Anomaly1
From Champions MUSH
[edit]
Contents of file: anomaly.evt
& help -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The EVENTS files differ from NEWS and HELP; NEWS describes the mechanics of how the game of Champions is played, while HELP describes how the MUSH commands themselves work. EVENTS files explain the specific "theme" information for CM: What the city is like where we role play, what sorts of agencies and organizations there are, and similar topics. EVENTS help is available on the following topics: Topic Description THEME MENU A menu of topics describing the world of CM. CHARACTERS What kinds of characters are allowed on CM. BACKGROUND What you can and cannot say about your history NAMES How IC names work here To see more information on a topic, type EVENTS <topic> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& theme menu -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- This is a list of thematic topics about the world of CM -- the outlook of the people, the level of technology of the world, etc. THEME A general statement about the Theme of CM WORLD An explanation of the terms and ideas of the CM world CITY Information about Colonial Bay, the primary city CB NPCS List of important Colonial Bay NPCS TIME TRAVEL How CM deals with the sticky problem of time travel OUTLOOK The CM's "world outlook" on heroes, villains, etc. LAW AND ORDER The Hero and the Law in the Champions MUSH world HISTORY The "world history" of the MUSH CONTINUITY How continuity is enforced on CM INFINIVERSE The Infinite Universes and how they work UNIVERSES A list of the known universes in the CM Inifiniverse REALITIES How different realities work when they meet. To see more information on a topic, type EVENTS <topic> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& cb npcs -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- These are some of the following important NPCs of Colonial Bay -The Media folk in +BYLINES -Police Chief Clarissa Camus (2051-Present) -Mayor Buddy Barnwell (2052-Present) -Stanislaw Faust, Head of CBPD Special Crimes Division (2048-Present) -Fire Chief Fire (SID Paul Hendricks is not known) (2054-Present) -District Attorney: Richard Chamberlain (2054-Present) See CB NPCS 2 for info on Monkey NPCS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& cb npcs 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Monkey NPCS: Tumbles The original Tumbles is believed to have been liquified by an ill-timed X-ray at Star Guard HQ shortly after receiving an Evolite injection. The identity has been taken over by a purple monkey suspected to possess vast mental powers. Tumbles remains good natured and seems to only want to help his fellow primates become successful parts of human society. The exact limits of his psychic powers are unknown, but in the past he was one of the key components of the 'Devourer' when it first tried to devour Colonial Bay. He is a resident of 'Monkey Island', the small island off the coast of Colonial Bay where a large portion of the sentient monkey population has been relocated by Star Guard. Due to the repeated exposures to high levels of radiation that brought out his powers, he remains physically frail. He is believed to possess high levels of clairvoyance and precognition, and will sometimes send cryptic messages to the city's superhero population to warn them of an impending disaster - mostly if the disaster would also adversely effect the primatepopulation. Guido Although lacking any known psychic powers, Guido is a monkey of iron will and limitless ambition. Cunning and ruthless, he has quickly insinuated himself within the organized crime elements in Colonial Bay and is known to be actively trying to recruit law-abiding primates as his more trusted underlings. He is known to have had access to the Sentient Saucer, and its databases of alien technology and limited manufacturing capacity, for a time. He is also believed to have several lesser monkey psychics in his employ, such as Pinstripe the Orange Monkey Illusionist. Devourer This powerful entity originally spawned from the combined psychic energy of a half-dozen psychic monkeys whose minds had been linked by cybernetic implants. The Devourer feeds on the mental energy of humans, transforming them into psychic zombies in the process. Immune to stun damage, these psychic zombies reproduce by coming into physical contact with sentient life, thus draining their mental energy and transforming them into additional zombies. The Devourer possessed all the mental powers possessed by any of its zombie hosts and can use them through any other host. When the original psychic monkeys were freed, the Devourer disappeared and its known hosts reverted to normal humans. However, there is speculation that it may have retained sufficient power to preserve one or more of its 'host bodies' and is merely waiting the opportunity to 'infect' a mentalist of sufficient power to allow the Devourer to begin spreading forth once more. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& realities -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 'Reality' is the limit of things which may be empirically verified. This term is often used interchangeably with timeline and/or dimension. It is an accepted fact that none of these words are an entirely correct description of their subject. Purists argue (but cannot prove) that an alternate timeline is a local change caused by different outcomes of events (blue stoplights, President Gore), and an alternate dimension is a change in the nature of the reality (ice freezes at -10 centigrade). In practice, because of the inability to change realities, there is no difference. For more information, see EVENTS REALITIES 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& realities 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Despite the (current?) inability to change realities on demand, there is some proof that this has happened before. 'Fictional' stories of other realities, some super-powered beings and devices, and even a few unexplained differences are thought to be crossovers to other realities. The crossover effect of someone from one reality affecting another is the game explanation for Gods, demons, etcetera. Most realities are percieved as constant; manipulatable by specific, discernable rules. Magic is said to be the ability of those who perceive themselves as the constant, manipulating the reality around them. The constant self is the game explanation for why magic effects interacts. Many crossover effects can be called magic as well. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& infiniverse -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The "infiniverse" is a shorthand term for the "Infinite Universes" (sometimes called "omniverse", "multiverse", etc.). The idea of the Infiniverse is directly related to the Quantum Mechanical Theory of time travel proposed by James P. Hogan. In short, everything that might have happened, DOES happen. Probability describes what will happen in your universe, but all the other possibilties actually happen also, just in another universe. For example, you prepare to flip a coin. You call "heads", and you flip the coin. The coin turns up "tails". That's what happens in YOUR universe, but the act of flipping the coin causes a second separate universe with an identical history to yours to come into existence, and in THAT universe, the coin comes up "heads." See EVENTS TIME TRAVEL for more details. For more information see EVENTS INFINIVERSE 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& infiniverse 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- There are billions and billions of universes out there, because there are billions of possibilities every time an event occurs. The coin might have landed on its side (that does happen once every few million times a coin is tossed) or might have gotten lost, etc. Each of those possibilities happens, just in its own universe. Therefore, there are an infinite number of universes. In many of them, there isn't even an Earth at all -- Earth never formed. In some, there's no life. In others, all nine planets of our solar system have earth-like life. And there are all sorts of possibilities in between. For simplicity, we call the universe we normally operate in, that is, the Game World (with Colonial Bay, etc) "Universe 1", and its earth is "Earth-1". For more information see EVENTS INFINIVERSE 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& infiniverse 3 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Please note that while the naming convention is almost identical to the old DC Comics naming convention, our Infiniverse bears NO relation to theirs. Earth-1 is "Champions Earth", as it were. There are many other Earths, a few of which have been explored so far, most of which have not. There are also entire universes in which their is no Earth, or in which Earth is so different as to be nearly unrecognizable to me or you. There are several primary reasons we have decided to go with the "infiniverse" idea in Champions MUSH. First, it makes time travel logically consistent: all time travel into the past is automatically travel into a different universe (a universe in which you appeared in the past, which is not your own) -- this puts a stop to logical paradoxes which then would be unresolvable and make continuity a mess (see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL and EVENTS CONTINUITY). Second, the infiniverse gives us the opportunity to run adventures in alternative worlds (such as one in which the Nazis won World War II) which are often fun, but would mess up continuity if they took place in our own universe. For more information see EVENTS INFINIVERSE 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& infiniverse 4 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Finally, the alternate earth idea allows people to make up characters from other continuities and use them here. For example, if you wanted to play "the" Superman from the DC Universe who used to be on the JLA, you can't have him be from our world (Earth-1) because there *is* no JLA. But you could have him be shunted to our dimension from the DC Earth, with all of his old history intact. This is acceptable as long as the BG is appropriate, and as long as you remember that anything that is indigenous to the DC universe is out of bounds for his disadvantages (in other words, 'hunted by lex luthor' is a no-no, since Lex Luthor is in the DC world and he has no way of getting here to hunt you). Often such characters can have a Psych. Lim.: "Trying to find the way home", or some such. A list of "known universes" is available by typing EVENTS UNIVERSES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universes -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Below is a list of all the "known" alternative dimensions, worlds, and universes of Champions MUSH. "Known" means "has been used at least once in game play" or "has been referenced in game play by a PC or NPC". There are a few others that don't exactly fit this but we have them there for reference. Please note that this is all OOC knowledge. Your character WILL NOT know about alternate universes unless he has either 1) been to one (either in an approved BG or during RP via a GM or approved TP), or 2) has some *approved* special dimensional knowledge (such as a person with extra-dimensional movement). Known worlds and universes in the Inifiniverse: EARTH-1 The primary CM world EARTH-21 A world where Germany won World War II EARTH-37 A world where animals talk and Earth has no humans EARTH-93 A world of Wild Magic and Earthpower For detailed information on any world type EVENTS UNIVERSE <world name> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universe earth-1 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Earth-1 is the primary game world, the world where your character lives, works, fights, and so on. We don't have any detailed information in this particular file, because all the other EVENTS files are designed to tell you what this world is like. See EVENTS WORLD, EVENTS OUTLOOK, EVENTS THEME, EVENTS AGENCIES, and EVENTS TEAMS for additional information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universe earth-93 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- In this universe, there is magic in the world. The primary continent is called by its inhabitants, simply, The Land. The people of The Land live simply, as farmers and hunters, and they employ the Earthpower in rocks and trees to make their lives easier. Magic plants called _aliantha_ provide sustenance for travelers, and magic soil called "hurtloam" heals cuts and bruises. Tho learn more about this world, we recommend the series of novels called "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever." Remember, this information is OOC only unless your character has actually been to Earth-93. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universe earth-21 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- This is the world from which the WormHole Gang hails (and where they are currently). In this world, the Nazis won World War II. Hitler realized his dream of conquering the world, though it took him until the 1970s to finally subdue North America. He died shortly thereafter, and his son, Rolf Hitler, succeeded and is currently ruling as Absolute Dictator (called "der Fuhrer"). The Nazis spent a good deal of time researching superpowers once they surfaced on Earth-21, and their policy is: serve the State or die. Many resistance super-fighters have been executed, and mostly what's left are the superhumans who serve the Nazi regime. These are called "heroes" on Earth-21, and the resistance fighters are called "villains." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universe earth-37 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- In this universe, Earth is at the center of the universe. Wyrm was trapped by the Almighty under the Earth to lock him away from all that was Good and Right, and to keep him there, he set the Animals, who are good and innocent, to bind him. The Goodness and Innocence of the animals is what keeps Wyrm at bay. Wyrm tried to break out of his prison, and was opposed by Chauntecleer, the Rooster, and his Animals. Mundo Cani, a Dog with a big nose, was the one who finally beat Wyrm, using a horn broken off from the Dun Cow. The Protectors have been to this world, and have met Chauntecleer and Pertelote the Hen, and were returned to their own world by the Dun Cow, who is apparently something akin to an angel. More information can be found reading the Protectors logs on the MUSH's home page. But remember, that information is OOC only, unless a Protector should ICly tell you about it, and should not be used ICly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& universe earth-69 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- What? What on EARTH are you thinking typing that? You must be some sicko or whacko. Fine fine.. I'll tell you about earth-69. Here the Earth is inhibited by only beautiful people. Beautiful men and women who love to make love all day and night. Everything is automated by sex-machines and life is wonderful. A modern day Shangri-la. Happy now? Sick.. Sick... >.< ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& theme -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- One of the most common questions people with even small amounts of MUSH experience tend to ask is, "What is the Theme of this MUSH?" Champions MUSH is set on the world of Earth, in the year 2054. The general history of the CM earth (Earth-1 -- see EVENTS INVINIVERSE) is identical to that of the world you really live in, until about the year 1900. After that, there is a divergence, because in the world of Champions MUSH, superheroes appeared on the scene (see EVENTS HISTORY for details). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& theme 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The presense of superhumans didn't change the world all that much, until after the turn of the millennium. Then, technological advancement accelerated, in part due to superheroes showing scientists and engineers what might be possible. For example, the ability of StarDancer and other superheroes to fly faster than the speed of light, showed us that the "light barrier" could be broken, and spurred the development of FTL travel. Finally, in the year 2015, Earth made First Contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence, and the world was forever changed. People of the CM world know that we are not alone in the universe, but also know that it will be a long time before we are accepted into the Interstellar Community. Related files you might find of interest in understanding the Theme of CM: 2055 COSMOS LEGAL ID NATIONS OUTLOOK SUPER MENTAL SUPERNATURAL TECH TERMS WORLD ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Perhaps the thorniest problem in any comic-book universe is the problem of time travel. The basic problem is the age-old paradox: Suppose you go back in time to 1940. You meet your grandfather, long before he was ever married to your grandmother, long before your parents were ever born. You get into a fight, and shoot him dead. Now, if that's true, he never had any children, which means your parents never existed. But then you wouldn't exist to go back in time and kill him... you see how after thinking about it for a little while, it makes your head hurt. Similarly, sometimes there will be a story in the comics where a character goes back in time and changes things such that certain events "never happened." This retroactively (if that's the correct way of phrasing it) changes the memory of everyone in the universe such that this event is never recalled to have occurred. While this can sometimes be fun or interesting for a few characters in a limited story line, when applied to an entire world full of characters, or an entire universe, it usually gets out of hand. CM has a very specific time travel policy. Please understand that this policy extends to every single person on the MUSH, and is NON-NEGOTIABLE. The following files will explain this policy. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The time travel rules we have adopted are based on what I call the Hogan Hypothesis. This was put forth as a reasonable time travel system by James P. Hogan (a nuclear physicist) in his book _The_Proteus_Operation_. You'll have to bear with me for a few files... this is a difficult concept to explain, and at first it will seem like I am not discussing time travel at all, but we will get to it eventually. Just hang in there. According to the Hogan Hypothesis, the fact that the quantum mechanical wave-function does not collapse to a single solution, but rather results in a probability estimation, can have two different interpretations. In one (the one we currently use in the real world), this means that the most probable solution to the wave-function is the one that actually occurs in the real world, and the rest of them just... don't. The other interpretation, which we use here on CM, is that ALL of the possibilities occur -- each in its own separate universe. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 3 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Each time something happens which can have more than one possible outcome (we'll call it an "event"), each and every outcome will actually happen, but it will happen in a different universe. Let's take a simple example: It's Super Bowl Sunday. The Broncos are playing the Packers. The captains are on the field, and the referee says, "Call it while its in the air." Then he prepares to flip the coin. Now, at the instant he is about to flip it, there are two possible outcomes: the coin could come out Heads, or it could come out Tails. The referee tosses the coin, and the Broncos team captain calls out "Heads!" The coin lands. Now... to us, we can only see ONE solution: either the coin ended up landing with Heads facing up, or Tails facing up. The Hogan Hypothesis says, BOTH happen. At the instant the coin is tossed, two SEPARATE and COMPLETE universes are created, one in which the coin lands Heads up, the other in which the coin lands Tails up -- this is known as a Bifurcation (the timeline "splits" into two branches). The two universes that spring from this Event have identical histories up to the instant of the coin toss, but are completely divergent after that. In one, the Broncos will kick off. In the other, the Packers will. Perhaps this will affect the outcome of the game. In the universe in which the Packers won the toss, maybe the won by a landslide. This means that people who bet on the Broncos will lose money, which will cause all sorts of differences from the universe in which the Broncos won the toss, and won the game in a squeaker. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 4 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The Hogan Hypothesis means that there is an INFINITE number of alternative universes out there, each with Earths similar in some ways to ours, and different in other ways. Every time any Event occurs, all possible outcomes are generated, each in its own separate and distinct universe. It is important to remember that each universe has an identical history to the others that separate from it at the occurrence of an Event, up until the instant of that event, at which point the universes diverge. What does this mean for Time Travel? Well, imagine you do indeed try to go back to 1940 and meet your grandfather. You enter a time machine and travel back to 1940. However, the instant you arrive in 1940 is an Event. The very act of you going back in time essentially generates a new alternative universe -- one in which you appeared in 1940. The history of that world up until the instant of your arrival is IDENTICAL to the history of your own world. But from the moment you step out of the time machine, from that instant in 1940, onward, it is a separate universe, and its timeline will diverge from that of your own. Therefore, if you go back and meet your grandfather in 1940 and kill him, he will be dead in an ALTERNATE unvierse, NOT in YOUR OWN past. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 5 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- This means that it is IMPOSSIBLE to change your own history. Say you go back in time and assassinate Hitler in 1933, making it so that the 3rd Reich never rises. What this means is that you have gone back in time, and generated an entire alternative reality (by the very act of going back in time) in which there is no 3rd Reich, maybe even no World War II. But when you return to your own present, history will remain UNCHANGED. Similarly, while it is possible to travel into the future, you can only ensure that you have moved forward along the general timeline of the multi-verse... you CANNOT ever be sure that the universe you've landed in is your own (in fact, because there are an infinite number of alternative universes, and the probablility of entering any of them is about even, the chance you can ever reach your own timeline's future is vanishingly small). These rules for time travel mean that you can travel to any time, past or future, that you want, but never into YOUR OWN past or future. We have decided on these time travel rules because they are the best we've seen in maintaining universe continuity, while they still allow you to travel into other, fun times and have enjoyable adventures. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 6 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The Hogan Hypothesis has implications for Extra-Dimensional Movement, of course. It is NOT POSSIBLE for you to use Extra-Dimensional Movement to enter your own past or future. Extra-Dimensional Movement is just that... it allows you to move into the past of another universe (i.e. another dimension). It can NEVER allow you to move into your own past or future. In terms of Clairsentience, it is possible to VIEW your own past or future as long as the special effect includes only looking and does not include anything moving backward or forward in time physically (that is, if your Special Effect is sending a probe droid through time, then it follows the same rules as any other object traveling through time would -- namely, it ends up in the desired time, in another universe). HOWEVER, because there are so many alternative universes out there, Clairsentience will allow you to view forward to a possible future, but you cannot guarantee it will be your own. There's no way to know where your Timeline will end up ahead of time -- that is, you can't ever know ahead of time which of the various alternative possiblities will be the one that exists in your universe, and which ones will exist in others. For example, if you try to look forward just before the Referee tosses the coin at the Super Bowl, you might end up looking at the universe where the coin lands heads-up, and you might end up looking at the universe where the coin lands tails-up, but until the coin has LANDED, there's no way to know which of those possible universes is the one that yours will end up. For more information see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& time travel 7 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Looking into the past is much more precise. This is because, by the nature of the Hogan Hypothesis, each universe has its own separate, distinct, completely linear and continuous time line. If you look back to 1940, you will see what happened during 1940 in your own universe... and nothing else. If you are trying to watch to see if some enemy of yours has gone back in time, you won't see him if you look into your own past -- because he'll have ended up in another universe somewhere. Treating time travel in this way gives us lots of wonderful adventure opportunities. Since the Hogan Hypothesis basically states that anything that COULD have happened, DID happen, in one universe or another, GMs can take their teams on adventures in alternate universes where the Nazis won World War II, or the Cold War never ended, or the world is in Nuclear Winter, or the sun went SuperNova in 1863... The possibilities, like the number of unvierses out there, are endless. So remember... traveling through time is completely acceptable, but you MAY NEVER travel into your OWN past, and you can never be sure you've traveled into your own future (in fact, it's almost certain you won't, just based on the odds). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& background -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The following restrictions are placed on the things that may be included in the background of a character. Please make sure that your background follows these rules. 1. Your BG cannot mention any other approved character, NPC, or organization without the approval of the owner of the character (in the case of organizations and NPCs, this is equal to the approval of the Theme staff or the GM who owns/created the character). There are several exceptions: Any PC may choose a large (> 40 person) organization as a Hunted and may include a reason for that Hunted in his BG. Acceptable organizations include: Viper, Demon, UNTIL, OSI, or any other listed in EVENTS AGENCIES. Please note: It is NOT acceptable to use the Overlords without express permission from the Head WIZ. It is also NOT acceptable to use any villain group without prior permission from the Themestaff. For more information see EVENTS BG 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& bg 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 2. Your BG may not include any information which conflicts with the history of Colonial Bay specifically, or the history of the MUSH in general. For example, you can't say in your BG that World War III occurred in 1959 of this world -- since there has been no World War III in our world (yet). If you need to have an alternative history or timeline, we suggest you use another UNIVERSE for your history, and have some mechanism for your character to be transported to the world of the MUSH. 3. Your BG may not include any form of time travel that conflicts with the rules listed in EVENTS TIME TRAVEL. That is, you may not have anything in your BG that requires you to have moved forward or backward in time along your own universe's timeline. Moving backward and forward in time is acceptable otherwise -- as long as your character has moved into different universes along with traveling through time. For more information see EVENTS BG 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& bg 3 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 4. Your BG may not include information which conflicts with rules listed in EVENTS OUTLOOK. In other words, you cannot say that your character is a mutant who is hated and hunted down just because he is a mutant. Things do not work that way in our world, and your character would NOT be hunted down for such a reason. You may, of course, be hated by the general public for any other reason (being framed for murder, for example), and you may also state in your BG that your character comes from an alternate universe in which mutants are hated and hunted. You just can't say they are hated and hunted here. This is true for all aspects of EVENTS OUTLOOK -- mutants are just an example. 5. Your BG may not include anything that requires the creation of multiple entities (such as a completely novel villain group) without the consent of your GameMaster (who will then be forced to make up such villains, so he has to have time and agree to do it). Unless a GM has agreed to make up extra NPCs for your character, you may only include KNOWN PCs or NPCs (with the permission of the owner). The only NPC a player may invent for his own personal background is one associated with the Dependent NPC (DNPC) disadvantage. All others MUST be approved by the GM or by Themestaff. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& bg 4
-------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]--------------------------
6. Your BG MUST include the following:
a. An explanation of why you have every disadvantage that is not
inherently obvious. Inherently obvious includes such things as
a metalic person taking 2x STUN from Magnetics, and always
includes the Secret Identity Disadvantage. Anything else MUST
be explained in your BG.
b. How and why your character has ended up living in Colonial Bay.
He might have been born there, or perhaps moved there for some
reason. One way or another you need a reason to be in the
city.
c. Any Power or Characteristic that is superhuman (i.e. could not
be possessed by a normal human being in the real world) MUST be
explained in your BG. This includes super-normal tech, powers, etc.
d. All Skills and Talents must be accounted for in your BG.
Basically, before you submit your character for approval, make sure anything
that puts you outside the realm of a normal human being is accounted for in
your Background.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& Continuity -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Contiunity -- the single, continuous line of events from the beginning of time until the present day -- often causes trouble in both the comic book world, which this game is designed to emulate, and in MUSHes in general. In comics, continuity causes trouble because new writers are constantly trying to "revise" or re-write history to be more satisfying to them, usually to help them set up a story in the here-and-now. If they don't like that Captain Thunder is dead, why, they just find some explanation for why he never really died, or some way to resurrect him, and then he's back. Frequently comic companies will decide that whole _decades_ of their history, including thousands of back-issues, simply _never_happened_, and the reader is just asked to accept it. In the case of MUSHes, continuity often has holes punched in it because people stop logging in as their character for all manner of reasons -- they lose login access, find a new game they like better, find a new girlfriend or boyfriend, get married, have children, whatever. This results in characters falling off the face of the IC earth -- being in the news every other day one month, and then disappearing completely the next. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- First, we will deal with the comic-book aspects of continuity. 1. Events that ICly happen on Champions MUSH will not be "revised" or "edited" retroactively. Because of our timeline rules (see EVENTS TIME TRAVEL), when something happens, that's it. It's happened. It cannot be un-done. If your character's Secret Identity is plastered all over the evening news, then that's it. His Secret ID is gone. Period. You can't get on the public channel the next day and ask people to pretend they never saw it. It's too late. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 3 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 2. Character death is never required of any player -- you own the character. You decide if he lives or dies. However, if your character dies due to loss of BODY and you consent to it -- that is, if his BODY score reaches the game definition of character death (see NEWS DYING), the character is DEAD, permanently, and may not EVER return to game play. We aren't talking about plot devices or BG's that say you're an undead vampire here -- those are of course always acceptable. But once your character is dead in game terms, it is gone. It will be @decompiled and then @nuked after a reasonable period of time. You will have to make up a new character if you want to keep playing here. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 4 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 3. There can be only one version of any event or character in Champions MUSH's history/continuity. For example, there can be only ONE Batman character on the MUSH. It is possible for characters from similar events in similar universes to meet in our universe (e.g Batman from several different earths). However, this may only occur with direct supervision of a GameMaster, and in almost all cases only ONE such character will be a player (the rest will be NPCs). Such situations may only occur for the duration of an adventure (i.e. temporarily) and may never be permanent. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 5 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Now, we will look at the rules concerning continuity for specific characters (that is, what happens to characters when their owner stops logging in). 4. Players always own their own characters. Any player who wishes to have the creation that he owns destroyed upon his departure from the MUSH (or at any other time) may do so at his own discretion. However, be warned -- if your character is @nuked (i.e. deleted from the database at your request), this is equivalent to GAME DEATH (see the EVENTS files before this one under CONTINUITY). That is, @nuked characters are considered dead or moved out of Colonial Bay, and will be gone forever. If you wish this, you must specifically request it of your GameMaster. IF YOU STOP LOGGING INTO THE CHARACTER IT WILL BE @NUKED BY DEFAULT. Any character whose player stops logging in will be NOT @nuked ONLY if they put in a vacation time Such requests will always be honored. However, If the player does not log back in after the vacation time, their character will be @nuked. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 6 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- 5. Any character whose player has not specifically requested to have it destroyed upon his departure, and whose player stops logging in regularly for any reason, becomes the property of the staff of Champions MUSH. This means that, if you stop playing the character, it becomes an NPC under the control of the Admins or it will be @nuked. If it becomes an NPC, it is then treated as any other NPC in the game. The character will be copied onto an NPC object owned by Hero Maker or Villain Master, and will then be @destroyed. Once it becomes an NPC, you are no longer the owner of the character and any rights you had with regard to the character's use are gone. If you do not want the GMs to take control of your character, then you should request that we @nuke the character BEFORE you stop logging into it. Once the character becomes an NPC, it is a normal NPC in every way, and acts like every other NPC in every way. For more information see EVENTS CONTINUITY 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& continuity 7 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The point of the last two rules is this: you own your character, but you may not use your ownership of a character to damage the continuity of the MUSH in any way. Continuity is damaged when characters are active for a while and then vanish, and no one knows what happened to them. Their boyfriends or girlfriends suddenly don't have a date anymore; their team mates don't have someone to practice with in the Danger Room, and so on. If your ownership of a character matters enough to you that you don't want an Admin to play it as an NPC to maintain continuity or to @nuke , then your only out is to remove the character from game play in a final, permanent fashion . This is called "retiring" a character -- making it so that the character can't be played ever again by anyone (including you), and also making it so that all of the loose ends are tied up (this happens by definition when the character dies). We don't want this to make the MUSH a bloody death-trap where characters die constantly. However, we do want to make sure there are no characters left "hanging out in the breeze," as it were. Therefore, characters must either be formally retired, or they become NPCs. If the character object is @Nuked, then they are considered to be retired. It is acceptable to retire characters in a way other than killing them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& city -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- The following topics are available to help you learn more about the city of Colonial Bay, the primary In-Character city of Champions MUSH: Topic Description MAP CB A Map of Colonial Bay CITY DESC A verbal desription of the city of Colonial Bay POI Points of Interest in Colonial Bay CITY HIST The IC history of Colonial Bay To see more information on a topic, type EVENTS <topic> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& city desc -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Colonial Bay is a medium-sized city of about a million people nestled snugly on the western bank of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, on the east coast of the USA. Colonial Bay is one of the oldest cities in Virginia, and has lots of landmarks and old historical sites. It is a tourist area in the summer, boasting a beautiful stretch of bay-side beach, and a historic park from a battle between the English and the French prior to the revolution, called What Marsh Battlefield (affectionately known to the local residents as 'Battlefield Park.' Colonial Bay was founded during the initial settlement of the Virginia Colony. In the late 1700s, one of Virginia's earliest institutions of higher education, then called Coloial College, was founded, and since then, Colonial Bay has been your typical college town. Colonial College became Colonial Bay State University in 1872, and currently has an enrollment of over 40,000 students. For more information see EVENTS CITY DESC 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& city desc 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- In addition to the standard "college town" shops and businesses around the campus (coffee shops, bookstores, etc), Colonial Bay has one of the largest malls in the Chesapeake Bay area, Boardwalk Mall, and of course, a nice beach and boardwalk. The Yacht Club is a 5-star place to eat. There is also a port, which does much business with nearby Richmond and Washington DC, giving them both easy access to the sea. Finally, there is a historic old lighthouse on an island just off the coast of the city, which is visited by nearly 200,000 tourists a year. City Power is provided by two main sources. There is the Solsys Power company that provides energy via Solar Cells to most of the residential neighborhoods in the city. The government offices, industrial, and commerical buildings have their power provided by the Chesapeake Nuclear Plant. The city suburbs is located on the western side. The highways take travelers west towards and past the Appalachian Mountains. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& city hist -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- Colonial Bay was founded by settlers early in the days of the Virginia Colony. It figured prominently during the Revolutionary war, and was the site of a battle between French and English forces. Shortly after the Revolution, Colonial College was founded, and eventually grew, in 1868, into Colonial Bay State University, one of the top-rated State Universities in the country. CBSU formed the hub around which the city grew up. It was a college town with a port, and so there was much commerce to be found, either in catering to the 30,000 students, or by engaging in some aspect of trade and shipping through the port. Colonial Bay is part of Historic Virginia, and has many landmarks that draw history-buffs and tourists from all over the country. Its mild Virginian climate, with southern hospitality, nice beaches, and White Marsh Battlefield Park, also draw many visitors in the summer months. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& poi -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- There are many points of interest in Colonial Bay. One is the Old Prison and The Light House across from the Colonial Bay Bridge. There is the science museum and art museum. Old cemetaries are always nice if you enjoy history. There is a large mall and amusement park by the boardwalk. Of Course Starguard facilities, while off limits, is a wonder to most people. Colonial Bay is home to Ming Street which boasts of one of the largest Chinese communities in the nation. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& characters -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]--------------------------- It is perfectly acceptable to play a tribute character out of the comic books, or to play one from one of the Champions source books PROVIDED THAT SUCH A CHARACTER IS NOT ALREADY IN PLAY. Player characters in play are listed under +DIR. Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in play are listed under +LIST. See the +HELP files for more information on these commands. For example: Suppose you want to play the Champions villain Ankylosaur. However, one of the GMs has used Ankylosaur as an NPC Villain. Sadly, you are out of luck. NPC Villains are part of the CM continuity and remain here permanently. Also Villains are no longer allowed. Also, please note that this MUSH has existed previously during the time of 1998-2000. Characters who existed in that time may not (except as allowed by the theme staff, usually as NPCs controlled by a GM) also exist in this time (although their children, grandchildren, apprentices, and grand-nephews are certainly allowed). The type of characters here on Champions MUSH can be very diverse. What we encourage is the RP of heroic ideals. These ideals and their execution could vary from player to player, character to character. One thing everyone should keep in mind is that we are all heroes. It is not the appearance of character that makes a hero or villain, but their actions. Therefore, Champions MUSH is pleased to allow all sorts of characters to explore heroics and heroism. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
& names -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Events ]-------------------------- There following types of names are NOT ALLOWED on CM: 1. Any name that would violate the Ground Rules (i.e. naming yourself a four-letter word or a pornographic name, etc). 2. Any name that would reasonably be considered offensive to a reasonable person (calling yourself "Hitler" might be offensive to Jewish people, for instance; calling yourself "Christ" might be offensive to Christians -- you get the idea). 3. Any name that is a slight variation on the name of a character who is already in play, or is an alias for a character already in play (for instance, calling yourself "The Dark Knight" when Batman is being played by someone else is unacceptable). Please be careful with this one. We suggest you use +FINGER to check all possible aliases if you choose to play an established comic book character. 4. You MAY NOT take the name of an NPC character. Make sure you +list/villains, +list/heroes, and +list/npcs to check the names of all established characters. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAW MENTAL
-------------------------[ Champions MUSH Theme ]--------------------------
Although psychic abilities such as telepathy, mind-control, etc. have
been proven to exist for decades, legislation regarding them is still
rather ambiguous, gappy, and sometimes contradictory.
However, a body of legal precedent has emerged that is generally
considered to have the force of law.
In practice this means three things:
1) Police and courts are empowered to arrest/convict mentalists for
psychic crimes.
2) They are not obligated to do so. In fact, they frequently look the
other way rather than get embroiled in the legal
complexities. Even when they do, sentencing is entirely at the
judge's discretion.
3) Evidence of psychic crimes committed during a criminal
investigation or trial will generally lead to a mistrial, or to
successful appeal of the court's ruling.
See EVENTS LAW MENTAL 2 for more details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAW MENTAL 2 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Theme ]-------------------------- Some things that AREN'T crimes: * Establishing a mental link is NOT a crime, even if unwelcome. However, it can be used as evidence of intent to commit such a crime, much like carrying a gun. (In game terms, this is a mindlink or a successful ECV roll. This also applies to attacks that fail to achieve their effect.) * Telepathic transmission is NOT a crime, even if unwelcome, as long as the effect is not unduly unpleasant, painful, dangerous or distracting. (In game terms: using telepathy to "send", some mental illusions, some other powers depending on SFX.) * Telepathic reception from a consenting target is NOT a crime, even if information is obtained that the target did not intend to reveal. * Mental influence of a consenting target is NOT a crime, AS LONG AS the influence is restricted to what the target agreed to. (For example, you could hire a mentalist to mind-control you to stop smoking, or to provide mental illusions of a Caribbean vacation.) See EVENTS LAW MENTAL 3 for more details. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAW MENTAL 3 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Theme ]-------------------------- Some things that ARE crimes: * Telepathic reception from an nonconsenting target IS a crime. (In game terms: using telepathy to "read", some Detects depending on SFX.) * Mental influence of a nonconsenting target IS a crime. This also applies to targets who consented to a different influence. (For example, agreeing to influence someone to stop smoking, then telling them to give you their wallet.) (In game terms: mind control, mental illusions, other powers depending on SFX) * Telepathic transmission of unpleasant, painful, dangerous or distracting signals IS a crime. (In game terms: some mental illusions, EGO Blast, some other powers depending on SFX.) In all these cases, the severity of the offense generally depends on the scope and intensity of the influence. Also, these things may be grounds for a civil suit. As with all consent laws, coerced consent does not count. See EVENTS LAW MENTAL 4 for more details. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAW MENTAL 4 -------------------------[ Champions MUSH Theme ]-------------------------- Additional notes about mentalists and the law: * It is generally known that targets of mental powers can often detect the effect, detect failed attempts, and identify the source of the power. Also, it is known that in many cases they cannot detect the effect at the time, but are aware of it afterwards. Reports to this effect are treated like eyewitness testimony. * In general, defendents are not convicted for acts performed under mental influence. However, the decision of guilt is ultimately up to the jury (and in some cases the judge). There is precedent for conviction, especially for acts the target was inclined to perform anyway. * The courts do not retain their own mentalists - too expensive. However, a mentalist can testify as to what they perceived with their abilities. For example, a mentalist might testify to reading the defendant's mind and confirming that she remembers events the way she described them in court. This is generally treated as expert testimony, just like a psychiatric evaluation or polygraph test. It is not common except when a lot of money or publicity is involved. * Modern technology can identify traces of mental influence on a target mind. Such scans are routinely used as evidence when mental powers are involved. Either attorney can demand at any time that all jurors and court officers be scanned. Evidence of such tampering is grounds for immediate mistrial. * An individual CANNOT be required by law to consent to telepathic examination, as this is a violation of their Fifth Ammendment rights. This ruling is challenged from time to time, usually by judges giving "search warrants" to telepaths in various criminal cases, but has been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
