game information (rules + faq)

[linkupmods]

GAME INFORMATION:

rules

RULES.

→ BE RESPECTFUL.
This goes without saying, but we are running this game for our friends. Please remember that IC=/=OOC, and to handle any OOC conflicts with grace and respect for your fellow players. DNIs and opt-outs should be honored, and we will not be tolerant of anyone who crosses any established boundaries. If there are any issues that cannot be resolved, or if egregious behavior is involved, please contact the mods.

This also applies to interactions with the mod team. We are open to suggestions and helpful feedback, but any sort of harassment or rudeness towards us will not be tolerated. We are working very hard, and like the players, we are just trying to have a good time!

→ BE ACTIVE.
This is a three-month game with 20 comment AC. Please assess your activity levels and try to stay as active and engaged with the game as possible. If you are struggling, there is no shame in taking a hiatus or dropping entirely if need be. We just want everyone to enjoy themselves here!

Disclaimer: We are running this game for friends, and we really, REALLY don't want to have to boot anyone! That being said, we also reserve the right to discuss AC issues with people who aren't engaging with the game. Pace isn't an issue, as long as we see that you are present and making AC. This is more that if we notice you have not been around for most of the month, or are scrambling for AC in the last few days of the AC period without having talked to us prior, we reserve the right to remove you from the game to make room for a new player.

→ CONTENT WARNINGS.
Please label sensitive topics accordingly, including NSFW.

→ INVITES.
You need a direct invite via DM from one of the mods to play here.

→ DISCORD.
Discord is mandatory to play here, as we won't be making a Plurk for this game. We will have OOC plotting posts on our OOC community, and you do not need to participate in chat to play here, but all game updates will be posted to our server.

GAME INFORMATION:

faq

BASICS.

→ What is this?
Hello, and welcome to Link Up!, a direct invite-only game with elements from the Persona franchise. The game is scheduled to run from the beginning of August to the beginning of November, and will place heavy emphasis on CR building and individual character arcs.

Characters' primary residence will be in a place known as the The Nekyia, in which they can receive jobs stemming from the thoughts and feelings of all the different people who live in the city. And who knows? Maybe some of those jobs will come from your fellow Persona users as well…

→ How do I play?
Your mods are Dani, Sarah, and Coco, and you must have an invitation from one of the mods to play in this game. We are not accepting +1s at this time.

→ Do I need to be familiar with Persona to play here?
Absolutely not! This is a separate storyline from the games, and mechanics will be different, so you do not need to be familiar with the series to play here.

→ What is the game schedule?
The game schedule is as follows:

• Reserves Open: July 20
  
• Applications Open: July 21
  
• Game Starts: August 3
  
• Applications Close: September 28
  
• Game Ends: November 2
→ What is the structure of the game going to be like?
Great question!

Link Up! will run on a biweekly schedule, meaning that major event posts will go up every other week on Saturdays at noon EST. There may be smaller scale events planned for off weeks, but you are also free to Cause Problems, host mingles or what have you during any point in the game. Please see below for our policy on larger, more impactful events.

→ Can I run a player plot or do something cool with my character?
Of course! We will try to be as accommodating as possible, within reason. All we ask is to please contact us before running anything too game-changing, or something that would drastically impact the other characters in the game. Examples of "plots" are: A plot where your character destroys part of the city, a plot where your character feels like killing multiple people, a plot where a group of characters wants to host a large event in the city, or killing off your character.

If you're unsure, just ask! It's better to be safe than sorry.

→ Are there any player/character caps?
If you receive an invite from us and want to play in the game, you'll have a guaranteed spot!

As for character caps: This is a lone canon warrior game, meaning that we are only allowing 1 character per canon. Original characters will count as separate canons. There is a franchise cap of 3. (i.e. Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5 characters are allowed to co-exist in this game)

Mod characters do not count towards the canon cap. The mod team will try to be mindful of character relationships (no prior CR), should there be any canon overlap between mod and player resesrves.

→ What if I can't decide on a character when reserves open?
That's fine! Your reserve will be good up until August 3, which is when the game opens. After that, you will have to re-submit your reserve. Reserves placed after the game opens will be good for one week.

→ What about AC?
Activity Check will consist of 20 comments a month across 2-3 threads, all with different characters. We will also ask for a Social Link writeup. Please see our Activity Check page for more information.

→ Can I hiatus during the game?
You can! We will allow players to take a cumulative hiatus of three weeks (i.e. one week in August, two weeks in September). If there are extenuating circumstances, please contact the mods ASAP.

→ What is the application system like?
Apps will stay open until September 28th. This means that you can character swap (see question below) until then, and we will also accept new players from our invite list as slots open up until the deadline.

→ How are drops handled?
As of June 30th, dropped characters will be put into a coma (nap time!), as they will be deemed "no longer necessary" for the game's IC purpose.

OOCly, we will ask if you are doing a total drop or a character swap. A total drop will free up a slot OOCly, and if the mods have other invites they can issue, we will hand one out to the next person on our list. For character swaps, you will keep your spot and be allowed to app in a new character, though we suggest preparing your application for the new character as soon as possible.

The policy above is applicable until September 28th. After September 28th, no character swaps will be allowed and all drops will be considered total drops, and we will not be letting new players into the game.

→ NSFW/triggering subjects allowed?
Yes, just please label all of them appropriately. Use your best judgment when it comes to handling sensitive subjects.

→ Is there a plot?
There will be an overarching plot, yes, but this will not be the main focus of the game.

→ How is death handled?
Typically, death is permanent. Contact the mods if you plan on doing this. We may be amenable to other ideas :) !

APPLICATIONS.

→ Who can I bring here?
Canon characters and original characters are welcome! We also welcome tabletop OCs, malleable protagonists, etc. We will also accept characters like the Warrior of Light – one per canon.

We are not accepting the following: Canon OCs, CRAUs, canon AUs, duplicates. Duplicates include different versions of the same character (i.e. Sephiroth from FF and Sephiroth from KH).

→ What about new canons/canon points?
We ask that canons and canon points be at least one month old before applying from them, to give people time to consume the content as spoiler-free as possible! We will not be implementing a canon update mechanic.

→ Why is this a lone canon warrior game?
Since this is a game with a cr-building focus, we want all characters to start fresh with no familiarity with one another!

→ Is there an age requirement?
All characters must be mentally 15 or older.

→ Are there any other suitability requirements I should keep in mind?
The main requirement is that your character has the capacity to form bonds with other characters, whether those be positive or negative ones. We generally want to give characters as much agency (as themselves) as possible, but we will have some optional prompts that will include things akin to forced honesty, visible heart meters, etc. that can push those who aren't as easy to open up about themselves!

Keep in mind that there will be darker themes in this game, too, so characters should be able to handle topics such as confronting their own trauma, and injury/death (even if these things don't happen to your character, necessarily). They don't have to handle these things well, though; this is more for OOC purposes, and if these are topics that you would be okay engaging with. Just some things to consider before you apply!

→ What about non-human characters, or characters who are dead?
Both are perfectly acceptable! Non-human characters that are giants (626' tall, for example) will be shrunk to humanoid sizes. Furthermore, for the sake of getting around in the city, they can assume a human disguise that they can remove and put on at will.

Characters who have died will be able to exist here, in corporeal form! How nice.

→ Can we bring companions/pets with us?
Yes, actually! We are allowing one companion per character. Companions will not receive Personas but can accompany characters throughout their journey in the game.

→ My character was gravely injured before coming here!
Surprise, those injuries have been largely healed! Scars can exist, but they will no longer feel pain from their injuries.

→ What about characters that need medications or have specific dietary requirements?
All of that will be provided upon arrival by the NPC.

→ What about our powers? What if my character is powerless?
All powers have been replaced. Instead, characters will receive what are known as Personas, one per character. More information on Personas can be found below.

Powerless characters are welcome, as everyone will be starting from scratch re: learning how to use Personas. Enjoy being powered up, normies!

→ What if my character has special qualities, like super strength, flight, etc.?
We will allow characters to keep inherent traits as long as those traits will not give them a combat advantage. For example, if a character needs to drink blood, or has slitted pupils for night vision, those are acceptable traits to keep. However, things like the aforementioned examples, super speed, heightened senses and the like will be nerfed to human levels. Ask us if you're unsure!

SETTING & PERSONAS.

→ How did we get here?
Well, surprise! You were yoinked by The Powers That Be (to be revealed) in the game's setting. Did you think you had a choice in the matter? :)

→ Where are we?
You are in Sunset City, a modern day city located on an island that bears many similarities to a city you'd find on planet earth! This is where you will be living your day-to-day life. It's bustling with people and there are plenty of things to do and see while you're here. There doesn't appear to be anything remarkable about it otherwise, but strange phenomena seem to happen, and the locals don't really seem to be aware…

Welcome to the The Nekyia, where the phenomena stems from.

→ What's the deal with the The Nekyia?
The Nekyia is in another dimension from the main city entirely, in which desires, thoughts, and feelings merge into one space. The Nekyia has a direct impact on the city, and vice versa.

The Nekyia will be a popular spot for commissions. These commissions will consist of requests from people in the city, from things such as finding a lost pet to helping someone with a breakup; some commissions, however, will be more intensive and require exploring areas of The Nekyia. These explorations can produce interesting results for the characters.

Since characters will be the ones primarily linked to the Nekyia, character interactions and cast vibes can impact the environment in the city, which in turn will change the nature of the commissions characters receive, and thus alter the environment in The Nekyia.

→ What about the rest of the island?
You'll be able to explore it, don't worry!

→ Okay, so...why should we do anything that's asked of us?
1) Money. You will be able to make ample money to live a nice(r) life while you're here beyond just basic necessities.
2) The NPC will promise that you will be returned home if you cooperate for a few months.

→ Do we have a network?
Yes, you do! Characters will receive a modern-day cellphone with basic features upon arrival. The network will function like a forum, and characters can create game-wide posts or send individual messages.

However, there is a twist to these devices. Cellphones currently have the ability to tap into characters' consciences and send things that are at the forefront of their minds to the network at any given time. Characters can learn to consciously block sending these transmissions. OOCly, this is optional.

→ What about our inventory?
Characters will be able to bring the clothes on their back and up to 3 items on their person. They can regain important items from home in the form of gacha from our Bonus system!

→ What about in-game currency?
The in-game currency is simply called Gold. They are gold coins that can be spent in Sunset City. There's not much to it! Characters will be provided with ample Gold to start with, and can gain more through completing commissions. Amounts and all that can be handwaved, we aren't getting technical here.

→ Tell me more about Personas.
A Persona is, essentially, a manifestation of one's personality with an assigned element. Elements will be mod-assigned. Additionally, each character will have a role of either Fighter or Utility. You may list your preference for Fighter or Utility on your app, but ultimately this will be decided on by the mods depending on the current spread of character roles.

On your application, we ask that you choose a major arcana that represents your character best. After receiving your role and element assignment, you may either A) choose a Persona from canon to represent your character, or B) make one up entirely. Personas can be literally anything that represents your character, from a creature from your character's canon to something more abstract.

If you are picking a canon Persona, please ignore canon elements and skill sets from the Wiki. The Persona you choose is purely for flavor; we will be assigning some abilities through our own system.

→ What about combat and leveling up?
In line with the Persona games, combat experience means level ups and new skill unlocks. For the purposes of this game - we will leave it up to player discretion on whether you would like to thread out actual combat during commissions or missions, or if you want to handwave it entirely. We know fight scenes are not everyone’s cup of tea.

As an important part of the Persona games is building bonds, level ups for Personas and new skill unlocks will be tied to AC. Passing AC will grant a base level up and skill unlock for each character, and extra skills and abilities can be unlocked via the Bonus mechanics. More information about the Bonus system will be posted when the game opens!

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Comments

[fullmoonmutt]

Amazing... love it lmao. Thank you!