The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
In Sveta's experience, there were two kinds of people who would turn down 'more money than god' in order to make the world a better place instead. Idealistic do-gooders like the X-men, and fanatics. She knew better than to try guessing which one Travis would turn out to be. But seriously, the guy had powerful magic at his hands, and a mission to follow. She watched him, eyes narrowed. At least he was a cop, not a cult leader?
>>”Wanna try, or see anyone else?”
"Nah, thanks" She shook her head. "But it really is impressive. Does it... wear off after a while, or can you just walk around with the key in your chest until you get bored of it?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Sveta named the first person that came to her mind. It was an odd choice, but hey, she'd had a long day already. Travis rolled with it, putting the key into his own chest, and transforming into the goddamn queen of goddamn England in a flash of light.
Sveta stared, then downed the rest of her beer.
"Yeah, that's not freaky at all..."
He... turned into a different person. Again, Sveta had seen stuff like this from mutants, but for someone to do that with magic...
>>”It changes the person down to the genetic level, but it does not change the essential nature of a person. Those who can use magic can still use magic, those with mutations still have their mutations, and those who lack either ability still find themselves lacking.”
"Alright, let me get this straight." Sveta leaned on her elbows on the counter. "You can just... turn yourself into anyone, by magically altering your genetics. Or someone else's. Damn. There are like... a dozen occupations where you could make bank with this trick."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
As much as the detective seemed like the stereotypical American cop, he did seem to enjoy showing off his magic powers. That was a marked difference for Sveta. Mutants (including herself) spent so much time hiding their powers from people, one rarely ever saw them genuinely showing off what they could do, without fear of it backfiring on them. Magicians... they were different. They chose and learned their powers. They picked what they could do. They had no shame about it.
>>”I can do bigger. I can’t do bigger fire, but I can do bigger. Describe someone. As detailed as you can be. Build, colorations, height, sex. Hell rings size even, if you want.”
Sveta had refused to do the key thing, but he seemed intent on showing it anyway. She arched an eyebrow, leaning back, and gave him a thoughtful look.
"Anyone?" she ventured. She had no idea what was about to happen, so she didn't really want to bring a personal friend into it. "Queen of England."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
>>”The nerds in my high school said magic tricks got them the girls. Don’t remember them getting many dates though.”
"The magic trick is making them disappear from your vicinity" Sveta grinned, sipping her beer. She watched intently as Travis drew magic signs, whatever they were, and then set a piece of paper on fire. Sure, it would have been easier to use a lighter... but the implications were very serious. She gave him an appreciative nod.
>>”I was a philosophy major and as a philosophy major I did the totally normal thing of going into literally any other career because how many philosophers do you know? As for why MRC… I guess Normative ethics just stuck with me. Especially Utilitariaism. The act that creates the greatest happiness for the greatest number is the right act. My being a Detective means I can act to protect the greatest number of people. Work long term cases instead of just a beat.”
"So you wanted to do good. Nerd." She grinned. Long or short, he was a detective because he believed he was doing good in his job. Even if it was in a weird way. If anyone, Sveta understood doing good in a shady way. She glanced at the signs again. "It's still weird. I've seen mutants do things much bigger than that... but you are not a mutant. It's a whole different kind of power."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
>>”That’s partly how it was… Do you have paper and a pen? Maybe cardboard and a knife? I can show you how easy it was.”
"You just wanna show a girl a magic trick." Sveta grinned, but she did walk to a drawer and got a pen and a note pad. Wizards were nerds, and no one could tell her otherwise. She still did not fully trust Travis, which made poking at him more fun. Maybe she'd poke something loose.
>>”I studied philosophy at NYU. As part of this I was exposed to philosophies from all throughout history. This included the enlightenment and Alchemy as well as a study into religions both mythical and modern. The Ripley scroll is a fascinating document that more or less focused my… magical study once I found I could.”
"You were a philosophy major?" Sveta blinked at him incredulously. That was... not at all what she had pictured for someone who had the death wish of being a detective in New York City "How the hell did you end up with the MRC?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Luckily, Travis did not push the idea of putting a key... into someone. Sveta was not sure she even wanted to know what he meant.
>>”That’s fair. It was a big ask. The point was to show you that the magic—which interacts with genetics—does not and cannot affect the x-gene.”
Does not, sure. Cannot... that remained to be seen. Wouldn't be a big leap, if the detective put his mind to it.
>>”Yes, I make them myself. No musical crafting circle involved. It takes a lot of study and a lot of trial and error to craft these. I have a library full of ancient cultures’ signs, sigils, runes, and texts on alchemy from the Enlightenment. I design the enchantment with the symbols and then engrave them into the objects to give them power.”
"So, you're a nerd" Sveta smirked at him, sipping more of her beer. A magical nerd. GO figure. Sounded like a whole lot of study and work, to give an object the right magical power. "You know, with my people" she gave him a pointed look "Everyone has a story about how their powers manifested. Some are... more dramatic than others. And you just... what, doodled a sigil one day, and boom magic?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
>>”I remember the fight. And I can tell you I wasn’t messing with your powers.”
Sveta sighed, hanging her head as she rested her elbows on the counter. Sure. This was how it was gonna go then. Just because they took out some goons together didn't mean the detective would trust her any more. TO be fair, the feeling was mutual.
He emptied his pockets.
>>”Here’s everything. I’ll even show you what everything does… Here. That key is what you want. Take it, imagine someone, a human not some animal, and then place the key against one of us and when it enters, turn it… Well first, pull a few hairs from the person. Hell, even imagine a power with it. See what happens.”
"Yeah, no" she shook her head, drinking more beer instead. "I'm not putting anything into anyone." Hair or no hair. She'd had enough freaky magic for one day. "So, you make these? Just... what, trial and error? Or do you have some magic crafting circle going?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
>>”I was an officer when I discovered I could use magic. Just a beat cop. I was later promoted and moved to MRC because I was good at my job."
So, the magic came first, and then the MRC. She believed he was telling the truth there, at least. She was not sure about him 'discovering' his magical abilities, but that was a discussion for a later time.
>>"My record is solid. I won’t argue that having the clothes someone, even a mutant, is wearing restrain them makes the job a lot easier. It also helps when those who were victimized can miraculously not bleed out before they reach the hospital. My magic is used to help people.”
"Oh, I'm sure it is" Sveta smirked. Everyone always said that. She'd heard it from SUPER, she'd heard it from the Sanctuary, she'd heard it from the goddamn Matchmaker. The thing was, though, a lot of those times the help was not actual help...
"Look, detective, I fought you, remember?" she pointed out, tilting her bottle of beer at him "You can't tell me you weren't messing with my powers. Or that the knife and the keys are the only things you have. Everyone I've met over the years... MRC, SUPER, you name it... everyone had the best tech, the best assets, the best adapteds, the best whatever, to put up a fight against an out of control mutant. It would make sense that you do too."
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Sveta was convinced he was not telling her the whole truth, but at least he was not flat out denying the fact that he dealt in magic.
>>”Yes. I can make a few trinkets that help me in my work. No, MRC does not know. Mystics aren’t exactly common knowledge. Walking in and announcing I’m Samuel the White won’t accomplish much more than to get me sent to a shrink."
"If I were you, I'd not call myself that in this neighborhood." Sveta smirked at him over the counter. He was right, mystics were not common knowledge. She was only beginning to put the pieces together herself. She knew more since having met Hercules, but only barely. She took a swig from her beer, looking at the keys and the knife.
>>"As for telling you, most likely no. We have a business arrangement. My ability to make a knife that makes people’s clothes arrest them or a key that gives me more time to take someone to a hospital aren’t exactly germane.”
"Now see, that's where you are wrong." she looked up at him. "You are not some guy with a weird crafting hobby. I don't know much, but I do know that as a mystic, you have to get your powers. Intentionally." She tilted her head. "So, how did that go down? Got tired of chasing down mutants, and decided to level the playing field?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Sveta frowned. It had been a rhetorical question. And now he was lying. She picked up the other beer, and held the ice pack to her jaw. "I don't believe you."
>>”Look. Here’s what I have. Add the knife and that’s my whole bag of tricks.”
She looked at the keys. She noted the symbols, similar to the ones on the knife. She pulled the knife from her belt and put it on the counter as well. "Dat's not really a bag. More like a purse." she smirked, looking up at him. "But you're still a mystic. Were you planning on telling me that?... Does the MRC know?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
The window opened to the fire escape, and the brick firewall of the building on the opposite side of the alley. It wasn't exactly a great view, but it did provide a second way out of the apartment. Whenever the grates on the window weren't locked, anyway.
Sveta fished two beers out of the fridge and opened them, then opened up the freezer part and pulled out two packs of ice, stored for a similar occasion. She placed all of them on the counter, before walking to the sink to wash her mouth out. There was still blood between her teeth. She might get a black eye from this. Damn.
Spitting the bloody water out, she wiped her mouth, and pulled off her sweater, which was torn and bloody in several places. The tank top was still in decent shape, at least. She also pulled off the torn gloves. The detective was clearly not a mutant.
"So... if I looked into your... what was it, bag of tricks? I wouldn't find any magic toys that mess with mutant powers, would I?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Sveta rolled her eyes at the school reference. Getting that was basically the extent of her pop culture knowledge. And her knowledge of actual magic wasn't much more extensive either. The idea of an armadillo in a wizard hat was amusing, though.
>>”No owl is bringing me a letter, I don’t have some wand to swish and flick around. I have a magic knife. A knife that makes apprehending criminals easier.”
"You hear yourself, right?" Sveta turned as they reached the landing to the apartment door. She fiddled with the keys and opened it. Magic wand, indeed. The guy had a knife that he used to catch criminals.
The studio apartment was small; basically a corner kitchenette, a living room with a pull-out couch, and a bathroom at the end. Sveta closed the door behind them and headed to the kitchen to open the fridge. "Beer? Ice pack?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
They were in agreement about the apartment. Good. The conversation was going to take some time.
>> ”Scuffed up a little. Nothing serious. I’ve had worse from training.”
"Ah" Sveta smirked, pulling some keys from her pocket and opening the back door of the apartment building. The apartment was two floors up, but she never trusted the clunky elevator, so she headed for the stairs. "And was that in detective training, or wizarding school?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
"Well, I'm not taking you back to Haven" Sveta noted, tucking the knife away into her belt. The two of them walking in, battle worn as they were, would raise a lot of eyebrows at headquarters. "I have an... apartment nearby. Fridge stocked."
It was a safehouse. Not one of the safehouses Haven regularly used; she had rented the tiny studio recently. For cases like this one. Travis did not need to know the locations of the others, if she could help it.
It was a short walk from the diner, down an alley and around a corner or two. Luckily, they did not really run into people who would have inquired why Sveta had blood on her face and tears in her clothes and gloves. She took stock as they went; she would have bruises, not nothing hurt too bad. She glanced at Travis over her shoulder. "You injured?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Lucky for Sveta, the detective was not a straight-laced as he could have been. Proven by the fact that they had made a deal at all, and also currently by him not calling the cops on the many goons who were down. Shady. Sveta knew they would be better off arrested. But it was not her problem, and she did not have the bandwidth to deal with it anyway.
Travis asked for his knife, and Sveta smirked, shaking her head as she walked away, stepping over the goons.
"Ah-ah, detective. I'm not done asking questions yet. You hungry?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!