Xandra Santoya (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
techbishop) wrote2019-11-11 03:51 pm
techbishop) wrote2019-11-11 03:51 pm
FAQ
general
1. What is this?
Magical Whatever is a game based on the Magical Girl genre, meant to be small and invite only to those on Mod James' plurklist for the most part. It's only intended to run for a couple of months, give or take, and ideally will happen in short game rounds if all goes well.
Long story short, characters are asked by two highly powerful entities to take on the duties of being magical avatars, since their ability to do it naturally has been blocked. Characters are tasked with fighting various enemies, and perhaps even finding out what's responsible behind this mess so it can be stopped.
2. What's the time format of the game?
Magical Whatever is going to run on a 1 OOC Day = 1 IC Day ratio, with interactions happening on a weekly log that will be put up. Weekdays will generally be for the player characters to indulge in just about whatever they want, whether that's exploring, interacting with one another, or getting clues for the overall plot. Weekends will be when I bust out the events for player characters, usually in the form of the main battle for the week! Top levels will be available for each day of the week, to keep things tidy.
3. What are the caps like?
Players will be limited to one character per game round and, in the event there's actually more than the one trial round, preference will be put towards players who haven't played in the game yet.
As for character caps, we'll be going with twenty (20) characters.
Character caps will be a little more tricky, considering how open and relaxed I'll be, but we'll say "five" per canon and see if that makes a problem. I don't foresee it being so, but who knows.
4. Do I need to reserve to apply?
Yes, just so I can get an idea of what kind of cast it looks like we'll have.
Reserves will open at [blank], while the following applications will open at [blank].
5. Is there an activity check?
As this is a short term game, an active playerbase is definitely going to be more important than usual, so, unfortunately, yes there will be.
The good news is that we won't be going with the "x number of comments" model of AC. All I'm going to ask from the players is a short write up on what their character has done in the time between the different Activity Checks. This can be as indepth as you like, or simply a list. All I need to know is that your character has been around, no matter how small a way.
This will happen roughly every month, so that should be plenty of time to get into something.
------
applications
1. Can I only app female character?
No, characters of all genders are accepted. The use of "magical girl" as a term is mainly to reference the original genre that this RP is basing itself off of, including its main tropes of "transforming into a cute outfit, gaining powers, and fighting evil". In my RP, these aren't things that will be restricted to only female characters. Male characters and nonbinary characters are more than welcome.
All that matters is that, ICly, they accept the deal to help protect a world for a little while.
2. What characters can I app?
Theoretically, the sky is the limit.
At least in the beginning, this RP is mostly restricted to people on Mod James's plurk friend list, and those are people generally trusted on the level of character choice. Fandom characters from any sort of existing media are fine, of course, as this is a panfandom RP.
However, I'll also accept the following:
- Silent Protagonists
- Customizable Protagonists
- Fandom OCs
- AU Characters
- CRAU Characters
- Original Characters
The only difference between any of these will be the amount of work that goes into the app, as fandom characters can usually link to a fandom wiki but the other options may require a bit of writing. See more on the app page on the details for this.
If this becomes more than one round, there may be the possibility of 'native' OCs, but that's way into the future.
3. Is there forced humanization?
There is [i]optional[/i] humanization, on both a IC and OOC level. If you have a cool human appearance in mind for Optimus Prime, that's fine, and we can work with making that happen in the game. If you'd rather let Optimus Prime get his own magical girl transformation sequence, we can work with that too! The RP and its settings are meant to be flexible.
Just let me know what you want to do.
4. My character is coming in hot and injured.
Not anymore! While there will be a brief limbo period where their injury is neither getting better nor in horrible pain and getting worse, they'll be mostly restored to relatively perfect health upon accepting the offer to become a 'magical avatar'.
I'll leave it up to player discretion if this leaves a nasty scar or such.
5. My character is actually dead.
Well, that sucks for them, but there is good news: accepting the offer allows them temporary control over a physical body. Whether this means a flesh and bloody body or something rad like an android body will depend on the setting, and whatever sounds cooler for the player.
After finishing their end of the deal as a magical avatar? Well... They can figure things out then.
6. What will my character be able to bring from home?
Ideally, the Entities That Be would prefer that very little- in fact nothing at all- be crossed over too much between the universes. This stunt is already kind of pushing it, frankly. However, they can be reasoned with to a certain degree. As long as it's not a weapon but can be carried on the individual's person, they can be convinced to allow it. Whether it might work is an entirely different matter.
Of course, for giant characters, the amount they can bring across is even less to account for how much effort is being used to pull them in to start with. So, sorry Optimus, but no bringing a whole separate car in your fist.
If anyone asks, the Entities will explain that the ban on weapons is because there's a chance that their presence might disrupt the whole 'magical transformation sequence' thing. They don't want to risk throwing anything off, so better safe than sorry. Besides, they won't really need it after that.
7. What if one player wants to bring in an original version fandom character and I want to bring in an AU version of that same character?
That sort of discussion is something I'm inclined to leave to the players to sort out OOCly. After all, that will be something that will influence those two the most, so it's best to have a good discussion and understanding of each other to start with. If there are castmates of any other sort that are also interested, it may help to reach out to them as well.
Of course, for anyone who's nervous about this prospect, I don't mind reaching out for an interest check on behalf of either party.
8. What happens if a character dies?
The Entities advise Not Doing That.
But! Things happen in games, because characters are often just Like That. In the event that a magical avatar falls in battle (or out of battle), they'll find themself back in same space the Entities initially proposed to them. Their physical form in that world was only ever meant to be temporary anyway; dying merely shortens the process. Unfortunately, the Entities can't just churn out bodies immediately, because it's rather outside their purview and experience. Thus, characters may find themselves stuck in that same space for a while- the minimum of a week. They'll still be able to communicate with the rest of the group through the same methods that the Entities will use, but they won't be able to take place in any fights or investigating in the world. At least, that's the general plan of what will happen...
So again: the Entities advise Not doing that.
That said, this game isn't generally meant to be a high death turn over type of game. If I think there's a chance a character's actions will lead to them dying, I'll be sure to let the player know ahead of time, and give the playerbase as a whole a heads up if something really serious is going to happen. Everyone should be on the same page when it comes to things like this, after all.
9. What happens if my character goes on hiatus or is dropped?
Much the same happens as above, with some differences. Remember how the Entities aren't experienced in this kind of body creation? Well, in the case of a hiatus or a drop, that means the character's body becomes too unstable to properly 'exist' in the world, so the Entities have to essentially withdraw them to fix that mistake. Characters on hiatus take as long as is needed for their body to be put back into functional order. Characters who are dropped just, well, never get that, for whatever reason.
------
Magical Girl Shit
1. So who are these Entities anyway?
They introduce themselves as, respectively, Xandra Santoya and Somnam Seed, because most sapient life seems to react better to names than titles. They're highly powerful entities with a strong tie to the series of universes they're asking for help on- as in, while they very clearly care about the various individual lives at stake, this is also relevant to their continued existence.
So you can see why they went to such lengths as to reach across universes.
2. Why should my character care?
Good question, but one Xandra and Somnam are expecting. While they understand there are always some goody two shoes in the world, they also understand that this is a lot to ask of people completely unrelated to the situation at hand. So... They're offering an exchange.
The people they've pulled will agree to be their magical avatars for a short period of time. And in return...
Xandra offers information, able to answer any question that a character may have in any level of depth that they may want.
Somnam offers transportation, so that a character can go anywhere at any time they may desire.
Both are powerful pieces of responsibility as much as they are more than enough incentive in exchange for a little bit of service. After all, any knowledge whatsoever is quite a lot... and there are a lot of places one can be if they don't want to go to exactly where they were.
Of course, if a character really does want to help out of the goodness of their heart, they'll more than easily accept that as well, and keep the offer on the table up until the character has finished this little round of service in case they change their mind. Besides, even if they don't have anything or anywhere in mind, they probably will want to return home at all, which Somnam will be the key to regardless.
2. Does my character still keep their powers when becoming a magical avatar?
Yes... and no.
TL;DR is that their powers stay with them, but in another form that manifests most strongly when they undergo their magical transformation.
Xandra will compare it to how water, through phase transitions, can be in a different state of matter depending on various factors such as temperature and pressure. The base property is still the same, because they can't just take that out of the characters. However, while same at the core, ice is different from water is different from mist. This is true for the people they're bringing in from other worlds.
If a character has fire powers, they'll still carry that within them upon arrival in the world the Entities drop them in. However, untransformed, the ability will be far less potent than in the character's original world: a pocket lighter versus a flamethrower. Transformed, the ability to wield their power again will get a boost but only to a certain extent.
Somnam calls this the "adjustment period", with certain things helping the character's innate power transition more to use as a magical girl power. The more a character transforms, the better they and their powers will adjust, for starters. If a character goes through with a full transformation, that also helps. They can also make up names for their attacks and use them in battle to give that little boost.
Additionally... Magical powers seem to be heavily connected to a person's state, and their bonds with others. If a person makes some significant personal growth or has a connecting moment with another, that affects their powers. They'll often find themselves with a new power or aspect of their power, or able to pull through in certain moments.
See the Boost Page for more on that.
3. What about things that are less 'powers' and more a part of my character's biology that make them tougher or faster, etc, than the average human person?
For those who are just innately strong, it does seem that their abilities get diluted to some degree. The strength is still there, just not as much save, again, when they're transformed.
It's rather like existing on another planet and having a different type of gravity at play.
On the bright side, this also applies to some weakness. For example, a vampire might not be as strong anymore, but they'll also find that going into the sunlight doesn't immediately kill them. So it's a bit of a mixed bag.
Of course, this all seems to differ for the individual considering the wide array of places that the Entities have pulled from, so things can generally vary, although it's never something that leaves a person at full strength. In other words, since we're all here to have a good time, go wild.
4. My character doesn't have any powers at all.
Don't worry. In the natural scheme of things, many magical girls/avatars don't before the Entities get in contact with them. When they channel the Entities' power to transform, that power will adjust itself to the individual, granting them power where there was none prior.
OOCly, this essentially means you get to pick your character's "power theme". Usually this lends itself well to elementally themed powers, but you can go with anything as long as the power seems to match.
5. My character already has powers, but I want to give them something different in the game.
Then you can follow the example of characters with no powers. The IC explanation is that, listen... sometimes shit just happens when crossing universes. Your character's powers just happen to not mesh well with this particular environment, leading to them reacting to the Entities' power much like a powerless person would.
1. What is this?
Magical Whatever is a game based on the Magical Girl genre, meant to be small and invite only to those on Mod James' plurklist for the most part. It's only intended to run for a couple of months, give or take, and ideally will happen in short game rounds if all goes well.
Long story short, characters are asked by two highly powerful entities to take on the duties of being magical avatars, since their ability to do it naturally has been blocked. Characters are tasked with fighting various enemies, and perhaps even finding out what's responsible behind this mess so it can be stopped.
2. What's the time format of the game?
Magical Whatever is going to run on a 1 OOC Day = 1 IC Day ratio, with interactions happening on a weekly log that will be put up. Weekdays will generally be for the player characters to indulge in just about whatever they want, whether that's exploring, interacting with one another, or getting clues for the overall plot. Weekends will be when I bust out the events for player characters, usually in the form of the main battle for the week! Top levels will be available for each day of the week, to keep things tidy.
3. What are the caps like?
Players will be limited to one character per game round and, in the event there's actually more than the one trial round, preference will be put towards players who haven't played in the game yet.
As for character caps, we'll be going with twenty (20) characters.
Character caps will be a little more tricky, considering how open and relaxed I'll be, but we'll say "five" per canon and see if that makes a problem. I don't foresee it being so, but who knows.
4. Do I need to reserve to apply?
Yes, just so I can get an idea of what kind of cast it looks like we'll have.
Reserves will open at [blank], while the following applications will open at [blank].
5. Is there an activity check?
As this is a short term game, an active playerbase is definitely going to be more important than usual, so, unfortunately, yes there will be.
The good news is that we won't be going with the "x number of comments" model of AC. All I'm going to ask from the players is a short write up on what their character has done in the time between the different Activity Checks. This can be as indepth as you like, or simply a list. All I need to know is that your character has been around, no matter how small a way.
This will happen roughly every month, so that should be plenty of time to get into something.
------
applications
1. Can I only app female character?
No, characters of all genders are accepted. The use of "magical girl" as a term is mainly to reference the original genre that this RP is basing itself off of, including its main tropes of "transforming into a cute outfit, gaining powers, and fighting evil". In my RP, these aren't things that will be restricted to only female characters. Male characters and nonbinary characters are more than welcome.
All that matters is that, ICly, they accept the deal to help protect a world for a little while.
2. What characters can I app?
Theoretically, the sky is the limit.
At least in the beginning, this RP is mostly restricted to people on Mod James's plurk friend list, and those are people generally trusted on the level of character choice. Fandom characters from any sort of existing media are fine, of course, as this is a panfandom RP.
However, I'll also accept the following:
- Silent Protagonists
- Customizable Protagonists
- Fandom OCs
- AU Characters
- CRAU Characters
- Original Characters
The only difference between any of these will be the amount of work that goes into the app, as fandom characters can usually link to a fandom wiki but the other options may require a bit of writing. See more on the app page on the details for this.
If this becomes more than one round, there may be the possibility of 'native' OCs, but that's way into the future.
3. Is there forced humanization?
There is [i]optional[/i] humanization, on both a IC and OOC level. If you have a cool human appearance in mind for Optimus Prime, that's fine, and we can work with making that happen in the game. If you'd rather let Optimus Prime get his own magical girl transformation sequence, we can work with that too! The RP and its settings are meant to be flexible.
Just let me know what you want to do.
4. My character is coming in hot and injured.
Not anymore! While there will be a brief limbo period where their injury is neither getting better nor in horrible pain and getting worse, they'll be mostly restored to relatively perfect health upon accepting the offer to become a 'magical avatar'.
I'll leave it up to player discretion if this leaves a nasty scar or such.
5. My character is actually dead.
Well, that sucks for them, but there is good news: accepting the offer allows them temporary control over a physical body. Whether this means a flesh and bloody body or something rad like an android body will depend on the setting, and whatever sounds cooler for the player.
After finishing their end of the deal as a magical avatar? Well... They can figure things out then.
6. What will my character be able to bring from home?
Ideally, the Entities That Be would prefer that very little- in fact nothing at all- be crossed over too much between the universes. This stunt is already kind of pushing it, frankly. However, they can be reasoned with to a certain degree. As long as it's not a weapon but can be carried on the individual's person, they can be convinced to allow it. Whether it might work is an entirely different matter.
Of course, for giant characters, the amount they can bring across is even less to account for how much effort is being used to pull them in to start with. So, sorry Optimus, but no bringing a whole separate car in your fist.
If anyone asks, the Entities will explain that the ban on weapons is because there's a chance that their presence might disrupt the whole 'magical transformation sequence' thing. They don't want to risk throwing anything off, so better safe than sorry. Besides, they won't really need it after that.
7. What if one player wants to bring in an original version fandom character and I want to bring in an AU version of that same character?
That sort of discussion is something I'm inclined to leave to the players to sort out OOCly. After all, that will be something that will influence those two the most, so it's best to have a good discussion and understanding of each other to start with. If there are castmates of any other sort that are also interested, it may help to reach out to them as well.
Of course, for anyone who's nervous about this prospect, I don't mind reaching out for an interest check on behalf of either party.
8. What happens if a character dies?
The Entities advise Not Doing That.
But! Things happen in games, because characters are often just Like That. In the event that a magical avatar falls in battle (or out of battle), they'll find themself back in same space the Entities initially proposed to them. Their physical form in that world was only ever meant to be temporary anyway; dying merely shortens the process. Unfortunately, the Entities can't just churn out bodies immediately, because it's rather outside their purview and experience. Thus, characters may find themselves stuck in that same space for a while- the minimum of a week. They'll still be able to communicate with the rest of the group through the same methods that the Entities will use, but they won't be able to take place in any fights or investigating in the world. At least, that's the general plan of what will happen...
So again: the Entities advise Not doing that.
That said, this game isn't generally meant to be a high death turn over type of game. If I think there's a chance a character's actions will lead to them dying, I'll be sure to let the player know ahead of time, and give the playerbase as a whole a heads up if something really serious is going to happen. Everyone should be on the same page when it comes to things like this, after all.
9. What happens if my character goes on hiatus or is dropped?
Much the same happens as above, with some differences. Remember how the Entities aren't experienced in this kind of body creation? Well, in the case of a hiatus or a drop, that means the character's body becomes too unstable to properly 'exist' in the world, so the Entities have to essentially withdraw them to fix that mistake. Characters on hiatus take as long as is needed for their body to be put back into functional order. Characters who are dropped just, well, never get that, for whatever reason.
------
Magical Girl Shit
1. So who are these Entities anyway?
They introduce themselves as, respectively, Xandra Santoya and Somnam Seed, because most sapient life seems to react better to names than titles. They're highly powerful entities with a strong tie to the series of universes they're asking for help on- as in, while they very clearly care about the various individual lives at stake, this is also relevant to their continued existence.
So you can see why they went to such lengths as to reach across universes.
2. Why should my character care?
Good question, but one Xandra and Somnam are expecting. While they understand there are always some goody two shoes in the world, they also understand that this is a lot to ask of people completely unrelated to the situation at hand. So... They're offering an exchange.
The people they've pulled will agree to be their magical avatars for a short period of time. And in return...
Xandra offers information, able to answer any question that a character may have in any level of depth that they may want.
Somnam offers transportation, so that a character can go anywhere at any time they may desire.
Both are powerful pieces of responsibility as much as they are more than enough incentive in exchange for a little bit of service. After all, any knowledge whatsoever is quite a lot... and there are a lot of places one can be if they don't want to go to exactly where they were.
Of course, if a character really does want to help out of the goodness of their heart, they'll more than easily accept that as well, and keep the offer on the table up until the character has finished this little round of service in case they change their mind. Besides, even if they don't have anything or anywhere in mind, they probably will want to return home at all, which Somnam will be the key to regardless.
2. Does my character still keep their powers when becoming a magical avatar?
Yes... and no.
TL;DR is that their powers stay with them, but in another form that manifests most strongly when they undergo their magical transformation.
Xandra will compare it to how water, through phase transitions, can be in a different state of matter depending on various factors such as temperature and pressure. The base property is still the same, because they can't just take that out of the characters. However, while same at the core, ice is different from water is different from mist. This is true for the people they're bringing in from other worlds.
If a character has fire powers, they'll still carry that within them upon arrival in the world the Entities drop them in. However, untransformed, the ability will be far less potent than in the character's original world: a pocket lighter versus a flamethrower. Transformed, the ability to wield their power again will get a boost but only to a certain extent.
Somnam calls this the "adjustment period", with certain things helping the character's innate power transition more to use as a magical girl power. The more a character transforms, the better they and their powers will adjust, for starters. If a character goes through with a full transformation, that also helps. They can also make up names for their attacks and use them in battle to give that little boost.
Additionally... Magical powers seem to be heavily connected to a person's state, and their bonds with others. If a person makes some significant personal growth or has a connecting moment with another, that affects their powers. They'll often find themselves with a new power or aspect of their power, or able to pull through in certain moments.
See the Boost Page for more on that.
3. What about things that are less 'powers' and more a part of my character's biology that make them tougher or faster, etc, than the average human person?
For those who are just innately strong, it does seem that their abilities get diluted to some degree. The strength is still there, just not as much save, again, when they're transformed.
It's rather like existing on another planet and having a different type of gravity at play.
On the bright side, this also applies to some weakness. For example, a vampire might not be as strong anymore, but they'll also find that going into the sunlight doesn't immediately kill them. So it's a bit of a mixed bag.
Of course, this all seems to differ for the individual considering the wide array of places that the Entities have pulled from, so things can generally vary, although it's never something that leaves a person at full strength. In other words, since we're all here to have a good time, go wild.
4. My character doesn't have any powers at all.
Don't worry. In the natural scheme of things, many magical girls/avatars don't before the Entities get in contact with them. When they channel the Entities' power to transform, that power will adjust itself to the individual, granting them power where there was none prior.
OOCly, this essentially means you get to pick your character's "power theme". Usually this lends itself well to elementally themed powers, but you can go with anything as long as the power seems to match.
5. My character already has powers, but I want to give them something different in the game.
Then you can follow the example of characters with no powers. The IC explanation is that, listen... sometimes shit just happens when crossing universes. Your character's powers just happen to not mesh well with this particular environment, leading to them reacting to the Entities' power much like a powerless person would.