What-Elseworlds (A DC RP idea interest thread)

So I've had an idea for a little bit for a DC Elseworlds RP that I think could be at least an interesting concept, or maybe even outright fun. So see if you can follow along. First and foremost, you can only play as an alternate version of a character, not anything that is accepted as the "canon" version to a certain medium; IE New 52/Post Crisis/Pre Crisis Superman, Man of Steel/Brandon Routh/Christopher Reeve, or the DCAU/Brave and the Bold/Justice League Action Superman. That makes sense, right? Why would you want to be the version that already exists when you can make something new?

But here's where I really want to get a player to exercise their creative muscle. You cannot play as an Elseworlds character that exists. You cannot be a Superman whose ship crash-landed in Soviet Era Russia and became the ultimate Communist Superpower who tried to take over the world. You cannot be a Superman who crashed in Gotham and was raised by The Kents, or who was raised by The Amish. You get the idea. Now, if you want to play a Superman who crash-landed in Russia in the last 20 years, that would be fine, because he wouldn't be the Soviet Superman, or if he was Black (as long as his name isn't Calvin Ellis and he doesn't go on to become the President of the United States and morally questionable), or if he landed in England and his story was serious instead of a farce like True Brit. The important thing is that I want the player to make something new.

Now, here's the extra-fun part. Because this wouldn't be an Exiles-Style game where every character is from a separate, self-contained universe with its own history. Each character that the player makes and is introduced is part of the established, shared continuity of the in-game universe. That means that if someone has a Green Lantern where the backstory involved, say, Abin Sur's ship crash-landing into the Earth at such a speed and force that it completely flattened Metropolis twenty years ago, your fifteen-year-old character cannot be from Metropolis (But don't just go around filling your backstory with nuked major cities from the comics, that's just being a dick to everyone else). Or, for a less-destructive example, if someone makes a version of the Flash that's Bruce Wayne, then The Flash operates in Gotham City, and your character from Keystone City can't have The Flash in their backstory, or say that they stumbled onto the event that gave Barry Allen his powers and now you're Livewire, because Barry Allen doesn't have an accident that makes him The Flash, that's Bruce Wayne.

I know it might be a little convoluted or that you might say I'm placing too much onus on the player by expecting them to know about every comic ever, but that's why I'm helpfully adding some links to Wikipedia.

Like this one!

And the nice thing about The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and many others, is that because they don't get nearly as much Elseworlds love as Superman or especially Batman, you have a lot more wiggle room to work with, because I haven't taken nearly as much off the table.

And while I don't want to use [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Imagine... Just Imagine]] or Tangent continuities because I think they muddle the waters too much, if you can make a compelling case for them or if enough players want to at least have the option to explore it, I'll change my mind.

Edited by SonOfSharknado on Nov 29th 2018 at 12:43:09 PM

Hm, definitely interested. Let me know when sign-ups are open and I'll start working on yet another alternate Killer Frost. I admit I don't follow the comics religiously but I do think the links should be helpful.

She'll still be Caitlin Snow, but there's going to be quite a few differences from pretty much any incarnation of her I've seen.

Edited by Spottedleaf on Nov 30th 2018 at 2:44:51 PM

I'm interested. This looks ambitious and fun!

I'm intrigued

Bumping this for anyone it may interest.

(bumps again and ponders whether I could play a Killer Frost with fibromyalgia.)