Personification Life, the Universe & Everything 2 [OOC OPEN]

[Cerillium]

The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. OOC THREAD ITERATION XV ICARCHIVE - SETTING DRAMATIS PERSONÆ RULESJOIN! SITREP Welcome to PERSONIFICATION LIFE. You're here because you belong here, having applied and been accepted. Or you're here because you think you want to belong here, and thus you should fill out an application. Or perhaps you're here because you've seen this thing in the sidebar for several years and you've always wondered what it was. PERSONIFICATION LIFE is a character-based, story-driven role play. New players do not need to know everything about the PLverse, though it helps to browse through the basics. We work your characters in, allowing you plenty of time to learn the setting as you play. This is a combination sandbox-railroad role play. It does not have a specific prescribed storyline, although there is an overarching plot. The world is set and the PCs are free to wander where they will and find adventure where they will. There are occasions, such as when we hold a major event, where the play fluctuates between sandbox and railroad based upon need and GM inclination, railroading to move the story on when the players lose momentum and sandbox otherwise; this tactic lets the players be free when they want to be but gives them structure when they're feeling lost. Players are encouraged to improve their writing skills, to fashion layered characters rather than 2D caricatures, and to try their hands at GMing their own small adventures. Players of all skill levels are welcome here. ...And remember to keep the Personification Life theme song in your heart whenever you play!

[Cerillium]

TheBasics P R E M I S E "I have always drawn the adrift to me. You. All of you, mortal and god alike - I gather here all the forgotten things in the universe - the downtrodden, the forgotten magic, the mysteries, the lost keys and odd socks and neglected people - and house them together so that they might prove their worth. Call me spiteful if you wish. Call me proactive. We have a job to do. You are not here because of serendipity. You are Serendipity, and I have chosen you to change the fate of others. Each of you. Mortal, god, or menace alike." - O.C. Demens The principle of parsimony, more commonly known to humans as Occam's Razor, is a theory that states that the answer to a problem is most likely the one that requires the fewest assumptions. In other words, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Zan Kraken was quickly learning that this basic scientific principle was only one of the many that this universe would regularly shit all over. "Demens' Razor: The simplest explanation to a problem is that it was probably the fault of an unfathomably powerful being with way too much free time." C O N C E P T All pantheons must abide by laws which govern not only themselves but their interaction with other pantheons. It's always been so. Red tape and bureaucracy at its worst. What does a god do when they need something taken care of quickly, quietly... without getting their own hands (or their pantheon) dirty? How do you reclaim what belongs to you without starting a war with the pantheon that stole it? Where do you go when you just don't have what it takes to answer a prayer or solve a disaster? Demens. His people are masters of supernatural operations. Who stores the things too dangerous to be left unattended in the cosmos? Who finds the missing artifacts? Who sends teams back in time to fix what's been broken? Demens. His people have a reputation for doing the impossible. The Residents are all members of Demens' organization. It has many names - the Agency, the Organization, the Bureau, Demens' Chosen. Its best known name is Gesellschaft - the Society. Comprised of gods, supernatural creatures, mundane mortals, and everything in between, think of them as Men in Black on a multidimensional level, or a Secret Service with a higher purpose, or whatever trope satisfies your taste. Some are asked to join; most are pulled moments from death. They haven't any special rank or title. They are simply the Residents - those experts serving the organization in a regular or full-time capacity. It is rumored that they are headquartered in a Building deep within Demens' own pocket dimension (ergo, the Residents obviously reside there). Of course, it's also rumored that Residents can stop Time, raise the dead, lay waste to entire planets, and prefer waffles for breakfast. Perhaps only the organization itself knows the full truth. T H E S E T T I N G PERSONIFICATION LIFE plays out in a richly defined setting. Rather than duplicate information here, please visit our ARCHIVE THREAD.

OPExpectation Characters are expected to work with each other for the common good. This is why "lone wolf" characters don't thrive in the setting. The structure is very basic: Characters live at the Building Characters are free to develop friendships/relationship with other characters Characters may not spend all their time sitting around chatting - we aren't a CLT Characters are expected to shoulder some responsibility Young players tend to have their characters sit and chat. This is understandable if the characters are teenage mallrats. However, the youngest character is 18 and expected to act like an adult. Adults seldom have the luxury of spending all day sitting around. They have to work, they have college courses, they have errands to run, they have places to go. Our lives are mostly lived in motion, and conversations warp themselves into our activities. When something is dire, we do sit and talk things out. However, we can't indulge ourselves in 24 hour conversations and expect to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I expect characters to be active. I expect players to volunteer their characters for missions or involve them in other people's stories. If your character starts to turn into a dialog-heavy, drama-imbued mallrat, I'll find ways to motivate the character into motion. Threat of death is a great motivator. Sometimes the Building explodes. Sometimes something dreadful comes out of a drain. Sometimes a cultist will walk in and shoot one of the mallrats to motivate you into developing your character by having them react to splattered brains. Don't give me the opportunity to snuff your character: keep them active, have them contribute to the setting, develop their personalities through action as well as words. PL is not an anime game. While I allow anime powers for characters, the laws of physics apply. Your ten foot long sword is too heavy for your 110 pound, lithe girl to lift. You will have the option of putting it on her wall or else selling it to a character with the mass and strength necessary to use it. I expect players to conform to the setting and the game physics, and not the other way around.

[Cerillium]

Rules Every role play has them. Ours haven't changed in years: Hierarchy PL's OP is Cerillium. I function as the overarching GM. CoOPs are, alphabetically, Giovenith and Mincaldenteans. CoOPs Swith Witherward and Tiltjuice are currently on sabbatical. Our word is law. Only the OP or CoOPs are permitted to change the setting, change the city, open portals, adjust time, or insert an invincible character (PL syntax: the character is in "tool mode"). CoOPs are always available to answer questions, and to settle disputes. Should I need to take a sabbatical, my CoOPs have permission to keep the game running, to include approving applications and making new threads. PG-13/Sex/Violence We have minors ergo our IC and OOC are PG-13. Keep it that way. This is a ZERO TOLERANCE policy. PL is not the place to act out your violent or sexual fantasies. Violence and sex are allowed, of course, but we employ a "fade to black" rule rather than expose minors to graphic content or obscene material. You can obtain further guidance here. Rape is taboo. NPCs are not there to be spindled, mutilated and torn apart unless, of course, it's combat. Role Play Etiquette Godmodding and metagaming are not allowed. We don't use multi-colored or oddly formatted fonts for dialog. We also don't use asterisks to denote action. You must use proper punctuation and grammar; we aren't here to teach basic English. If you have a problem with a player, take it to TG. If that does not work, bring it to the OP or a CoOP's attention. Do not turn the OOC thread into chaos. Bogging down other players through lack of posts or low-quality posts without offering satisfactory OOC explanation (esp. if posting of high quality in other RPs) will earn a warning; further problems will lead to player removal from the roster. Stories Players can and do run stories that contribute to the overall premise. They can also run minor stories for character development, though these are usually local rather than through a Gate. Ignoring established IC canon (concerning the government, the police, the city itself, and NPCs) in order to advance one's personal plots will earn IC consequences. If this becomes a problem, the offender will be ejected at staff discretion. Non-Discrimination Statement and "Ban-able" Behavior Personification Life, its players, and its staff do not nor will not discriminate against an individual based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income, political beliefs, or civil rights activity. That said, Personification Life's OOC threads and the Madhouse Server are not a platform for your personal cause or political promotion. BANNED PLAYERS Urran Grand Britannia Germanic Templars Torsiedelle

[Cerillium]

Characters and Game Mechanics What can I play? This is a mixed genre RP which allows you to play things that are near and dear to your heart, within reason: PL is not an anime game or set in an anime universe. Anime physics don't apply. You can run anime concepts, but you won't have a Goku-powerful character. Some characters concepts are no longer allowed due to heavy saturation or game mechanics conflicts. Other players may currently have characters that are part of your favorite genre... bear that in mind when you apply. Their established canon takes priority. Many are willing to share genre with you. Your character must be 19 or older. You can bring in a character from a dead RP but their powers and abilities have to go by our scale. Androids Cthulhu Cyborgs (Various themes) Doctor Who Dragons Egyptian Pantheon The Fae Greek Pantheon Judeo-Christian Pantheon MLP:FIM Nazis Time Cops (including Chronos and Fate) Velociraptors Vikings Warhammer 40K If in doubt, ask in the OOC prior to fashioning a character app. Gods/Demons run by current players or OPs: Beelzebub, Pride, Envy, Wrath, Loki, the five 40K Chaos gods, Anubis, Satan, Elohim (Christian God), the Fae courts, the Greek Muses, Chronos and Fate, Jesus. CHARACTER CONCEPTS AND SOME LIMITATIONS PERIODS IN TIME Your character can come from any time, be it an ancient past or the far future. Characters from time periods extremely removed from the present will be at a hindrance. The barbarian will never have seen a light bulb, whereas the person from the distant future will understand there's electricity involved but might not know how to change that light bulb. It's okay to play these characters but I expect you to take into account their struggle to adapt to the current time period's technology, customs, etc. Characters will not be able to time travel under their own power or device. NON-ENGLISH SPEAKERS Not a problem. That's what bablefish are for. Your character will receive one once he checks in at the Lobby Font Desk. PERSONIFICATIONS/HETALIA You can run these. Bear in mind that the personification relies upon the people. Your character is completely cut off from their home dimension. Can they survive as the embodiment of their people if those people no longer exist? Also, personifications are not immortal in PL. SUPPORTIVE CHARACTERS These are the botanists , chemists, machinists, researchers, medical personnel, and others that support the organization. They MUST have some skill - or be willing to learn a skill or two - that allows them to adapt to the setting and serve a purpose. The machinist excels at inventing things. The researcher has spent time in the field and knows how to quickly assess data or archives. The medical personnel specializes in triage or surgery, or pharmacology. The botanist is especially adept at breeding new strains. The chemist had working knowledge of explosives or other harmful substances and can apply that knowledge to benefit a team. MILITARY CHARACTERS Doesn't matter if he was a mighty general or an emperor - everyone starts off raw. This allows players to learn as they go. PSIONICISTS You can run a telepathic character. Please note: we prefer you to use a set method when writing telepathic speech. A quoted italicized sentence signifies telepathic communication - "This is dialog." Simple italics denote thought - This is a thought. Please do not use brackets or colors to indicate telepathic thought. It confuses the reader and your fellow players. Bear in mind that we have some potent psionicists already. A beginning character will not be able to penetrate their minds or launch an attack on them. Also, we have characters that are tied in to chaos pantheons. To tap their minds is to tap into insanity - your character will instantly go mad, no saving throw. MAGIC USERS Each genre has its own special magic. Fae magic is not the same as magic found in Magic the Gathering. Likewise, some things - such as the Force - are not considered magic at all. It's difficult to balance magic in an open genre setting. I may ask you to tweak your applications to allow that magic or magic ability to work. If your character's magic depends on his surrounds at home, he may not find anything to power him in the PL setting. For example, one of our players runs the Cthulhu genre. While in the setting, or when in a dimension where Cthulhu doesn't exist, his characters rely upon wits and whatever they've brought with them. They can not summon the things necessary to complete a spell. CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT ALLOWED I no longer permit gods, demigods, angels, demons/daemons, daevas, djinn, ghosts, spirit characters, fae, dragons. We have too many and it's becoming impossible to maintain balance. No characters under the age of 18. No "girls turning into things" ala Upotte!. No self-inserts or "personification player". No preexisting movie/videogame/book characters - you can run a character like Captain Jack Sparrow, but you can not run the actual Captain Jack Sparrow. Likewise, you can bring characters over from another role play game but that character must not be in current use and you must nerf their abilities to match the limits in place on the application. ANIME/VIDEO GAME CHARACTERS I do allow these but we are not set in the anime or video game world. We also have to balance anime physics with real world physics. And, as this is a new character, everyone starts off at a low level. In other words, I'm not going to entertain apps with ungodly powerful anime or video game characters. Your character is just starting out. Leave them room to grow. Likewise, I'm not going to allow potent weapons that destroy everything they come in contact with. AGE Just touching upon this to dispel commonly held beliefs regarding age and knowledge. One does not become smarter the longer one lives. A man in his 40s has forgotten things learned in school if those things don't have relevance in his life. A man in his 50s may quit his trade and return to college to learn a different one. In time, his current knowledge about his old trade will become obsolete - he's been out of it for too long. A character that is over 300 years old will remember a time before electricity was common, but he will have forgotten a great many things as well. I do not mind if players run characters beyond 100 years old. I expect those characters to possess the temperance and maturity that comes with age, and I will not allow them to have extra points just because they are old. What will my character do? Your character should have a Purpose - That special je ne sais quoi - a quality that cannot be described or named easily - which sets them apart from the average person. It's important to keep that in mind when creating your character. School girls and emo boys, Joe Average businessman, a petty thug, or just some guy with too much money will NOT fit in well. They'll be left behind too often. You'll grow bored as a player. Please read The Basics before designing your character concept. Characters should: Be able to function with or without a weapon/magic/technology (sometimes they'll be cut off from it) Be a team player Be prepared to go through Gates (enter foreign dimensions) in order to complete missions Have some skill or trait that will make him/her/it valuable in the game setting (nurse, doctor, researcher, soldier, mechanic, pilot, botanist, business guru, ninja, journalist, politician etc) Character alignment is meaningless - all individuals work with each other towards the organization's goals. Players are expected to put in a little research for their character's role/occupation. How Do Magic and Superpowers Work in PL? Before we get into the mechanics - The players that have the most fun in PL are not the ones running potent characters. God Mode Sues seem awesome on paper but become very limiting in a long-running game because you leave no room for growth. The object of the game is not to satisfy your own ego. Instead, it's to entertain readers while collaborating with fellow writers on a story. We use a scale in order to help players figure out just how powerful (or not) their characters are. We ask players to be mindful of exactly what their character's limitations are. Many players fall back on this handy List of Supernatural Powers and Abilities when designing their character. TIERS There are several power tiers in PL: 0 - Average: this is an average character, regardless of its species. 1 - Above Average 2 - Peak 3 - Below Average Meta: this is lower tier supernatural. 4 - Average Meta: 5 - Peak Meta: 6 - Below Average Arcane: this is lower tier potent. It is dangerous. Using magic or superpowers at this level will occur paradox. Users have greater control, thus their spell or power might be a six, but they habitually operate at a four or less. To have a character operate at this level, you have to prove to me that you're responsible by A)not abusing the power constantly, and B)imposing limitations and restrictions yourself, then abiding by them. Great power requires humility and restraint. 7 - Average Arcane 8 - Peak Acrane 9 - Below Average God (or a Young God/Godling): 10 - Average God 11 - Peak God The Scale Power Equivalence Levels (borrowed from Nightkill and adapted) 0 – Average You're an average being. Mundane in all regards. 1 – Above Average Magic: You might be able to set things on fire with a lot of effort but, honesty, it would be quicker to use matches. Physical: Yeah, you sprint well - just like all the other physically conditioned mortals in the world. Skill: You want a gold star for having this level of knowledge? 2 – Peak Magic: It's very low-tier. You might be able to slowly regenerate, teleport yourself a little bit, do some decent shapeshifting, or maybe actually create more than a match-head of fire. You'll need to recover afterwards. Physical: You can run a marathon. You'll still end up with bleeding, chafed nipples at the end. Skill: You have a basic knowledge of the subject. Pizza Maker Level 2 means you can make the pizza without looking at the pictures above your station to see what goes on it. 3 – Below Average Meta Magic: This is decent. Maybe you can successfuly every once in a while. Your power is still "enhhhh". Physical: Your dexterity lets you load a magazine quickly. You can compete in Weightlifting in the Olympics, and might actually win the Bronze. It'll wear you out afterwards. Skill: Meh. Commercial airline pilot. You won't be landing a plane on the Hudson. 4 – Average Meta Magic: You can manipulate at higher rates, produce stronger attacks, stuff like that. If you have a healing power, you should be able to heal most minor injuries in thirty seconds, and major in minutes (Cannot start regenerating until damage has stopped, AKA if you’re being burnt or electrocuted you can’t begin the regeneration process until you are no longer being attacked.) Things like regenerating a lost limb would still take almost a day and would be impossible in a battle. At this point, you might be able to do a bit of illusionist-type stuff, perhaps a little bit of transfiguration, pretty decent shapeshifting, okay elemental powers, stuff like that. Your efforts will still tax you. Physical: Your keen eyesight allows you to hit targets at a distance without a scope. Your Endurance lets you run a distance without tiring quickly. Four points in Dexterity lets you move quickly. Skill: You can land that plane on the Hudson and know how to properly fill out the forms afterwards. You're a damn good sniper. You don't need a calculator for equations. You can easily identify types of demons. 5 – Peak Meta Magic: Alright, this is a pretty damn impressive power. You can shoot fireballs out of your hands, teleport a pretty decent distance, or control elements pretty well (think like, one of the better benders in Avatar, because there isn't really a better way to describe it), things like that. Your power probably won't be too useful against higher-tier supernaturals, but you can slice through your basic human/demon/angel pretty quickly. You can summon a demon - you need a means to contain it because he'll kill you if he gets a chance. Physical: Not bad! You could jump onto a third story balcony from the ground floor. Skill: Very impressive. You can man a Gundam. However, you' need at least a 4 in Dexterity to fly it well. -Paradox Danger begins here for non-physical powers/skills- Paradox is that nifty thing your OP keeps track of. The more you use a power in one situation to alter reality, manipulate things, fuck with atoms, tweak dimensions, etc the higher your paradox number goes. Too high? POOF. It's like building up a static charge. Paradox dissipates over time. There are ways to wick away paradox but you'd need to be fairly powerful to do so. An example, for those who remember it, was Ogoti's shield over the restaurant during the Drone final assault. He dealt with Paradox by dying and rapidly reanimating. Three skills used, all were at a 12.) Paradox may also manifest itself in an unintentional result. Healing a large group for a sustained amount of time? You might find your patient's body suddenly and uncontrollably mutating into a hideous blob. Paradox does not apply to physical traits or skills. 6 – Below Average Arcane Magic: You are a damn good wizard. If your power is healing, you have an amazing healing rate. Your hand is gone? Pfft, that's not a problem. It's back within a minute. Most higher-skilled wizards/supernaturals have this type of power. Your power is dangerous. You might even be able to project, reanimate, etc. Physical: You're pretty good. You can lift a car. You might be able to dodge a single bullet. You'll need points in endurance for that car, and points in dexterity for that bullet. Skills: Wicked! Aragorn can track the orcs at a dead run. You can fashion your own spells and they'll actually work. 7 – Average Arcane Magic: You're better than your average wizard, but you aren't, like, godly. Your shit's impressive, though. You can summon a demon and maintain a bit of control over him. He'll still kill you if you give him a chance. Physical: Remember that car? You'll be able to throw it. Skills: You're ready to take on apprentices, if you're a wizard. You can calculate complex mathematical formulas and understand the principles behind them. 8 - Peak Arcane Teleport is easy for you. Group teleport is a cinch. You can rip holes in dimensions/universe with ease. Energy manipulation? Think along the lines of the Avatar - you can do some seriously awesome shit. You could probably make a tornado if you wanted. No, screw that, it would be easy for somebody like you. However, the cost is high. Ripping holes in dimensions would occur a fuckton of paradox. Chances are good that paradox will rip a hole through you right afterwards. Use your powers at full strength very wisely. Very wisely. All things in moderation. Physical: you can lift that battleship or airplane that's just landed on your friend. You can dodge multiple bullets if you blow the rest of your points in dexterity. Skills: You're Hawking. 9 - Below Average God (or a Young God/Godling) Magic: No one operates at this level except OP/CoOP characters and one grandfathered character. You can summon a demon and bend the motherfucker to your will. You can fashion paper birds and use them as deadly weapons. You can breathe life into a golem and it functions independently of your will. Physical: You can throw that battleship at your foe. 10 - Average God Magic: You can fuck with time. You can fuck with the laws of physics. Physical: throw that battleship at your foe! 11 - Peak God Magic: You're a god. You fashion demons. Physical: lifting a skyscraper size structures and being capable of moving mountainous figures at top strength. You probably have other powers to support this. 12+ - Beyond But that's tempered by limitations: - Balance, gravity, and mass still affect the user. - Users are still susceptible to Newton's Three Laws of Motion. - Having one power doesn't mean having all powers. Strength does not equal durability. If a user were to attempt to lift something extremely heavy over their head, their bones and joints could snap. - Gauge magic results by physical results. You might have a levitation spell handy, but it will only lift/carry something equal to the limitations established by a physical skill of the same level. In other words, your level 6 levitation spell allows you to lift a car (much like level 6 strength would), but the exertion will tire the magic user. - May damage environment/other people without meaning to or noticing. - There may be a limit to how strong a user can become before it's dangerous for themselves to use. (Ex: Gentle.) - May be limited to certain limbs. - May land the user in serious trouble, such as telepathically "reading" a Daemon will result in succumbing to the Daemon's will/insanity, etc. - Summoned Things are controlled by the OP. That's where other powers come in to assist the character. Structure Weakening, for example, allows for a bit less effort (and lessons risk of injury for larger structures). Enhanced Durability allows the character to pick some things up without bones snapping. Think of what you want your character to specialize in, then use the point system to sculpt that concept. Flaws These aren't social traits (antisocial, bitchy, alcoholic). Flaws apply to your power. Flaws are built in to give balance to a character. Even the gods have flaws. The flaws tie in to paradox. ALL powers which are NOT physical are prone to paradox. MAGIC ABILITY Possessing an affinity for magic does not make one more special than a mundane. It takes time and training to master a discipline. If that effort isn't put in, the being with magical affinity is usually useless compared to a trained mundane. Magic also follows a few game rules: Magic draws power from a source. It may be internal (your own power), it may be external (nature/a potion/umbra/gods), or it may be stored (battery). Once used, it must be recharged. Magic is not silly wand waving and foolish incantations. It is focus and concentration, effort and exertion. It taxes the user, just as a race taxes the runner. Gallimaufry is a sealed dimension. Magic dependent upon divine or demonic intervention will not work within this hammerspace, nor can characters summon anything to this dimension. White magic: this is the stuff of goodness and morality. Grey magic: this is a mix of good and bad, usually used for a noble purpose. Dark magic: this is the potent shit that will unhinge the mind. *heavy sigh* Users of dark magic need to have the right knowledge and pay the price. Because this magic is terrible to cast and terrible to behold, it tends to be hidden away on the shelves of dusty libraries that no one has visited in decades. Finding the right tome is no easy feat. Of course, finding it is only the first step. Spells are incredibly potent, but they always exact a toll. Sometimes that toll is a simple drain on the caster’s sanity as they look into the unquiet void. Sometimes spells require blood to be spilled, and sometimes much more. No, you may not mutilate the NPCS. Go bleed your own characters. Further, I will not let you get away with 'my character welcomes insanity/Satan/Chaos!' Once that character lapses into insanity it becomes my property. This keeps the most deadly magic out of PC hands in a completely organic manner. Why? PCs don't need potent magic for very basic situations, nor should it be a form of self-entertainment for the writer. NATURAL ABILITY: A MLP genre pegasus can naturally fly and shape clouds. A player will not need to spend any points for this. It's a mundane skill. If she wants the pegasus to fly well or shape clouds into something recognizable, she'll need to spend points. Ocho the thade is an alien. He's naturally very strong, with thick skin, and climbs well. No points need to be spent here as it's mundane for him. However, his physical build makes it difficult to ambulate on land. He needs points in Endurance and Dexterity in order for him to move long distances across flat ground. Mab is Fae. Her mundane skill is Innate Magic. She will need to spend points in other areas to reflect her ability to control is. Maghrl the Jedi has Force Sensitivity as his mundane skill. He will need to spend points to reflect training, as well as his own abilities to influence the Force. SUPERNATURAL ABILITY: These are things that the character's species normally doesn't have. Pay close attention to the scale in order to determine just how potent an ability is (or isn't). Increased Dexterity, the ability for a human to Fly, and the ability to Shapeshift, etc are supernatural abilities. Even Superman has his kryptonite. Supernatural powers or abilities need to have balance and limitations. When in doubt, ask the OP or a CoOP.

[Cerillium]

Join A P P L I C A T I O N I N S T R U C T I O N S Please read the above section to get an idea of character and setting mechanics. Thanks. PERSONAL INFORMATION This is your character's personal information. BACKGROUND & PSYCHOLOGY Occupation: whatever they did before entering the game. Greatest Strength: this is what sets them apart from the pack, what they excel at the best, what drives them or motivates them. Greatest Flaw: this is what holds them back, what they struggle against, what prevents them from achieving results, etc. Biography: should be written in first person. Be detailed, please (as I occasionally hand out bonus points or skills to round out your concept!) Most people write up the character's bio last, after they've spent time figuring out all the little details that come up while filling out the app. OBJECTIVES Note: objectives change over the course of time, as influenced by others or by environment, etc. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE - What major goal does your character work towards? This can NOT be "make friends", "get a lover", "discover self", or the other various things teens dwell upon. The primary objective is what drives your character's actions and their part of the plot. When not engaged in stories, these are what occupy your character's thoughts or keep them busy. Examples include: acting on a desire to become a powerful and respected leader; attempting to overcome some horrible thing in the past which hinders the character on a day-to-day basis; seeking to break out their shell by overcoming profound shyness (getting involved with stories); comping to terms with a major flaw that inhibits the character from reaching full potential; etc. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES - these should be an undercurrent for your character when they are engaged in stories or on their free time. They are what your character does to aid them in achieving their Primary Objectives. Examples include: acquiring weapons and becoming proficient with each one; improving sundered relations with a companion; improving their reading comprehension; mastering news spells; researching a cure for a plague; etc. MUNDANE SKILLS These are the things anyone with common sense and education (pertaining to their dimension and time period) would know. Cooking, making a fire, driving a car, speaking a native language, shooting a pistol, etc. Please note: some characters have natural talents. A MLP pegasus character has wings and can fly (averagely); a velociraptor can run fast (averagely). Magic users have an inkling magic exists (Magic Awareness) and Jedi are naturally Force Sensitive. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, OR TALENT/ABILITY All players have 10 points to allocate to this category; no single knowledge, skill or talent/ability may be over 4 points. Example KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Necromancy POINTS SPENT: 4 WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: This knowledge allows Hiro to understand the art of necromancy. He draws upon this knowledge when using spells, or when attempting to heal others. Hiro only understands necromancy as it applies to Earth's lore, and he'll need time to study necromancy from other dimensions and their pantheons before attempting any spellwork from it. OPTIONAL SUPERNATURAL CHARACTERISTICS & ABILITIES. Each player has 8 total points to spend total, no single characteristic greater than 4. This is for the superhero, the fantastical beast, and so on. Bear in mind: Superman has his kryponite, the Green Lantern needs to charge up, and werewolves have limitations. Example CHARACTERISTIC/ABILITY: Accelerated Healing POWER LEVEL: 3 WHAT DOES IT DO: Mary's wounds heal more quickly than an average person's. WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT: Mary can't heal while taking more damage. The ability only applies to punctures, cuts, or broken bones. She can't regrow organs or limbs damaged beyond repair. MAGIC OR FORCE USERS This is where you list your character's spells, or his Force abilities. Yes, you can add extra code to this section if you'd like 10 level 1 cantrips. Example: SPELL/FORCE ABILITY: Invisibility POWER LEVEL: 3 WHAT DOES IT DO: Allows the character to be invisible to the naked eye WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT: the character is not invisible to creatures that use heat sensing organs or their noses to detect prey. Also, particulates in the air will still settle on the character, making a hazy outline. WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY: He can't remain invisible for long periods, and his clothing and any carried objects won't be invisible. MAGICAL ITEMS These are treated just like spells. You can combine more than one spell into an item, but the culmination of all those spells can not be greater than 4. SCIFI/BIOTECH ITEMS These are treated just like magical items. If you plan to run a cyborg, run your design idea past the OP. PERSONAL ITEMS These are what your character has on their person when they enter the game. These are not magical or supernatural. If it's not listed, your character does NOT have it. Keep in mind that your character will have an apartment filled with personal items (within reason). Let the OP know if there's anything special that the character can't carry (such as a motor vehicle or aircraft, or a cabinet to store weapons in, etc). Equipment These are things your character would need in order to do their job after they arrive. Someone arriving in power armor would need a charging station, for example. Do not worry about weapons or ammo - the organization has plenty to spare. Likewise, do not worry about a laptop. If you feel your character will need something unique (from the time period she comes from) in order to thrive, mention it in this section. OTHER GAME MECHANICS & PLAYER INFORMATION SECTIONS Very cut and dry. A P P L I C A T I O N Code: Select all [blocktext][size=10]#PLAPP[/size]   [align=center][size=150][b]P E R S O N I F I C A T I O N[tab=20][/tab]L I F E, T H E[tab=20][/tab]U N I V E R S E,[tab=20][/tab]&[tab=20][/tab]E V E R Y T H I N G[/b][/size]      [img]https://i.imgur.com/gCAmedu.png[/img]     [size=150][b]C H A R A C T E R[tab=20][/tab]A P P L I C A T I O N[/b][/size][/align]         [align=justify][pre][/pre]     [size=120]P E R S O N A L[/size]             [tab=10][/tab]CHARACTER'S NAME:             [tab=10][/tab]GENDER:             [tab=10][/tab]SPECIES:             [tab=10][/tab]AGE:             [tab=10][/tab]DESCRIBE CHARACTER APPEARANCE:             [tab=10][/tab][u]URL[/u] TO PICTURE, IF ANY:             [pre][/pre]       [size=120]B A C K G R O U N D[tab=15][/tab]&[tab=15][/tab]P S Y C H O L O G Y[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]CURRENT OCCUPATION OR SPECIALTY:             [tab=10][/tab]GREATEST STRENGTH AS AN INDIVIDUAL:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT IS THE CHARACTER'S GREATEST FLAW:             [tab=10][/tab]BIOGRAPHY (written in first person):     [pre][/pre]             [size=120]O B J E C T I V E S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:                     [tab=10][/tab]GOALS:                           [pre][/pre]             [size=120]M U N D A N E[tab=15][/tab]S K I L L S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]SKILL:                         [tab=10][/tab]SKILL:                         [tab=10][/tab]SKILL:                         [tab=10][/tab]SKILL:                 [pre][/pre]             [size=120]S P E C I A L I Z E D[tab=15][/tab]K N O W L E D G E,[tab=15][/tab]S K I L L[tab=15][/tab]O R[tab=15][/tab]T A L E N T / A B I L I T Y[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 10 total points to spend, no knowledge, skill or ability greater than 4.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POINTS SPENT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED:                         [tab=10][/tab]KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POINTS SPENT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED:                                       [pre][/pre]             [size=120]O P T I O N A L[tab=15][/tab]S U P E R N A T U R A L[tab=15][/tab]C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S[tab=15][/tab]&[tab=10][/tab]A B I L I T I E S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 8 total points to spend total, no single characteristic greater than 4.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]CHARACTERISTIC/ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:                         [tab=10][/tab]CHARACTERISTIC/ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:                     [pre][/pre]             [size=120]M A G I C[tab=15][/tab]O R[tab=15][/tab]F O R C E[tab=15][/tab]U S E R S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 8 total points to spend total, no single spell or ability greater than 4. [/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]SPELL/FORCE ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:                [tab=10][/tab]SPELL/FORCE ABILITY:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:     [pre][/pre]             [size=120]M A G I C A L[tab=15][/tab]I T E M S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 8 total points to spend total, no single item greater than 4.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]ITEM:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:               [tab=10][/tab]ITEM:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:        [pre][/pre]             [size=120]S C I F I / B I O T E C H[tab=15][/tab]I T E M S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 8 total points to spend total, no single item greater than 4.[/size][/i]             [tab=10][/tab]ITEM:             [tab=10][/tab]WEAPON OR NON-WEAPON:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:                [tab=10][/tab]ITEM:             [tab=10][/tab]WEAPON OR NON-WEAPON:             [tab=10][/tab]POWER LEVEL:                  [tab=10][/tab]WHAT DOES IT DO:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT:             [tab=10][/tab]WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY:          [pre][/pre]             [size=120]P E R S O N A L[tab=15][/tab]I T E M S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]     [list=1][*]               [*]               [*]               [*][/list]                      [pre][/pre]             [size=120]E Q U I P M E N T[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]     [list=1][*]               [*]               [*]               [*]               [*]               [*]               [*][/list]        [pre][/pre]                [size=120]O T H E R[tab=15][/tab]G A M E[tab=15][/tab]M E C H A N I C S[/size]             [i][size=85]Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.[/size][/i]                         URL TO APARTMENT INTERIOR:             ONE PARAGRAPH THAT SUMS UP YOUR CHARACTER. THIS WILL APPEAR ON THE OOC FIRST PAGE:           [pre][/pre]                [size=120]P L A Y E R[tab=15][/tab]I N F O R M A T I O N[/size]                            YOUR NICKNAME ON NS:             YOUR EXPERIENCE LEVEL (beginner, intermediate, advanced):                    HOW OFTEN CAN YOU POST:             LINK TO RP EXAMPLES (YOUR IC POST, NOT THE RP ITSELF). IF YOU DON'T HAVE A LINK, WE'LL ASSESS YOU BASED ON YOUR CHARACTER'S BIOGRAPHY.        [list][*]               [*]               [*]        [/list]        [tab=10][/tab][/align][/blocktext]

[Cerillium]

Dramatis Personæ VIEW LARGER VERSION HERE P L A Y E R' S R E S I D E N T C H A R A C T E R S Septimus Alsius Itum Septimus is an augmented human and a researcher in the field of philothanatophy (study of death, lit. "love of death") from a futuristic, multiversal technocracy: Agymnum. He held a... details Alpha Six-Three-B Outer-Patrol-A-Two ("Opa Two") A riot squad droid serving on a dust world, Opa Two knows only combat and is primarily interested in returning to Falkoss-IV and to his operator....details Kale Kale is a ditsy, clumsy, but incredibly powerful plant manipulator. While not showing the utmost skill and discipline, she can turn you into fertilizer. She is friendly and caring though, showing much... details Thaddeus Usseio A old, cursed cyborg...more details. General Romulus Aphrodisiac General of the Wilhelm Imperium that was sent through multiple dimensions and universes to end up stranded here. Now force to contend with the new...details Nivea A'delvi A Nevidan freelance contractor on her way to her death, now having to contend with the Building's usual shenanigans. A considerable improvement she would find, but something to still adapt to and learn to live with...details Desmond Beckett Desmond is a man haunted by scars of the past, both mental and physical. He harbors a long-kept secret that he was likely responsible for the deaths of dozens, in stark contrast to his branding as a hero. Running away from his past, he ends up working in a Mars colony, responsible for maintaining everything from suits to life support systems. Des can fix almost anything, but has yet to figure out how to fix himself...more info Nick A sentient, intelligent cat trying to understand himself and to find a place in the world - sometimes awkwardly. Often friendly and somewhat...details Rmwtyliin Saagve Annvyeelee Fvvarniimalasaakuuliia (Rmw) A teenaged princess from medieval Fvaarniimar who "somehow" ended up in Bielefield. She's not afraid to try... details Giovenith The young daughter of a goddess of Creation... details Willow Streaks A skeptical but artistic pegasus-pony... details Zan Kraken In order to win the war against the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance is constantly recruiting fed-up freedom fighters to their cause. Enter Zan Kraken, a Mon Calamari scientist from the subjugated planet of Dac who escaped...more details Sakarias Viitanen A Synth with the mind of a pre-war Finnish immigrant violinist and carpenter that only wants to ...details. Sterling Venture A unicorn pony born and raised in Canterlot. He specializes in levitation magic and his talent...details Maghrl’laundersando’tamil’reumaur (Maghrl) A Squib Jedi Knight, obsessed with robotics, junk, and mechanical creations.... details Venla the Bold A Huvidu-Zaan Xenologist and Linguist whose goal in life is to learn as much about other species and cultures as she can....details Etzic Vkayl Shaman of the Whiskerbrew clan capable of... details Oecammi Ret Ata-EE (Oecammi will suffice) A genetically modified alien tasked to expand Lumba's Emporium beyond the walls Urbem Ascalon (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lumba's Entertainment, LLC.)... full details. Anais Adarah Anais is the voice of Dwayna’s Vigilant led by Alexia Conrath. Her mission, like any member of the guild, is to seek allies and return home to drive the Charr from Ascalon. While Anais is not an Ascalonian, she sympathizes with her guildmates that are, swearing to stand by them to whatever end. Anais is very polite, serene, and circumspect in her actions that involve the guild as a whole. Her magical talents are mainly devoted to healing, though able to go on the defensive (indirectly) if forced to do so... details Dan Foster Dan is a Fae of the Summer Court exiled to Bielefield (and now Galli) under the pretense of a ‘fact finding’ mission. He’s taken it in stride and hopes to make the best of it until he can return to Faerie, though it is unsure when that will be... details Hunter Evans (Teero Anjar - real name) A former resistance fighter in search of a new life.... details Mab Mab, Queen of Air & Darkness... details Mezran, Son of Jag'oth, of the House of StoH'raQ Mezran has found himself on earth under mysterious circumstances. He doesn't know if going back to his own timeline is possible, but the proud Klingon has pledged to serve in any capacity as long as it is just and does not tarnish his...details CoOP NPC list - used to assist Cer, or as troubleshooting. Dwayna’s Vigilant: These characters stay within the guild hall/Building, they may venture out as support and for plot advancement purposes. Only OP and fellow Co-OPs can use these NPCs. Anais is the only tool-character within the guild, as such OP/Co-OP can also use her if necessary. The roster: Alexia Conrath - Monk, founder and leader of Dwayna’s Vigilant (details) Cherry Valentine - Mesmer (details) Erick Dresner - Dervish (details) Reyna Farris - Warrior (details) Traxt Affinity - Elementalist (details) Grzymislawa Kafka A psychic soldier with psychometric powers, Sergeant Grzymislawa Kafka holds honor and respect in high regard for determining one's...details Brit Nicholson Brit is not quite the average adult girl. She's gone through some paramilitary training with a... details Aegis Aegis is a stoic guard for Primordials Embassy who embodies the military side of the Luxan Empire through his skill and willingness to help others for a price. Coming from an advanced race that has journeyed across the entirety of the Multi-Verse he wields a p... details Insidious Insidious is a Hyper Apathetic Artist that specializes in genetically manipulated... details Primordial old young Primordial is a hyper nihilistic scientist from another universe. Constantly on the lookout of ways of increasing his... details Henry Lawson Everything that you want in friend, Henry has it- Charisma, a good sense of humor, easily able to get along with and many more, he has the potential to woo and befriend everyone. However, he's not really the social butterfly as he seems, so most likely, someone else will have to make the first move in order to...full details. Amanda Bela Amanda is a sorcerer's apprentice's wife. She'd rather be known as a gifted...details Sanford “Sandy” Bela Sandy is a quiet, professional historian turned jumpy, outmatched amateur...details Macy (Service No. 12HM-570R47W) Macy (Service No. 12HM-570R47W) is a civilian-grade android built by AE-Celestia Industries. She belongs to the U-Bot product line, one of the first truly realistic androids in existence. However, what distinguished her from other robots was her...details Hanselmann "Hans" Fleischer-Schaefer Klaus' Cultist Leader. Captain Minerva Blackwater (Conceptual design by Gio) Minerva Blackwater is Charumati's cultist leader. She is no-nonsense (for the most part)... details Myra Bones A mundane teenager living in an extraordinary world. No relation to Bones & Co... details Naomi An Avatar of a Chaos god. Mepsidadelti "Meps" Heltamip (NPC for Gates) The Eudadoti Gate repairlizard...details. NLA 3v2 (Nila Trilb) A lost Swithwardian construct NST 3v1 (Neste Trilb) A lost Swithwardian construct... details (and character images) Rodney P. Bodkins A Triumvir Scientem Representative, Nifid... details Charumati A reluctant avatar trapped with... details. CoOP NPC list - used to assist Cer, or as troubleshooting. With the exception of Charumati, these characters can be used by OP and fellow CoOPs only, for story administrative purposes. Blythe and Xanthe (Daemonettes of Slaanesh, plot advancement) Brisbys (shop owners, Underground contact, plot advancement) Charumati (a god) Chi the Chibi (Building's babysitter) John (Klaus' cultist, might become a character, currently used as plot advancement) Mama Toussaint (a seer, used as plot advancement) Misaki (a court musician, Charumati's cultist, used as plot advancement) Smith and Jones (Bielefeld police officers that patrol the Market District, used as plot advancement) Thomas & Pete (cultists) Will (Minerva's second, used as plot advancement, very rarely a tool) Wren (Thad's daughter, tech priest, used as plot advancement) *Reception Desk Cultist* (Volker the German cultist, only used to work new players into setting) Offspring that are still around but not really characters. They function as fluff: The twins (with Charumati) Sophie (Klaus' daughter) Nash (Klaus and Minerva's adopted son) Dora Dora is a once and present priestess of Fate herself...more details Chrysanthe A Roman-Celtic priestess/guardian... details Hectaros Varinos te Eterri Maginestim the Brave-Sworded (or just Hectaros) An average man, it was foreseen when he was born that he'd be a great hero. Instead, he turned out average and became a soldier for his homeland....details. PLAYERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO CONTROL NPCS THAT DWELL IN THE BUILDING Volker - the Front Desk Cultist, one of Klaus' Men. The Building Manager - a flamboyant sort of magical being with a short temper and a long laugh. You may need to reapply if you've been dropped from the roster. Yer character might also be ded. Ded characters don't return. RIP: Astra Foriano (Saleon); Enali Archdreamer (IJ).

[Cerillium]

PERMISSIONS Personification Life (PL) and all its happy iterations, coding, apps, archive formats and fancy words may not be reproduced without the explicit written permission of the OP. Should the OP meet an untimely demise, authorization is granted to Swith Witherward to create new threads. Should Swith Witherward die, yer all screwed, and permission to create threads goes to Mincaldenteans and Tiltjuice. They must fight for them to the death in a vat of lime Jello while wearing nothing but chicken suits made of crappy stuff found under the Lobby couch. Bawk bawk! Humor aside, I grant Swith Witherrward, Mincaldenteans and Tiltjuice permission to operate in my stead should I need to take another long sabbatical from PL. They have my permission to utilize this intellectual property for the benefit of the game and its participants.

Roleplay Guidance MENTOR NOTE ON DIALOG by Swith Witherward I came across some old notes this morning and thought I'd share them here. It's from a workshop by Holly Lisle. I found a copy of it, and I present it here (with some tweaks for RP purposes). Credit goes to her. The purpose of this is to help people write better when two of their own characters are speaking in the same post, but it works just as well as a reference source when two players are working on a collaborated post. CONFLICT Dialogue is about demonstrating character through conflict, either internal or external. Remember that, and your job becomes easier. Conflict isn’t always something bad that’s happening. It can be something as terrific as winning a million bucks in a lottery or falling in love or discovering your character is going to have a baby. However, conflict always portends change. And dialogue always gives you a window to see into the way that characters feel about that change, or at least the way they want each other to think they feel, which may not be the same thing. WRITING DIALOG Here are a few recommendations about writing convincing dialogue. None of them are cast in stone, but until you’re comfortable enough with the rules to know how to break them, you’ll work better if you keep them in mind. Avoid phonetic spelling and accents. Dialogue of the following sort—“Ah reckon ah don’ haff ta go dowan tuh th’ rivuh tuhday, ‘cawse we gots awl th’ feeush we gwine need”—gives the reader a headache and makes you look like a moron. With dialect, less is definitely more. “I reckon I don’t have t’ go down t’ the river today, ’cause we got all the fish we gonna need,” is much more readable and still suggests a particular character. That said, too much is too much. Keep to the conflict. If there is no conflict for the two characters in a piece of dialogue, then the dialogue has no place in your story. The conflict can be internal (he’s lying to her; she doesn’t like him; she's embarrassed by her friend's behavior, etc) or external (raptors are trying to eat them; an object has triggered a problem they need to solve). But it has to be there. Dialogue illuminates character faster than any amount of exposition, but only if you give your characters something interesting to talk about, and something that moves your story forward. And that means conflict. Don’t let characters “speechify.” What worked in a Shakespeare monologue does not work in a dialogue between two people. Fictional dialogue is about give and take, meant to sound realistic but sharpened by the fact that each character needs something, and by the fact that their needs do not mesh. You won’t get two-page speeches if you remember this. A note on that: I fall into this trap, usually when responding to a long post. Remember that people breathe while speaking. Read your dialogue out loud, in your normal, conversational tone of voice. If you run out of air part of the way through a sentence, rework it. Add punctuation, break it up, rip out the flowery stuff. Avoid “talking heads.” Have characters do something while they speak. THREE KINDS OF DIALOG Swith's rule on orphaned dialog is simple: I don't read the post. Your dialog is bad and you should feel bad. *winks* It's monotonous to read something where we have to keep track of who spoke first. The writer has an idea of emotional response, but they don't weave it in. RP is not script-writing, either. SCRIPT WRITING LISA: [enters from stage right] Jesus, you startled me. I wasn’t expecting you here. JOHN: It’s been a real day for expectations. Where were you? I’ve been waiting here for an hour. You didn’t leave a note or— LISA: [cross to stage left] I wasn’t planning on going anywhere— JOHN: I can see that. Where’s your coat? ORPHANED DIALOG This is the schmutz that kills posts and paints the writer as unimaginative. If someone were to ask me to judge a post on quality for a contest, orphan dialog would have the post disqualified as the puerile garbage that it is. "Jesus, you startled me. I wasn’t expecting you here," Lisa said. "It’s been a real day for expectations. Where were you? I’ve been waiting here for an hour. You didn’t leave a note or—," John said. "I wasn’t planning on going anywhere—" "I can see that. Where’s your coat?" "I left the house in a hurry. I… um… my mother…" "The hospital reached you? God, I’m sorry. That’s why—" "The hospital?" "They called me when they couldn’t get you." "I don’t understand." "Your mother. You said —" "I ran out to buy some flowers for her. She’s been so down." "For three hours you’ve been buying flowers?" "And then I drove around. I’ve had… a lot on my mind. But I’m fine now. Fine." "You didn’t go by the hospital?" "No. Look, I’m freezing. Let’s go inside. Why did the hospital call? Does the doctor need my signature for more tests?" "We have to go to the hospital." "I’ve had a terrible—" "We have to go to the hospital. Now. The rest of your family is already there." "Oh. Oh, God. Mom’s all right, isn’t she? Oh, Christ, she isn’t. I’m being punished… she’s dead." Did you read all of that? I'd wager the answer is "no". EMBODIED DIALOG This is what fleshes out the scene. It allows you to create conflicts which the characters then play off of as the conversation progresses. (When crafting posts Lisa had just gotten out of the car and was heading around the corner of the garage when she ran into Brian. “Jesus, you startled me. I wasn’t expecting you here.” His face looked sort of pale and pinched. He’s found out, she thought. I finally broke it off, but I was too late. He said, “It’s been a real day for expectations. Where were you? I’ve been waiting here for an hour. You didn’t leave a note or—“ “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere—” Which sounded like bullshit when she said it, and she knew it. She was wearing a navy dress with a fitted waist and a low neckline, which had been a gift from Kevin. Heels. Hose. Make-up. The last time Brian had seen her in make-up when they weren’t on their way to church or a restaurant had been right after the second baby was born. Eight years ago? Yeah. About that. He raised an eyebrow. “I can see that.” Pure sarcasm. For a moment his face lost the pinched look, and she saw suspicion in his eyes. “Where’s your coat?” “I left the house in a hurry. I… um… my mother …” The pinched look was back around his eyes, and she stopped, suddenly frightened. He knew she hadn’t been visiting her mother in the hospital. Maybe he’d hired a detective to follow her. The sound of her heart pounding roared in her ears. If he really knew, she would lose everything. The boys. Brian. Her home. Her friends. But he was saying, “The hospital reached you? God, I’m sorry. That’s why—“ Now the scared feeling was worse. Different. But worse. “The hospital?” “They called me when they couldn’t get you.” “I don’t understand.” “Your mother. You said —“ The lie came easily, easier than the lies that had preceded it over the last three months, pouring out of her mouth without any effort on her part. She shivered and rubbed her arms and said, “I ran out to buy some flowers for her. She’s been so down.” Breast cancer and a modified mastectomy at fifty-eight. Mom was in the hospital doing chemo, and she was coming through it like a trooper, but she really had been down. Not that Lisa had done much to cheer her up. She’d had her mind on… other things. No more of that, though. The suspicion was back in his eyes. “For three hours you’ve been buying flowers?” “And then I drove around. I’ve had… a lot on my mind. But I’m fine now. Fine.” He looked a little sick. “You didn’t go by the hospital?” “No.” She’d been saving that for when she could look her mother in the eye again. No, mom, I’m not cheating on my husband. I’m not cheating on my family. I’m a good wife. A good mother. Now she could do that. “Look, I’m freezing. Let’s go inside. Why did the hospital call? Does the doctor need to talk to me about more tests?” He was shaking his head—no, no, no—and his eyes were as bleak as the day. “We have to go to the hospital.” Her mother was being demanding again. She couldn’t face that right now. Not after the scene with Kevin. That had been ugly. Ugly. Never again, she promised herself. “I’ve had a terrible—“ He cut her off. “We have to go to the hospital. Now. The rest of your family is already there.” Everything shifted. He hadn’t come home because he knew about the affair. He hadn’t come home because the hospital had been trying to reach her about another of her mother’s demanding snits. Everything she did to make things right, she had done too late. “Oh. Oh, God. Mom’s all right, isn’t she?” But the look on his face told her what she already knew. “Oh, Christ, she isn’t. I’m being punished… she’s dead.” BONUS MENTOR NOTE IS BONUS REPEATED WORDS ARE REPEATED Proof a post before submitting it. How many times do you use the same word to describe the same action? Try to not use the same verb twice in the same short post. The shorter the post, the more the repeated words stick out. They become fodder for the "drinking game". BAD Max ran to the store. He bought a power cable. Then he ran back home and ran up the stairs. He ran to his laptop to see if it was running. GOOD Max hurried to the store and purchased a new power cable for his laptop. Once home, he took the stairs two at a time, hoping the battery hadn't died on his laptop while he was gone. On Post Blocking by Highfort (aka Agy) link It's come to the attention of several PL players and the PL staff that post blocking is becoming an issue in PL. It always has been, really, and it's about time some guidelines and rules were set down so that players are able to keep up with the RP and minimal time-skipping and consequences are needed to keep players moving and to keep the plot from stagnating. Without further ado, let's begin: What is a post block? Post blocks are times when a group of players role-playing a scene are stopped from posting because a minority (usually one, sometimes two) of players is not posting and thus the rest have to wait for them to post. Post blocks result in the need to time-skip, manipulate other player's characters to get the story moving, and general nastiness and unnecessary bureaucratic paperwork for the OP and CoOPs when it comes time to get the RP moving again. In short, they're not fun for anyone. Post blocks are usually identified after a prolonged, unexpected period of player absence (not posting for two or three days without any heads-up that the player will be unavailable, for instance). Otherwise, players who state that they cannot post usually have characters parked (that is, removed from the scene and stored safely for the player to pick up later) or can ask other players to manipulate their characters for them to avoid the block. Blocking occurs when players do not give a heads-up, resulting in the others being unable to respond and/or park or manipulate the character for fear of angering or misunderstanding the player's intentions. How does one avoid post blocking? It's quite simple, really! Just follow a few simple tips: Check the OOC thread (the one you're reading this post on right now) for regular updates from other players. Read the IC thread regularly so you don't fall behind on the plot. If you're afraid you missed anything, don't hesitate to drop a "What did I miss?" post in the OOC thread so that players can fill you in. Post regularly and at a reasonable pace for all your characters to ensure none of them get stuck and force other players to stop posting. What's "regularly"? How do I know what a reasonable posting schedule looks like? Regular posting is hard to fully define since everyone has a different schedule and some people tend to put more time into individual posts than others do. As a good rule-of-thumb, regular posts should happen at least every-other-day if not once-a-day. Anything less than that will cause players to grind to a halt as they wait for a character to catch up and result in necessary time-skipping to make sure the PL time frame keeps up with RL time, which is necessary for certain events and to make the setting easier to understand and relate to. For posting purposes, the PL staff (OP and CoOP) will count as a single posting entity. Since they have to deal with RP bureaucratic cleanup and updating threads and stories, they will individually post at a reduced rate but should be able to, combined, keep up with the one-post-per-day rule. Please note that while the OP and CoOP count as a single posting entity, do not expect them to play each other's characters or all the NPCs. Not all the staff are comfortable with all the characters or familiar with all the NPCs and thus if one cannot post the other is not ignoring you if he/she posts for only characters he/she is familiar with rather than for all the characters that need posting. Posts will come in time and the staff are more than willing to cooperate if your character is held up by staff characters or NPCs being unable to reply to your post. Most importantly, what are the consequences of post blocking? Post blocking is a serious offense in RPs as it stops other players from roleplaying and seriously hampers motivation and ability to keep the roleplay moving. If a character or characters are post blocking for a sufficient amount of time, prompting a time-skip, their characters will suffer the consequences of whatever they were doing. If they were in danger or in a situation where a time-skip would put them in danger, killing them off is not out-of-the question. Please, try and keep up with all your characters. If you cannot, the staff will be happy to let you shelve a few while you work things out. And if you don't do that, they'll be more than happy to take them off your hands and reassign them to daisy-pushing duty. And no one wants that. Thanks, and good RPing! Objectives by Swith link An objective can be a motivator, but it should also be something that enables a character to take action. A main objective isn't something that can be solved by chatting. It should be a conflict that challenges the character to overcome something (personal flaw, adversary, etc) to achieve that goal (save the princess, convert the atheists into Christians, drop the ring into a volcano.) Frodo's primary objective was pretty obvious: get the ring to Elrond, go home. The objective changed once he realized the situation, and so he surged on to bring the ring to its doom. Along the way, he struggled with his perception of other people changing, the loss of Gandalf, and the loss of his childhood friends once he set off on his own with Sam. Sam's primary objective was likewise to surrounding the ring. He pledged to accompany his beloved Frodo to support him on his quest and, at one point, shouldered the burden in his stead. But Sam's secondary objective changed throughout the story. First he wanted to see the Elves. Once he had, he picked up a new objective. An undercurrent throughout the story is his love for his friends and his undying desire to protect his Mr. Frodo. That love was not an objective. It was what motivated him to complete his objectives. "Make friends" is not an objective unless the goal is difficult to obtain. Myra, a shut-in, seeks to make friends but, due to a stunted upbringing where she was sequestered off from the world, she lacks the confidence necessary as well as the ability to express her feelings properly. She attended school but kept her focus on her classes, all the while dying a little each day as she watched the teens around her living normal lives. Shut out and bullied by them due to being abhuman, Myra would dearly like to make a friend that wouldn't think her odd or loathe her for being inept. Although she's chatted with the other teens, no one calls her or knocks on her door to see if she'd like to do stuff. She thinks that's all her fault. So her objective is to overcome her severe social crippling in order to fit in. She might be able to do this through her writing. She'll support the main story (PL itself) by lending her talents once she realizes she has that ability. Her years of observation and being bullied make her more astute at reading body language, and her ability to blend into the woodwork to avoid notice make her an ideal candidate for missions that require those skills. This is how she'll support the plot. "Relationship" is not an objective unless the struggle is a challenge. Objectives should lend towards action rather than dialog, although dialog is a necessary part of some objectives regarding relationships. Septimus and Neste share a same secondary objective: a normal relationship. At first blush, it seems like a cop-out on the part of lazy players. Yet both characters come from oppressive societies where such things are alien in concept. IIRC, Septimus' people would rather use a vat than deal with pregnancy. Construct procreation is limited to insemination by a MAB; there isn't any emotional attachment. Every day brings with it awkward moments (a kiss on the cheek in public; fears that the taboo relationship will be discovered by Neste's handlers) as well as rewards (the joy of the fleeting intimate moment; the feeling of empowerment). Confrontation is bound to arise once Titus is revived, or once Neste is forced to face the Nifid. So each weaves their secondary objective into their daily routine in an attempt to forge as much as they can before that horrible shoe drops. They don't discuss it. They simply do it, physically adding to it. "Protecting/Providing for family" are motivations and not objectives that support the story unless there's a challenge there - unless those people are constantly in harm's way or unless the failure to provide means the family is compromised. Bran's objective to provide for his family was met when the Luxans handed him a large sum of money, for example. Tora is a mundane running with gods and abhumans; these beings can more easily protect her in a pinch thus she's robbed of the need for this objective. Can personal challenges be an objective? Yes and no. They can also be a hindrance. Thaddeus is addicted to augmentations. His addiction cost him his first wife and alienated his children. His addiction cost him his second wife and newborn son. A secondary objective might be to get Naomi back, but how? Every day, he awakes and finds himself still trapped in a body that he's destroyed over time. He vows to change, and puts great effort into cleaning up (giving his stuff to Septimus, refraining form going to the Observatory) yet he blows it every single time something occurs that needs his expertise. His secondary objective (make himself a better man) clashes with his goal (get Naomi back) because his opinion of "perfection" is grounded in "augmentation". So, his secondary objective is technically destroying his chances of completing that goal. Can an objective be simple? Yes, provided it's not too large for the player to handle. "Return to Equestria" is a very simple objective, yet a daunting task. I imagine Willow will invest time in trying to find ways to return. It might motivate him to seek out knowledge, pulling him towards danger as he chases false leads. He goes on quests with the group because he can't chance that he'll miss some snippet that will lead him home. His objective might eat at him a little each day as he faces a world bereft of Pony laughter. Daunting tasks with simple objectives need strong imaginations. If Gio can't find ways to motivate Willow, or reasons for him to participate, I'd recommend she pick a smaller objective. She's never had a problem with participation or motivation, however, thus her objective isn't too broad. Part of the reason players get bored or state "there's nothing to do" is because they either choose too broad an objective or they choose weak, easily obtained objectives for their characters. There's no challenge in sitting around all day bantering back and forth. Without an active objective, players are at a loss for what to actually write. It becomes "What do you want to do?", which is answered by "Dunno." Players lose interest in other people's stories, bailing on them, because their characters don't have strong objectives to weave into the story. Neither player or character is motivated. One of Marcus' secondary objectives might be to come to terms with his faith verses the fact that he's seeing a godling that isn't part of his pantheon. Heresy! Yet he can't resist the urge to share his pantheon with her. He loves his pantheon. He brought her to hear priests sing. Gio could have been bored by that, but it was a chance for her character to see another pantheon's followers. Her objective is "grow into godhood, and balance her own values versus the values held by other gods in the past." That objective made it possible for Gio to stay interested in that brief side adventure, and the godling now has a memory to muse upon when she does a little soul searching in the dead of night. It's a tidbit to add to the player's ever-growing repertoire of experiences. Let your characters' objectives help define them as people, fleshing them out, and use those objectives as motivation to participate in stories. tl:dr If you find yourself sitting around with nothing to do... If you can't think of anything to write... If you find that the only thing your character does is talk about light things while shopping or eating or over coffee... If other players tend to avoid interacting with your characters... ...chances are high that your character lacks solid objectives ergo you, yourself, are not motivated enough to help your character meet their goals. A final question that came up: "Does my character have to invest every moment of game time on their objectives?" Nope. Objectives are always in the back of the mind, but sometimes characters need to put aside their own goals/stories for sake of the greater good. Their goals will continue to motivate them in some fashion, if those goals are solid to begin with. post link Character Trees (YouTube) by Agy To sum it up for those who don't want to watch the video, a character tree is a method of constructing a character's personality, appearance, habits, behavior, desires, and overall archetype through use of a series of categories which begin at the metaphoric "feet" of the character and ascend to the "head". Please excuse the use of male pronouns, this quite obviously applies to female and gender-neutral or agender characters. Feet: obvious traits about your character: appearance, mannerisms, behavior, etc. The feet are what you'll later use to build the rest of your character - think of them as roots. Details that spring up here can be used to add depth and meaning farther up the tree - from their desires, to their needs, their viewpoints, and even shaping their archetype. Groin: outer desires and wants of your character - desires that he's willing to express to others and to himself The groin is what your character will essentially use when dealing with other people. Er, hopefully your character asks for consent first and isn't arrested for sexual harassment. Anyways, things listed here are essentially your character's overt desires - things they think they want and/or they say to others they want. Good examples include: a stable job, to be left alone, to find love, to make money, etc. Heart: inner desires and wants of your character - things he didn't know he needed to be complete The heart is essentially what the groin wishes it could be - desires that would actually make your character truly happy and fulfilled. Maybe the uptight general who wants things to work just needs to come to terms with not being fully in-control. Maybe the lawyer in pursuit of ever greater fame and glory really just wants to settle down with someone who will love him when the fame is dead and the money's gone. Maybe the starving artist just wants someone to understand him. Whatever the case, these are desires that the character may not even be fully aware of, but which he requires to be satisfied and complete. Throat: presentation and interaction with the world The throat is your character putting his best foot forward. This is how he chooses to present himself to the world - his attitude and how he deals with others. Notice that you can use his feet (appearance, mannerisms), his groin (immediate goals), and even heart (perhaps subconsciously guiding his behavior) to shape his throat. The throat represents artificial interaction - before he lets his guard down, or upon first meeting, how is this character going to behave? Breaking character from the throat typically indicates a level of trust, character evolution, or high stress being placed on the character. Left Cheek: "left brain" - problem-solving and logic The cheeks represent your character's approaches to the world. The left represents his logical and problem-solving side. How does he solve problems, and what is his view behind the causes of things? Is he superstitious, quick to point fingers at eldritch gods or his own deity? Is he cold and calculating, solving problems without a care for how individuals may be emotionally slighted? However your character solves problems and logically views the world, this will impact his abilities with respect to the story. Right Cheek: "right brain" - artistry, ethics, emotional affect, and morals The right cheek does not only represent artistry, but your character's moral and ethical values (note that moral and ethical are different - morals deals with good and evil, ethics deals with proper or just conduct) and his emotional behavior toward individuals. Artistry is, however, also included and this can represent a separate problem-solving skillset your character has that's unrelated to his logical or reasoning abilities. Your characters morals and ethics will determine how he solves interpersonal problems with respect to other characters. Crown: the archetype (Jung would be proud) The crown is essentially a phrase which sums up your character, allowing others and yourself easy-access to what the character is supposed to be and how he relates to other characters in the story. Using the other parts of the tree, you can distill out the essence of what makes your character himself. Note that you can also do this process backwards. Starting with an archetype or general idea for a character, you can work your way down to flesh out the desires and eventually even determine an appropriate appearance for him based on his projection (throat) and his desires (groin). The Mincivet Animation Workshop From the Producers of the Sesame Guild & other Children's Classics… Note: this is text only. The formatting won't work in this post due to existing codes. You can view the entire guide here. Everyone likes a character straight out of or inspired from books, movies, and games that become near and dear; to which we hop onto our beloved P2TM forum and app a character based off that… only to realize just how Mary Sue and generally overpowered they really are. Sadly, the hopeful character extraordinaire falls into the ‘rejected’ or ‘rarely used’ category, left to collect mothballs and virtual dust. This was an issue I had with my group of characters from Guild Wars (a then semi-popular MMORPG), known here as Dwayna's Vigilant, or “Guildies” for short. These chars were no longer used online, as the game progressed to its successor and my work and home schedule made it impossible to spend any significant time throwing fireballs and raising minions. The daunting task wasn't to let them shine (they have shiny to spare), but how to convert my MMORPG characters to a RP format without falling into the aforementioned traps. My original plan was to have all 6 characters be PCs, but after drafting the apps, it was shaved down to 3 mains & 3 NPCs; as time went on in both OOC and IC, it was further reduced to 1 main and 5 NPCs, but I kept the original plan for each character; consequently they fall somewhere in the grey area of NPCs and PCs. I also placed them in order of importance, subject to change, with the intention of developing them as intended should the opportunity - and time - present itself. The priority went as: Anais Alexia Cherry Traxt Erick Reyna I had four objectives to accomplish with each character, and each objective was/is intrinsic to the other: Outline their personalities Identify strengths/weaknesses and goals (whether group or individual) Balance and adjust powers/abilities Reconcile the MMORPG gameplay mechanic to PL roleplay mechanics Like any game, Guild Wars already gave me a generous foundation to work from. I had lore, class specifics/specialty, powers & abilities (stats included obviously), strengths/weaknesses, gear and equipment. Since the game’s focus is to make the player the hero, my task was to take them down a few pegs without losing their significance. PL, after all, is a storytelling format, and dropping OP characters with uber stats would only get a certain badger irritated, muchly. For this, I’ll focus on Anais. This was my breakdown:...full guide [ooc source] A quick commentary regarding ellipse posts. Ellipses are used to indicate an omission, trailing thought, hesitation, or a change in mental direction. The dash - it's a break. It can also be used to clue a reader in. The dash and the ellipse are interchangeable here. If meant as an aside to the reader, dashes and ellipses are alright (although a parenthesis might be better). When used at the end of a post, Ellipses are meant to indicate suspense. She seemed unusually... well, there was no word to describe it. and The explosion blossomed into a raging ball and hurtled itself towards her. So this is my death? Kiyami held her breath... or The explosion blossomed into a raging ball and hurtled itself towards her. So this is my death?- Overuse of them, especially when the poster doesn't know what they want to do IC, infuriates other players. It pitches the ball back into the other players' courts, leaving them with the task of trying to sort that player's character and figure out a story by guessing what the player wants before anything can progress. The "meh" approach makes it difficult to figure out what that player wants to commit to. Never post unless you're sure of the direction you want to take. I recommend substituting a description for an ellipse. Post ending examples: Going to the club will be okay... vs "I guess going to the club will be okay," Amber shrugged. She was content to allow James to make the choice for them. Examples of how not to frustrate: Margaret looked... phased by the question... but not entirely angry. She was... sad, too. She didn't know how to answer. "Well..." vs Margaret was peeved, though the anger was mixed with some sorrow. She didn't have an answer to the question. In fact, she felt rather lost. "Well...," she turned her face away from him, uncertain of herself. One of Miss Gio's finest works during her illustrious tenure here. Not only entertaining to read, but packed with subtle snark and offhanded commentary. This is, indeed, how NOT to play a new character in PL. Nicely done. Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third was very pleased to finally be moving into the intriguing Building he had heard so much about from diplomatic tales of far and wide. Being the scholarly and adventurous sort, it was obvious that he had little choice but to investigate, and was in fact sorely looking forward to taking a break from running his beloved homeland, The Unstoppable Badlands of Dictatoria, the greatest authoritarian regime the world had ever known. Ah yes, Dictatoria. There was nothing about the fatherland that one could not pride themselves over from within or envy from afar. Every citizen young and old was enthralled in thorough devotion to their leader, himself, and, well, why wouldn't they be? Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third was a suave, dark, learned gentleman who was never caught off guard or perplexed, always walking about with a self-assured smile upon his lips and even had the decency to refrain from sighing whenever he calmly explained his superiority to upstarts. There was no question for which he didn't have the answer, no atrocity or battle plan with which he did not regard with total casualness, no extreme he did not see as merely an everyday reality of walking in his shoes. He was the man that Hitler and Napoleon and Stalin's bastard three-way love baby conceived in a mass grave on Halloween night aspired to be, and he looked damn good in a suit while doing it. There was no dinner he attended that did not end in the successful invasion of the country hosted. His generals walked about with so many buttons and medals attached to their coats that he had to invest in cybernetic enhancements just so they could walk from one place to another. Men tripped over one another and punched babies for a chance to enter his eleventh official super soldier program thus far. Citizens were trained to walk in lockstep goose march everywhere from birth. His jeep had missiles that could destroy submarines. He had thirty nukes for every man, woman, and child. He had super undetectable satellite technology that spied on every household on the planet so he knew everything. He could turn into a wolf made of shadows and fire. He order genocides on superfrankguy173 from steam who trolled over the chat WHAT THEFU objectively impure people, because although he had never bothered to read any of Darwin's works, he had watched the Discovery channel a few times and was pretty sure they said that they deserved it for not being as strong and badass as him or something. It was science that he was better than you, you silly pacifistic crybabies! Ohohohoho! LAUNCH THE NUKES! And all of Bielefeld was going to see that. "Please sign here," Volker slid over the forms. "Did I ever tell you about the time I conquered an entire dimension when I was only fifteen years old?" Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third asked with a smug yet calm smile, adjusting one of his medals. "They declared me the God of Fear and Destruction from their prophecies, but really, it was just a regular Tuesday testing about the newest-" "That's nice, sir. Would you please sign?" And so he did, loudly and proudly singing his nation's anthem as he did. Ah, finally his vacation could begin! Perhaps first he could mingle with the natives here? There wasn't a time he could remember when complete strangers weren't entertained listening to him talk for hours on end about how amazing his country was without interruption or break. Why, if they seemed nice enough, he might even let them have the honor of being intimidated with one of his guns! Everyone loved being demonstrated to how objectively less awesome than someone else they were! He had a feeling he was going to be quite the popular character here. Not many people seemed to be out and about currently though, unfortunately, which was somewhat understandable given how early in the day it was. Listening carefully though, the leader thought he caught onto a conversation, and quickly made his way toward the source. The chatter lead him out onto the outside patio, where from his perspective, he glimpsed the backside of a little girl with white hair dressed in pink sitting at a table covered in a tea party set-up. A sweet little girl! Those were always easy to impress. He could use a naive, charming admirer to demonstrate his fatherly side upon. It was in walking towards the girl that something else entered his vision that made his heart stop: It was grey. It had four legs. It had wings. It had wide, expressive eyes filled with the basic calculation known only to sapience. A ponyyyyyyyyyy... The leader felt shooting pain fly up his legs as his knees hit the hard floorboards and he desperately tried to gag back the vomit that was building up in his esophagus. He flipped his head back and howled a great roar before punching several holes in the walls and floor around him and eating the bills that Demens rained on him. A PONY. HERE. HOW. WHAT. WHY. NO. HE WOULD NOT STAND FOR THIS. "And that's why I think people are just way too hard on kitsch," Giovenith wrapped up her explanation to Willow while stirring her tea. "I know we want to avoid giving too much credit to more vapid works, but at the same time, we can't assume something is vapid just because it's happy for the sake of being happy, y'know?" "Mmmm," Willow dabbed at the lingering crumbs of chocolate cake around his mouth with a napkin. "I see where you're coming from, but you have to take into account the known effect that commercialization can have on-" "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!" a savage cry suddenly captured both artists' attention. They simultaneously snapped their heads to see a strange man dressed in gaudy, overdecorated military garb marching towards them, his fists clenched so tightly veins were popping out and an absolutely maniacal grin on his face. A single finger snapped at Willow. "YOU! YOU thought you could escape me here! BUT YOU WERE WRONG! HA HA!" Giovenith turned to give a concerned look to her roommate. "Willow, you know him?" "No...?" Willow said, looking back at her with an equally confused look. "Oh, you do not know me..." Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third hissed while climbing atop their picnic table. "But I know YOU! I've seen your smoopy-woopy-coochy-foochy-cutesy-wootsy-mootsy-slimy PATHETIC face a million times beneath my boot!" He demonstrated by deliberating smashing his foot into what was left of their chocolate cake, smearing it all over the table cloth. "Hey!" Giovenith cried, visibly distressed. "What the hell's your problem?!" Willow put his hooves on the table and lifted himself up slightly. "Don't come onto me, sun-worshiping heathen scum!" the leader of Dictatoria roughly shoved the stallion back into his seat with surprising force. "I am Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third! Conqueror of lands, epitome of the superiority of evil over good!" He fanned out his arms in sublime pose. "And if there is one thing I hate more than democracy and vegans, it's sapient equine slime like YOU!" Giovenith gasped but Willow just raised an eye skeptically while rubbing the place where the leader had shoved his arm. "You picked three things out of the entire world to hate the most, and you chose democracy, vegans, and ponies?" he asked. "Yes!" the leader smiled simply, relaxing and straightening out his posture. "Allow me to explain..." He began to pace back and forth on the table, seemingly ignorant of all the cups and plates he was smashing and knocking over. "It's a man's world out there, and as such, it stands to simple reason that those who deserve to inherit it are those who best understand what it takes to reign as the apex. HOOWAH!" He struck a pose. "FIGHTING." He struck another pose. "STEEL." He struck another pose. "And of course, the proper physique!" Willow wiped a smear of frosting the leader's posing had kicked in his face. "What is, 'the proper physique'?" The leader scoffed. "Well it isn't obvious! Look at us..." He gestured between Giovenith and himself, the former of whom wasn't too happy to be grouped in with him. "... and look at you!" "What's wrong with me?" "Well for starts," he wiggled his fingers demonstrably. "We have hands, you silly moron. We can hold things, build and use tools, oppose our thumbs! You can't even shoot a gun!" "I can hol-" "SECONDLY!" the leader continued. "We are much taller. We can also swim, and climb, and fight!" "So can-" "NO TALKING WHILE I'M TALKING! Worst of all is your simpleton species philosophies," he scoffed. "Friendship? Magic? Happiness? Wasting your lives away in pursuit of childish ass tattoos and coddling the weak, flitter-flatter on your dainty little wings and do some levitation with sparkly pink magic? LOOK AT YOU! JUST LOOK AT YOU!!! Need I say more?" "You're really starting to piss me off," Willow pointed slightly at him, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah!" Giovenith rose to her friend's defense. "Willow can do a lot of those things you just said! And just because him and the ponies value nice things doesn't make them dumb or bad!" Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third rolled his eyes and wiggled his fingers condescendingly. "Oooooooooo, I'm SO scared of a tiny little girl and an eternal-baby horse! I didn't know I'd be facing off against Rainbow Brite and Starlight! Do you even know what I do to your kind?" he sneered, leaning in towards Willow, who sighed. "No, but I'm sure you're going to tell us," the pony rolled his eyes and propped his cheek on a hoof. The ruler of Dictatoria smiled evilly and chuckled. "No, I'm going to show you." His hands flew to the front of his coat and ripped it open. "BOOM, BOY!!" The entire inside lining of his jacket was made from the pelts of flanks, the once-cheery cutie marks grimly brimming back at the pony, and clacking was heard as stringed horns and wing bones dangled about within. "AHHHH!" Giovenith cried. "Pffft, that could be fake," Willow dismissed, ever the Scully. "Oh my actual god, Willow," the godling growled, attention momentarily diverted from the horror scene. "Well," Emperor King Lord Sir General Nuke McBadass NotHitlerButHitler Awesome the Third reached further into his coat. "Is THIS fake?!" And he pulled out a bigass, heavy gun of indeterminable type and aimed it directly at Willow's face. "SWEET CELESTIA!" the male artist finally gasped in genuine fear, pinning his ears and bringing his hooves to his mouth. "YEAH I BET YOU THINK CELESTIA IS SWEET!" The dictator grinned. "Say good-bye, sugar-shit-" CRASH! Pink porcelain shards and searing hot tea exploded against the back of the leader's head, causing him to fall forward (assisted by the massive weight of his gun), Willow flying out of the way just in time to avoid being squished. The gun landed to the side of him with a loud boom and the leader cried out in pain as his face scraped the pavement. He quickly got up to try and figure out what had just happened. "Wh-" THWAP! The wide length of a heavy red purse with a flower clip collided into the side of his face. It's strap was wielded by Giovenith, who was standing above the tyrant looking about as frighteningly furious as a teenage girl dressed in pink could. Willow stood off some feet behind her, ears folded and body crouched slightly in astonishment and concern. "You are a bad, bad man!" Giovenith yelled, nailing the dictator with the purse again. "How DARE you threaten my little pony like that! You should be ashamed of yourself!" She swiped the purse at him yet again. It knuckled into his cheek and snapped his chin to the left, leaving a dark bruise in its place. The leader yelped in pain. "What the hell is in there?!" Giovenith blinked, but still looked cross. "My pet rocks!" Another strike. "They're mad at what you said to Willow too! Apologize!" Strike. "Are you insane?!" the man tried to block her strikes with his hands, but to little avail. "I'm not apologizing to some pathetic fucking- OW!!" "You will apologize!" Giovenith added an extra arm to the strap to give her beating more momentum. "He may belong to Celestia but I blessed him with my favor! You don't touch him without invoking my wrath!" The young goddess' wrath came down again, leaving a daisy-shaped bruise against the leader's forehead. "You won't know the meaning of wrath until I'm done with- OW, MY EYE!!" One of the buckles nailed him right in the peeper. So this continued, with the once-mighty Dictator Among Dictators falling in classical tragedy form for his hubris in overstepping the patience of the gods. God. Five-foot-two Godling. Same deal. Giovenith may not have been ready to reign down curses and disaster on those who displeased her and molested her mortal favorites, but it was far from true that she did not have ways of making that displeasure known. And it was that fact that caused Willow to slowly stand full height again and erect his ears, slowly giving a lopsided smile as he watched true friendship prove itself once again in the most absurd way possible. Others: Time-Skip How-To's

[Cerillium]

SITREP Gallimaufry /ɡaləˈmôfrē/ noun a confused jumble or medley of things. PL: SITREP 16 OCT, 2018 CURRENT IC CONDITIONS Time: 8:30 AM (0830 hours) Weather: 60 °F / 15.5 °C Forecast: Clear skies in the morning followed by evening thunderstorms CURRENT GAME EVENTS Future Stories: TBA PLAYER-SUGGESTED EVENTS Run another Personification: Player Run "A Day in the Life of:" (This is where everyone writes a one shot on what their character does for a 24-hour period) Return to the Antiverse Character Swap Weekend (This is where players analyze other player's characters and run one of them for short duration) Creepfest ("Cer, you asshole. I want to be scared!" - Swith) Zalgofest (slated for after Halloween) OP/CoOP STUFF Please read IC and OOC posts prior to posting. It saves confusion over time of day, weather, etc. As always, please don't advance time in your posts. Archive: Working on V2.0 Chat: Looks like most of us have joined Madhouse and are using the PL channel there. Characters apartment assignments have been updated. Stories: Players are encouraged to run stories via the Gates. There are a few rules for this: All Gate stories must have OP pre-approval. They must pertain to the overarching premise. Players may not use Gates to gain powerful things for their own use without first consulting with me. Powerful items and spells tip the balance and give an unfair advantage to only a few characters. You may use the Gates to intro your new character (the team would need to bring a tracer along for them.) You may not use Devourers, Agents, or Minions in your stories. We are shifting away from the God War. No video game/movie walk-throughs. I realize we have PCs based on a genre or franchise. Do not force your players to sit through a story based on that game or script. GM should plan out their game. It should be BRIEF and SIMPLE. Go in, go out. Your gods and other supernatural beings must align with the overarching power scale. Look at your Big Bads and other NPCs and perhaps run them through a character app sheet for reference. This is because your Players are stuck using those power scales. You'll unbalance the overarching game if your NPC are Too Potent. Use the OOC to plan and answer questions. This allows others to provide input. PL is a group, not just a segmented population of individual RP stories. Please keep collabs to a minimum. I'd prefer short posts rather than long stretches without any posts.

[Cerillium]

Reserved for OP So much work to do, so little time to do it in. I need a listing of current stories in order to launch the new IC thread.

[Swith Witherward]

Hey, OP! Get to Work! It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you. - Phillips Brooks PENDING APPS: CODE: OTHER:

[Mincaldenteans]

Mincvet's Minutes Pending Apps: Other:

[Tiltjuice]

-

[Tiltjuice]

We gonna rock down to lemon avenue.

NAs' Star Wars story.
Mon's mind story.
Min and my Dress story (on hiatus), but I think i could turn it into something wacky if it keeps going.

[Giovenith]

I don't know much beyond the Mon one: Sterling, Willow, and Brit got sucked into a magic book, as you do, which is reflecting a world that is built around Brit's psyche. The world is modeled after World War 2, the guys got turned into humans, and not they've got to save Brit from mental Nazis.

[Cerillium]

I don't know much beyond the Mon one: Sterling, Willow, and Brit got sucked into a magic book, as you do, which is reflecting a world that is built around Brit's psyche. The world is modeled after World War 2, the guys got turned into humans, and not they've got to save Brit from mental Nazis.

Yes, but do they still have important features - wings or a horn?

"Er, what's that on your back?"

"I'm actually a Pegasus. I control the weather, and..."

*NPC slowly dials 911*

[Giovenith]

I don't know much beyond the Mon one: Sterling, Willow, and Brit got sucked into a magic book, as you do, which is reflecting a world that is built around Brit's psyche. The world is modeled after World War 2, the guys got turned into humans, and not they've got to save Brit from mental Nazis.

Yes, but do they still have important features - wings or a horn?

"Er, what's that on your back?"

"I'm actually a Pegasus. I control the weather, and..."

*NPC slowly dials 911*

Literally the plot of X-Men

[Holy Lykos]

Star wars is a bit between segments, We kidnapped/liberated a protocol droid, if you want Slo to make up a character app for him its his toy

[Northwest Slobovia]

Star wars is a bit between segments, We kidnapped/ valiantly liberated a protocol droid, if you want Slo to make up a character app for him its his toy

I'll talk it over with Cer when I'm less busy.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

#PLAPP

P E R S O N I F I C A T I O NL I F E,
T H EU N I V E R S E,&E V E R Y T H I N G

C H A R A C T E RA P P L I C A T I O N

P E R S O N A L

CHARACTER'S NAME: Victor Wright

GENDER: Male

SPECIES: Human (w/ Cybernetics)

AGE: 33

DESCRIBE CHARACTER APPEARANCE: Tall, lean, appears Caucasian, Chestnut wavy hair and blue right eye and his right eye an upper cheekbone are replaced with metal and glass as it has a faint red glow on the lenses. He is wearing a brown vest and trousers with a white dress shirt and a brown tie and brown leather steel-toed boots. The left sleeve is rolled up to the elbow revealing a bulky grey-colored metal arm that appears to have panels and rails in several places on the forearm and a clunky articulated metal hand.

URL TO PICTURE, IF ANY:

B A C K G R O U N D&P S Y C H O L O G Y
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

CURRENT OCCUPATION OR SPECIALTY: Inventor

GREATEST STRENGTH AS AN INDIVIDUAL: He will single-mindedly work on a problem to the point of obsession until it is solved

WHAT IS THE CHARACTER'S GREATEST FLAW: He can be overconfident in his own devices, trusting them beyond their actual capabilities until they fall apart.

BIOGRAPHY (written in first person): Where to begin? Well, I was born into an upper-middle-class family. My father, Peter Wright, was an archeologist who disappeared on an off-world expedition to one of the planets in the outer colonies. My mother, Hellen Wright, ran a shop that maintained and modified automatons on Europa, the capital planet of the United Kingdom of Great Mechtoria. I learned by doing, and the shop gave me plenty of opportunities to tinker with machinery. All the different intricate designs all working off the same principals, and the automatons were most thankful for our services maintaining them. Occasionally we had to maintain the cybernetics of those who lacked the skill, mostly those who wanted the newest flashy trend installed. Eventually, my eyes started going bad, though when it came to correct my vision I could only afford to upgrade one of my eyes, I had my doctor improve my right eye with some decent cybernetics while my left eye had to make do with an organic replacement. Thinking back I should have changed the laser in the right eye blue to match, but it has grown on me. It was only natural that I would want to study how to make my own creations rather than simply modifying what was already there. I quite enjoyed my time studying at the university hoping to design the next big thing, perhaps a War Mech for use in the Federation.

I started off by learning how to better make my cybernetics. Even getting into a friendly competition with my class to make the best mechanical arm. Even though my Inventor's Appendage did not win the popular vote (Becile's Fist of DOOM! won for its pure destructive capability) I grew fond of it and decided to keep it and improve it further to aid me in the mechanical shop. During my studies, I had received a package of my father's work found in the remains of a destroyed asteroid. I had passed it on to mother, as I hardly understood his work apparently trying to prove the influence of Ultra-Dimensional beings on Antediluvian Societies and he was close to some artifacts that were used to communicate with such things in the distant past. Although that got me thinking about worlds beyond ours, places one cannot get to with an Aethership. But the scope of that project would have to wait, after all, it took a team of the Kingdom's most brilliant minds to make Wormhole Generators possible.

It was in the final year of my studies when I started having dreams of something calling out beyond the Aether. It was at this time I had gotten an internship at the Bennettarium Institute on the oldest section of the Ringworld around Chiron Beta Prime, there I took to studying Aetheric Physics for the dreams guided me to build a machine to manipulate the Aether itself not entirely unlike the Wormhole Generators used to transverse vast distances but much more powerful and compact. It was to be my masterpiece with the incredible breakthroughs my dreams made possible, but I had been duped for the machine was not for my benefit and the dreams did not originate from my mind. A hideous creature had whispered the plans to me from across realities and got me to build the other half of his machine, an exit for his entrance. I should have never built the Transphasic Inducer Telelocator. He called himself Dr. Professor Baron Von Eldritch and he had come to toy with my world, said it would be amusing to him. I could not let that happen so I attempted to send him back. The journey was only meant to be one way, so reversing the polarity resulted in a vortex that he managed to throw me into. I was tossed into the space between spaces but not before I took his claw and the weapon he was gripping, for he intended to dispose of me. I don't remember much after that before I got here, in fact, I've forgotten almost all of the breakthroughs I supposedly made. I can only hope my home and Mechtoria are safe from that accursed reptile. The only way I can assure that is to figure out a way back and destroy him myself.

O B J E C T I V E S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Destroy Dr. Professor Baron Von Eldritch wherever he may be hiding to keep reality safe from his madness.

GOALS: Find a way to access the Sub-Ether either mechanically or perhaps someone else already has access in this strange place in order to find the fiend. Gather enough allies and technology to survive another confrontation with the beast.

M U N D A N ES K I L L S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

SKILL: First Aid

SKILL: Driving

SKILL: Lockpicking

S P E C I A L I Z E DK N O W L E D G E,S K I L LO RT A L E N T / A B I L I T Y
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 10 total points to spend, no knowledge, skill or ability greater than 4.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Mechanical Intuition (Steam-Powered flavor)
POINTS SPENT: 4
WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: The Ability to Repair, Modify, and Create mechanical devices. Limited to what parts and tools are available. Purely mechanical devices are easier to work with and may use anything that produces heat as a power source as long as clean water is available (may use purely spring-power on smaller devices). Electronics are far more difficult to work with but manageable as long as programming is not involved or processing can be replaced with clockwork computers. Exotic Techs such as BioWare and MagiTech are unworkable if they have no mechanical parts and even if they do he may not be able to make any substantial improvements or fixes.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Aetheric Physics
POINTS SPENT: 3
WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: The knowledge of the workings of his home dimension on a grand scale. It lightly touched on multiverse theory and was sufficient to create low powered and fast space travel as well as wormholes on large scales. And was the basis for his experiment that ultimately caused him to be lost in space and time. Although some of what are known universal laws to him may exist only as poorly understood myths or even may be non-existent in other worlds.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Cybernetic Surgery
POINTS SPENT: 3
WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: The skill to install, maintain, modify and create cybernetics. The Cybernetic Augmentations he creates can function as natural extensions of a being but may be prone to malfunctions, especially when hastily constructed. He is most proficient with human physiology as that is how he learned his trade as well as improving his own augmentations. He doesn't have much skill working on other forms of life, mammals are doable, other types of animals are may require consulting an expert in their anatomy and are still difficult. Working with alien physiology is practically impossible even with an expert.

S C I F I / B I O T E C HI T E M S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 8 total points to spend total, no single item greater than 4.

ITEM: Inventor's Appendage
WEAPON OR NON-WEAPON: Anything is a Weapon if you apply enough force
POWER LEVEL: 4
WHAT DOES IT DO: His left arm has been replaced by a portable toolbox/power tool It holds many tools of his trade (screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, drills, saws of many types, etc) which can be changed out for his hand via internal mechanisms. As it is made of a Tantalum alloy it is durable and highly resistant to corrosion and heat.
WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT: Electricity disrupts his neural input causing his arm to simply become a glorified paperweight (as the metal it is made from is highly conductive) making it impossible to access unequipped tools and cause the arm to hang limply until a neural connection is re-established.
WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY: The tools cannot be removed from his arm without disassembly as they were designed to be compact and used internally. Requires water daily to remain operational. Requires a heating element, currently provided by a Betharian stone that will last 3 months.


ITEM: Cybernetic Ocular Enhancers
WEAPON OR NON-WEAPON: Non-Weapon
POWER LEVEL: 1
WHAT DOES IT DO: His right eye has been replaced with a modest improvement. It is capable of 15x magnification and 3x zoom and even has a targeting reticle option that can project a laser dot from the eye's focus.
WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT: Electrical currents can disrupt the neural link, leading to a temporary loss of vision.
WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY: The targeting reticle is not actually linked to anything, it just looks cool and red when the laser is on. The laser can only point where he is looking.

ITEM: Doc's Eldritch Disintegrator
WEAPON OR NON-WEAPON: Weapon
POWER LEVEL: 3
WHAT DOES IT DO: A strange weapon of unusual design stolen from his presumably mortal enemy. This pistol causes objects and creatures to catch fire by exciting phlogiston particles in matter. It seems to have a self-charging power source that does not require maintenance
WHAT COUNTERS/NEGATES IT: Fire-proof Materials will not catch fire and will block the beam
WHAT RESTRICTIONS APPLY: The weapon may be fired continuously for 12 minutes before it needs to charge. It takes 24 hours to fully charge but may be fired with a partial charge. The beam's strength degrades over distance becoming ineffective at 120 meters

P E R S O N A LI T E M S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

1. A pocket watch
   
2. The Lucky Stillson Wrench
   
3. The Family Tool Belt
   
4. The severed claw of Dr. Professor Baron Von Eldritch

E Q U I P M E N T
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

1. A Betharian stone (burns for 4 months)
   
2. Small Maintenence Kit (for maintaining his cybernetics)

O T H E RG A M EM E C H A N I C S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

URL TO APARTMENT INTERIOR:

ONE PARAGRAPH THAT SUMS UP YOUR CHARACTER. THIS WILL APPEAR ON THE OOC FIRST PAGE: A brilliant mind but manipulated by a corrupt influence he unwittingly set an incomprehensible evil loose on his world. The Cyborg Mechanic Victor Wright seeks to redeem himself for the mistake he made while helping others along his way. He hails from the United Kingdom of Mechtoria a spacefaring Empire powered by Steam and Robot labor.

P L A Y E RI N F O R M A T I O N

YOUR NICKNAME ON NS: NVE
YOUR EXPERIENCE LEVEL (beginner, intermediate, advanced): It's been a while
HOW OFTEN CAN YOU POST: once a week, maybe 2
LINK TO RP EXAMPLES (YOUR IC POST, NOT THE RP ITSELF). IF YOU DON'T HAVE A LINK, WE'LL ASSESS YOU BASED ON YOUR CHARACTER'S BIOGRAPHY.

[Stormwrath]

Was I gone for that long?

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

I've got no idea

[Monfrox]

#PLAPP

P E R S O N I F I C A T I O NL I F E,
T H EU N I V E R S E,&E V E R Y T H I N G

C H A R A C T E RA P P L I C A T I O N

P E R S O N A L

CHARACTER'S NAME: Samantha Fairbairn

GENDER: Female

SPECIES: Mundane human

AGE: 25

DESCRIBE CHARACTER APPEARANCE: Tall, fair skinned, rather thin. Wears a lot of clothes to avoid revealing skin and has her hair draped over the left side of her face all the time.

URL TO PICTURE, IF ANY:

B A C K G R O U N D&P S Y C H O L O G Y
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

CURRENT OCCUPATION OR SPECIALTY: Military Investigations Command Agent

GREATEST STRENGTH AS AN INDIVIDUAL: Critical thinking level

WHAT IS THE CHARACTER'S GREATEST FLAW: An unwillingness to be around many people

BIOGRAPHY (written in first person): I suppose I should start at the beginning. I grew up in the underground cities like everyone else in Monfrox. It was a bit dreary and maybe a little cramped at times, but that wasn't always bad. When it came time for conscription, I was sent off to work in the Outer Territories. I was supposed to learn about how to work on aviation equipment and around aircraft, but there was an accident. I was 16 when a fire broke out on board a transport plane. A few of us were trapped in the cockpit, but we each knew that we'd be dead if we stayed. I went first and tried to smother some of the flames, which allowed the others to escape unscathed. I got third degree burns over most of the left side of my body. Ever since that day, I have had a fear of fire and have been very self-conscious about my scars. I was given a leave of absence and instructed to begin therapy sessions. The fear of fire has mitigated, but I don't think I'll ever get over how I look.

It was two years after that I first came to the building, and I still remember the adventures I had. But my time was short and I had longed to go back. Since then I was able to get a job as a detective for the interior department of Military Investigations Command. I worked with a partner all the time and did mainly medial cases at first, which helped when I was close friends with our nation's Leader. As things went on, I found myself caught up in numerous other cases and eventually felt I could do with a break. It wasn't too hard to get time off at all, even if I happened to become one of the best agents of my office, and I was able to find my way back to the building. Maybe some of my old friends are still here, and I'd like to find them if they are.

O B J E C T I V E S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: A reunion with old friends and to find where they have gone.

GOALS: Gather evidence or accounts of past events within the Building.

M U N D A N ES K I L L S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

SKILL: Handgun proficiency

SKILL: Driving

SKILL: Chessplaying

SKILL: Singing

S P E C I A L I Z E DK N O W L E D G E,S K I L LO RT A L E N T / A B I L I T Y
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section. You have 10 total points to spend, no knowledge, skill or ability greater than 4.

KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Detective's reasoning
POINTS SPENT: 3
WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: Samantha is a long-time investigator which allows her to think on things differently than others

KNOWLEDGE/SKILL/ABILITY: Stakeout patience
POINTS SPENT: 3
WHAT DOES IT DO/HOW IS IT APPLIED: Samantha knows that you can't always go out and find answers, but you have to wait and let them come to you no matter how long it may take

P E R S O N A LI T E M S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

1. Smart phone
   
2. Wallet
   
3. Military Investigations Command Agent badge
   
4. Mechanical pencil

E Q U I P M E N T
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

1. Walther PPK/E in .32 ACP w/ shoulder holster
   
2. Discrete earpiece communicator
   
3. Pen blacklight
   
4. Briefcase
   
5. Notepad
   
6. Handcuffs, just in case
   
7. extra cartridges and a few spare magazines

O T H E RG A M EM E C H A N I C S
Please refer to application instructions regarding this section.

URL TO APARTMENT INTERIOR: N/A

ONE PARAGRAPH THAT SUMS UP YOUR CHARACTER. THIS WILL APPEAR ON THE OOC FIRST PAGE: Samantha has been in the Building before, but it's been a while since she was last here. Finally able to get time off and away, she has come back to visit. Now a detective working with the Military Police in the Froxian Army, she used to work on aircraft until a training accident left her emotionally and physically scarred. She has worked to move past the trauma, and is able to do her job well, but she still gets shy around people and prefers to avoid crowds.

P L A Y E RI N F O R M A T I O N

YOUR NICKNAME ON NS: Mon
YOUR EXPERIENCE LEVEL (beginner, intermediate, advanced): Intermediate
HOW OFTEN CAN YOU POST: Depends
LINK TO RP EXAMPLES (YOUR IC POST, NOT THE RP ITSELF). IF YOU DON'T HAVE A LINK, WE'LL ASSESS YOU BASED ON YOUR CHARACTER'S BIOGRAPHY.

[The New Velociraptor Empire]

Nice detective Mon

[Giovenith]

First of all: Good job everyone, genuinely. It may seem like a little, but the boost we're going through right now is greatly appreciated. Let's keep it up, shall we?

Introducing characters

We've heard out several people's issues regarding the way characters are introduced to the game. As I said in the server, it mainly boils down to:

• Over-dependence on other characters for introductions. Characters are largely left unable to reasonably look after themselves, but there is little in the way of hands-on help to alleviate that when the RL of the players who would do that gets in the way.
• Information overload. The amount of details makes people nervous because they can't reasonably consume it all at once and are worried that by acting without understanding the whole thing, they will do something wrong.

We've discussed a few ways to alleviate to this, and the suggestions seem to mainly revolve around more player agency in how the character is introduced to the game. As to how the player and character will come to understand the world of PL, that still needs more discussion. We will continue to do so here—go for it.

For those already here

Of course, such a discussion doesn't lend much to those already here. For those people, please talk with me and others on how we can go about helping you get settled. This does not need to be in a way that will be permanent for all future players, it will be solely focused on making you as an individual more familiar and comfortable with the game. Please don't be shy, we've all got plenty of free time on our hands. Do you need a lesson? A tour? You name it, we'll work it out.

An aside on gameplay

Less to do with the bigger picture problems on more on the details of writing itself. Slo gave me permission to copy this conversation of ours from Discord:

Slo: so, i have this hypothesis:
1) the main, if not fundamental, unit of storytelling is the scene.
2) but in PbP RPing, the fundmental unit of storytelling is obviously the post.
3) these are in conflict, but most players are unaware of the tension...
4) so they try to shove in as much storytelling as would go in (at least) a scene in each post.
5) which means actual scenes take forever to play out, and actual storytelling in PbP RPs is badly messed up.

yes? no?

Gio: Specify what the difference between a scene and a post is?

Slo: are you asking because you want to know what i mean by them, or because you don't know, or because you think i need to clarify the points for a broader audience?
(i'm pretty sure it's not #2.)

Gio: I have a general idea of what you're getting at, but am not 100% sure and just wanted to know before I give feedback.

Slo: ok. lemme go look up a bog-standard definition of scene. just a sec.

Gio: Mostly because a lot of people use "post" and "scene" interchangeably.

Slo: i'm coming up with definitions for "scene" like this one:

"a sequence of continuous action in a play, flim, opera, or book;
a subdivision of an act of a play in which time is continuous and the setting fixed and which does not usually involve a change in characters"

(from the OED)
a post is a post; whatever one person writes for their own character.
oppose collab: a multiperson narrative involving multiple players/characters.

Gio: Got it.

I think it honestly depends on the players themselves. Some people are really good at crafting a pretty seamless set of events through back and forth posting, to the point where if you just put them all together in one document it's hard to tell who wrote what parts. Others do tend to create choppy scenes or meander. A lot of it can depend on whether or not the players care about what's being played.

Slo: where i was going with this was that posts tend to be too long and introspective cause players are trying to tell too much story in them. a post should be a very small unit of storytelling. the conflict i mention is why i like collabs: i want to play out scenes, not a series of over-stuffed posts.
the second definition the OED gives is pretty close to what i mean, like the "scene" with char.gio and the belas in their apt.
i also mean it in terms of plot and characterization: the scene is the smallest unit of storytelling that advances the plot, and thereby, develops character.
some movie directors assert a smaller unit of storytelling called the "beat", which is an interaction between characters (A says/does something, B responds), but that's far from universal among directors, and my author friends say that's nonsense.

Gio: I know what you're getting at. People (myself included) do tend to have a problem with focusing too much on introspection to the neglect of actual driving action. It's another pendulum-swung-too-far-in-the-other-direction type situation where people were encouraged to think more about character development instead of just pulling lolrandom actions and took it too far. Introspection can be a complement to action, but that's a difficult balance.

I think a good rule of thumb to give would be simply asking oneself, "Does the character have a good reason to not say this out loud?" There are some things that would make sense for a character to keep to themselves (and which can be communicated through other ways besides that character just stating it), but I think our current problem has more to do with people turning to inner thoughts by default.

Slo: yup.
i was reading posts to S, and her professional opinion is that any post that's more than half introspection is breaking the "show, don't tell" rule of storytelling.

Gio: Good point.

Slo: i'm on the other exteme, as a result of tabletop RPs: the belas wear their hearts on their sleeves, because saying and doing things is the only way for other players to know what your characters are thinking in tabletop (and moreso LARPing).
in any case, it's good to know that i'm not entirely crazy.

Gio: I'm my extreme because I'm used to keeping the pain inside

It's something to consider as we move back into game-oriented conversation.


And now the bigger issues:

Discord

Time to get real. Discord makes players lazy. This isn't a uniquely PL thing, this is something that has been pointed out and complained about throughout the entire NS RP community. And it's not hard to figure out why, it boils down to two words: instant gratification.

As much as we joke about being introverts or loners, the fundamental appeal behind RP is a social one. If we were mostly interesting in consuming a story, we would just read a book. If we were mostly interested in crafting a story, we would be writing one. RP is a distinct niche designed to fulfill an interest in storytelling but primarily caters to a desire for social interaction. On NS, because there are restrictions barring pointless chatter in OOC threads and demanding that the IC thread keep up enough of a written quality in order to not qualify as a C/CLT, that energy created by the need for socialization is directly funneled into powering the game itself. You are forced to incorporate what is currently on your mind into a story-relevant format, which in turn sparks interest in others and forces them to respond in a story-relevant matter as well. In this way, socialization has served as the catalyst, but it also works as a self-sustaining fuel as the stories have now been imbued with a deeply personal quality that makes people want to continue and expand upon them.

Discord or any other chatroom site, on the other hand, does not come with such strings attached. Instead of directly pushing that mental energy created by the desire for socialization into a productive use, it's merely aired out in its purest form. You don't need to incorporate what is on your mind into anything, you can just bring it up completely randomly in conversation, have a brief dialogue about it, and then be done with it. Discord scratches the same social itch that RP does with less than half the work, and once an itch has been scratched, people understandably lose the motivation to keep scratching. Why go through the hassle of writing out an entire bit of a story when the thing you really wanted out of it—connection with another person—can or has already been filled in a tenth of the time and effort?

Say for example you've recently discovered a TV show that you really like. Because you like it so much, you want to share what it makes it special to you with your friends. With RP, this would likely come in the form of creating a character from that show, or bringing other characters to the setting of that show, or incorporating aspects of that show into your already existing characters. You demonstrate the things you like about the show to your friends by doing those things in the story. In turn, while another player might not share your love of the show itself, your actions in the game can nonetheless create their own motivations. A character of theirs may be ideologically opposed to the attitudes manifested by your new character/setting, or they may embrace it, or they may want to compare it with their own. A simple desire to express fondness for something with your friends has been accomplished in an artistic way, and it has branched off into other interesting paths and topics for yourself and others to pursue in the future.

With Discord, when you discovered that TV show and want to share it with your friends, you... just tell your friends about it. You explain what you think makes it cool, perhaps in great detail, and they comment on it. Maybe they go watch it themselves. The conversation may go on for a while, but inevitably, it drifts to something else. You, of course, don't mind because you've already said your piece. Sure, you could go back to the RP and run a character/story based on the show, but what would really be the point? You'd just be repeating what you already made clear in the chat. Even on a character interaction level, your friends could just summarize how their characters would react to such a series of events and instantly satisfy your curiosity, no actual playing required.

Simply put, games often falter and die after acquiring a Discord because Discord sucks up the resources needed to motivate players to play. It's hard to push players back into the game because humans are always wont to part with instant gratification of their needs.

So how do we combat this? Do we need to get rid of Discord? Not necessarily.

My current proposition would be to limit the generalized chatter on Discord. Instead, it should be used to host highly specified topics that cannot be discussed in any other way in the OOC or IC. This would include video games, videos, memes, etc., but mostly topics related to RP management and maintenance. It is, after all, the Madhouse server, not the PL server. Madhouse is supposed to be dedicated to RP networking, so converting its server to primarily focus on that would not only cut down on the Discord-induced laziness choking gameplay but also appropriate for its proper goals.

A game chatroom should be a complement to the game, not the other way around. Too many people clearly have access to the Discord server now as their primary motivation and only continue to post IC in order to not lose access to it. We need to reverse that, put the socialization energy back where it belongs.

In service of that, this is why I have moved this discussion to the OOC where it belongs. Please refrain from posting responses to this post in the Discord unless it is to ping for someone's attention.

Politics

A hot button has been the subject of politics and its place in the group. On NS, the rule is quite obvious, you can't discuss it in the OOC. ICly, it can create a strong game if regulated well. On Discord, it's just mono-y-mono personal. It inevitably leaves people upset and reluctant to continue interaction, including gameplay. It clearly needs to be curbed.

That said, I am not in favor of banning politics outright from the server, mostly because it's been shown time and time again that this does not work. Even the same people who are most vocal about how they supposedly don't want politics to be a thing there nonetheless frequently break their own rule not only by engaging in political discussion instead of stifling it, but actively starting the discussions—except when they do it it's not politics, it's "bringing up things relevant to their lives." Hypocrisy aside, they're not entirely wrong. The reason politics is a tempting subject is because it is, by its nature, a discussion of the things that are deeply important to our personal day-to-day lives, not just another hobby. If a transperson wants to talk about their frustrations facing discrimination to their friends, it's unfair of them to deny them that, but there's also little way to bring the subject up without also getting into the politics of how transpeople ought to be treated by society. Attempting to draw lines about what counts as just personal sharing and what counts as politics are only going to draw more ire as such lines will be largely arbitrary and subject to bias.

It is also not fair to expect people who are not interested in politics to merely "stay out of it"—when a topic you have strong feelings about is being waved right in your face, of course you are going to be strongly compelled to voice your piece, even against your own interests.

My proposition is a simple one that has been offered many times yet continuously shot down for reasons I don't entirely understand: create a NSFW political channel. Political things may only be discussed in that channel, and you must personally go out of your way to request access to it. By requesting such access, you are accepting responsibility for the conversations you engage in and whatever feelings may come as a result. If you feel you are no longer able to handle what is being discussed, simply request that your access from the channel be cut off, or mute it yourself. This way, people who truly are not interested in engaging will not be distracted or tempted from the sidelines, and if they do bite and decide to join in, they will have no one to blame but themselves if they are unable to remain comfortable with it. Such a channel would be no different in essence from the political thread of the OSF, but significantly more effective as it wouldn't invoke the same bizarre laziness people have towards migrating to an entire other site. It would also allow us to more effectively regulate such discussions. People who have a problem with being rude, condescending, or taking things too personally will lose their access to the channel until they can prove their maturity.


Thoughts?

[Tiltjuice]

Hello am here

Gameplay
That should be the next challenge then - how to post balance. I largely quit PL because I frankly despise am out of tune with the saying and doing things style of gameplay (note, I don't say style of RP because to me that isn't RP). I define RP strictly as PbPG. Tabletop and LARP are their own thing, to be done on a separate plane from PbPG.

No issue with Discord itself one way or the other. I'm quite capable of keeping the two separate.

Politics. The donkeylephant in the room. A dedicated channel isn't practicable because people are already incapable of clicking in or out of them. Assigning a role is a solution that I personally don't like, because there is already the Den for it and it calls on staff to be authority figures to moderate the politics channel even when (A) I don't have time because lbr the staff is currently all of me and (B) I am not guaranteed to be impartial and (C) I disagree ideologically with the whole concept of authority figure which can and will lead to some unexpected combinations of results.

TLDR If you can't be mature, stay out of the Den. Call me lazy? Call yourself lazy for not moderating your own behavior.