Justice League - Academy (OOC)

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Bladewind
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Justice League - Academy (OOC)

Post by Bladewind »

Posting here, "just in case." The game is officially still on Ronin Army

In my sig on Roninarmy is a link to a campaign setting in PDF format. It's mostly a timeline with a few pages regarding an idea I've been toying with. I will be copying in some of the nitty gritty here, but essentially I wanted to pitch interest for a combined universe setting leaning heavily to the DC side.

The notion would be a generational setting where heroes aged normally, for the most part in the years they made their first appearances.

I would want DC legacies, you would be senior students or newer faculty to the Academy. For the sake of reference, Justice League Academy is one and the same with the Xavier institute. The X-Men and any legacy from that series is background to allow people to talk about someone - say Professor McCoy - and have everyone else have a reference point.

I will be slightly heavy handed in the character submission area - mostly concept wise. I have a specific setting in mind and want to stay true to it. Other than that, this mostly will translate to not wanting Marvel legacies and being downright hard on variable powers.

Full disclosure, for the first story that I have in mind, I will need players "on board" to go along with what's happening and let you know what I am doing... The first story arc will be dealing with a major alien (as in Xenomorph) infestation... you will be going up against a hive, there will be deaths among the NPCs that are intended to provoke a reaction (another reason for the aforementioned X-Men and their legacies...).

[QUOTE=Character Creation]
As noted before, DC legacy characters are the order of the day.
The Superman and Batman legacies are pretty much accounted for in the backstory of this campaign and its timeline, but there are a vast number of characters that can be added in. Not to say that characters cannot be made around those legacies…

I do have a few rules/ guidelines regarding character backgrounds.
· Characters should be DC Legacies. Those few that are not should be inspired by other existing characters. The X-Men, the Avengers and their legacies (which includes introducing Marvel characters not as yet seen on screen) within the context of this game are not player character material. This is more a DC game despite their presence.
· Adaptation of certain Marvel characters, worked into the DC timeline, is permissible. Examples: Daredevil as a protégé in one form or another of the Bat, a Venom-like symbiote on a Bat legacy. Some Amalgam characters as legacy or inspired heroes can also work: Trevor Castle as the Punisher, a Wonder Girl more akin to Marvel’s Wonder Man (See the DC Universe History section on Wonder Man from writeups.org.)
· Characters can be senior students, faculty or staff. (PL remains the same.)
· The original DC characters appeared and aged in conjunction with their first appearance in comics. Thus you will be playing the grandchildren of the heavy hitters; possibly the children of some of the more recent heroes.
· Anyone so inclined to play a Cybertronian may do so; note that maximum accepted size will be that of a normal car. Run such concepts by me as I may have other input to provide. (PL will remain the same.)
· No dimensional counterparts, time travelling (although you can come from another time and have time manipulation powers, time travel itself is out) characters. (Despite this caveat, I did included a modified lineup of the Alterniteens into the timeline because a) I like them as a Teen Titans analogue, b) to indicate that the multiverse does exist in the context of this setting.)


House rules are simple and also very few:
· Mechanics wise, PL 9/145. Player characters can run the age of 14 and up. (Note, I am changing this slightly…)
· I am not horribly opposed to PL shifting. In this case - PL 10/ 130 PP or PL 8/ 160.
· Players are encouraged to not reach for all caps. First, you are mostly young and untested heroes. Second, it encourages team play. Third, characters that can actually hit all caps are relatively rare, even in the comics…· Presence gives you one social or interaction Advantage per rank with no power point cost. The following are acceptable choices, others are to be case-by-case.

Assessment
Attractive
Connected
Contacts
Fascinate
Inspire
Languages
Leadership
Teamwork
Startle
Taunt
Well Informed

· Alternatively, for each rank in Presence, you can take 2 pts in Enhanced Social Skills (Essentially the Benefit Advantage applied to social skills.) A total of two advantages can be taken this way (4 pts of skills) regardless of Presence rank.
· No variable powers. Variable Descriptor is fine, but straight up Variable (and all other variations such as Shapeshift) will not be accepted. Shapeshift with Morph and an array is perfectly acceptable, as is an array with the descriptor of taking animal forms/ traits. For instance, Beast Boy’s shapeshifting is not really in need of a variable. Seeing as how he is always green, and can’t pass for the animal in any normal situation…
· Regeneration count begins on the first round your character enters combat and not when they are hurt. Thus if you regenerate every second round and are hurt in round two, you will regenerate the injury immediately.

Freebies and gimmes:

· Comm badges that allow short range communication between team members are free. Maximum range is about 2 miles. Beyond that, some form of Communication would need to be purchased.
· School Uniforms/ Super Suits are generally standard clothing, but each character has one rank of the Feature: Quick Change. School Uniforms can morph into pre-established Super Suits and back as a free action. Faculty and staff also have this feature, with the Super Suit morphing into a predetermined set of clothing.
[/QUOTE]

Known/ Active Super-Villain groups
H.I.V.E./ A.I.M.
Hydra
Brotherhood of Evil
Blackguard Syndicate
Sinestro Corps (Not active on Earth)
Jokerz (Minor gang operating in Gotham)
Royal Flush Gang
Wildebeest Society
Fearsome Five
Suicide Squad
Intergang
Force of Nature
Hellfire Club
Decepticons
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
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Bladewind
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Re: Justice League - Academy (OOC)

Post by Bladewind »

From the aforementioned setting doc:

This setting is a Generational Setting based heavily on the Superman/Batman Generations and Generations 2 books by John Byrne. (Notable exceptions, however, include the fact that Supergirl does not die at her brother’s hands, nor does Joel Kent die. Also, Knightwing from that continuity does not exist in this one.) The Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as parts of the Cinematic X-Men are also included. There are also a small number of influences and characters from the Freedomverse. Any additional such influence should be used sparingly. Note, however, that I have a personal preference for many of the Marvel villains. As such, it is likely that they will start appearing in my stories.

Another important reason to include these is to provide a reference for the players when encountering and interacting with other beings with powers – both potential allies and eventual enemies. In this manner, players (but not their characters) have reference points and a sense of inclusion with the overall setting.

The timeline on is meant to provide a general framework. Events and extrapolation can be made as needed for events set throughout the history provided, but the intention is for the game to be set in the here and now. (For instance, the Kara Zor-El Supergirl is never mentioned, instead replaced with Kara Kent.) The presence of Bruce Wayne (the original Batman) as the Head of the Demon (see the Timeline, 1969) can result in other legacies of the Bat that both diverge and mirror mainstream comics.

Elements from other comics and media are included in the timeline, the intention being to be inclusive and pave the way for other elements to be introduced or ignored as the current story requires.

Events set on the timeline are fixed and will be added to as the stories dictate. All other DC heroes more or less appeared and aged in conjunction with their first appearances in comics. Legacy characters are encouraged. The main idea here is that things happen that player characters cannot change, but that does not mean that they cannot influence what is to come.

Since the timeline also includes the current Flash television series, a few notable exceptions will need to be made the timeline in that I have implied that there was a Flash (the original Barry Allen) and now there is the Barry Allen of the television series. These complications will be dealt with if and when they come up. (Note also that the Arrow series can be considered part of this setting as well, but he would be a legacy or homage character.)

Other exceptions can and will be added to the timeline as needed, with an eye to the impact of the overall universe being created. (Spiderman is an example that is getting the “DC Treatment” despite being a Marvel character, as are the Fantastic Four for instance.)

A good example of a character not directly treated in the timeline below is Hawkman. As a reincarnating being he can be inserted pretty much anywhere and use stories from his comic book appearances without much effort. The same holds true of Hawkgirl/ Hawkwoman.

Finally, while all attempts are made to insert characters in their actual year of origin, a few changes are made to accommodate the overall flow of events.

I put the setting back in my signature: Earth 218 - JLA Academy Setting Timeline

Current Cast
Seahawk/ Star Guard/ Wonder Woman II-Aquaman II
Brainwave 3/ Corrigon Brainwave/ Atoning Mentalist
Silverstar/CaptainChaos/ Booster Gold-Supernova suit
Atom Smasher II/ FuzzyBoots/ Atom Smasher/ Growing Boy
Iron Girl/ drothgery/ Iron Man
Andre Luthor/ Enigmatic One/ Lex Luthor II/ Armored Billionaire
Horus the Archangel - TekHed/ Legacy of Chay-ara Hol and Carter Hall (Hawkman/ Archangel mashup)
Night Shade Gamer Dad
Supe Nelphine
Lara Kon-Em/ PauloDeWalshio


Submissions/ Reserve List/ Withdrawn Characters
Blacklight/ Lord Fell/ Green Lantern"Clunky GL"
Kon-El/ Shadow13/ Superman Beyond/Clone of Superman (or at least Krptonian DNA)
Spiderwoman/Bill from Accounting/ Gwen Stacy namesake/recreated hero
Creeper/ Horsenhero/ Creeper

Power Point Awards

End Scene 1 (April 29/2015) All Active Players, 1 Power Point. HPs reset, unspent earned HP are kept.
End Story (Feb 24/2016) (JL Academy vs Aliens) All Active Players, 4 Power Points, Keep existing HP, +1 HP if you spent. All active characters also gain Benefit 1 (Mentor) from the senior faculty of the Academy.
End Scene (Aug 10/ 2016) All active players 2 PP, Plus 1 HP to current total
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
User avatar
Bladewind
Posts: 3234
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:26 pm

Re: Justice League - Academy (OOC)

Post by Bladewind »

PDF updates:

So, the link in my sig is the main setting document as noted above, here are the latest updates:

March 4, 2015
Added Advantage examples to the Character Creation guidelines and also changed the PP total for the characters. (PL 9/ 145)
Added the most common Presence bonus Advantages.

March 21, 2015
Added chapter 5, Player Character Timeline

March 25, 2015
Updated student and faculty list.

March 28, 2015
Added an errata section with thanks to Lord Fell and Spectrum for proof reads.

April 30th, 2015
Added Rachel Palmer to the Faculty.

March 7, 2016
Added Vickie Roth, Cardea to the student list
2015 – After spending 12 years denying her powers, Kara Zor-El (first cousin of the current Superman) reveals herself to the world by saving a plane in National City. She goes on to work with the DEO, with Hank Henshaw revealing himself to be a Martian Manhunter by the name of M’att M’orse.

2016 – Cardea, daughter of Raven (Rachel Roth) and Beast Boy (Gar Logan) pursues her medical degree at the Academy.

2016 – Horus, Lara, Supe and Night Shade move to active duty.

2016 – Rumours that Ra’s Al Ghul did not actually die when submerged in the Lazarus Pit with Bruce Wayne I begin to circulate with greater frequency.

Player Character Timeline
26th Century – Nyra Dru-Zod is defeated by the rebel leader, Supergirl and joins the resitance. At the behest of Rip Hunter she is sent to 2016 to prevent the rise of the tyrant King Zod.
Thorpocalypse wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:01 pm Building to be comics "accurate" is different than building to run a PC or building something to challenge a group.
Bladewind's 3ed M&M Builds
The Merge Setting document
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