SOTG SEPTEMBER 2023

[expiationmods]

AC RESULTS


Hello and happy September to our lovely players! First we start with AC results:

DROPS: midlifecryseas foundheart caregives kiseijuu superstring touchofcashmere alethiological dialetheism illusionbreaker himbomb

WHAT'S NEW?

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PAGES

• We're just about finished overhauling our pages! Here is the new info page, and here is the new rewards page! Please take a look, as we've added to and adjusted quite a bit to everything, and some of it is very important!

HOUSING

• There are now houses in Aldrip! The default houses are one bed, one bath homes. These are customizable to an extent, though some of the major construction will be able to be attained via the rewards page. Characters may have to go on some short quests to build their expansions, so please read carefully!

TABLETS

• The cranky NPC from the casino was working on something very important: making the tablets live and connected to the same network that the charms are on. He will be running a tech shop now in Aldrip, so if your character needs their charms or tablets fixed, for a small fee he will do so. Now, Chosen are able to use the tablets and the charms to communicate on the network. Obviously, there's a little bit more functionality to the tablets, but they are able to choose what they use. The following apps are live:
  
• mAPP - it's a digital version of the World Map..

• snake / solitaire

• notepad

• contacts - almost like a contact list on a smartphone, with the characters names automatically programmed into it

• paint

• camera
  
  Notepad, paint, and camera items are able to be sent on the network if saved to a Chosen's tablet.

AC TEST

• The modteam has been discussing the weight of character actions in game. We obviously can't stay informed of every action that characters take, so we are going to be adding a space to the html to include actions taken outside of events. We will still be keeping the polls of course, so there's no need to mention what characters do over the events. We will be asking for criminal actions- ex: stealing, murdering, beating of other characters of npcs. Whatever constitutes a crime in the normal world is something we're looking for here. On the other side of that, if your character has done something good- ex: saving another character, running a donation drive, etc, please put that in the comment as well. We want characters and players to guide the game and environment to the best of our ability.
  
  This is an optional summary. When you submit your AC, merely delete the line that mentions the actions taken by your character for the month if you don't wish to fill it out.

SMALL APPLICATION CHANGE

• Going forward, we are going to specify that a player pick one crime on apping to the game. We are also going to be putting renewed emphasis on crimes characters have committed, so this will affect gameplay. For players who would like to change their crimes, there will be opportunities to do so in the future.

SENTENCING

• The mod team has decided that we're going to shift the sentencing to off-event months. One reason is because we're still working through the mechanics of it, and the second reason is so that characters already in the game have some light plot-relevant things to do on off months. Starting in October we will be running them on the TDM months, so stay tuned and we appreciate the patience while we settle this out!

THIS MONTH, IN ALDRIP

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HAPPENINGS:

• There are some construction NPCs hanging around for smaller projects around the house that isn't part of the rewards page. They will be more than happy to help out with minor projects for a little bit of money. They're saving up to expand the blacksmith's shop and open a carpentry shop, so give them some work to do!

• The casino is now closed and a couple days later, the building looks like a normal event center. Characters are more than welcome to hang around inside and see what's up, but as it's going to be used for events or celebrations... you might not want to get too comfortable, or you might get kicked out. For now though, it stands empty.

• As mentioned, the tablets are now live and able to be used instead of and alongside the charms. Characters who ditch the charms completely might find themselves getting the cold shoulder from the Aldrip locals, though the NPCs from the desert really don't seem to care either way. The locals might mutter amongst themselves or act slightly passive aggressive, but that's fine. Everything's fine.
  
  Right?

• Fog starts to roll in starting on the 1st of September. As it gets closer and closer to the 11th, it starts to thicken and become more eerie. Characters may see things in the fog for a brief second, themselves at another age, a loved one, or an enemy. Blink or look harder, and it's gone. These incidents will become more numerous leading up to the event, with the addition of whispers from said ghosts in the fog. Despite the foggy and kind of chilly atmosphere, it doesn't seem as if the plant life or animals care too much about it. Just be sure you don't bump into something that'd want to fight you.

• In addition to seeing weird things, characters may notice that leading up to the event, they find buildings moving around or walls where they shouldn't be. These are all very real, so keep aware, because you may run straight into them!

• Due to the length of the event summaries, they will be on the plot with me post!

LOOKING AHEAD / MISC

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FUTURE EVENT MECHANIC

• We would like to pitch the idea to you all to have timed threads on some event posts. This isn't a mechanic we would see in every event post, but may come up a couple times a year.
  
  The plan would be like this:
  
  In the State of the Game post when we post our event summary, we'd have signups to do a specific, bigger task in said event. We would have a limit on how many people would be in this group, so... say we're only going to do a group of 5 and we get 10 signups. We'd then RNG for the final group and post them before the event goes up so everyone can plot amongst themselves. When the event goes live, we would have from the beginning of the event until the State of the Game for the following month to wrap and conclude this thread, as it would have an effect on the next mod post. That would give a minimum of two weeks to wrap these threads.
  
  We would condition that players who sign up be able to keep up with the post if they were selected to participate -- and for participants we would offer a reduced AC for those who might be wary of having to focus on one thread for that timeframe. This is a mechanic that most likely won't be used until after the start of next year (because holidays is Not The Time), so we have plenty of time to iron out the details and get everyone's feedback!
  
  If the majority of the feedback is BOO THIS SUCKS, we merely won't implement it. This is just an option to break up the routine of a general event post!

• We would like to know how everyone liked the mechanic on the casino mingle log! It was kind of a test drive in of itself as well, and we are considering other ideas like it -- such as having the opportunity to let us rng a result of a thread mid-thread or something of the sort. Again, this is something we wouldn't work into every event, but these are just ideas and we would like to be transparent with you all!

SO MUCH LOVE,

Thank you so much for the participation and excitement for the TDM and the Marianne and Claude player plot. We've completed month two (can you believe it lmao) of being mods of this wonderful game and player base, so much love from us to you on the effort you all put forward. Please feel free to let us know how we're doing as we've done a full event / TDM cycle now, anything you'd like to see changed or tweaked in the future, and we will open a conversation about that. The goal now that we're settled is really to mold the game around your interactions and ideas for this game, so here's to a new month and a new event!


bc Bekka wanted frogs on the sotg post

CR MEME/PLOT WITH ME: SEPTEMBER 2023

[expiationmods]

CR MEME/PLOT WITH ME

Welcome to Expiation's CR meme! This is a post where players can plot with each other on the direction they'd like to go for the month, and so on and so forth. There's a form below for you to fill out below, so get plotting!

The SOTG for September is here, with changes and where the game is going for the month.

SEPTEMBER EVENT SUMMARY

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EVENT SUMMARY: THE MAZE On the night of September 10, an impenetrable fog covers the town of Aldrip. When characters wake in the morning, they find that Aldrip has disappeared, replaced by a large, enclosed maze.  Characters will wake up in one of three different levels of this maze, and they may—but don't have to—find that they are not alone. As they explore the maze, they will encounter trials and stumbling blocks both physical and mental. It seems the maze is testing them, poking at their fears, their past, their feelings. Confronting these questions about themselves and their very nature will allow them to progress through the maze in hopes of eventually finding the exit—and hopefully the town along with it. While they do not all wake up in the same level of the maze, all characters do, in theory, have to complete all three trials in order to leave. This may not be so easy to achieve; due to the nature of these trials, if someone cannot get past one area, they may remain stuck there. Other characters are able to help them confront these issues, and may instead (or in addition) pass through that way if they choose to. Aside from the level where they wake up, characters may approach these levels in any order as they so choose. Characters wake up in the groupings listed below. Each group letter corresponds to the letter of the trial where they wake up. After you leave your initial trial, you may meet with characters outside your group!

TRIAL A While exploring the maze, characters begin to experience hallucinations and illusions that highlight their greatest insecurities. These illusions may come in a variety of different forms. Perhaps they experience voices or images of peers issuing criticisms that they fear are accurate, or they may face a shadowy figure that bears their appearance that embodies all of their worst qualities. The form these illusions take is up to you, the players, and whether other characters are able to see those illusions can also be decided between players. Confronting, challenging, debunking, and/or accepting these criticisms and claims is the key to exiting this level.

TRIAL B During their time in this level of the maze, characters will at some point find their way blocked by representations of their deepest fears. This can be literal—a dark hallway for those who fear the dark, as an example—but can manifest in a myriad of other ways, too. A character could see someone from their past that represents this fear, or a monster, or an object or memory of something that connects to that fear. These fears will be made tangible and visible to anyone around them, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. In order to progress, they must be able to pass by these fears, and may do so in any way the player chooses, whether it requires fighting a monster, negotiating with an authority figure, finding a light in the darkness, or anything else players and characters can imagine.

TRIAL C On this level, characters are confronted with memories related to the crime they have been charged with. This can be a specific moment or a series of moments related to their crime either directly or indirectly. Characters may become lost in these memories and may need help navigating through them from other people: the longer they remain lost in these memories, reliving them again and again, the more they run the risk of losing those memories entirely, either permanently or temporarily. Only by addressing the crime, the way they feel about it, the relationship that crime has to reality and to who the character is, can characters be free of this particular trial.

ADDITIONAL INFO Those characters (or players) who do not wish to interact with the maze will occasionally find quiet corridors that mysteriously place them outside the maze, unable to reenter. They will find that the town is, indeed, gone, as are their living quarters—hope you don't mind roughing it for a while. However, due to recent efforts to bolster the town's supplies, some of the underground storehouses organized by Claude and Marianne seem to remain intact and are available as temporary emergency shelter, should your character choose not to camp out. After a week, the maze will disappear and life in Aldrip returns to normal. As for the locals? They don't seem to notice that anything strange has happened at all. Maze? What maze? Strange weather we're having this week, eh?

EVENT GROUPINGS

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GROUP A: Serah Farron Elidibus Nakahara Chuuya Tsunayoshi Sawada Rei Suwa Caitlyn Kiramman Ragna the Bloodedge Kotone Shiomi Monkey D. Luffy Yuja Wightshade (WoL) Yosuke Hanamura Astralin Turnont Dazai Osamu Ange Ushiromiya Hythlodaeus Ethlyn

GROUP B: Violet (Vi) Silco Ekko Mizuki Date Claude von Riegan Noel Kreiss Kazuki Kurusu G'raha Tia Jinx Marianne von Edmund Goro Akechi Sooyoung Han Saito Sejima Nikolai Gogol Erichtonios Emet-Selch

GROUP C: Yu Narukami Pride Sigma Usagi Tsukino William G Maryblood Scott Summers Gundam Tanaka Quentin Quire Akira Kurusu Mitama Yakumo Med'an Ken Amada Fyodor Dostoevsky Izuku "Deku" Midoriya Echo

Player:
Contact:

Character:
Canon:
Canon Point:

Crime: The crime your character was accused of when they arrived.

Background/Personality: A brief insight into your character's history is fine here. You can talk about their personality as well.

Abilities: Any abilities that you feel is important to note about your character. Bullet points and concise descriptions are okay.

Plans: What kinds of things do you want to do in the game? Any kind of CR you want to specifically pursue? Any special character discovery or exploration you want to do? This is the place to put all of that.

???: Questions? Comments? Memes? Put them here.

<b>Player:</b> <b>Contact:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Canon:</b> <b>Canon Point:</b> <b>Crime:</b> The crime your character was accused of when they arrived. <b>Background/Personality:</b> A brief insight into your character's history is fine here. You can talk about their personality, as well. <b>Abilities:</b> Any abilities that you feel is important to note about your character. Bullet points and concise descriptions are okay. <b>Plans:</b> What kinds of things do you want to do in the game? Any kind of CR you want to specifically pursue? Any special character discovery or exploration you want to do? This is the place to put all of that. <b>???:</b> Questions? Comments? Memes? Put them here.