Alright, after over a year of writing in this role play, I've had enough time to witness its evolution and growth. I noticed we have developed an overall tone to the plot, which will vary from city to city. As far as I know, there are two basic tones that can be divided into sub-categories, or even divided on a sliding scale.
Cynicism is best explained with its opposite, Idealism. In simple terms,
Idealisim - Bright, happy, everything is awesome, found in
Sugar bowl settings.Cynicisim - Dark, depressing, everything sucks, found in
Crapsack World settings. Armarus falls into the cynical category.
Then there is the grey area in between, I think our story is somewhere in between completely cynical, and the middle of the scale. Armarus is a run-down city full of mercenaries and their seedy employers, outright monsters, and violent heroes with questionable morals who are either human, or the type of people normally associated with the dark side (Drow, demons, vampires, fallen angels, etc.) You can also die on any given day here, that is if you go on a mission. Then again, if you don't, trouble could still find you.
The characters in a cynical setting are often placed in unfortunate situations that do not look optimistic no matter how you spin it. (In the milder version of this used often in comedy and children's television, there is no risk of death, usually.)
Knowing the tone of this particular city's story will help you create better characters who fit in here, and are likely to make a permanent home in Armarus until they die, or you quit. I found the characters who have dropped out or just don't mesh with other characters well were/are very idealistic, and that just messes stuff up. It sucks when people leave or get in the way because it throws everything off.
Learn more about Cynicisim vs Idealisim here.Examples of cynical stories are:
Any dystopian novel (their whole point is to be cynical.)
Hey Arnold (Great example of a children's cynical cartoon, for Humans are Bastards here, and Helga and Harold count as anti heroes, for they are amoral bullies.)
Raising Hope (cynical comedy)
Death Note (villain protagonist, many grey characters here, Black and Grey Morality and Black and Black morality conflicts. Heavy cynicism, the world is a Crapsack from Light's point of view... and he turns it into a real crapsack later.)
Lost (epic grey and black morals in a crapsack... island, also has a downer ending and a healthy cast death rate.)
Chicken Run
Contrast with idealistic stories:
Any utopian novels
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (and many other children's cartoons under the rating Y7)
Disney Princess movies
Phineas and Ferb (and pretty much everything else on Disney.)
Percy Jackson ( Heavy white and black morality, heroes are neutral at worst, and there is only one bully, and Humans are Special/Good here.)
The early books in the Harry Potter series
Modern Family
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