∀ctualize

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The Re∀l Plateau is a district in a city somewhere in North America, on an island between two rivers where the locals speak two languages. The Actualize Corporation has built a new network system that supports free, unlimited internet access and hosting services for an abundance of augmented reality programs all over the Plateau and the rest of the City. In contrast to its high technology and young population, the city is old and traditional, with a vibrant culture with more to do with the old world than the new. In response to a series of inexplicable, supernatural crimes, the Actualize Corporation forms a special research division with the police, assembling a team to challenge the strange and unknown and stop the attacks before something serious happens.

Unbeknownst to them, the Plateau is also the home of the Earth headquarters of the space police force Rollerball, who have been secretly protecting it from aliens!

Overview

Rollerball

Rollerball is a paramilitary organization that acts as interplanetary police in much of space, although their origins beyond what is strictly known by the members on Earth is limited. Their leader on Earth is Q. Fontaine, who appears to be an unnaturally tall, light-skinned man of indeterminate age and ethnicity and unusual dress. Most members are humans recruited by Q. Fontaine, although a number of the members on Earth are aliens recruited from other worlds for various reasons.

The primary tools of Rollerball are QUILLS, writing implements that resemble pens in a number of styles that have different inherent powers depending on the member. All can be used to communicate by writing on any compatible surface, which reveals the words to all other members of the team and generate portals to the Rollerball hideout in Re∀l by drawing them on walls or floor surfaces. Finally, by swiping across the air and shouting a callphase (presently: "WHITE OUT") Rollerball members can filter themselves from perception and erase their presence from electronic surveillance and recordings provided the effect is timed correctly. The other capabilities of an individual's QUILL depends on their personality and abilities- Rollerball previously recruited exclusively from people with good penmanship and creativity, although these guidelines have waved on Earth due to the internet age requiring discrete, meticulous people rather than creative personalities.

QUILLs can also be activated by twisting the cap and shouting a call phrase (presently: "THE PEN IS MIGHTIER") to encase the user in a shape called a Caligrammaton which provides additional powers, improved physical power and a variety of tools and weapons to deal with various alien threats.

Character Generation

Outline

Priorities

Set I: Personal Traits

  • Attributes: Inherent capabilities; give dice.
  • Fortune: Luck; both to succeed at critical moments and have events follow smoothly.
  • Gear: Special items of plot and mechanical relevance such as a car, sword, lab equipment.
  • Professions: Special knowledge and training; gives special actions and enhances relevant skills.
  • Skills: Learned abilities; give flat bonuses.

Set II: Backstory

  • Powers: Supernatural-seeming abilities the character has; common among aliens and somewhat rare among humans.
  • Connections: One's place in society; granting respect, contacts and influence.
  • Gravitas: The consequences and rewards of one's ambitions and past ties.
  • Resources: The ownership of goods and property, raw income as well as a person's social footprint through the control of commercial institutions.
  • Species: Whether one is a human, an alien or something in between.

Finishing Touches

Attributes

Fortune

Gear

Professions

Skills

Powers

Connections

Gravitas

Resources

Species

Dramatis Personae