From Ashes

[Dem Taqat]

Its been three years since the event known throughout the world as 'Doumdsday'. The recordings still circulate of flying figures swooping around Doumed Tower, dodging through the explosions ripping the building apart. It was the first appearance before the public of what we all refer to as 'supers', people with supernatural powers and abilities. It wasn't the last, such incidents have popped up more and more frequently over the years, and sightings of these individuals are spreading across the world. But for some reason, Doumedsville is still the epicenter of the changes, with supers appearing almost weekly to wreck havoc and disaster upon the city.

People keep trying to change it, but what can they really do? Can anyone really fight supers, people who can fly, or control fire, or read minds, and win? The DAW couldn't. They say the government tried a whole bunch of things before, and they never worked. Why should this new one be any different? What new training or equipment do they have that can bring down a super? What can they do?

Hello and welcome to the newest AC by Dem Taqat. You know, in case you couldn't guess that part. In this one, you'll be in a slightly altered version of the setting you know and love from the Under the Mask games, throwing a twist on the older characters and events. Oh yeah, and rather than a superhero, this time you'll be playing as one of the poor schmucks Tim kept burning to death: Law enforcement. For some reason or other, your character volunteered for a special government organisation known as FIRES, who's purpose is to bring the rampant super-crime-wave in Doumedsville, a (fictional) city in the eastern US, to an end.

Basic Rules:
[Generic anti-troll rules]
As the GM I reserve the right to do anything in the game, up to and including kicking players out for inappropriate snarking. Yes I do it all the time, but that doesn't make it a good thing.

This is an Action Chatroom Game. Most of you whole will join probably know what that is, but for those who don't I will explain now. You will create a character, using the Character creation stuff below. You will then come on the Chatroom at certain times and play as that character in missions, where you will be tossed into the darkest depths of the city with only the vaguest idea of which way is up. Don't worry though, you won't always be completely outmatched...

And as promised, now I shall explain Character Creation, a thing you do by filling out this handy form. If you are concerned about not understanding it, consider the explanations below before you come running to me please. I know the concept of gender can be hard for some of you to understand, but I will at least make a pretence of explaining it.

Spoiler This Handy Form :

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Appearance:
Bio:

AP:

Stats:
PWR:
AGL:
REF:
DIS:
RSN:
AWA:

Skills:

Eqiupment:
Primary Weapon:
Secondary Weapon:
Specialised:
Specialised:
Miscellaneous:

Spoiler The Explanations Below It :

Name: This is what people call your character.
Gender: This is whether your character is a girl or a boy. There might be some physical differences between the two choices, but you know as well as I do that gender is no object to shipping.
Age: This is how many earth years have passed since your character was born.
Appearance: This is what your character appears like to other characters.
Bio: The story of your Characters life, and how they ended up in their current position of imminent death glory and continued life.

AP: Ability points. You start with 15 of these, and can spend them to increase either your stats or your skills.

Stats: These are a measure of your characters basic physical and mental abilities. Each stat applies to a wide number of rolls, as a opposed to the more specific skills. You start with 3 points in each stat, and it costs 3AP to gain a new stat point. While you can sacrifice your starting stat points for 3AP, you must have a minimum of one point in each stat, and cannot have more than 10 in any given stat.
PWR: Physical Power. This stat boosts your damage in melee combat, as well as indicating your characters endurance and strength.
AGL: Agility. This stat has implications for your ability to dodge ranged attacks and land melee ones, as well as your characters speed and ability at stealth.
REF: Reflexes. This stat covers your dodging in melee, as well as your accuracy with simple firearms and your ability to react to surprise.
DIS: Mental Discipline. The oddity amongst the stats, this deals with your ability to resist various types of mental and physical assault, as well as your ability to deal with pain.
RSN: Reasoning. The traditional mental stat, this covers your use of more advanced equipment, including technology, medical equipment, and everybody's favourite: explosives.
AWA: Awareness. The stat for how alert you are, this covers your ability with precise firearms, spotting useful clues, and keeping whatever vehicle you are driving on the right course.

Skills: Skills explain how much training or experience your character has in various useful fields of knowledge. The first four points of a skill cost 1AP each, the second four points cost 2AP, the third four points cost 3AP and so on. However, unlike stats there are no restrictions on how high a skill can be boosted, nor are there any minimum requirements.The following is a list of skills currently available in the game:

Spoiler Skills in the Game :

Unarmed Combat: Your ability to do damage without any weapons.
Melee Weaponry: Your ability to do damage with weapons designed for melee combat.
Simple Firearms: Your ability to hit targets using basic firearms.
Precision Firearms: Your ability to hit targets using more precise firearms.
Explosives: Your ability to use explosives without blowing up the wrong thing.
Melee Blocking: Your ability to avoid taking damage from those who engage you in melee.
Ranged Evasion: Your ability to avoid taking damage from far-away opponents.
Technology: Your ability to make technology of various sorts do what you wish.
Stealth: Your ability to avoid being noticed by those who you do not wish to see you.
Medicine: Your ability to fix the bodies of your more accident prone team mates, as well as anyone else who gets injured along the way.
Perception: Your ability to see, hear, and maybe even smell out trouble or other things of interest.
Vehicles: Your ability to pilot various vehicles in stressful scenarios without causing major disasters.

Eqiupment: Obviously you aren't expected go on your task empty handed, you have 10 Equipment points (EP) with which to outfit your character. The various options for equipment will be listed below, but you can only place one item in each of the equipment slots. You will usually have the option of altering your loadout between missions, so long as I am made aware of it and in-game circumstances do not prevent it. Weapon Attachments are the only equipment that does not require an equipment slot, but each one may only be added to certain weapons.
Primary Weapon: Your weapon of choice; anything from the primary, weapon, or unrestricted lists, and selected attachments.
Secondary Weapon: A backup; anything from the weapon or unrestricted lists, and selected attachments.
Specialised: Additional equipment; anything from the specialised or unrestricted lists.
Specialised: Additional equipment; anything from the specialised or unrestricted lists.
Miscellaneous: Anything that doesn't cost EP is listed here. This can be filled up with small requests, but may also hold objects you acquire on missions. You each receive 2 sets of handcuffs here automatically, just in case you end up actually taking somebody alive.

Spoiler Equipment Lists :

Spoiler The Primary List :

Melee Weapon of Choice: 2EP (You can pick exactly which melee weapon you use, within reason.)
Shotgun: 3EP (Simple Firearm)
Light Machine Gun: 3EP (Simple Firearm)
Assault Rifle: 3EP (Precision Firearm)
Sniper Rifle: 4EP (Precision Firearm)

Spoiler The Weapon List :

Knife: 1EP
3x Fragmentation Grenade: 2EP
Pistol: 2EP(Simple Firearm)
Submachine Gun: 3EP (Adaptable Firearm)
2x Tear Gas Grenade: 4EP (Includes Gas Mask)

Spoiler The Specialised List :

Length of Rope: 1EP
Grapple Gun: 1EP
Gas Mask: 1EP
2x Caltrops: 1EP
First Aid Kit: 2EP
Thermal/NV Headset: 2EP
Deployable Sensor: 2EP (Contains NV and Thermal modes as well as normal camera)
Camera Drone: 3EP (Remote-Controlled mini-helicopter with mounted camera)
Hacking Device: 3EP
Psi-Disrupter: 5EP (Helps protect you from mental intrusion)
Jetpack: 6EP
Powered Armour: 7EP (Includes Gas Mask)

Spoiler The Unrestricted List :

2x Pepper Spray: 1EP
3x Smoke Grenade: 2EP
3x Flashbang Grenade: 2EP
3x Remote Charges: 3EP
Taser: 3EP

Spoiler The Attachment List :

Silencer: 1EP (Cannot be used with Light Machine Gun or Shotgun)
Thermal Scope: 1EP (Precision-Capable Firearms only)
Tranquilizer Darts: 2EP (Sniper Rifle or Pistol only)

Well, by now we should have a character, so I suppose the essence of your sign-up is over at this point. Time to get to the game! Missions will usually run at 10PM my time, which for all you Americans out there is 5PM EST. For now, missions will take place on Saturdays, but this may be changed in response to scheduling problems with myself, other ACs, and maybe even the players. Hopefully I will see you all there.

The Chatroom is Here.

[Anything I missed will be added here when I remember it.]

DT
Back in the Fray

 

[Dem Taqat]

People of Note:

Spoiler Allies :

Captain Erwin Franz: The commander of FIRES, Captain Franz is an unusually large man with a preference for smart suits. Franz has short-cut black hair and piercing blue eyes. From what you know of his past, he was once an effective FBI field agent before the formation of FIRES.

Officer Georgina Sexton: A member of the FIRES task force, Georgina is a tall woman with blonde hair. Her primary skills appear to be the use of the SMG she carries, although she also may also be somewhat tech-savvy.

Spoiler Enemies :

Cavalier: A super with a black and red costume, with the emblem of a crown on his chest. First encountered around the docks, although his purpose there is unclear.
Known Abilities: Flight: Appears supernatural, no known limitations.
'Red Beam': Appears supernatural, fired from his left hand and causes intense pain to afflicted target. No physical damage has been observed.
Enforced Apathy: Appears supernatural, no known limitations. Causes target to be unable to take action next turn, eyes glow red when used.
Spectral Sword?: Appears supernatural, no known limitations. Created a sword-like extension from right arm using barely-visible light.

DT
Madness

 

[Dem Taqat]

Mission Write-ups:
Mission One.

DT
Supreme GM

 

[Dem Taqat]

Okay fine, you can post your grubby little sign-ups all over my once-proud and noble thread.
DT
Letting Loose the Tide

 

[Arrow Gamer]

I'll reprise my role as hacker guy, probably. Either way, I'll have a char up soon enough.

 

[KaiserElectric]

Also joining, probably as explosives guy/gal.

 

[Bair_the_Normal]

But I'm probably joining soon anyways.

 

[Arrow Gamer]

Name: Allie Landen
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Appearance: Blond with grey-green eyes. Of medium height, maybe a little on the tall side. Fairly well-muscled.
Bio: Later.

AP: 0

Stats:

• PWR: 4
• AGL: 5
• REF: 4
• DIS: 2
• RSN: 1
• AWA: 3

Skills:

• Ranged Evasion 4
• Melee Blocking 3
• Simple Firearms 4
• Unarmed Combat 1

Eqiupment:

• Primary Weapon: Shotgun
• Secondary Weapon: Empty
• Specialised: Power Armor
• Specialised: Empty
• Miscellaneous: Handcuffs (x2), Radio

 

[Red_Spy]

Name: Sienna Sanford
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Appearance: Black hair and grey eyes. Slightly smaller than her brother and weaker.
Bio: Later

AP:

Stats:

• PWR: 1
• AGL: 4
• REF: 4
• DIS: 2
• RSN: 2
• AWA: 6

Skills:

• Simple: 2
• Precision: 4
• Ranged Evasion: 1
• Stealth: 2
• Perception: 3

Eqiupment:

• Primary Weapon: Sniper Rifle with Darts, Thermal Scope and Silencer
• Secondary Weapon: Pistol
• Specialised: N/A
• Specialised: N/A
• Miscellaneous: 2 Handcuffs, Radio, Flashlight

 

[Omega124]

Name: Hank Sanford
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Appearance: Black hair, grey eyes, entire scalp is covered in bandages, which in turn is covered in a black headscarf. Also wears a matching bandana; and his Thermal/NV headset covers the small section of exposed skin between the two (so he's a FacelessMook). Is average height and built, and otherwise wears the standard FIRES uniform.
Bio: Later

AP: 0

Stats:
PWR: 3
AGL: 3
REF: 3
DIS: 3
RSN: 3
AWA: 3

Skills: Stealth 4
Perception 4
Ranged Evasion 4
Melee Block 3

Eqiupment:
Primary Weapon: A completely inauthentic but still awesome Ninjato that probably costed way more than it was worth (2 EP)
Secondary Weapon: A silenced MP7(4 EP)
Specialised: Thermal/NV Headset (2 EP)
Specialised: Lamp oil Rope Bombs (1 EP)
Miscellaneous:

A REALLY large fishing hook (to attach on the rope when need)
Laser sight for the MP7 (which is not a thermal sight, and is just there to look cool rather than have any real in game benefit unless you want to add laser sights as an attachment)
Deck of Cards
iPod filled with techno and dubstep
Handcuffs (x2)

 

[Kinich-Ahau]

Name: Alaric Hyperion
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Appearance: Average height with an average face, he has brown hair and brown eyes. He is strong and willowy and wears his uniform well. His legs, feet, and groin are covered in scars from his encounter with the Pant-a-loon.
Bio:

Spoiler :

Born in Santa Modesta to a family of 7, Alaric had a rather normal childhood growing up. He worked hard in school, exercised, and did his part for the community. After graduating from high school he joined the Santa Modesta police department, where he quickly rose up the ranks and was made a part of the anti-super Corporate Rapid Anti-Vigorous-Entity Neutralization Squad, or CRAVENS.

It quickly became apparent, however, that Alaric was the only member of CRAVENS who got there on merit. The other members all had connections and no skills whatsoever, so Alaric often had to stop the super criminals all by himself, and he had to carry his teammates' spare underpants. Alaric was not happy, but the final straw came when the team was sent against the Pant-a-loon, and Alaric's teammates ran away at the mere mention of his ultimate technique- the Pants Macabre, leaving Alaric to bear the attack alone.

The next day Alaric resigned from CRAVENS and applied for FIRES, where he hopes his new team will actually be competent.

AP: 0

Stats:

1. PWR: 3
2. AGL: 4
3. REF: 1
4. DIS: 4
5. RSN: 2
6. AWA: 4

Skills:

• Melee Weaponry IV
• Melee Blocking IV
• Ranged Evasion II
• Perception I
• Vehicles IV

Eqiupment: 0/10EP

• Primary Weapon: Stun Baton
• Secondary Weapon: Knife
• Specialised: Jetpack
• Specialised: Gas Mask
• Miscellaneous:
  • Handcuffs (x2)
  • iPod & headphones
  • Fancy Wristwatch
  • Spare Underpants (his old teammates were cowards)
  • Nintendo 3DS w/ games
  • Book of Poems by Edgar Allen Poe
  • Bottled Water (he gets thirsty easily)
  • Smartphone
  • Condoms

 

[Lighthearter]

Name: Elizabeth Alexander
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Appearance: 6'(2m) tall redhead with a scar along her left leg. More later.
Bio: l8r

PWR: 1
AGL: 3
REF: 3
DIS: 4
RSN: 3
AWA: 3

Skills:

Explosivea 7
Stealth 4
Simple Firearms 4

Equipment:

Heckler & Koch MP5 SMG(Primary)
3x Frag Grenade(Secondary)
3xFlashbang(Spec)
3x Remote Charge(Spec)

 

[SamSniped]

Name: Damien Blackstone
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Appearance: 1.8m, 84 kg (6'0", 185 lbs), close-cropped blonde hair, grey-blue eyes, clean shaven. Always wearing his white-framed Oakley sunglasses.
Bio: Incoming.

AP: 0

STATS

• PWR: 2
• AGL: 4
• REF: 4
• DIS: 3
• RSN: 2
• AWA: 4

SKILLS

• Simple Firearms IV
• Melee Blocking II
• Ranged Evasion II
• Stealth IV

EQUIPMENT
EP: 9/10 used
Primary Weapon: Dual stun-pulse gauntlets (Shotgun)
Secondary Weapon: MP5SD (SMG, with silencer attached)
Specialised: Thermal/NVG optical filters
Specialised:
Miscellaneous:

• Oakley combat headset (polarized sunglasses with HUD, comms headset attached, and thermal and night-vision filters)
• Handcuffs x2 (for practical purposes)
• Fuzzy handcuffs (for...other purposes)
• Wallet with ID, $150 cash, random cards, and various notes
• Pen and stickynotes
• Smartphone and a pair of high quality earbuds

 

[Patchy]

Name: Vivian Lee
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Appearance: Looks high as a kite.
Bio: [Insert amazingly detailed bio here]

AP: 0

Stats:

• PWR: 1
• AGL: 2
• REF: 3
• DIS: 3
• RSN: 5
• AWA: 4

Skills:

• Simple Firearms 2
• Ranged Evasion 2
• Melee Blocking 1
• Technology 4
• Medicine 5
• Vehicles 2

Eqiupment:
Primary Weapon: Light Machine Gun
Secondary Weapon: Smoke Grenade (x3)
Specialised: First Aid Kit
Specialised: Hacking Device
Miscellaneous: Handcuffs (x2)

 

[Magnive]

So, since I am currently on painkillers due to jaw surgery, and as such does not fully trust my judgement, could anyone make a list of what roles we have covered, those we need, and those that would be nice to have?

 

[Patchy]

So, since I am currently on painkillers due to jaw surgery, and as such does not fully trust my judgement, could anyone make a list of what roles we have covered, those we need, and those that would be nice to have?

Rolls covered:

Medic, Hacking, backup driver - A handsome gentleman
Stealth, combat - SS
Explosives expert, stealth, combat - LH
Melee expert, main driver - Kinich
Perception, sniper, some stealth - Red
Mainline combat, tank - Arrow

What we need:

Technically nothing.

What would be nice to have:

Right now the only skill that hasn't been specialized in yet is Unarmed combat. But what we really need is another medic (See KinichAC where I was the only medic and what happened when I missed a few missions during a boss fight) also some more perception would be nice as only Red and Kinich have points in it.

 

[Lighthearter]

Only 2 or 3 people don't have RSN penalties.


Also. FLASHBANGS.

 

[Dem Taqat]

I am announcing a couple of slight changes to Equipment:

Redundancy: Unlike most equipment, there are three items that come equipped with a Gas Mask. The obvious one is the gas mask itself, but Power Armour and Gas grenades also provide their own gas masks. Along the same lines the Thermal Scope has been introduced for precision weapons, allowing those of you without the headset to bypass darkness penalties in some situations. Hopefully this won't backfire too badly.

Weapon Attachments: After notes from several players that silencers and tranquillisers shouldn't take up a separate slot, I have placed these (and the afore-mentioned thermal scope) in a new category: Attachments. These don't take up a slot by themselves, but can only be applied to a single weapon, rather than applying to all weapons that fulfill the requirements.

I have also added several new pieces of Equipment to encourage players to be more creative and tactical with their approach. The additions are listed below.

Spoiler Equipment :

Weapon List:
2x Tear Gas Grenade: 4EP (Includes Gas Mask)

Specialised List:
Gas Mask: 1EP
2x Caltrops: 1EP
Deployable Sensor: 2EP (Contains NV and Thermal modes as well as normal camera)
Camera Drone: 3EP (Remote-Controlled mini-helicopter with mounted camera)

Unrestricted List:
2x Pepper Spray: 1EP

Attachment List:
Thermal Scope: 1EP (Precision-Capable Firearms only)

Other Equipment Modifications:
Power Armour now includes Gas Mask
Tranquillizer Darts can no longer be used with SMGs or Assault rifles, but can be added to pistols.

Some people have asked about roleplaying with personalised equipment such as a launcher for grenades or the 'stun gauntlets' Samsniped is using instead of a shotgun. I am ruling that whilst this is acceptable as RP within reason, it will not in any way alter the effects of equipment in combat: any shotgun-based weapon will still do lethal damage, and any 'launched' grenade can still be grabbed and thrown back.

I hope this clears up a few things.

DT
Can Improve Perfection

 

[Nukeknockout]

Name: Crystal Halley
Gender: F
Age: 27
Appearance:
Bio:

AP: 0

Stats:
PWR: 3
AGL: 3
REF: 1
DIS: 3
RSN: 3
AWA: 3

Skills:
-Precision Firearms V
-Ranged Evasion V
-Stealth IV
-Perception IV
-Vehicles I

Eqiupment:
Primary Weapon: Sniper Rifle: 4EP (Precision Firearm, Thermal Scope 1EP)
Secondary Weapon: Taser: 3EP
Specialised: 3x Flashbang Grenade 2EP
Specialised:
Miscellaneous:
-x2 Handcuffs
-Flashlight
-Sugar pills
-Bag of cereal box tops

 

[Magnive]

Name: Vincent Hillam
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Appearance: 5'11'', thin, bags under his haunted blue eyes, black hair, which is partly greying prematurely.
Bio: Later

AP: 0

Stats:
PWR:1
AGL:3
REF:4
DIS:4
RSN:4
AWA:2

Skills:
Medicine VI
Ranged Evasion III
Melee Blocking II
Simple Firearms II

Eqiupment:
Primary Weapon: Light Machine Gun
Secondary Weapon: Pistol
Specialised: First Aid Kit
Specialised: Taser
Miscellaneous: 2x Handcuffs