PRIMER

[modormenace]

primer

Welcome to the Mask or Menace primer! This is where you can get the quick and dirty info you need to apply without taking a deep dive into the expanded material. The game is currently undergoing an administrative transition and the setting will be seeing some changes in the near future, but here's all you need to know to get started right now:

game information

So you've just been dropped into a government facility in Cape Canaveral, injected with nanites, greeted as a superhero, and handed a file that contains information about your brand new (or same old) superpowers. As you're escorted to your comfortable new military housing, you're debriefed on the situation: The Porter spat you out and no one knows how to send you back, but as long as you're here, it sure would be nice if you'd consider putting those superpowers to good use in the name of justice and freedom. Thanks, imPort! The citizens of the United States are grateful to have you on their side.

Whether or not you had powers before, you sure as heck have them now. Up to three of them! Some of these might be "power umbrellas", which means multiple superhuman abilities result from a single power. Being a werewolf may take up a single power slot, and that power umbrella can cover all your werewolf-related powers (transformation into a wolf, heightened senses, etc.) Then you've still got room for a second and third power.

By the way, those nanites you were injected with when you first stepped out of the Porter? Those are your lifeline. They're microscopic adaptive nanobots that help stabilize your physiology, and your powers won't function before they've been administered, so you're not going anywhere until get that infusion. They're useful in other ways, too, like accelerating your body's regeneration, assisting with resurrection in case of death, and giving you access to the network through a mental link in addition to your communicator.

The rules of the game are simple: Be respectful. Stay in character. Remember that IC=/=OOC. Communicate with other players and don't control their character without permission. Use content warnings if applicable. Ask the mods before you go and blow up a city or something.

The game ICly runs on a 1:1 timeframe with real life/OOC; the default timezone is Eastern Standard Time (GMT-4 or -5, depending on DST).

• The Test Drive Meme is posted on the 14th every month.
• Reserves are open from the 10th to the 24th every month.
• Applications are open from the 21st to the 25th every month.
• New characters arrive on the 1st, when the Arrival log is posted.
• Activity Check runs from the 1st to the 7th every month, covering the previous month.
• A modplot log is posted every other month on the 7th. A plotting post goes up on the 5th.

setting information

The year is 2020, though it's hard to tell from looking around you. This is a retrofuture world, and while it has a classic mid-century vibe when it comes to aesthetics, technology is highly advanced. People may be driving Thunderbirds, but those Thunderbirds are hovercars. Despite the nostalgic atmosphere, social sensibilities are progressive and open-minded.

The people of this world owe a lot to imPorts. While sentiments weren't always positive in the past, imPorts have saved the world often enough to win the public over. In fact, imPorts now hold celebrity status, and it's not unusual to be chased down for an autograph if you're recognized. ImPort fandom has grown widespread enough to inspire its own annual convention.

The government provides a smartphone with access to an imPort-only network and free housing on military bases in five cities across America. Each base is equipped with a teleportation gate for ease of travel between them. Nonah, North Carolina, is a bustling city with a booming economy and an active nightlife. De Chima, Virginia, is a vital hub for the pharmaceutical and tech industries. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, has a shady vibe and is the least receptive to imPorts due to its criminal underground. Jeopardy, Nevada, is a quirky desert town that's economically dependent on its nuclear plant and known for its cryptid sightings. Due to its proximity to Cape Canaveral, housing in Heropa, Florida, isn't technically on a military base but in the center of town, surrounded by cute mom-and-pop businesses. Housing units are typically shared between multiple imPorts, although it's possible to request an individual unit.

Even cursory research will turn up numerous historical differences between this world and others. The Cold War still hasn't ended, and the persistent tensions between the US and the USSR led to the age of the superhero. The first imPorts arrived in 1986 and brought enlightenment with them, helping to ease the culture out of the Red Scare by associating patriotism with its heroes, who eliminated the need for heavy public surveillance and military drafts. Sadly, their role made them the target of a series of tragedies, and none of those original imPorts survive today.

In 2014, the Porter came spontaneously back to life and triggered the second wave of imPorts, this time spawning them on a regular basis. The Cold War began to heat up as the USSR anticipated the use of imPorts in the conflict. For two years, the Soviets made several attempts to capture the Porter and various imPort cities, and for a while it seemed like a full-scale war was inevitable. However, the combined diplomatic efforts of natives and imPorts lowered tensions, and by 2017, the Cold War was no longer a regular topic on the news, even if it never technically ended.

From then on, the majority of conflict facing imPorts came from domestic threats. Everyday heroics centered on fighting crime. Native metahumans (who gained their own superpowers after an incident involving Tony Stark) became a foil to imPorts, some of them supervillains and others striving to gain the same celebrity status awarded to imPorts. The Otherworld Technologies Organizations (OTO) was a corporate entity that antagonized imPorts for some time before they triggered an event that summoned a trio of world-ending entities known as the Fates. A coalition of imPorts took them on and managed to avert the apocalypse, although the lingering effects of the confrontation have led to the increasing destabilization of the universe.