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.
Site adaptation by Sen, Lix, and Tempest. <3
Whacking at Things Makes Everything Better (Hunte)
Kai took the offered opening and came in with a fast and low attack aimed for his knee. Hunter was impressed that he was keeping his cool rather than making rash and foolish attacks. He didn’t compromise his guard and was analysing and going for weak spots. Hunter’s attack had opened a gap in his guard and Kai was aiming for it.
To counter he didn’t bring his staff down to guard. Instead he kicked out at the incoming staff. Meeting force with force would be better than just getting whacked in the knee. While doing this Hunter also stuck out with his staff again aiming of another strong tap on Kai’s head. With his staff committed low it wouldn’t be easy to block a high attack.
Curses! He thought as Hunter tapped his skull, yet again. It hurt!
It was one too many times. Kai finally lost his cool and began hack and whacking with his staff, not caring whether he hit Hunter or the wall or whatever else might be around. His furry of hitting and swinging may not be particularly productive- though maybe unpredictable was the key with this guy… but it certainly was making him feel a lot better to release all of that frustration.
One tap to the noggin too many and Kai seemed to lose it. Any composure, elegance or form went straight out of the window. Instead wild thrashing of his staff in Hunter’s general direction became the boy’s method of attack.
Hunter simply went on the defensive, watching carefully and blocking each attack as they came. Some came a lot closer than others to actually hitting him. There was no rhyme or reason to the assault and had Hunter been any slower there were more than a few of those swings that would have made contact.
While he might have been able to slip an attack through the plethora of wild swings there was no need. It was a lot less effort to defend against Kai’s attacks than it was for the boy to throw them. Hunter was actually pushed back across the mat under Kai’s mad assault. He was content to simply retreat in a circle round and round blocking until the boy ran out of steam.
Finally, Kai lowered his weapon, having tired himself out with all his mad swingings. He now felt rather foolish for losing his cool.
"I'm sorry," he panted. "I didn't mean to lose it like that. I know its just... practice, or whatever."
He trailed off, eyes still locked on Hunter. While he felt foolish to the uncoordinated attack, he still didn't trust the mutant in battle. He'd proven tricky once already when Kai had let his guard down. He really didn't plan on repeating that mistake, but rather took up a proper stance once again. Just in case.
Hunter dropped his stance planting the staff butt in the ground and smiled at Kai. “Losing your cool is fine,” he assured the young mutant, “So long as it’s in the training room. Were this a real battle attacking with reckless anger is a good way to get yourself killed.”
“Now can you tell me why I managed to knock you on the head a few times and you didn’t?” he asked, probing Kai into analysing the little sparring session and work out how Hunter had bested him, “And if you answer ‘Because I’m better, stronger, faster’ I’m going to give you another lump.” He warned with a light hearted scowl. While they were true reasons he wanted Kai to work out how Hunter was better, not simply that he was. It was the how that would help Kai improve.
The only thing that was missing was for Hunter to call him “grasshopper.” What was this crazy notion of making a student come up with the answers without providing any insight of their own or hints of his wisdom. How was he supposed to learn anything? If he could teach himself, he would have.
“Uhh...” he rolled his eyes, “I got distracted. Or predictable or something. I’m actually not really sure, because I honestly think it’s because you’re more practiced than I am.” He flinched and raised his staff, not sure if that lump was warranted now or not. He fidgeted a little more, then answered more truthfully and sincerely. “Well, and I also wasn’t expecting you to keep trying the same thing. Is that right?”
“All you’ve said is correct,” Hunter told the boy with a smile, “I’ve had much more practise, you allowed yourself to be distracted and I did things that you did not expect. Getting the practise is easy. You can train with me and you’re skills will improve with time. Not be distracted is harder as that will require you to develop your mental discipline.”
“Doing the unexpected is the hardest of all. To be unexpected it is best to know what your opponent is expecting so you can do the opposite. You can either gain years of experience in how fights go to learn the most common tactics and counters or you can benefit from my experience,” he told Kai with a smile.
“For example have you ever met someone who simply does the same attack over and over?” he asked with a sly grin, “There was a judoka in Britain who learned just six moves. What he did was learn how to do all six moves instinctively without thinking. This made him faster at those moves than anyone else in the world. Armed with his six moves, most of which came from the same opening, he went on to win every tournament he entered for years. During that time the Japanese got a hold of the tape of almost every fight he had and studied it carefully. They then trained their competitors how the Brit fought. Knowing what the man would do in what situation they devised the perfect counters.” He hoped Kai would understand what he was trying to illustrate with the story.
Kai relaxed a little and leaned on his staff, he imagined getting really good at just a few moves and decided that the idea appealed to him. He still had one question, though. “Did those people find out how to defeat him, then? Or is it worth it to train in that way- so that it becomes second nature or pure instinct?”
He wondered idly if that was the way Hunter had learned. Meh, not important enough to ask. “So where do we start, then? Oh wise teacher?” he bowed his head to show that, while he was poking a little fun at him, he meant no real disrespect to him. He was eager to learn and accepted Hunter’s superior knowledge and skill.
And to think, he’d thought that he was actually pretty good with a staff! He could certainly give his brother a good whack on the head when it was warranted. His form was probably terrible- now that he imagined everything that could have gone wrong, Kai was suddenly hit with a disturbing thought. What if I have to un-learn everything that I’ve done with the staff so far? Will that put me back?
“The Japanese did manage to defeat him,” Hunter told the boy, “But only because they spent days pouring over footage of his fights and months training to beat him. Learning a small set off moves to perfection is certainly a good way to fight but it is susceptible to being countered if properly studied. In competitions that can happen. In the real world, unless you keep running into the same person over and over again it is very effective.”
He could tell that Kai wanted to learn the method of a few perfected techniques. The boys ears practically pricked up when he heard about it. Hunter just wanted to make sure that he knew that the method wasn’t infallible.
“So let’s work on your repertoire of moves that you’ll master,” he said with a smile, “I can tell you now though that this is not going to be as interesting as simply sparring. You are going to have to repeat the same action over and over again in sessions possibly for weeks until it becomes instinctual. It will be boring but you have to remain focused on what you are doing.”
Warning given Hunter went over to a storeroom in the far wall and pulled up a dummy. Placing it so it stood in the centre of the mat he stood opposite it. “Now watch for the first move,” he instructed, “Stand with your legs shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. Grip the centre of the staff with your right hand like this and place you left hand a quarter of the length down.” He took the stance that would be the basis of Kai’s techniques. “Every move you learn will come from here. They will also come from the same starting movement to make it harder for an opponent to guess your next attack. This is the movement that will start every attack.” Hunter stepped forward with his right foot and started to swing the staff about shoulder high at the dummy.
“From that stance and movement we’ll develop five or six techniques. The first one it a simply temple strike,” he said. Stepping forward and swinging the staff as before he continued the movement whipping the end up and into the dummy’s temple. “That was about half speed. This is the technique at full speed.” Taking up the stance as before Hunter seemed to dart forward and the staff snapped into the dummy’s temple. There was little doubt that would leave a person unconscious. “Now you try.”
His eyes were glued to Hunter, flashing between his hands, staff, and feet to make sure that he cemented every movement into his head. He observed and absorbed as much as he could of the basic stance that he would return to. Unbeknownst to him, he was crouching and moving his hands, mimicking Hunter the whole while he was explaining what to do.
Kai jumped a little bit when Hunter hit the dummy. It made a surprisingly loud whacking sound for only ‘half speed.’ And his accuracy! It was amazing. That blow would certainly drop a man, or at least give him a really bad headache.
His turn came. “Okay,” he took his position in front of the dummy and took special care to set his feet and hands right. He tried his best to balance in just the perfect way, then- Swing! He let his staff fly. Accuracy, he thought the whole way as the wood arched through the air towards the dummy.
The resulting whack was satisfying, but he noted that he’d hit the dummy somewhere around the collar bone, not the temple. “Shoot, can I try that again?” He was determined to get this right.
“No,” Hunter said with a mock scowl, “No you may not try again, In my training sessions I expect you to get everything right first time.” The scowl evaporated as he broke into a smile to show Kai he was joking. “Of course you can try again. If you got it first time you wouldn’t be here for training would you?”
“Now a few pointers. Your right hand is the power, controls the force and general direction of the blow. Your left hand is the fine control. The left hand makes the small adjustments that give you the accuracy you need. Have another go,” he urged the boy. Kai’s first blow had power but not accuracy. Hopefully this one would be a little better.
Kai’s shoulders slumped and his face contorted into what would be deemed a ‘pout’ on a lesser man. Then Hunter smiled- apparently he had been joking. Dang it, I’m such an easy target for that kind of stuff; no notion of sarcasm.
He was kind of baffled at the differences between the left and right hands (who knew?), but revered them in a new way once Hunter had explained it to him. Receiving the green light, he lashed forward again. His mind was thinking of all the fine details of the strike, the exact right position for everything. It made him slower, but this time his efforts for accuracy were rewarded as the end of his staff tapped the dummy on the temple.
“Yes!” He proclaimed his triumph, then commented in wonder, “I never imagined that there would be so much thinking involved…”
Hunter watched as Kai took his time and made a more accurate but less powerful strike. “There is a lot of thinking that goes into martial arts,” he told the boy, “but most of that is done in the training. By the time you face someone for real most of the thinking should now be instinct. That is the true sign of a master, when you no longer need to think about the moves that you are doing but simply do them.”
“Keep going,” he urged, “Try ten strikes in a row and take care for them to all hit the same spot. Don’t worry about the speed, that will come with time.” They would slowly pick up speed as Kai became surer with his accuracy.
Kai obeyed, striking at the mannequin ten times in a row, the same motion. Strike and back. Strike! And back. His focus wavered from time to time, leading to a less accurate blow which he was sure to fix on the next swing. After only ten he could already feel when he was getting it more or less right and when he was missing it. This was also accompanied by the aching in various places of his body. The more he did the motion right, the more his legs and arms ached in the same place.
Strikes completed, he came back to the resting position and waited. “Uh, I guess sore muscles are what it takes to build muscle memory, huh?”
“Sore muscles are the body’s way of telling you that you’re working hard,” Hunter said with a smile. With his powers active his body produced much less lactic acid and so he’d only recently discovered human fatigue levels. The first time he ached after a sparring session he was sure he was doing something wrong. Now he was used to powering through the burn.
“You are improving though,” he assured the Kai, “Now another ten but try and pick up the pace a little. Don’t sacfirice accuracy though. If you start missing slow it back down.” What Hunter was most curious about was not if the boy would get the technique but how long could he stand to repeat the same exercise over and over again.