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apocalypsehowooc2021-08-22 03:48 pm
apocalypsehowmods) wrote in apocalypsehowooc2021-08-22 03:48 pm
Entry tags:
Event OOC - Circus, Circus
Circus, Circus - OOC
Summaries and content warnings for each prompt in the event are provided below. Please pose questions to the designated mod comment, and plot away!
➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb: 25-26 August
➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes: 25-27 August
➥ Send In the Clowns: 26 August - 2 September
➥ Lost & Found: 26 August - 2 September
➥ The Ringmaster: 26 August - 2 September
General Notes - We will be posting a State of the Game on 29 August to go over some changes that we've made based on feedback and observations, as well as to hear from all of you about how we can make the game more fun, easier to understand and engage with, and all around better! That in mind, there is a question that came up that we want to address here quickly:
Avatars vs. Entity-aligned characters. We realize this is not as clearly defined in our info pages as we would have liked it to be and we will be making updates to those in the near future to rectify that. For the sake of gameplay, a PC who has powers (with a few TMA canon exceptions) will enter the game as Entity-aligned. They are not an avatar. For the sake of gameplay, we are delineating those groups thus:
Entity-aligned - Your character has powers that are much weaker and more inconsistent than in canon. In some cases, they may not even work at all. In order to strengthen and stabilize your powers enough to use them, you must feed your Patron Entity with fear from other people, not just your own character. The feeding must happen before the power stabilization/access to powers. It's an upfront payment required to this Entity to grant you something. These characters will feel a greater or lesser pull to commit acts of terror in service of their patrons, but it's something they could, in theory, ignore. At player discretion, the instincts may be more powerful and there can even be negative consequences for not feeding your Patron. You can generally think of feeding their Entity in terms of charging a battery. Once they've 'charged' their powers they'll be able to use those powers as they please for a while, but the longer they go without causing fear the weaker their powers will become until they fail completely. There's no hard and fast rule for how long that takes; we just ask that players be reflective about the proportion of fear their characters have caused in relation to their use of their powers. Characters will find they can jump-start their terror battery if they are using their powers to actively cause terror and/or horror.
Avatars - Your character has made the conscious decision to serve an Entity. It may not have seemed like much of a choice (maybe it was to serve the Entity and let them and their power save you or you will die), but it will have been a choice. These characters have access to their powers consistently (still at a non-game-breaking level). They will have them whether they feed their patron or not, but not feeding your patron has much more severe consequences on your body and mental health. You are now a main snack for these Entities, and you can either feed them other people's terrors, or they will feed directly on your character, which may result in physical deterioration or mental instability, such that you are more vulnerable to monstrous instincts that urge you to cause/feed on fear.
Practical Examples - An Entity-aligned character with telekinesis wishes to lift a car to save the passengers from a flooded area. Because this is a non-terrifying use of their powers, the character will be unable to lift the car if they have not fed their Entity (flavor-wise, they may be able to rattle the car with their telekinesis, but the attempt to lift it will be unsuccessful). However, if they have previously fed their Entity enough fear to power such a feat, they will be able to lift the car even though it's a "nice" use of their powers.
Conversely, a character with telekinesis who wishes to lift a car in order to throw it and its terrified passengers into a river would be immediately able to do so (assuming that level of power is within their established limits). Actively malevolent use of powers charges those powers while they're being used, so that kind of terrorization serves as a jump-start for their "battery."
➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb
cw: wax, potential compulsion
The Fenix Down Extravaganza arrives in town! It is a traveling circus and it's setting up to the west of town after pulling into the Gloucester railyard. There's excitement in the air. The FDE is famous for its high-energy pyrotechnics and laser lights shows. Characters may find themselves enlisted by circus workers to put up posters/fliers advertising the event around town. There's $100 in it for those who agree. There's also, potentially, a strange compulsion to paper the whole town with the adverts. Who can put up the most? Maybe you'll even find yourself fighting with someone for flier turf.
➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes
cw: large-scale vehicular collision, industrial disaster, fire, harm to animals
Finally, some answers! Those who have been dutifully researching since the crash that roused everyone in the TDM will be rewarded for their efforts. There are local news clippings from multiple sources (maybe your character was one of the ones to find a story) that indicate a crash occurred back in 1921 in Gloucester, a train derailment that killed more than a dozen and started fires all over town. The stories are buried behind more significant news about the economic depression, unemployment, and the lack of support for troops returning from the First World War.
Characters who are willing are asked to investigate the circus that has rolled into town as this all seems to be too much of a coincidence and are assigned partners. OOCly, players may pick their ADI-assigned investigation partners, and pairs do not have to stay together during the full duration of the event. Those who misbehaved in some way during the Sticky Wicket prompt in the July event will find themselves with either a PC or NPC-assigned 'mentor' who is meant to keep them more in line this time around. Mentors can be slipped away from, of course! But ADI's making a point of it to try to rein people in who have proven themselves to be at least a little bit untrustworthy.
➥ Send In the Clowns
cw: reference to cannibalism, fire, pain, mild body horror
Characters are let loose on the circus! There's food, games, and sideshows to be had! There's something just a little off about everything, but the workers seem to be ordinary people just doing a job… and one that pays well and gives them benefits. This is the prompt for all general carnival-style shenanigans characters may want to get up to. Just don't question why you might see 'long-pig' on the menu in a few places or why failing when you play 'The Floor Is Lava' results in momentary, excruciating pain. Look again and you didn't really see that long-pig. Check the ground and it's just some grass. Maybe you need to relax more. Just have fun.
As a note, there are no animals at this particular circus apart from some petting zoo goats. Everything is human performers.
➥ Lost & Found
cw: child endangerment/distressed parent with missing child, disorientation, hallucination
Characters have a chance to interact with the Fun House. It is a maze of funny mirrors that seems much larger than it should be. At the center of the maze is a seemingly ordinary mirror and an easy exit. Characters who find the center become 'winners' and will begin experiencing hallucinations, seeing someone they need to talk to or follow (or stalk) moving away from them. If they pursue, they will be led all around the circus until they find themselves disoriented and lost, needing help to find their bearings.
Those who do not enter the Fun House may still see some of the effects, running into those who have become disoriented, or perhaps encountering a frantic parent looking for their wayward child who seems to have just wandered off. Characters will have the opportunity to reunite the parent with their (unharmed) child once they've found them.
➥ The Ringmaster
cw: fire, pain, immolation, screaming
Characters will have access to the main act that's shown each night for the week. It features three main acts along with the Fenix Down of the Fenix Down Extravaganza. The final night features a closing act in which an NPC self-immolates, but seems to come out of that 'act' just fine, rising like a phoenix from the ashes. Characters will be able to interrogate Fenix or any of the main acts for information about who they are, what they're doing, and what's going on. Different NPCs will have different information.
A Handy Plotting Form
➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb: 25-26 August
➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes: 25-27 August
➥ Send In the Clowns: 26 August - 2 September
➥ Lost & Found: 26 August - 2 September
➥ The Ringmaster: 26 August - 2 September
General Notes - We will be posting a State of the Game on 29 August to go over some changes that we've made based on feedback and observations, as well as to hear from all of you about how we can make the game more fun, easier to understand and engage with, and all around better! That in mind, there is a question that came up that we want to address here quickly:
Avatars vs. Entity-aligned characters. We realize this is not as clearly defined in our info pages as we would have liked it to be and we will be making updates to those in the near future to rectify that. For the sake of gameplay, a PC who has powers (with a few TMA canon exceptions) will enter the game as Entity-aligned. They are not an avatar. For the sake of gameplay, we are delineating those groups thus:
Entity-aligned - Your character has powers that are much weaker and more inconsistent than in canon. In some cases, they may not even work at all. In order to strengthen and stabilize your powers enough to use them, you must feed your Patron Entity with fear from other people, not just your own character. The feeding must happen before the power stabilization/access to powers. It's an upfront payment required to this Entity to grant you something. These characters will feel a greater or lesser pull to commit acts of terror in service of their patrons, but it's something they could, in theory, ignore. At player discretion, the instincts may be more powerful and there can even be negative consequences for not feeding your Patron. You can generally think of feeding their Entity in terms of charging a battery. Once they've 'charged' their powers they'll be able to use those powers as they please for a while, but the longer they go without causing fear the weaker their powers will become until they fail completely. There's no hard and fast rule for how long that takes; we just ask that players be reflective about the proportion of fear their characters have caused in relation to their use of their powers. Characters will find they can jump-start their terror battery if they are using their powers to actively cause terror and/or horror.
Avatars - Your character has made the conscious decision to serve an Entity. It may not have seemed like much of a choice (maybe it was to serve the Entity and let them and their power save you or you will die), but it will have been a choice. These characters have access to their powers consistently (still at a non-game-breaking level). They will have them whether they feed their patron or not, but not feeding your patron has much more severe consequences on your body and mental health. You are now a main snack for these Entities, and you can either feed them other people's terrors, or they will feed directly on your character, which may result in physical deterioration or mental instability, such that you are more vulnerable to monstrous instincts that urge you to cause/feed on fear.
Practical Examples - An Entity-aligned character with telekinesis wishes to lift a car to save the passengers from a flooded area. Because this is a non-terrifying use of their powers, the character will be unable to lift the car if they have not fed their Entity (flavor-wise, they may be able to rattle the car with their telekinesis, but the attempt to lift it will be unsuccessful). However, if they have previously fed their Entity enough fear to power such a feat, they will be able to lift the car even though it's a "nice" use of their powers.
Conversely, a character with telekinesis who wishes to lift a car in order to throw it and its terrified passengers into a river would be immediately able to do so (assuming that level of power is within their established limits). Actively malevolent use of powers charges those powers while they're being used, so that kind of terrorization serves as a jump-start for their "battery."
➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb
cw: wax, potential compulsion
The Fenix Down Extravaganza arrives in town! It is a traveling circus and it's setting up to the west of town after pulling into the Gloucester railyard. There's excitement in the air. The FDE is famous for its high-energy pyrotechnics and laser lights shows. Characters may find themselves enlisted by circus workers to put up posters/fliers advertising the event around town. There's $100 in it for those who agree. There's also, potentially, a strange compulsion to paper the whole town with the adverts. Who can put up the most? Maybe you'll even find yourself fighting with someone for flier turf.
➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes
cw: large-scale vehicular collision, industrial disaster, fire, harm to animals
Finally, some answers! Those who have been dutifully researching since the crash that roused everyone in the TDM will be rewarded for their efforts. There are local news clippings from multiple sources (maybe your character was one of the ones to find a story) that indicate a crash occurred back in 1921 in Gloucester, a train derailment that killed more than a dozen and started fires all over town. The stories are buried behind more significant news about the economic depression, unemployment, and the lack of support for troops returning from the First World War.
Characters who are willing are asked to investigate the circus that has rolled into town as this all seems to be too much of a coincidence and are assigned partners. OOCly, players may pick their ADI-assigned investigation partners, and pairs do not have to stay together during the full duration of the event. Those who misbehaved in some way during the Sticky Wicket prompt in the July event will find themselves with either a PC or NPC-assigned 'mentor' who is meant to keep them more in line this time around. Mentors can be slipped away from, of course! But ADI's making a point of it to try to rein people in who have proven themselves to be at least a little bit untrustworthy.
➥ Send In the Clowns
cw: reference to cannibalism, fire, pain, mild body horror
Characters are let loose on the circus! There's food, games, and sideshows to be had! There's something just a little off about everything, but the workers seem to be ordinary people just doing a job… and one that pays well and gives them benefits. This is the prompt for all general carnival-style shenanigans characters may want to get up to. Just don't question why you might see 'long-pig' on the menu in a few places or why failing when you play 'The Floor Is Lava' results in momentary, excruciating pain. Look again and you didn't really see that long-pig. Check the ground and it's just some grass. Maybe you need to relax more. Just have fun.
As a note, there are no animals at this particular circus apart from some petting zoo goats. Everything is human performers.
➥ Lost & Found
cw: child endangerment/distressed parent with missing child, disorientation, hallucination
Characters have a chance to interact with the Fun House. It is a maze of funny mirrors that seems much larger than it should be. At the center of the maze is a seemingly ordinary mirror and an easy exit. Characters who find the center become 'winners' and will begin experiencing hallucinations, seeing someone they need to talk to or follow (or stalk) moving away from them. If they pursue, they will be led all around the circus until they find themselves disoriented and lost, needing help to find their bearings.
Those who do not enter the Fun House may still see some of the effects, running into those who have become disoriented, or perhaps encountering a frantic parent looking for their wayward child who seems to have just wandered off. Characters will have the opportunity to reunite the parent with their (unharmed) child once they've found them.
➥ The Ringmaster
cw: fire, pain, immolation, screaming
Characters will have access to the main act that's shown each night for the week. It features three main acts along with the Fenix Down of the Fenix Down Extravaganza. The final night features a closing act in which an NPC self-immolates, but seems to come out of that 'act' just fine, rising like a phoenix from the ashes. Characters will be able to interrogate Fenix or any of the main acts for information about who they are, what they're doing, and what's going on. Different NPCs will have different information.
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→ Housing: Bonnie's (Floor 2, Room 5)
→ Permissions: HERE
→ By the Pricking of My Thumb - Jeff needs money for the super sick Fender he's got on layaway, so yeah he's going to grab a stack of fliers and go to town. Once the compulsion to really advertise kicks in, he might even start singing some tunes about the circus while busking. I'm all for getting into a petty turf war with someone, or someone maybe rescuing Jeff from getting punched in the face by another aggro advertiser. Who knows, maybe the hippie bard will go totally feral.
→ Something Wicked This Way Comes - Okay, so while he didn't deliberately misbehave during the Sticky Wicket assignment, Jeff definitely proved himself to be easily distracted and impulsive. I would love for him to have a mentor to
stress outwork with, because this is one of my favorite dynamics. Just let him wander off and befriend the carnies, it'll be fiiiiiine...→ Send In the Clowns - I don't have any specific ideas here, but I absolutely want to do spooky carnival antics. All the little creepy things will put Jeff in a pretty bad headspace, because it'll brush against some trauma from home that he's been doing his best to suppress and ignore, which will dovetail nicely into the next prompt:
→ Lost & Found - HALLUCINATIONS AND DISORIENTATION, or: Jeff's everyday existence before he appeared in this world. He's going to get caught up in the Fun House, and it's going to hit him hard. But what I'd really love to do is use this as an opportunity to have Jeff spread a bit of hysteria or disorientation (with magic; empathic manipulation/intoxication is one of his go-to spells) while he's wandering the circus in his hallucinations' footsteps. If someone wants to get swept up in his spell, or put a stop to it, I'm 100% all for it!
I just really want to use this as an opportunity for him (deliberately? unwittingly? WHO CAN SAY) do some bad shit with magic and creep a little closer towards the Spiral.
→ The Ringmaster - I haven't thrown Jeff at any NPCs yet, so this could be fun! He can be the Good Cop to somebody else's Bad Cop. Or the... spacey hippie cop who might try to befriend everyone. (I'm figuring this prompt will happen before Jeff loses his shit at the Fun House)
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I don't have a plan beyond that, and he probably won't be any help snapping Jeff or anyone out of it, but I'd be down to play an encounter between them and toss him in as an extra point of chaos for anyone trying to deal with the aftermath of Jeff's magic.
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Also god Jeff really is the worst at proving that magic isn't all bad. Sorry about that hysteria, Thackery!
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caterwaulingcrying for someone named Emily in a tree.no subject
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and look, Jeff doesn't need much of a push to make bad decisions. He's an expert. But I'm up for anything these two dudes get up to, whatever you decide!