synodiporia_ooc

FAQ

synodiporia - This is the main community, where mingles, logs, and most of the action take place.

synopsychic - This is the ‘mass communication’ community, where characters can talk to one another without having to meet up in person. It’s also the easiest way for Investigators to have group discussions during Jaunts without giving themselves away to suspicious Infiltrators or other individuals who are around them at the time of discussion. During Jaunts, only Investigators have access to the Psychic Network; people playing Infiltrators should not use this community. In between Jaunts, everyone may use it at any time.

synodiporia_ooc - This is the out-of-character community, used for mod announcements, Jaunt intros and plotting, player/character intros, memes, and any other OOC need you might need to fill.

⬇ What’s the formatting policy?
Some games are particular about format. Synodiporia isn’t one of them. While game convention has largely fallen out as ‘prose on the main comm, actionspam on the network,’ both kinds of formatting are acceptable on either community. Depending on the current setting, there may or may not be telephone, video, or internet capability, so all that we ask is that you remember that posts on the main community reflect events which characters are present for.

Posts on the psychic network involve psychic contact, and will be policed a little more strictly - everyone can make contact with everyone else, of course, but only a few characters have the skill to, for example, invite other people into their dreamscapes or mind palaces.

⬇ How does the setting work?
The setting consists of two parts - Liminal Space and Jaunts. For more information on each, please follow the links. In general, the setting of this game is continuously changing. Every new event takes characters on a new Jaunt to an entirely different world. More or less, your characters are sent to solve various events, sometimes to alter them from their intended course, sometimes to follow through exactly as planned. Your characters change the world - and the world changes them, in turn.

Game events are posted in a mingle format; once a week, ish, the mods write up a new mingle detailing the current state of Liminal Space (if we’re between Jaunts) or of the present Jaunt setting, and players write toplevel comments for their characters as they see fit. Players are welcome and encouraged to post their own logs for smaller player plots.

⬇ What’s your policy on playercesting?
No one may play more than a single character per canon, unless that canon is broadly defined and the characters have little reason to interact. (Characters with a canon split-personality situation may be counted as one character, if the app sufficiently discusses aspects of both/all personalities.) You may thread with yourself if you have an IC reason to do so, but you may not count that thread towards required activity for either character.

GAME MECHANICS
Day Ratio | Power Capping | Retconning Events | Canon Updating | Permissions Posts/HMDs | Activity Check | Skill Activity | Skill Teaching Threads | Un-Taking Skills | Player Plots

⬇ What is the IC:OOC day ratio?
The day rate is 1:1, but the dates are not necessarily the same. For example, it could be August OOCly, but the current Jaunt may be taking place in that world’s equivalent of December.

⬇ Is there a power cap on canon powers?
On most canon powers, there is no hard power cap. However, characters with psychic or dimensional-travel abilities will be subjected to a hard power cap on acceptance, due to the nature of Liminal Space and the Psychic Network. For more details, see here. Otherwise, if a character possesses powers that, unchecked, are so incredible as to always be an issue, mods will negotiate with players before accepting their app.

In general: if your character is an overpowered badass in canon, they will still be an overpowered badass. However, since this game emphasizes the achievements of players working in collaboration with one another, no one character will possess abilities strong enough to render the contributions of unpowered or low-powered characters irrelevant.

⬇ What’s your policy on retconning for CR/events?
Due to this game being very plot-heavy, CR & actions taken by PCs are extremely significant to the outcomes of events. Therefore, no CR/actions/events, once written/thread/logged/whatever you want to call it, may be retconned without permission of the mods and all characters involved.

This does not mean you can’t delete a comment if you realize there was an error in it. This does mean that if two or more characters have a fight in a prolonged thread, but the players are later uncomfortable with IC consequences or results such as angst and property damage, they must consult a mod and anyone who took part in that thread before deciding it never happened. If you’d prefer to avoid worrying about this eventuality, remember that IC actions have IC consequences.

⬇ Can I canon update? How do I do it?
Canon updating is certainly permissible! Please contact the mods before doing so in order to apprise them of the new canon point. Updates may be conducted in the transition from Jaunt setting back to Liminal Space, or played out using the Dungeon or Dreamscape mechanics. If necessary, please keep our spoiler policy in mind before planning your canon update. If for some reason you feel you cannot wait for the end of a Jaunt, consult a mod for special permission to canon update mid-event.

⬇ Do I have to keep permissions posts/HMDs for my character? Does the game have a game-wide HMD? Is it mandatory?
Personal permissions posts & HMDs on character journals are not mandatory, and may be used as you see fit. As for a game-wide HMD, we do periodically post them; they are also always voluntary to participate in.

⬇ What’s the activity check like?
Our activity policy is detailed here. The game has some certain special plot/setting-related policies on hiatusing, idling, and dropping, which are also detailed in the above link.

Toplevel comments or main-body posts that have several reply threads have traditionally been counted as multiple threads for the purposes of Activity Check. However, threads taken off-community into a musebox cannot count the musebox content toward AC.

⬇ How does skill activity work?
As a reward for going above and beyond standard activity, players may claim up to two skills for their character per month, if certain conditions are met. Those conditions are detailed here. Skills picked up from a Jaunt setting always require some kind of thread proof, whether it’s a lesson in using the skill or simply showing your Infiltrator having or doing the skill in question; Liminal, Psychic, Favor, and Combo skills can be taken without a thread proof. You may, on a case by case basis and with mod permission, use a skill AC slot on gaining or upgrading a canon skill. It is entirely permissible to use a skill the month your character is picking it up, so long as you have the comment count to back up your skill submission. If you have further questions about a particular skill, please contact the mods. More details on skill AC can be found here.

⬇ What constitutes a ‘character-taught skill’?
For a ‘teaching’ thread proof, we’re basically looking for some sort of CR-building activity. This can be as simple as a character purchasing a piece of local tech from an Infiltrator or as complex as an ongoing lesson on a given topic. Teaching threads can pick up at any point in the teaching process, including after the lesson itself is done, so long as there is a mention of the skill being passed on. Infiltrators may use a thread where they give a lesson in skill use as a ‘teaching’ proof. Not all Jaunt skills are teachable, and some have prerequisite skills or conditions; if you’re not sure whether a Jaunt skill is teachable, contact the mods. More details on teaching threads can be found here.

⬇ Help! I took a skill and it really doesn’t fit my character at all. Can I do something about it?
Short answer: yes, probably. You can drop skills no more than once per jaunt, if you’ve made skill AC for the month. There are a couple of exceptions to the short answer; for more details, and/or to report a skill you’d like to be rid of, see here.

⬇ With everything going on in-game, can we still do player plots?
Of course! We do ask that player plots that stand a chance of significantly impacting the player base at large be run by the mods first, in order to give everyone a proper shot at getting in on the plotting, should the plot be approved.

APPLICATIONS
App Cycle | Appable Characters | Veterans | Player/Cast Caps | Game Cap | Spoiler Policy | Doubles and Facetwins | Challenge Applications | Non-Human Characters | Pregnant Characters | Apping Telepaths and Teleporters | Sample Thread Source | Define Actionspam

⬇ When is your next test drive? When do apps open?
Synodiporia’s events are, by their nature, two-month processes. We’ve tried opening applications mid-event before, but it’s very difficult for new players to come in halfway through an unfolding plot and integrate into the game. Because of this, our app cycle is longer than most games, generally once every two months, sometimes a bit longer. A new test drive will be posted a few days before each app round, unless we’re having a Fourth Wall event.

If you’re having a look at Syn and our apps are currently closed, don’t despair! Our community sidebars should list when the current Jaunt is slated to end, and the mod plurk (

powersthatbe) will announce when the test drive is up and apps open.

⬇ What kinds of characters do you accept?
We take all sorts - canon characters from any canon point (up to and including the character’s death), original characters with a canon-based background, original characters from completely original settings, AU characters, previous-game transplants, anything you can think of! More details on canon points and departures can be found here, and details about apping original characters can be found on the applications page.

For canon characters with mixed-media source material, we do accept some mixing of ‘canon’ materials, on a case by case basis. Please note in your application that you’re mixing source material, and be aware that we may reject the mixing if it’s ruled the two sources are far enough apart in details to effectively be AUs of each other.

Minor canon characters that require a decent amount of headcanon to be fleshed out are also accepted, though if a later installment of canon negates the headcanon, we may shift the in-game character’s status to AU, allowing someone else to app as original-universe based on the new material. As long as your app holds together without relying on headcanon, we’ll consider it.

⬇ Wait, I can app someone as a veteran of the game? How does that work?
Because of the highly malleable nature of Syn’s setting, it is possible to app a character as having been through a handful of Jaunts before officially entering the game as a played character. More details about apping veterans can be found here and here.

As a general rule of thumb, a veteran app cannot be your first character. Veterans are also limited to no more than three consecutive Jaunts, unless one of those Jaunts was Moebius - due to the memory-loss shenanigans inherent in that backstory Jaunt, a Moebius veteran could have been around for several Jaunts beforehand without putting significant strain on integrating them into other players’ CR. Additionally, veteran Travelers may only come from Phase One or Phase Two Jaunts (that is, those between Moebius and Lightside/Darkside).

⬇ How many characters can I app? How many can I app in one round? What’s your cast cap?
The base character limit is three characters per player. If you would like to app in characters beyond that, please consult the mods; if you’re consistently making above base AC with your current characters, we’ll allow the app, with a hard limit of five characters. In theory you could app all three characters in one round, but we don’t recommend it! People have apped two characters in one round and had both accepted before.

Our current cast cap is ten characters from the same canon, and one hundred characters in the game total.

⬇ Oh no! You're at 100 or more characters! What happens when the game’s at character cap?
The first and most obvious thing that happens when we hit (or even exceed, by a bit) Syn’s character cap is that we will NOT open apps again until we dip back below 100 characters in-game. The cap is in place to allow us to provide plots that the entire player base can engage in while permitting us to determine the results of characters’ actions.

Depending on how close to the cap we are, we may permit players with idled characters to bring one of their idled characters back while apps remain closed; however, during this time, unidling MUST be done via dungeon rescue. If we’re over cap and you’d like to unidle a character, please contact the mods to discuss it. As an additional note, while we are near or over cap, we will be firm on the ‘three characters per player’ cap, in order to allow more players a chance to join.

Upon re-opening apps when we dip below cap, if we’re still close to the cap, we will prioritize acceptance of first-time players over those who already have one or more characters in the game.

⬇ What’s your spoiler policy?
To allow our player base to enjoy the surprises in new movies, ongoing series, and the like, we do ask that you wait a month or two after the release of new material before apping from it. With specific regard to canon updating, if you warn for spoilers in the subject lines of your threads as appropriate and clear the update to new material with the rest of your cast (if necessary), you can update without waiting.

⬇ What’s your policy on character doubles/facetwins/etc.?
We will not be setting a limit on the number of character versions of a specific character who may appear in-game at one time; however, they must all be different versions. Only one OU; only one copy of each canon AU version; only one PG version per game; and player-devised AUs must be suitably distinct from all other versions in-game. The more copies of a character are present in-game, the more the mods will scrutinize new apps and insist upon substantial differences.

Besides those shenanigans, there’s the question of whether or not characters with the same PB or played by the same actor are truly identical. We leave this up to player discretion, but ask that players communicate with one another OOCly to make sure it’s okay with them before freaking out that Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes look like twins. It’s up to the players of those characters to figure out what’s most fun for them.

⬇ Hey! Someone apped in an AU version/different ending version/canon reincarnated version of my character! How do I challenge app?
We do not have "challenge apps" as such. As said in the above FAQ entry, we do often accept doubles of characters, provided the mods believe they possess enough differences. You should speak to the player initially and try to work it out amongst yourselves. If you cannot do this, please remember that this game is a multidimensional adventure, and as such the mod team is likely to judge both applications on their own merits rather than reject one for another. Inclusion of multiple versions of characters are integral to the point of our game.

⬇ Do you accept non-human characters?
Non-human characters are perfectly permissible, and may or may not be humanized at player option. Characters whose size greatly differs from humanoid norms may be forced to shrink or grow. We prefer nobody be smaller than a cat or too big to fit through a door. This may be negotiable; if you really want to play a character outside that size range and have them stay there, please let the mods know at the time you app them.

Generally speaking, most non-human characters will be perceived/treated as human by Infiltrators and NPCs for ease of plot and CR (if people in medieval Germany keep mistaking Garrus Vakarian for the Devil, it’s going to get old). Again, this is a potentially negotiable point, but if you want your non-human character to be freaked out at on a regular basis, this is not the right place to put them.

This basic rule also applies to previous-game characters coming in from games that inflicted form changes upon them (for example, Ryslig).

⬇ Can I app a pregnant character?
You sure can! You can either canon-update them to a ‘conveniently minus baby’ point before they give birth in-game, or keep the kidlet around - in this case, contact the mods for more details, as Liminal Babies pick up some interesting stuff very, very quickly.

⬇ I'm apping a telepath or teleporter . . .
Which set of skills do I list in my app? Canon abilities, or the skills I'll be replacing them with here?

Canon abilities. In the application, we're looking for your knowledge of the existing character, and setting a baseline for what power level they had before getting pulled into things here. Since that baseline will be important for determining which skills and how many you'll acquire, the app needs to focus on the powers your character had pre-Synodiporia.

⬇ Do my sample threads have to come from a game/the test drive?
They do not. If you feel a meme or musebox thread best captures your character’s voice, you may submit that. We do, however, ask that if this is your first app with us, at least one of your two samples is set in a test drive prompt or other aspect of the game’s setting.

⬇ How strictly do you define ‘actionspam’ samples? Can they be written in prose format?
As long as your ‘actionspam’ sample demonstrates a good grasp of your character’s dialogue voice rather than focusing on their thought process, we’ll accept a prose-formatted sample. Actionspam formatting is helpful in drawing the distinction, but we won’t ask for revisions based on sample formatting alone.

IC: GENERAL QUESTIONS
The Arcana | Marks | Arcana Who Lost | Pre-Moebius Veterans | Arrival Inventory | Substance/Medical Dependency | Fourth-Walling

⬇ What’s the deal with these Arcana bozos?
The Arcana are the archetypal beings running this whole show, evidently playing some kind of game with the multiverse as their board and the Travelers as their pieces. Some of them are more sympathetic to the Travelers as sentient beings than others. A list of the Arcana, their known aliases, and Marked Travelers can be found here, and speculation about their motives and alliances can be found here.

⬇ Wait, Marks? What do those do? Can I opt out?
What exactly Marks do other than connect a Traveler to one of the Arcana is currently unclear; the Arcana have, in the past, used them to guide their Chosen to a particular place or to suggest a course of action. They appear most often as tattoos, though scars, birthmarks, and other permanent physical changes are also acceptable. They feature imagery associated with the Arcanum in question, and sometimes their number, but not always. Marks are not always visible while a Traveler is Infiltrating… but that doesn’t mean they’re gone.

And no, you can’t opt out. In the current phase of the Arcana’s game, everyone gets a Mark. Not everyone gets their best archetypal match, but we’ll endeavor to give you a good match, based on your application’s shortlist and plot-related considerations.

⬇ What happens when the Arcanum who marked my character loses a match, now that they’re playing for keeps?
For the most part, nothing changes. Your character is still Marked, and can still take Favor skills associated with their Arcanum. However, new characters will not be Marked by Arcana who are out of the game.

If one of the Arcana dies, characters Marked by them will see their Mark fade, but not disappear entirely. Any Favor skills specific to that particular Arcanum will no longer function.

⬇ What do Moebius veterans remember?
How much of the disaster that was Moebius your veteran remembers is up to you, but it’s likely to be fragmentary and unpleasant at best. Any previous Jaunts they were on have been wiped from their memory; they do, however, still remember their pre-Traveling backgrounds.

On occasion, current Jaunts return to a setting that was visited before Moebius and altered by current Travelers, even if they don’t remember it. For those Jaunts, the mods will reach out to players with pre-Moebius veterans and work out what they might have done on the first visit, and whether those past actions will have consequences for them on the current outing.

⬇ What does my character arrive with?
Your character arrives with the clothes on their back and anything that may have plausibly been in their pockets/hands/handbag at the time they were pulled into Liminal Space. If your character canonically has access to something like hammerspace, the mods will discuss capping their inventory with you upon acceptance.

Animal companions, even sentient ones, are acceptable so long as they are dependent on your character in some way. If you decide not to bring your character in with a companion of this sort but later change your mind, there are several skill mechanics that would allow you to gain access to them.

⬇ If my character depends on a substance or medicine to survive/has an addiction, how does that work here?
Medical necessity and substance dependency are generally not eliminated by Liminal Space, though the need may be lessened, at player option, to where withdrawal is unpleasant but not debilitating. If you’d prefer, plenty of characters have the ability to create and reproduce all sorts of materials, and establishing CR with a supplier is certainly feasible.

⬇ How does fourth-walling/canon puncturing work?
Our general fourth-walling rule is: Don’t. Occasionally, players of characters from particularly pervasive or metatextual canons (for example, Star Wars or Harry Potter) have given permission for their characters to be recognised by genre-savvy fellow Travelers, but this is the exception far more often than the rule. When in doubt, don’t do the thing.

References to canons currently not represented in the game are perfectly fine, as is historical-figure level knowledge of, well, historical figures (fictional characters based on historical figures draw a fuzzier line, and should be cleared with their players first). The important thing here is not going out of your way to tell someone they’re fictional.

LIMINAL SPACE
What Is It? | Total Size | Stable Locations | Death in Liminal Space

⬇ What’s Liminal Space?
In short, it’s where Travelers stay in between Jaunts, and a place Investigators (those who can make portals, anyway) have access to during Jaunts. For more details, see here.

⬇ How big is Liminal Space?
Pretty big. On the small end, Liminal Space settings are around the size of a mall complex or large convention center, though they can take up as much space as a small town, depending on the specifics of the setting.

⬇ Is *anything* permanent in Liminal Space?
Some few Travelers have cracked the secret to making their created rooms stick around no matter whether they’re Infiltrating, off on a Walkabout when all their friends are on the main Jaunt (or vice versa), or even missing from the main group of Travelers entirely. A list of these spaces can be found here. Most players who manage these created spaces are happy to have them used as locations in characters’ toplevels, though some prefer to restrict access to closer CR. When in doubt, ask the player.

⬇ What happens when a character dies in Liminal Space?
The short version: Recovery is possible, but quite a bit messier and generally more traumatic than death on a Jaunt. The long version: If you’re planning to have your character killed in Liminal Space, please contact the mods for more details on the recovery process.

THE TELEPATHIC NETWORK
A Psychic Network? | Language Barriers | Threats to the Network | NPCs | Characters with Sensory Disabilities | Tone and Emotion

⬇ Wait, psychic network? Seriously?
Seriously. The network is what binds Travelers together, what allows Investigators to communicate discreetly during Jaunts, and, some Travelers think, what allows the Arcana to turn some of the group into Infiltrators. All characters start with the ability to make basic (text-only) posts to the network, and to 'filter' their conversations to one or several other Travelers. More details on the network can be found here.

⬇ Is there a language barrier on the network?
No! The network provides a handy auto-translate feature for all Travelers, since most of them don’t share a common language. It is possible for characters to deliberately ‘turn off’ the auto-translate, with some effort, though characters with Filter Intrusion would be able to bypass this effort, if granted OOC permission.

⬇ Can the network be compromised?
On very rare occasions, the network can be - and has been - compromised. Depending on how thorough a network interruption is, an interruption of service may well take the auto-translate with it. If such an intrusion is likely to happen in a given Jaunt, the mods will make a note of this at the appropriate time.

⬇ Can my character’s NPC animal buddy use the network?
The network won’t grant nonverbal animal companions full-on speech, but they could certainly learn to pass on emotional impressions via the network, and perhaps share Psychic skills with their Traveler. If a player would specifically like to grant their animal companion coherent speech via the network, this may be doable on a case by case basis, via skill activity.

⬇ How does the network function for characters with sensory/speech disabilities?
Characters would perceive basic network transmissions in the form that makes the most sense to them - for example, a deaf character would ‘see’ the communications. Anything done via Sensory Livestreaming would process as the speaker sends it (audio livestreaming as sound, visuals as sight, etc.).

For characters dealing with a speech impediment of some sort, the network’s transmission of their thoughts can be as affected or not by that impediment as the player desires. The auto-translate feature is there to make everyone’s thoughts understandable, after all.

⬇ How well does the network convey tone/emotional inflection?
Better than it used to, as veterans will tell you there was a time that tone and inflection only came through after someone picked up Sensory Livestreaming. Perhaps the Arcana have gotten a better grasp on allowing it through over the course of their game running.

JAUNTS
Jaunt Voting | After the Vote | Death on a Jaunt | Keepsakes | Familiar Faces | Skill-Tree Equivalents | Visiting Canon Universes | Suggesting Jaunt Settings

⬇ How do you decide where the next Jaunt will take place?
Toward the end of the current Jaunt, the mods will post a poll with three options for the next Jaunt, and basic blurbs of information about each. The player base then votes for their first and second choice of Jaunt. Votes are weighted; first-choice votes count for two points each, and second-place votes for one point. After one week, the results are totaled, and the winner is the next Jaunt setting.

⬇ The Jaunt I like didn’t win. What now?
Depending on how strongly a Jaunt setting held up in the poll, it’ll likely come back around in a future poll, so don’t panic! You’ll most likely get another chance to vote for it, and maybe next time it’ll be the winner.

If enough players are uncomfortable with or resoundingly unenthused by the winning Jaunt, a Walkabout vote will be organised to determine if a smaller event should be run concurrent with the Jaunt. Walkabouts cannot be feasibly run with fewer than five participants, and ideally wouldn’t draw more than a dozen or so characters away from the main Jaunt.

If there is no Walkabout, we do our best to provide some Liminal Space time to either side of a Jaunt, thus allowing players to make AC with Liminal threads. It’s also possible for other players’ enthusiasm to prove infectious enough to pull you along into the main Jaunt regardless, in cases where the issue is interest rather than emotional triggers.

⬇ What happens when a character dies on a Jaunt?
When a character dies on a Jaunt, they and all their belongings reappear in Liminal Space after a player-determined period of time, usually between one and seven days. (Players have, on occasion, killed their character in-Jaunt and kept them from returning until after the Jaunt is over, in order to justify a hiatus or otherwise set up development arcs.) While in Liminal limbo, Liminal Space forms a sort of ‘tomb’ around them, matching the space’s current theme. Upon revival, they are fully healed and able to re-enter the fray - if they can let themselves out of Liminal Space, anyway. Those who cannot create portals will have to get someone to do it for them.

Infiltrators are shunted into the Investigation role upon death. Investigators remain Investigators.

If you like, you can kill your character multiple times in the same Jaunt; just keep in mind that subsequent revivals are likely to take a while longer.

⬇ Can my character bring back souvenirs from Jaunts?
Small souvenirs, such as things that you can fit in your pocket, can be brought back from Jaunts with no trouble. Larger collections of Jaunt stuff require you to have hammerspace to put it all in. Parts of outfits can likewise be taken back to Liminal Space with no penalty, but if you choose to bring back the entire thing and have no hammerspace, the Jaunt outfit will replace your character’s usual clothes. All Jaunt souvenirs are subject to Liminal Space’s standard shaky grasp on object permanence.

Large items such as motorcycles, and other large lots of salvage, may need to be taken as a Jaunt skill in order for your character to keep them. If in doubt, please contact the mods.

⬇ Who are these ‘Familiar Faces’ that people keep talking about?
The Familiar Faces are a handful of people who keep popping up in Jaunt worlds. In-character, not much is known about them; they’re currently assumed to be always-Infiltrating Travelers who never appear in the same Liminal Space as everyone else between Jaunts, though various scans conducted on them register them as natives of Jaunt settings, distinct from Infiltrators. Out of character, the Familiar Faces are there to fill in when we have no volunteers for a plot role, need an NPC to flesh out backstory, or have a position that needs filling, but wouldn’t be appropriate to offer to a played character.

Some information about particular Familiar Faces can be found here.

⬇ What happens when a Jaunt skill has a skill-tree equivalent?
It depends on the skill. For example, S. Tech hammerspace from Doki can be upgraded following the Liminal skill tree, but not used by itself as a prerequisite for non-Hammerspace-related Liminal skills; on the other hand, Empowered telepathy or teleportation abilities from Villains & Vigilantes would be subject to the standard power cap. If you’re not sure how a Jaunt skill that cross-references to the existing skill trees will pan out, ask the mods.

⬇ Will PCs’ canon universes crop up in Jaunts?
For the most part, the game sticks to completely original universes. However, if a game’s cast is enthusiastic about a Jaunt to the canon’s home universe - and willing to help the mods run the Jaunt, if they’re unfamiliar - the mods are happy to consider it, on a case by case basis.

⬇ Can we suggest universes to visit?
Yes! Please wander over here and suggest away!

INVESTIGATORS
How It Works | Blending In | Breaking Cover | Investigator Weaknesses

⬇ How does Investigating work?
Investigators are aware that they’ve been dumped into a world not their own, and still connected to each other via the psychic network. Usually, there’s some sort of in-universe excuse for their presence, as Infiltrators see it, and they don’t stand out to an unusual degree among the locals unless they really make an effort.

Investigators are intended to be the driving force behind a Jaunt, as the outsiders coming in to form their own opinions on the situation and what ought to be done or not done.

⬇ When you say Investigators don’t generally stand out, what does that mean?
‘Blending in’ can be anything from an illusion covering obviously non-human body parts to a full-on physical change allowing Investigators to walk among the populace. Jaunt information will generally specify. However, this ‘blending in’ help does not extend to deliberately sharing information, or always to using non-native powers that can’t be easily explained away. It’s more about keeping casual observers from spotting discrepancies than hiding a blatant bid for attention.

⬇ What happens if Investigators tell Infiltrators they’re not from around here?
That depends on the Jaunt setting, but reactions have ranged from ‘non-issue’ to ‘witch hunt started against Investigators.’ Most Travelers who have been through Jaunts before will recommend that you really, really don’t out yourself as Not From Around Here unless it’s absolutely necessary, thanks to the tendency for things to go really, really badly when the group is outed.

⬇ What happens to Investigators with vulnerability issues (eg. vampires and sunlight)?
Investigators with typically-fatal vulnerabilities will generally find those tamped down to ‘unpleasant but bearable’ levels, though the degree of this effect is up to the player.

INFILTRATORS
How It Works | Infiltrators and the Network/Liminal Space | Plot-Important Infiltrators | Plot Role Signups | Canon Skills | Regaining Memories While Infiltrating | Infiltrator Name Changes

⬇ How does Infiltrating work?
In character, Infiltrating isn’t fully understood yet. There’s strong evidence that the identities Infiltrators find themselves occupying are real people with their own, separate lives, and just as many Travelers who think the sheer numbers of people who look like one of their own across so many worlds mean this whole enterprise is a giant simulation. Either way, Infiltrators give Investigators someone to start with when it comes to finding out more about the Jaunt setting and situation… if you can just figure out how to get them to share it when they don’t know you from Adam or have any special reason to trust you.

Out of character, all you have to do to play an Infiltrator is plot out a role accordingly when Jaunt info is made available. This is a great opportunity to build some new CR based on Infiltrator identities interacting in ways the characters wouldn’t necessarily do as themselves.

⬇ Why can’t Infiltrators access the network/Liminal Space?
Infiltrators are completely immersed in their in-universe role, and have no reason to suspect the network even exists. In much the same way, Infiltrators typically won’t even see a portal to Liminal Space, let alone be able to enter it. If a particular Jaunt allows for an exception to these rules, it will be noted in Jaunt information, or when it becomes relevant in-story.

⬇ What’s a plot-important Infiltrator? What perks do they get?
Every Jaunt includes a number of mod-conceived roles that have one piece or another of information necessary for the successful conclusion of a Jaunt. These roles are not pre-cast, allowing players to sign up for them when Jaunt information goes out. We prefer to have played characters in plot roles whenever possible, to help encourage a dynamic Jaunt and good CR building. Most plot roles are flexible enough to allow players to go with their own CR plans in addition to taking on the plot-important position, and the mods are happy to help you incorporate your plans into the role, should you get it.

Plot roles bring a few perks with them. For one thing, you get an inside peek at the information that makes the current Jaunt tick. Characters in plot roles may take two skills without requiring a teaching thread proof for each month the Jaunt is in play (four skills total), so long as they hit the required skill AC threshold, and are also given access to a plot-role-exclusive skill that they and only they can take. Note that Jaunt skills, including plot-role-exclusive skills, do still require a skill-use thread proof.

⬇ How do I sign up for a plot role?
There will be a screened casting call made available on the Jaunt info page; go there and sign your character up for whichever role or roles call out to you. Assignments will be done using a random number generator, if necessary; some roles only get one volunteer, while others are quite popular. Signing up for two or three roles may increase your chances of getting a plot role, but may also decrease your chances of getting your preferred role. As a courtesy to other players, please don’t sign up for absolutely everything.

If your character is passed over for a plot role, you will be given preferential consideration for a part the next time you sign up for one. If you played a plot role in the previous Jaunt, we ask that you keep yourself out of consideration and allow other players to take a crack at it. Depending on the Jaunt, we may need to ask for last-minute volunteers for a role; in that case, we’d rather have a player plot-role two Jaunts in a row than put a Familiar Face in, if we can help it.

Occasionally, two players may agree to sign up for the same plot role as a unit, and share the responsibilities between them, if granted the part. If you’d like to do this and the plot role as written isn’t clear on whether doing so is possible, contact the mods.

⬇ Can Infiltrators use their canon powers?
Mostly, no. Your character will generally lose awareness of their powers, and egregious displays of genre-breaking should be avoided, but no one will notice your alien looks strange. Your character with magnetic powers will still have an affinity for metal. Your vampire will generally sunburn easily and love rare steak, but not burst into flame or feed exclusively on blood. Think of it as improv acting: when presented with a scene, go with the flow. Say "yes and" rather than "no but" as much as possible, and so will we!

⬇ Do Infiltrators regain their memories over the course of a Jaunt?
For the most part, no. There is a Psychic skill which allows another Traveler to restore an Infiltrator’s memories (and a corresponding skill which can turn an Investigator into an Infiltrator), and an Infiltrator dying over the course of a Jaunt will reset that Traveler to an Investigator. That said, we don’t want anyone to get stuck not having fun, so if you’d like to switch roles and none of these options appeal, contact the mods and we’ll see what we can work out.

⬇ Do I have to change my character’s name when they Infiltrate?
No. Some players do as a means to better keep track of which Infiltrator identity is which, but if you’re not feeling a name change for any reason, you are by no means required to.

ANYTHING ELSE?

⬇ I have a question that wasn’t answered here!
Either leave it in the comments below or get in touch with the mods. We’ll be happy to answer it for you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hello! So, I didn't see this answered anywhere, but I'm sorry if I missed it! Anyway, I'm on the idle list and I am planning to join again soon with this same character, but I want to app a version of her that is not a CRAU/PG. What exactly would be protocol for this sort of situation? What are my options?

That depends! If you reclaim using a dungeon, dungeons can already be used for canon updates and switches, so you wouldn't need to do anything differently.

If reclaiming during an app period, just submit your app with an explanation of any changes under the Points Of Departure heading so the mod team knows what differences to expect. Our next app round is early February!

Is there any required length when using test drive threads as a sample? Since I noticed the 10+ comment thread and test drive thread requirements are separate.

Still 10+

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Equipment Question

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/modhat on

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Skills question (Room creation)

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Marked Harmony

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Character question? Cyborg-Terminator Half Human/Half Terminator

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Room Creation Questions

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