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 Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
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.
Noel read and reread the note before handing it off to the blonde next to her.
Dear Noel, Thank you for your concern, but your presence is unwarranted. This is not a date. Enjoy the ice cream. Susan
The agent stood and stretched before moseying over to the bar and paying her tab that included the girl's drink. She picked up another bowl and spoon while she was at it. "Should we introduce ourselves? Doesn't have to be a spectacle, just a 'Oh, hi. This is so much a date that it isn't funny.' kind of thing." As lovely as it would have been to claim innocence, the taste would not be worth the lie.
It sucked to be found out. She had been so sure that Susan had missed seeing her too with her not-so-sneaky ducking.
The ice cream was split into two receptacles and half offered to the memorymancer's parter in spy. It was as much her humble pie ice cream as Noel's.
Katrina read the note. Yup, they had been discovered. Oops.
In hindsight, it might have been better to play invisible than duck behind a plant. The next time she was spying she would remember this.
“I suppose we should go over and say hi, since they already know we're here. Then if they want to continue their non-date I suppose we could leave them in privacy.”
"You need a ride or anything?" It was beyond Noel how these mutant kids always got around town. Seemed they were in and out of trouble all the time. Apparently a good portion of their tagged mutants were kids. Orphans and ragamuffins. Katrina looked a bit too well kept to be one of those, but it didn't hurt to offer up her resources.
She held open the heavy restaurant door and the maître d' seemed all too pleased to see them go.
Tomorrow, good. Very well then. Katrina nodded to Slate on her way out. She avoided the gaze of the restaurant fancy pants door guard. She looked up curiously at the Noel's offer to give her a ride.
She didn't drive a big white van without any windows, did she?
Regardless, “I've got a ride already, thanks,” with her ninja spies.
They were through the revolving door and then it was time for explanations. All three of the penguin suited men who had up until that point been aggravating the newsstand attendant by reading every magazine he owned without actually buying anything rushed over like school girls in pursuit of a fresh rumor. They didn't seem to mind that Noel was there much. Artemis at least bowed his head to acknowledge her presence before sidling up next to the little illusionist.
“So, what happened?” Percy finally blurted.
Nigel, back in his normal attire slipped up behind them with an amused expression on his face.
“First,” Katrina announced, “this is Noel. Noel, this is Percy, Artemis, Edward, and Nigel.” She pointed to each of them in turn.
Blink. "You weren't kidding about the ninja army." She should have known that given that the girl's words were like butter: smooth and oh so tasty.
She nodded to each ninja in turn and tried to keep their names straight in her head. They all had rather wussy names so it was harder than it should have been. Not that the men themselves were wussy. Oh no. Secret ninjas likely had something up their sleeves be they human ninjas or or mutant ninjas. Noel tried not to feel surrounded.
"Nice to meet you." Because if it wasn't nice, she was likely in trouble here.
Introductions had been had, and that meant the men would be wanting their juicy details. Katrina was completely oblivious to any discomfort Noel might be feeling, suddenly finding herself surrounded. And completely oblivious to the fact that Edward was sizing up their new acquaintance, trying to determine whether or not she was dangerous. She was too distracted by Percy's ever so slight bouncing.
“So, you four will have to help us figure out something,” Katrina announced. “Slate came here with a girl, to a fancy restaurant and both of them are wearing fancy clothes. Noel was spying on the girl and I was spying on Slate. That's how we met, by the way. Anyway, they found us out and both of them swore that it wasn't a date.” Katrina raised an eyebrow questioningly, “What do you think?”
“Date,” Percy immediately answered.
A spy huh? “Date,” Edward confirmed, though the way he was looking at Noel, it almost sounded more like an offer.
Nigel “Hmm”ed quietly and non-committally.
Artemis put his finger to his chin, then replied, “I suppose that two people who are simply friends could...” Percy's elbow to his ribs cut off his answer.
“It's unanimous, then. He's never going to live this one down,” Percy's eyes glimmered mischievously. One could tell, simply by looking at him, that he was already planning how to tell everyone back at the labs.
Katrina nodded, in agreement with Percy. If they all thought it was a date, too, then it probably definitely was.
Artemis shook his head and rolled his eyes, “In either case, we should head back.”
“You don't think Slate will need someone to drive that car he took, do you?” Percy's voice was hopeful. He wanted to see for himself this dressed up girl Slate was bringing all around the town. A single shake of the head from Nigel, though, and that idea was quashed.
Edward leaned towards Noel, “How about you, do you need a ride?”
She shrugged under their gazes. Was she spying tonight? "Guilty." The memorymancer stuffed her hands into her pockets and used her hunched shoulders to shrug. Yeah... that hadn't been the most valiant thing she'd done all year, but she had been worried and curious about another psychic. Noel nudged a rock with her toe as she listened to the repartee.
They all talked familiarly about the 3 year old company commander. They were his... friends? Snoopy employees? Parents? No doubt about it, if they knew him well enough to tease they had to be in close contact with the boy. She could potentially learn more about him through them.
So when they asked if she needed a ride... "Need? No, but if you wouldn't mind..." Maybe she could glean a little bit more from just listening.
Also, there was one thing she was just a little worried about that they had mentioned. "Can he drive? He's only 3..." Not that they wouldn't know that and not that she wanted to endanger her wall-blending and intense listening strategy, but her acquaintance was going to get into that car. She had made the phone directory and not yet left her actual memory. It would be a real shame for someone she actually remembered to die just because she hadn't asked a simple question.
Edward nodded appreciatively at Noel's admission. He most assuredly approved of spies.
Nigel fielded the question about Slate's driving before any of the other three guards could. “Of course he can,” technically it was the truth; after all, he had driven here. He just wouldn't be borrowing any of Nigel's personal cars until it was made absolutely certain that the boy had a real license and a hundred or more hours of actual behind the wheel practice as opposed to the training Nigel suspected the boy had, which was reading the manual in the glove compartment or some book in the library. Really, he'd be more comfortable if someone else drove Slate, but from what he had seen in the restaurant, a chauffeur and chaperone was the last thing the young CEO wanted this evening. Right after pair a of female spies, that was.
“But,” Nigel kicked Artemis's ankle to shut him up.
Katrina looked up at him with big eyes. She didn't think Slate did have a driver's license, and she would be most upset if anything happened to him.
Nigel sighed, “Alright, fine. I'll double check.” He rolled his eyes, flipped open his cell phone and stepped behind the corner of the building for privacy. He didn't actually dial anything on the phone, though. He didn't need to.
Sorry to interrupt, sir, but do you need someone to drive you home? ... I believe Miss Katrina's mind would be put at ease if she knew someone with a driver's license would be bringing you home tonight. ... “So,” Edward began as Nigel disappeared to make his 'call', “What do you like to do in your spare time, when you aren't spying, that is?”
Katrina gave Edward a funny look. What was he trying to do, by pulling Noel away from everyone else like that? She didn't find out, though, because Percy distracted her by poking her in the ribs.
“More details, kiddo,” he demanded, “What kind of fancy stuff were they wearing? What foods did they order? What did they talk about, before they knew anyone was watching?”
Artemis just shook his head and went back to the magazine stand. He'd only gotten about halfway through an article in the Science Journal about the new telescope that was going to be installed on the Hubble Space Station next month.
It made Noel feel better and worse that they had to check on the kid's driving ability. If the people who knew him the best were kicking each other and shifting glances around the group... Noel smiled and nodded To Nigel. Not that he needed the prompting to go off and talk on his phone. From the way this group was interacting he was the leader...
> “So, what do you like to do in your spare time, when you aren't spying, that is?”
"Slay vampires." Her delivery was impeccable. Was she serious? Or kidding? Noel regretted that one almost immediately and it showed. It tasted sort of sardine-y. Yuck. Truth be told, she'd never met one and were of the opinion that they did not exist, but it was the first thing that came to mind. "Augh. Kidding." Gross! She needed some sweet truth. Fast.
No, actually I work in collections for the Federal Government." Technically... she did. Her division was collecting data on trouble mutants. It was a default answer she'd been fed to use if asked. Her suit jacket did wonders for hiding her sidearm too. She made for a nice, mild mannered paper pusher if you weren't looking too hard.
Nicely dodged, madame. Nicely dodged. She gave herself a mental high five for that one. There was no point in trying to flirt. Flirting and joking tasted like gross and getting involved with someone was just plain painful for both parties. Best to just fade away into ambiguity... after collecting a bit on mister 3 year old. "You?"
Edward swallowed really hard and tried to keep his eyes from bulging out. Behind his magazine, Artemis coughed. Percy looked up for a moment before turning back to Katrina with a only-half listening, “and then what?”
Just kidding. She wasn't really a vampire slayer.
Edward recovered from his shock with a smooth smile, “Oh, you mean you LARP a slayer?” But she was already contradicting herself with her true hobby, or job, as it were. “Oh, uh, I guess the feds are cool, too,” especially the FBI. Not that he suspected anything like that from Noel, or anything. And forget he'd mentioned LARPing, that was not an important detail at all. “So what do you do for the feds? Hunt down people who haven't paid their taxes?”
Katrina just kept chatting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She was now describing, in exact detail and absolutely no scorn, what Susan's dress had looked like. Percy just kept nodding, though his attention was not as rapt as it had been a moment before. There was nothing quite like a mention of slaying vampires to catch a guy's attention. Especially in this group.
Almost all of them reacted when she mentioned slaying a vampire. An idea was slowly forming in her mind about Slate... Why was he three? There was only one thing that could explain him looking older and being younger. A second birth. Or maybe a first death... Yep. An idea was definitely forming. Slate... was a vampire. He even had pasty skin.
While that theory was percolating, another surfaced. "What's LARPing? What you do for fun?" Since he had asked her what she did for fun.
> “So what do you do for the feds? Hunt down people who haven't paid their taxes?”
She shrugged. "Kind of, but not really." Hunting people? Yes. Due to tax evasion? Not really. "A little hazardous a lot of fun." Could she impress a guy by flexing her muscles? Probably not, but her job did sounds kind of grungy glam.
"So how'd you like working for a vampire?" Well? It was worth a shot asking. The worst they could do was make fun of her for believing in something quite imaginary.
Ah, ahem, yes, LARPing. Edward cleared his throat. Well, since she asked, “LARP stands for Live Action Role Play.” How did one describe that to a lay person? “Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?” No, better way; Edward shook his hands to clear the air, “Never mind, that. It's a lot like improv theatre combined with slow motion sword fighting. You make up a fantasy character and then become that character through costuming and acting. Different characters,” he waved his arms to indicate that he meant the other two men present, “interact with each other and go on missions and battle enemies and the like.”
Artemis simply raised his eyebrows over his magazine. He wasn't going to point out that what Edward had just described was, in fewer words, grown up playing pretend.
Katrina wasn't so tactful. She had listened to the explanation and liked things boiled down. “Like playing pretend,” she added helpfully, after finished her description of Slate's gelled hairdo. She didn't like the gelled look on him or Calley. It made their hair crunchy and unnatural looking, like taking a labrador and trying to make it look like a poodle.
Edward sighed, “Yes, Katrina, kind of. It's a little more sophisticated than that though. There are rules and such.” He turned back to Noel, “Maybe you'd like to try it some time?”
Artemis coughed into his magazine and Percy turned back to Kat with a really unimportant question about Japanese ice cream flavors. For Edward to ask someone to try LARPing with them... that was something that didn't happen ever.
Aaaand she wanted to hear more about vampire's too. Noel had a real knack for picking out the topics that people weren't perhaps so keen on explaining. It was a very sticky topic for several reasons, one of the key ones being that Slate had inherited a lot of Hunter's business, both the dirty and the clean sides of it, and they weren't supposed to, couldn't really, give away those secrets.
“Very clever,” Edward teased, trying to keep vampire talk light hearted, as if that was all just pretend as well. “Well, any employer has their quirks,” Edward side stepped the question as delicately as he could, “some are just a little stranger than others.” He shrugged, “Honestly, though, I enjoy my job. Almost always have.” There had been a slight blip when a certain speedster had been in charge when it had really sucked, in a completely non-vampiric way, to work at Mondragon Labs. That was all in the past now, though.
Dungeons and dragons? Wasn't that like when nerds got together and wore costumes and sipped on Mtn. Dew and talked about orcs and stuff? She wasn't entirely down with that but... interacting with others, missions and enemies. "That kind of sounds like my job."
The memorymancer shrugged at Katrina's helpfulness. No, really. It was helpful. "Pretend isn't so bad." She did it everyday talking with people she should know but didn't. Somedays she apparently didn't even bother to pretend... [/color]"So long as I wouldn't have to dress up, I might actually be interested."[/color] And that was the mac and cheese tasting truth. Yum.
Despite the coughing and general 'yeah right' vibe she got from the group, Noel was sincere. "You don't think I'm telling the truth?" Well that was a twist of fate. An unpleasant one that made her feel huffy and defiant. "We could go LARP right now if you wanted to." So long as they explained those rules first...
And since she had yet to discern whether vampires existed and/or whether these fine gentlemen were employed by one, she might as well. Besides. If it was dumb she could always back out or forget it.
Hoho! At least three pairs of eyes lit up. A fourth, younger, pair simply looked intrigued.
“I'd like to try as well,” Katrina announced. Not that she had been listening in, or anything like that.
Edward turned to Artemis with a gleam in his eye, “Do you have blank character sheets with you?”
“But of course,” responded the habitual elven archer with a flourish of his astronomy magazine and a deep bow.
“And foam weapons?” This time Edward's question was aimed at Percy.
“Indeed,” answered the Paladin. They were in the trunk. He had foam swords, foam daggers, and even a foam shield. All were cleverly camouflaged beneath his sniper riffle, grenade launcher, and small collection of hand guns.
“Then, too the park!” Edward pointed dramatically, forgetting for a moment that he was trying his best to look 'cool' to impress the ladies. One lady in particular.
It took but a few moments of discussion to determine who had to drive and who got to write up the character sheets. They decided by the only fair method: a dice roll. Edward lost, which meant he was driver. He was slightly consoled by the fact that Noel ended up sitting shotgun. By virtue of being the smallest, Katrina sat in the middle seat between Percy and Artemis. As they drove, Edward explained the most basic rules to the two girls, speaking above the clatter of dice into a shoe box and the frantic scribbling of pencils.
“Basically you start with a story idea. Everyone is a different character in the story, and has a character sheet describing what their character can do. One of those two,” Edward jerked his thumb toward the backseat, “will be judge. He'll keep track of the numbers and everything. You don't worry about it. If there are battles in the story line, we'll use step combat. That means everything will be in kind of slow motion. Every round of these battles, you'll get to take one step and do one action. An action might be something like swinging your sword towards an enemy or trying to block an enemy attack. Between each round the judge will help to determine whether your attack hit or missed as well as how much damage it did. That's the numbers part that you don't have to worry too much about. Got it?”
Katrina nodded solemnly from the backseat.
“Haha! A twenty!” exclaimed Percy, not paying any attention at all to Edward. --
Nigel Banks stepped back around the corner of the restaurant. “Slate said...” He was just in time to see the Lab's dark jeep pull around the corner and out of sight. Huh.