Lazlo Society-The story behind the Extended Sabatical Thread

[Cybermancer]

So as some of you have already guessed, this thread is connected to the megaverse-wide, Minions War meta-plot. While I think it would be wholly inappropriate to have armies of demons and devils rampaging across the BTS world, it did occur to me that the conflict might effect the world in other ways. Personally, I think it would be neat to see some of this played out on the Lazlo Society boards even as books about it are being published in real time.

What I'm suggesting is a gradual build up. Psychics start having flashes that something is about to happen. Dark forces at war with each other and such. Other signs such as increased occurances of possession start. Perhaps rumors of rifts between occult groups begin to be heard.

That could take us into the main phase where the cults themselves start a war in the shadows. This is after all, the "Minion Wars", right? There are other plots that can be pursued around this time. Both sides of the conflict will be seeking out minions, what better than hunters expereinced at dealing out death and hurt to the supernatural? This may have other consequences to the supernatural world. Are other creatures recruited or take sides? Does all this activity rile up otherwise restful spirits? How are other factions reacting to this 'invasion'? Some may go to ground, some may wind up fighting beside former enemies (such as the persona's on the board-Imagine Ron teaming up with that were-creature he just met!).

For those that like to bash monsters, some lesser demons/deevils and perhaps a couple of greater ones might appear at some point. The threat of prince or other minor leader being summoned into the world should be enough to work as a climax, a long time down the road.

I'm open to discussing this and brainstorming. One thing I don't want it to become is the BTS world awash in demons/deevils. So some agreed upon limitations should be set. I think a lot of the conflict will be with other humans, cult leaders, pact makers and the like. Maybe once every couple of months after things really start rolling, something truly demonic/devillish crops up. More frequent than would be 'normal' but not so often that it's new monster of the week. Pacing would be critical as would choreographing the action. Still, I think it can be pulled off.

So I guess I should explain my persona, what he can do, what he's up to, where he's at and what to expect from him.

For starters, he's not in the BTS world, never has been. When I first lurked on the Society boards I noticed a lot of the persona's would team up to work together. This is of course natural but it wasn't really what I was looking for at the time. I wanted to be able to post in character but not get too heavy in the board RP. So I brought an old Heroe's Unlimited PC out of retirement as this had a couple of boons. First, I could keep playing a favorite character, even if in a limited capacity. And secondly, it kept my persona 'out of the action'. As the character is an Analytical Genius who had encountered transdimensional technology before, it seemed reasonable that he could connect to the boards 'remotely'. And my frequent absences due to military duty could be explained away as interdimensional time lag, interferance, etc.

The character build, as I mentioned is an Analytical Genius with a mutation. In exchange for dark blue hair and all black eyes as well as having to use the mega-hero XP table, this character got Extraordinary I.Q. out of Transdimensional TMNT. When he was retired ( I moved away from my GM) he was a reasonably successful hero in Century Station. I won't bore you with any more details as I don't expect him to be interacting except by remote, thru the boards.

Robyn, is his faithful assistant. A human looking and acting android he built over the years. She never got as developed as I wanted so I've enjoyed giving her a voice on the boards lately. I may give her, her own account eventually.

Currently, Cybermancer has transported himself along with some allies to the Palladium world where they're looking into the supernatural there. They have just left for the Land of the Damned. They won't be returning to Century Station the way they came, but rather through Hades. When he comes back, he'll reveal a little more about himself and exactly what he's been up to. He hopes to warn the society members of what's happening in the bigger picture. He doesn't expect to be believed. At least not until things start to happen.

Anyway, the reason I think this can work is because it's strictly participatory. Maybe there is no noticed increase in infernal activity in one area but there is in another. In essence, each person or clique of people can participate in any capacity they choose (or not at all). If this is paced right, then the over reaching plot should take several years, real time to work through. Heck, who knows. Maybe some of what we do will be noticed, written about and will see print as part of the "Minion Wars Saga"? Wouldn't it be cool to see some of your characters actions be mentioned in a Rifter or some other publication? I've always thought that the potential of the Lazlo Society was that it and the printed material could feed off each other in interesting ways.

As for my own participation, Cybermancer and Robyn will be remote observers. They could get involved and make an appearance but only if really necessary against some of the bigger, climax fights. They might be overkill otherwise. Besides, with his appearance, Cybermancer has concerns that some of the Society members might shoot first and forget about the questions.

In any case, if no one's really interested or there is a great deal of resistance to this idea, then I'll simply have Cybermancer not report back and Robyn will gradually lose interest in the boards. I'll then generate a persona that is more compatible with the rest of the community (two years ago I wasn't sure what I wanted to play-still aren't. I'm more of a hero character player than a victem character player. I'll be honest, I play BTS for the chance to solve mysteries and kill monsters. I'm not really a horror fan).

That's about it. Let me know what everyone thinks. If there are concerns, hopefully they can be hashed out. I'm a little nervous about this. I've never really had a good experience with RP online, whether it be a board, MU* or other. I'm hoping things will work out a little better here, but I've been hesitant. Perhaps I shouldn't have been quite so ambitious with my first RP, but it just seemed like such a natural fit, I was surprised no one had thought of it before. Forgive me if it has been thought up before and I missed it. *^_^*

[Jefffar]

my main character on the boards is on his way to a confrontation with some demons this fall - regretably they aren't Hades/Dyvall connected creatures and the story doesn't really work with them being as such - but their pressence can add to the whole confusion caused by wars and rumours of wars.

[Cybermancer]

Yes, certainly. Not every lead is going to tie into this plot. Other things should carry on as per normal, for sure. Actually, adding to the confusion like you suggested would be a good thing. It might also lead some to think that the warnings are so much hot air, too.

Thank you for your input.