Double Cross: Crumbling Days (OOC/Sign up)

[R-9 Pilot]

Today was a repeat of yesterday.
Tomorrow will be a repeat of today.
This mundane cycle of life goes on, stagnant.
No one would suspect that the world has been horribly twisted.

A virus called Renegade has been released onto mankind, mutating human beings from the inside and granting them incredible powers that break the laws of nature. However, this power comes at the price of one's own humanity, and many have succumbed to the virus and gone on a rampage. There is a group of people who stand between the human and superhuman, and both man and monster refer to them as Double Crossers.

The world is very similar to our world: people work hard, go about their daily lives, and spend time with their loved ones. The Renegade Virus and its power to turn people into superhuman "Overed" is kept secret from the world. With power, comes a price, and for Overed, that price is their humanity. When an Overed uses his powers, he runs the risk of losing control and will eventually cease to be human. As Overed who know the truth, your characters would sacrifice their sanity to fight to protect the world.

Your characters are Overed or Renegade Beings working for either the UGN or False Hearts. In a city that has become one giant laboratory, the Renegade is studied actively and knowledge of it flows far more freely. A vast majority of the population at least have the potential to become Overed, their Renegade is simply dormant. Your friend may also be Overed, or they may be ordinary, but in the microcosm of this city, you don't have to keep everything a complete secret. The UGN has a number of research and training facilities mixed into the landscape, and many of them double as actual schools, offering classes on controlling the Renegade and developing one's powers alongside Math and Language Arts.

Of course, the city casts plenty of shadows in which danger can hide. From gjaums to terrorist False Hearts agents, a number of dangers lurk just below the surface. The city hides all manner of dangerous, immoral, and top-secret research projects. Some of them may even be with the full approval of those in charge.

Welcome to Double Cross.
This is the world of traitors.
Rules
1. Follow the global forum rules.
2. Try not to be a jerk.
3. Have fun.
4. If your character belongs to False Hearts, I'll expect you to work with me on occasion to create some villainous plot. You'll probably be able to get away with some unusual things as a result, but there's also no expectation you'll succeed when you play the villain.
5. I (and others) may label NPCs as "extras" OOC. Extras are of little consequence and may be defeated without any drawn out fight, you simply describe how you take them out. The use of the "warding" power automatically renders any non-Overed in the scene extras.
6. When it comes to PvP combat, please keep it fair. I'd recommend discussing any major fights a bit here or privately to at least loosely plan out how they'll go down.

Things for characters:

Character Sheet

Name: Your character's name
Codename: While you don't have to have one, many characters have a codename or nickname, often based upon their powers, personality, or unique talents.
Age: How old your character is.
Affiliation: The group with which your character identifies and works. Usually UGN or False Hearts. Even if your character is largely independent and not a dedicated agent, they may sometimes be asked to act for one group or another.
Breed: Your breed (see below)
Syndromes: Your character's syndromes (see below).
Powers: The specific abilities your character uses as a result of their Syndrome(s).
Appearance: What your character looks like. Pictures are fine.
Personal History: A little about your character's past. I highly encourage you include the events which caused your character to become and Overed, and any significant ones since.
Equipment: Any weapons, or other significant personal items your character usually carries.

Breed and Syndrome

Overed are classified into three "breeds," which indicate their number of syndromes. Purebreeds exhibit a single syndrome, but their powers are often stronger than anyone else can manage, and they often exhibit unique abilities tied to their syndrome. Crossbreeds have two syndromes and are by far the most common. Tri-breeds have three syndromes, although their powers are a bit weaker overall, and one of their syndromes called a "sub-syndrome" is particularly limited.

Syndromes
Angel Halo: The ability to manipulate light, creating illusions, blinding flashes, or even lasers. Angel Halo also covers the enhancement of all five senses.
Balor: The ability to manipulate gravity. When Balor powers are used, a small sphere known as the "evil eye" or "jewel" floats by the user, and it is through this evil eye that they may exert their control over gravity.
Black Dog: The ability to gather and shoot large amounts of bio-electricity. By manipulating electricity, an overed can also control and power machinery that is implanted directly into their bodies.
Bram Stoker: The ability to control and manipulate one's own blood, forming projectiles, melee weapons, and armor, or speeding up the healing process. The most unique ability of this syndrome is the ability to create "servants," mindless creatures which follow the will of the one whose blood they were born from.
Chimaera: Bestows superhuman strength, and allows the user to transform their body parts into those of animals, or even grow wings, tails, additional limbs, and other non-human body parts. The leader when it comes to brute force.
Exile: Exile is characterized by the ability to stretch, shrink, and radically transform the body. Unlike Chimaera, it focuses less on "tougher" aspects and more on "softer" ones. It also allows the user to move previously immobile parts of the body, accomplishing feats such as creating swords out of bone, or shifting the position of organs to avoid a fatal blow.

Hanuman: The fastest syndrome, Hanuman focuses on pure superhuman speed and reflexes. Additionally, by vibrating the body, the user may create and manipulate sound waves, and can create various phenomena by adjusting the frequency.

Morpheus: The ability to transform any object the user is touching to any other object, ignoring any changes in mass. Users could make a sword from a twig or a giant robot from a car. They can also alter the characteristics of items they touch, and some develop powers using a special "sand" which is a byproduct of the transmutation process.

Neumann: Simply put, this syndrome makes one a perfect genius. They are able to perform extremely fast mental calculations, and run several trains of thought in parallel. Overed with the Neumann syndrome are capable of incredible feats, such as mastering a weapon after first picking it up, or acquiring knowledge they couldn't possibly have known.

Orcus: Perhaps the most mysterious syndrome, Orcus allows its user to saturate an area with special particles to create a "domain." Within their domain, Orcus overeds can cause the earth to shoot out like spears, control or use the senses of animals, or even manipulate humans. The syndrome also excels in battlefield command and support.

Salamandra: The Salamandra syndrome rules over heat. By controlling heat energy, it can create both fire and ice. The user can also enhance their bodies, converting heat to empower amazing athletic feats, or "cooling down" to act calmly even in a stressful situation.

Solaris: Uses of the Solaris syndrome can create a variety of chemicals and drugs within their bodies, then release them in gas or liquid form to affect others. Used internally, these chemicals can enhance the user's abilities or supplement healing. Chemicals released from the body can agitate a target's sens of pain, paralyze them, create illusions and hallucinations, or even manipulate memories.

All overed possess the following two abilities, regardless of their syndromes. They may quickly recover from injuries and incapacitation, and they have a power called "Warding," which allows them to saturate an area with Renegade virus particles that cause all non-Overed to feel extreme uneasiness, displeasure, or weakness. Usually, those affected are knocked out, or instinctively avoid the area. These two abilities are why only Overed can easily deal with other Overed.

I'm not yet sure whether to request that a character's actual powers be very specific, or more put in broad strokes. Either way, I want to encourage creative application of your powers in fights and other tasks. I'll leave this open for discussion for now. On a related note, if you're not sure whether or not an ability matches a specific syndrome or combination of syndromes (or just want to know more about one), feel free to ask.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

I didn't want the first post to be super-huge, so have some setting stuff that you might want for your characters:

The Renegade Virus

The Renegade is a virus which has spread across the planet after an incident 20 years ago. While it is usually dormant within its host, when it becomes active, the host will gain supernatural powers. These empowered hosts are called Overeds. An Overed is a superhuman who can instantly recover from injuries that would kill a normal person, and possesses extraordinary phyiscal and mental ability, in addition to access to a variety of superhuman powers. The average human is practically defenseless against an Overed.

The Renegade Virus defies the laws of nature in a variety of ways, and the powers it provides are grouped into Syndromes based on the chance of an Overed displaying different powers at the same time. However, it's not all fun and games. The Renegade becomes more active within the host's body the more they use the powers it provides, and if its host is unable to fight back against its encroaching nature, they will become a Gjaum (pronounced Jy-au-m).

Gjaums, as people who have lost their souls and often their reason to the Renegade, are extremely dangers, and often inhuman in manner if not also in appearance. While most gjaums lose their sanity and become rampaging monsters, rare cases maintain their reasoning and human form, but make no mistake, they are still inhuman and driven by their impulses.

The UGN

The Universal Guardian Network, or UGN, was founded several years ago. One of the organization's higher goals is the coexistence between Overeds and normal humans. They want Overed to be accepted into normal society, because they need the support of others to stay i control of their sanity and powers. The UGN is a global organization, and while its goals were originally noble, its current policy leans more toward security enforcement, especially where Overeds are concerned. The UGN's main operations are the handling of all Renegade-related incidents, of any kind. Since all information regarding the Renegade Virus is highly classified, the UGN rarely involves the local police or military in its work, and actively manipulates information from all sources to suppress knowledge of the Renegade.

When someone's Renegade becomes active and they become an Overed, the UGN tries to take them into custody. They will inform that person about the virus, and teach them what they need to live as an Overed. New Overed are usually then placed under UGN surveillance and are given required training in the use of their new abilities. At times, they may be asked to participate in UGN missions. A special class of Overed, UGN Children, have had the (mis)fortune to become Overed early in their lives, and have been raised from a young age to be UGN agents.

Lastly, the UGN puts a large effort toward researching the Renegade virus, because much about it is largely unknown. While their ultimate goal is to find a cure, they're a long way away from it, yet.

False Hearts

False Hearts is an organization of criminal Overed and gjaums. They have no interest in keeping the Renegade a secret and happily use their powers for destruction, terrorism, and crime. Their organization is large and far-reaching enough to have infiltrated corporations and governments, in addition to the criminal world.

False Hearts is organized as a web of loosely connected cells and agents. Individual cells are often structured around a common goal or pursuit, such as research or enforcement, but they are largely free to operate autonomously. While some believe that there is some overall central leadership to the organization, which connects the entire web together.

Renegade Beings

A Renegade Being is a collective of the renegade virus which has become sentient. Renegade beings vary greatly in physical appearance depending on their origin: they could be an animal or plant, or a mineral, or even take on the form of a mythological creature. All renegade beings share some traits, regardless of their form: they know that they are a strain of the renegade virus, and they have some way of communicating with humans.

As a sentient form of the renegade virus, they often exhibit strong powers and a much greater control over their powers or the virus itself. However, they are also far more likely to become Gjaums. Most renegade beings have a great curiosity or interest in humanity.

Again, if you'd like to know more about something, feel free to ask.

 

[AAB]

Name: Patricia Miller
Codename: The Mole
Age: 24
Affiliation: False Hearts
Breed: Crossbreed
Syndromes: Orcus & Exile
Powers: From Exile, she gains stealth, contorting her body into corners or altering her features as a disguise. From Orcus, she gains the strength to cause destruction and confusion where she plants herself, by moving the earth to blockade or swallow the enemy.
Appearance:

Personal History: A little about your character's past. I highly encourage you include the events which caused your character to become and Overed, and any significant ones since.
Equipment: Any weapons, or other significant personal items your character usually carries.
(wip)​

 

[digiexpert]

Reserving a spot. Totally just going to submit an actual Double Cross character sheet + missing details.

 

[GoatJudas]

Name: Jacoby Drexelhund ((idk where i heard it, but if this is your name lemme know))

Codename: Will be assigned during RP

Age: 15

Affiliation: Jacoby will work for anyone, he doesn't care.

Breed: PureBreed

Syndromes: Bram Stoker

Powers: ((not really sure how to personalize, I'll do it in RP))

Appearance: Broad shouldered, and tall. He has dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. Lightly tanned, and average fitness. His clothes were jeans, a pink shirt, and a rainbow checkered overshirt. ((note the "were"))

Personal History: He remembers shards of his past. Stills of people, clips of their voice. The shattered memories stop at a very distinct, perfect scene. Jacoby and his family travelled up to denmark, to see their relatives and stayed there for a month. During the stay a man entered the family house, and carts off him, and his cousin, Emily. They were tested on, and given a Syndrome, among other things. Then, the memories shatter again.

Equipment: Nada. He got nothing.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Sadly, this didn't get much interest. Though I'll give it a little bump, then let it sink back into obscurity.