Well, Leffa, what's the pitch for this game? I'm one of those players who needs to know more before making their character, as I try to make them to fit the setting, tone, and/or party :)
*readies his Rolodex of character ideas*
The pitch was what I was hoping we would find out togeher once we've decided on place.
What kind of game would people like. There's a difference in feel between a Teen Titans/Young Avengers game and a Sucide Squad/Thunderbolts type game.
Should it be set in the Sentinels universe or a new universe where we make up our own timeline. I'm not the most well versed in Sentinels lore as I've mostly only played the core game and just recently started on the Letters Page podcast.
I lean more towards the Teen Titan feel, personally. Optimism, and heroism. Sure, there will be drama, but at the end of the day, we want to be good guys.
I'll second Godai on tone.
I can see both sides of the Sentinel Comics setting; I'm roughly familiar with it but haven't delved deep into the lore or anything.
I'm good with an optimistic and hopeful setting. If you have a universe ready to be populated, then I'm in favor of it. Else, Sentinel Comics will work.
Ok. More 4-color in its approach is a go.
I'm thinking we set it in a new fictional city that don't have their own hero team and you end up being that new team. Like the West Coast Sentinels or whatever you'd end up calling yourself. The threats would be local rather than global. It's a very basic concept, but works as a test of the system. Seems we have 6 interested players:
catDreaming
ErekLich
Godai
Pydro
MindWanderer
Powehound_2000
Let me know if I've forgotten anyone. Any more and I think it will become unwieldy.
Also, I recommend making it explicitly part of the Multiverse and not the SCRPG universe. That way there's no risk of running afoul with canon. There's no harm in making up your own version of Universe One but I for one might make incorrect assumptions if the game were set there.
So, local scope but overtly superpowered rather than street-level, and cheerful. I may have something ready to go (Idol, a former vocaloid with sonic powers) but I may just roll a couple of Guided characters to see what I come up with.
I'll do some rolls, and see what happens. If nothing works, I got someone who fits the setting.
Awesome! Do we yet know how we want to format play? Someone mentioned a shared spreadsheet; if we want to go that route my Excel-Fu is strong.
Alright, here's my first 3 character ideas:
Prince Ivan: Baron Blade's son, Ivan Romanant III. Fed up with his father's... "antics"... he seeks to take the Mordengradian throne, with an aim to remake Mordengrad as the proverbial "City on a hill." (Alternately, he could already be ruler if that fits the campaign better; after all Baron Blade managed to be ruler and a super!) Military / Tech Upgrades / Close Quarters Combatant / Mischevious. Party Role: Front Line Fighter
Singulara: A career as first a nurse, then a doctor, prepared Samantha Fraiser for her future better than she ever knew. In some sort of life-changing event, she came across and accidentally bonded to a small energy field. It sits just atop her collarbone, shining like a star, and acts almost like a philospher's stone / energy field emmiter. Under her new name, Singulara, she now saves lives on a scale she couldn't before. Medical / Relic / Armored / Nurturing. Party Role: Healer
Spark: Spark awoke in an abandoned warehouse, her memory a complete blank. The only thing in that warehouse with her was a Power Suit, sized exactly for her very short and slight frame. Much to her shock (pun intended), the suit seems to run off and focus the bioelectricity that she can now emit! Though she knows nothing of her past, she has the muscle memory of someone who's trained for thousands of hours with her suit, and her search for answers has led her here... Blank Slate / Powered Suit / Modular Blaster / Inquisitive. Party Role: Skirmisher.
Feedback please! Also, I'm not married to any of these if they don't end up fitting the campaign, so don't worry about ruling any of them out.
I'm going with the character I already have built.
Details, please, Sir or Madam! Who is this character?
To borrow your format:
Sockpuppet: At first, they knew only brief moments of awareness. A flash of light, a sound, murmuring. The moments grew longer with time as well as more frequent. When it became constant, a silhouette of a teenager wearing a hoodie and sweatpants rose from the ground, colors and features emerging as if being painted on. With different appearances and different sets of memories all jumbling together, the silhouette settled into a common appearance and began exploring the various identities of those around it. And if an identity sought to do harm to another... Well, that just wouldn't do.
Blank Slate, Unknown, Psychic.
I'll build a character this evening using the guided method as I don't have any particular character in mind.
I'll second the suggestion of Multiverse setting. Stays lore friendly, but not slaves to lore. I have a few characters off the top of my head, but may come up with another if roles need to be filled.
Cynapse: Late 20's male, Inventor of "the Suit", a lightweight power armor, that allows him to fly, resist damage, and his punches cause synaptic disruptions in those he hits. Party Role: Tank/Single Target Debuffer. Smart guy, smart mouth, confident.
Petey Quick: Late teens male, caught in a science lab accident during a terrorist attack, can now run at super speeds, punching problems away. Party Role: Recon/Close Combat. Smart guy, eager, glass canon.
The Solarkinetic: Late 20's female alien refuge. Solar powered, able to fire blasts of radiant energy to stun or blind foes, flight, super strength. Party Role: Blaster/Moral Support. Naive about Earth, cheerful, team player.
Although reading the concepts for Spark and Sockpuppet makes me want to toss in Gate, who is also a blank slate type, basically a manifestation of Nightmists portals, formed out of a pocket of remaining Mist. Gate isn't Nightmist, but just mist given "life"?
Team Blank Slates, go! (Not a serious suggestion, but it could be fun)
Hm... Idol isn't technically a "Blank Slate" but her background sure doesn't go very far back.
One suggestion for how to manage the game: make turn order first-come, first-served rather than waiting on a specific person to post every time.
Sockpuppet is a Blank Slate because (despite having some number of other people's identities), they didn't have a personal history that they were aware of.
Well, even if a bunch of us were blank slates, having one or three "organizers" to hold us all together is not a bad thing b
All of these ideas could work. Being blank slates would give you a common ground to work from. Starting to come up with a starting scenario. I suggest people playing what they feel like and don't think about filling roles, as superhero is the ultimate kitchen sink setting and one of those weird settings where most concept can find room.