Rex
Resident Furry
"The Multiverse was destroyed!"
"The Heroes of Earth were powerless to save it!"
"Now, all that remains... is Battleworld!"
When the Final Incursion destroyed the Multiverse, Victor von Doom was elsewhere. Using the power of many alternate versions of Owen Reece, the Molecule Man, Doom destroyed the powerful entities known as the Beyonders, and took their power for his own. With the power to recreate the Mulitverse as it once was, Doom instead fed his ego, creating the planet Latverion, otherwise known as Battleworld! "The Heroes of Earth were powerless to save it!"
"Now, all that remains... is Battleworld!"
Within Battleworld, Doom reigns as God-Emperor, and the world is split into nominally independent domains, each ruled by a Baron. So long as they follow Doom's laws, the various baronies may operate as they choose. Each of the original domains was once a piece of another universe, stitched together by God-Doom into a roughly spherical planet somewhat larger than earth had been. This planet was populated by any number of alternate versions of the heroes you know and love, the villains you love to hate, and any number of characters in between.
God-Doom rules with an iron-fist, using the Thor Corps - a collection of alternate universe Thors primarily, but also anyone else deemed worthy of Mjolnir - to police Battleworld for him. Doom is also not above playing subversive elements of his baronies against one another, after all, if his lackeys are too concerned with the people beneath them, then they will never attempt to overthrow Doom himself. As such, promotion to the head of a barony often is given to anyone who is capable of overthrowing the previous Baron.
With these laws in place, and Doom's own methods of taking out those barons most threatening to him, Victor feels secure in his power. However, all is not well in Battleworld. The realm is held together by little more than Doom's own force of will, using the last Molecule Man as an anchor for his powers. There will come a time when even that is not enough to hold the unstable world together. Uprisings against Doom have been attempted in the past, but have all failed.
Recently, the Mad Titan Thanos challenged Doom for control of Battleworld. Though Thanos fell, this only set his true plan into motion. Six Heroes have begun to remember life before Doom, the multiverse that was once their home. They will band together, and seek out the Infinity Stones. With their power, and that of an artifact Doom has hidden away within the Library of Worlds, these six heroes will restore the Multiverse to its rightful place, or die in the attempt!
- Without specific permission granted by the Baron of your Domain, traveling to another domain is forbidden, on punishment of banishment to the Shield.
- Openly questioning God-Doom's omnipotent godhood is forbidden, on punishment of death.
- Attacking a member of the Thor Corps is forbidden, on punishment of banishment to the Shield.
- Worship of the Man in the Sun or the Dog-God is forbidden, on punishment of death.
- Traveling to and from Knowhere is forbidden, on punishment of death.
- Barons may also banish citizens to the Shield as punishment for crimes against the barony.
- Barons have very minimal oversight, and can largely get away with anything they please so long as it remains within their own Domain.
- Disputes between the Barons are settled in the high court of Doomstadt in the presence of God-Emperor Doom.
- Defendants have the right to challenge plaintiffs to combat in the arena to the death. Should the plaintiff decline the offer, all charges against the defendant must be dropped.
- Doom's word is final in all legal disputes and trials by combat.
- Following the creation of an Ultron, experimentation and research done into self-aware artificial intelligence is forbidden, on punishment of banishment to the Shield.
- Damaging the Shield, even accidentally, is forbidden, on punishment of banishment to the Shield.
The Map of Battleworld for this RP uses the actual Battleworld for the base map, but redraws many of the provinces. As you can see, most of these provinces are grayed out. This is because I want to give you all the chance to create your own Domains. You can create as many or as few as you want, even zero. But the option is there, should you choose to take it. Just pick a number that isn't already taken, and go wild.
As for the provinces already being used, I'll include a description below:
--: Doomstadt, capital province of Battleworld, and home to God-Emperor Doom.
15: Doomgard, home to the Thor Corps.
38: The Deadlands, outside of God-Emperor Doom's domain. This is the province of the Marvel Zombies.
39: Perfection, outside of God-Emperor Doom's domain. This province is ruled by Lord Ultron.
40: New Xandar, nominally ruled by Baron Adam Warlock. Using his Soul Gem, Adam protects a small area surrounding Magus City, while the rest of the province is overrun by the Annihilation Wave, and ruled by Annihilus.
41: The Shield, under the command of Nick Fury Sr. Once the man known as Ben Grimm - the Thing - the Shield is now a massive wall that protects the rest of Battleworld from the zombies, Ultron sentinels, and Annihilation Wave located to the south of it. Make no mistake of it, banishment to The Shield is a death sentence. You fight day and night until you die, and the Shield can not - will not - stand forever.
42: Knowhere, a prison of strange aliens. According to Doom, Knowhere had once been the head of a great Celestial, that came to claim Battleworld for itself. Doom killed the celestial in single combat, and left its head in orbit as a symbol of his power.
For the most part, I want to allow you all to play however many different characters you like. However, I do have a few limits, mostly relating to story.
- Limited Characters: Limited characters are, quite simply, the six Main Characters. Each RPer, myself included, gets one. No one else may use that character. The Main Characters cannot die or be replaced, they're the chosen heroes! So pick the one you want wisely.
- Subject 89P13, "Rocket Raccoon" (@Rex)
- Banned Characters: As stated, these characters are mostly banned for story purposes. There might just be one of them, or they might not exist. These characters are further separated into a "Hard Ban" and a "Soft Ban." Hard bans are absolute, no negotiating. Soft bans are negotiable.
- Victor von Doom, "Doctor Doom" - God-Emperor Doom is our main antagonist. He is the only Doom in the story, and as such there is a Hard Ban on his use.
- Reed Richards, "Mr. Fantastic" - Doom would never recreate his mortal enemy in his perfect world. Reed does not exist, and thus there is a Hard Ban on his use.
- Susan von Doom, "Invisible Woman" - Empress-consort to Doom, much as she was in the original Battleworld. Susan is one of a kind in Battleworld, and there is thus a Hard Ban on her use.
- Johnny Storm, "Human Torch" - Johnny was an early rebel against Doom's rule. When Doom captured him, he let Susan, his sister, decide his punishment. She resolved to lift him into the sky, where he became the Sun. This was the only Johnny Storm to exist in this world, and thus there is a Hard Ban on his use.
- As "the Man in the Sun," the worship of Johnny as a god is an underground religious movement. It is banned by God-Emperor Doom, but when has that ever stopped the truly faithful?
- Ben Grimm, "Thing" - Grimm, gave his life to become the Shield, the wall spanning the south of Battleworld. This was the only Ben to exist in this world, there is thus a Hard Ban on his use.
- Cosmo the Spacedog - Cosmo, a intelligent and telepathic dog, was chief of security for Knowhere. Within the multiverse, Knowheres served as giant portal hubs, and this particular Cosmo used these portals to save Knowhere from the Final Incursion, causing it to appear over Battleworld. This overloaded the systems, destroyed the central portal hub, and killed Cosmo. This was the only Cosmo to exist, and thus there's a Hard Ban on his use.
- Within Knowhere, Cosmo is worshiped as the "Dog God." What references can be pieced together by the remains of Knowhere's records state that the Dog God was a wise and just ruler of Knowhere, who gave his life to save his people in some unidentified calamity long ago. Much like the Man in the Sun, worship of the Dog God is strictly underground, as it is banned by God-Emperor Doom.
- Thanos, the Mad Titan - Thanos' death at Doom's hand kicks off the plot. Having collected the Infinity Gems and their Gauntlet himself, he created a contingency plan in case of his demise. As he lay dying at Doom's feet, Thanos used the power of the Reality, Mind, and Soul Gems to awaken the memories of six heroes within Battleworld, and then used the Space and Time Gems, amplified by the Power Gem, to scatter the gems throughout Battleworld, far out of Doom's reach. This was Battleworld's only Thanos, and thus there is a Hard Ban on his use.
- Ultron - The creation of the Ultron that rules Perfection resulted in the banning of all research that could be used to produce another Ultron. While this, Lord Ultron of Perfection, is thus banned from play, it is possible other Ultrons have been made in secret. Thus, there is only a Soft Ban on Ultron.
- Adam Warlock, "Magus" - Because only one Soul Gem exists in the multiverse, and we need it for the plot, only one Adam, Baron Adam Warlock of New Xandar, may start play with the Soul Gem. Other Adams may exist, but they won't have the Soul Gem. There is thus a Soft Ban on him.
Final notes, for clarification's sake:
- I am looking for five RPers, each of whom will have one major character, unique to them.
- They may also control as many or as few other characters as they so please, so long as said character is neither limited nor banned.
- Only the six main characters remember life in the multiverse. However, they do not have to remember Earth-616. If RPers so choose, they can have their characters recall their own Marvel fanon Earths, or a different Marvel universe all together.
- While the six main characters cannot die or be replaced, RPers are encouraged to see the other, unlimited characters, as ultimately expendable. I'm not saying you absolutely MUST kill them, but because of the nature of Battleworld, if we want to murder Tony Stark for the story, we can always get a new one. (Assuming no one is maining Iron-Man, then we can't kill him.)
- There are Marvel characters only! The DC universe may have an official Earth designation in the Marvel Multiverse, but we're not going to be crossing those streams here. However, the JLA affectionate parodies the Great Society (Sun-God, Norn, Jovian, Rider, Doctor Spectrum, Boundless) and the Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Blur, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum (again), Thundra, Warrior Woman) are both free to use.
- I retain final say on what characters can and cannot be used. If you think a character is broken and let me know about them, or you pick a character I don't know much about, I'll do some research, and decide from that if I need to expand the ban list. I'm flexible, though, so you can argue for a characters inclusion or exclusion as long as you respect that when I've made my final decision, the debate is over.
- If you're uncomfortable with the thought of playing even your own fanon version of a canon Marvel character, you can also invent your own characters! Just be sure to describe them well, so I and the other RPers can get a good idea of them.
- I will leave it up to you if your character remembers absolutely everything all at once, or remembers their past life in flashes, more and more over the course of the RP. Which ever style you feel more comfortable with.
- The Infinity Gems are being played by MCU rules, they are both corrupting and destructive, and capable of killing their wielder. We're collecting them, but using them without the Infinity Gauntlet is probably not a good idea.
- "But Rex" you may be asking, "If Thanos with the six gems and the Infinity Gauntlet couldn't stop Doom, what hope do our much more fragile and much less badass characters have?" Well, I never did say we'd be using the Infinity Gauntlet, did I? I have a much bigger plan in mind.
- Because the idea of the RP is to collect the gems, you may not start the RP as a character already holding a gem. As mentioned above, this means no Soul Gem Adam Warlock. It also means no Mind Gem Vision, for you MCU fans out there.
- Just to cover all my bases here, because the Infinity Gems are reality altering MacGuffins, getting them here is not an excuse to have them in other RPs. At the end of the RP, we will not have them anymore.
- There is no real limit on creating Domains, however, keep in mind that the Barons are either loyal to Doom, or want to replace Doom, and are not going to be our allies in our quest to restore the Multiverse. They may side with us in the short term, if there is some immediate benefit for them, but we are enemies of Battleworld and all who control it.
- Your controlled characters may start play as a Baron, but if they're going to join our little rebellion, the Thors will drop the hammer on them. Should they survive the encounter, they will be stripped of their barony, with the title handed over to someone who's more willing to try and kill us.