In the past, this world was once your average story. A young boy turned superhero fought against evil in Telworth city. For several years he was successful, garnering fame and living a good, well written life. Then, twelve years before this story starts, an elementary school came under attack from a horde of strange robots. Without missing a beat, the protagonist rushed to the rescue. But something unimaginable happened. He was defeated. Killed by a machine.
A Role Play by Ian Draws
I know it's long, but please read this entire post. Tank you :3
Character Slots Full
Imagine the world of your childhood dreams. The world of spaceships and aliens, pirates and ocean adventures, knights and dragons, spies and masterminds, superheros and villains, lovers and fighters. The world where you can get literally sucked into a video game, play a reality show of death, rock battle against Satan, or fly on a magic rug. The world where the impossible happens every day.
In The Protagonist is Dead, that world is real and in trouble. Major trouble.
~History: Twelve Years Ago~
But the machines were not truly successful either. The world, needing a protagonist, choose the child most effected by the death of a hero. This child took on the mantle of the protagonist and, with the help of two friends, defeated the machines and saved the day.
Over the next twelve years, the three friends lived a strange mix of normal life and adventures. They managed to survive it all somehow and now live in an apartment together going to the same college. From this point on, their lives are now yours to control. One last thing to note about these friends before you take over, however: they are self aware. They know that they are in a story being written by people on the internet and that their lives are in the hands of their writers. Do try not to make them mad.
~The GM: Me and My Role~In this role play, I (iandraws) am the GM and my role is as follows:
-I set up the story, giving initial descriptions of locations, NPCs, and situations.
-When a player does something, I am the one who decides what happens next. My word is law. No god modding.
-That said, I don't want to be in control of everything. Whenever I post something in the IC, I will underline objects of importance. You do not have to interact with these objects but, if you do, I decide the outcome of your action. If something is not underlined, you can assume that it would act as its IRL counterpart would act. I trust you to have reasonable judgment about how much your actions can influence the story. Please do not misuse this privilege.
Spoiler: Example
~The Players: Character Sheets and Requirements~
For the time being, I am setting a maximum of three players for this role play (not including myself). This RP is gonna be interesting enough as it is and I don't want to add too many players to the mix on top of that. I may consider adding more players later on.
In order to be accepted as one of three players for this RP, you must provide a filled out character sheet (as provided below). Send a PM of your character sheet to me, as well as a writing sample that exhibits your best writing (this can be a link to a post, a part of some story you've written before, or anything along those lines). When making your character, please remember that they need to be friends with the other two characters. Making a likeable asshole character is fine, but make sure they really are likeable. Also try to keep in mind that they are self aware. Try to think about how knowledge like that might influence someone as they grew up.
Spoiler: Character Sheet
To try to keep things fair, slots will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis. You are put into my "review list" the minute I receive your PM. If three people get their character sheets in before you do, and I feel like each of those people deserve a spot in the RP, then I cannot replace one of them with you, no matter how good your character is. I'm sorry, but that just sounds the most fair to me.
Some other things I require for your consideration are: Proper grammar, knowledge of and skill using writing techniques, as well as some experience on this website. I know that all probably sounds intimidating, but I promise I'm not a tough judge. I honestly think I'll be lucky if I get more than three people wanting to do this with me.
If you and your character sheet are accepted, I will add you to the OoC. Once all three slots are filled, I will PM each of you with a power.
The Powers: Each character has a unique(ish) ability. Being self-aware apparently comes with a couple perks. When I send you your power, it will come with a set of rules and limitations that must be followed at all times. If you want your character to use a power in a way that you aren't sure is okay or not, feel free to PM me about it. If you don't ask, I'll try to be understanding and work with it. However, if your action is game breaking, I will require you to rewrite your post. NO EXCEPTIONS. You may share this information with the other characters if you wish. You may also withhold it.
Spoiler: Character Slot One: Lobo
Spoiler: Character Slot Two: Trouble
Spoiler: Character Slot Three: Craze
~The Role Play: The Stuff You Probably Already Know~Once all the players are selected and we are ready to start, I will create the IC. The first time I post, I will describe a brief history of the three character's, some past adventures, and some other things like that. I will then describe where each character is at the start of the story. Each player will then submit a reply that ends with the action they decide to take. Once each player has posted their reply, I will make a new post describing what happened after each action. The process repeats until we decide to stop or the story naturally comes to an ending.
Each post you will write must be in present tense and third person limited perspective. In other words, actions are happening in the moment and you only have the knowledge your character has.
I plan for this RP to follow an episodic format. Each "episode" will be comprised of several posts about an adventure that these three characters are on. Each will have its own beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. After one adventure is finished, I'll writing a concluding post, leading into the start of the next adventure. Over top of all of this will be an overarching narrative.
~Final Bits and Guidelines: The Fun Stuff~Here are some last little bits about this RP
1. Restrictions on Self-Awareness: Your character's self-awareness manifests as a base of knowledge of narrative tropes, cliches, and other topics. If it's late at night, a storm is raging outside, and there's a sound coming from the basement, then they'll be pretty sure that there's a monster down there. They will not be able to know there's a monster down their nor can they simply wish it away. They are simply aware that they are living in a story which means that things are going to get weird. (Your powers will give you more fourth-wall-breaking abilities.)
2. Pushing the Boundaries: These limits aside, your characters are still self-aware. This opens up so much for you to play with. Get creative with it! Make jokes, use it as ways to get around tough situations, or just try things to see if they work. The main purpose of this RP is fun and, for fun to happen, I need to be flexible. In fact, I'm giving myself a rule: as long as you are within the rules I have given you, and whatever you're trying to do won't break the game, then I must go with it. I want you to be fair, but take this story places not even I've thought of yet.
3. Insult me: Just, stay with me here. Each of your characters are aware that four people are writing this story and that I am the one putting them in these situations. This means that if something happens that the characters don't like, they can yell at me about it. For example, maybe I write something that uses a lot of cliches or tropes. Then the characters might call me out on that, teasing me for not being original enough. Or maybe something terrible happens to one of the characters. Since they're self aware, they will have someone they know is to blame for it and might get really angry at me.
4. Questions or Concerns: This is my first time writing an OoC and I'm sure I've probably missed something or got confusing somewhere. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask about them here. This extends to when we're in the IC too. Feel free to ask me as much as you want here. I'll try to respond as quickly as possible.
I have been thinking about a story like this for a very long time. I have so many ideas and a lot of things for you and your characters to encounter in this world. Adventure, danger, mystery, action, thrills, horrors, romance. Anything and everything is on the table for this. Let's have some fun!
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