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.
Darkshift found herself alone, in the early hours of the morning, in the back alleys of New York City. It wouldn't be done for a few hours yet. It was the third time this week she had found herself in such places, taking a page out of her mentor Aura's books. There was so much violence upon these streets, so much gang warfare and death. So many mutants who were forced to the streets and had to endure such things. It wasn't fare and the cops didn't seem to care much about it. Someone had to care and that someone was going to be her.
Her body covered in the thick, black, protective scales of a komodo dragon, she blended almost perfectly into the night and with every expedition of this sort she went on, she became ever more adept at silencing her every movement. As always, the ends of her fingers were tipped with vicious cat claws. Her face resembled that of a panther. Anything with big teeth, she had found, was a boon when it came to intimidation and if she could intimidate instead of fight, well, that was better. If it came to a fight, she was more than prepared to do what needed doing.
So far the night had been a quiet one and she was considering ending her patrol early when she came upon a group of people beating on someone. From her vantage point, there was no way to know if the unfortunate victim was a mutant or not, but either way she knew she would be doing good by saving them. Not all humans were bad and that meant many were worth saving. If the police weren't willing to take on these streets then she would do it for them. Her own way.
The other mutant didn't exactly seem fine to Darkshift, but what could she really do about it? If he wasn't willing to accept help then she wasn't about to try and force it upon him. Besides, now that they were inside in a place of relative safety, he did seem to be doing better. Perhaps the physical tole wasn't so bad as it had originally seemed. Or perhaps it was and he was able to heal it or shrug it off. She'd read that some mutants could do things like that.
It was only now that they were back in the safety of Sanctuary that she really started to be hit by what had happened during the night. Someone might be dead. Not by her hand it was true, but if he was did that make her an accomplice? It was self defense, pure and simple, so that meant she shouldn't feel regret for helping her fellow mutant, right? Regret wasn't quite what she felt but she did feel sickness in the pit of her stomach. This was she had taken on, it was a violent one and only then did it hit her that lives were going to be lost in its fighting. Maybe one day she'd even be forced to end one of those lives. What had she really taken on when she agreed to join The Order? More, it seemed, than she originally bargained for.
"Do you want some food," she eventually asked, realizing that her thoughts had drifted and she was brooding.
Tension thrummed through Darkshift's body as she waited for Glitch to enact her part of the plan. Watching and waiting, she counted down in her head. 3...2...1, and the robot girl hit her mark, scalding coffee going directly into the Meta's eyes and she ran like hell past him. Score!
The briefest of delays followed before her own legs started running. Just to ensure they had ample time to escape, as she ran past now now blinded Meta, she extended a foot and tripped it. Oh the satisfaction when it fell to the ground. "Halt mutants." Of course she ignored the words, racing after the other girl.
Fortunately it wasn't hard to follow the robot girl. Only slightly more difficult was weaving between people although that was made easier by the fact that it was late and the number of people on the streets were relatively low. Fortunately. How far would they have to run to ensure safety? Hopefully not far as she was quickly discovering her stamina wasn't what it probably should be.
"You're lucky to have supportive parents." There was a hint of bitterness to her words. There had been a time when her mother had been supportive as well, but apparently her mind had been weak and easily influenced because her tune changed when she met her second husband. Bastard. "Not all of us are so lucky."
"Birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish. Pretty much if its an animal I can manifest shifts based on it." She shrugged. All in all, she felt pretty blessed as far as possible mutant powers went. Hers was a versatile one and that meant she could be useful. She could do good and help those mutants whose powers might not be so active and whose wills might not be so strong as hers.
Of course, gravity based powers could certainly also have their uses. Was it a natural progression of her new dedication to helping mutants that her mind should start considering such things? Having an actual thing to believe in still wasn't something she was fully comfortable with.
"I've been in New York for a few months now," Darkshift answered, relieved for the topic change. It was complicated having something to actually believe in.
Darkshift had always been reasonably active and reasonably in shape. Living in poverty, she walked more than most and being as abrasive as she sometimes was, she was no stranger to the odd brawl or two. Being on the wrong side of the law on more occasions than not, she knew how to hold her own in a fight but that was as much a mark of her being a mutant as it was the fact that she could fight. So far, it had been enough. With her recent joining of The Order, it no longer was.
A bit of asking around had gotten her a recommendation for Knock Out, a small gym that some of her seedier contacts frequented. It was cheap, however, and she wasn't likely to stick out nearly as much as if she signed up for something more expensive. Before running away from home she'd dabbled a little in boxing but that was about the extent of it. Priorities and all that. It just hadn't been one. Now it was. Now she needed to learn to properly fight, without relying upon her powers, and she had to get properly in shape. People were counting on her. That reality was still taking some getting used to.
When Darkshift emerged from the change rooms, she got a few looks. Not unexpected being the new girl and the mohawk stood out wherever she went. As always now days, her hands sported black cat claws upon each finger. It was a subtle sign of being a mutant and her way of showing she wasn't ashamed. Noticing a signup sheet for sparring, she put her name down and began her stretches.
Despite being a card carrying member of The Order and therefore having an open invitation to stay at Sanctuary whenever she desired, she rarely took advantage of it. Small, cramped and run-down as it was, there was something comforting about having her own place paid for through her own sweat and blood. Irrelevant was the fact that most of the ways in which she made the money needed to pay for her place was somewhat less than legal. What had the law ever done for her anyway?
Recently, however, she had started to take on some of the tasks that her mentor, Aura, had been doing for years. Specifically, she had begun patrolling the streets in order to help the many mutants upon them who were unable or unwilling to help themselves. Of course, her methods were a little more gentle than those of her mentor. Killing was out of the question. A broken bone or two, a few scars and the fear of death, well, those were other matters. So, tonight, she roamed within Order territory, pitch black scales covering her from head to tow. From the shadows she stalked any who would dare do her people wrong.
It was voices that drew Darkshift's attention, three of them in a ring surrounding something. As she got nearer, unsure voices referenced 'mutie freak' and what words she caught made it clear that they were debating stealing any belongings the man might have or helping him. Stealing his stuff seemed to be winning. Well, she could do something about that.
Silent, keeping to the deepest shadows of the building beside her, Darkshift's human face transformed into that of black panther. Bull horns sprouted from the top of her skull and, to top things off, a pair of black bat wings emerged from her back. Once the transformation was complete, she emerged from her shadowed hiding place and spoke, voice a growl. "Leave him alone or face my wrath!" Wings spread to look as large and intimidating as possible, it didn't the trio long to decide fleeing was the best possible option for their own personal health. Threat dissipated, she knelt down and touched the injured man. "Hey, are you hurt badly?" Her voice no longer growled.
"Yup, picked it myself," Darkshift agreed. "You might call it a right of passage, of sorts, for some of us mutants. Rejecting our human names given to us by our parents and choosing new names for ourselves reflective of our natures." She's never never put such thoughts into words before, but as they left her mouth she realized just how right they felt.
"I definitely think your on the right track with your name options." Her words were meant to be encouraging. "If you let someone else choose for you, I don't know, it loses its personal nature, you know?" She unwrapped and took a bit of her sandwich, pondering.
"Gravity, nice." It was also nice just to be sitting and talking in the park, for once. No training, no running from anti-mutant mobs or, even worse, robots. No missions or thefts. Just talking. Like friends. Like normal people. It probably wouldn't last. It never did.
Upon being asked about her gift, Darkshift took a furtive look around, making sure there were no eyes upon them. It seemed they were still relatively unnoticed by the few people also milling around the park. "I'm kind of a partial shifter. My aura solidifies into animal parts." She rolled the sleeve up on her arm for display purposes, guessing a small demonstration would be more suited than a large one. With a thought, black scales covered her forearm. They then melted into black wolf fur and melted again back into pale flesh.
"I can add all sorts of animal parts. But, you know, stealth and all." She shrugged and made a vague gesture towards some of the other park patrons.
"I've had those mornings myself," Darkshift agreed. "I make music mostly. I've dabbled a little in paint, but that's just not where my talents lie. You have to go with your passions, right?" It had been a long time since she'd had a normal conversation about art and music. It felt a little surreal.
She noticed his attention focused upon her hands and didn't react. It was a test, of sorts, to display her mutant status openly. Not so openly as to be unavoidable in attracting attention; she had done that once to rather unpleasant consequences, but openly enough for those she interacted with directly to notice. The Order was about helping mutants who needed help and trying to end human oppression of mutants, violently if necessary. Mutant super hero is what she called herself in her head with more than a hint of sarcasm but somehow a job taken for money was transforming itself into a cause she could believe in. Clearly something was wrong with her.
"I'm Darkshift," she replied, following Max to a nice, dry piece of grass. "I wouldn't' mind a bit of food." The bag floated towards her and she grinned at the artist who had now revealed himself as a mutant. It was always good to encounter her own kind.
"Very nice. You a telekinetic?" Maybe she should have been more concerned about potential observers, but they were relatively alone and not causing any trouble.
I'm returned after about a month of absence. I'd love to do something with a little shark girl. If she's interested, Darkshift can even do a water thread although she doesn't get the advantages of actually being able to breathe under water. Please let me know.
It was early morning and people were just starting to drift into the park. There may have been many other things one could choose to do on a Saturday morning but few of them held much interest to Darkshift. In truth, she wasn't one of those early arrivals but rather had been there all night, training. The dark was a challenge and, for one such as she for whom shadows had become her home, it was a challenge she needed to overcome and the best way to overcome that was to train in the near darkness. Had anyone been around to see her when the moon shone and the sun hid, they might have also heard a good deal of colourful language. Not exactly the silence once needed to be stealthy but tonight hadn't been a night hiding. It had been a night of action and becoming ever more comfortable with the absence of light.
Now that morning had fully come upon them, there was time to consider what to do with her day. Sleep, of course, would come eventually. Her sleep patterns had always been unusual but ever since meeting Aura and joining her Order, they had become even more so. Her powers granted her a range of different abilities and one of them was to be naturally hidden in the darkness. Thus, practicality determined that it should be her natural time. Food was also much less of an issue than it once was given how well she was paid and for that she was grateful.
If not for the appearance of an eccentric and clearly talented artist, Darkshift likely would have gone in search of said food but she had always admired those with creativity and the courage to display it openly and so she stayed, watching. Her own talents tended more towards music than painting, but creation was creation.
Once finished and most of the other onlookers began to walk away, she approached the young man. As always now days, she wore the sign of her being a mutant openly upon her fingers in the form of pitch black claws. One day, perhaps, she'd feel comfortable enough covering her body with black aura but that day was not today. "You've got some talent," Jayden spoke, gesturing towards his creation. If he had a hat nearby to throw in a few dollars she would have gladly done so. Many a day had she spent in just such a park performing in order to make the money for her next meal.
I'm good with either location. Who wants to start things up? Might be most appropriate for it to be Darkshift, set the scene busking. I can work with someone else starting though, if preferred.
