expanding on a roleplay idea

Had this idea at very beginning. It's about a group of humans with extraordinary abilities, with the majority of them being mostly high school and college age at best, who face off an unknown yet ancient cosmic terror known as the one mind. now before any of you say that you've heard this idea before, let me clearly state that this is a bit different from all the usually superheroes fighting a cosmic threat for the common good. your character for the most part is a flawed individual tossed into bleak underground war of overnaturals, physics, and eltrich demons from unspeakable dimensions of terror. the intention and purpose was something along the lines of a heavy metal, edgy, punk inspired role playing game that sort of rids itself of the usual tropes found in more light hearted but still serious comic book stories. with that in mind, how could i make it work?

About the whole characters thing — you can't control that. You can't control how a person plays their characters, so they can be as flawed as they like for them to be. Probably best to try and establish a realistic setting above all else; then, roleplayers will probably come up with a more realistic character to fit that setting.

Another thing is that, if you want that influence of heavy metal and punk, it can't just be skin-deep references every now and then. You really got to get the feel for both of those genres, address the themes they have and share, and have imagery that matches those aesthetic. For example, if you were going for pop, then have a bright world with a lot of symmetry and defined colors and shapes. If you want psychedelic rock, have a more ethereal tone where everything isn't defined as clearly and reality can shift easily. These are two examples off the top of my head, and I know it's not the genres you wanted, but that should give you an idea of what I mean.

Okay, I got some examples for punk and heavy metal: for punk, the world around you seems like it's blazing by, and things can only be described simply as you have no time to dwell on it. Furthermore, there's a pervading sense of control and oppression trying to slow things down. For heavy metal, there's a lot of aggression in the world; everything is bold and in-your-face, but again, it goes by just as quick. Everything is in competition with each other, and one's voice is less important than one's actions, which are more individualized as people operate less as a part of a whole and more as a group with vaguely similar interests yet different goals.

edited 14th Oct '15 9:39:49 AM by BlackMageAnolis