position, or else be favored hobbies or something.
D. Background Skills
You get three at Skilled Level or five at Novice Level. These should be justified if they're not common skills.
Pretty much everything else will suffer Untrained penalties.
Skills can be fairly vague, like "Rifles" or "First Aid."

[i]Name:[/i]
[i]Gender:[/i]
[i]Profession:[/i]
[i]Position:[/i]
[i]Bio:[/i]

[b]Attributes:[/b]
[u]Academics:[/u]
[u]Body:[/u]
[u]Dexterity:[/u]
[u]Cleverness:[/u]

[b]Skills:[/b]
[u]Primary Skills[/u]
[u]Secondary Skills[/u]
[u]Tertiary Skills[/u]
[u]Background Skills[/u]


(Original)

(Actual)

This game will use a modified version of the standard Roll to Dodge system. A d10 rather than a d6 will be rolled:
1-: Epic Failure
2-3: Failure
4-5: Just Failed
6-7: Success
8-9: Good Success
10+: Perfect Success
Overshotting can be done on any success; there is a chance equal to 5(Roll-5-1.5[Mod])%, rounded down to the nearest percent, that an overshot will occur.

Attacking will be done on a Dex vs. Agi roll; ties go to the attacker. Damage will be determined by an End roll by the defender, possibly opposed by a Strength roll by the attacker and/or modified by the weapon. Damage is basically by "chunky salsa" rules. It can be healed by taking a turn to treat your wounds; add your Lor/Luk and Tuf to the roll to see how well it heals. (The world is less stable here, so don't worry about broken bones overmuch...though severed limbs might take magic to fix). Major wounds will cause Endurance rolls to avoid bleeding out. On such rolls, a 1 or 2 leads to death, a 3 leads to getting a -1 on future rolls, a 4 leads to nothing, a 5 leads to getting a +1 on future bleeding-out rolls, and a 6 leads to not bleeding anymore.
Dying is permanent unless reversed.

Attributes add modifiers to the roll. To determine a modifier, subtract 1 from the attribute if it's odd, subtract 10, and divide by 2.

Rap Battles
A rap battle is, well, rapping instead of fighting. One player needs to initiate it and the other has to accept or not be doing anything interesting and distracting. It's a series of Cleverness rolls to determine how good the rapping is, starting with either the challenger or whoever rolls a higher Perception roll to figure out when it's really begun. Because Per needs something to do.
12+: You instantly win.
10-11: You get +1 permanently.
8-9: Your opponent gets -2 to his next roll.
6-7: Continue normally.
4-5: Your opponent gets +1 to his next roll.
2-3: You get -1 permanently.
0-1: As above, but your opponent also gets a permanent +1 bonus.
<0: You instantly lose. Pathetic.
These "permanent" bonuses only apply until the end of this Rap Battle.
For each "strike," I will type out horrible rap lyrics.
The loser gets -1 Attribute Points--that is, they lose a point from an Attribute! The winner gets an Attribute point. If the two were Nemeses, the winner also gets a Loot.
A rapper may choose one or more topics to Rap about before the turn. If one of these comes up, a +1 bonus is added to the roll due to having had time to come up with good rhymes and such.

The main rulesy bit there is is choosing Attributes, but other things are useful, too.

You have 8 Attributes. Each starts at 3, but you add 60 points to them to increase their value. No Attribute may start above 16. The Attributes are:
Agility (Agi)--Affects dodging, reacting, moving quickly, etc.
Cleverness (Clv)--Affects problem-solving, intuition, repeating odd things, etc.
Dexterity (Dex)--Affects accuracy, stability, fine motor skills, etc.
Lore (Lor)--Affects knowledge, guessing powers of items, knowing your enemies, etc.
Luck (Luk)--10% of your Luck modifier will be applied to all rolls (if your Luck modifier is not a multiple of 10, this will simply cause an X% chance of getting a +1 to the roll). This doubles in the case of "improbable" actions, and actions based entirely on luck will simply use the full modifier.
Perception (Per)--Affects noticing stuff, not missing stuff, seeing stuff others wouldn't, etc.
Strength (Str)--Affects damage with many weapons, wrestling results, how much you can carry, etc.
Toughness (Tuf)--Affects not dying, not getting hurt, not getting tired, etc.

You can also select Traits. These can be added to any character!
Traits currently available:
Extra Loot--Gives you two Loots rather than one, but you take a -1 penalty to all Attributes.
Guardian--You are assigned to protect a random other player (herein referred to as the Principal). If the Principal dies, you lose 1 point from all Attributes; however, killing someone who recently attacked him gives you a Loot.
Just--When you kill people, you do not get any Karma. However, killing someone harming you or another innocent (determined by GM fiat, I guess) gives you a Loot and 1 Karma.
Nemesis--When you spawn, another character is chosen as your Nemesis. If you kill him/her, or vise versa, the victor gets an extra Attribute point and Loot...but if you kill someone else, you get Karma instead of Attribute points. (You can still claim their gear.)
Soul-Linked--You have -1 to all Attributes. In addition, one Soul-Linked character cannot spawn alone; two spawn as one. The players have to agree to be Soul-Linked to each other. In addition, when one dies, the other does as well. However, whenever one gains Attribute Points, Karma, or Loot, the other does as well!

You also need to add a name and at least a brief description of appearance. Ideally, you would also add a bit of background and/or personality to your character.

Sample Sheet:
Name:
Appearance:
Personality:
Background:

Agi
Clv
Dex
Lor
Luk
Per
Str
Tuf

Traits (if any):


Loot will be randomly generated at spawn and for certain rewards. You will not know all the abilities of your loot when you start, and may not know any!

I'm kinda proud of my generator, it should make some awesome stuff.

You get rewards for doing stuff.

Rewards come in three general types: Luck, Level, Loot.
Luck comes in the form of Karma Points, which can be spent to give you a +1 bonus to a roll. You must choose to use them beforehand, although you can use them conditionally (e.g, "I will use 1 point of karma to dodge any attack that hits me), and if the condition doesn't come up, you don't pay the Karma! Karma may also have other uses.
Level comes in the form of adding to Attributes. You may increase any Attribute, but not past 20.
Loot, of course, comes in magic items!

The following are actions which can give you rewards:
Escape the Mountain--Getting off the mountain safely is worth an Attribute Point and a Loot. Note that the mountain's slope is quite steep and rough, so jumping isn't safe!
Kill Someone--2 Attribute Points and 2 Karma Points, possibly plus a Loot if the fight was unusually difficult. Killing an unusually not-dangerous NPC might get you only Karma, if anything.
Stunt--1d3 Karma Points (for cool things) or a Loot (for things that are both very cool and dangerous)
Survive an Era--1 Super Loot