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Story Game Prep
Hello all! From June 12th to Jun 19th, there will be a pseudo-explora game that is all about your characters' psyche.
This is an INFO-GATHERING post, so you can tell me things so I can put them in the game! Below I'll have some examples of what I'm looking for. The game is not inherently trauma but basically whatever people put down I'll integrate into the setting.
Sign-up post is HERE -- here's some details!
=> You can sign up for TWO sessions max but one team and one mixed.
=> Each mixed session can have up to FIVE people in it, and needs a minimum of TWO to happen.
=> Team sessions have NO limit to number of people, but there can only be ONE session per team. (For example, Theseus could sign up for Session A with some friends and then Session O with the rest of his team. Or he could sign up for just A or O.)
=> I have a fairly open schedule so I can probably make some weird times work for your teams if needed.
=> The session times listed on the sign-up sheet are mostly for organization but if you (and your group) needs a different time I can probably make it work! Ping or DM me on discord!
INFO-GATHERING
This can be in their Limelight AU OR their true canon, it is what YOU as the player want to interact with.
You DO NOT have to fill it out to play.
You DO NOT have to fill out every section/fill out every section fully!
Character please list their TRUE NAME and their nom de plume
Family
A Place of Significance this should be a location that someone can experience. A subway car. A meadow with a fairy circle made out of death angel mushrooms. A classroom. Etc. Include as much detail as needed for it to be recognizable to the characters. For example, "A normal classroom" is probably not enough detail. But even something like "A 6th grade geography classroom with a row of jackets hanging on the wall. Each jacket is high quality, except one that has several patches sewn into it. There's rows of desks, a teacher's desk at the front and a large hanging map." is adequate.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the location.
2 Items of Significance these should be small enough to be HELD and with defining features easily recognizable to the characters. Something like "A well-worn coin with the face of a mermaid on one side, and on the other, a hatless man."
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2 People of Significance
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the person.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the person.
3 Items of Significance These can be any size!
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
3.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
Five Emotions You Want Your Character to Experience The more specific the better. Like "Fear of being lonely" is mid but "Fear of an empty house, everyone they know is dead except their parents who once supported them now turning their back on them because they're the Anti-Messiah." is better.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5 Anything Elses This is basically anything else you wanna include. A pet. Another location. A memory. Another item. A feeling, a dream, a specific scenario. A sin, a regret, an event. Once again, detail/significance/etc is useful!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
This is an INFO-GATHERING post, so you can tell me things so I can put them in the game! Below I'll have some examples of what I'm looking for. The game is not inherently trauma but basically whatever people put down I'll integrate into the setting.
Sign-up post is HERE -- here's some details!
=> You can sign up for TWO sessions max but one team and one mixed.
=> Each mixed session can have up to FIVE people in it, and needs a minimum of TWO to happen.
=> Team sessions have NO limit to number of people, but there can only be ONE session per team. (For example, Theseus could sign up for Session A with some friends and then Session O with the rest of his team. Or he could sign up for just A or O.)
=> I have a fairly open schedule so I can probably make some weird times work for your teams if needed.
=> The session times listed on the sign-up sheet are mostly for organization but if you (and your group) needs a different time I can probably make it work! Ping or DM me on discord!
INFO-GATHERING
This can be in their Limelight AU OR their true canon, it is what YOU as the player want to interact with.
You DO NOT have to fill it out to play.
You DO NOT have to fill out every section/fill out every section fully!
Character please list their TRUE NAME and their nom de plume
Family
A Place of Significance this should be a location that someone can experience. A subway car. A meadow with a fairy circle made out of death angel mushrooms. A classroom. Etc. Include as much detail as needed for it to be recognizable to the characters. For example, "A normal classroom" is probably not enough detail. But even something like "A 6th grade geography classroom with a row of jackets hanging on the wall. Each jacket is high quality, except one that has several patches sewn into it. There's rows of desks, a teacher's desk at the front and a large hanging map." is adequate.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the location.
2 Items of Significance these should be small enough to be HELD and with defining features easily recognizable to the characters. Something like "A well-worn coin with the face of a mermaid on one side, and on the other, a hatless man."
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2 People of Significance
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the person.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the person.
3 Items of Significance These can be any size!
1.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
2.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
3.
Meaning => Please also describe the significance of the item.
Five Emotions You Want Your Character to Experience The more specific the better. Like "Fear of being lonely" is mid but "Fear of an empty house, everyone they know is dead except their parents who once supported them now turning their back on them because they're the Anti-Messiah." is better.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5 Anything Elses This is basically anything else you wanna include. A pet. Another location. A memory. Another item. A feeling, a dream, a specific scenario. A sin, a regret, an event. Once again, detail/significance/etc is useful!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Heron 1/2 I'm sorry I'll reply to myself
Family Unholy Disorder
A Place of Significance A large, natural cave that has had several platforms and other structures built into it, with a staircase leading up into the shadows towards what must be an exit, and another exit tunnel leading off lower down, past several vehicles cloaked by dust sheets. Stalactites hang from the high, dark ceiling, and amongst them bats sleep, but the cave itself is well-lit. In the centre is a large, desk-like computer console, with a towering screen and a comfortable black leather seat at the controls – as comfortable as any computer chair can be, at least. The rest of the cave’s facilities span out from here like satellites, each with its own section, spaces carved out cleanly among the stalagmites that linger in the less lived-in parts. Near the computer is a space dedicated to training, with mats on the floor and a punching bag that can be pushed out of the way, suggesting that there is more training equipment lying ready in storage. There’s what is clearly a medical room of some kind, an infirmary in miniature, a couple of cots lying empty of patients and surrounded by medical devices, trolleys and cabinets containing medicine.
The vehicle bay is on a lower level platform, visible from the computer and down a short set of steps. If you remove the dust coverings, there is a sleek black car, several motorcycles in various colours including, of course, black, but also red, and blue; an advanced stealth jet lurks under one particularly large dust cloth, and under another there is a stylish submarine, on the part of the platform that hangs above a subterranean pool of water that stretches out into the darkness. Near the vehicles are workbenches and tools, not just for working on the vehicles themselves, but weapons, grappling guns, and other, more mysterious, high-tech gadgets. Notably, no matter what locker or equipment box is searched, there are no guns of the traditional, mundane kind.
There seem to be other areas that go deeper into the cave, tunnels branching off, but these are blocked by securely locked doors. Some have labels, such as “Archives” and “Batsubway”, while others are left blank and mostly unremarkable.
And then there’s the trophies dotted around the space, mounted on plinths. A giant playing card. A giant coin – a penny, to be precise. A realistic robot dinosaur. Other such monuments, smaller in scale. Lining one of the rear walls of the cave are a variety of body armour suspended in glass display cases, colourful enough to be costumes, and all in good enough condition they could be taken out and worn. Well, except for one damaged one.
Welcome to the fricking Batcave.
Meaning => The Batcave represents a sense of safety and security, something adjacent to home and belonging, but also duty. It is somewhere slightly paradoxical, a place that allows you to show yourself, to allow vulnerability because the cave itself gives you protection, yet there is violence here, controlled and directed, used to make you stronger. It is home to long nights working on solving crime, days spent training your body and mind. It is welcoming, a sanctuary, yet it is haunted by grief that creeps in at the corner of your vision, that swallows up your back. It is home to inspiration, and echoes of praise on a job well done mix with lingering shouts of arguments long past. It is where masks and armour are put on, and yet also where they are taken off. It is a place of beginnings and endings. It is very cool.
2 Items of Significance
1. A grappling gun. Painted a sleek matte black and built to be compact and light-weight, it fits easily in the hand and is comfortable to hold. It looks like it could be military grade, or perhaps even more advanced. The grappling hook sits inside the firing mechanism, and when fired it will unfold into a clawed shape good for providing a strong anchoring point, trailed by a high-quality wire rope that can hold the weight of several people.
Meaning => It is freedom. Of movement, of purpose. It is the true wings that let Robin take flight over the city, that let him swing between buildings and over rooftops, cutting through the air up high and guiding his descent to the streets when he is needed. It is safety and escape, a vigilante’s best friend.
2. A metal cylinder with raised edges at either end, roughly the length of a hand. Upon closer inspection, a button can be pressed that causes further lengths of smooth metal to extend from each end, revealing it to be a telescoping bo staff. It has a balanced weight, and is sized to be wielded by someone a little under six feet tall. Another button on the grip will cause a spring-loaded blade to extend from one end.
Meaning => It is his first real weapon, the first he chose. It is a weapon that provides safety, that protects without killing, that was chosen to define his path for himself, to turn away from the lethality that was offered to him. It is a difference from the others who bore the mantle, a defining part of his identity, and something he worked hard to master. And with it in his hands, he is a master of the art.
2 People of Significance
1. Batman. The Dark Knight. Tall and imposing, even when he takes the cowl off and becomes Bruce Wayne – or the someone that’s in-between Batman and Bruce. In armour, kevlar, and cape, with the bat-eared cowl in place, it is incredibly hard to read his expression. He is gruff and terse, voice pitched to a low growl, his body language all hard lines and powerful stances intended to intimidate and frighten. And yet, he is also capable of warmth, of allowing those walls to come down a fraction, to open the dark abyss of his cape into a welcome, to offer safety in the darkness, to be a wall between those he protects and the dangers of the world. He has an extremely dry sense of humour, a deep sadness, and a hidden tired dad energy.
Meaning => It’s fricking Batman. He is a hero, the hero of Gotham. He is a mentor, a protector, a stern teacher, a source of hard-won praise and, more often, deserved correction and guidance. He is a grief-stricken father lost in a storm of his own violence, who needs pulling back from the edge of the worst mistakes, who needs pushing to care for himself, pushing back to the light and away from his own darkness. He is a source of great frustration, with inflexible rules and harsh expectations. He is a source of great comfort, reassuring and steady, a pillar to lean on and Robin’s most reliable partner in the field, a protective presence lurking in the shadows to haunt the villains while Robin’s light gives hope to the innocent. He is a (Tim’s) father.
2. Nightwing, the first Robin, Dick Grayson. With dark hair and sparkling blue eyes hidden behind a domino mask, he is another figure in body armour, this time without the cape and cowl. His suit is less heavily armoured than Batman, form-fitting and allowing for greater flexibility, all black except the striking v-like swoosh of blue across his chest that trails down the arms in stripes, all the way to the fingers of his gauntlets. He holds himself more loosely than Batman, moves easily and with incredible grace, a natural acrobat. He is brighter, too, smiling widely and effortlessly, open and welcoming, but if he perceives a threat that smile becomes razor sharp, his movements like a big cat stalking its prey, softly sheathed lethality walking on silent feet. He carries escrima sticks that he can charge with crackling electricity, to stun and discourage opponents. His hugs are very warm.
Meaning => Nightwing is the one who started the Robin legacy, who first brought his light to Batman’s side. They both sought justice for the wronged, and they approached it differently, yet in unison, working together. He is also the one who started Tim’s journey towards being Robin, the one who gave him a hug he would remember for years when he was young, the one whose greatest tragedy Tim was a shocked witness to, lost among the crowd. It is his promise to show Tim a unique move that sparked recognition in him later, when he was child watching the news to see Batman and Robin in action, and realised he knew him. He knew them, who they were, and he held that knowledge close and secret for years, till it led him to their door. Nightwing is another mentor, a teacher, and more than that, someone trustworthy. A confidant, sometimes an ally in defying Batman’s rules. An inspiration, who pushes Robin to be better, who is there to catch him when he falls, even after they have fought. The foundation upon which hero worship is built.
A first crush.An older brother. His older brother.3 Items of Significance
1. The Robin Memorial. Standing isolated and detached, near the dinosaur, is one of the glass cases display cases – suspended inside, a tattered and torn uniform sized for a teenager, the red, green, and yellow stitched back together but still showing holes burned in the cape and blood staining the colourful fabric in darker patches. The plaque on this case simply reads “In Memory of Jason Todd... A Good Soldier.”
Meaning => This is the memorial to the Robin who died. The one who came after Dick, before Tim. The one who was bright and fierce and just a normal boy, just a normal boy like Tim, not an acrobat like Dick, but fought like thunder and flew through the night air laughing like it was magic. The one who was son to Bruce, who made Batman laugh, who was beaten and choked to death on the smoke in his lungs and died bleeding in Batman-Bruce’s arms. This is his memorial, and reminder to Bruce, to all of them, of what they risk every night, of what a single mistake can cost them. It is a memorial to grief, a ghost of a boy caught in stasis, the torn and bloodied shadow that hangs over them, haunting their steps, chilling the laughter from their bones. It is a silent friend that Tim turns to, sits in front of in silent meditation, looking at the last part of a Robin who can never look back at him, asking advice when he is stuck and wants the words of someone who will understand what he is going through as Robin more than Batman ever could, letting his mind conjure ghostly images, comforting hallucinations of the boy just like him who give voice to the advice he needs but cannot form into words himself. It is a memorial to Batman’s grief, a monument to Robin as his partner, his soldier, the words colder than the meaning he felt in his heart, twisted into something sharp and clinical by the stumbling blocks he has built as walls around his emotions, meant to protect himself yet hurting others.
2. A pair of glasses with silver frames and oval lenses. When you put them on, you realise that they are fake – the lenses have no prescription. They could be useful as a prop in a stage play, or as part of a disguise, since they won’t interfere with normal vision.
Meaning => These are a way to hide himself from being perceived and watched after he was used as the face of a distressed city suffering after a disaster. He does not mind that his very public rescue helped bring awareness and aid, but after the fact, he wants to hide away and stop being so recognisable. This is a mask that isn’t a mask.
3. A black t-shirt with a red emblem on the front, a stylised design with what looks like the letter S inside the outline of a shield. The fabric is soft with wear, but the colours are still vibrant, and a faint scent like sunlight and ozone clings to it.
Meaning => This is Superboy’s shirt. His best friend, a superhero teen who he has been through war with, who he has gotten to know over years, who he has teased for making this very t-shirt his costume, worn with a pair of jeans. His friend who died wearing a shirt like this, whose corpse was slowly bleeding and turning cold as he ran to him on the battlefield, whose scent is slowly fading from the fabric every time he holds it close to his face and lets himself breathe.
Five Emotions You Want Your Character to Experience
1. The shy pride that warms his chest after receiving praise on a job done well from a stern mentor of few words. Praise for something he has achieved after spending long months training, working to improve himself, to do better, to not make any mistakes, to be helpful – this is the pay off. The result of his own efforts, that make it all worth it.
2. A sense of belonging, of having finally found a place where he is not only accepted, but welcome, even loved. Of having earned his place, carved it to his shape, becoming comfortable and at home and wanted after years of being moved from house to house, from boarding school to boarding school, left with warm words and postcards and no idea where his parents were from week to week. He knows where he can run to in the Cave, where he can find peace in the Manor above, where to sit and watch dinner being made in the kitchen and get little tasters slipped to him with a silent, twinkling smile. He knows where Batman will be when he needs him, where Bruce is, where his father is, always. Always.
3. The desolation of having everything he thought he could rely on ripped away in pieces, his parents dying, his closest friends dying, his new father, Batman, dying, his brother taking Robin away and giving it to someone who tried to kill him, his home becoming unsafe. Losing what had given him purpose and freedom and having no-one left to turn to, no-one who would put him first, no-one to rely on but himself, when his chest is black hole raw with grief that will never close.
4. The sickening tantalisation of being offered support by someone dangerous, someone who professes to want him for his skills, who recognises and praises his achievements, his intellect, his potential, but he knows, he knows they only want to use him for their own goals. He can see the thorns in their hand as it reaches out to him, and he knows if he takes it they will dig into him, draw blood, make him bleed out his morals and his heart, leave him bloody-handed and entangled with them. He can smell the poison in the offered chalice before ever raising it to his lips to taste it, and yet. And yet. They are the only ones left who accept him as he is, who want him as he is, who have not yet hurt him, who promise not to abandon him. He cannot trust them, and yet. And yet...
5. The ineffable feeling of being just so fucking in love with Robin. The concept, the meaning, the legacy, the people who embody it and inhabit it and shape it, the potential of it, the weight of it. Seeing Robin in motion in the night and having his breath stolen, feeling the arc of the grapple swing like a shot through the heart, leaving him bright-eyed and bleeding out every good part of himself as he opens his hands and reaches for that laughing, bright shadow. Putting on the suit and feeling the cape settle over his shoulders like a hug from a ghost, like a promise, lifting his chin and stepping forward in the path laid before him, making his face wear Robin’s smile like a weapon to cut his own way forward. Robin is the light that heralds the dawn after the long dark of night, Robin is hope for the desperate. Robin is wonder and inspiration and riding trains blindfolded at night, it is caring wrapped in violence, a mother’s love and a son’s justice, and he loves it. He loves them.
Heron 2/2
1. A cavern with roughly-hewn stone walls, the rock similar to sandstone. There is a chill in the air that suggests it is deep underground. In the centre of the cave is a pool set into the floor, the waters a bright, churning green, almost acidic. Steam rises slowly from the surface of the waters, and on one side there are steps carved into the stone that lead down into the pool until they become invisible in its depths. The chamber has the feeling of a ritual, with carved pillars and torches burning on the walls, and the scent of incense hanging heady in the air, covering the coppery tang of old blood.
Meaning => This is the Lazarus Pit, the waters that promise life eternal. If you step in while injured, it will heal you, and it can raise the freshly dead, but entering uninjured will kill you. It embodies life at its purest, intense and chaotic, and its healing burns like a flame through the spirit and mind of those who use it. For the first few moments afterwards, they are wild, ferocious, vicious and violent – lashing out and killing any who get too close. Some lose themselves completely to the madness of life unfettered flowing through their veins; others are fine. It is a place of dangerous hope, of false promises, of slow decay and ancient evils clinging to life beyond their years. It is great gain at too great a cost.
2. The ghost, or hallucination, of a teenage boy. Young El. He stands silent, staring, accusing, his clothes soaked through with water that drips and pools on the floor. He stands unmoving in a dark corner, and then he is gone.
Meaning => A gangster that he was chasing down as Robin, to arrest. A gangster who was shooting at him, would have been happy to kill him, to kill Robin, to avoid arrest. A teenage boy who was trapped in a flooded wreck of a house as it collapsed on him and Robin. A teenage boy who drowned because Robin could not save him. Robin tried to move the beam pinning him away and it crushed the air from his lungs and killed him. Robin tried to save him and killed him instead. He killed him, without meaning to, while doing his best to save him. It was not enough. He will not let it stop him, crush him, but he will never forget it, either.
3. A dream.
4. An old camera, single lens reflex, with a long-distance attachment and a worn strap woven from durable yet soft threads. The camera shows signs of wear and tear, small scratches in the paint exposing silvery metal, yet it is clearly being maintained with care.
Meaning => This is the camera that he used when he took pictures of Batman and Robin, carrying it with him when he went out following his heroes around the city. Calling it stalking would be… a little harsh, but not entirely inaccurate. Once he knew who they were, he couldn’t help wanting to see – to watch – to keep his memories of them in a form he could hold. The pictures are meant to be just for him, meant to be hidden away in boxes and folders, carefully tucked into the album next to newspaper clippings, but, well. Once Jason dies and his camera starts capturing the way Batman lashes out in his grief, the wet red of blood almost glistening as he prints from the negative… the photos and the camera become a path, a tool, a blaring alarm reminding him of why he needs to do what he must to help Batman.
5. A sleek black car with a stylised appearance. Once inside, the seats are extremely comfortable, and the controls seem to have… a lot of extra buttons. There is the concerning capacity for the back seat to be reclined and a medical kit to be lowered from a ceiling compartment, including a defibrillator. And is that a button for missile launchers?!
Meaning => It’s the fricking Batmobile. It will (probably) not start and the missiles are not loaded, but it’s very fun to sit in. It provides a sense of safety and privacy from the outside world, a quiet sort of comfort, home to hard conversations and gentle joking. It will carry him through the night and always bring him home.