A Decopunk roleplay, anyone?

[Lox]

I have a craving for a decopunk roleplay. If you don't know what that is, then decopunk is like dieselpunk, but with more focus on the glitz and glamour of the Art Decoish 1940's and 1950's. I'm thinking something taking place in a Gotham-like city in a fictional 1940s. We have a super hero a la Batman, we have a super villain (or many), and we have the police keeping the law, and in between ordinary and not so ordinary people just trying to make their way in life.

Below follows a write up of sorts that I punched out for the city in question. A few of you might recognize Anderville and Calisota from a different franchise of a completely different nature.

Anywho...

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Anderville
Anderville is a city of glamour and ritz. But it is also a city of societal divide and insurmountable class differences, where the rich stay rich, the poor stay poor, and everybody else stays somewhere in the middle, going about their lives as best they can. The city has been renowned for many years for its fantabulous art deco cityscape, dominated by its massive skyscrapers and the rapid diesel trains that serve as Anderville's main public transport system. It can be a gorgeously fantastic metropolis. But it can also be dark, brooding, and uninviting.

The city is located somewhere on the East or West coast of the United States, in the state of Calisota, and is an important merchant port. It has fostered two presidents of the United States, and more congressmen than anyone cares to count. Its mayor is James Montgomery Radzinger, a veteran of the Second Mushroom War and a former congressman. Radzinger was recently elected on promises not only to deal with the organized crime in the city but also with the corruption of the city's elite, and the societal divide.

Points of interest;

Downtown - The heart of the city and home of some of the US' most magnificent skyscrapers, including the Anderville Tribune Skyscraper, City Hall, and the 'PD Tower', the skyscraper that is home to the corrupt Anderville Police Department.

Industrial District - the Industrial district is as the name indicates home of the many factories of the city, including the main automobile manufacturing plant of the respected automobile brand Rhodesian Automobiles, owned by businessman Henry Rhodes. Anderville is the new Motown, being home to more than a dozen different car bands.

Harbor District - The harbor district holds the city's massive docks, which ship out hundreds of cars every day from their automobile plants. It also ships and receives tons of other freight, and employs a large part of the city's population. The dock workers are deeply involved in unions, and lately strikes have been common as they struggle for better working conditions and higher wages to compare with their fellow workers at the automobile plants.

The Aerodrome - As if having a harbor isn't enough, Anderville, being on the coast, is the first stop for zeppelins arriving from Europe. They almost always land on the Anderville Aerodrome and unload their passengers. It is located outside of the city itself. A diesel train goes back and forth throughout the day and night picking up and dropping off passengers.

Blackspittle - A run down district that was once a ghetto for Germans living in Anderville during the Second Mushroom War, now home of the poor, and run by criminals. The people who live there are forgotten, and hate and distrust people from other parts of the city. The few who manage to get out never, ever look back. Most of them climb their way out on the ladder that is crime.

As a metropolis of massive size, Anderville has many other districts as well, but these are a few of the most commonly noticeable.

[pyjamaviking]

I love this idea! Count me in!

[AngelDellaNotte]

I could be, I'm curious to hear more about the plot.

[Lox]

I'm glad you guys are interested! I'll give you a rough rundown of the plot I have in mind when I get home tonight.

[Lox]

I wrote up a blurb thingie to give a kind of plot idea. I like to take opinions and thoughts and leave things somewhat open to changes others suggest, so let me know what you guys think of this plot. The greater plot will of course focus on Helzen's (name possibly subject of change before going live) hidden agenda.

Basically, you'd be roleplaying either a super hero in the 50's-ish, a police officer or a civilian getting drug into it all.

Unless of course you want to play a villain. :O




Times are grim in the city of Anderville. There's been a bit too much of the good stuff lately; gang warfare, police corruption, murder, and the mysterious disappearances that have been going on. As if all of that wasn't enough, there's something else, something sinister going on with Encom Industries, a business giant of Anderville, run by the notorious and ruthless businessman Richard Helzen, whose goals seem to reach beyond mere domination of the automobile market.

While a few good men within the notoriously corrupt Andervivlle Police Department is struggling to uphold law and order, a new breed of humans have emerged onto the streets in the aftermath of the Mushroom War, people with superhuman abilities - these people, these superheroes choose to use these powers not for evil but for good, to protect the people of Anderville and do what the Police cannot - bring safety to its citizens.
But can they?

[AngelDellaNotte]

Sounds interesting, I wouldn't mind playing an anti-hero or chaotic neutral character. Prolly someone on the police force who isn't above taking a bribe or breaking the rules but isn't fully corrupt. They do what they have to so things get done.

Two questions though, what is the social structure of the world? Meaning is it like the forties and fifties where there are prejudices against non-white people and a woman's place is in the home? The other question is for our heroes do they have super powers like Superman or do they use tech and skill like Batman?

[Lox]

That's definitely an option as far as a good character goes! I'm planning a police character myself as well!

As far as the world goes, yeah, the prejudices are there for sure. There are superheroes with actual super powers, a kind of thing that has become more and more common since the horrendous Mushroom War ( :O ), but there's also those who like Batman doesn't have any super powers but are highly intelligent and make up for their crime fighting in other ways.

[AngelDellaNotte]

Count me in. Hopefully some more people show interest

[Splat]

I do love me some art deco... I dunno if I’ll commit yet but I’ve got an eye on this.

[Evie]

Hello! I’m fairly new but I’d definitely be interested in something like this. I used to RP a lot years ago but I’ve become a much better writer since. I’m wondering if you’d be open to players writing for more than one character?

I’d love to have one woman character struggling against the traditional expectations. Maybe someone like Vickie Vale who doesn’t let anything or anyone stand in the way of a story or a character like Fish Mooney who climbed her way to the top and will do anything to stay there...

Just my initial thoughts but I’d love to be a part of this!