A Certain Scientific Group of Espers
Premise
The year is 20XX and the PCs are all student Espers living, attending school, and taking part in the ongoing Power Curriculum Program in the technologically-advanced Academy City, a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within Western Tokyo. For whatever reason you came to Academy City at a very young age to take part in the experiment aimed at unlocking psychic abilities in human beings. The process, while backed up by credible science, does not always produce significant results. In fact, most of Academy City's young population who take part in the Program either develop weak powers or no powers at all.
But not you! You are one of the lucky ones who have managed to gain significant abilities that you have been able to develop as you learn and grow within the city's walls. And all that hard work has paid off, making you a Level 4 Esper! Congratulations! Pretty sweet, eh? No matter how you feel about the ranking system -- which starts of Level 0 (those with no powers) to Level 5 (the cream of the crop so to speak) -- part of you has to admit that you're pretty damn amazing to have made it this far. And to top it all off, you're also a member of Judgment, the student-volunteer disciplinary force that strives to maintain order within the city alongside its adult-volunteer counterpart, Anti-Skill. With your own two hands (and your awesome powers) you keep Academy City safe and the wheels of justice well-oiled.
...Though for all the wonder and splendor of Academy City, it does possess a dark side. Shady scientists toil away in secret (mostly underground) labs, performing not-so-ethical experiments that quite often involve young Espers who don't exactly have a choice in the matter. The Academy City Board of Directors turn a willfully blind eye to this as long as it produces credible results that further their agendas. And don't forget the gangs comprised of angry individuals for whom the Program did not reward amazing powers, frustration and failure driving them into such unsavory circumstances.
Furthermore, the mere existence of Academy City has greatly changed the socioeconomic and political climate of the world, making it a veritable "Superpower" in its own right. As such, Academy City is quite used to being in the spotlight on the international stage, accepting all of the good and bad that comes from such recognition. World governments smile and talk about cooperation in public, though behind closed doors they remain envious and even threatened by the scope of influence the city-state commands. It's a precarious balancing act that everyone seems intent on playing until it is no longer convenient. Like serpents poised to strike at the earliest sign of weakness, these political powerhouses bid their time while scheming and gathering useful intel from covert agents who have managed to infiltrate the city's walls through various forms of trickery.
Stranger still, there are others who possess powers and abilities that aren't Esper-related. They keep to the shadows, perpetuating a secret network of individuals and groups that wield ancient and carefully crafted energies that they refer to as Magic. They too have eyes on Academy City for various reasons, some of them utterly esoteric and incomprehensible to most. Religious organizations fall within this category as well, suspicious and outright indignant of the scientific marvels the city has produced -- especially Espers. They, like the world governments, have clandestine agents willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Academy City "in check".
Character Creation
Now that you have a rundown on the setting, you can hopefully start brainstorming ideas. The system as mentioned before is going to be the Sentinel Comics Roleplaying Game. It's a pretty neat system that I think will emulate the tone we'll be shooting for well. The company behind it is currently going under, sadly, but that makes the book extremely cheap to purchase. But I will strive to provide the needed details for character creation as I can.
Backstory-wise you're all going to be first year high school students (in Japan that'd make you 10th graders, age 15-16) at Stated Grace International School, one of the many, many schools within Academy City. It's a prestigious co-educational institution which (as its name suggests) has students in attendance from all over the globe. The school believes in extending invitations to anyone they deem to have "a certain spark" that can be nurtured and grown into something excellent. A majority of its student population come from wealthy and even royal families, which means the campus has a multitude of luxurious amenities for its students to enjoy. Also, unlike some of the other upper crust schools in the city, Stated Grace has no stringent requirements when it comes to an individual's Esper level. This plays into the school's insistence that anyone, regardless of their abilities, deserves a well-rounded education. Of course, some of the snobbier students with notable Esper powers look down on those with no or low level powers, despite swift reprimands from the faculty should this be witnessed.
We'll start in the month of June, which means you'll have been in school since April (when the Japanese school year typically starts). Plenty of time to settle in and make friends (or enemies). As for Judgment, I'll let you decide whether or not you joined up recently or have been part of the organization for awhile (they accept anyone who is capable and able to pass the rigorous training/testing, even elementary and junior high school students!).
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