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FAQ

What is the premise of this game?
The Kingdom is in peril. For years a forest of massive thorns has crept across the countryside, spreading out from a gleaming white tower. The thorns choke out light and life crushing trees and smothering fields. The thorn forest harbors untold terrors, and its presence has displaced and enraged touchy creatures like dragons and the nastier fairies.

Your character has been brought to The Kingdom as part of the search for a champion to free the Kingdom. The book your character found is one of countless magically created books scattered to the worlds beyond The Kingdom. They show themselves only to people they consider to be the perfect champion. Except the wizards didn't count on the spell being a little... loose with the definition of a perfect hero.

Is your character actually the champion? Well, possibly. Some people will even say it's probable, depending on their opinion of your character. The unfortunate fact is that, when you're casting your net to a sea as wide as every world reachable by the spell, you're bound to catch several old boots. Not everyone's going to be a great hero, but everyone is encouraged to try.

What is a Quest?
Quests are story-driven events differentiated from normal plots in that they effect the game's world in the long-term. In involving your character in one of these events, you take a stake in trying to change the world. Just keep in mind that, should you screw up, it can get worse rather than better.

What is a Role?
Roles can be thought of as similar to classes in tabletop RPGs without the emphasis on numerical statistics. Your Role is based on your character's skills and personality, and is decided at your discretion since you know them best. Roles determine what sort of part your character plays in the little fairy tale world the Kingdom has going on, as well as imparting equipment and (sometimes) abilities. For more about Roles and a list of common roles, please see this post Also, TV Tropes.

What is a Role Type?
You can think of the role type as a trope modifier. Some roles have this built in, like mages. Their type is the element they have affinity with. Similar, for non mages, the type is what trope they have affinity for. For example, A Foundling Prince, or an Oath-Bound Knight, or an Unreliable Sage. The type is basically a modification of the Role. It's totally optional, so feel free to leave it blank if you'd like, but also feel free to have fun with it and use it to customize your characters Role.

Can I change my mind on the Role or Role Type I want my character to have, or am I stuck with it?
Roles are not set in stone! If you decide a few months in that you want to change the role for your character, PM the mod account to discuss it, then head over to the Taken Page and fill out the Role Change form. Role changes are to be given thought and not to be done very often, much like canon updates.

Who can I play here? Can I play a version of my character from another game?

In a nutshell: Canon characters, most AU characters, and most OCs are allowed. You can import/transfer a character with a previous game history as long as you include that added history in your app.

You can also app a character from a non standard pull point as long as they were shown at that pull point in canon. If they exist in flashback, or had their personality talked about in canon, they are appable. Please note that just a 3 second image or passing mention is not enough to base personality on and those characters should be flagged as AU.

Non canon-AUs are allowed, but will face a little more scrutiny than canon AUs if they deviate a too far from canon. You may be asked to file the numbers off and make them an OC if they seem far too AU to be recognizable.

OCs are allowed, as are canon-insert OCs in some cases. Canon-inserts with excessive histories with the main characters of the canon they're inserted into may have it requested that the serial numbers be filed off to be regular OCs. (Harry Potter can only have so many bestest friends from childhood, after all)

What you can't play are real people and characters with no demonstrable canon personality are forbidden. Examples:
Real person: Chelsea Clinton, Mel Brooks, Mr. Rogers. [**See note]
No canon personality: Steve? from Minecraft, Pac-Man, Figwit.

Note: In a case where a character is vaguely based on a historical figure, an exception may be granted if the source is clearly fictional or fantastical, and if the characters are far back enough in history to obtain a "mythic" quality. For example: Characters from Rurouni Kenshin would be allowed, as would Geoffery Chaucer from A Knight's Tale. However, characters from Frost/Nixon would not be. Feel free to PM or comment to ask after specific characters.

My character is the past life/alternate world double/complicated twin to a character already in the game. Can I still app him/her?
If you can prove that this variation on the character is both canon and different enough from the canon character to be considered a separate person, yes. For example, for Homestuck, Dave and Davesprite, while in origin are the same, they would still be considered separate characters since they are from different timelines.

Similarly, canon AUs can co-exist, providing the AUs are different enough. Adam West version Batman and Frank Miller!Batman can coexist, but Movie!Harry Potter and Book!HarryPotter are the same basic character and thus cannot. As this will be something that will differ series by series, please take time in your app to explain the differences.

What about characters that aren't human?
Those are fine! Given the fairy-tale like nature of the game, non-human characters may maintain their form upon arriving in the Kingdom at your discretion. However, exceptionally large characters (giant robots, dinosaurs, etc) will have to shrink down to a more manageable size while in the city limits to avoid collateral damage.

How about characters that died in canon. How are those handled in this game?
Since a dead Champion wouldn't be very helpful in freeing the kingdom, if the spell encounters someone that it wants that just so happens to also be dead, their spirit or soul will be pulled in and a new body will be provided for them, magically constructed to be just like their old one, just minus that pesky thing that caused their death. For characters with a terminal illness, it is the player's choice if that illness is utterly gone, or just rolled back enough to not instantly kill the character again. Just be sure to note it in your app.

Alternately, you can use the Ghostly Mentor or Avenging Spirit Role if you prefer your character to stay dead.

How many characters can I have?
All players can have up to four characters, with an option for a 5th if they've proven that they can be properly active with the 4 they already have.

How do we post?
You can use the comm to post either Logs or Party Line posts. Logs have a template you can find in the comm's profile, at the bottom.

Party Line posts?
Party Line posts are where your character uses their Apple Eye-Crystal (tm) to functionally call every other Apple Eye-Crystal (tm) for a group chat. (More on this in the "Welcome to the Kingdom!" page. Once that gets written.)

So can my posts be private/filtered/hijacked/etc?

By default, due to the way the Apple Eye-Crystal (tm) are enchanted, all posts are open to all people who have one. You can ask nicely that only one person answer, or just make it so only one person would answer, but it's about as private as a phone call made in a dorm room hallway.

However, NPCs cannot use the Apple Eye-Crystal (tm), as they are enchanted to only work for the summoned heroes. Give your thanks to the original hero who created them for that perk.

How's the tagging system work here?
There's no real formal tagging system here. Tag em if you wanna, but don't sweat it if you forget.

What about languages? How do we talk to PCs and NPCs who don't speak our language?
Residents of the Kingdom (NPCs) can understand you perfectly well, as you can understand them. This is the effect of an enchantment on the book that the Kingdom's wizards sent out to bring you here, since it was entirely possible that the Kingdom's champion could come from some far off place where they communicate only in obscure metaphor.

This thankfully also extends to your fellow heros. Unless, of course, you make the effort to swear in an obscure language to get around the censors.

Where the heck is my character gonna sleep?
New arrivals are encouraged to find somewhere other than the receiving room to spend their time. The castle has a few spare rooms, and the town beyond the castle has plenty of space, as does the countryside outside the town walls.

More can be found on the Housing page. You can check out the Locations tag for more information on places you might (but probably won't) want to live.

What about weapons? If my character had a weapon before, does he/she get to bring it?

That depends. If the weapon was something like a sword, or a bow and arrow, or something similarly low-tech, yeah, you can keep it as is.

Otherwise, it gets 'translated' into a weapon that's more appropriate for the world. Your new weapon will retain some of the appearance of the old, since it's the same item transmuted into a different form. How the weapon looks is up to you. If you previously had something like a lightsaber, you may now have a magic sword that occasionally glows the same color as the old blade.

Can my character bring his/her pet?

Yep! If said pet character is a character in their own right and not just someone's dog or pokemon, you'll want to add a second personality section to the app to cover them too and make sure that the history section mentions them.

What's the ratio of time in game and out of game?

Time is kinda funny here. Not even the locals can really agree on how long a week is, and don't even get them started on years! (Noone wants the argument about how old that horse really was to start up again-- or so they say.)

Which is to say that time is pretty flexible and can basically be manipulated however you'd like. Your character can get caught in some micro-enchantment where they were hucked ahead a week because that one thread you were doing took forever and it feels silly not to react to it after it happened. You also can backdate stuff as well.

So what's activity check like?

At the moment, AC is an informal "hey, I saw you haven't posted in ages, you still around?" poke every now and then. We'd like to avoid AC stress causing fluctuations in posting if at all possible.

Can I canon update my character? How does that work?
For a canon update, contact the mod account with the new pull point and any changes to role or powers, or just fill out the form. Once approved, your character will encounter another book, this one of their own story, holding the events that they will be updating with that will envelope them in a bright light. When it fades, they will be as they are from the new pull point, with all memories of their time in game intact.

For a canon rewind, it is treated as if the character returned home, and then the new version of them was pulled in as a totally new character. However, there are two options for this: One, the character is a clean slate from their new pull point, or, alternately, moments after they arrive, the memories left behind by their former self will return to them. Please note that this does not mean that they can just pick up when they left off, and it is expected that if this option is used, careful consideration will be given to the effects of receiving memories of a future self's actions in a different world.

Have other questions not covered in this list? Leave it in a comment and we'll get you an answer!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hi!

You mention that OCs are taken on a case by case basis. Do I need to get permission before sending in an app for one?

Nope, just send it on in!

oh god I'm always so nervous asking this question-

So canon AU's are acceptable, but what about just AU's in general? And I'm not talking anything crazy, y'know, just like little things that make a character technically AU but don't completely and utterly change the core of that character.

I.E. a genderswapped AU, in which that version of their canon they where always the opposite gender. The difference would be subtle, but not hugely personality changing. Is this a viable option for application?

Thank you in advance for your time~ <3

Only canon AUs, I'm afraid. Sorry!

Okay! Thanks again~ <3

on a side note this doesn't mean you won't be seeing me around. I just have to change my mode of attack. >D

No problem, feel free to ask any other question that comes to mind! [and I look forward to your eventual app! :)]

/rolls back with more questions xD

Questions on the app! Is it okay to re-use parts from other apps I've written, for the personality and such? And in the app it says to link out for the character's history- would you mind if I physically wrote that out instead? Honestly, the canon's a bit obscure here in the Western world and I'm not happy with the limited information that the wiki gives. >.<;;

Recycling apps is totally fine, as is writing out history if you can't find a link.

Hello! This is a question in regards to the pet rule.

How would this be handled for a character that has an intelligent talking parasite? Meaning it's physically stuck to her being and it cannot be removed. The parasite itself seems to have no motivation other than survival and since they're literally stuck together for life it seems implausible to play them separately.

Thank you for your time C:

If the parasite has its own personality, I'd probably have it count as it's own character. If it's not something that can exist outside of your character, just add a 2nd personality section to cover it, or include its personality in the main section.

This makes sense. Thank you!

Question! Is there any policy on PBs for OCs?

It happens that I have this OC right here, with this PB that got kinda popular after I chose him, but not really really popular (I've only seen a few in some large games? And most dropped after the series finished?), and this is complicated, because he fits the description of the character mostly perfectly except for his soon to be awesomely edited eyecolor? xD

So, would it be ok to use this pb or should I go nuts trying to find a new one, or maybe I can do a PB change if for some reason the real character happens to app or... or... I don't know I'm just babbling.

Thanks and sorry.

There's no official policy with PBs at the moment. Editing it somewhat so it's a bit different than the original is a good idea to avoid any confusion, though.

That's perfectly awesome, thanks for the quick answer ♥

With respect to language, what about characters from second-world fantasy*? That is, if I were to app Gandalf, he'd be speaking Westron and/or one of the variants of Tolkien Elvish, not any earthly language. While the NPCs would be totally chill with that, I imagine it would be an extreme barrier to roleplaying with others' characters.

* Fantasy not set on Earth. Or any setting where a character can be presumed to not know any Earth languages.

If you want to avoid that barrier, your character can magically have learned English on being summoned.

I know there are things that could probably mess up a ghost's day after dark in the Two Faced Forest. I was just wondering if you had any idea as to the specific sort of thing?

No specifics have really been set for that yet besides an old cranky witch, so any sort of mythic beast that you'd find in a forest or plains is likely to be found. The Forest at night is sort of a haven for all sorts of beasties, comparable to a party house when the parents out of town. When the wall of thorns creeps up to keep the humans out, any number of creature can be found roaming around and none of them will be happy to see anything that resembles a hero type breaking up their party.

Hope that helps!

That helps a bunch!

(And don't think I've forgotten about that cranky old witch ;) .)

Hello! I'm planning on apping this character, Balian of Ibelin from Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven here, and I just remembered to ask: are highly fictionalized versions of real people allowed to be apped? In this case, Balian really did exist, and he really did help defend Jerusalem, but he was born a nobleman and not a blacksmith. There are many other differences as well, because KoH was not meant to be a biographical film, but a story and so even though real historical characters do appear in the film, it's not a play-by-play of their lives and they are highly altered.

For more examples of differences between the two, Here's a pretty good summary, though it doesn't include everything.

As long as he's just very loosely based on a real person and not actually intended to be that person, it should be fine. If you could add a note in the app somewhere about the differences, it'd be appreciated.

Okay. I have a few questions. I'll try to be brief.

1. I'm working on an app for an npc squadmate from the Mass Effect series, which is an rpg that carries decisions over from the beginning of #1, through #2, until the very end of #3, which can result in very different universes by the end (does this race live or die, which side do you take in that war, do you save the rulers of the galaxy or let them snuff it, etc, etc.). The character remains largely the same, personality- and power-wise, but her universe can be drastically different, as can her experience (did she join Sheperd when they had to kill her mom or not, for instance).

That's explanation to cover the question: is it ok to treat all those decisions like canon alternates, and pick and chose whichever for my character? I've seen in played in the past at other games where two characters, though their history is mostly the same, remember events differently, to reflect the different play-throughs possible. Since there is no "canon" choices, not really, that occur in the series, would my picking what Liara would have done or seen be all right?

2. Can a sage's scrying device be something they already have, modified by the magic to have that function? I was thinking, specifically, of something like this.

3. I might have just missed this, but Liara'd be coming through wearing armour that has tech to it, and she'd have her omni-tool, since she always has it on her. This are not enchanted, but technological. Would they cease functioning, function fine, or somehow transition into magical enchanted items that do basically the same thing? She is also a biotic; she uses implants and natural ability to manipulate mass effect fields, and is the game's version of a mage/wizard class in power. Would her abilities become magical, disappear, or remain physical/technological?

Sort version: do magic-like tech abilities and equipment stay tech, become magic, or cease to work?

4. I think this one is a "yes," but I'll double-check: Liara is, in-game, a "biotic," which is basically a wizard/mage. However, her role is that of a sage, in the game, as much or more: in all 3 games, she is involved directly in the lot as a provider of information. If I make her a sage in this game, will she keep her other powers? She is fairly limited to only a few abilities, she isn't going to be shaping houses from nothing or something like that, but there are fighting abilities that she would carry over, if that's okay.

That's it. Sorry for slight rambling, and thank you.

1: Yeah, I think that would count under canon AU since all the results are covered in the game canon. Just give a brief specification of which path/version in the app when you specify pull point/history.

2: Yes, but for that device, it would be modified to be a medieval magical type equivalent (see #3)

3: They would change to be medieval world magical versions. For example, one person had his motorcycle come with him but it turned into an armored horse. Iron Man when he arrived, had his suit turn into a suit of armor with a magical power source. Same basic functions, but they fit the world that they've been brought into.

4: Roles don't limit powers much. As a sage, her magic might be a bit less than it was normally, but she would still have them.

One more question as I avoid sorting icons by fiddling with the app:

Your roles page says sages sometimes get info about game events before they happen, which is neat. How do they get this information? Dreams, visions, visiting fairies? Mostly, I'm just curious how this manifests, or, is it a power I list under the role on my application?

It can manifest however you would like! Just make a note in your app and have the character arrive with something that will help augment it as their scrying instrument.

Hi! This is a question regarding the application. Log/prose samples, specifically. I'm thinking of applying for Katniss Everdeen here and the books she's from are written in the first person, present tense, from her perspective - would writing a log sample in the same style be acceptable? Or does it need to be third person?

Since logs posted should be in 3rd person format, it would be better if you would use 3rd person for the sample [present tense is fine.]

Thank you!

Hi there! I was thinking of apping Ezio here from Assassin's Creed 2. Being an Assassin though, he's got quite a fair bit of weaponry already on him. I was wondering if there were limitations on what gets brought in. For references sake, he has two wrist-mounted hidden blades, a hidden pistol, throwing knives, a sword and a dagger. He has smoke bombs and poison on him also, but those are off less importance.

Additionally, Ezio has an ability called Eagle Vision which is basically a form of extrasensory perception, allowing him to ascertain what use people and objects are in relation to himself. For example, enemies are highlighted red, allies in blue, suspicious objects, persons of interest and usable hiding spots are white, and assassination targets are gold. Would this be allowed to remain?

The only limitation on the weapon side of it is that the Kingdom is pre-gunpowder, so the pistol would likely be replaced with a small crossbow, and the smoke bombs would be magic based instead of anything with gunpowder. The amount is not a problem.

As for the ability, it would depend how it works! If it just labels people based on his decisions about them, that's totally fine. If it labels before he's met then, then you'd need a permission post for PCs and the upper level/named NPCs would all be just labeled as "persons of interest" until he had spoken to them and decided for himself which category they fit into.

Yeah, I was thinking of replacing the pistol with a crossbow instead (since he gets one in Brotherhood anyway haha). Glad to know everything else is fine!

It isn't as though he'll have Eagle Vision activated much in game anyway, but I'll definitely throw up a permissions post about it!

Thank you for the prompt response!

A quick question! A character I'm thinking of for this game is a robot cat. I was thinking that when he was brought into the game he could be changed to a clockwork automaton whose sentience is retained using a spell? And instead of consuming fuel, he'd need to be wound up, like a wind up toy (with a key and everything).

Would that be all right?

Very much so! Sounds prefect.

Fantastic~. Thank you for the prompt reply! :3

Hiya! I'm being incredibly lazy here with not logging into my main journal, but I wanted to ask about 'flying'. Jack doesn't technically 'fly' but it would be more air manipulation than anything that would channel him around.

Long story short, would it be acceptable in game or would it be overkill?

Flying is totally fine to have and not even close to overkill since it's something that mainly only manipulates him and his immediate area and not to any great extent.

Awesome! Thanks for the reply! :D

I'm strongly considering apping this character here. He uses a cannon and armor that use the magical energy of a specific stone built into the armor to generate the ammo for it. Would the cannon be altered at all?

Also, this character has been around in his MMORPG for over a year but the plot beyond him joining the party hasn't been covered much yet. But he's playable along he main storyline through the same quests as everyone else. Could I use that as a sort of AU for him?

Only if it's gunpowder run. If so, it'd be shifted to running fully on magic.

As for your question, not quite sure what you're meaning? As long as his personality is clearly established in the game, it should be fine. We don't really do AUs unless it's an established canon AU. [If that wasn't what you were asking, just clarify!]

It's not, it's strictly magic. Thanks. ^^

And no I meant that when you play him he gets an intro with a small portion of his canon backstory and then he follows the same story quests as all the other characters. But canonly he comes in much later. Could I use the storyline quests as an AU for him?

I'd prefer you just use the storylines he was a part of in the game. As said, we really don't do AUs unless they're canon AUs.

I may not be able to then. It's been over a year and the game is pretty much still where he just comes in. But thanks for the quick replies. ^^

Excuse me. I've been thinking of apping a character from Mass Effect, specifically Ashley Williams. And I've got a question regarding roles: in canon, she has a couple of futuristic guns. (Assault and Sniper Rifles to be exact.) How would this translate into her role?

Also, are there any special rules apping her with her previous game history?

Previous game history just needs to be explained in the app.

The guns would be adjusted to be either something like a crossbow, or something that uses magic (for example, a wand that shoots fireballs). What role did you have in mind?

A bow or crossbow would work better probably but I'm sort of clueless on the Roles. Knight is the cloest to Ashley I think, but they use swords right not bows?

Roles are there to be extras to play with, not anything hard and fast to abide by. She can be cast as a knight, but then ditch the sword for a crossbow instead because it's the code of the knight that's more important, rather than the sword fighting. That make sense?

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