capitalxxx | PRE GAME PLANNING POST: TEAMS, ORGANISATIONS, ETC

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PRE GAME PLANNING POST: TEAMS, ORGANISATIONS, ETC

This post is for discussing/establishing/working out details of specific teams, groups, organisations etc. with your fellow players. Use this post to -

clarify how long your character has been a part of an organisation and what rank they have or what role they play there,
suggest things about the way the group operates,
ask questions about specifics of mod run teams,
just generally throw out ideas!

You can suggest ideas and stuff for a group even if your character isn't involved in it.

We are going to make threads below for mod-created groups, but feel free to add your own for companies, teams, etc. that you think other people might like to be involved in.

Also, don't forget to check back on the CR MEME to check for new people to shove your character/s at!

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In this game for the time being we're going to be dealing specifically with the West Coast Trailblazers, although there are other factions across North America. Characters can be transferred to the West Coast faction from other, similar groups. We have quite a lot on the Trailblazers so far because a lot of people have apped into it and we've had to answer a lot of questions and think about a lot of stuff, so here's some info you may find useful, and which will be going on the wiki presently:

As established, the Trailblazers is a youth organisation designed to help teenagers who want to be superheroes to find their footing in a stable, government supported (and monitored) environment, so that they can learn how to fight crime as part of a team without getting themselves into too much trouble. The age limit is technically 16-25, but older members of the team tend to be either long-time members, or college or just-out-of-college kids who are new to superheroics – someone age 23 who wanted to register as a superhero would not be required to join the Trailblazers unless they had no idea what they were doing.

Because they're mostly minors, they have to follow rules that other registered heroes don't: they're not allowed to go after a bad guy if they're not accompanied by at least one other member of the team, they're not allowed to engage anything with a threat level higher than B, and they're not allowed to enter an alternate dimension or travel through time without a chaperone. (There are probably more rules. Feel free to suggest some.) That's not to say these things never happen to them and that the rules never get bent – they do – but in an official capacity they aren't supposed to do those things if they have a choice in the matter, and should try to avoid getting into those situations where possible. They will get a stern talking-to from the CONDOR hero registration department officer who is tasked with keeping an eye on them if they flout these rules, and may be suspended or removed from the team if it happens too often.

At any one time the West Coast Trailblazers squad includes kids who are on active Trailblazer duty and kids who are in training – unless they have experience doing superhero stuff, new members usually spend a while in training before they become active members, doing combat training with and taking pointers from the more experienced members, and occasionally accompanying them on more basic everyday crime fighting stuff, although how long varies.

CONDOR is not responsible for the education of Trailblazers members, although it does provide living accommodations for those who would prefer not to have to commute to the base. The West Coast Trailblazers base has some single rooms and some double, with a few communal bathrooms, and a communal kitchen and recreation area. There are also training facilities, although nothing super technologically advanced. There is no specific amount of time a member is required to spend at the base. They do all get communicators.

The base itself is very high security, but on the outside it looks like a normal building and its location isn't made public, for the safety of Trailblazers members who live there or spend a lot of time there but are trying to maintain a civilian identity at the same time.

Personally I'm imagining the agent tasked with dropping in on the West Coast Trailblazers' base to make sure they haven't wrecked the place is Cobra Bubbles from Lilo & Stitch, but if somebody ends up wanting to app a character into that role he can always retire.

Edited 2014-01-24 22:16 (UTC)

Karkat lives full time at the WCT base because he has nowhere else to go. He's been there for a year, having been introduced to the base in early 2013 by CONDOR agents because they were politically obliged to see he was taken care of had nowhere else to put him and they figured teenagers would have better luck dealing with him than adults. However, he's still in-training because he didn't get cooperative enough to start using the training facilities or listening to the others until about six months ago (plus he doesn't have any powers and his existing fighting style, if one could call it a fighting style, was less 'incapacitate someone doing a crime without killing them' and more 'extricate yourself from a possibly lethal situation and murder your assailant if you can'). He has probably been on a few basic crime stoppin' excursions and patrols but nothing with an actual supervillain – the closest he's come to that kind of thing is that on about three separate occasions he has wound up getting kidnapped by generic bad guys who want to lure the rest of the Trailblazers into a trap because he's easy to spot and easy to capture.

Because Alternians aren't ultra popular with humans, and because of the kidnapping thing, Karkat spends a fair amount of time indoors at the base, training, watching sappy movies, and grossing up the place with his dubious culinary choices, like some kind of stocky, bad tempered Starfire. Everybody on the team is in some capacity his friend whether they like it or not.

Sollux isn't a Trailblazer in any way, but at game start he's going to be living in Karkat's room. He's basically like the troll's pet troll for the moment, and has all the manners of one. He speaks a little bit of English but not much.

He's super rude and also takes food from the fridge that isn't his, partially because he can't read English either.

His presence will be a very new development to the household.

Edited 2014-01-24 22:54 (UTC)

Metabee's been with the WCT full time for a couple months, after relocating from the Medabot Corporation's main research and testing facility. Most of the current line of medabots have begun showing some semblance of sentience, and as such have been put in situations where their interactions with humans can be monitored. Even though the KBT style medabots are probably better designed for a war zone than inner-city crime fighting, Metabee was placed with the Trailblazers due to displaying many traits similar to the average human teen.

Since he is technically a prototype weapons project, he isn't allowed outside the base unless on official business or supervised by a CONDOR agent, so he spends most of his free time hanging around the base, probably bugging Karkat. He received combat and weapons training during his development at the Medabot Corporation, so he has been approved for general missions but is still pretty new to working with a team.

If anyone wants to be Metabee's roommate or anything, let me know.

Edited 2014-01-25 03:35 (UTC)

Katniss arrived from the future about five months ago, and has been chilling with the Trailblazers since. While she didn't really have to, she's become a full member and goes on the patrols and all that business. She can be a bit of a lone wolf in how she conducts herself, but she reluctantly lets people tag along because of the rules.

She lives in the base full time because she's from a different time universe and is supposed to be staying protected. That doesn't stop her from being rash and reckless, though. She spends a lot of time in the training facilities, and tends to subtle avoid people, though over the months she's ended up getting to know some of the more persistent members despite herself.

Jon transferred from I guess the Chicago based unit to the LA unit a few weeks ago, because it is more prestigious and because he wanted to go to college away from home. unfortunately he didn't get in to/like any of the LA schools so he is commuting from the Bay Area, good job Jon. he has a room at the base and stays there on weekends for crime fighting, but it doesn't have much of his stuff in it. if anyone wants to decorate it, he won't stop them.

since Jon is 18 and well-trained he is on active duty, but since he lives so far away he doesn't get called in as much. he tries to patrol Berkeley and San Francisco when he can, but it is really boring (except for a minor zombie outbreak). when there isn't enough crime in LA on the weekends, he teaches the members in training how to fight with the weird archaic weapons superheroes use a lot.

he COULD MAYBE be convinced to leave his giant dog at base as a team pet, but this is a monumentally bad idea (so you should do it). he's p quiet but he will honestly do any dumb friendship activity if asked, and will def stick his neck out for anyone on the team, even if it is not necessarily a good idea in the long run. if there isn't someone actively in command he will try and take charge.... . . . he is p much the aloof big brother of the team. pls don't use his shampoo it's like the nicest thing he owns (weapons excluded)

also jon probably wouldn't have a roommate but you're welcome to have your characters store their stuff there or I guess hang out there and mess with his stuff (black clothes and hair products)

Edited 2014-01-25 11:18 (UTC)

Cynthia has been a member of the WCT for about two months. She lives at the base full time*, as her grandparents live a couple hours away from LA and that commute isn't particularly convenient. Her powers aren't very trained or developed, so she's still a trainee. She probably hasn't been on any real missions, and certainly not any difficult missions, but she hopes to be able to tag along soon.

She puts a lot of effort into her training, and can be found in the training facilities at a couple points every day. When she's not there, she often is just sort of hanging out around the base. She likes to go out and do teenager things with the other Trailblazers, and she also likes to watch romance movies whenever Karkat has them on. She REALLY likes getting people's opinions on her pegasus OCs.

*Perhaps with a roommate? Let me know if you're interested in having your character be her roommate! owo

oh oh katniss?? can katniss be roommate?

omg yes...now katniss will never escape. from friendship

Nessa lives on the WCT base pretty much full time, because she feels like she has to prove to the government that she's in full control of her powers and isn't going to go feral and on a killing rampage. She does go back to Oregon for the holidays to see her mother though. She lives in shared dorms (WHO WANTS TO BE HER ROOMATE) and has been on the WCT for a year--just a few days longer than Karkat. Before the WCTs, Nessa was in powers rehab for about a year, not by choice, as the government didn't trust letting her back out into society without some proof that she was in full control (she may have spent about six months as a feral tiger all up in the woods murdering animals and well, that's not something you want in a crowded LA street)

She spends her mornings training, keeping her martial art and quick shifting skills honed in case of peril, but she can be easily distracted from it by a friendly face. She mostly eats raw meat thanks to her powers, so if you're squeamish try not to sit next to her at dinnertime, because you bet your butt she gets blood pretty much everywhere.

As a member of the team, Nessa is pretty strong and has been on a lot of missions (usually leading ones to rescue Karkat from being kidnapped) She does get carried away with biting and scratching sometimes though, so needs to be told when enough is enough if you don't want her to kill the target. When she's in her sabre-toothed form also, she give people rides.

Edited 2014-01-28 18:08 (UTC)

Junpei's yet another newbie: he's been around for a bit over two months. Pretty much threw himself into things from day one... his powers are strong enough that he's just about on active duty, but he seriously needs experience to actually *be any good*.
Probably doesn't have any room-mates given who the other guy Trailblazers are but that's probably for the best (and for the other guys' sanity.)

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