Hero City PbEM: Call for Players

[RobCRogers]

"To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past. And here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."—Walt Disney, July 17, 1955

 

July 12, 2005

U.S.A. | Florida | Orlando | Walt Disney World | Hero City Theme Park | Team Disney Tower | Dr. Mike Bowman's Office

 

Dr. Mike Bowman said, "Thank you very much," with just a hint of a Texas drawl, then hung up the phone. He blew out air, then turned with sad eyes to Josiah Gold, the chief of security for the Walt Disney Corporation and one of his best friends.

 

Gold raised a gray eyebrow behind his horn-rimmed glasses and ran a hand through his buzz-cut hair. "Dr. Slade?" he asked.

 

Mike drummed his fingers against the table. "He survived the stroke," he said, "but they're not putting out any hope. If he makes it out of the hospital, it will probably be to go to a hospice." He sighed. "He's a brilliant man."

Gold nodded. Dr. Jonathon Slade, a gifted geneticist and researcher, had long suffered from multiple sclerosis, which had grown more debilitating for him over the years. He was responsible for giving his brother Jim the powers that made him into Hercules, the strongman for Team Disney. Gold looked searchingly at Bowman. "You're going to let Hercules go," he said.

 

Mike smiled ruefully. "The timing's terrible," he said.

 

And it was.

 

Disneyland's 50th anniversary was going to be in just five days, and the heroes were scheduled to accompany a handful of rich, spoiled pop stars—all former Mouseketeers—to the event. And Gold's intelligence suggested that the Havoc Masters, a group of hardened supervillains, was planning to launch an attack at the celebration.

 

Earlier that afternoon, Bowman's own son had been attacked by a mercenary wielding two electrified whips. At more or less the same time, the Comets, who had wreaked havoc on the Hero City theme park during its opening day, going so far as to kidnap the frozen body of Walt Disney himself, had escaped from their courthouse trial. Two of Team Disney members were present and two more arrived at the scene, but in order to protect the safety of innocents, they had given their word to the Comets to allow them to leave. The Heroes of Filmland, the team's rivals from Universal Studios, had shown up and created a freak tornado that had knocked tiny Firefly, the team's own "Tinkerbell" into a wall and concussed her.

 

Mike shook his head. "But it's his brother. He needs to be with him now. He just asked for a leave of absence and I have to give it to him."

 

Gold peered at a report on Mike's desk. "And it doesn't look like Firefly will be returning to duty anytime real soon."

 

Mike's fingers idly fidgeted with the controls of his hover chair. "With her biochemistry, it's hard to say for sure," he said, "but it looks like she'll be out of action for a while at least."

 

"So," Gold said, "should we review our other options?"

 

TECHNICAL STUFF

I'm seeking two PCs to fill the open slots left by the departure of Hercules and Firefly. I specifically am looking for a brick to replace Hercules. This could even be another character willing to assume the name and general concept of Hercules (for example, another available brick who might be willing to become Hercules since the first Hercules, Jim Slade, has left the team) or could be something different entirely. I'm more flexible on the replacement for Firefly, as long as the character is in keeping with a Disney-related concept.

Please review the current Hero City PCs and make sure that your character doesn't overlap with any of the existing ones too much. Mini-Doom's character sheet isn't posted because it's in revision, but essentially, he's an animatronic figure of a supervillain in his youth, accidentally brought to life. He's sort of a Pinocchio character and has telekinetic/animating abilities.

The ideal players of this campaign are talented writers committed to telling cool, fun, and exciting stories. Rich, detailed posts should be common, and players will be able to enhance the campaign with their own enthusiasm and imagination. If your posts tend to be very short or laden with typos and grammatical errors, this is likely not the campaign for you.

 

 

Each submission should include a full character background and character sheet. I also encourage each player to write a short scene (500–750 words) showing me the character in a situation of your choosing (and showing me your writing style); it's not required, but will help your chances if I'm not familiar with your writing and will earn you 2 XPs should your character be chosen. Submissions are due May 21 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time and should be sent to me at robcrogers3@gmail.com.

 

 

Starting Points: 200

Maximum Starting Disadvantages: 150

Maximum Total Points: 350

Maximum Points from One Category of Disadvantages: 60

I've set no particular active point maximums, so just use your best judgment. I'm happy to bounce ideas back and forth with anyone about character concepts, although I obviously can't guarantee that everyone will be selected.

The campaign page: http://www.thismutantlife.com/uberworld/herocity.htm

The mailing list page: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/hero_city/

Special Restrictions:

• All player characters are required to purchase the Hero City package (listed on the campaign page and downloadable for Hero Designer users from the Yahoo group files section).
  
• I suggest that all player characters take Social Limitation: Public Identity (15 Points) as a Disadvantage. In any case, the corporation will require knowledge of all team members' identities.
  
• Player characters should be "clean-cut." No criminal records, drug problems, etc. Most should be attractive. None should be immediately frightening to children. They will have been hand-picked by the company after having undergone rigorous psychological and physical testing. The company will be careful to avoid hiring "bad apples" who might hurt its reputation.
  
• Characters can come from anywhere in the world, but should speak English.
  
• Characters should somehow reflect company themes, stories, or attractions. The company isn't looking to hire "Super Mouse," but take as an example the character of Doctor Tomorrow, who is thematically based on a section from the company's theme parks. I'm happy to provide character suggestions if anyone cares for them.

A special note on the company: For trademark reasons, the names of Disney and its major intellectual properties cannot be listed on the Uberworld web site and should therefore be referred to only obliquely on character sheets and in backgrounds. Many people in the real world love the corporation in question; others don't. Be aware that the GM loves it despite its warts; players in the campaign don't have to be huge fans, but those who hate the company or expect it to turn out to be "evil" in the Uberworld likely won't be happy here.

[RobCRogers]

Re: Hero City PbEM: Call for Players

 

I've revised the campaign page. Submissions will be open through May 21.

 

http://www.thismutantlife.com/uberworld/herocity.htm

[RobCRogers]

Hero City PbEM: Call for Players Update

 

Warning: mild in-character bad language below

 

Yesterday:

U.S.A. | Texas | Dallas | American Airlines Center | On Stage | July 11, 2005

Dod Zondir, the Qliq bodyguard they called Mister Toad, fidgeted nervously with his armored tuxedo while the cacophony of bubble gum pop rock washed over him. Twenty-three-year-old superstar diva Kaimana Blake was belting out her signature hit "Aloha, Baby" and seemed to be wearing even less clothing than in the last set.

 

Water glistened from her body—she was a low-powered uberhuman with some hydrokinetic abilities—and the crowds leaned forward to get even closer to her, many shouting "Splash me, Kaimana!"

 

As the set closed out, she tossed her head back and forth, her hair eerily transforming back and forth between its typical black luster and a translucent blue as it actually turned into water. Mister Toad was always at his most nervous when his principal was out of his reach, close to danger. He adjusted his bow tie again. The Walt Disney Corporation had sent him to protect Kaimana as a courtesy. She was set to announce a special "Rock the Mouse Reunion" concert in Anaheim in honor of Disneyland' 50th birthday, where she would reunite with fellow ex-Mouseketeers-turned-superstars Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears. The Disney Corporation wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly.

 

She was a difficult client. Like her former castmates, she had worked from a "good kid" image into something much more sensual, and in some ways much more childish. Her latest affectations were outrageous statements and "supervillain chic"—clothing that emulated or depicted supervillains. She'd been spotted with a Witch Doctor necklace and a Sebek henna tattoo. She ducked off stage again, letting her dancers distract the audience while she performed a quick change, and came back scant seconds later wearing a too-tight torn T-shirt with a picture of Black Angus on it. The bull-man's name was written above the picture, but there was a line through the "g." Her fans laughed and roared as they read it and as the huge viewscreens zoomed in for a close-up of her impressive figure and the shirt itself. She laughed with them, her voice a throaty chuckle. "I guess I'm likely to piss him off, aren't I?" she asked rhetorically. "Didn't he just break out of jail or something?"

 

Black Angus had, in fact, just been broken out of jail by his teammates, the Havoc Masters. Seven prison guards had died in the process.

 

The crowd roared in laughter, agreement, or approval. Kaimana certainly held a crowd's attention with her Scottish–Hawaiian good looks, her clear-toned voice, and her captivating use of her metahuman abilities. She put her tongue on her upper lip, as if she had a naughty thought and was debating whether or not to share it. It was artifice, but the crowd ate it up. "I'd better be careful," she continued, "or the Havoc Masturbators will come after me!" She covered her mouth as if embarrassed the comment had slipped out, but again, she was manipulating her crowd.

 

Mister Toad shook his head unhappily. He had a bad feeling about this.

UPDATE:

I have received the following submissions so far:

• Alan/Troff (Tron theme, energy projector), played by Luis Garavello
  
• The Beast (Beauty and the Beast theme, brick), played by Stephen Bates
  
• Chimera (Animal Kingdom/Wuzzle theme, metamorph), played by Torii Swader
  
• CrashTest (Test Track theme, speedster), played by Alan Walters
  
• Gargoyle (Gargoyles theme, brick), played by Joe Senecal
  
• Pan (Peter Pan theme, speedster), plyed by David Duncan

There are two days left to submit characters. Please visit the campaign page for more information: http://www.thismutantlife.com/uberworld/herocity.htm

 

For those who have been interested in the campaign, but stuck for a character concept, a couple of quick suggestions:

• The brick Hercules has recently left the team, but a fairly wide variety of bricks could don that costume, or a similar one, and also become known as Hercules.
  
• Mister Toad, featured in the vignette above, could potentially become a PC. For such a submission, I would need to review a short fiction piece starring the character, and to know any adjustments you would plan for the character: http://www.thismutantlife.com/uberworld/mistertoad.htm
  
• A Bug's Life, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters, Inc., and Aladdin all seem to be fertile ground for possible character concepts.

Send submissions to robcrogers3@gmail.com

[RobCRogers]

Re: Hero City PbEM: Call for Players

 

Submissions for the Hero City campaign are now closed.

 

I received the following submissions. If you sent me a submission and do not see it listed below, please contact me privately.

 

Alan/Troff (Tron theme, energy projector), played by Luis Garavello

The Beast (Beauty and the Beast theme, brick), played by Stephen Bates

Chimera (Animal Kingdom/Wuzzle theme, metamorph), played by Torii Swader

CrashTest (Test Track theme, speedster), played by Alan Walters

Gargoyle (Gargoyles theme, brick), played by Joe Senecal

 

Pan (Peter Pan theme, speedster), played by David Duncan

White Dwarf (theme unclear, energy projector), played by Jarl Cantley

It looks like I've got a difficult choice in front of me. Thanks, everyone, for your submissions. I will announce my selections later this week.

[RobCRogers]

Re: Hero City PbEM: Call for Players

 

Hi, all.

 

I'll do a more in-character announcement soon on the Hero City list, but for now, I'll cut to the chase.

 

This was a very, very difficult decision. I could easily see most of the submitted PCs, several of which were really stellar, as members of the Hero City team. But I ultimately can only select two of them, and I went with the two that seemed to fit into the team the most seamlessly.

 

The two characters added to the team are:

The Beast, played by Stephen Bates

CrashTest, played by Alan Walters

 

Alan and Stephen, if you haven't already done so, please join the Hero City group list from http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/hero_city/ and then send an e-mail to the group letting us know that you've accepted.

 

Many thanks to everyone who submitted a character or expressed interest in submitting a character. I encourage you to keep your eyes on the Uberworld for other game openings; in the next couple of months, I plan to announce a new game that should have at least five available slots, and I know that other GMs have plans for submission calls of their own.