faq

[onemind]

FAQ

• What genre is the game? What themes will it explore? Is there an overarching plot?
• What's the IC to OOC scale? How is the game paced? IC timekeeping systems?
• Who are the mods? How do I contact them?
• Cast and game cap? When do apps and reserves happen? Appable characters?
• Do you take challenge apps?
• Is there a limitation on how soon I can app from a particular canon?
• How do characters arrive in game?
• Are there powercaps?
• What are the activity requirements?
• What happens when I hiatus/drop?/if I idle out?
• What happens if I want to re-app a character into a capped cast?
• What's playercesting and how does it work?
• How can I qualify for a second character?
• What limitations are there for secondary characters?
• How does death work?
• How do canon updates work?
• What are missions like and how long do they last?
• How do symbiotic abilities work? Can I change mine?
• When do I need mod approval for IC action?
• Do the symbiotes have personalities?
• Can the symbiote be removed?
• Can I pick my brood?
• What items does my character arrive with? What do they get in game?
• My character is wounded/has a disease/is pregnant on arrival - how does that work?
• My character has multiple personalities and/or another consciousness - does the symbiote affect that?



WHAT GENRE IS THIS GAME? WHAT THEMES WILL IT EXPLORE? IS THERE AN OVERARCHING PLOT? Station 72 is a panfandom sci-fi space opera game which takes place across a multiverse of settings and time periods accessible by a hub zone known as Station 72. It features strong themes of shared experience, the meaning of individuality and identity, psychological transformation, and some existential horror. We ask that all players be aged 18 or above.

Station 72 is motivated by character and the exploration of individuality in tandem with a greater whole; the metaplot will work to engage those same ideas. As such, how metaplot strings together and is triggered will be heavily dependent on the actions of player characters.

WHAT'S THE IC TO OOC TIME SCALE? HOW IS THE GAME PACED? WHAT'S THE IC TIMEKEEPING SYSTEM? At the best of times, Station 72 has a baseline ratio of 1 ooc week:2 ic days. However, depending on the intensity of in-game plot and player needs, this may periodically fluctuate. Game pace is designed for medium paced play with a focus on character development and plot action.

In character, time is kept according to location (ex. ‘Station72 - day 1’; ‘PlanetX - day 15’) and resets with each location change. If that seems disorienting and confusing - good. (Note: characters are welcome to keep track of time differently.) additional reading: 1

WHO ARE THE MODS AND HOW DO I CONTACT THEM? Abby and Donna are your co-moderators. See the mod contact page located HERE. Avali is the list mod who helps us keep lists up to date and helps us with Activity Checks.

WHAT KINDS OF CHARACTERS CAN I APP AND WHEN? WHEN DO RESERVES OPEN? WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE CHARACTER CAP AND HOW MANY CHARACTERS CAN I PLAY? Station 72 is a plot heavy game that focuses on a close knit community of characters. As such, it is designed to be a very small game with a maximum cap of thirty-five (35) players. Players are currently initially allowed to play one character in game. Should they meet established activity requirements, they may apply for a second. Further, there is a cast cap of four characters maximum from the same canon.

At this time, applications are always open and there is no reserve list. Applications will remain open until the game's cap of thirty players is reached, at which time a queue will form and applications will be processed as drops open slots.

Appable characters include:

• Canon and original characters
  
• Doubles and In-canon alternate universes. There may be up to two of the same character in game, however they must be sufficiently different from one another whether it by canon universe or in canon circumstances. All alternate universe and canon variations count toward this rule, meaning that if there is a Nolanverse Batman and a comicsverse Batman in the game, you cannot app Adam West’s Batman. You can however app an Inquisitor from Dragon Age Inquisition even if there is one other Inquisitor in game as long as the decisions made in your playthrough are sufficiently different. However, you may not app doubles of a character that has no canon variation - so if a bookverse Harry Potter is in game, you may app movieverse Harry Potter but you cannot app a second bookverse Harry Potter.
  
• Non-humanoid characters may be apped, but be prepared for IC challenges. Very large characters may find their accommodations on the Station 72 restricted, characters with specialized diets may find they're stuck eating the same kind of food over and over again, etc.
  
• Characters dead in canon. Dead characters are appable as long as they can be rescued before their moment of death and have sufficient canon material to clear the headcanon rule. Characters who are undead (vampires, ghouls, etc) may be apped as-is as long as they have a physical form the symbiote may engage with.

Nonappable characters are:

• Characters under the age of 12.
  
• Purely synthetic characters. If the character has any biological component whatsoever that the symbiote can attach and interface may be acceptable, but purely mechanical characters cannot interface with the symbiote.
  
• No ghosts or non-corporeal characters. Similar to the above, you need a body for the symbiote to attach to.
  
• No fan characters from existing canons. This excludes characters from canons such as Dungeons and Dragons, Destiny, etc but prohibits you from apping an OC from the Harry Potter universe.
  
• No CRAU.
  
• No real people, living or dead. However, heavily fictionalized versions of real life figures may be allowed (ex. Hamilton from the musical Hamilton is not appable, but Abraham Lincoln from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer is).
  
• Characters whose canons aren’t available in English in any form.
  
• Characters whose apps would require more than 2/3rds headcanon.

If you have any questions or concerns as to whether the character you have in mind is appable, don't hesitate to contact the mod team!

DO YOU TAKE CHALLENGE APPS? No, not at this time.

IS THERE A LIMITATION ON HOW SOON I CAN APP FROM A PARTICULAR CANON? We ask that you wait two weeks from the North American release date before apping from a new canon. The exceptions to this rule are if there is no proposed North American release planned for the canon in question, in which case simply default to two weeks from its general intended release.

HOW DO CHARACTERS ARRIVE IN GAME? Characters and/or their worlds are attacked by an obviously deadly force. What this force looks like, how they manifest, and the extent of the damage they cause to the character's world or supporting cast is up to the player. There are two constants: 1) the entity (or entities) is obviously trying to kill the player character; most characters will be very aware of this fact, and 2) before that can happen, a mysterious stranger appears to rescue them. Once the player character is rescued, they black out and have no additional memories until they wake up on the Nesting Deck. For a more detailed run-down of the rescue, see THIS post.

ARE THERE POWERCAPS? Character’s canon abilities are allowed in game, but may require scaling to fit the setting (ex. no powers that can destroy a city block in one fell swoop, area effects must have a time and/or range limit, etc). For powered characters, please include suggested scaling for abilities in your app. The IC reasoning for this is that the symbiote cannot channel a certain amount of power without shutting down; think of it as a muffler on your car. In very rare circumstances, player characters may choose to use their full abilities despite the power scaling, however be aware that it may cause catastrophic symbiote damage which would result in longstanding consequences for the player character (brain damage, death, etc). Anyone interested in a temporary lift of their power scaling should contact the mod team.

WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS AND HOW OFTEN DO AC CHECKS HAPPEN? Activity checks happen once a month beginning on the 1st and ending on the 5th. If you fail to respond to the check in that time, you have through the 7th to respond to the warning list posted on the 6th. Players who don't respond there will be swept from the game after the time window closes.

To pass activity check, you must make thirty (30) comments of any kind. You may use from two to five threads to reach this goal. Threads in IC Links (aka inboxes) DO count toward AC, however only half of your total comments (15) can be mental link comments.

If you fail to meet activity, you may request a strike. To sweep your strike, you must submit 40 comments (in two to six threads) for the following month's AC or be dropped from the game.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I HIATUS/DROP?/IF I IDLE OUT? Characters who are hiatused can either be autopiloted or go into a medical coma as a result of their body attempting to reject the symbiote lifeform. When dropping, characters do not return home. Rather they either go into a semi-to-permanent coma and are kept in storage on the Station and are capable of being re-apped by at a later date; alternatively, players may choose to kill off their characters. NOTABLE DROP PROCESSING EXCEPTION: If the dropped character had less than five IC comments thread in game with another player character, the character's presence in the game will be retconned.

If you idle out of the game without using the drop post, your character will be in permanent medical coma. Players who idle out are not allowed to app again for two months from when they've idled out.

PLEASE NOTE: Players may take however many hiatuses they like, but they cannot be exempt from two AC periods in a row. Example: Player A goes on vacation in July. They hiatus and are exempt from the July AC check. In August, they hiatus for a week because of busy RL circumstances; they must still make the AC requirement for August or take a strike towards their activity.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I WANT TO RE-APP A CHARACTER I DROPPED BUT THEIR CAST IS CURRENTLY CAPPED? In light of the current population of the game and the rate of applications, we've decided to allow re-apps on capped casts as long as it's been at least two months since the character was originally dropped. This MAY change in the future if we feel the game is becoming unbalanced.

WHAT'S PLAYERCESTING IS HOW DOES IT WORK? Because of the tight knit IC nature of the game and the ability for a single player to have up to two characters, there may be unavoidable instances where a player must play their two characters off one another. This is called playercesting and while it breaks no rules, playercest tags may not be used toward AC.

HOW CAN I QUALIFY FOR A SECOND CHARACTER? To qualify to app a second character, a player must make double AC (60 comments) for three consecutive months, then fill out and PM the mod team this form:

NAME: your name CURRENT CHARACTER: the character you currently play SECOND CHARACTER: your new proposed character SECOND CHARACTER CANON: or original AC PROOFS: please provide links to your three months of double AC HOW THIS NEW CHARACTER DIFFERS FROM THE ONE I CURRENTLY PLAY: MY PLANS FOR THIS CHARACTER IN GAME: HOW I PLAN TO HANDLE PLAYERCESTING:

There are no wrong answers for this form - it's merely to make sure anyone apping a second character has given how they plan to play two characters in the same limited game space some serious consideration. Be aware this may not be a straight approval/rejection step - consider this step more of a casual round table with us where we may opt to give some feedback

Once this form has been approved, the player may submit their character application on the application page and it will be processed as usual. Please don't post your application prior to getting approval from the mod team.

ARE THERE LIMITS ON WHAT'S APPABLE FOR A SECONDARY CHARACTER? A player's second character may not be from the same canon or in the same brood as their first character.

HOW DOES DEATH WORK? The Multiverse is dark and full of terrors. Except in very specific plot-related circumstances that may or may not arise, death is permanent and constitutes as a permadrop. A player cannot re-app the same version of a character they've killed in game, however new players may. If a player plays MCU!Bucky Barnes and kills them, they may app in with 616!Bucky but may never re-app MCU!Bucky. Additionally if a player kills their character and wishes to app a new character back into the game, they automatically get a reserved slot for them. This auto reserve slot mechanic may be used up to to two times and may not be used within six months of each other. This is to encourage character death as a viable game and plotting mechanic for players who wish to continue playing in game, but don't want to risk losing their slot given the tight game cap.

HOW DO CANON UPDATES WORK? They don't. Choose your canon point carefully, friend.

WHAT ARE AWAY MISSIONS LIKE AND HOW LONG DO THEY LAST? Away missions are hugely variable. They may involve all characters or only some; they may include visits to other planets or consist of starfighter dogfights; some will be diplomatic missions and others will require force; some will last a few weeks and others could last for months. That said, most away missions will require teamwork to complete successfully. That is-- if you want to complete the mission to the Nest’s desired parameters…

HOW DOES MY CHARACTER USE THEIR SYMBIOTIC ABILITIES AND HOW CAN THEY EARN MORE/STRENGTHEN THEIR POWERS? CAN I CHANGE MY CHARACTER'S ABILITIES? All player characters will enjoy a a few basi enhanced abilities as a result of their partnership with the symbiote. Additional abilities may be unlocked either through character action or through earning Ability Points (AP) with bonus activity. Please be aware that not all side effects of enhancing the symbiote’s power may be considered good things. For a comprehensive look at the symbiotic abilities structure, please see this page. For more information about Ability Points, see this page.

A character's ability cannot be changed, however characters who develop a close connection to the Nest have the ability to "borrow" powers from other hosts for short intervals.

HOW MUCH CAN MY CHARACTER DO BEFORE I NEED MOD APPROVAL FOR MY PLANS? Short answer: you can do whatever you want as long as you're prepared for the potentially far-reaching consequences (both positive and negative) that might come from your character's actions. That said, be considerate of your fellow players. If you're planning a plot that could put player characters in harm's way or you think might fundamentally alter the game calendar, giving the mod team a heads up is very helpful! The mod team is VERY eager to integrate your ideas and will do their absolute best to help streamline the execution of player plots. In an ideal world, our goal as moderators is to try and respond to all plot ideas with either a "Yes! But here's what might happen if you do--" or a "Not quite like that, but here's a bunch of ways we CAN make it happen:--"

(For those bloody minded individuals out there - yes, killing NPCs is on the table. If you feel compelled toward murder, shoot the mod team a PM.)

DO THE SYMBIOTES HAVE PERSONALITIES? CAN CHARACTERS FORM RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM? No and not really. A relationship with your symbiote is a relationship with the Nest. The symbiote is a tool more than it is a sentient creature. However, the connection has a sensation of being pleasant.

CAN THE SYMBIOTE BE REMOVED? Yes, though it is strongly discouraged. Think of it as your character giving themselves a very rudimentary lobotomy with similarly... stunning results.

CAN I PICK MY BROOD? Broods are randomized during application processes and not chosen by players. However, if you foresee problems (conflicting play styles, etc) with someone in your application round, feel free to alert the mods and they'll make sure you don't end up in the same brood.

WHAT ITEMS DOES MY CHARACTER ARRIVE WITH? WHAT DO THEY GET IN-GAME? Characters arrive in game with any possessions they have on their person at the time of their rescue including live animals, etc (the exception being other appable characters - so if you have a cat in your arms that's fine, but if the cat can talk that's probably not viable). On arrival at the station characters will receive one (1) pair of space pajamas. Characters will have opportunities in game to get new stuff. additional reading: 1, 2

MY CHARACTER IS WOUNDED/HAS A DISEASE/IS PREGNANT ON ARRIVAL - HOW DOES THAT WORK? Upon arrival, wounded characters will find themselves on the road to recovery - minor to moderate wounds will have been healed completely, though characters who suffered major physical harm before or during their rescue may find they still have some minor healing to do. Luckily this is the space future and you have a symbiotic creature invested in your survival so most characters should find they heal at a slightly accelerated rate; most will be completely healed within an IC week if left to their own devices. Diseases are NOT cured on arrival and characters will have to manage their health accordingly. Similarly, characters who arrive pregnant will find themselves... still pregnant. Being the space future, there are in-game resources to cope with, cure, or eradicate a number of status effects but characters must find those solutions for themselves in game. additional reading: 1

MY CHARACTER HAS MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES AND/OR ANOTHER CONSCIOUSNESS - DOES THE SYMBIOTE AFFECT THAT? Symbiotes can only bond with a single mind or consciousness. What this means is that characters who share a body with another entity - a demon, a canon hivemind, a ghost that sometimes possesses them - will only be able to connect to the telepathic network and mental enhancements through their own consciousness. Additionally, as the bond with the symbiote is strengthened characters may find that they are losing connection to the other entities in their heads; over time with sufficient closeness to the Nest, those secondary consciousnesses may be forced out entirely by the nest and symbiote and no longer accessible to the host's mind. Characters with multiple personalities are unaffected.

NAVIGATION • PREMISE • FAQ • RULES • SYMBIOTIC SKILLS • ABILITY POINTS

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