faq

[afflictionmods]

BASICS

What is this?

Affliction is a character-oriented, CR-building game with its basic premise taking inspiration from Kiznaiver. Characters will be paired up and share their pain with one another, both of the physical and emotional variety. They will be given weekly missions that will challenge the cast in different ways and test their fortitude, in order to bring life to a rather dull city.

Is this invite-only?

Yes, it is. Currently, you must be on Coco's (amplitude / onikabuto) or Lav's (revelries) Plurk timeline, were issued an invitation (for those who don't use Plurk), or are a +1 of someone who meets one of the aforementioned criteria in order to play in this game.

What's the game's schedule like?

Affliction will operate on a weekly schedule and run for around 8 weeks max. We will post weekly logs that will cover Sundays to Fridays; these logs are for mingling and lighter tasks. Saturdays will feature the main missions that will take several hours to complete, similarly to murdergame trials. They are structured to be similar to dungeon crawling (save for Saturday of Week 1, which will be a little different), though we are open to tweaking the formatting and event style based on player feedback. If any special events pop up, we will do our best to give the player base as much of a head's up as possible.

As far as dates go:

– Reserves will open on Saturday, May 14th at 2pm EST. They will close on Sunday, May 15th at 2pm EST or whenever we hit our 24 28 player (14 pairs) cap – whichever one comes first.

– Applications will open on Sunday, May 15th at 2pm EST and will close on Friday, May 20th at 6pm EST.

– The game will begin on Sunday, May 22nd at 2pm EST, which is when our Intro Log will be posted. The Week 1 log will be posted either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

How do reserves work?

We are asking that people put in one reserve per pair. We will not be partnering up anyone ourselves, so we ask that you find someone to pair up with before placing a reserve.

We will allow one proxy per pair if neither of you are able to reserve. Likewise, players will be allowed to place one proxy reserve for another pairing.

Reserves will be screened.

What's the cast cap?

Casts will be capped at 2 3 per canon with a max of 4 characters per franchise. As an example, you can have 2 characters from Persona 4 and 2 from Persona 5 – that would meet the Persona franchise cap.

OCs will count as one canon, so we will allow 3 OCs max.

We will run the game with as little as 16 characters (8 pairs).

What is AC like?

Activity check is 10 comments a week across 2 threads with two different characters, with a minimum of 5 comments per thread. Due to the short nature of the game, no strikes will be issued and you will be removed if you miss AC.

That being said, if you have any circumstances preventing you from making AC for a week, please let us know ahead of time! 2022 has thrown us a lot of curveballs, so we completely understand if you need a week off. However, we reserve the right to remove you from the game if this becomes a pattern.

Activity checks will open every Sunday and close on Saturdays at 6pm EST. You may submit threads from the weekly logs for AC. You may submit threads from the weekly logs for AC, that take place on their respective weeks. For instance, Week 1 threads must be from the Week 1 log (or intro log), Week 2 threads must be from Week 2's log, etc. CYOA threads are also acceptable. Threads that will not count are threads from event logs that go up on Saturdays, private conversations (if there are any), and NPC threads.

There will also be an AC rewards system in place, so stay tuned for that!

Will private conversations be allowed?

Generally, no. If you'd like a private conversation ICly, it should be posted or part of a thread on the main community, and labeled as "locked to [character]" or "private" in the subject header. Major NPCs will have a dedicated post on their journals for one-on-one IC interactions, but these will be public OOCly.

If, for any reason, you feel like a private thread with another player character is pertinent (i.e. buildup for a dramatic reveal), please contact the mods. You can also thread anything that goes into NSFW territory privately, since we won't allow those threads on the main community.

APPLICATIONS

Who can I app?

Canon characters and OCs are acceptable! Characters must be at least 16 years old. We will not allow characters that are, say, 300+ years old but have the mentality of a 2 year old. On the other hand, characters that are physically 2 years old (i.e. androids, clones) but have the mentality of someone that is 16+ years old are allowed. Customizable/silent protagonists are allowed!

Affliction will not accept CRAUs, fandom OCs, and online personas.

What if my character died in canon?

Congratulations, they're alive again! At least, temporarily. Characters will be healed and any wounds will disappear.

What about my character's powers?

Powers will be off for this game. There may be a possibility to play around with abilities in the future, but for now, assume that characters will be de-powered for most, if not the entirety of the game!

Are non-human/humanoid characters allowed?

Yes, they are! However, characters that are very large (i.e. Kurama from Naruto) will be shrunk down to the height of a very tall human (probably 7'0" at the most?).

What is your policy on new canons/new canonpoints?

We ask that canons and canonpoints have been released for at least one month before the game starts on May 22nd. Canons must also have an English translation of some sort, whether it be an official translation or a fanmade one.

Can my character bring anything from home with them?

Everyone will have the opportunity to regain items from home via bonus AC rewards, but starting out, characters will only have the clothes on their backs.

MECHANICS

How does the pain share mechanic work?

Characters will be paired up and "linked" with one another. Whenever one character in the link experiences pain, whether it be physical or emotional, the other character will feel it also. For example, if Character A gets a paper cut, Character B will feel the pain from the paper cut (and it will linger until it's healed), but they won't actually get the paper cut themself. If Character B is having a bad day and starts crying, Character A's mood will drop and may also feel the urge to cry (but won't necessarily have to).

We're generally pretty flexible with the extent of the pain sharing – you could even have Character A start crying against their will if you wanted to! – just as long as there's some equivalency in how they're both feeling.

How are characters paired up?

You have the freedom to pick someone you'd like to pair up with OOCly! If you are in search of someone to partner up with, we encourage you to use our partner finder post as a way to see if anyone's available to fill that slot for you.

ICly, well. You'll see! That being said, characters will not know who their partners are when the game starts. That will be revealed shortly after their arrival.

What if my partner drops out of the game?

We will assign your character to another pair and form a trio (with the pair's permission, of course). That being said...

Is there a death mechanic?

Yes, but only in the case of dropped characters. We will provide other options if you decide to drop, but death is certainly one of them!

If you are dropping and your partner is still in the game, they will feel enough pain to be knocked out for a few hours. When they come back to their senses, they will be linked with their new partner(s) and the physical pain will be gone, though they will feel a strong sense of loneliness and/or emptiness for the rest of the day.

Will there be a graveyard for dead characters to play in?

No, sorry! Death is permanent and, again, only for dropped characters.

Will there be a network available?

There will be, yes! Characters will be given a device that will enable them to text the entire group, but no direct messaging will be allowed. You have the option to do video calls but the calls will be accessible to the entire group. The devices also come with a camera to take pictures and record videos; those can be posted to the network.

Characters can also view IC profiles of the other characters, as well as the IC rules on the devices.

There is also a translating app for characters to use for text. Verbally, they'll be able to understand everyone in their native language, but text is all in English. Their tablets are all in their native language, however – it's all other text sources that are in English.

This is also where they can purchase bonuses (aka AC Rewards).

You can treat network posts like regular top levels.

What are CYOAs?

A CYOA is a “Choose Your Own Adventure” event! Players will be able to sign up for weekly CYOAs that will be held in groups of no more than 3-4 people, depending on who’s running it. Lavender’s CYOAs will accept up to 4 characters; Coco’s will take up to 3. Characters will be thrown into scenarios that will change depending on the decisions they make, and earn bonuses for completing the CYOAs.

We will announce CYOA signups during the week before the CYOA takes place. They will ICly take place later in the week, but OOCly start on Mondays. The time and pacing will vary depending on who’s running it, since Lav is in CST and Coco (who works full-time) is in GMT-10; ideally we would like to wrap these up within 3 days!

SETTING

Where are we?

Welcome to the city of Estelline. It has a modern vibe to it, and it's pretty ordinary -- if a little vast -- and reminiscent of a 21st century city, technology-wise. That being said, it's got an unusual trait: It’s got a small population. Actually, it’s relatively barren, and what looks like a city that should be bustling with life is now a quiet ghost town with few people walking along the streets. Everything that’s open seems to be running...somewhat properly, but the lack of citizens is striking. It seems to have been abandoned almost entirely. From what you can see upon arrival, going past a certain part of the city puts you into an area covered with fog. You can wander through it all you'd like, but you'll find yourself back where you started, eventually.

Strange, isn't it?

What am I doing here, then?

First and foremost, congratulations! You have been selected to participate in Estelline University’s exclusive Personal Enrichment Class. Your primary objective will be to help restore the city; all the while, you will also get a crash course on effective communication, and how to work together with your peers. The University welcomes you to experience a prestigious, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don’t want to miss it!

Who’s running the class?

The Personal Enrichment Class is being run by your professor who goes by The Instructor, and her teacher’s assistant. You will be meeting them both on your first day here. If you have any questions or concerns, the teacher’s assistant will have office hours; The Instructor will have a private phone booth in which you can reach out to her directly.

I didn’t sign up for this...how do I go home?

Simple: Pass the course. Failure is unacceptable.

What is the university like?

Your living quarters and surrounding area are well-taken care of, pristine and squeaky clean with state of the art equipment to assist you during your stay here. Food, clothing, and shelter will all be taken care of for you here, but there are rules you must abide by, including one that's quite important: Nighttime Curfew. Curfew requires that you are back at the dormitory area by 8pm every night, barring Saturdays.

Those who break any of the rules will be subject to disciplinary action.

Why is there a curfew to begin with?

You'll see.

So...can we explore outside of the university?

You can, yes! There will be a few places to start with, but there will be location unlocks every week to give you more areas to explore. OOCly, wider location unlocks will come with the Saturday events. (You might find more via CYOAs and setting investigations, too...!)

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[lovedanime]

Hello mods! This is Lenga (crabgirl) commenting as a prospective +1. How suitable is this game for a player who would consistently be occupied on Saturdays? Are the Saturday "missions" intended to be all-day (or like 6+ hours) events for all nondropped characters, similar to murdergame trials? And the CYOA events are a second separate event starting on Mondays? Thank you!

[afflictionmods]

Hello, thank you for your questions!

1) You're correct in that Saturdays will operate like trials and take place over the span over several hours. We will clarify this on the FAQ. While we won't punish players for being gone during the Saturday events, those who won't be able to make it will be missing out on a large portion of the "pain share" aspect of the game.

2) Yes, CYOAs are separate events that will take place on Mondays, but they will have limited slots.