Bookwyrm's Horror-esque RP: Interest, Planning, and Sign Ups

[Mags she/they]

Just now, Through The Living Glass said:

IT WAS TOTALLY LEGAL I SWEAR

WELL THATS GOOD AT LEAST

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

Just now, J. Magi said:

WELL THATS GOOD AT LEAST

YEAH I GUESS

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

Okay, I'm going to attempt to curb this rampant discussion so we can focus back on RP stuff...that okay?

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

Just now, The Bookwyrm said:

Okay, I'm going to attempt to curb this rampant discussion so we can focus back on RP stuff...that okay?

YEP SOUNDS GOOD.

[Mags she/they]

Just now, The Bookwyrm said:

Okay, I'm going to attempt to curb this rampant discussion so we can focus back on RP stuff...that okay?

SOUNDS GOOD

anyway, we're pretty set on having the pc's be agents, do you think it's too early to make character sheets?

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

Just now, J. Magi said:

SOUNDS GOOD

anyway, we're pretty set on having the pc's be agents, do you think it's too early to make character sheets?

...Maaayyyybbbbeee....

I want to have some discussion first so people get a more general idea of what the ARC is like. But I guess we could do the appearance/personality aspects of them now, yeah.

Why, what do you have in mind?

[Mags she/they]

Just now, The Bookwyrm said:

...Maaayyyybbbbeee....

I want to have some discussion first so people get a more general idea of what the ARC is like. But I guess we could do the appearance/personality aspects of them now, yeah.

Why, what do you have in mind?

I was just suggesting it, because having a character sheet template ready might make it easier for people to get involved that's all. I did think that our pc's would be more 'basic' instead of higher end people with special abilities, so more lore development wouldn't be necessary, but if you were intending otherwise I understand.

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

4 minutes ago, J. Magi said:

I was just suggesting it, because having a character sheet template ready might make it easier for people to get involved that's all. I did think that our pc's would be more 'basic' instead of higher end people with special abilities, so more lore development wouldn't be necessary, but if you were intending otherwise I understand.

No, that makes sense. I might wait until tomorrow or Monday, just to see who else is interested and how much more we get hammered out, but I'll totally make one. 

I also wanted there to be coordination between players on charachter design; this is a team, so each player would fill a specific role.

Edited November 17, 2024 by The Bookwyrm

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

Just now, The Bookwyrm said:

No, that makes sense. I might wait until tomorrow or Monday, just to see who else is interested and how much more we get hammered out, but I'll totally make one.

Cool

[Mags she/they]

2 minutes ago, The Bookwyrm said:

No, that makes sense. I might wait until tomorrow or Monday, just to see who else is interested and how much more we get hammered out, but I'll totally make one. 

I also wanted there to be coordination between players on charachter design; this is a team, so each player would fill a specific role.

Understood! In my own experience of rp making, having character sheets ready to go usually results in a bigger group then a concept thread with sheets later on, so I just thought I'd make the suggestion.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

1 hour ago, The Bookwyrm said:

...Do we need to make a horror discussion thread?

Also, @Through The Living Glass, if you're interested in the RP you should check out the document. We've layed out some ideas of what we've been planning.

@The Wandering Wizard did you want to join the RP or are you just popping in?

Just popping in

[Just_a_Fan he/him]

I want to fight monsters, LEMME AT 'EM!

[Guest Ψιτιsτηε Βεsτ]

20 hours ago, The Bookwyrm said:

Welp, let's give this a go. 

I have an idea for an RP based in a world I've been making in my head (as I tend to do). The essential premise is that there's a highly classified and secretive government agency tasked with protecting the country from supernatural threats, and otherwise keeping anomalous objects and events hidden from the public. There's a whole bunch of nuance to that, but that's the overview.

I wanted to make an RP where the players, you all, roleplay a group of people who stumble upon one of these anomalies for whatever reason and have to survive it. It would be in structure similar to the Hunger Games RPs we've been doing; one or more people would be Game Masters, roleplaying the environment and the threats it contains, leading the characters along and guiding the story, while the rest would be those characters, interacting with the environment and working to both survive and also accomplish specific tasks. In my mind, this would be a bounded RP, too; there would be an end. Either all the survivors complete whatever objectives the story gives them and they escape, or everyone dies. That would keep it from stagnating at some point down the line (hopefully), because there's a concrete end.

I have a few ideas on what this would look like, but I also want to open it up to whoever might be interested. (If it's literally just @J. Magi and me then...what the heck, why not.) But, if other people want to participate, I want you guys to help decide what the setting, premise, and story of the RP acutally end up being.

I have a document that should be anonymous for us to figure this all out. If you guys would rather just discuss it in the thread, or if the anonymous stuff doesn't work, let me know, and I'll add the discussion points to this post. 

If you're interested, just say something, or get on the doc and share some ideas!

When Bookwyrm posts a SU about role plays you know to start checking for something periodically.

[Wittles he/him]

This looks interesting, I'll join!

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

13 hours ago, ΨιτιsτηεΒέsτ said:

When Bookwyrm posts a SU about role plays you know to start checking for something periodically.

You interested in joining?

13 hours ago, Wittles the DoomFrog said:

This looks interesting, I'll join!

All add you to the PM. Did you check out the planning doc?

 

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

On 11/16/2024 at 10:49 PM, The Bookwyrm said:

Welp, let's give this a go. 

I have an idea for an RP based in a world I've been making in my head (as I tend to do). The essential premise is that there's a highly classified and secretive government agency tasked with protecting the country from supernatural threats, and otherwise keeping anomalous objects and events hidden from the public. There's a whole bunch of nuance to that, but that's the overview.

I wanted to make an RP where the players, you all, roleplay a group of people who stumble upon one of these anomalies for whatever reason and have to survive it. It would be in structure similar to the Hunger Games RPs we've been doing; one or more people would be Game Masters, roleplaying the environment and the threats it contains, leading the characters along and guiding the story, while the rest would be those characters, interacting with the environment and working to both survive and also accomplish specific tasks. In my mind, this would be a bounded RP, too; there would be an end. Either all the survivors complete whatever objectives the story gives them and they escape, or everyone dies. That would keep it from stagnating at some point down the line (hopefully), because there's a concrete end.

I have a few ideas on what this would look like, but I also want to open it up to whoever might be interested. (If it's literally just @J. Magi and me then...what the heck, why not.) But, if other people want to participate, I want you guys to help decide what the setting, premise, and story of the RP acutally end up being.

I have a document that should be anonymous for us to figure this all out. If you guys would rather just discuss it in the thread, or if the anonymous stuff doesn't work, let me know, and I'll add the discussion points to this post. 

If you're interested, just say something, or get on the doc and share some ideas!

EDIT: PLEASE READ

@J. Magi @SpiritOfWrath @Through The Living Glass @Wittles the DoomFrog

Here is the current synopsis, based on our planning. This is still subject to change:

The ARC had constructed a facility around an anomaly, or series of anomalies, located in a forested  area somewhere in the continental U.S. (Either in the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia; I'm still deciding.) This was a facility run jointly by the Department of Research and Records, the Department of Control and Protection, and the Department of Anomaly Utilization. However, at some point, something occurred there, and contact with the facility was lost. Action was not immediatley taken in case it was just a routine effect of the anomaly, but after over a month had passed without contact, the ARC began to investigate.

A team of investigators, dispatched by the Department of Control and Protection (though other Departments had some input into it's operation), was sent to investigate the site, determine what had happened, and, if neccessary, re-contain the anomaly the facility had been researching.

You are that team.

 

I think you are all okay to start planning out characters. However, I would use PMs to coordinate on how you assemble the team. This is a team, after all, and your characters already know each other. They have skills and specialties that play off each other and cover each other's weaknesses. So do some planning together to figure out how you want it to fit.

Before you go ahead, please read this document on the ARC's structure and operations, for some background.

  Reveal hidden contents

Federal Agency of Research and Control

Department of Operation Oversight

 

Subject: On the Agency’s Structure and Operations

 

The Federal Agency of Research and Control (ARC) operates, at least on paper, as a service of the United States Government. Funding for many of the Agency’s operations come from government funds, and high ranking government officials are made aware of our existence. Additionally, the U.S.’s national security in regards to anomalies is a priority of the agency, whether threats arise from the anomalies themselves or from persons or groups that utilize them. 

 

However, despite this technical classification, the ARC does not operate entirely under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. The mission and nature of the ARC, and the nature of the world it hides from the general public, is highly classified, and obscured by more than just confidentiality. Due to the ARC’s confidential nature, and due to the great importance of its mission, the ARC is overseen and directed by itself. Even the office of President has no true control over the ARC’s actions, and no legislation is passed regarding its operation.

 

The ARC is run by a Board of Directors. The process by which an individual is appointed or the Board is highly classified, though it involves some measure of anomalous influence. The Board is responsible for the general oversight and direction of the ARC, though other decisions are left to the Heads of the Departments.

 

The ARC consists of 7 Departments:

• The Department of Operations Oversight

• The Department of Domestic Affairs

• The Department of International Affairs

• The Department of Research and Records

• The Department of Containment and Protection

• The Department of Anomaly Utilization

• The Department of Paramilitary Operations

While these departments do not necessarily cover every aspect of the ARC’s operations on their own, they are the structure that the ARC utilizes to achieve its baseline goals. In instances where an operation does not fall neatly into any department, multiple departments will work on it, or form a new division to handle the objective.

 

Due to the Agency’s position within the U.S. government, it often relies on other government groups and services in order to aid in achieving its goals. Information gathered by the FBI, CIA, NASA, NOAA, and various other government organizations is constantly being monitored by the ARC for anomalous activity. Additionally, many ARC agents are embedded in these other government agencies, serving in standard capacity until anomalous activity requires their special services. Partnerships and joint operations with various government organizations are also run as needed by personnel aware of the Agency’s existence.

 

The ARC has a widespread and influential international presence. Usually, integration in the CIA is utilized in order to establish this presence, though in some cases the ARC has independent bases of operation. 

 

While some other nations have their own organizations serving similar roles to the ARC, others rely on the ARC to perform the service for them. So, while primarily a U.S. agency, the ARC also provides services to these smaller countries in lieu of them developing their own. 

 

The ARC’s interactions with the anomaly-focused agencies of other nations is inconsistent, at best. While the ARC has friendly relationships with several of these agencies, it lies in direct conflict with others, due to the U.S.’s complicated international relations. These conflicts and alliances are not always consistent; organizations once in opposition to the ARC can become temporary allies, and vice versa. Often, an organization will be both an ally and an enemy at the same time, due to the Dampening of the ARC’s wider operations and the changing necessities of various relevant scenarios.

 

While the ARC does keep the U.S.’s national interests and safety a high priority, its true devotion is to the defense of humanity as a whole from dangerous anomalies, and the defense of benign anomalies from humanity, when necessary. This mission transcends national interests, and may take priority depending on the situation. 

 

It has been proposed on several occasions that the Agency cut ties with the U.S. government and begin operating as an entirely independent agency, such as other independent anomaly-aware organizations that have been documented. However, such proposals have not been followed, by the Board’s decision, likely due to the various benefits and information that are granted by association with the U.S. government and connected agencies. It is also likely that there are other reasons for this, possibly related to whatever anomalous force Dampens information regarding the Agency, or whatever influence is responsible for guiding the choosing of new Board members.

Character sheet:

  Hide contents

Name:

Gender/Pronouns:

Age:

Physical Description:

Backstory: (How did they come to find out about the ASC? Why were they recruited?)

Skills and Speciality: (What do they bring to the agency? Why were they chosen for this operation?)

Quirks/Misc:

 

I’ll get to this eventually… school rn

[Guest Ψιτιsτηε Βεsτ]

7 hours ago, The Bookwyrm said:

You interested in joining?

All add you to the PM. Did you check out the planning doc?

 

Possibly probable to busy though

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

Just an update: I think the current plan is to leave this on hiatus until about December 2nd. Keep brainstorming ideas and put any you have on the planning doc, this thread, or the PM. If anyone else really wants to join, we should be able to fit you into the team.

[Just_a_Fan he/him]

*spoopy doot intensifies*

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

16 minutes ago, Just_a_Fan said:

*spoopy doot intensifies*

Do ya wanna join?

[Just_a_Fan he/him]

Just now, Ookla the Dragonslayer said:

Do ya wanna join?

Oh, yes. Thought I did.

[Through the Living Wrath he/him]

Just now, Just_a_Fan said:

Oh, yes. Thought I did.

Hhhmmmm probably.

*cough*
I am very smart.

I disagree.

[Just_a_Fan he/him]

@Ookla the Ouroboros may I join.

[Exotic Almond he/him]

This conversation is very funny.

And even before you mentioned Control I was like "This sounds like Control mixed with The Casting of Frank Stone." So if that was the vibe you were going for then congrats you got it. (The reason for The Casting of Frank Stone is more bc of the survival aspect than the actual story)