This is a crossover Urban Fantasy RPG containing characters from the Nasuverse and many other universes as well, but as long as it fits into an Urban Fantasy section.
What is Urban Fantasy you ask?
Well it is rather awesome, but its fantasy takes place in an "Urban" environment such as a city. Think along the lines of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files and Fate and Tsukhime are actually classified as Urban Fantasy too.
Also
No Aliens.
This is a Supernatural Role Play with Horror and Fantasy elements. This is not science fiction or sci-fi. There is a difference between the two.
The level of tech in the city is modern day. We will allow some advanced technology such as cybernetics to a point, but this RP isn’t about mechs. Artificial Intelligences outside of computer systems (read androids) will not be allowed.
We will allow Mecha if it is more steampunk like/magical in nature than super science. Like Ed’s automail from FMA would be allowed, but something like the Major from Ghost in the Shell not so much.
The Basic Story is this: For some reason Nexus City has popped up in a pocket dimension, pulling things from other worlds randomly around with it. In this city you can see the Statue of Liberty at the bay, but in the center of the city is Tokyo Tower. The City is a huge, sprawling metropolis. Like all cities it also has its dark underbelly as well. Think of the City as the obese, bastard child of Metropolis and Gotham and you'd be half way there.
The City is full of factions and alliances of its own. Normal people are sort of aware of the supernatural goings on in the city but they don't speak of them. Mainly because they don't have the means to deal with magic users, vampires, werewolves, Servants, and the like. They try to go on with normal life as much as possible. Business is thriving in The City, the economy is good, and there aren't that many homeless people out there (they've gotten eaten).
Now, your character(s) have gotten pulled into this vast, dark city. There are those who want to help you. There are others who would want to use and abuse you. There are others that would simply eat your face. This RP is about survival and adaptation in Nexus City. In general, you should avoid bringing characters into play with extensive resources. They can come in with only the clothes on their back and their personal effects, or you can assume they have a house, enough for day to day living, and can afford basic transportation. Bring it up with a GM if you really want more than that!
Cross Effects is about survival and building a life. Now there will be fights. A lot of the members of the supernatural community are either ancient warriors or predators there will be combat. However, this will not be a combat driven RP.
This is an RP about interaction and characterization. Even though some combat will definitely happen.
Rules
1.) Treat Other Players With Respect. Golden Rule here. Treat others how they want to be treated. If you have a problem with another player, do not spout insults at them. Bring your qualm to them in a polite manner. If that does not work, please alert the GMs.
Remember: Your narrative will not necessarily survive interaction with other characters, and vice-versa. This is unavoidable, but respect other players and expect respect from them. Rolling with the action is often a better way to write a cool story than opposing a development because you didn't plan for it.
2.) Thou Shall Not Meta Game Or Godmode. If you have knowledge that your character could not possibly have, don't give it to them without a reasonable explanation. There will not be any Godmoding here either. You will get smote, and smote hard.
3.) Do Not Control Another Person's Character. This means if you say, "Character X punched Character B." You would stop right there and give the other player time to respond. DO NOT say, "Character X punched Character B, and Character B went down like the little bitch he is." You give the other player a chance to respond. Hell, Character B could be a master martial artist who could block the punch and pull the other character in an arm lock in retaliation while Character X is just some Normal Dude.
4.) Don't Be an Asshole. Exactly what it sounds like. You're not allowed to go after someone because you don't like them or are having a fight with them. You're not allowed to go into an interaction with the intent of killing or maiming somebody else's character to the point of unplayability. If you can logically avoid doing so, don't do it. Basically, try to play nice.
However, this rule is not meant to serve as an overarching plot armour. If your character acts like a moron and jumps in front of Excalibur, they will almost certainly die. If your character provokes a stronger character into beating the snot out of them, they will suffer the natural consequences of doing so, including serious injuries if it ends up resulting in them.
5.) Show, Don't Tell. Or rather demonstrate, don't explain. Some times info dumps are needed, but if your character is a smart ass bad ass, show them being a smart ass bad ass. Don't just say they are, back up your claims, and that also means no having other characters who don't know the one character suddenly talk about your character being the smart bad ass without reason to do so. We want this to be a fairly well written RPG.
6.) For the Love of God, Please Try To Make Your Posts Readable. It’s no fun if one’s posts aren’t able to be read. Use proper capitalization, spacing, and punctuation in your posts whenever possible. If there are constant infractions, GM action will be taken. This should be a fairly well written RP that others can read like a story if they wanted.
7.) Give other players time to respond. Now sometimes two players will go on a tangent with themselves. It's expected and can be fun, and if their interaction is separate from most everyone its fine. Plus it would be expected in a love scene between two characters. Now if there is an event and other people are trying to catch up slow down. Like if a group of players are fighting something, and one of them has trouble catching up, give them time to respond.
However if a character does not reply within a 48 hour period during a time of “heavy action”, We apologize, but we will be forced to move without them. Don't worry, we won't kill your character and we'll say they did something neat during the conflict so they're not a mook.
8.) This is an Adult RP. Adult things will happen, such as relationships and sex. There will be erotic content in this RP. If you're not comfortable with that, do not join or just say so and anything that could happen with your characters will happen "off screen".
9.) Four Characters Characters are Allowed Per Player. Depending on how this RP goes, the character cap may be upped.
We will allow some players a +1
Antagonist, which are a particular type of character with a role that demands heavy involvement with the RP as a whole. More detail on Antagonists is provided below, after the main rules.
Another extra PC sheet is possible provided the player proves themselves capable of fielding another and maintain a commitment to the RP. This may be revoked if they fail to continue to meet these two standards. If at some point you wish to play another character but your roster is already maxed out, or you want to temporarily retire a character you are not doing much with, you can ask the GMs/Mods to
Bench that character. If at any time in the future you want to play them again, you do not have to undergo the character approval process, and you can just ask a GM/Mod to take them out of the benched characters (and presumably exchange them with another character you currently have approved.)
10.)Alternate Selves. Since this is a Multi-Dimensional RP, multiple versions of one character will be allowed, but only one per player and only three versions of one character allowed at a time.
11) No overt sci-fi elements. Cross Effects is primarily an urban fantasy RP with gonzo diversity thrown in, and characters such as spacefaring aliens, space marines and robots from hyperdeveloped civilizations bring perceptions that distort the intended tone. Magitech, extradimensional beings, near future cyberpunk and even contemporary pulp science are allowed, hinging on relatively grounded presentation. Interstellar travel is a big no.
Addendum: Where particular characters are concerned, this rule concerns the assumptions of the world that they bring with them. As an exception, a psychic from a technologically underdeveloped planet who has no understanding of the setting's ships and space battles scale might be allowed, for example.
12.) Power Levels. Characters in this RP are only allowed to be so powerful, but this is not enforced with an exact cap due to the diversity of abilities that can appear in CE. Context is more important to determine this: characters with capabilities that can easily distort the setting, such as all Legendary ranks or easily accessed Divine magic, are overpowered, but many of the Servants from Fate or similarly powerful superhumans are still acceptable.
13.) The Player Knows Their Character Best. If a player has a character that has an ability to read others such as their desires and base selves and wishes to use it, they need to get in touch with the player who’s character their character wants to read. Say Character 66 can know a person’s most secret, hidden desires. They read Character 69- 66’s player has to go to 69’s player to find out what their deep, hidden desire is. They just cannot guess it outright.
Antagonists
Antagonists are a special kind of character who are, as their name suggests, designed to play an antagonistic role to the player characters of Cross Effects. The purpose of antagonists is to create conflict in the game and create story that is simple for the players to engage with. An antagonist should have a goal or methods which bring them into clashes against the player characters, rather than merely interact on the same basis as any villainous PC who might antagonize another. Antagonists need to pose a threat to the status quo of the setting - they *can't* be played like they were just another player character. They have to justify their presence by providing plot hooks and events to engage the players, and not just mess around.
How can you ensure that an Antagonist is a difficult obstacle for PCs to overcome? There are a few considerations that can answer this.
> They can be more powerful than the PCs, so that defeating them one on one or even two on one is not a practical possibility. They don't necessarily need to be stronger than
every Player Character, but the powerlevel cap does not apply as strictly to antagonists, which gives them some leeway. If the intent is for the antagonist to be more of a direct threat to the lower powerlevel characters, they might only be as strong as a powerful PC, but you'll likely need to negotiate terms with players so a PC on the same level doesn't get logically drawn in and just offs them.
> They can have minions, and thereby act as an indirect threat to the player characters. They might have a handful of allies individually as strong as the average PC, mobs or armies of weaker foes that can overwhelm PCs, or networks and widespread allies that can simply pose problems to PCs that can't be solved by mere force by acting in multiple fronts at once.
> They can threaten the PCs by aiming at what they care about indirectly or using superior reach to accomplish their goals without fighting, making them difficult to strike back against thoughtlessly.
> All of the above to various degrees.
Being a tangible force that creates combative relationships with player characters and invites proactive conflict is key for a good antagonist. The concept of showmanship is very important when playing one, because they need to be engaging and convincing to the players, and to do this they must cultivate both their public awareness and the animosity of other characters. Antagonists need to be an active force in the setting that does not merely matter in moments of fanfare, but opens up opportunities for PCs to get involved and creates incentive for them to pursue. Hype has to come with build up.
