Welcome to Eden (Earth-214095)

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This Document has been revised on Sunday, February 2, 2014 at 11:00 PM PST. 

Welcome to Eden  

Thank you for taking interest in joining our game. There are some rules and regulations we have written to make the game a safe, happy place for everyone to game in. Please keep all of these rules in mind while you build your character- breaking these rules, or fighting about them with the staff that looks over your character sheet- will result in you being asked to leave without successfully creating a character. It’s expected of all players to read this terribly long ass document to join our game- and not only that, but you're expected to understand it as well!


This "Document" is for PLAYER KNOWLEDGE. This game has many "layers" to it. Because of the nature of this game part of the fun is the "mystery" aspect. Thus we request that if you do learn of the deeper "goings on" of the game- that you let other players experience the same delight in figuring it out for themselves- in character. This document serves to "prep" players into coming into our game. You are expected to read this document, in it's horrid entirety to join our game. It covers "what" the game is, what we look for in characters (you can also look at the character ideas and character guide for additional help there) and the RULES of our forum- INCLUDING how we handle conflict and physical things in our game to prevent "unless your sleeping with the staff, you are going to be on your own." No one is alone in Eden... (For better or worse!) 

Setting:   

This is an “AU” Setting- that mean’s Alternate Universe, or Alternate Reality… This is NOT canon marvel, or from a movie, cartoon, anime, comic book, etc. While we are based Marvel- specifically the side of marvel that has to do with Mutants- we are opening up to player interpretation… All Characters who come in can be made entirely by the player as a “new” character to marvel, or a “canon” character- or one that is taken from a marvel comic, anime, cartoon, movie…etc… The only rule is that only ONE canon character can be in play at any one time by players.



You are, no doubt, wondering how your character has come to be in this world (Earth- 214095). The answer is simple: You don't know. Some mysterious force has pulled you from your original Earth-(enter your number here) and has deposited you into The Loop- a version of Chicago, Illinois. All characters will have one of fourteen random "entries" into the game telling each one where, and how, they wake up in our world. Your job, as players, is to create a character, either based on Marvel's characters from any canon world- or- create a character that could conceivably be from any marvel world. The catch is there can only be one "incarnation" of a character a time and some characters who bend or warp reality or time are strictly for the staff to play "as needed" for storylines. While Advanced tech (upon approval) can be taken from the original world/ universe/ AU that your character comes from the world of Eden is about the technology level of a "real world" 1990s. The technology "bounces" that people such as Tony Stark or Dr. Reed Richards have come to pass in other marvel worlds have not come about here... Thus, all technological "jumps" must be approved by the appropriate staff.



The game is character run, we will set you up, point you in the direction, but it's really up to you what you do with your time in Eden. If your character's goal is to get back to their reality, or simply make a new life in The Loop, the choice is up to you. How your character pushes, pulls and interacts with things around them will determine the outcome of the game.



There is, painfully obviously a “Global Plotline” that is taking place over arching above this game. While the staff play characters, and npcs, the majority of game play is based on what players do. This is freeform, so npcs can be controlled by players as long as they aren’t “named” npcs played and recorded by the staff. A Npc can be created by a player for a scene (for example, at the Excalibur club, Mary Sue makes a waitress named Becky who takes orders for drinks and food.) And May control that character for a time. It may turn up that three weeks later, in a newspaper article that “Becky the waitress from the Excalibur club” has gone missing... found dead in an alley...etc..) and Mary sue can choose to care, or not care.



NPCs are not your characters, even if you create them, unless you claim them and make a Character sheet for them at which time they become a PC. You can not control any character, at any time, that has a handle on our forum. You can not control or affect any NPC that is apart of the global plotline- either.



There will be “events” or clues left for certain players at various times about parts of the global or city wide plotlines. These are for players to do something with- or not. It’s all your choice. There is no one forcing you to do anything, if you are content you can just play with the other players and PC characters in the Loop and Eden in general without ever touching the Global plotline... or you can be dynamic and start interacting with the things going on around you with a deeper level. The Choice is ultimately up to you!



(Global plotlines are based on storyteller availability and may go slow or fast depending on a variety of factors. They do not stop the game flow nor are they required of anyone to play. Sadly the Storyteller is aware of her faults and sometimes that means she can’t be near a computer for a while...)

Character Creation:    

This is a social and mental game that focuses on a theme of drama, mystery and potentially a touch of comedy and romance working on the side of “Good or Neutral” parties. While your characters may be loners, sociopaths, or just all and all struggling heroes or heroines, they all must have some small notion of working together in small groups or large groups. They must be able to function from the start, as human (or mutant) beings without falling apart at the drop of the hat. They must, in all senses, not be broken people. They can be damaged, they can be wounded- physically, emotionally, mentally- but at the same time they need to have personal goals on how to fix that and move on. The staff are not here to band aid your babies up before we can play with them… If we break them- then we’ll be responsible for fixing them! If you broke them first, it’s your job to put them back together again.



(In Brief: Do Not be Evil, Do not be a loner who never has a reason to do anything. You will be dead, or bored and not worth playing in the game if you are either of these things. You also won’t be approved if we spot it.)



Being perfect is boring, being godlike makes life too easy. We don’t have character sheets with numbers or any tactile way to track how powerful your character is- a lot like Marvel comics, we can make general “guesses” about your characters power levels by the unholy terror of wreckage they leave behind when they get angry... You can make your character as “strong” as you feel comfortable as long as you also add in the weaknesses, those spots that make your character just as human as everyone else.



For Example, Charles Xavier is an Omega Level Mutant. We know this because anytime something SERIOUS is going on, it’s either Charles’s FAULT OR they have taken him out of the picture so he can’t just stomp everyone into submission. But Even ole Chuck has some weaknesses- pretty serious ones... The first major weakness is his mind over body. Chuck spends 80% of his life in a wheelchair and dependant on other people for getting around. Some storylines give back his mobility and others take it away. That’s cool, it’s part of his character and they usually find a way to make the “walking” part less of a benefit when he does “get it.” So while Charles has found technology to boost his powers so he can find “damn near anyone on the planet” he himself is not immune to psychic attacks... and while it’s not easy to get into his head- Jean Grey, King of Shadows, that one snot kid from the movies that likes illusions/mental games, his twin sister, and others- have been able to get in and manipulate Charles to do what they want. In fact, on some level- CHARLES EVEN LIKES IT. Charles’s darkside is, by and large, the biggest achilles heel Charles has. Charles *wants/desires* to be a good guy and do good things. He wants to believe humans aren’t completely stupid and a bunch of other lovely things that... well, may get hard to believe sometimes because (let’s face it how many times did humanity try - and succeed- in burning down his HOME?) Charles Xavier can be one mean son of a monkey when he turns that awesome power of his mind against his friends, students, and family. In a lot of ways, Charles Xavier is his own worst enemy... Both because he has a strict “moral” code that he follows- and because he has an inner beastie always clawing for a chance to truly do something evil. While healing may include causing someone pain- there’s always a part of this storytellers heart that wonders if Charles didn’t do things during the series at different points just because it was truly more cruel to leave someone guessing then prove a point- even if it didn’t really change the outcome.



So while Charles is a wonderfully skilled telepath with a whole bunch of neat things like memory sharing and astral projection- Charles himself is pretty limited in what he can and can’t do by his own need to protect everyone from his darkside.



We expect your characters to have deep, thoughtful weaknesses that are not selective or easy to turn off or on (unless say, your actual “powers” aren’t that impressive either.) Big powerful people from canon- like charles and some of the others, need to be tweaked a little so we know that there are things about them that do hold them. IF I was going to make a sheet for charles, I’d have to state his moral code that keeps the dark side at bay and all the things and ways the darkside lashes out typically. Because that is stuff that my friends can track to make sure *I* don’t start getting godlike on the board.

More On Powers:    

Almost everyone coming onto our board is going to have one (or more) mutant powers of various strength levels and sizes. Because we don’t have a system and we’re freeform we operate under the idea of “There is always a Bigger Fish.” It means there are always someone bigger, meaner and stronger than you, and they are willing to go that extra length to fubar you over if you get too big for your uniform. You may, after struggling and taking apart a mystery, take down a Bigger Fish, but never at any time will your character reach “God” levels of power. (This isn’t that kind of board.) Your powers may grow, and change, in CHARACTER as things happen to them- just like the comic books, but it’s based on character growth – not points, or some wonky thing out of character. It’s all based on YOUR CHARACTERS DECISIONS. Good, Bad, or non-action.



There are some powers that are simply unrealistic to play in a forum setting based on a group of people all adding their ideas into it. Time Travel, Reality Breaking, Dimensional Travel across planes – more than just a flicker like Nightcrawler but actual travel to say.. Edenbo… or one of the other planes of existence.. ) Further, breaking the fourth wall (most notably in characters such as Dead Pool) is right out. In a roleplaying game breaking the fourth wall is called “Crossing out of character and in character” and is punishable by banning. Included in this “list” of things that will be strongly eyeballed over/almost always flat out refused are those who have computer like brains able to think faster/better/more completely than “regular” human beings. Jumpstarting other peoples powers is also something restricted to plot characters only (read: staff)



Magical powers must be described in detail on scope. Much like mutant powers, magical powers have limitations- spell lists, time and APPROVAL to make a new ritual or spell… etc… All must be approved- there’s no instant spawning of whatever you want… but to take magic out of marvel is also a crime.



Mutant powers are all a part of one glorious thing called a “theme.” They rally around that “theme” to become something that will become a hero or heroine. Marvel has made many great characters around many great themes. If you play a canon, it’s easy to see and pick and choose between powers along a similar theme. New characters who are not a part of marvel are also encouraged to have a “theme” and those powers “fit” in that theme. It does not make sense for an animal shape shifter to also have the ability to shoot fireballs from its nose when it sneezes…but it does make sense for an animal shape shifter to have quick healing, animal senses in human form or minor telepathy….



A Note about the last paragraph: This doesn’t mean it can’t be symbolic in connection. The example of a canon break of this was Emma Frost. Emma Frost does have a theme, “Ice Queen” in her ability to use telepathy to get her way (first mutation) and second mutation, to become a diamond – woman’s best friend, is also known as “Ice”. That’s a theme. If you aren’t sure what kind of “theme” revolves around your character, or a rallying idea, you can leave it blank – but the staff will be looking to see how it all ties in an potential thematic values that might be put in its place. We’re here to help!

Finally…     

The Rules of the Board 

THIS GAME IS “FREEFORM” For FUN.  

This means you must trust the staff to help keep things fair. The Staff, when operating as a staff member on this forum is not your friend, lover, sweetheart, brother, sister, cousin twice removed. They are a staff member who have given their time and energy to keep this game going. They are held to a high standard and measure to keep things equal among ALL PLAYERS.



This means players must be- are required to be- mature, wonderful people who enjoy gaming for gaming sake. There is a global plotline that can be, if desired, approached by players. There will be npcs and other fractions moving in the game moving things along. Players will be able to play their own minions and have them going out and bringing information back. It means that people are ‘required’ to deal with problems in a mature fashion. No He Said, She said things. Conversations out of character are not contracts that must be followed. The staff isn’t your mama, or your papa... we’re just people running a game. The only things we care about are what gets put on the forum. What you do off the forum is your business. What you plan off the forum with another player that *blows up in your face in character* was your responsibility to see coming- not the staff’s.



This means the staff is here to play for fun. We will do storylines for those who come and approach us in character and help us ‘have fun too.’ We are not here to be your entertainment. We do not get paid by you to give you that entertainment “for free” in fact, we pay a small amount ot have the board have a working chatbox, and have pretty other nifty things on it. “Bumping” threads with nothing more then “Bump” is rude and you wouldn’t want us to do that when you have take 2 weeks to respond to what we write. We are not responsible to take you by the hand and lead you around the game. It’s YOUR job and YOUR responsibility to make a character dynamic enough to make their own path without needing other people’s help. It’s YOUR JOB to make it interesting so we want to play with you.



This means you can, if you want, make your own storylines within the scope of the character’s means. This does NOT mean you can make your own villain and have them start swirling up world shaking powers. This does mean that your character can go off and have a love affair with another character or npc lurking about in the city. It does mean your character doesn’t need permission to start exploring dark dungeons, dark city alley’s for crime, etc. There are consequences for actions of course, but that’s all apart of roleplaying... You can also send pms to the staff with “fun ideas” for your character or others or other storylines. we love fresh ideas, and if you send enough, you might even end up on staff to help with some of the global ones!



PVP, Death and injury are all apart of the game. We don’t have character sheet swith numbers, but we do have character sheets with words. Those character sheets must have “Concrete” details, strengths and weaknesses that make your character fallible even in their inhumanity. Storytellers use what’s written on your character sheet *and their brains* to determine difficult outcomes, such as if a player with high dodge can naturally dodge someone who is trying to kill them and they are an expert assassin. Their final word is law, there is no arguing about hits or not hits or dodges or not dodges. Players can “relent” hits (allowing blows to land) or they can “relent” and let someone dodge- that’s up to a player. The storyteller/ staff is only there to make sure it’s fair and we use your sheets to do that.



Characters must be balanced. They can not contain powers difficult to play on a roleplaying forum, including but not limited to: time travel, reality benders, dimension hopping, Impossible to Limit magic, unlimited magic, breaking the fourth wall, or just being a perfect specimen of humanity and flawless. Characters must be somewhat balanced in their abilities, personality weaknesses, and supernatural powers. Because we are a free form game that breaks down into concrete, trackable details. “balanced” is defined as having roughly equal strengths (benefits) and weaknesses to the character. A power can be balanced in and of itself if it contains a weakness. (Ie: Pyro can manipulate fire, but he can not create it. Rogue can absorb peoples powers/consciousness/memories, but it’s both uncontrollable and dangerous for both her target and herself.) Characters must have weaknesses equal to their strengths- as determined by the staff. (Usually Pros vs Cons on a sheet of what’s helpful, and what handicaps..) Extremely powerful characters typically have ‘extreme weaknesses’...



Villains (Mr. Sinister, Sabertooth, Apocalypse... characters who simply don’t care about humanity in general and have given up. Magento does not count as a villain because he still cares for mutants for the most part. ) are played by staff. Anti heroes are okay, and those who are morally gray. We won’t protect you from each other however. If your character dies and there’s no one whos currently alive willing to pay the price to bring you back (it must be another player’s character with realistic, concrete reasons to do so.. not.. I never met Mary Sue before, but she’s so awesome can I bring her back!?) etc. If someone dies it’s because they did something that provoked that death from either another player, or by blindlessly following some murderer home for a meal...



This means having fun. This game has a meta plot that is affected by your choices in the game. Indeed, as time progresses you’ll find the very ‘nature’ of the location of our game will be changing by your choices in character, including but not limited to boosts in technology, magic, nature, zombies, dragons, etc. As players do more of the various potential quests or storylines that are around the game for them to do, more will be unlocked in those general themes (Ie: Quests, Mysteries, Riddles, Friendships with NPCs, Investigations, Romances, etc. ) The game will grow and develop based on the playing characters. Play more often and your voice will be more heard than those who don’t play that often.



If you have any questions or concerns about our game’s rules please talk to anyone on staff and we’ll be happy to find an answer for you!



 We’re looking for Canons and Original characters who fit in the Marvel Universe with mutants. Technologically advanced humans, like Ironman, Mr Fantastic and others who are coming in with tech savvy natures may find themselves limited in the beginning because our tech level is about Earth 1990s. Likewise, Magic levels for naturally pulling magic users will also find it a bit hard to begin pulling on their magic. The world is “fundamentally” different than the world(s) your characters are coming from and thus, there is a small “adjustment” period until you get used to the new dynamics.

Ultimately

NONE OF US GET PAID.  

WE DO THIS FOR FUN.  

If you like the board, Stay.

Play.

Be Happy!   

If you can't agree to these rules, and understand we will be enforcing these rules then please do not join our game. I have staff who will happily assist you leaving the game and I have system things in game to promote happy, healthy gaming- without you and your characters as needed. 

Joy 

(Storyteller)  

Ps: You are agreeing to these rules when you make your character sheet and turn it in. 
Please acknowledge your acceptance of the rules in your sheet. YOu will notice there is not a place for it on the character creation sheet. Just put it at the bottom near the "OOC" stuff. 
Yup. I expect you to be mature- starting now!