The Heroes' Secret

[Lore Magus]

The Heroes' Secret

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Intro Plot Characters Roles

• Heyo, it's been a while since my last group RP venture around here, but when the itch returns so do I. This is a sort of spiritual reboot of a plot I tried to run a while back that unfortunately wasn't able to get far. It's an RP focusing on my character and an assortment of other characters he interacts with in his daily routine, balancing a normal daytime life and keeping his secret identity as a superpowered vigilante hero at night, as well as another compromising secret he's dealt with for most of his life.
  
  Since this is a story that has a high focus on a smaller group of characters, I'm looking for a group of 2-3 other Players, ideally those that can play multiple characters. Each person would have 1 Main Character that gets the most screen time, and 1-3 named Side Characters, depending on Player capabilities and narrative needs, that will see periodic screen time based on narrative relevance, while I handle any unnamed characters and some named Side Characters we might still need. This RP uses anime faceclaims, so please take that into consideration.
• The setting is modern day Tokyo; where during the day the city seems more or less peaceful, but during the night it's teeming with violence and crime, practically ruled by the Yakuza. To make matters worse: there are some among the ranks of the immense gang with special abilities who choose to abuse them for personal gain. Standard police forces are either incapable of capturing the gangsters, too afraid of them to make the attempt, or, in rare cases, some officials are bribed or personally threatened to back off. Many people aware of the danger are too fearful to go out after dark to even stop at a convenience store or vending machine, and those working at night fear for their lives and well-being. Despite all of this, there is still a select few people who feel incapable of idly watching the chaos.
  
  Enter An Ling Matsuki, a super-powered martial artist who fights crime at night under the pseudonym "Hien". As the first prominent superpowered vigilante hero, Hien has become the spearhead to change the tide of conflict, and has inspired a handful of others with abilities to follow in his footsteps. In the midst of everything, Hien encounters a woman who gets injured on the battlefield, either as a participant or bystander, and withdraws to bring her to safety, but what happens when she finds out the great hero Hien's secret identity, and that he occasionally transforms into a young girl?!
• The current characters are as follows:
  
  • An Ling/Li Fu Matsuki (Main Hero) - @Lore Magus
• Here's a list of character roles I'm looking for or that would be welcome additions to the lineup. High priority roles will be denoted in italic. Some of these roles can also be combined into a single character, so feel free to pitch characters that fulfill multiple roles! Bear in mind that this list isn't exclusive; feel free to pitch any character ideas that come to mind even if they don't fit anything on this list!
  
  1. Main Heroine
  2. Coworkers of An Ling
  3. Other vigilante heroes
  4. Gang leader or prominent member
  5. High ranking police officer/investigator
  6. Info broker
  7. Known/named thug with special abilities
  8. Heroic/Antagonistic rival of Hien

 

[CoffeeCake]

I want to see more before I commit, but this could scratch my shounen-manga flavored RP itch.

 

[Lore Magus]

I want to see more before I commit, but this could scratch my shounen-manga flavored RP itch.

would some details about the character be what you're looking for? Or do you have other questions or stuff you want to see?

 

[CoffeeCake]

I've sometimes cheered on Brainstorm threads only to see in the signup threads that I misunderstood the concept or tone. Or sometimes I've made incorrect assumptions about how the GM will run the game and what to expect of my fellow players. Or sometimes there's so many players I know I'll have hard time keeping up with posts. Stuff like that.


Are there any media or combination that would give me an idea of the style or level of 'superpowered' we can expect? Particularly starting out.

 

[Lore Magus]

An understandable level of caution. I've also done RPs in the past that fell apart partly because of there being too many people, and people randomly disappearing, which is precisely why I'm opting for a smaller group.

The style of superpowers I'm aiming for is a bit tricky to compare to one singular example, but the best I can think of would be some cross between X-Men & the To-Aru franchise in terms of types, but not necessarily in terms of source. Much like My Hero Academia, each super-powered character's abilities would have a singular core capability, but could be flexible enough to change it's application and even evolve under the right circumstances. (Mind you, this has been an RP I've been trying to do since long before MHA, so it's more a point of reference here than an inspiration). People with these special powers would also be largely in the minority within society, which could open some space for discrimination within backstories.

To offer my own character's ability up as an example, he is able to create and manipulate fire, often extending it like a whip or shaping it into sword-like weapons. Being that he is still human, though, he's not totally immune to the heat himself (although he is much more resistant than the average person), and has to take care to not overheat. During the time he is gender-swapped, however, his fire abilities become ice instead, which makes it easier to make risky moves in combat since things won't catch fire and she won't overheat, but she still has to be careful to not get too cold and start freezing up herself.

In terms of vibe, I'm aiming for a mixture of something in between shounen-style superpower action and gritty action-drama, rom-com drama, & double life maintenance with some normal life slice-of-life parts. Basically, a fully display of the slice-of-life days of vigilante superheroes that have to live normal lives while keeping their secret identities safe.

Hopefully that gives a better picture of what I'm aiming for, and that it matches what you're looking for well enough

 

[CoffeeCake]

Thanks. This sounds good--like what I feel like playing. Full disclosure, though, I have had an extensive history of disappearing over offline life circumstances. You may want to think of me as a half a player that swings between extremes of activity and inactivity. :(

 

[Lore Magus]

I appreciate the warning, and I totally get where you're coming from; welcome aboard! ^-^ Would you be comfortable with exchanging a social media to contact me from in the event something does come up?

 

[CoffeeCake]

*leans over the campfire, flames reflected in my eyes, my voice dropping to a chilling whisper*

But the twist was... THIS is my social media!

*clears throat*

But, really, I'm not into it. I'll at least be able to log in to say "Posting from the bottom of a gasoline-doused dogpile. No IC post incoming for now."

I was hoping for more prospective players. :(

 

[Lore Magus]

yeah, same. I'll have to start actively recruiting people I've RPed with in the past, as I do have a couple people in mind, but if they end up not being interested then I may have to just shelf this again and try again later

 

[Myth]

This sounds interesting to me!

 

[Lore Magus]

This sounds interesting to me!

Oh, welcome aboard, then! We are glad to have another person interested ^-^ Any initial ideas, impressions, or questions you'd like to bring up? Are you interested in taking any of the roles I've posted in the OP?

 

[Myth]

This sounds interesting to me!

Oh, welcome aboard, then! We are glad to have another person interested ^-^ Any initial ideas, impressions, or questions you'd like to bring up? Are you interested in taking any of the roles I've posted in the OP?

I'd be interested in the rival and/or other vigilante roles!

 

[Lore Magus]

awesome! Now we just need one more player who's interested in taking the heroine role.

@CoffeeCake are there any of the other roles that you were interested in?

 

[CoffeeCake]

3, 6, or 7

I'd most likely go with the Info Broker though as it probably meshes best with my general playstyle and keeps my potential absences from stopping the main plot.


Welcome aboard, Myth.

 

[Lore Magus]

3, 6, or 7

I'd most likely go with the Info Broker though as it probably meshes best with my general playstyle and keeps my potential absences from stopping the main plot.


Welcome aboard, Myth.

awesome, sounds like a great plan!

For now, I think it should be fine for you guys to come up with some character ideas as long as you leave some flexibility for tweaks, since however the heroine turns out will likely have an impact on them as well. It's for this reason that I myself am not looking at the other roles yet, but that's also because I want y'all to have first pickings of whatever interests you most. But yeah, feel free to think of their abilities, how they might accomplish their roles, and the base structure of their personalities. To offer a bit about Hien as a base, he has a strong sense of justice and offers kindness openly, but his personality is more level-headed & disciplined, and he tends to keep things close to his chest. Given what he's had to deal with his whole life, he has a vested interest in maintaining secrecy, and doesn't like talking about himself much. Alternatively, when he's gender-swapped, she's generally more openly expressive, often struggling to keep her face from betraying her true feelings. She's also more energetic, unless she's put in a position she's uncomfortable in (ex: coming up with lies about how her "big brother" is feeling, wearing the feminine clothes her family sends over for these incidents, interacting with people that know An Ling, etc.)

 

[Myth]

Okay! I've got a couple ideas so far. I'll post it here once I've got them all figured out.

 

[CoffeeCake]

It feels good to be brainstorming here again.

I'm not married to any ideas at the moment, so feedback and suggested changes are indeed welcome.

I imagine the info broker as kind of playful, almost comic relief at times. She wanted to be a reporter but eventually fell into info broking instead. She's intelligent enough to do research and cobble together functional electronic devices from junk, but she's self taught and trying to keep up with super-powered humans without powers of her own. Sometimes it makes her feel small and overwhelmed, but she puts on a brave face, feeling that knowledge levels the playing field. She lives in an apartment rigged with home made security devices and a Frankensteinian computer setup. She practices a bit of martial arts for protection and carries a taser and baton for those times she can't just talk her way out of or run from conflict. She likes to think of herself as a master of disguise. Probably in her mid to early twenties but capable of surprising moment of immaturity.

I imagine someone who's still somewhat new to the game. She's got some respect and credibility with a few people but is still learning and gaining connections. She's got some genuine cockiness but is also partly faking it until she makes it while getting a rush from every close call she survives.

Alternatively, I could go with someone older. Maybe an implied former government agent with a more serious demeanor. More established with connections everywhere(though they're not always friendly). Better at bluffing, and more of a serious and professional type. Less of a tech savant and even less likely to throw a punch but probably more effective when she does. Suits and sunglasses, mainly.

I don't know. Kind of fond of the first one at the moment.

 

[Lore Magus]

hm, while the second pitch has that strong "well known info broker" vibe, I do like the storyline in the first pitch a lot. It could also be interesting to see her pop up where An Ling works every now and then and once or twice try to ask him personal questions on account of him looking familiar (he wears a mask when parading around as Hien, but he also has distinctly silverish grey hair, which is uncommon for a guy in his mid-20s). Additionally, if you factor in that the whole vigilante superhero wave is relatively new (think around 3-5 years since Hien first started beating up bad guys), it would make sense for the market of reliable, trustworthy info brokers to also be a fletchling one, so I think the first pitch would fit really well! Plus, having a character that occasionally provides some comic relief from time to time fits the image of the "day cycle" I have for this RP perfectly!

 

[Ariel]

Hi, I'm interested in playing the heroine character, and maybe the gang leader.

For the heroine, I'm thinking a flashy, mercurial gyaru type to contrast with Hien's more serious demeanour. To add to the gap hilarity, her power is unbreakability (不破, Fuwa) combined with enhanced speed, agility, and strength, but no fighting skill whatsoever, so she's both a polar opposite and a hard counter to Hien. Also, fuwafuwa (ふわふわ) is the sound effect for "fluffy". She's brash, overconfident, and comes across as a total airhead, although that hides a razor wit. She will also flirt madly with An Ling/Li Fu regardless of gender - she's super open minded and tends not to let on that she's already sussed out the entire situation, so nobody knows what she's thinking or if she's thinking at all.

The gang leader is a yanki/bosozoku (biker) who's cool, ruthless, and deeply broken. She's also got a power - super-computation, which allows her to "predict" what her opponents are about to do by calculating the probability of every possible move. It's very short ranged, a few seconds at most, but it gives her a huge edge in combat, especially when she's fighting someone that she has seen in action before.

 

[Myth]

For the rival character, I'm thinking of giving him a strict and calculating type. For his power, I'm thinking of giving him an ability where he can slow down time, but it only works with his eyes closed. Because of this, he's gotten really good at fighting with his eyes closed.
He doesn't have a very strong sense of justice. Instead, he fights to improve his skills, which could cause him to make some reckless decisions. I think this would clash great with Hien's strong sense of justice.
He also has a very short temper. Because his ability works when his eyes close, it affects him even when he blinks and sleeps. Because of this, days go by so much longer for him than regular people, which is why he has a lack of patience for other people.

I'm also trying to think up a second character, but don't have anything yet.