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.
The eyes were a giveaway and Zinn stepped back, her hands reaching for her pockets where the latex gloves were housed. There was almost no research on transmissible mutant-only germs and illnesses, but she had no interest in being a case study in some textbook published down the road. She had barely slipped the first glove on when a girl screamed and the redhead, Ty, struggled to his feet with the help of the offending branch to assist. Suddenly he was swinging it a A-Hole, who initially tried to deflect, then stopped and stared, looking a little stunned. Then A-Hole snapped at Ty and started heading for the scuffle between man and child.
Zinn did what any self-respecting adult from an emergency services background would do. She called 911. From the look of things she may not have been the only one. There were several other adults with phones suddenly in their hands, equal parts filming the scuffle (for evidence!) and describing the scene into their mouthpieces. After her quick explanation to the operator and confirmation that someone was already dispatched she slipped her phone into her pocket and surveyed the scene. One man, one child, in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded park. It was surely the most stupid place to try for a kidnapping. But still, smart and kidnapper weren’t synonymous in her mind.
“Hey!” She shouted out across the distance separating them, all too aware of how many of the people surrounding them might have weapons, guns, knives, mutations. The beautiful day in the park seemed suddenly tainted.
“If you’re her dad then let’s hear some proof. What’s her name? Date of birth? What’s her mother’s name? Her teacher?” She fired the questions off in fast succession. She didn’t need answers, she just needed to distract him until either the guys could restrain him or the cops arrived. Whichever came first. She kept a keen eye on the girl too. If she truly was this man’s daughter and was playing a prank, or trying to run away Zinn wanted to know where she was headed. The cops deserved as much information as she could give them.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Sirens always wailed in the distance. This was New York.
He sat and she was close enough now to glance at both eyes – both the same size irises and he seemed to be focussing on her face well enough. She turned her attention to the walker who ignored the plight of his fellow man entirely. Exasperated she called after him.
“Thanks for your help A-hole.”
She actually called him A-hole too, after all the words the redhead had used that was just about enough of the language for one day. Typical New Yorker. What would have happened if she hadn’t been there? How long would the park populous let the guy lay there before they did something about it? Probably an age, and then the thing would have been to rob him blind while he couldn’t do anything about it.
“A hand, back, head, neck, chest…” Good, so general all over ouch, not a specific sharp pain in one area. If the A-Hole had turned she would ask him to buy a bottle of icy water from the doughnut vendor and risk losing the fiver she held out if he wandered off. The ginger was working on a sizable egg on the back of his head from her guess though and cold was the best thing to put on that.
He had been sure the branch would hold him. Well, of course. Who would purposely climb on a risky branch? More expletives, clearer this time and not slurred at all. He was going to be fine.
But maybe in a minute. His body seemed to agree with her and kept him from getting up and wandering off to do more damage.
“Maybe just sit for a bit. What’s your name?”
It was the start of the standard questions – what’s your name, are you on any medication, is there someone you want me to call for you, are you allergic to anything – it was hard to even introduce herself these days without running through the checklist in her mind.
A light breeze ruffled the pages and she smoothed them and then her hair without looking up. Flip. Read Summery. Flip. The next chapter was about splinting broken bones, and she already knew that. The pages turned more quickly as she skimmed through looking for the start of the next.
Creeeeak Cah-Crack.
She looked up startled at the sound, just in time to see a body hit the ground with a thud. Ouch. Instincts kicked in and she was standing over him in a moment as he lay there with his eyes and mouth wide open. The pictures of the broken bones flashed through her mind. A spine was such a bad injury that even children knew not to step on cracks, just in case. The laughter of said children playing in the background may or may not have been related to the tumble, it was difficult to tell with her back to them.
“Are you alright?”
Swearwords. Many swearwords. Some sort of mushed in on each other and made whole new swearwords. Good. If he could swear he could breathe. She skimmed over his body with her eyes, nothing was visibly skewed the wrong direction or spurting blood. She wanted to check his eyes for concussion, but thought it might be rude to stick her face in on his to look at his pupils. Not to mention dangerous. That was a specific line in her training she knew. If you’re close enough to a conscious junkie’s eyes to tell they’re a junkie, you’re too close.
It was a beautiful Fall day. Far too pleasant to be cooped up inside studying. So as it was she was outside. Studying. Sipping a massive takeout cup of coffee on a park table. Children played games in the background, couples walked hand in hand, hipsters walked their purebred oddities and photographers shot the colourfully dressed trees. It was a surprise that she had the table to herself really, considering how many other people had the same idea regarding indoorness. The sky above was clear and dotted with the occasional kite or model aeroplane, a video drone buzzed about like a giant airborne spider – gathering footage for someone’s blog or other. The grass was still a luscious green, scattered leaves skittering on the occasional breeze. The air smelled like earth and pond and from somewhere not too far the drifting smell of doughnuts. The hot coffee took the edge from the need to wear her jacket and she sipped the creamy treat steadily between turning pages.
She turned the pages slowly, she had read this chapter before and was just refreshing her memory. Again. Whenever time passed without needing a particular bit of information it started slipping away. In a critical moment she couldn’t afford to be slippery, her supervisor needed her to be on the ball. Or the drip. Or the stitches, depending on the situation. Broken bones were commonplace for her now, and many of the illnesses which cripple the elderly, but snakebites – those she was rusty on, and with the cooler weather any snakes out and about might start taking refuge in sheds where people needed to get their rakes from, or even in homes. She needed to be fresh just in case.
For anyone glancing at the full-page image across from the text they may well think she was reading a gorey graphic novel. This was a bite that had been left untreated, and served as a warning to get people into professional care as soon as possible. Unfortunately a lot of what she saw seemed to belong in a gorey graphic novel.
Zinnia will be running a first-aid training course at the Mansion - all welcome! With all the trouble everyone seems to get into it would be good to have a little basic training. Or to panic and forget all the basic-est of training and be frazzled by that ("I know I know something about this, but what? Tourniquet? AMPLE? Doughnut Bandage? DRsABCD? How do I do a CPR??!?!?!!!!!") etc.
Bill. Inspection Notice. Bill. Second copy of a textbook for notes. A questionable package or two for her roommates (her bet was on clothes from an online store). A few bits and pieces of advertising material and a letter addressed to her with the seal of the Xavier Institute in the top corner. Zinnia tore open the letter-headed envelope with enthusiasm, she was certain it would be a confirmation. Who wouldn’t jump on free first-aid training? She skimmed over the words ‘grateful’ and ‘welcome’ to ‘confirmation of date and time’. Perfect. The course was not a hard one, she had lead it multiple times before both for a little side cash and increasing the general usefulness of bystanders in an incident. Not that many New Yorkers jumped in to help each other, but those who did ought to know at least the basics.
She ascended the steps to her front door with a grin plastered on her face. This was it.
This was an in to one of the main mutant hubs. A whole bunch of mutants in one place. With further approvals she could do some surveys and data collection on what particular health concerns those with an active X-gene suffered from (aside from the physical and emotional abuse which they seemed to be at far greater risk from than the general populous). And by having run a course there she may even have some contacts who would make that easier. But she was getting ahead of herself now. She had sent a pack of 10 pre-training workbooklets, about as many as she could easily supervise and train. It was now just a matter of waiting and seeing who turned up on the day.
~~~
The gates loomed above her but she wasn’t intimidated. She straightened her shirt and rolled her shoulders in preparation. Game on. She pressed the buzzer.
Ethnicity/ Cultural Heritage: Mixed Race; African-American (Mum) / British (Dad)
Appearance
Hair color and style: Black, mostly straightened and restrained in a high pony-tail. Occasionally loose and to the shoulders
Skin Tone: Caramel
Eye Color: Dark brown and honey.
Height: 5’8”
Build: Athletic
Visible mutation: To the naked eye there is no visible indication of her mutation, however with a microscope handy and the knowledge of what you’re looking at, all the components of the respiratory system seem a little… odd.
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: Ears and Belly button piercings and a small teardrop on her inner left wrist.
Other features:
Face claim: Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones from Dr Who)
Everyday clothing style: Jeans and a Tank top with a light jacket thrown over the top.
Uniform: (if applicable) Nurse scrubs when on placement as a Licenced Practical Nurse (LPN) at the hospital, logo-blazoned polo shirt and pants for her part-time job at the nursing home.
Sleepwear: Purple PJs and a CPAP Machine to stave off her sleep apnea.
Miscellaneous clothing: Rubber gloves and lollypops: a seemingly endless supply.
Character
Personality: Friendly but firm; “Stick out your tongue and say ‘ahh’, here’s your shots. Don’t cry, you’ll be fine… Have a lollypop” type deal. She’s the kind of person who “tut-tut”s your bad decisions while stitching you back together gently. With a soft spot for the young and elderly in particular Zinnia makes acquaintances wherever she goes.
Hobbies/ Interests: Studying and swimming.
Job or part time job and description: Part-time paid placement at the Public Hospital and Part-time work at the Sunset Lodge Nursing Home caring for the elderly residents.
Fears/ phobias/ concerns: The lack of Mutant-Friendly healthcare, and lack of training to care for Mutant-specific illnesses, no real (legally regulated) research into X-gene risks to general health, or X-only malaise.
Special talents: Clipping and unclipping blood sample phials with barely a pinch. Magically providing lollipops to teary toddlers. Strong swimmer.
Morality
Good/ bad/ neutral/ other: While Zinnia has not been sworn in under the Hippocratic Oath, being surrounded by people who come from that sort of background encourages a certain ‘do no harm’ approach to life. Zinnia is a true-neutral character, doing what she thinks is right, not necessarily what she thinks is good.
Mutations
Mutation description:
Gas manipulator: (no! not that kind of gas!) Can breathe gases other than oxygen. Her standard state is breathing in carbon dioxide with output of oxygen (like a photosynthesising tree, but she doesn’t need to be in the sun for this to happen). She knows by concentrating she can shift to the human normal of oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, or to carbon dioxide in and carbon monoxide out. She can also (but doesn’t know that she can) breathe out chlorine gas (total 11 litres, the ordinary oxygen consumption per day) within 2days of being in a chlorinated environment (such as the pool).
Strengths: Breathing easy in a polluted environment. Can hold her breath for longer than average due to mutation. Cannot suffocate in a closed container (unless it is filled with something other than air ie- she can still drown)
Weaknesses and Limitations: When switching from one type of intake/output to another Zinnia must stop breathing entirely to switch. This is difficult to do when in an accelerated breathing state, as she must not breathe for the entire transition period which ranges from 30 sec to 2mins. These apneas are relatively easy to deal with while awake, however when she is sleeping and the shifting is uncontrolled she suffers from sleep apnea, which disturbs her rest and requires her to wear a machine to sleep to control her airflow. Zinnia can shift to and from different gas absorptions 6 times in a day before she begins to get light-headed, 10 and she will pass out. On average she sleep shifts 3times/night, so most days her shifting is 3times to light-headed, 7 times to blackout. If Zinnia does not have access to the gas that she wishes to breathe out (eg chlorine gas in an unchlorinated environment), she is only able to expel 11litres of that gas before she must switch to another.
Physical Abilities
General Physical Capabilities: Walking – good. Swimming – good. Running – average. Lifting – do you even, bro? (no)
Fighting Style:
Fighting Style Pros/Cons:
History Of Your Character
Zinnia grew up in NYC with both her parents and two younger brothers, good school, reasonably easy life nothing worth noting until she was 14 and one of her younger brothers came close to drowning in the pool of their building. Zinnia was the only one home and she had to give the six year old mouth-to-mouth until the 8year old was able to call an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived and did tests to see what risk of brain damage there was to him, they were surprised to find he had higher than normal oxygen saturation in his blood, and that he would be completely fine. It was after this incident that Zinnia began to suffer from sleep apnea, and testing proved that her X-gene was to blame. Mostly it did not impact on her life. As it was not a visible mutation she made it through secondary school with no related bullying and once she had completed her study and spent 6months volunteering in an underprivileged pre-school she was certain that she wanted to help people. She completed her LPN training and began training to become a Registered nurse. She also found a part-time job in a nursing home. She lives in a tiny flat with some nursing college roommates, but spends most of her free time walking, swimming or curled up studying somewhere. She still visits her parents and younger brothers (now 14 and 12) often.
Roleplay
Where did you learn about this site?: Cafas
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: Verdy (inactive) Cara (inactive)
Sample RP:
Zinnia sat with Mr Thompson this Thursday afternoon the way she did every Thursday afternoon. Keeping him company as he gasped and gurgled. He had been working on tracing back his family tree since before he moved to Sunset Lodge, and he was onto his last box of documents. The bottom of the box almost. It was now a race between his lungs and his transcribing, and odds were on his lungs. Zinn sat with him whenever she could, bumping up the oxygen, hoping that her ability could give him the edge he needed. His typing was painfully slow, each letter painstakingly located on the typewriter and pressed individually with his finger. He wouldn’t let anyone help. As the last entry on the tree he was determined to finish the job himself. Her status as a part time employee of the nursing home gave her more time to spend with the individual patients and while there was always more paperwork to fill and file it was the human element that the home prided itself on, boasting ‘seven hours a week of staff contact’. It was what drew solitaires like Mr Tomson to live out their final days there, with the knowledge that there would be daily contact with another human being the inevitable end felt less lonely. He was on the final page now. She gathered up her papers and the empty medicine bottles to move on to the next room. He grunted and indicated the final line below the account of his own life. “Give it to the library” it said “so I’ll be remembered”. She gently took the page and stacked it neatly on top of the rest of the manuscript. “I’ll remember you Mr Tomson” she reassured him, and he settled back in his chair with a heavy wheeze. She moved the typewriter to his nearby end table and tucked his knee rug gently around him. It was the last time she would see him.
Tears are inevitable when you’re three and getting jabbed with a tetanus needle by a stranger. Zinnia was ready with the lollypop though, and as soon as the sharp was safely away the kid was offered the sweet treat. He had barely even finished taking the first deep breath to start squealing. Two little half formed tears squeezed out of his scrunched up eyes as he took the bribe. Her personal best. She reassured the mother and sent her on. Some parents took it harder than others. Zinn had even been known to bribe the occasional parent with a lollypop too. A quick wipe of all the surfaces and a nod from the Registered Nurse supervising her and she was out calling the next name.
The pool was crystal clear and almost empty, just herself and another man doing laps. She was 26/40. He was ??/???. They were almost keeping pace, but from opposite ends of the pool. As he swam up she swam down. Every sixth lap he caught up and overtook. She didn’t mind. Her breathing was steady, timed to align with her strokes, converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. It usually took her a little over an hour to complete her laps, and it was her time to relax and just breathe. No responsibilities, no one asking her any questions, her mind blissfully blank. Except, that was, when she was reviewing her study notes in her mind. Like now. The laps passed in a steady blur of trying to recall the end of chapter seven. Finally she gave up, finished her laps and subsequent drying and dressing and started home.
None of her flatmates were awake when she got home, or if they were they were quiet about it. She heated herself a microwave meal and settled in to review chapter 7 again to find out how it ended. The pages turned almost silently. Bland student food and a bland student textbook. Once the meal was ended and the container binned she slipped into jammies and started up the CPAP machine to whirr gently in the background as she drifted off to sleep. Another day filled with people to help tomorrow.
