Ideas for 'The Fourth Barrier', and what plot we're interrupting

Okay, so everyone who viewed my previous poll is aware that I mentioned a story where we insert ourselves as characters. I am going to do that RP, but because of its nature, there are practically two main plots, since the plot regarding the RPers, who take on the form of eldritch beings and fight off dangerous creatures threatening to destroy an RP world we created, are in essence interrupting the plot of what would be seen as a regular RP.

We already know what the eldritch beings in the story are doing, however; now that I have seen enough people consider the idea, I need to know what kind of plot the fictional characters in the story were following before alien beings appeared and started threatening it. Because I get so many ideas, I'm setting up a poll to see what kind of plot is happening besides the battle.

For the sake of broadening the perceived gap between the RPers and their characters (Be realistic, if we discovered we were characters in a book, and that someone intentionally threw us into a terrible situation, we wouldn't like them that much, especially if they could just solve the problem on a whim), there will not be any options regarding plots where characters are meta-humans or possess magic, and I don't want races other than humans, either. I want the characters to be regular humans, although technology and such are fine.

If I didn't list an idea, feel free to suggest one, although I currently have a list of ideas. If you suggest something, there's no guarantee I'll put it in the poll; it has to be something I can work with and make a detailed plot from. In regards to what I prefer, I am leaning towards stories involving danger and a large population of people, as well as something that calls to question the morality of characters, just because I want the story to have a dramatic flair to it:

Post-War Apocalyptic Steampunk- It's a lot to say, in essence, but the plot is simple when explained. Characters are in a Post-War world, which was ravaged a certain time ago when two sides, one fighting with advanced steam-powered machines, and the other with genetically engineered war beasts, accidentally brought humanity to the brink of extinction because of the scale of the fighting. Ultimately, the side fighting with machines won against the opposing side via destroying resources, but overall, by causing wide-scale destruction, all of civilization had suffered, and only a small portion of the planet was untouched. Because of carelessness, a lot of different genetically altered war beasts escaped captivity, became feral, and are now actively breeding in the wild; encountering one without a machine is considered to be a sure way to wind up dying. To rebuild the remains of civilization, humanity has largely walled itself up in an enormous area to keep the feral war beasts out, and overall builds what seems to be a very large city, though there are areas assigned for growing food. However, now that humanity has done all it can in the city, it now seeks to expand into further territory.

What the humans found was that among the feral war beasts, a shockingly large number of new breeds have appeared that nobody recognizes, having evolved from ancestors at an accelerated rate, due to their unnatural origins, and because they also preyed on one another for food. Machinery that was formerly considered capable of protecting humans from the monsters is not as effective as it once was, and it seems that with various different abilities ranging from acidic saliva to brute strength the creatures are capable of breaking into any sort of vehicle to get at the humans piloting them. With this in mind, a large number of people who left the walls don't come back, and the survival rate of those venturing outside the walls dramatically dropped, as the newly-adapted predators were perhaps now stronger than the machines used to fight them. Humanity's mentality started to change towards venturing away from the walls, due to this, and most people became extremely scared to venture beyond the walls; all who desired to see it were considered crazy or insane. On the other hand, if you did go out, people would also be liable to think you were the bravest, as well.

The risk of the monsters getting in being a great worry to the government, it is considered difficult to sneak past the walls, and previously, they did a good job preventing those unauthorized to leave, and keeping out the monsters, until a new threat arose.

One day, a kind of creature capable of sticking to the walls and blending with their coloration climbed into the outer parts of the city, and proceeded to breed there, until it infested all the outer reaches of the area. Although it was weak enough to fight off without a machine, anyone caught completely unarmed, or who couldn't run, was food, with little doubt in that belief. With the city in disarray, more creatures slipped in when the guards who were meant to close its gates were killed while the entrances were still open...

...now, either humanity could barricade itself in the inner walled-off ring of the city, where the rich and high-ranking officials lived separate from the poor and poverty-stricken, creating an instant food shortage (If people even let them in), or force itself to brave the wilderness beyond the walls, facing the monsters that were slowly invading the city.

Cyberpunk Dystopia- The story is set in an enormous, densely-populated city, and in keeping with the typical theme of Cyberpunk, the city is going to be similar to depictions of places like Tokyo. There’s lots of technology, and for the most part government (If you can even call it that) is heavily influenced by large business and corporations. There are lots of glowing signs and advertisements that make the world pretty well-lit and colorful at night, and the place is bustling regardless of the time of day. Labor is handled by mass-produced machines made by the corporations that control the city, so people generally don’t have to do dangerous jobs that require physical work, and the city is maintained by machines designed to take care of landscaping, and pick up litter. If you are in good financial standing, you can live in a nicer part of the city, and perhaps if you’re super rich, you can also afford to purchase personal robots that maintain your home, and even a mechanical chef to cook for you, or do shopping for you.

The negative side of the seemingly pleasant utopian city is that if you don’t have money, and are technically classified as poor or poverty-stricken, you’re in trouble. The city, which is very large not only horizontally, but vertically as well, is set where the rich people live not only in a specific well-kept place, but generally, in the higher levels of each building complex, closer to the sky. If you’re poor, you’re stuck underneath everything at the ground level (or underground entirely), where machines other than perhaps maintenance or police drones are not present. If there’s litter, it builds up, and underneath the entire infrastructure where there are vehicles driving over, and buildings rising so high they cast a shadow, it is cold and very much a slum, made more unpleasant by the fact that much of it is lousy regarding sanitation, and the frequent incidences of crime make it a dangerous place to be. Normally, you would think someone would be willing to help, but the truth is that most businesses want money, and aren’t charitable, and the fact is that they’re so embarrassed by the presence of the slums and the high crime rates in the city they support that they do everything in their power to cover it up and keep the residents from this place separate from the middle and upper class, so most of the people living in a nice place are completely unaware that anyone is living beneath them.

With these two strikingly different worlds, it only takes one small event to trigger a catastrophe. When a group of hackers with unknown intentions creates a virus that destroys the city’s power grid, the lights illuminating the city go dark, and all machines and public transport fail to function, also. Because robotic labor is used to run most major aspects of life, clean water is limited, and all food that had to be kept cold goes bad. In addition to this, the police drones that kept people from leaving the slums have also failed to function, and soon, the lowest social class proceeds to enter the rest of the city. All of these events are linked to the team of hackers that caused the event.

With the city in anarchy, lots of questions are raised, and the sides of humanity that are extremely selfless, as well as corrupt, come to light. Overall, however two questions are constantly asked, over and over again:

When will the power come back, and why would someone shut it down in the first place?

Did you just say Steampunk?

wow maxx r00d posting before me. also the first option reminds me of fallout so hella also the second option sounds cool too, ill settle for either

Shoot Vipera, you have me stumped. I love both ideas. I wont vote, but you have my thumbs up for whatever you end up doing!

The reason I make a poll is because I get multiple plot ideas in my head and they both develop pretty far, to the point that I wind up struggling to figure out what I should do. If it stumps people, it only proves to me that I have succeeded in making more than one well-thought out idea, and that either option would be good.

I also made this poll because I wanted to make sure that people realized I'm remaining loyal to the concept that there are almost two plots in the story.

Now, since I was rather vague in the past, further detail on the idea that the RPers appear as powerful characters fighting alien beings:

The creatures the RPers will be battling are, after much reflection, greatly inspired by Cthulu Mythos deities, primarily the concept of the Outer Gods, in the sense that they come from a place other than earth and are beyond the comprehension of the characters in the story. As a result, a lot of them are going to have a hideous, grotesque appearance, which will nicely contrast with the RPers, who will probably want to make something that would be considered more balanced. I intend for the invaders to consist of multiple defined characters, but there will be lots of less-powerful unnamed foes which I can only describe as perhaps the weaker offspring or spawn of something stronger. While the events are going on on planet Earth in whatever setting we choose, the RPers and these aliens will technically be at war. Also, the RPers will not always be presently in the world of the RPers, or even on the surface of Earth, to begin with, as some characters may seek to block attackers further up in the atmosphere before they get too close and damage the planet, or, say, if an RPer gets injured, they retreat into their home dimension for a period to rest.

As for the aliens, because I need a better thing to call them, they can be referred to collectively as the Yggsshaa (I will say it right now, it's pronounced 'Eeeg-shaw')

I'm leaning more to the dystopia. I find dystopias to be more interesting than post-apocalypse, but that's just me. Razz

Also, we should call the rpers themselves the "Authors". Just a suggestion though.

Well, I actually intend to refer to the group of RPers collectively in the story as 'Wordsmiths'

I'm wondering how much longer I should leave up the poll, since a lot of active members have already voted. I'll probably give the poll one more day, but then I'll close it and start on the OP.

Alright, the poll has decided!

Although it was a close vote, the ultimate victor is the theme of Cyberpunk Dystopia!

I will now proceed to work on making an OOC thread.

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» A new RP ideas. Such fantasy. Very urban. Wow.