Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? SIGN-UPS!

[Sousa]

MACHU PICCHU STOLEN!

PERU - Governments the world over were shocked today when a strange red-and-yellow helicopter took off from high in the Andes of Peru, dragging the legendary ruins of Machu Picchu beneath it from a long steel cable.

"It was unlike anything I have ever seen!" local farmer Ignacio Perez, a witness to the theft, said. "The machine, it swooped in from the sky, and with only one hook, it stole the most sacred and serene monument in all of Peru!"

While the United Nations and world intelligence organizations have yet to name a suspect in this extremely odd crime, the ACME Detective Agency in San Francisco, California has already released a top suspect.

"We believe," the Chief of ACME said, "that no criminal on Earth could be so fiendish as to execute a theft of this scale without vast resources. We believe that none other than Carmen Sandiego of the notorious Villains' International League of Evil--V.I.L.E.--is behind this crime. Our detectives will stop at nothing until V.I.L.E. is brought to justice and the wonders of Machu Picchu are returned to Peru where they belong!"

Already, ACME detectives have been mobilized in pursuit of Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. cohorts in what is being described as a worldwide manhunt.

DO IT, ROCKAPELLA!

MMMMMDOP DOOBAY DOOBAY DOOOOWOP DOOP DOOBAY DOOOWOP DOOP DOOBAY DOOOOOWOP

BOWWWWWWWWWWW

WELL SHE SNEAKS AROUND THE WORLD

FROM KIEV TO CAROLINA

SHE'S A STICKY-FINGERED FILCHER

FROM BERLIN DOWN TO BELIZE

SHE'LL TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE

ON A SLOW BOAT TO CHINA

TELL ME

----------

Yes, that's right, I feel the inkling, and it's time for a big-ass Cube bash.

This game will draw primarily from the Carmen Sandiego video games, but there will be nods to the TV show aplenty.

How will it work?

The mechanics will be better explained when we're ready to roll, but they're mostly pinned down already. Half the players in the game will work for ACME, while the other half will work for V.I.L.E., with the latter stealing the goodies and the former hunting them down. Since the game itself is skewed in favor of ACME victory, of course, steps are being taken to ensure that the bad guys are on equal footing.

The basic mechanics are the same as those in the game. V.I.L.E. agents steal priceless artifacts, objects, buildings, mountain ranges, and other miscellanea from one of the game's 30 nations. ACME detectives pursue these agents around the world by gathering geography-themed clues about the next location, all the while trying to gather enough information about the suspect to obtain a warrant. For the purposes of this game, each theft-and-pursuit mission is called a caper. The caper ends when either the V.I.L.E. agent is apprehended with no warrant or time runs out (in which case V.I.L.E. wins that caper) or when the criminal is arrested with a warrant (in which case ACME wins that caper).

Each side will have an equal number of agents, and two players will have the honor of playing either the ACME Chief or Carmen Sandiego herself. The two leaders are responsible for resource management, planning, doling out vital bonuses to their teams, and throwing spanners into the works of the other side, and they can enter capers themselves in a power play that carries both great risk and great reward (if a leader goes down in the field, the other side wins automatically!). They can coordinate agents not involved in capers to enter the field and assist allies or coordinate busts on the enemy, all the while trying to keep their locations a secret for fear of tipping off the other side. In short, even if you're not stealing the Great Wall of China--or trying to track down the pun-named villain who's dragging it across the countryside--there's still plenty for you to do to help your side gain the edge.

And then, of course, there are the evil GM tricks that I will always have up my sleeve... but you'll have to find out about those yourselves.

What do I need to do to play?

Simple. Decide if you want to be a V.I.L.E. agent or an ACME detective and fill out the appropriate bio:

V.I.L.E.:

Name: (Carmen Sandiego Protip: If your name is a corny pun, you're more likely to make it into the game.)

Sex:

Hair Color: Choose from Black, Brown, Blonde, or Red.

Eye Color: Choose from Brown, Blue, Green, or Hazel.

Favorite Food: Choose from Chinese, Junk, Tex-Mex, or Seafood

Vehicle of Choice: Choose from Motorcycle, Convertible, Limousine, or Skateboard

Hobby: Choose from Croquet, Mountain Climbing, Skin Diving, or Tennis

Notable Physical Characteristic: Choose from Scar, Jewelry, Wig, or Tattoo

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: If you can't sum it up in one sentence, it's too damned complicated for this game.

ACME:

Note that ACME agents do not have the same restrictions as V.I.L.E. agents. This is because the V.I.L.E. features are needed to create clues that lead to warrants.

Name: (Carmen Sandiego Protip: The more you sound like a surly alcoholic misogynist from a film noir detective movie, the more likely I am to love you.)

Sex:

Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Hobby:

Area of Expertise:

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: See above. Gimmicks work fine here, too.

Obviously, more will be revealed once the thread is up. I will also need two dedicated people who are interested in playing Carmen Sandiego or The Chief. If you think you'd be cut out for either job, say so, and I'll put your name in the hat.

I'll leave sign-ups open for a little while, so get crackin'!

Edited May 11, 2009 by Box 11

[naiwf]

Name: Major Richard Payne

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Favorite Food: Chinese

Vehicle of Choice: Motorcycle

Hobby: Tennis

Notable Physical Characteristic: Tattoo

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Former military man turned criminal after 2 tours of Iraq

Put my name in the Sandiego hat.

[Ruki]

Name: Rob I. Nhood.

Hair Color: Red

Eye Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Tex

Vehicle of Choice:Skateboard!

Hobby: Tennis

Notable Physical Characteristic: Scar

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: He steals because he hates people who are richer than him.

[Hajjhowe]

ACME:

Name: Shooter Smith

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Hobby: Basketball

Area of Expertise: As a former member of V.I.L.E, Shooter is an expert at figuring out the mindset of the worlds most nefarious criminals. He's also great at shooting Free Throws.

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Former basketball themed villain turned Acme detective!~

Edited May 11, 2009 by Hajjhowe

[Sousa]

Ah shit, and if it isn't clear in your character's name I also want your character's Sex:.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Box 11

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

ACME:

Name: Buzz Bonham

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green

Hobby: He sometimes takes his clothes off and frolics in the sand

Area of Expertise: He can tell the difference between butter and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Nonsensical and perhaps criminally insane, he is the Murdoch to ACME's facsimile of the A-Team.

[Josh]

Ah shit, and if it isn't clear in your character's name I also need Sex:.

[Sousa]

Actually, my wife is on the rag right now and I do need Sex: in the worst way.

[oldskool]

Actually, my wife is on the rag right now and I do need Sex: in the worst way.

Everybody knows colon sex is the best.

[Essa]

Name: Reginald Slickbottom

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Hobby: Computer Chess

Area of Expertise: Crimes Pertaining to the United Kingdom

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Reginald is a straightlaced gumshoe in the London branch of ACME who was raised by his bachelor father after his mother left them to be with a rich oil baron.

[Zaz]

ACME:

Name: Rex Hyman

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Hobby: Drinking scotch

Area of Expertise: Detectiving?

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Rex Hyman by name, Rex Hyman by nature.

[Sousa]

his mother left them to be with a rich oil baron.

Initially read that as "After his mother left them to be a rich oil baron."

Which is way more awesome. Just puts on the monocle and leaves.

[GoGo Yubari]

Score one more for the bad guys!

Name: Penny Lane

Hair Color: Red.

Eye Color: Green

Favorite Food: Tex-Mex

Vehicle of Choice: Convertible

Hobby: Skin Diving

Notable Physical Characteristic: Tattoo

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: A disgraced virtuoso musician, I guess she really really likes music a lot so she steals things pertaining to it.

[hugobomb]

V.I.L.E.:

Name: Jim L Fixit

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Junk

Vehicle of Choice: Limosuine

Hobby: Mountain Climbing

Notable Physical Characteristic: Jewelry

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Your fix it man, He can get you whatever you need

[Pleatherface]

Name: Lisa St. DeVille

Sex: Female

Hair Color: Blonde.

Eye Color: Green.

Favorite Food: Seafood

Vehicle of Choice: Convertible

Hobby: Mountain Climbing.

Notable Physical Characteristic: Wig.

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Former model driven to crime after losing her hair in a perm gone horribly wrong.

[oldskool]

ACME:

Name: Dick Gumshoe

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Hobby: Yelling "Hey, pal!", following around defense attorneys

Area of Expertise: Homicide (which makes him semi-useless in robberies)

One-Sentence Description of Your Character:

If his salary goes any lower, he'll have to pay the department to keep his job; he's desperate enough to forego homicide investigations and dabble in robberies.

[StevenRichardsRules]

V.I.L.E.:

Name: Hamm Berger

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Junk

Vehicle of Choice: Motorcycle

Hobby: Croquet

Notable Physical Characteristic: Tattoo

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Hungry hungry hippo with an appetite ... for crime.

Name: Achilles Heel

Sex: Male

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Green

Favorite Food: Seafood

Vehicle of Choice: Convertible

Hobby: Mountain Climbing

Notable Physical Characteristic: Scar

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: He is Spartacus. (Roman themed narcissist)

Edited May 11, 2009 by StevenRichardsRules

[theburninator77]

V.I.L.E.

Name: Chad Hornytoad

Sex: Man

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Junk

Vehicle of Choice: Motorcycle

Hobby: Skin Diving

Notable Physical Characteristic: Scar

One-Sentence Description of Your Character: Emo kid, always made fun of in high school, now he's getting his revenge by doing something evil, I guess.

[Sousa]

Oh, also? One agent per person.

I also could really use some ACME detectives as well.

[StevenRichardsRules]

My choice is Hamm Berger.