So, settings, anyone?

Okay, so we've got some good writing here and there, but we could use a setting.

My idea?


Near-future dystopia where the world has been overrun by zombies and all cities have a massive wall around them and a brutal police force that imposes tyrannical ruling that nobody opposes because, hey, would you rather be out there with the undead? Fuck no. So huge mega-corporations own the cities because the government collapsed when all major politicians got infected in a surprise attack from the supposed eco-terrorists that created the virus when in reality it was created by the corporations in order to take control and when they feel they have the world in their pocket they'll release the cure thus ensuring their complete world domination BUT the corporations are actually all run by aliens who have human thralls and are actually from another dimension released by a cataclysmic space anomaly that washed the earth in strange radiation thus gifting a number of its people super powers in varrying degrees and as these amazing individuals come together for peace or power they uncover the alien plot in that they actually plan to use all of earth's people, once properly indoctrinated into the alien's service, as footsoldiers for their intergalactic/interdimensional war with other alien races.

Just came up with it on the spot.

Suggestions?

Suitably bat-shit insane, I suppose.

A few character I've seen (I guess mine included) deal with magic in their backstory or as part of their powers. Do you want to address that within the setting in any way or just go "oh hey magic exists" and leave it at that?

LastSeraph wrote:Suitably bat-shit insane, I suppose.

A few character I've seen (I guess mine included) deal with magic in their backstory or as part of their powers. Do you want to address that within the setting in any way or just go "oh hey magic exists" and leave it at that?

Well, when it comes to magic, I say it needs to have boundaries. I play DnD, so I know what I mean when I say that magic can have an acceptable limit based on personal safety of its user and their experience.

But since (in my setting) there's extra-dimensional crap, couldn't magic simply be viewed as warping reality in such a way that it SEEMS magical in nature, but is really an extension of the powers granted by the anomaly?

Evan_The_Actor wrote:

LastSeraph wrote:Suitably bat-shit insane, I suppose.

A few character I've seen (I guess mine included) deal with magic in their backstory or as part of their powers. Do you want to address that within the setting in any way or just go "oh hey magic exists" and leave it at that?

Well, when it comes to magic, I say it needs to have boundaries. I play DnD, so I know what I mean when I say that magic can have an acceptable limit based on personal safety of its user and their experience.

But since (in my setting) there's extra-dimensional crap, couldn't magic simply be viewed as warping reality in such a way that it SEEMS magical in nature, but is really an extension of the powers granted by the anomaly?

I think that might work.

LastSeraph wrote:

Evan wrote:But since (in my setting) there's extra-dimensional crap, couldn't magic simply be viewed as warping reality in such a way that it SEEMS magical in nature, but is really an extension of the powers granted by the anomaly?

I think that might work.

Plus, I always maintain that magic, in some form or another, exists if we're talking about a multiverse/multidimensional setting. Light, dark, arcane, divine. Extraplaner or dimensional entities capable of bending reality could bestow such power upon mortals, or wield it through them for their own purposes, depending on their alignment.

Even dieties would work, just dieties of other dimensions.

"It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."

Evan_The_Actor wrote:
Plus, I always maintain that magic, in some form or another, exists if we're talking about a multiverse/multidimensional setting. Light, dark, arcane, divine. Extraplaner or dimensional entities capable of bending reality could bestow such power upon mortals, or wield it through them for their own purposes, depending on their alignment.

Even dieties would work, just dieties of other dimensions.

"It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."

Ha ha, that's good, because the story I'm currently working on has Anna busting up a Lovecraftian-style cult, which would work perfectly with extra-dimensional shenanigans.

LastSeraph wrote:Ha ha, that's good, because the story I'm currently working on has Anna busting up a Lovecraftian-style cult, which would work perfectly with extra-dimensional shenanigans.

In addition to the corporate aliens, assuming that's the plan, all kinds of lesser creatures and lovecraftian-styled beasts and cults around them could find their way to Earth.

the hard part about stablishing a settting here is making it fit the characters, why dont we make the characters fix the setting instead?

first, we agree on a setting and his rules/limits

then, people fix their characters to make them more fitting to said setting?

might sound kinda unfair to make people re-adjust theyr characters, but hey, order we need.

again, this is only a suggestion.

what if we start with just twenty minute into the future dystopia

and everything happens from there

anyone who wants to make a GIANT CHANGE or suddenly meet up with aliens who made the earth is totally able to do that, it can all just be varying points in the timeline

actually wait hold on what if the emergence of superpowers is a result of cosmic/semi-cosmic/not even slightly cosmic forces all battling over reality and creation, all the universes have sort of collided and merged

anyone who says interdimensional deities made everything is right but also wrong

anyone who says a wizard did it is also totally right and wrong

i am not sure if evan basically just said that or not it is like six am here why am i not asleep

You know what, looking at this again, I think it would be better to have the setting be a bit closer to what modern-day earth is like, rather than a dystopian corporate-run future.

I still like the idea of the superpowers being caused by extradimensional energy anomalies, and have alien overlords as a potential plot for if a massive crossover happens later on. But right now the rest of it just seems a bit unnecessary.

LastSeraph wrote:You know what, looking at this again, I think it would be better to have the setting be a bit closer to what modern-day earth is like, rather than a dystopian corporate-run future.

I still like the idea of the superpowers being caused by extradimensional energy anomalies, and have alien overlords as a potential plot for if a massive crossover happens later on. But right now the rest of it just seems a bit unnecessary.

Well like I said I made it up on the spot, nothing is concrete here. I was really just having fun making up a setting.

Really, what I thought the ideal thing we could do is have everyone make up a setting, and we choose the most interesting parts that would gel together nicely, and we figure out where to go from there.

Ok lets see if I can get this idea across clearly
In an effort to creat a setting that (most) everyone can agree on, I've devised a way for all of us to have our cake and eat it too.

1.There is a "earth prime"
-this the regular, normal, everyday earth as we all know it. Nothing special.
-this earth can "host" an infinite number of variations of itself

2. Variations are created when "avatars", the characters that we the /co/mrades make, come into existence.
-for example let's say someone make a character that would fit in an old west setting, that character would then be "hosted" in an old west earth. Characters of similar genres typically have the same kind of earth, but this does not always have to be the case.

3.Any number of "variant earths" can crossover with eachother to various degrees.
-Example, the old west character crosses over with a science fiction character. Both of these characters earths merge into a new earth that blends both of their worlds together. The degree to which the worlds are merged can be decided by the people involved. When the crossover is done the characters can return to their original earths if they so choose.

4. All characters involved in crossovers may or may not be aware that their world has changed.
-the cowboy may not be that astounded by the giant robots, maybe he is, it's up to the people involved.

5. Dealing with "Avatars" in teams and team v team battles.
-if an avatar is on a team with that had characters of a wide variety of genres the best bet may be to let the people involved decide on a setting. Same goes for team v team battles. The earth variants in these cases should be decided as a collaborative process.

Momento wrote:Ok lets see if I can get this idea across clearly
In an effort to creat a setting that (most) everyone can agree on, I've devised a way for all of us to have our cake and eat it too.

1.There is a "earth prime"
-this the regular, normal, everyday earth as we all know it. Nothing special.
-this earth can "host" an infinite number of variations of itself

2. Variations are created when "avatars", the characters that we the /co/mrades make, come into existence.
-for example let's say someone make a character that would fit in an old west setting, that character would then be "hosted" in an old west earth. Characters of similar genres typically have the same kind of earth, but this does not always have to be the case.

3.Any number of "variant earths" can crossover with eachother to various degrees.
-Example, the old west character crosses over with a science fiction character. Both of these characters earths merge into a new earth that blends both of their worlds together. The degree to which the worlds are merged can be decided by the people involved. When the crossover is done the characters can return to their original earths if they so choose.

4. All characters involved in crossovers may or may not be aware that their world has changed.
-the cowboy may not be that astounded by the giant robots, maybe he is, it's up to the people involved.

5. Dealing with "Avatars" in teams and team v team battles.
-if an avatar is on a team with that had characters of a wide variety of genres the best bet may be to let the people involved decide on a setting. Same goes for team v team battles. The earth variants in these cases should be decided as a collaborative process.

This would be the easiest. Especially since my group's setting isn't flashy. Being a supernatural investigation firm, basically. The project is just taking off, so adding a super-intense setting might be too much in my opinion.

Momento wrote:Ok lets see if I can get this idea across clearly
In an effort to creat a setting that (most) everyone can agree on, I've devised a way for all of us to have our cake and eat it too.

1.There is a "earth prime"
-this the regular, normal, everyday earth as we all know it. Nothing special.
-this earth can "host" an infinite number of variations of itself

2. Variations are created when "avatars", the characters that we the /co/mrades make, come into existence.
-for example let's say someone make a character that would fit in an old west setting, that character would then be "hosted" in an old west earth. Characters of similar genres typically have the same kind of earth, but this does not always have to be the case.

3.Any number of "variant earths" can crossover with eachother to various degrees.
-Example, the old west character crosses over with a science fiction character. Both of these characters earths merge into a new earth that blends both of their worlds together. The degree to which the worlds are merged can be decided by the people involved. When the crossover is done the characters can return to their original earths if they so choose.

4. All characters involved in crossovers may or may not be aware that their world has changed.
-the cowboy may not be that astounded by the giant robots, maybe he is, it's up to the people involved.

5. Dealing with "Avatars" in teams and team v team battles.
-if an avatar is on a team with that had characters of a wide variety of genres the best bet may be to let the people involved decide on a setting. Same goes for team v team battles. The earth variants in these cases should be decided as a collaborative process.

oh my fuck all that potential world building

ungh yes

Momento wrote:Ok lets see if I can get this idea across clearly
In an effort to creat a setting that (most) everyone can agree on, I've devised a way for all of us to have our cake and eat it too.

1.There is a "earth prime"
-this the regular, normal, everyday earth as we all know it. Nothing special.
-this earth can "host" an infinite number of variations of itself

2. Variations are created when "avatars", the characters that we the /co/mrades make, come into existence.
-for example let's say someone make a character that would fit in an old west setting, that character would then be "hosted" in an old west earth. Characters of similar genres typically have the same kind of earth, but this does not always have to be the case.

3.Any number of "variant earths" can crossover with eachother to various degrees.
-Example, the old west character crosses over with a science fiction character. Both of these characters earths merge into a new earth that blends both of their worlds together. The degree to which the worlds are merged can be decided by the people involved. When the crossover is done the characters can return to their original earths if they so choose.

4. All characters involved in crossovers may or may not be aware that their world has changed.
-the cowboy may not be that astounded by the giant robots, maybe he is, it's up to the people involved.

5. Dealing with "Avatars" in teams and team v team battles.
-if an avatar is on a team with that had characters of a wide variety of genres the best bet may be to let the people involved decide on a setting. Same goes for team v team battles. The earth variants in these cases should be decided as a collaborative process.

Not bad. Multiverses are always good, but we should make sure they're specifically defined in regards to WHO is in what universe.

Example, my story where the Actor fights the Sports League is, as far as this idea is concerned, it's own canon/universe by now. If I want to bring others in or have them submit characters, I should probably make a seperate thread for it and make sure I have their consent.

Evan_The_Actor wrote:

Not bad. Multiverses are always good, but we should make sure they're specifically defined in regards to WHO is in what universe.

Example, my story where the Actor fights the Sports League is, as far as this idea is concerned, it's own canon/universe by now. If I want to bring others in or have them submit characters, I should probably make a seperate thread for it and make sure I have their consent.

I think the greatest strength and weakness of the multiverse idea is that is relies heavily on the collaborative efforts of all parties who want to be involved. With proper planing it could lead to very fun stories; it could also lead to massive headaches. I still believe in it though. We're all supercool people here.

I've also come up with some ideas to address the issues presented by Evan.

1. The different world can "echo" between each other.
-"Echoes" can be defined as subtle hits and references that different worlds exist, without going into crazy crossovers.
-Example. The ideal setting for "The Royal Pain" team may be a bit more extravagant then the setting for "The Unreal" team. Royal Pain would "echo" into the Unreal's world by way of being a saturday morning cartoon or comic. One of the Unreal might notice the Royal Pain comic /cartoon and think, "Man what is with these ritzy assholes."

-Alternatively, to get a little more complex with what we can do with echos/crossovers, we can have situations like this: The Unreal, having completed sever high profile investigations, gets contracted to have their likenesses featured in the Royal Pain comic/cartoon. In this comic/cartoon the two teams fight. In the Unreal canon, this is all just a silly situation that happens and nothing of major consequence goes down, because its just a comic and "not real." However, in the Royal Pain world, this is actually happening and the end of the crossover has genuine consequences good or bad for the Royal Pain cannon. This lets of have fun with each other characters without the possibility of unnecessary complication with those who want very specific settings. Also it lets the reader not have to worry about following the various stories, they can just stick to one and not worry about complex crossover cannon.

2.An Avatars history/age does not have to linear.
-This idea is still a little fuzzy, but it may work.
-Example: We have a character thats a doctor. This doctor character is featured in multiple sorties with varying settings,some very realistic, some very fantastic, some science fiction, some old west. For the most part this characters personally is the same and they look about the same age in the different stories. The best parallel I can think of is Cid from final fantasy. Same name, same basic personality (usually), but exists in different worlds.

If any of this does not make sense let me know.

Evan_The_Actor wrote:it's own canon/universe by now

Wasn't the whole point of this project to have multiple teams in ONE universe?

SteveWhatever wrote:

Evan_The_Actor wrote:it's own canon/universe by now

Wasn't the whole point of this project to have multiple teams in ONE universe?

Yeah, I'd assume that'd be easiest?

Joe Awesome wrote:

SteveWhatever wrote:

Evan_The_Actor wrote:it's own canon/universe by now

Wasn't the whole point of this project to have multiple teams in ONE universe?

Yeah, I'd assume that'd be easiest?

You'd think, but that would assume everyone who want get involved with this grand experiment can fully agree on setting. The multi verse idea lets everyone do what they want and have the means to work with everyone else in a way that does not step on any toes. Thats how I see it anyway.

Momento wrote:You'd think, but that would assume everyone who want get involved with this grand experiment can fully agree on setting.

We'd be spread around Earth.

I don't know why people are already considering multiple universes. Nobody has even done anything yet.

I'm with Steve. The Unreal is based in London, so we've got that sector taken care of.

SteveWhatever wrote:
I don't know why people are already considering multiple universes. Nobody has even done anything yet.

This.

as i said earlier, we should wait for people to create their character´s stories/backgrounds and try to conect them based on that.

or, again as i said before, try to establish limits or create a setting THEN make people adjust their characters to said setting.

Not that I'm opposed to a multiverse - but that's something that comes way down the road. But, at this point, if you want to work in your own universe... what's the point of even being here? This whole project, from the start, was just about a bunch of /co/mrades scattered throughout the world fighting the forces of evil.

Because people are still interested in using the character ideas, maybe? I like the idea of just having everybody in the same universe, just in different settings/ cities within it.

LastSeraph wrote:Because people are still interested in using the character ideas, maybe? I like the idea of just having everybody in the same universe, just in different settings/ cities within it.

Yeah, I would like this too. But I think the origins of everyone's powers should be clearly defined and not conflict with anyone else's ideas.