[closed] Recruiting: Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)

I'm considering running the new Invincible RPG, but before I start putting in all the work to set up a game I figured I would check and see if there's enough interest.

Here's what I had in mind:

Setting: The game will take place in the Invincible universe, but it would be sort of an ‘what-if’ alternate setting. You might encounter some familiar characters, but they may be in very different circumstances, and could have different backgrounds/personalities/roles in the world.

Tone: Invincible isn't a grimdark setting where everyone is awful. Heroes do genuinely want to do the right thing. But it’s also a very high-stakes setting. Villains don’t play nice and have no qualms about going after your family or loved ones. Fights can leave people seriously injured and dead. Civilians frequently get caught in the crossfire, and sometimes there is no way to save everyone or prevent collateral damage. That being said, I’m not going for a depressing story where the heroes can’t catch a break. The adversity is there to test your mantle as heroes, prove that you can remain hopeful and strong despite the hardship. There will also be plenty of banter, friendships, rivalries, and relationship drama along the way.

Game Format: I’m going to structure the game as mostly self-contained ‘issues’, with an overarching campaign plot. I know people will inevitably drop out, so I’d rather plan for it rather than have the campaign fall apart. The things your characters do WILL have consequences and feed into the larger story, but you won't necessarily need to commit to playing for the next two years just to get a satisfying story out of it. One group of heroes might participate in one episodic ‘issue’, then the next issue might bring in a new hero (and a new player) to take their place. If you do stick around, you'll get to see the bigger plot develop and your characters grow into important heroes.

Your Characters: We'll start with new Upstart, characters who have only recently gotten their powers and haven't had much chance to figure out what they're capable of. They don't necessarily have to be teenagers. From there, we'll advance relatively quickly (hopefully!), with the eventual goal of seeing them become Global Guardians.

Potentially Offensive Content: This is going to be an Invincible superhero game. Expect violence, sometimes fairly brutal violence. NPC deaths. The possibility of characters being seriously injured or killed, and collateral damage. There will be a focus on your character’s relationship, and possibly some romance, but anything beyond kissing will be ‘fade to black’


If this sounds interesting, let me know! I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have here. If there's enough interest, I'll start putting the actual game together. If there’s ALOT of interest, I might consider running two teams in the same setting...

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Recruitment is now open!

The game threads are ready. I will keep the recruitment thread open until Wednesday, 8 PM GMT.

All I need from you is:

• A confirmation that you can post daily, and ok with the tone of the game.
• Tell me why you like superhero games, and specifically, what would make this game enjoyable for you. What kind of content/action you'd like to see? The kind of scenes you hope show up is important for me to know.
• Tell me what your lines and veils are, on top of what I posted on the public game threads (racism, sexual assault, and bigotry targeting sexual orientation or gender identity are already lines; sexual content is already a veil)

You do not need a finished character, or even a concept, to apply.

I am definitely interested, but would I need to buy the book to play?

There are free QuickStart rules available . I believe all the required core rules to play the game are there, but character creation and the full set of powers/talents are missing. I can help with power selection and provide the text for the ones you're interested in, and somehow work around it.

I am definitely interested! The KS was my first exposure to the Invincible universe and I’ve always loved the FL system in all its forms.

I'm interested as well. Only somewhat familiar with the IP through the first few episodes of the Amazon show, but I've been curious to try my hand at a superhero game, and Free League has yet to disappoint.

I am interested. I read some of the comics, and so far seen the first season of the tv show.

I'm not all that familiar with the setting,but I'm often down for superhero stuff. Would be happy to participate if there's room.

I enjoy the tv show and am a bit curious if I'd enjoy a superhero styled game. Count me as interested, but like others I don't own the system.

No prior setting knowledge of the setting is required, and the rules (based on the Year-Zero engine), are pretty simple and available for free on the Quickstart. Character creation might be a bit more complicated without the full rules, but I’m sure we will manage.

I think there is enough interest to move forward, so I started building the game threads, and will open the recruiting thread by Sunday latest.

Definitely looking forward to it!

I also would be glad to help folks build their characters crunch:)

I’m so down.

I'd be interested in giving Invincible a whirl. I'm passingly familiar with the Invincible universe and am always up for a good superhero RPG.

A recruiting thread...should we expect a separate one?

Which is to say,I'm used to recruitment being done from the interest check itself.

I updated the first post with the recruitment details (everything after the line break, so it stays easy to find). I will keep this thread open for prospective players until Wednesday, 8 PM GMT.

With all that said,I can maintain a frequent posting schedule (considering the number of prospective participants) and I am fine with the tone of the game.

I appreciate that superhero games broadly allow for a wide variety of origins and characterizations,similar to the settings they emulate. I also think that (given the comparative lethality of this setting) "heist-like" scenes may be interesting to explore. Things where the heroes will have to understand each other and strategize with their abilities and powers to come out intact. Enemy bases,ambushes and so on.

I don't have any lines beyond what's already been delineated,or that seems to have been portrayed in the comic/TV setting.

• Confirmation that you can post daily, and ok with the tone of the game.

- I can post daily, and typically later in the day. Tone sounds good, actually a bit of why I considered joining.

• Tell me why you like superhero games, and specifically, what would make this game enjoyable for you. What kind of content/action you'd like to see? The kind of scenes you hope show up is important for me to know.

- I don't have a strong pull or experience with superhero games. As for shows, which is my prime experience with the genre. I'd say it's more the character drama throughout. The hard choices power forces upon you. Living with the fallout of epic battles/events. Those scenes of calm connection with the team or maybe you finally make that romance move. Usually everything circles back to the characters and their impact or lack thereof.

As for more specific stuff..
▪︎ Kill/harm someone we love. Make it hurt. Make it personal.
▪︎ Destroy significant structures. The world needs deep scars.
▪︎ Big personality evil. Give us people to love and/or hate even when we're opposed.
▪︎ Give us moments to feel badass and more than capable. Not every threat is out of our league.
▪︎ A growing cast of reoccuring NPCs. Over time of course, a big ask out the gate. Throw stuff out and see what sticks

• Tell me what your lines and veils are, on top of what I posted on the public game threads (racism, sexual assault, and bigotry targeting sexual orientation or gender identity are already lines; sexual content is already a veil)

- Pretty much covered with the established ones.

I'm pretty well there with Gearspark.

• Confirmation that you can post daily, and ok with the tone of the game.

- I can post daily, but the times may vary. Some days I have time while at work, others I have to wait until evening and I get home. Tone sounds good to me as well.

• Tell me why you like superhero games, and specifically, what would make this game enjoyable for you. What kind of content/action you'd like to see? The kind of scenes you hope show up is important for me to know.

- I've got a bit of experience with superheroics. I started (and dating myself I know) with V&V and Champions (1E). That got followed upwith everything from Marvel Super Heroes, Mutants and Masterminds, and I forget the name up it but it was from the same folks who did Call of Cthulu (Something Peterson I think the author was). I also was a big fane of the Heroes TV Show (Save the Cheerleader, Save the world!).

As for more specific stuff, these from Gearspark I think hit the nail on the head:
▪︎ Kill/harm someone we love. Make it hurt. Make it personal.
▪︎ Destroy significant structures. The world needs deep scars.
▪︎ Big personality evil. Give us people to love and/or hate even when we're opposed.
▪︎ Give us moments to feel badass and more than capable. Not every threat is out of our league.
▪︎ A growing cast of reoccurring NPCs. Over time of course, a big ask out the gate. Throw stuff out and see what sticks

• Tell me what your lines and veils are, on top of what I posted on the public game threads (racism, sexual assault, and bigotry targeting sexual orientation or gender identity are already lines; sexual content is already a veil)

- Pretty much covered with the established ones as well.

I can post daily and I enjoy the tone you have described.

I think what I enjoy most about the superhero genre and superhero TTRPGs in particular is the opposite reason from why people want to play villains or 'evil parties.' If they want to be able to do evil without consequence, I want to be able to do GOOD without consequence. Not to say that I expect there to be no reactions to my actions, but for me playing a superhero is an escape from real life where we face problems that we can do nothing about and opposition that are unwilling to even acknowledge that there's a problem in the first place. Here, if the stock market crashes it's probably because a supervillain did it, and we can solve that.

My only line that you yourself haven't already mentioned is slavery.

Hello. My name is Ceres and I am thirty-eight years old. My timezone is US Eastern but I have an eccentric sleep schedule that often sees me awake at strange times. I'm a forever GM looking for an opportunity to be a player for a change, and I'll be glad to GM or co-GM for you in trade if you wish to be able to play in the world you've created.

I would rate my Eight Kinds of Fun from most to least enjoyed as Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Sensory Pleasure, and finally Abnegation. In other words: I am most interested in realistic, verisimilar worlds with strong overarching narrative and a focus on societal and character drama. I enjoy challenging tactical and ethical decisions, inter-party interaction and romance. I do NOT enjoy a great deal of downtime or between-session roleplay, although some to advance lingering issues from the main thread can be fun.

Outside of tabletop gaming, I enjoy colony-building and survival games like Project Zomboid, RimWorld (of which I am a modder!), and Kerbal Space Program. I have also been playing a lot of City of Heroes lately! My favorite shows and movies are psychological thrillers with villainous protagonists like Dollhouse or Death Note. I have an eclectic musical taste that includes a smattering of almost every genre under the sun orbiting a central core of power ballads, J-rock, and synth metal.

I am currently most interested in playing Nephthys AKA "Cuddlebug;" a mute but highly expressive and intelligent scarab-themed gynoid of unknown origin found under the deserts of Egypt. If that doesn't suit your game, I have many other troubled but heroic cuties waiting to adorably kick ass for you.

As pertains to this specific campaign: I should be able to post often (I am a basement NEET), I enjoy supers campaigns because they often have open-ended character creation that allows me to build almost anything I can imagine (and I can imagine a lot), I particularly enjoy the Ultra-Violent comic genre because of its focus on the societal and interpersonal consequences of having superpowers WITHOUT having to be about high schoolers, and my only line is furry art. Furries themselves are fine, I just do not want to see visual representation of them. I have no veils. I am up to date on the first four seasons of Invincible.

Abridged post from a past game, to showcase writing style.

A confirmation that you can post daily, and ok with the tone of the game.

I can post daily no problem and the tone sounds exactly like what I'm looking for!

Tell me why you like superhero games, and specifically, what would make this game enjoyable for you. What kind of content/action you'd like to see? The kind of scenes you hope show up is important for me to know.

I grew up with all sorts of superhero media, so it's a genre I naturally gravitate to even today. I've never played a superhero roleplaying game though, and the Invincible RPG in particular is a game that had been on my radar for a little while as something I'd like to try (I actually didn't know it had been released until seeing this post lol). As for what I'd find enjoyable, I largely agree with Gearspark and Knighthawke's sentiments. Something I'd like to add is seeing the consequences of a hero's public image. Whether it's hit pieces in the press, identity speculation on a news show, or just seeing how civilians react to a hero's arrival on the scene, it's interesting to see how the public's view of a hero can change and what that means for the hero.

Tell me what your lines and veils are, on top of what I posted on the public game threads (racism, sexual assault, and bigotry targeting sexual orientation or gender identity are already lines; sexual content is already a veil)

I think your examples covered all my concerns; I can't really think of anything else I'd add, personally.

I can post daily, as I am in front of a computer most of the day.

I have been playing superhero rpgs almost as long as D & D, and that's only because D & D came out first. I learned fractions thanks to the Champions RPG. I have been collecting comics even longer than that. I would like to see high impact combats, and more importantly saving people in trouble. Also, my way of thinking is that the only way a person with inhuman powers stays free of corruption is by having some high price put on them due to those powers. Often due to a physical transformation of some kind.

The veils you have listed are fine. I would add child harm to that list. The invincible comics are often guilty of this.

Feck~! I hope we get to play together <3 <3 <3

Me too!

:)

A confirmation that you can post daily, and ok with the tone of the game.

I can post daily. I have a preference for longer paragraphs, so I post later in EST, but I can cut down to meet the deadline. The tone is fine to me as well.

Tell me why you like superhero games, and specifically, what would make this game enjoyable for you. What kind of content/action you'd like to see? The kind of scenes you hope show up is important for me to know.

Superhero games impose the fantastical to the real. That is, you're playing in a regular-ish world (if we stay on Earth), but you add elements, people, powers totally out of the normal. The juxtaposition of trying to balance those two facts is what makes the narrative compelling. Even more so than the action, I'd love to have interpersonal drama about what it takes to save others in that context, which I hope will be sprinkled in different scenes.

Tell me what your lines and veils are, on top of what I posted on the public game threads (racism, sexual assault, and bigotry targeting sexual orientation or gender identity are already lines; sexual content is already a veil)

I think the lines and veils you've already mentioned cover what I would want. I'm not particularly adverse to anything else so long as the rest of the table is comfortable. This should be a safe space for everyone.

Sent an invite to @Lowate, @SleepSavant, @Gearspark, @Knighthawke. I still haven’t given up the idea of having a second team running in parallel, but I have to make sure I don’t get overextended first. If I see I can manage it, I’ll get back to the rest (if you’re still interested) in a few weeks time from now.

I appreciate your consideration.

Will stay posted.

If you run a second team, I’d be interested.

Answers to the details you wanted addressed:
Confirm 👍.
I've loved superheroes since I was a kid. I read comics regularly, and even reviewed them for a website for a bit. I haven't played a superhero TTRPG, but I've wanted to for a long time. I'm also a longtime player of the City of Heroes mmo.

Regarding what would make it enjoyable for me, I'm just looking to inhabit a superhero world and character with other people. I don't have a hard preference for content/action I'd like to see, but I would like there to be some balance to it. For example, if things get dark for a while, breaking it up with something a little lighter would be nice.
Just seeing the impact of our actions, good or bad, would be great!
I'm good with the lines and veils already established. I don't know that I have others beyond that, but I'll speak up (respectfully) if anything makes me uncomfortable.

If you might need fresh recruits, either for a second table or as replacements, I’m interested. Never seen the series, but familiar with the graphic novels (including the spinoffs; my mostly-favourite character is Best Tiger).

I think I just might have bandwidth for a second team. I'll update you by end of next week latest.