It's About Nothing! A Slice of Life Crossover RP (Interest Check/Sign-ups)

Empire Bay, 199X

Welcome to the city of Empire Bay, a massive metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States.

There's over forty million stories in the greater metropolitan area of Empire Bay, and these are but a few of them....

Alright, this is a decentralized crossover RP set in the fictional city of Empire Bay (loosely based on New York City) in The '90s and it's heavily inspired by TV shows such as Seinfeld

You can be any character from any anime, video game, cartoon, book, TV show, movie, or whatever else you have in mind. Even OC's are allowed.

Anyone else here interested? I think there could be potential in a Slice of Life RP that then progresses into a plot with a central story arc.

What's the setting like? Can we be a character from any era, any universe, any species, with any sort of abilities (magic, technology, superpowers, psionics, etc.)?

Yes, you can be any character from any universe and even non-human species are allowed within reason. It can be an AU version of the character from Empire Bay or you can arrive here through time travel, a magical spell, or some other strange warp.

While Seinfeld is my main inspiration for this RP, other inspirations do include Ugly Americans and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Now as for powers, I will allow powered characters within reason. Nothing higher than a 3 on the Super Weight scale and 2 or lower is preferred.

The setting is basically the United States in the 1990's, primarily focused on the fictional city of Empire Bay, although the RP can easily have scenarios in the surrounding suburbs and outlying countryside beyond the city.

Empire Bay was originally from the 2010 video game Mafia II, but since that game takes place in the 1940's and 1950's, we never see what the city is like the 1990's. Mafia III takes place in the late 1960's, but is set in a different city altogether (New Bordeaux, a pastiche of New Orleans)

However, we do know that Empire Bay is primarily based on New York City and the outlying suburbs in New Jersey and Long Island, with a few minor elements from San Francisco as well.

Edited by NinjaGoth on Sep 14th 2019 at 3:00:26 PM

I do have a bunch of characters, but the one I want to play the most is kind of hard to under these settings. I have an AU version of Shao Kahn, who is decently strong(I.E. more Hulk Hogan), and the only real power he has is due to being the God of Announcers, so mainly can sense a fight happening and commentate it directly. Since despite this, he might feel a bit OP, let me think of other options.

I do want to flesh out Heiress Corz more, a Lawful Good Succubus Paladin(who doesn't often feel the need to fight), and I haven't played her too much. She's very weak physically so no OP stuff is going to happen. She can speak any non-hidden languages, is very chaste, and is rather polite befitting her class.

A lot of my other characters often depend upon another partner of mine(and that might be bad to start off with) or are based around battling. Like my version of Ganondorf is fine accept for his alternate powers(which do not relate to Ganon, as he discarded that), but those powers may feel too OP anyway(Psycho Ranger stuff. They tend to be overly fast given the right situation..., and it's meant to be that the Psychos are supposed to battle Gods anyway). About the only other thing is Ganondorf definitely has Super-Strength, and limited powers, but he doesn't work too well without noting other characters he was with, which fit his backstory, etc.

The last ones I can think of is various Quest 64 monsters, some being a personification, some not. Bumba Shoot Knight is perhaps the only one that somewhat works, being mostly a oni-like girl with a sun-shaped head. I'd have to refind the details, though, so who knows if she'd work.

That's my best options at the moment.

Not gonna lie, I like the AU version of Shao Kahn and I don't consider him to be too OP.

Just because he has the ability to know whenever a fight is about to break out and provide commentary on it, it doesn't always mean he has the ability to win the fight or intervene on someone's behalf...

Edited by NinjaGoth on Sep 14th 2019 at 9:05:51 AM

I also have him as a more calm person(though frankly, don't mess with his family or he will mess you up).

I know I listed his abilities at one point. I mean, he can take a hit, but it's not like stuff like Missiles will be easy to shrug off. He's more of a physical tank... against physical stuff.

Other than that, my goal with him is to have him as more of a card-carrying villain that doesn't actually do villainous stuff. He also doesn't do heroic stuff and doesn't like being called a hero. I don't know if reusing his basic idea and abilities from a previous RP is okay. He's had character development since then. Among things is that he has no issue with befriending something like a Pikachu(that was in Our Avatars Are In A Room Together), and I intend to remove his more silly thing, where smiling/crying breaks a window automatically(was a joke thing). His list of powers do officially include basic super strength, eye beams, a flash knee and flash uppercut, able to survive in higher temperatures(but doesn't do well in the cold), and his official ability, Ridicule.

And yeah, his announcer god thing only really would be relevant in that, yes, he's a deity. Though I don't know what the rules would be for it here. In some settings that means they can't permadie and would be revived the next day(D&D), in others they're simply stronger by default against some stuff, but are hardly unbeatable(Saint Seiya is a good example of this), while some just means they won't die of old age. I feel like maybe a combination of the 2nd and 3rd is okay, but the fist sounds borked overall. Though I guess it depends if you want this a setting where death isn't permanent anyway. I mean, it is slice of life. Either way, it's whatever you feel is fair.

(I'd talk about other fun moments he's had, but those are most relevant to keeping him balanced).

His main icon. I even have a School Board variant of him(which is the only time he legitimately isn't evil, but still rules heavy).

Edited by Irene on Sep 14th 2019 at 9:53:43 AM

Interested; would love to play as- you guessed it- Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost.

Works for me

Cool

Edited by NinjaGoth on Sep 15th 2019 at 9:16:38 AM

Alright. Just let us know when you set up a character sheet(if you do one) so we can post(and other stuff, like the Discussion and main RP, heh) any details.

I definitely will!

I might try and jump in, just to see what the game is like... I'm considering joining as a character from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure or Danganronpa.

Awesome

I haven't started just yet due to some things keeping me busy at the moment, but I should start the RP up in the next few days at the very least, hopefully sooner.

• Name: Yammark Bermudez◊
• Code Name: Commander Yammark
• Sex: Female
• Race: Dragonfly Reploid
• Age: 18
• Profession: Biologist/Drone Creator
• Skills: Yammark is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the creatures residing in the forests of South America. This comes in handy in order to preserve them for future generations.
• Abilities:
  • Yamma Option: Yammark can create and manipulate drones to do her bidding. She even order them into various formations.
  • Gyro Attack: Yammark can send out helicopter blades from her buster and change their direction to confuse her opponents.
  • Yammark can fly using her wings on her back. These wings are razor-sharp and can be used to cut through flesh.
  • Her armor is extremely lightweight, so she can outspeed the average person. However, she'll go down much easier because she's extremely fragile. As a result, lasers can pierce her armor pretty well. Sudden changes in gravity can also do a number on her body.
  • As a Reploid, Yammark is more durable and stronger than your typical human. Although that is null and void when the universe is filled with beings with various power weights. And even then, those low on the power weight scale, have learned to be more tactical with what they have.
• Equipment: Yammark carries the tools needed to preserve and help organic animals, preferably from the rainforest region of South America.
• Quick Traits: Yammark is obsessed with dragonflies and believes they are superior compared to the other insects. She has a tendency of stumbling over her words and will switch the syllables of her words pretty often. She doesn't trust scientists, other than her “fathers”, because of that incident where scientists fought each other over plagiarism at a convention.

Here's my sign-up. I hope it's good enough.

Accepted

If that's the sign-up sheet style we'll use, could you update the first post with the template? :)

Sure, I can do that and I will try to post it later tonight.

Must be busy on your end, heh. That said, I do have an ideal template or could use the one the person used above if that's okay with you. :)

Yeah, things have been rather busy for me on my end. You can use your template if you want.

I'm going to stick with the remaster of the original character, which focuses a lot on his movie portrayal, including family. And some other fanon stuff that ties some loose ends overall. Also, warning that there are spoilers overall. And unmarked. ...If I knew how to do folders, I'd do that too. Warning also it's a long thing. I also did not keep all his abilities since his backstory and personality are way more important. I also realized there's no backstory part of the template, but I rolled with it.

• Name: Shao Kahn◊
• Code Name/Titles: God of Announcers, Emperor of Outworld, The Konqueror
• Sex/Gender: Male/Male
• Race: God(humanoid, may be related to a Tarkatan if his face being toothy like one means anything. Virtually unknown entirely if he's of a particular set of Gods, as the secondary timeline is not taken into account for this)
• Age: With this in mind, as each tournament is 1000 years per, due to 10 tournaments per full one, meaning 1 per generation, a guessimate of 10,000 years.
• Profession: Announcer God, Emperor of Outworld
• Skills: He doesn't have any useful non-combat skills other than immense strength. This means he can easily provide the muscle for menial tasks. As he's mellowed out over 10,000 years, and is willing to legitimately make friends now, asking him for help(if he doesn't offer it first due to his ego) is completely reasonable. These aren't articulate skills and you can't expect him to make actual good food. He'd most likely accidentally crush the pan he's using instead. He also uses the fighting style Tai Tzu.
• Abilities: It's worth noting that he's a Master of Black Magic, Soul Magic, and what is called "Shadow Energy" at times. The last one is something that Johnny Cage can also do, something worth noting.
  • Ridicule: A unique ability where he... stands there and uses stock phrases he created himself or more or less takes a jab at the opponent. Downplayed for the purpose here to be less jerkish and more funny anyway. Due to being the announcer, however, he can still use these appropriately during fights, even to the point of declaring himself the winner in the rare cases it comes up. When he loses, there is no announcement unless he's able to speak.(I will likely make a list of official phrases, but it's probably unneeded).
  • Charging Spikes: He flashes forward with his Shadow Energy to hit with his shoulder(and thus the spikes on his shoulder). He can follow it up with other moves if applicable.
  • Explosive Ball: He can fire off a blast of Green Energy(which may or may not be Shadow Energy) from his eye. It has a forceful impact that would send those blocking staggering back, not unlike his general power would allow.
  • Rising Knee: An aerial-like version of Charging Spikes, complete with Shadow Energy. It is an anti-air attack.
  • Light Spear: He crouches onto one knee and throw a spear of Light Energy. Far less used than his others.
  • Animality: His Hydra Form is one he can take, though he rarely does. He finds no practice use in it, and about the only factor it has is some form of immortality due to regenerating heads, which is what makes him appreciate what he can become. It has no practice use beyond breathing fire otherwise, or acting as a multi-bridge if needed.
• Equipment: His natural armor he always has on him, his Wrath Hammer, his Emperor's Staff(which he does not really use in combat but for more practical uses. Menial tasks still need to be done).
  • The Wrath Hammer is still a divine weapon, though it is rarely given divine energy other than the fact it exists. He sees no need to actually emperor it on average. It does however come with Shadow Energy when he channels his own via his attacks. It can also channel one's own energy in the rare case somebody else is allowed to use it. As he summons it himself, this won't happen often.
  • The Emperor's Staff is not a divine weapon, but it is however good at channeling magic from the user of it. He does not summon this to begin with but carries it on his person if it is not in his living quarters.
  • His Armor has no inherently divine properties. Nor is it used for channeling magic. It's just his clothing. He does generally change to go appropriate areas with the appropriate clothing. Rules are important to him, after all.
• Quick Traits: Shao Kahn has a rather awesome ego, but does not like dwelling on his past mistakes. Ironically, him losing the tournament is not what he considers a mistake. This allowed him not only to eventually have a biological daughter(Mileena), but led to him mellowing out and becoming a better person in life. All the dangers he's faced has helped him to become a better man in the long run.
  • At this time, he does not have Princess Kitana running Edenia due to her still being young. As Liu Kang is a Zombie, he also doesn't want her dating him due to his loss of self, not actually cause of his race(he more or less is not a fan of racism or bigotry. He finds them meaningless distinctions. Mortals, Gods, they all have worth to begin with). The current rulers of Edenia are King Goro(which is ironic, since his original name is Prince due to his heritage. Shokans can be strange. Goro is also apparently not his real last name, but a decent one nonetheless. His last name has never been spoken, and thus, kind of irrelevant) and his husband, King Rain(unlike Goro, Rain is his real first name).
  • He appreciates his family, a far cry from his horrible deeds in the past. It is true he killed King Jerrod too, and took Sindel as his wife. A huge change from the other timelines is she was never killed, and he never brainwashed her. While they used to fight, he appreciates who she is and would throw down his life for his family. And anyone who messes with them will face the wrath of Shao Kahn.
  • Mileene is his blood daughter, biologically created back when he was on the alignment of evil(which he treats as more of a "title" than a legitimate thing. He technically still aligns there, but does not perform intentionally evil acts. At most his brutal methods could be seen that way. He doesn't take souls anymore either, and actively considers it an inappropriate thing to do these days. Shang Tsung, his own father Shinnok, and Quan Chi are someone who he does not like due to these factors. He however does try to respect other professions as he has no real right to call someone out on their methods after what he's pulled). For Mileena, she uses his biological DNA, Kitana's DNA, and some Tarkatan DNA to create the young woman. Her age is actually a strange phenomenon. She was born like an adult, and still acts like one. He was always wary of her dating since despite this, she's not all that mature and has a rather predatory mindset to the point he even is distraught about it. She uses her looks to psyche people out for... face snack. As she is still part tarkatan. His hope is she'll mature and actually go through normal teenage and child things. Due to him not being consistently in Outworld these days, it's fairly hard for him to help oversee her as a proper father. This does eat at him a bit, but he has not told anyone. Yet.
  • Princess Kitana naturally has not been a huge fan of him, as he did kill her real father. He originally raised her when she was extremely young, so she had no idea of this, starting off as a very strong assassin. In the end, he still appreciates what she did for him and cannot help but yearn to earn her trust again. He still vastly cares about her actions and worries for her, as noted above with the Zombie Liu Kang thing.
  • Raiden, the God of Thunder and overseeing God of Earthrealm(which apparently has retired of the latter title and gave to the God of Winds, Fuujin), is his brother. They never saw eye to eye and he basically avoids him to this day. He holds a grudge to him not for the tournaments where they were on opposite sides, but for reviving Liu Kang as a Zombie. As Princess Kitana was legitimately in love with Liu Kang, this creates a turmoil in their(the two Gods) relationship. In addition, finding this out is what led him on a path of being discouraged by soul magic. While he didn't see much issue in hurting those outside of his family at that point just yet, the fact it started to affect those he cares about weighs on his mind.
  • Shinnok is the final member of his family. Unlike Shao Kahn, who at least cares about Mileena even back when he was more evil, Shinnok does not care one bit about his sons and sees them as a mean to an end. He's been abusive towards both, pitting them against each other overall. Shao Kahn has been somewhat pleased that others have defeated him in the past, as he even found him to be fairly disgusting. While Kahn isn't the best to talk about family matters, especially after killing King Jerrod, he still grew to love his family.
  • There's many other relationships among non-family he's had in the past.
    • Shang Tsung used to be a strong subordinate of his that also dabbled in soul magic. He eventually does discard him at one point after he loses and is killed by Liu Kang. He does revive him at one point to help with the new tournaments, as he is still very useful and strong. In the end he no longer allies with him due to his new view on soul magic.
    • Quan Chi is a bit more unique, besides a soul magic user. He actually tried to fake out Kahn's father with a fake amulet, but also teamed up with Shang Tsung to kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang. Kahn survived due to having a fake in his place. If he had the powers to rewind time, he'd make sure Liu Kang would've had a doppelganger too so his daughter could be happy, the most he can wish for since he has no beliefs she will ever reconcile with him.
    • Liu Kang originally defeated him, which is the first time where he became Mortal in order to fight under official Tournament Rules. While someone like him might hold a grudge normally, he actually has a ton of respect for him as he overcome the hardships and found the strength and courage to defeat someone as strong as him. This isn't something he simply realized, though. He finally realized this after Liu Kang's untimely death.
    • Kung Lao is not someone he much cared about, but he did kill him at one point to end the tourney. Because the Elder Gods(including Shinnok) were pretty much jerks towards mortals, they didn't see fit to do... anything. He questions just how much they really care about the worlds they're in charge of and even sees their actions as pretty poor. As he's broken rules in the past overall, or went too far, the fact they take an extreme amount of pressure to act makes him feel like they don't really deserve the position. He is however smart enough to not mess with them as he's basically an underling power-wise.
    • Goro found Shao Kahn, who was out at the time during the attempted assassination his doppelganger faced. They both worked together to restore Outworld, and take down the two evil sorcerers. This is part of why Goro now rules Edenia as well. He truly appreciates the help the Shokan gave to him.
    • Motaro is a centaur who is the enemy of the Shokan and someone from a race of those who actively fight to cause trouble in Outworld. While he doesn't declare as public enemy number one or anything like that, they are far from peaceful and the only race in Outworld that doesn't at least attempt to get along, even in some kind of unique violence macho style.
    • Baraka is the most notable members of the Tarkatans, and may become a family member at some point if Mileeena decides to marry him. Shao Kahn appreciates his brutal honesty and hard work he's helped the emperor with in the past.
    • Reiko more or less looks like a younger Kahn, and used to be one of his subordinates. They no longer really work together, but the "ninja" likes to pretend he's Kahn by putting on his helmet and sitting on the throne. Shao mostly laughs it off and if it would happen while the Konqueror was around, he might take action. It however has helped in the past to keep Outworld from tearing itself apart so he takes it in solace.
    • Rain, naturally, is someone he trusts. He's the only other Edenian he knew besides King Jerrod, Princess Kitana, and Queen Sindel. Rain basically has never caused trouble whatsoever for him, and is someone who Goro fell in love with him. He generally trusts family, though he has barely talked to him and is only bearing this trust out of respect for Goro. If circumstances were to change, he has no clue to respond at this point.
    • Onaga, the Dragon King, is the old Emperor of Outworld. Unlike Shao Kahn, who values rules, Onaga solely let chaos reign without a care for the world. While he did not defeat him in an honorable way(he poisoned him), he's grown since then and finds that kind of stuff kind of pointless. You do not need to cheat to win at this point. Something he learned that is pointless and bites you in the ass.
    • Reptile, who more or less was someone who used to help out... whoever he could. It did not help that nobody treated the Saurians fairly. They were basically a race that everyone attempted to enslave and use for their own personal ends. It is rumored he's under the employ of Onaga after the Dragon King's resurrection, but overall Kahn bears no allegiance or grudge towards the leather-faced creature. He however hopes, even in vain, that the Saurians are more respected now. This is also part of why he opposes Onaga, as he was especially ruthless towards the Saurians, something he found quite a bit despicable in the long run. While Kahn's actions aren't the best, he still found racism to be quite ridiculous. Unlike in the official series, Kahn never actually practiced in slavery whatsoever and at most had underlings because they were legitimately useful as someone he thinks would be a good idea to work with him. As noted before, he did not have Sindel resurrected at any point as his slave and kept her sense of mind, even if that bit him in the ass overall. He desperately cares about free will... even as a tyrant he would rather people bowed to him willingly, but he never outright forced anyone to do anything. Fear tactics to some degree at most, due to his intimidating personality, but Edenia nor Outworld was ever crumbling under his rule for a reason. Besides, he had actual rules to follow, though they used to mostly benefit himself. He has no illusion that he wasn't much better than a slaver back then and regrets those days of his lives.

Yes, that's a lot. He's a long-running character. These are everyone reasonably important in his lives. Mind you, the two non-canon movies partially inspire his character. Cage is dead with this in mind, too. Goro however does eventually get revived by Shang Tsung to add to his army, which is why he's alive despite dying at Cage's hand in the movie. Emphasis on hand, cause ouch, nut shots hurt no matter how muscled you are.

Edited by Irene on Oct 6th 2019 at 9:44:16 AM

• Name: Lucy Melanie Livingston
• Code Name: Inkwell
• Sex: Female
• Race: Human (Esper)
• Age: 18
• Profession: Inkwell
• Skills: Lucy is a skilled painter with a keen sense of aesthetic, and can quickly read the mood of a location purely based on its general look. She's also remarkably attuned to other people's emotions and can make accurate reads on their personalities in a relatively short period of time—which is useful in the superhero business, as it tends to help her identify potentially untrustworthy individuals.
• Abilities:
  • Melanokinesis: The ability to psychically manipulate ink. Lucy has refined this ability since the start of her career, and is able to mold and shape the substance even into a solid state for use as constructs. However, she almost always reverts to the same, semisolid tendril construct due to its versatility, and her precision and enhanced strength she gains from it makes up for her otherwise scrawny and weak form. Lucy's melanokinesis can be interrupted via psychic interference, and its control is notably affected either by her mental or physical health.
  • Melanogenesis: The ability to generate ink. Lucy is able to do this by metabolizing fat in her body and converting it into more of the viscous substance. However, prolonged use can very quickly drain her of energy and even put her at risk of dehydration/starvation due to it being tied directly into her body's fat supplies, and so she has made a habit of only using it in emergencies. Even then, Lucy has had to be smart about her use even in small doses—she cleverly stores supplies of ink in the fabric of her own clothing for quick use without having to resort to putting her body at risk.
• Equipment: Only a rucksack, which contains spare supplies of ink (such as pens, glass jars, and printer cartridges). She also carries some painting equipment when she's not expecting to have to act heroic—even then, the paint she uses can also be manipulated by her in a pinch if necessary.
• Quick Traits: Shy, selfless, silent, and self-destructive. Lucy is of the personal opinion that she isn't even worth bothering to care about, and so instead dedicates her entire self to the wellbeing of other people. She's also tremendously moral and determined to keep others on what she believes to be the right track, but her inherent timidity and fear of coming across abrasive or otherwise obnoxious prevents her from showing conviction in her opinions unless heavily pressed. As a result, she speaks in a borderline whisper as her normal tone and has a habit of either stammering or completely falling mute under stress, but if she feels a line has been crossed she'll display a rare lack of hesitation in expressing exactly what the other had done wrong. Lucy is mentally fragile and possesses far deeper insecurities than she lets on, but she's ultimately focused on other people and their wellbeing more than anything else. Lucy is the type of person who would happily give somebody a hug if it meant they'd feel better for it, but freeze up with uncertainty if she received one for the same reason.

Edited by Enirboreh on Oct 8th 2019 at 10:14:40 AM

Both characters are accepted

There's a lot of superheroes being mentioned, not that it's a bad thing.

But an Average Joe character is allowed, right?

Yes, although I'm going to be reworking the RP into something far more substantial

Are we still using this topic, then?

And if not, will I need to make any changes or use a new character?

You can transfer your characters