I know there are some RPers who are trying to get new X-Men characters going and have been frustrated by the lack of action. Meanwhile, we've had several ideas for vast, epic stories fall by the wayside, mainly because they've ground to a halt under their own inertia. As compelling as Cullen's and the Brotherhood are, they both require a certain administrative presence to keep them going. Cullen's needs teachers, the Brotherhood needs recruiters and masterminds. Right now, we don't have enough interested RPers to populate the world we've created.
Besides, with a few exceptions, the best X-Men RPs haven't been the epic story arcs that have been so fun to imagine - they've been the everyday stories of mutants searching for a place in a hostile world, making friends and enemies, trying to make it as a vigilante superhero or criminal, or just trying to live their lives in peace.
So I've got an idea for a setting that should be more flexible. Rather than placing our stories in a school for mutants, which is, by necessity, very structured and hierarchical, how about a private safehouse for mutants who don't have anywhere else to go - just an old house in a poor district owned by one or two adult mutants trying to make a difference.
The residents could be orphans, runaways, boarded students, anything... they still go to school on their own, they may have their own jobs, their own activities away from the house... they may come and go as they please, and rent is worked out individually, whatever each resident can pay. There's no real power structure, and they don't really go on missions, though, in order to protect their own, they could band up as a sort of gang.
I'm thinking a good setting would be Los Angeles. It's on the west coast, far away from Cullen's, there's an extensive gang presence, and the socioeconomic barriers are huge. Meanwhile, we've got a whole huge city to play in as well as the coast, the desert, and the Sierras... In a way, it could be Grand Theft Auto: X-Men.
Villains could appear as gang members, prejudiced cops, or members of the Brotherhood (since they are global), and there's no reason there can't be conflicts among residents, either.
Cullen's and all the characters involved there still exist; this is not a reset of any kind. If you've got a Cullen's student or teacher and want to move them to the LA safehouse, as long as you can explain it IC, it's kosher.
Any takers?
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