Aungier House Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aungier_mods) wrote2013-06-06 07:14 pm
aungier_mods) wrote2013-06-06 07:14 pm
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
General Questions
§ If there's no network, how do characters interact with each other?
§ My character wouldn't agree to be a servant/ cook/ etc. They would just refuse to work.
§ Does that mean I can only play out housework threads if I play a domestic servant?
§ What if my character runs away?
§ Can I back-date or forward-date my posts?
§ What happens if my character dies?
§ What if I go on hiatus?
§ What happens when characters are dropped?
AU Questions
§ Help! I don't know anything about the Victorian era! Can I still app?
§ If the characters have AU memories, does that mean that they will be totally different people?
§ My character doesn't look human. Do they have to be humanised on entry to the game?
§ Do I have to check with every player already in the game before I write my AU history
§ Does that mean that I don't have any control over other people's AUs if I'm already in the game?
§ Can I work with another player so that our AU histories overlap or work together?
§ How does that work ICly?
§ Will my character recognise their castmates?
§ I want to play a character or a role that was previously occupied by someone who has since dropped. Do I have to use their AU?
§ Can I swap roles once I've already been accepted into the game if the one I picked isn't working out?
§ My character has a canon object that is very important to them and which they can't go without for various reasons. Can they bring it with them?
General Questions
If there's no network, how do characters interact with each other?
The vast majority of interactions will take place face-to-face on the main community: players must specify a date, a time and a location along with their set-up. You can see an example here.
There will, however, also be a notice board in the vestibule (see the map) where all characters can exchange notes and make arrangements- but please do bear in mind that these will be public and thus seen by everybody who uses the notice board! If characters wish to exchange notes privately, they may like to do so with letters pushed under doors or notes left in some other secret hiding place. Get creative- work with the setting rather than around it.
My character wouldn't agree to be a servant/ cook/ etc. They would just refuse to work.
That may be the case, but the AU memories of every character will inform them that they are at Aungier House out of choice or by necessity; they will feel a strong impulse to live according to those false memories regardless of how they are in their original canon. As their old memories begin to return they may be able to rebel against this impulse, but there will be IC consequences for misbehaviour. Though they are generally understanding and have an automaton to pick up the slack, the Valdemars do not take kindly to disobedience.
Does that mean I can only play out housework threads if I play a domestic servant?
Not at all! All it means is that working characters are expected to be doing some sort of work throughout the day, either played out or handwaved. We don't expect you to play out thread after thread of cleaning floors, but we would like you to bear in mind that some characters are going to find it harder to get away than others: a maid won't be able to spend all day in the library, for instance.
What if my character runs away?
They could try, but the moorland around Aungier House and St. Erasmus can be treacherous by nightfall: any character who runs away will find themselves lost in the marshes until they're found or they give in and follow the mysterious glowing lights so often seen out in the darkness back to the town.
Can I back-date or forward-date my posts?
Back-dating is fine, so long as you don't abuse the system. We would rather that you were a little more careful about forward-dating, though; preferably, you should only forward-date as far as one or two days in-game ahead and keep upcoming events in mind as you do so.
What happens if my character dies?
If your character dies, they will be revived by at least the next in-game day; their death will be explained as them having fallen ill for a few hours, and will be remembered as such by everyone but the characters who witnessed their death. As a consequence, however, they will also have some of their memory regain reversed and will go back to totally believing in their false memories for a short while.
What if I go on hiatus?
You have a few options. You might like to put your character on autopilot, with them suddenly 100% believing in their false memories and handwave them living their AU life. For longer hiatuses that you expect to last longer than one in-game day, though, characters will be unexpectedly "called away"- maybe they have family to visit, somewhere, or maybe Lady Valdemar sent them away on an errand, maybe they took ill and couldn't be seen for a few days. It's up to you. Just please do remember to supply an in-game excuse for their absence on your hiatus notice, if you're likely to be out of play long enough for it to be noticed in-game!
What happens when characters are dropped?
Generally, we leave this up to the player. Either their character can be written out of play- after they have disappeared, it is revealed that they were called away from the house for whatever reason- or they can simply vanish without a trace. As above, just let us know which you'd prefer on the drop post.
AU Questions
Help! I don't know anything about the Victorian era! Can I still app?
We expect players to have at least some level of familiarity with the period, but don't worry too much about being perfectly historically accurate, even if we'd like to get as close as possible since it is part of the point of the game. The game's world is a perfect copy of 19th century Britain, and we all make mistakes, though- most little ones can be passed off as characters' true memories leaking through and interfering with their false familiarity with the setting. Larger mistakes can be corrected, too.
If the characters have AU memories, does that mean that they will be totally different people?
Ideally, no. We still want you to play the character you're apping, even if their AU doesn't closely match their actual canon history; part of the premise of the game is the tension between what characters think they remember and what they know about themselves, and the discrepancies between them. Don't forget, they will start to regain their old memories as time passes!
In putting together their false memories, you essentially have two approaches to pick from. Firstly, you could write your character's AU history in such a way that it would feasibly produce someone as close to the character they are in-canon within the restraints of the setting. Alternatively, you could write a more open AU history and instead play with the dramatic differences to heighten the psychological horror of the situation. Most apps will strike a balance between these two options, but apps that use a more dramatically different AU will be more closely scrutinised to make sure that players don't simply end up writing a totally different character.
My character doesn't look human. Do they have to be humanised on entry to the game?
We look at things on a case-by-case basis. If the character in question looks human, you don't have to worry about it- features like pointed ears, scales or fangs could be written into your character's false memories as genetic defects, for instance, though it is expected in more severe cases that it should have significantly affected the character's AU life. Many 'monstrous' characters may be kept as they are for similar reasons- the rule of thumb should be that if you can imagine this character existing in 19th century horror fiction and can explain it as such, they should be alright to leave as they are. Abe Sapien from Hellboy, for instance, could have false memories that insist he travelled with a sideshow before running away and seeking shelter with the Valdemar family, whose general sympathy and curiosity prompted them to offer him a place as a servant.
On the other hand, characters who are very clearly not human or have no way of fitting into the game's universe as they stand, however- Transformers, for instance- will have to be altered in some way to make them viable. There is no way to make Optimus Prime 'fit' the universe; he would have to be made human-sized and, as an example, maybe written as an automaton who inexplicably attained self-awareness currently being studied, though he wouldn't necessarily have to have his internal workings changed to fit the setting's technology levels.
Essentially, the point is to make sure that every character coheres with the setting well enough on the surface that other characters believe they could conceivably have been born into it. If you aren't sure about how to go about writing your character's false memories, please feel free to contact us or to ask current players- we will be putting up posts in the OOC comm before every app cycle for new and old players to discuss possibilities.
Do I have to check with every player already in the game before I write my AU history?
It isn't necessary for you to ask anyone at all if your character has nothing to do with anyone else's- if they're a maid seeing the house for the first time, for example. If you play a character whose AU history might overlap with someone else's, though we ask that you please check with the players whose characters would be most involved. That said, how involved your conversation may need to be depends on just what role you're taking on- if you're interested in having your character become one of the Valdemar grandchildren, for instance, we recommend speaking to the two players whose characters will be their parents, as well as their siblings. If you're taking on an estranged uncle, meanwhile, you may only have to ask the parent your character is related to unless you want to put together a more involved history (see below).
That said, while this does mean that you'll have CR arranged before you even start to play, this isn't totally necessary for every single possibly affected character. Part of the psychological horror comes from characters being unable to completely fill in the gaps of their false memories; suddenly waking up to a cousin they don't remember or a sister-in-law they never knew is part of the setting.
Again, we will be putting up regular posts in the OOC comm before and after app cycles for those apping to speak to players currently in the game and ask about details, so we highly encourage those interested to check them out!
Does that mean that I don't have any control over other people's AUs if I'm already in the game?
We will be trying to ensure that all AUs more or less mesh together, but if you have concerns about another player's AU history, please do speak to the player or us and we'll see what we can work out. It should be noted that simply disliking another player's AU is not grounds for a change; so long as the AU does not contradict the AUs of characters involved, they will be accepted.
Players of characters in certain roles (Lady Valdemar's daughter and son-in-law in particular) should expect to have a large number of characters whose AU histories involve their character.
Can I work with another player so that our AU histories overlap or work together?
Be our guest! Please do bear in mind, though, that we can't guarantee that you'll both be accepted, and that if we have concerns about your shared AU histories your apps may take longer to process.
How does that work ICly?
When a new character arrives whose AU involves a character already in the game, they will suddenly "remember" them and not necessarily think it strange... until doubts start to creep in later and they begin to wonder if they've ever really met at all, as per usual.
Will my character recognise their castmates?
To start with, unless they're also part of their false memories, they won't feel more than a passing attraction or desire to know them- as time passes, they will begin to feel more and more familiar as they start to remember their canon lives.
I want to play a character or a role that was previously occupied by someone who has since dropped. Do I have to use their AU?
In the case of picking up dropped characters: you could use the previous player's AU if they're okay with that, but we're perfectly happy for you to start fresh and do what you want, though the character's old CR might begin to recognise something is wrong after a little while and that the last time they met Dean Winchester he was a valet. Part of the game's mystery is that people are constantly coming and going while the details never add up, after all.
In the case of picking up dropped roles: by and large, you can pick up a role that has been left open and use whatever AU you want regardless of the old player's decisions, even with limited roles. It wouldn't be completely unreasonable to assume that the family would go through any number of governesses or housekeepers, for example, and given the potential popularity of the family children roles, we're extending the same policy to them but writing it off as a disturbing little quirk that the Valdemar grandchildren never seem to stay the same (something characters are very welcome to notice after a while). The only characters whose histories will always have set facts are the daughter and son-in-law (mother and father), who already have short biographies to adhere to.
Can I swap roles once I've already been accepted into the game if the one I picked isn't working out?
If you can make a very good case for swapping, we allow each player one chance to switch roles per character, pending approval of a new AU history. When this happens, they will promptly vanish from the house and taken out of play for one OOC week before being reintroduced as any new player would be.
My character has a canon object that is very important to them and which they can't go without for various reasons. Can they bring it with them?
Generally speaking we do not allow characters to bring items into Aungier House with them- if you can make a good case for an AU equivalent existing, that's an option, too, and we'd appreciate you mentioning it in your AU section so we can okay it. If you can't find a good equivalent, though, we may in some special cases (ie, when a character cannot physically survive without the item) allow you to bring in the item in question, though they will feel compelled to hide it from the rest of the house. Please do ask if you're not sure or would like suggestions for AU equivalents!
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Is it allowed to app more than one character from the same canon?
If you allow app challenges anyway, what are reserves there for?
If my character does not fall into the gender binary, can they a) still be apped b)be apped into roles that are described as "male" or "female"?
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1) Given the size of the game, for the time being we will not be allowing players to app more than one character from the same canon. We do, however, allow players to reserve two characters at once and then pick one to app.
2) If we receive multiple reserves for the same character, we know to wait on the other apps before accepting any one app. This is largely a holdover from when we still thought we might have app cycles, but we also feel that it's fairer on people who are interested in playing in-demand characters.
3) Characters who do not fall into the gender binary may still be apped, but, given the setting, they will be forced into a male/ female role. As, by and large, the 19th century was not forgiving to trans* and genderqueer people, this will likely be a role deemed appropriate for the gender they were assigned at birth, but given the potential discomfort this may cause some people we also encourage players to create an AU history that may allow for more leeway; characters from rich backgrounds will be given far more freedom to present how they choose while being "eccentric" to most people at worst, for example.
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It'd be great if you could link the questions page on your navigation (which is where I was coming from and then decided that, since most games take questions on their faq page, that had to be the right place...)
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