Outlier Roleplay Genres / Character Types

[blue4333]

How do you fit a character that is of a different genre into mainstream roleplay in Everlasting for example?

 

I'm not talking about obvious parodies or extremely impossible origins/backstories/powers etc but characters that are superheroes that have different aesthetics and backstories that might stand out from the typical invulnerability/super strength tight-wearing tank.

 

Do you face judgement or exclusion from RP if a character doesn't fit into the typical superhero mold?

Edited June 21, 2020 by blue4333

[ImpousVileTerror]

Every.

Goddamn.

Day.

 

*sighs*

 

I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I seem to remember being included in more things on Pinnacle Redside roleplay back on Legacy.  Now, there is any number of factors that could be contributing to this, including my own tilted perspective, but it seems to me that my style (the themes and tone of my roleplay*) doesn't quite mesh with the other roleplay groups which have collective strength on Everlasting.  Maybe I just haven't connected with "my people" yet, but there are still days when the sting of loneliness is a bit much to bear.

 

However, in general, I do find the "unreliable narrator" element to be helpful in marrying characters in to scenes which are not quite gelling conceptually.

We had an example in the Global OOC Channel just a few days ago.

Someone wanted to create roleplay lore that there were amazonian titanesque super warriors living in the planet Jupiter.  Other players were . . . not so keen on that concept, feeling that it didn't really mesh well with their perspective and interpretation of the City setting as being overall less pulp and more relatively serious.  These players felt that while the other player was fine to play a pulpy space vixen, they took a little umbrage with the suggestion that all of Jupiter was populated by such creatures.

 

So, there were two "best case" suggestions on how to handle that:

 

1)  "The space vixens come from a planet they call Jupiter."  This leaves enough ambiguity to the precedings that it doesn't preclude any interpretation of the lore.  Indeed, invoking the unreliable narrator in this instance suggests that maybe this so-called space vixen is just a deranged resident of our own world who has come up with an elaborate explanation for their own freakishly large size (granted, 8-foot tall women aren't -that- freakishly rare in Paragon City, statistically speaking).

 

2)  The Jupiter she comes from is of another time, or another dimension.  Time Travel and Extradimensional Travel are two VERY common themes in this game.  It provides all sorts of opportunities to say things like "well, on -my- Jupiter, complex multicellular life IS possible, clearly."

 

While this doesn't guarantee anyone will necessarily -want- to roleplay with the individual who makes such a character, this does at least open the door for the possibility of their divergent narrative not completely nuking the established collective point of view.  Granted-granted, it does require that everyone is operating on the agreed parameters, and no one tries to step forward and say "nuh-uh!   You can't play that!"  And, of course, no one is obligated to play with a person sporting a character with such a thematic divergence either.  Which I think is where the accusation that roleplayers are "too insular" comes from.

 

I'm not sure if we need it, but codifying some key words for shorthand might be helpful.  I know some people use the comic "eras" of Marvel/DC (silver, golden, modern, tacticool, et cetera), but I really want to encourage players to do exactly NOT that.  I know there's a lot of folks who strongly feel that this is "a comic book game," but it's actually open to everyone.  Using comic book lingo doesn't help players who are entirely unfamiliar with that lingo.  I feel we should aim more broadly.  Use language which applies to any media.  

 

Minor aside, somewhat related:  Magic.

Fuck magic.

Bane of so many roleplays!  "But that's not how magic works!"

I contend that Shadowrun v4 handled it best with the Unified Magic Theory.  "Everyone is right, so therefore everyone is also wrong, but it doesn't matter, since magic still works anyway."  Would be nice if we could adopt something similar to that as a community.  

 

 

*

My specific style of roleplay involves focusing on the social and cultural factors which would stabilize in a setting like this.  Basically, in a world beset from extradimensional invasions, ancient soul-devouring gods, and insane scientists who turn themselves in to massive single-cell monsters . . . how does society remain functional?  I know, I know . . . I'm bringing my work in to the game, rather than leaving it at the door.  Thing is, I do NOT play to escape real life.  I play to enjoy myself.  And that means that an examination of the setting through a lens of real world sociological sciences is what really amps me up.  I use roleplay as a tool to examine those social factors, cultural development, and the impact which global and local events has on day-to-day life.   It also means that I'm at odds with a lot of players who come here specifically to get away from real life.

C'est la morte.

[Coyotedancer]

If you're into the standard MMO Social Hub standing-around-talking-about-everyone's-personal-issues/sex-lives/random-kinks-of-the-day conversational/"BarP" thing, I doubt you'll have much trouble in this game no matter what kind of character you come up with. There are some very odd ducks in the D and under Atlas' boots, and I suspect it would take an actual, determined effort to come up with something that would be deemed too off-the-wall for those groups. Even a pulpy, amazonian Space Vixen from Jupiter isn't likely to raise many eyebrows. (Although an asexual character with no interest in interpersonal drama might! XD)

 

Genre and tone are likely to be much more important to the self-described "serious roleplayers", from what I've seen... But many (Maybe even *most* these days-) of the Serious Roleplayers tend to stick to playing with their SGs and friend-groups. If you're looking at joining one of those, having a solid conversation with the rest of the group about expectations and lore conventions and all of that is going to be pretty important. Establish where you... and they... stand right off the bat. That ought to take care of most of the potential problems, so you don't end up bringing the Tick while everyone else joined the Watchmen.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by Coyotedancer

[chase]

I actually have MORE trouble bringing in characters tied to the lore, honestly.   The whole "tying in-game events to real dates in the real world" part of things.   I had heroes that BECAME heroes during the events of the first rikti invasion that i made a long time ago but never got to develop as characters in RP.  I want them to be struggling with adapting to the new responsibilities-- but in the timeline, that's far in the past.  Retcon to the loss of galaxy city. which the in-game experience suggests is more recent, and that's treated as several years ago too.... guess it's time for InsertGenericRandomEvent rather than tying the characters into the game.   

 

I think this is part of why I have so little emotionally-invested in my stable of RP characters.   They've all had their ties to in-game material minimized to be hand-waved away, if needed.   None introduce a detailed backstory that ties heavily to the lore.  None are veteran heroes who would have experienced more of the lore or been established as a hero in the community.   Most, actually, arise from the bit characters that I made years ago for pen-n-paper NPCs and that were designed specifically to NOT be in the spotlight.

 

 

 

[Saeletra]

3 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

(Although an asexual character with no interest in interpersonal drama might! XD)

I brought one to Pocket D. There was about 5 minutes of curiosity and then RP died out since she wasn't interested in romantic or intimate relationships or the drama that brings. Conversations about Dance moves or music or movies or mother ship shield surfing wasn't welcome when Jane had just broken up with John, because Sally and Trina enticed him into a threesome and John didn't bring Jane to make a foursome.

[ImpousVileTerror]

Too true, Saeletra.

And that's not to say that I don't think people should be allowed to engage in whatever fiction they enjoy (presuming informed consent between all involved parties).  It's just not necessarily the most accessible for someone like me, and clearly not for others among us here either, heh.

[Latex]

I think Roleplay is/always has been popular in City of Heroes/Villains because it allows a wide swath of characters.

 

You could feasibly have pretty much any concept in this universe and make it plausible; catgirls, robots, aliens, mutants, golden age heroes, etc. But I do find rooting characters (or involving it) in the game lore makes them more relatable, grounding concepts in the universe means you will have less friction. I made a thread some time ago here in Roleplaying to ask more about Praetorian Lore because my character is a sentient Clockwork from that dimension and I really wanted to involve those ideas.

Edited June 21, 2020 by Latex

[HelBlaiz]

I do the 'from another dimension' thing a lot. Not everything I make fits neatly into the lore of CoH, a lot of fantasy inspired individuals and the like. I think the key is to sort of admit that your character doesn't fit in, and incorporate that friction. I have an Iron Golem with sentience who knows all sort of things about monsters and magic in a DnD setting, but had to learn about Paragon City and the Earth in general. He's still not all that great with technology. Not fitting in isn't the issue, it's the handwave of trying to twist the game's lore to fit. Claiming there's a well known family of catpeople in the world (which I've done in the past) might break suspension of disbelief for many, but if they were secret until recently, or aliens, or anything else that removes them from the canon timeline believably, then you're probably alright, since the world as others see it isn't really being disrupted. It's just a simple "Yes, and" instead of a "Forget Lore" sort of thing.