![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowyfigure) wrote2024-07-24 09:49 am
penumbra: rules & procedures
RULES & PROCEDURES
↪ BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER Treat other players the way you wish to be treated, have respect, and don't forget that you are communicating with real human beings with real and valid feelings.
Communicate freely, and if you're struggling with another player, please contact the mod and I will mediate.
Don't powergame, and remember that IC and OOC are different things and should be treated as such.
Stay in character and participate in the game, which shows your respect for your fellow players' time and comfort levels.
There is a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and abuse. This includes manipulation or intimidation of other players or the mod, and the use of racist, homophobic, transphobic, or other discriminatory language either in the game communities, in private messages, on Discord, or on plurk, whether or not it pertains to the game.
↪ MOD HANDLING OF PLAYER COMPLAINTS All complaints should be brought to the mod by private message and require proof of bad behavior. Most infractions will receive a warning before strict action is taken, but bullying or use of discriminatory language will be actioned with removal from the game. This includes infractions predating the game, so players may either be pre-banned or enter the game with a warning if proof of bad behavior is provided. While the mod will make every effort to listen to both sides of the story, the name of the complainant will not be provided if the mod suspects it will lead to further bullying or harassment. Complaints or feedback sourced solely from anonymous communities or that are provided anonymously (including sock puppet accounts) will be disregarded.
PROCEDURES
↪ Penumbra is a horror game with horror themes ranging from hauntings to monsters to body horror, and anything other subgenre of horror you can think of. The game is heavily inspired by various creepypasta and the music of Ashnikko, and will have a similar atmosphere of creeping dread and strange twisted situations. The game is not intended to be a monster-fighting action game and scares will be more psychological than purely putting characters in physical danger.
↪ There is a total player cap of 50 players. Each player is allowed to apply for 2 characters maximum, and may apply for both at the same time. Cast caps are set at 5 characters, franchise caps at 10 characters; franchise caps encompass entire franchises, for example all of Marvel (comics and MCU and TV shows) would fall under this franchise cap. Any applications received that are over the game cap will be placed in queue and processed as people drop.
↪ Events will be posted on the first Sunday of every other month, to give players time to fully thread out experiences during those events. Events will generally consist of either situations inside the apartment building that will affect the characters' lives, or the opening of a new location either inside the apartment building or outside of it. The mod will do their best to make sure players can opt out, especially if an event has triggering material in it, just contact them to work something out!
↪ Accepted Character Types: canon characters, original characters, canon AUs, and CRAU (1 game only)
↪ Non-Accepted Character Types: AU characters, fandom OCs, real people, doubles
↪ Case by Case Character Types: malleable protagonists, MMO player-created characters
↪ Invitations, Reserves, and Applications are always open.
↪ Characters must have enough translated information available to play from, or they will be considered a fandom OC. For example, they must have enough screentime and history to fill out an app. Please do not include headcanon on your application.
↪ New canons or portions of canons must be one month old before they are appable or canon updatable in game, unless the new portion is a flashback that the character would already be aware of at their current canonpoint. Please be mindful of spoilers and mark anything that may contain spoilers.
↪ Test Drive Memes will go up on the first Sunday of non-event months, and any content on test drive memes will be available for current players to explore with in-game logs as well as tagging out on the Test Drive Meme.
↪ Each player in the game has one invitation per calendar month to give out. To use an invitation, see the invitations page. The person offering the invite should post with who they're inviting, and the invitee should reply to that comment confirming their interest. The mod will then approve or deny requests!
↪ If you are interested in joining but don't know anyone in the game please see the mod contact page to request a mod invite. There is a short form to fill out so the mod can get to know you a little before issuing an invitation.
↪ Activity Check will always be open on the Activity Check entry, and can be submitted any time during the month. Sweeps will be conducted on the first of every month, and there will be no warning post.
↪ Activity is check-in only with an explanation of what your character has been doing throughout the month. Handwaved threads should not be included on this description - only things you have actually started to play out.
↪ Characters arrive from any point in canon where they are sleeping, unconscious, or dead. They will arrive with whatever clothing they were wearing and the contents of a bag if they were carrying one; they will not be able to bring pets or vehicles. Characters simply wake up in the bed of their assigned apartment in Penumbra Place, lying on top of the covers, with injuries tended to but not healed. Characters with fatal injuries or who are dead will be stabilized and no longer in mortal peril, but still injured.
↪ Upon waking up they will discover their network device, keys to their apartment, and a copy of "The Rules" as stated in the community profile. These items will be on the kitchen table of the apartment.
↪ Verbal communication will be translated automatically. How this happens is a mystery. This includes sign language, if a character uses it - a character observing sign language will be able to understand it and use it back.
↪ Digital communication will likewise be translated, and will generally happen through use of either slightly old-school looking Blackberry-like devices with a square screen and built-in QWERTY keyboard (shape and size is up to player discretion), or the quite-outdated computers that are in each apartment. Characters will be asked for a username when they first sign into a device and that username will identify them online. The devices are capable of recording sound, video, and taking photos; they also have powerful accessibility features to make sure they work for any user.
↪ The network can be accessed using a social networking app that looks like a Facebook knockoff called 'StarNet' set as the homepage. Users are prompted to sign up with their username and fill out a short profile before they are automatically redirected to the community 'Penumbra Place' where all network posting occurs. StarNet is primarily built around text posts, though you can record video or audio files on your device and upload them in posts or comments if necessary, the process is just a little clunky. Posts cannot be made privately, anonymously, or be filtered, but every profile comes with an inbox where text posts can be exchanged, or video and audio files can be uploaded and privately shared.
↪ The rest of the internet seems not to function. Even other communities and profiles outside of characters registered to the Penumbra Place group on StarNet come up as unavailable. Trying to access any website on the 'Moonward' browser other than StarNet.com (a browser version of the same social networking app) gives a "Site is Offline" message accompanied by a Space Invaders style minigame featuring a wolf howling to explode little falling moons.
↪ There is one other app on the devices called 'Fika,' which appears to be some kind of friend-making app similar to a dating site. This app will be used for bi-monthly mingles on non-event months.
↪ Death is not permanent, but comes with some serious consequences - the loss of all in-game memories. Any character who dies will find themselves waking up the next morning in their apartment again, reset to the most recent canon point (either via apping or canon updating) with no memory of having been in Penumbra previously. During the time between the character's death and reawakening the next morning, they will be ghosts, able to move through walls and 'haunt' other characters.
↪ Canon updating is possible via characters disappearing wholesale, going back home to experience the canon and then returning to Penumbra at the same point in time. Anyone observing the phenomenon will simply see the other character disappear and then reappear a moment later, like some kind of glitch in reality. Canon updates of this nature can occur at any time, and there's no requirement to pass them by the mod, just keep spoilers in mind if updating to new material. Canon updates will not only cover memories and character development but also any changes to bodies or powers that happen as well.
↪ Powers are not capped in Penumbra, unless they are literally game breaking, such as reality-bending or the ability to travel to other dimensions. In these cases, the ability would simply be toned down to a level where they are not game breaking, but still present.
↪ Characters are not altered if they are non-human, cyborg, android, etc. The only exception to this is characters that would be too big to fit into the apartment building - these characters would simply be wholesale shrunk until they fit into the apartment building to live comfortably.
↪ Damage to the apartment building itself will 'heal' over the course of a few days, regenerating as if the building was flesh, though the healing time is considerably faster than a human's. If you're planning to seriously damage a common area or area that would affect more than your character's own apartment, or plan to destroy the entire building, please let the mod know so this can be communicated to all players in the game or made into a player plot.
↪ The building is infested with hairless Sphynx cats. These animals are completely normal Sphynx cats with nothing unusual about them other than the normal cat behaviour of staring at something you can't see, which might be useful in this particular apartment building as a warning about hauntings. These cats can be adopted at will, and range from tiny kittens to elder cats who require some care. It's totally fine if you want a cat to adopt your character as well, the Sphynx breed is known to be highly affectionate and loving!
↪ As of now, there are no flora or fauna outside the apartment building, outside of the back paths where there are bushes, flowers, trees, and gardening plots. Feel free to salvage seeds from the fresh fruit and veggies that the spectres bring in with the groceries, and start gardening in the back paths!
↪ The wastelands are not off-limits and characters are welcome to explore them. Just remember that supplies and food are limited and it may be difficult to stock up for a trip longer than a day trip. Exploration of the wasteland may result in flora and fauna being added at a later time, depending where characters explore and what they encounter.
↪ Have a question about the rules or mechanics of the game? Feel free to ask in a comment and I'll answer as soon as possible!
↪ Fake link to fake answered question here.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
teacodes
Ghost Characters
And specifically to Edwin's canon, he was taken whole cloth into Hell with no injuries. (He is still considered dead and a ghost when he escapes.) This would mean he's come back with no injuries, correct?
no subject
If you enjoy playing the character humanized then it certainly could apply to Edwin.
If the character is a ghost for the majority of his canon and you would prefer to play him as a ghost, that could be accommodated as well.
Totally up to you and what you'd prefer to play!
no subject
In Allen's case he is slowly being consumed by the memories of another, parasitic he is host to, the 14th, who he is basically haunted by and that talks to him and has the potentially to take control of his body, but that person also existed before as their own individual and there is now considerable canon on him. Would he still be in Allen's head haunting him and threatening to eventually take over him, or would Allen be free of him in this setting (other than events playing mind games maybe) since the 14th is basically an appable character on his own?
no subject
Since the entity in Allen's body is appable on his own, I'd say that they should be separated by the game's mechanics.
However, if you're interested in him continuing to hear the 14th's voice, we could say that one of the ghosts in the setting gleefully occupied the space the 14th was taking up in Allen's mind and continues to lobby those same threats and mind games.
It's up to you and what would be more fun for you!
no subject
no subject
There are no rules on what type of weapons are allowed. Percival could have his guns on him when he arrives, for sure. However, because his guns are different than the guns in this world, the bullets he finds may not work properly - he is welcome to make his own bullets though and could definitely find the supplies for that. Were he to find a gun store, for example, he could find a machine and blanks for bullet making. Alternately, he could also find modern guns in the rubble that might still work, or which he could repair with his knowledge of tinkering. I've got no problems with him finding supplies for a workshop.