The Grand Master of chess - a mysterious, quite old gentleman - was assassinated, something strange happened. Some people swear a blue light flashed from him like a shock wave. No one quite knows exactly what happened, or even exactly who the Grand Master was before he died - but people are now starting to see evidence that strange, magical, wonderful, and even terrifying things are happening that never happened before... except in the myths and legends of old.
Will you be one of the 16 men and women of The Chessmen, a group of do-good superheroes formed from those who had powers awakened within them? Or will you be one of the 16 men and women of B.L.A.C.K. - a group who likewise had powers awakened within them after the assassination of the Grand Master, but see no need to use their powers in the protection of others?
You don’t need to know the game of chess to watch the battle between its pieces...
Rules
Please note that you do not have to understand anything at all about chess to play this game. It’s not a requirement, a suggestion, or even wishful thinking. I’m just using chess as a convenient theme for the game and don’t know as much as I’d like to about it myself. :)
0) Obey site T.O.S. (obviously!)
1) Players must be willing to play the game via an IRC chatroom. If you can’t make group sessions, then arrangements can be made. (I play best by chat format.) IRC server, channel, and password information will be PMed to accepted players.
2) Players must be willing to ask questions if they’re confused. Don’t be shy or afraid of looking silly. I derp frequently.
3) Players should be mature enough to handle more “mature” storylines. (Game is rated roughly PG-13.) I don’t exactly mean sex and gore. This is still an General Audiences game, after all. But there will be off-screen sex and violence and hopefully some psychological drama and in-character conflict. I’m aiming to stick characters into conflicts and make them question things. If you’re not up to have your characters tortured and traumatized (both mentally and physically in non-graphic detail), then maybe you should wait to apply to see how the game progresses before you commit. The game will certainly have its silly-fun times, but this isn’t a Saturday Morning Cartoon superhero story. PS: I’m using this rule to include warning that I accept characters of any gender or orientation. So if you’re not comfy with that, please bow out now.
4) Leave the OOC drama at the door, please. You don’t have to like each other to play together. What happens IC belongs IC. Resolve it IC or get over it.
5) Play fair. In giving players the most freedom to enjoy themselves, I’m trying to keep this game streamlined. Please don’t think that just because I don’t have a rule against ripping characters’ heads off without their players’ permission that means that you can just do it without giving the other player/character time to react and hopefully counter it. No one should die unless they roll badly or their player thinks it’s “only fair” that they die. That goes for the attacked character as much as the attacking character - you can’t duck and dodge forever. If someone’s thing is they can throw fire and you’re vulnerable to fire, you should at least be singed every once in awhile.
6) Characters WILL DIE. It’s going to happen. Maybe not your character. You’re perfectly free to play it safe and not do anything risky. But please be aware that characters will have the risk of dying and you should be prepared for not only death, but possibly the character never coming back to life.
If anything else comes up, I’ll add the rules, but hopefully these will suffice!
PS: I don’t govern the rating level of non-group games. So if you wanted to do a side plot or behind-the-scenes scene with any player (including me) that goes into the Mature rating - that’s perfectly fine. We’ll just post those logs/game threads to an archive thread and have a happy camper time playing more mature themes. I’m simply rating the game General Audiences so I can have more players who are more comfortable with General Audiences rating or aren’t old enough to play Mature storylines.
Background
Sketchy background information:
This is a modern universe.
The characters must make their way to a fictional American city called High Tower, which is sort of like a "New York City" but on the West Coast in California. (The story may move away from there, but that’s where we’ll start.)
As the story starts out, there’s not enough overt magic/superhero-ness going on for there to be more than rumors of it going on. Most people take it as jokes, pranks, misunderstood flash mobs, lies, exaggeration, mass hallucinations, etc. If there are any agencies like the FBI/CIA/MBI (whatever) looking into it, they’re not making a fuss about it and politicians aren’t freaking people out about it.
That should about cover it, for now. But please feel free to ask questions by PM or the OOC thread. :)
Characters
Though characters can be from anywhere in the world, they must be able to speak English and be able to come to this fictional city in High Tower, California, USA the story will at least start in.
Characters start with two (2) superpowers and earn any extras through the game.
Characters will instinctively have a general idea of what their powers are, though it may take them awhile to get the hang of how to work them.
Characters will also instinctively know when they run the risk of dying by using their powers. (For example: They’ll instinctively know that trying to use their Levitation powers to safely rescue a kitten from a tree isn’t dangerous. They’ll get a mild concern over floating a man down from a roof, but no more than you might feel when climbing a ladder to rescue him. The more impressive the power, the more they’d know it was dangerous, though their own personal hubris might convince them they’d be fine even when trying to shift the moon’s orbit.)
Character Bios Info:
You may construct your character's bio however you like, though describing the personality in 4 words would be useful before going into more detail.
Please use the "Synopsis" section to list your character's role (ie: "The King" or "Bishop's Pawn".)
Please use the "Extras" section to describe your connections (or tenuous but currently incomplete connections) to other characters. (Ie: If you decide to play twins and one is a Bishop and the other is a Knight, they would have connections to each other and their Pawns, though they would not have yet met and made friendships/rivalries with other characters. But if no one has submitted bios yet for your Pawns, the characters would feel a vague connection to their Pawns without knowing who they're connected to.)
Only 16 characters will make up The Chessmen and 16 characters will make up B.L.A.C.K. As mentioned before, the theme is chess and there will be the following roles for each group:
The King will always self-identify as “male” (though perhaps be genetically female) and will always have the power to “promote” a Pawn to a Piece.
The Queen will always self-identify as “female” (though perhaps be genetically male) and will always be able to be called the “most powerful” Piece.
Rooks have at least 1 of their powers give them strong defense or movement skills.
Bishops have at least 1 of their powers give them strong magic, communication, or shooting skills.
Knights have at least 1 of their powers give them strong fighting skills.
Pawns are considered “sidekicks” to the above characters. They can’t reach the higher power levels yet and will have at least 1 power that would qualify them for a Piece role. (ex: A Pawn might have Fire blasting powers and Super Speed and thus would qualify as a Rook or Bishop easily.)
Though this may change in-game, characters should start off wanting to make the world a better place, be a “good guy”, or at least have a sort of personal code of honor they hold themselves to.
Characters, if they decide to wear a superhero costume, should think in themes of Red and White and would wear a logo of their chess piece somewhere on their costume. (Feel free to design any sort of costume you think your character would wear.)
Players may currently play up to two (2) members of The Chessmen, but not a Piece and their own Pawn. (ex: You could play a Rook and a Pawn, but not your Rook’s Pawn.)
1st Gen Pieces must be aged between 24 and 45. 1st Gen Pawns must be aged between 15 and 24. (After 1st Gen characters die, all bets are off. xD)
If you are applying to be a 1st Gen Pawn, you must use one of the shells below. Please feel free to use the suggestion loosely.
King’s Pawn: Merchant or banker. (Open)
Queen’s Pawn: Medical worker. (Open)
Rook’s Pawn A: Gambler or other low-life. (Open)
Rook’s Pawn B: Worker or farmer. (Open)
Bishop’s Pawn A: Hospitality services. (ie: Hotel desk clerk, guest relations at a theme park; etc.) (Open)
Bishop’s Pawn B: Clerk or weaver/works with fabric in some way. (Open)
Knight’s Pawn A: Works in security. (Open)
Knight’s Pawn B: Blacksmith or otherwise works with metal. (Open)
Please note that Pawns are officially assigned (by the magic that gives them powers - not by anyone’s decision) to a specific Piece. Even if they hate each other, they will always have a connection to that other character - to the point that there’s a sort of vague sixth-sense about them. This is up to interpretation of the player. It will always be vague, but a player may choose one of these vague senses for their character to feel about their pawn/piece: Well-Being (“Are they okay?”), Location (“What general direction can I go to find them?”), or Harmony (“If I leap left, he’ll go right - he’s moving now. Go.”)