(no subject)

[goodburger]

Hey, guys. Some of you will remember this from (oh god when did we get so old) almost three years ago, and some of you will not! Either way this is Leah, shamelessly ripping off my own old wording to bring you the:

✖ OFFICIAL CAPE AND COWL PLOT BRAINSTORMING POST II: ELECTRO BOOGALOO ✖

What is this post for, you ask? It's for exactly what it says: future plot brainstorming. The scope is meant to be more gamewide than personal, though there's room for that too; it's essentially a CR meme, only instead of... CR... we throw around ideas for potential game plots. This could range from "I think this might be a fun, lighthearted plot, what if X" to "hey I've got a plot idea--are there any villains who would have an interest in Y?" to "I want an NPC villain who drag-races an ice cream truck through the City streets and needs to be taken down before he can run anybody over." It's also a place to talk about directions you'd like to see C&C go in the future, what elements you'd like to see more of, etc. and discuss that with your fellow players. The ultimate aim is to get open discourse about potential plotting and game directions that'll hopefully help promote lots of fun stuff in the future! Also, this way you can gauge the whole playerbase's interest in something before you run it by us modtypes on the plot post. Obviously some people want their plots to be secret, and surprises are fun too! This post is not for those plots.

You might also be asking how this is different from the plot brainstorming memes we've had in the past! The answer is that this one is a mod-lead discussion officially posted and sanctioned by us, as you can tell from the fact that it's actually in the OOC community as opposed to spam, it's a plot post, not a plot meme, and okay really outside of the mods posting it there's not much of a distinction to speak of. I'm not adding any form to fill out, because, a.) textboxes can eat me and b.) frankly, it's supposed to be more spontaneous than a typical CR meme! If you have actual details, numbers, and specifics in mind, we want to hear them, but don't think you have to come on in all serious business with Google spreadsheets of what you want. This is a brainstorming session, and that means tossing all kinds of ridiculous ideas around. It also goes without saying that all criticism given here, just like criticism of another's playing, must remain civil. If you don't, we will find you, and we will whap you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.

Anyway, all that said, get in here and go crazy! Even if you don't think you have any ideas you can still give feedback to other people, and reading the discussion might inspire you -- who knows?

Comments

[goodburger]

ALSO, FOR REFERENCE; here is what the first iteration of this post looked like, and this is an example of how it's gone down in GDS! For the really new players among us.

[hastheedge]

Jesus Christ that first iteration of the post is a nostalgia blast from the past.

[hellionated]

Something I would like to see is a regular event schedule. At the minute I feel like gamewide events (such as monster attacks and that sort of thing) only happen if they form part of a player plot, or the wider metaplot. That can lead to periods where, because there isn't a part of the modplot being run, and there's no player plot scheduled, the game can seem quite quiet and slice of lifey. Of course slice of life has its place in a game like this! But since we're throwing this open for discussion, I would like to see those more quiet periods interrupted by one off events and attacks that mean players are called into action to actually protect the City and its natives.

I'm talking here about the appearance of, say, monsters, zombies, temporal anomalies, and that sort of thing. These events could cause a short term problem for characters that was not necessarily caused by a big bad like Vulcanus. During the quiet periods, it can feel to me that there isn't much going on in the City that would require the presence of the heroes that Lachesis is bringing. Essentially what I would like to see is the City becoming less safe for heroes in the future. Having regular events that aren't connected with the Vulcanus metaplot, but which still bring a danger to the City, would help to address that.

[wind_dancer]

+1 this is something I would like to see.

[goodburger]

Also, honestly, my number one desire is to utilize the NPC Viltrumites we've got in game! They would pose a serious threat and maybe involve the actual "outer space" part that an alien existence implies, like idk, maybe one night the moon is full and everyone looks up to see someone's defaced the moon dick. Who could it be??? Plus, think of the ridiculous battles. Think of the mustaches.

Taxxons can come too.

[viced]

Can they just make the moon dick peeing.......

[crab]

i still really want the SCP FOUNDATION to exist in cnc
and get really pissed about all these powerful anomalies called imports stirring shit
and round a bunch of them up and label them SCPs and i guess either during their daring escapes or rescues or SOMETHING TO DO WITH THEIR CONTAINMENT a bunch of legitimately dangerous SCPs get released
and the import community has to team up with the foundation to get them back into containment (possibly in exchange from being exempt from the whole SECURE, CONTAIN, PROTECT thing)

[blueshifting]

My SCP muse approves of this message. It would beg to reason why they hadn't done anything just yet though.

[hastheedge]

-Something weird happens with powers! Imports temporarily lose their powers but civilians/other nonpowered people gain them. Shit happens and it's up to imports to find out what's going on/stop it/get their powers back while trying to keep the city from being destroyed by some idiots who just gained powers and are having a field day. TOTALLY admit I'm ripping off Spider-Island here but I know we can run that plot better than comics could.

-idk, I just want something involving ridiculous conspiracy theories. Imports are a tool of the Illuminati to take over the woooorld, things like that.

-Kyuubey gets ported in and fucks things up. Magical girls and frilly outfits for all while our PMMM cast throws shitfits.

-SAID THIS ON PLURK, SAYING THIS HERE, what about a league of ineffective city villains. All those joke villains that people create to beat up in logs form a not-so-effective evil league of evil.

[bullseye]

oh my god yes if the natives got powers think of how they would use them

and then the speculation of IS VULCANUS TO BLAME or does vulcanus merely seize the newly empowered natives for studying?

*and i should add the double whammy of imports losing their powers simultaneously

[magicalworld]

I'm just gonna bring up this Katamari hugging plot idea from the last meme because I still think it's awesome.

[egohalfempty]

the cutest plot ever

but i wouldn't object to a real katamari either good luck dealing with that heroes

[magicalworld]

One vague concept I have is using ImPort fandom to cause chaos- the hideously inaccurate portrayals of our characters become an actual crisis somehow. For instance, a character might start acting more like their ImPort Fanfiction portrayals, or be confronted by a doppleganger that acts like they did in the Iron Man Musical? Something like that, probably caused by a magic plot device.

I seriously have nothing more in-depth than that right now, but it might be an idea with potential.

[hexappeal]

kidnap tony stark and make him perform iron man the musical live on television

he's held for a month to practice it

all my ideas are terrible i apologize

[egohalfempty]

musical plot

[fronttowardenemy]

but i want this

[egohalfempty]

OKAY FOR REAL THOUGH

what about time travel

maybe some muses from cnc2020 start sneaking in and everyone is like "...what" idk I haven't actually thought much about the specifics here. it doesn't actually have to be cnc2020 that was just the first thing that came to mind, maybe the heroes can try and prevent a bad future or something

[clammedup]

oh maaaaan how I love me some bad future plots.

i told you: terrible

[egohalfempty]

also this is more of a player plot than anything else but it came up on plurk once and i just loved the idea

a thread full of people stuck in traffic waiting for the latest superfight to break up

maybe an actual riot starts because of traffic jams and everyone has to decide between breaking it up and exposing their secret identity

(and, kind of like when everyone got new comms, i think it might be a good excuse for people to branch out and meet new characters?)

DEMON SIEGE

[out_of_time]

Due to supernatural dickery several characters at a party or the MAC or another ImPort gathering are yanked into the demon dimension and trapped in a haunted location- a hotel, a house, or maybe a sinister duplicate of a City location like the MAC. For days they'll have to survive monster attacks, demonic possession, malevolent poltergeists, warpings of time and space, bleeding walls, and whatever other horrors we want to inflict on our characters.

The whole time things are getting worse day by day- the first floor is now flooded, the second floor is now on fire, the food is now poisoned... And meanwhile back in the City, remaining characters desperately search for a way to rescue their friends before it's too late.

[amoray]

WHAT ABOUT AN AMNESIA EVENT

like suddenly due to haywire powers or the porter or whatever, everybody loses all their memories and spend a week trying to pick up hints from their possessions and gets it hideously, hideously wrong

then like three days or a week or something later it all comes back to them and they're like "oh my god"

[out_of_time]

Oh I second this. I second this with enthusiasm.

IMPOSSIBLE HEIST

[out_of_time]

Think an Ocean's 11-type plot: an excuse for the game's master liars, classy thieves, outright crooks, experience spies, and other sneaky types to dress up in fancy casinos and pool their talents to pull off an incredibly difficult crime. Maybe there's some mega-rich jackass backing Vulcanus who needs to be relieved of his wealth for the greater good or something? At any rate picture big parties, high-stakes poker games, laser security systems, and audacious deceptions all coming together for the perfect ImPort con job.

[egohalfempty]

i would volunteer codex for this

if she wasn't one-half of the world's worst spy team

(Jokes aside I really love the idea of this.)

TIMESWITCH CRISIS

[out_of_time]

The timeswitch is a big, popular plot that has been run twice before in C&C. Essentially, the Porter hiccups and swaps characters with an alternate version of themselves: either from a different time (kind of like kidplot) or a different portrayal (a canonical AU). In a timeswitch one might see something like Harvey Dent being returned to his pre-acid self, or being swapped with one of his film iterations instead of his comic book portrayal.

I would like to see a timeswitch that isn't caused and resolved by the Porter being random, something that introduces a sense of urgency and player agency, so our characters have to solve a problem themselves while coping with their altered selves. My rough idea is that someone- Vulcanus or a particularly desperate PC, for instance- actually succeeds in sabotaging the Porter somehow. The side effects include the actual timeswitch, but also that the Porter will overload and explode if it's not fixed, with the detonation taking out most of Manhattan.

So this would be a rare case of the Porter being vulnerable and affected by our characters as they work to fix it and reverse the sabotage before it's too late, while all kinds of confusion and new interactions results from them being different versions of their usual selves.

[smarterthandad]

I want this for the selfish reason that Val's canon AU self is grown-up and hot and that is going to mess with some people's heads.

[promised_victory]

I'll be honest: the only plot idea I have is something that could allow me to check "Have Saber battle robot zombies while riding a T-Rex Scribblenauts Post 217-style" to happen. I have no idea about the how or the why. I just want it to happen. Maybe something involving time travel and a mad scientist?

[out_of_time]

I like the way you think and will search for a way to aid you in this worthy endeavour.

[enigmaestro]

CITIZENS ORGANIZING COSTUMED KIND is a hypothetical bill that seeks to register active vigilantes under the City's government, and thus hold that leadership liable for the training, funding, and efforts of vigilante actions. This would only apply to ACTIVE VIGILANTES rather than imPorts as a whole, and it would seek to register identities (confidentially) and regulate vigilante methods -- as it stands, and as the property damage and casualty fallout tends to happen -- crime-fighting methods from masked mysterymen range from "completely successful" to "you killed more civilians than bad guys".

So I'm really interested in getting the proposed Citizens Organizing Costumed Kind bill off the ground as legit legislation that players can contend with. The initial reception was really interesting, and some characters are already involved in the grassroots movement to inspire energy/contribution -- and I'm personally keen to continue on the PRO side. I really adore the angles in the PRO side, since some characters have IC relations to encourage the passing of this hypothetical bill, and some characters have positive canon experience with similar ideas in their respective worldbuilds.

I'm also looking for some CON arguments. People who aren't so keen on the idea because it sounds like something that Tony Stark would approve of, etc. More than arguments, though, I'd like to organize opposition as well as support! Maybe inspire events that could prove a tallied point one way or the other.

SINCE the bill is conceived and organized by a FORMER CRIMINAL and CURRENT NARCISSIST, you can well bet that Eddie has some highly inhumane aces up his sleeves -- some which I hope could provoke sharp philosophical action/reaction, if we get to that point!

[fronttowardenemy]

STOP TRYING TO MAKE 'COCK' HAPPEN!!

[retconman]

If I reapp Max I was considering some kind of power nullifing plot! As in, those affected would have the part of their brain that lets them use/know how to use their powers blocked by his mind control powers (the powers themselves still exist) for like, I dunno, a week or so. Longer if possible but it's up to what people are comfortable with, obviously. He wants to see how much chaos imPorts would cause if they didn't have powers!! (Less, is his assumption)

WOULD PEOPLE BE INTERESTED IN THAT.

[out_of_time]

/raises hand I think it would be really interesting, both for those whose powers are a big part of their characters and for less-powered characters who would suddenly find themselves moving up on the strength scale!

ROAD TRIP (of adventure)

[out_of_time]

So now that Jack is once again a FEDERAL AGENT! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS! federal agent, I like the idea of using his new jurisdiction as an excuse to do some cross-country adventuring and to explore some parts of the worldbuild that haven't popped up much before. Jack would use his D.O.I. authority to put a team together, throw them all in a bus or something (bonus if the bus is really run-down and only plays terrible music because of budget cuts), and set off across America in search of things needing to be punched in the face.

The idea would be that a new increase in Weird Shit Outside the City would need to be dealt with: a ghost in New Orleans, demonic oddities in Miami, a Goa'uld cult in Washington State, Taxxons spotted swimming in the Mississippi, anything else participants wanted to see. I'm visualizing one big log with threads for each location, each thread divided between the actual adventure part and a part just for exploring the place that's being visited, goofing off, and getting into shenanigans for new CR.

And bickering. There would be so much bickering on that bus by the time this was done.

[notadartboard]

Honestly, we're overdue for another powerswap. I have such fond memories of the time Alastair blew up his own bedroom using Superboy's powers.

Generally, though, I'm kind of with Kerry on the needing extra events when players are tapped out and there's no scheduled modplot. End of April/start of May has been thick with plots when January through March had almost nothing. Either the plots need to be scheduled better, or some small events ought to pop up to fill in the gaps when the players just don't have any good ideas. Not that I want a strict event schedule a la Amat - I really don't want to see that either. It was an exhausting eight months playing under that kind of schedule pressure. But something picking up the slack to keep things from getting too slice-of-lifey would be welcome.

[shipper]

I haven't been able to process my caffeine yet so you can bet this idea is firmly on the SUPER STUPID side of things, but picture this for a moment: ImPort fandom holds a giant LARPing session in one of the city's parks. Over the course of the event demons from the demon dimension or other supernatural baddies/actual normal villains descend upon the group with a vengeance. Actual ImPorts have to come in and sight side by side costumed fanboys who are now crying with both excitement and fear. Someone is probably wearing a Hank McCoy fursuit.

Just throwing it out there.

[egohalfempty]

hello

[wind_dancer]

I know this has already been mentioned, I would like regular events, like monsters from different worlds coming through and giving the heroes something to fight.

I also like the idea of a House of M, powers vanishing plot, and people having to deal with the consequences over a period of time.

[radiantly]

I'd also love to see everyone depowered for awhile! I think it'd be great fun to deal with the fall out, especially if it lasted longer than just a week.

[promised_victory]

Stampede of robot unicorns.

IDK. It's a random idea I came up with. Someone was messing with robot technology, they get loose, and stampede through the City. "Always" playing in the background may or may not be optional.

[god_damned]

This is beautiful and I want it.

[steelminded]

...Remember all those times you spent playing Plant vs Zombies, where the plants try to keep the zombies from attacking your home?

Yeah, now, think of them as zombies, that's right folks, zombie plants that shoot pea pods with mouths, a wall of walnuts (/rimshot) that can probably keep you guys from accessing certain areas and a whole lot more! (There might be a zombie plant Michael Jackson somewhere in there too idk)

in other words, "When Plant Zombies Attacks".

ALSO ALSO:

[goodburger]

I'm thinking maybe we should make these posts a more regular thing, rather than, uh, spacing them out with three years. Would you guys be up for that? If so, would 6 months be a reasonable interval or would you want it to be longer, shorter, etc.?

[magicalworld]

I can put my approval stamp on one of these every six months!

[amoray]

OH RIGHT MORE THINGS

one, a likely slower burning plot involving an npc group rounding up a bunch of imports and, idk, telepathically/psychically/etc brainwashing them into an attack squad on the city, for the sole purpose of making everyone have sad conflicted feelings about fighting back and/or killing them! it'd be a bit like the big beat 'em up plots of days olden, except pitting imports against imports! lots of people trying to ~reach~ their ~loved ones~ through the power of ~love~ plus a veritable political shitstorm to affect our current political shitstorm.

two, some sort of new force (the porter? solar flares? massive spill of an untested chemical made from some new animal on isle francis or something???) causing import powers to evolve, meaning whatever powerset the character has currently would mutate and grow, probably to horrific ends. a telepathic character being able to hear every firing synapse of everyone within a hundred feet of them, a super fast character being unable to slow down and/or breaking the speed of light and wormholing a billion miles into space by accident, a character who can communicate with plants hearing a thousand dying screams whenever they touch their kitchen table, generally awful shit like that. this could have long standing effects on how people approach imports and (with mod approval) could potentially even affect character powers permanently, so i think it'd def mix things up!

and three, au/power/timeswaps! because they're just generally a lot of fun.

[enigmaestro]

I like one and two especially.