OOC: Casting Call for 'Divine Sentinels'

[4U2Notice]

For eons, the 'Just' have lied dormant, their cause empty, their names unheard. The Just, seventy beings whose sole purpose is the preservation of the divine power of God, their names known only to Him, their task extremely obscure as they sat idle for centuries. Until now.

The servants of Lucifer are interfering with humanity. Knowing that Armageddon is imminent, they slaughter the true sinners on Earth, after the angel who guards man joins the ranks of the infernal. The armies of Hell grow with villains as the true sinners descend from Earth to the underworld, brought their by Satan's agents. The odds of winning in the war against Paradise tip in their favor, ensuring that the anarchy caused by Armageddon will never end...

But on Earth and in Heaven, the Just are awakening. One by one, they are realizing their cause and gathering to fight, to restore the advantage to the Divine, and to prevent the demons from winning the battle soon to come. But can ordinary beings rise to a title they never realized they were condemned to? And can the broken souls who have lost faith regain it to challenge the evil?

This is the springboard for my first roleplay. Sound exciting? Well, I do have rules....
-This is a present day-type roleplay. Characters may be angels (good), humans (good/neutral), or demons (bad). But since the angels and demons must transcend to Earth, they lose near all of their divine powers (normally, high order angels and demons would not do this, but I need no high-order angels and demons. They will be NPC's and not extremely important). The only powers able to be used by divine creatures are: the abilty to see sin in an individual, the ability to talk to other divine spirits (at certain times), and to retain the possessions brought from Heaven or Hell. I will determine, by what you offer, what you will be able to use in that field. You may offer other powers, but I will probably not allow it (and that includes flight! You lose your wings on Earth.)
-The angels serve as guardians for the humans of the Just, and since this aids in preserving humanity, they are also in the Just. However, God's task for them is to make sure the Just humans fulfill their tasks. Therefore, if the angel fails, he/she is damned to Purgatory for eternity. I know it sounds like I'm making you pair up with another human character if your an angel, but you can always play an angel and his/her counterpart human....
-I want all characters to portray their roles realistically! A real person dealing with these issues would have tremendous internal and external conflicts, and the same goes for the angels. Take advantage of them! I DON'T want any one-sided villains. A villain is always right in his own mind and I would like them to feel justified (and no playing God or Satan!)
-Humans must be notified of being in the Just by the angels, and that is the only way they will find out. I don't expect all seventy Just to come along, so the others can be suggested to be there.
-Ask questions. I'll be able to provide you with more guidelines.
-Have fun! I hope we can get enough players to have some great playing!

 

[Jacobo_Curious]

Sounds interesting. I like it, but I think I have some important questions.

Personality-wise, what makes an angel or a demon more "good" or "bad" than a human, though? Don't they all have to work in their own self-interests? Or do life and order constitute good, and death and chaos constitute bad? It might be more interesting if the lines between good and bad were more blurred. Unless I don't understand you clearly.

I guess the question here is basically: What are God's and the Devil's objectives? For the purpose of this game, what is considered good and what is considered bad?

And do they have to be angels and demons, necessarily? What about other faiths that have, for example, polytheistic-type ideals? Are we just ignoring those for now? Because I don't have a problem with that. Things might just be more interesting if there was more than just God and the Devil -- even if they aren't really God and the Devil or something like that, it would still make things interesting (though possibly more confusing) if I could play a now-low-powered Shintoist kami or some such.

I hope you think about these questions. I'd like to play.

 

[4U2Notice]

Technically, neither can be considered good or bad...... it is simply the question of whose side you take to see which side you're on... Lucifer fell from Heaven because he was made a slave, and for no other purpose. The fallen angels fell because they agreed and felt God was wrong. All I'm saying is that from the human race's perspective, unless you're inherently evil and pessimistic, Heaven will be the good side, because Satan caused the downfall of mankind by making Adam and Eve eat the apple..... he's pretty much the enemy of man.

God's objective is simply to carry out Armageddon according to the Bible as prophesized... the Rapture, and Heaven winning the war against Hell, thus eternal paradise is possibe. Satan's goal is the opposite: to defeat Heaven by gathering the sinners of the Earth (in this case by mass murder) and cause anarchy, Hell on Earth. I leave characters the freedom to question both possibilities, "good" and "evil", no matter where there responsibilities lie... I hope they make their desicions well, though.

Unfortunately, I think bringing other religions into the picture, while very Sandman-esque, would make it much too complicated to keep track of. I hope you're still willing to play.

 

[Jacobo_Curious]

Man. Do you have any idea how could being a Shintoist kami would be? I could exorcise stuff by hitting it with a stick with paper stuck to it. Isn't that hardcore?

Anyway, sure, I suppose. If you COULD find a way to put other faiths into it, though, I'd really appreciate it, because that was one of my favorite parts of Armag Gospel. It's nice to have that sort of room to manuever, but it's hard not to make it too much room.

Maybe "angel" and "demon" could just be relative terms? Like, maybe they aren't actually the Judeo-Christian-style beings? Maybe agents of other demigods could be considered angels or demons depending on their goals -- either paradise or destruction.

So, wait -- God is ALSO interested in destroying the world? Eep. That seems a little counterproductive, doesn't it? And wouldn't paradise get crowded? Oh well...

 

[4U2Notice]

I don't want to incorporate a lot of superpowers into the whole thing.... when I think of angels I don't think of flying people shooting energy beams from their hands, and I know if I give the option, SOMEONE'S going to do that..... anyway, I'm afraid the Just are only known by God, so adding outside religions would be difficult. However, as far as looks and manner go, I don't expect the angels to be that different than the people. I don't envision the angels in giant, flowing white robes, glowing brilliantly, and using 'thou' and 'thee's in their speech. Since we're talking low-order guardian angels, they're pretty much like normal people, with access to divine intervention, if you will.
And God only destroys the world to ensure man to be happy forever. Isn't that sweet......

 

[Jacobo_Curious]

Ehh? No, my first comment was a joke. I don't want any superpowers. ;;

I just thought it would be interesting if angel and demon weren't literal terms, so I could bring in other ideas to the story. Combining Eastern and European faiths tends to result in interesting things.

 

[cats]

Catching the first coin, it died before it started. But the idea behind it was to get two sides of roleplayers fighting for what they think is right and play out the formation of good and evil, god and Satan are behind the fight in heaven but it's ebfore man is formed and so Neither god nor satan were to be in it at all.

Any who I'm fine with a strictly cathlic veiw and if I come up with a decent chara or prehaps a set of charcters, I'll play.

 

[SwampThing]

I'm thinking about an aging Rasta cabbie as one of the human Just.

As for the Catholiscim vs. other faiths, Jacobo, consider this: God and the Devil are never actually seen. So different people, even different angels (demons are, after all, fallen angels, so the term "angel" applies to both. In fact, the terms "spirits" or "gods" wouldn't be far off either, and some angels might describe themselves that way), could conceive of Ultimate Good/Light and Ultimate Evil/Darkness in their own terms. Everyone might use different names for these beings or forces, but they are essentially talking about the same things.

So Catching the First Coin is really dead, huh? Damn, I liked that idea a lot.

 

[Jacobo_Curious]

As for the Catholiscim vs. other faiths, Jacobo, consider this: God and the Devil are never actually seen. So different people, even different angels (demons are, after all, fallen angels, so the term "angel" applies to both. In fact, the terms "spirits" or "gods" wouldn't be far off either, and some angels might describe themselves that way), could conceive of Ultimate Good/Light and Ultimate Evil/Darkness in their own terms. Everyone might use different names for these beings or forces, but they are essentially talking about the same things.

Right... that was what I was trying to suggest. You just phrased it a hell of a lot better. ^_^

 

[4U2Notice]

thnx, Swamp that's what I was trying to get across: I just don't want any sort of Sandman: Seasons of Mist type situations, where I get Norse Gods and stuff coming into my roleplay... but if you're character is of a different religion but serves the same purposes, that's great.

And the Rasta cabbie is a great idea.... could also be a semi-comic relief type character, too, depending on how you play it.

 

[4U2Notice]

I liked Catching The First Coin as well. You have to realize here that neither side is always good and evil, it just depends on your point of view... I mean, hell, on certain levels, I agree with why Lucifer fell (and I'm sure that's not good). But I'm agnostic, so it doesn't matter.

 

[cats]

I'm goign to try catching the first coin again with a better name after I get back from camp.

Sadly it's accured to me that I won't be able to play this thread before camp. Something came up next week and camp starts after that so I won't be able to join.

 

[4U2Notice]

Anyone got a character ready to post? Come on, we need some!