Before requesting access, you are required to read the following:

• Rules of Conduct
• RPoL Terms of Use
• RPoL Mature Games Policy

Game rules may be subject to change.

Applications will not be accepted on a first come-first served basis. Please take some time and give some thought to your answers. Try to provide specific instead of generalised answers.

SECTION I. PLAYER QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Please provide your age and year of birth.
   
2. What is your current time zone?
   
3. What is your average posting rate?
   
4. What is your first language, if not English?
   
5. Why do you wish to join this game?
   
6. What are your expectations for this game?
   
7. What is your experience with gaming in general?
   
8. What are the sorts of things do you enjoy? (In terms of games, books, movies, et cetera. I'm interested in hearing about anything, really.)
   
9. What are taboo issues for you? (For example, some people are averse to games that depict drug usage in any way. Others feel uncomfortable with current political issues.)
   
10. Please provide a writing sample. (I'm mostly looking for correct spelling, adherence to the rules of grammar, good diction, interesting ideas, and so forth.)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Here are some answers to some questions you might have.

What is the Big Picture?

The game will take place in the world of Midgorod, a setting I've devised over the past few years. Midgorod, or the Middle-realm, was, as its name suggested, at the epicenter of several planar intrusions, providing several remarkable effects. The land was forever warped by the influence of these otherworldly powers, changing the geography, the ecology, and its natural physical laws.

The protagonists find themselves transported to this magical world. Like many portal fantasies, not all is light and happiness, for it is a world in conflict, needing heroes to save the day.

I like to think of this game as what would happen if the Pevensies were transported to Middle-Earth instead of Narnia. However, beyond that, I don't have much planned. I usually come up with a premise and form the game's world around the players as they explore it. I might have a few underlying NPCs and world facts in my head, but that's about it, and those are easily discarded if I find something better to fit.

Who are the players supposed to be?

The protagonists are close friends in the summer before their freshman year of high school.

At its heart, this is a game about young heroes who find themselves in over their heads and have to grow as a result of their experiences. Their world is often gritty and dark, but it is never grim.

Characters should be inexperienced youths for the most part, as this is about exploring the hero's journey with youthful characters thrown into something far beyond their own experience.

Additionally, this game has the concept of the archetype. Think of these as your character's eventual persona or destiny in the magical world. Think of how Peter became High King Peter the Magnificent, for example. The below archetypes are some, but not all, that I have in mind, and while they are not set in stone, but they do represent possible paths your character could go down.


What sort of place is the magical world?

Play and find out. :)

Is this Middle-earth?

No. While it may seem I have taken liberally from Middle-earth (I have, as well as from elsewhere), I see it as simply a source for inspiration. This game takes place in a world with a separate cosmology and history, though it evokes many of the same themes from the books that I love and cherish.

What do you mean by a "home-brewed" system?

The system I'm using is more about using a quick resolution mechanic, to get the mechanics out of the way of the story and the fiction. Rolling a d20 with bonuses and penalties versus a specific target number is pretty easy to reason about.

There aren't any class levels or feats or stuff like that. If you are more interested in optimizing your build, killing everything in sight, and gaining treasure, this is probably not the game for you. Nor are we going to go into lengthy combats every time, with round by round blow-by-blows. That's not the point of this game.

I'm far more excited about exploring interesting characters in a fantastical milieu. :)

So this is freeform?

No. It's far more involved than simply freeform or even guided freeform or even freeform with rolls thrown in. We're using the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition ruleset, with many of the class features, spells, et cetera from that system, but home-brewed to be able to play a game about young protagonists in a portal fantasy.

Luckily, there's a handy Reference: System document if you're curious.

What about game balance?

I take a more nuanced approach to balance than is espoused in most game systems. Remember that this game isn't about combat per se. As long as every character has something interesting to do, I don't see a really huge problem. Often in stories you have an ensemble cast of characters with widely differing skillsets. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were all given different things to do in their narrative.

Style

I expect players to think about their characters' inner life and thoughts and feelings and be descriptive about such in their posts. Some players have only posted their outward physical actions, which is fine for some games, but not the ones I run. I'm interested in character arcs and narratives and emotional pay-offs and so forth.

Lay out your character's backstory gradually. The tendency of most players is to get it all out at the beginning, sometimes in the first post. I've had some players whose first posts were their entire backstory, with 1000 words or more.

Don't do that.

Not only is it contravention to the posting guidelines, but we're just getting to know the characters, the world, the story. The less you spill, the more that is retained. Leave us wanting more, instead of wanting to skim.

Collaboration

I expect players to be open to collaboration in the fiction. I'll rein you back if I feel you come up with something that contradicts the world, but players should generally be open to suggestions from other players and the GM. We're all in charge of the fiction together. You can write for another NPC, just as much as I can. Someone else can even chime in and move other characters around if their idea makes for a more interesting story.

I'm even okay with player characters moving other player characters, with each other's permission, of course. Comfort levels may vary, but if I was playing Doc Brown, and another was playing Marty, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me to move Marty in such a way:


If you do move another PC or NPC, be sure to be open to making edits if someone says you're doing something to make them go out of character.

Regarding Romance

I'll leave it up to the players whether they'll engage their characters in a romance. Personally, I prefer for romance to arise organically in the story, as opposed to something that is forced or the "point" or the main driver of a game.

Nice as romance is, my aims and interests do not revolve around romance, but instead are concerned with the overarching narrative and the character arcs I'm trying to build in complicated webs between the characters. Romance can play its part, and maybe even a vital part for some arcs, but keep in mind that it's only one part amidst many others.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:34, Thu 18 Nov 2021.