Imaginary Island Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
imaginarymods) wrote2020-02-24 04:17 pm
imaginarymods) wrote2020-02-24 04:17 pm
Frequently Asked Questions
When does The Imaginary Island start?The long answer is that the specific date is tentative for a few reasons. The first is that all of us would like to have an idea on how many players would be joining us, so we can adjust our plans and scale accordingly. The other reason is we'd like the players themselves to have a say in when the game begins. And the other-other reason is that the world has kind of been on fire and we're all dealing with that in our own ways.
The short answer is we're aiming for July 10!
I meant when it starts in the Balance Timeline.I knew that. Yes.
We will be revealing more details as we all uncover them during the plot of the game, but here's the Need to Know for now: to your Reclaimer's memory, the Imaginary Island will occur right after Candlenights. We decided this would be the most seamless way to join Balance's previous progress with the story we're crafting together.
Does this mean that the Reclaimers' actions in the Court of Hearts were all for naught?NaughtNot at all! A mysterious force has interacted with time and space to place our timeline at just after Candlenights, but that doesn't mean the Court of Hearts never existed. If you choose to, your Reclaimer may retain some or all memories of the Court of Hearts plot as if it were a dream, and all Reclaimers that signed up for the plot may keep their trinket whether or not you choose for them to recall. The trinket will have no magical power left within it, however, and will not have the effects the trinkets were given after the Court of Hearts.
You are not at all required to recall these memories if you do not wish to.
There is a story-bound explanation for how all of this has happened and just what the mysterious force that has meddled in our plans is, and we hope you are just as excited to solve the mystery as we are to share it with you!
What's up with the Island, anyway?A lot is up with the Island. Most of what is up with the Island, you all are going to have to work to find out. What we can tell you up front is this: You will find yourself on a tropical, deserted (?) island containing a variety of explorable terrains, including once-settled areas and untouched land that has recently experienced volcanic activity. Everyone will wake up on the beach and go from there. Think Lost. But we promise it's not Lost.
That being said, one of the major missions of Island is to figure out how you got there in the first place and why. Plus . . . who you are, exactly. Because you super don't remember that.
What do you mean, we don't remember that?When our intrepid Reclaimers arrive on the Island, there will be a grand total of one memory per person: their name. Personalities will be retained as is, but memories will be in very short supply. Part of each character's journey on the Island will be to regain their memories. This will happen at whatever rate and in whatever order you, as a player, feel comfortable with!
Will you be bringing [X Thing] from Balance?Here's the thing. We're not taking many parts of Balance because we're not Balance. Nothing will replace that. The Island originally started as an idea for a small PSL so that those who wanted to keep playing in the Balance setting for just a bit longer could do so. With that as our constant principle, we've only been incorporating the core parts (classes, RNG, Chaos Antics) into our plans and anything past that is discussed on how it fits what we're doing with this story, rather than just forcing something to work.
That said, as we've released more OOC information (maps, worldbuilding, and such), we're always open to hearing what players loved from Balance and would like to see that hasn't already been included.
How do I join? Where's the application?Everyone will be required to fill out a Claim for their character once claims open on July 3. For Balance players, we want to see a link to either your old app or a thread you did in Balance. If you don't have access to either of those things, you can "apply" like everyone else as explained below.
As a fun Transfer Bonus, all Balance players who app to Island have the option to max out their path actions upon entry. It's not required, but it's certainly allowed! If you'd rather not do this, you can gain them incrementally via regular gameplay.
"Everyone else?" I can join if I wasn't in Balance?Yes! We know real life can sometimes run against hobbies and prevent people joining in things they wanted to. You can find our Claims page here. You will need to be invited by someone currently in the game, as at the end of the day this is still a PSL. You'll start with a Path of your choice and you'll immediately get the ten skills from that path (or 10 plus a canon skill/power if applicable to your character.) You'll unlock the skills of your second class and/or your advanced class throughout your time on the Island.
What kinds of characters can I bring in?We're good with canon characters, OCs (including tabletop), and CRAUs. All others (including canon AUs and multiples), we'll consider on a case-by-case basis, but generally speaking we're not super super picky; if there's a reference point on a wiki somewhere or something you can type up as a summary, you're probably fine. All characters must be at least 16 years of age (or the developmental equivalent, taking into consideration species like aliens and robots.)
Is there a player cap?Currently we're planning under the assumption the character cap is 40 characters, with a maximum of 2 characters per player. However, this number is just a placeholder and not 100% guaranteed. If enough players show interest, it can definitely be changed.
Is there an AC to worry about?The AC is check-in only. Any threads submitted will be rewarded with Gacha tokens. More information on how it'll be handled will be on its own post.
Wait did you say Gacha—We spoke the cursed word. :( This time, your Gacha takes the form of a vending machine for water bottles. Once a coin is put in, it is guaranteed to never give you a water bottle. Instead you'll get magic items, love letters, skill tomes, maybe a pasta pass to an Olive Garden that still does not exist.
These coins are not earned from CTA participation alone, but will be given for participation with the plot in general. More reasons to hit up the RNG threads, right?
Speaking of items, what items can my character bring with them to the Island?Characters can wake up with as much or as little of their typical mission gear as you would like! If you'd like them to have everything they'd usually take on a mission when they wake up, that's fine. And if you'd like them to wake up in nothing but the clothes on their back, that's also fine! Just let us know what they'll have on their person in your claim.
Personal items that are not on their person or in the cabanas can be found scattered around the island, sometimes in strange locations but always undamaged. They may sometimes have to barter possessions back from the NPCs on the island, who don't realize that these objects already have proper owners!
How will missions be structured?Overall, a lot of the mission structure will look pretty familiar! There will be an OOC mission dossier, an investigation log or two, an OOC CTA post (including a summary of Reclaimer actions with links to RNGs), and a CTA log.
However, there will be some differences to increase ease of readability and participation. All posts, both OOC and IC, will include a summary/to-do list as applicable in the format of bullet points. For example, in a log with lots of prompts whose main goals are to find a water source, build a shelter, and keep seals from infesting base camp, those three items would be in the summary bullet points.
Regarding CTAs, you'll see the most difference in structure here! While you will still be able to sign up for CTAs, each character that signs up for a CTA will be given some role in that CTA. The characters who aren't RNG'd for main roles will be able to submit a blurb that explains the role said characters played in assisting the main party. As a result, we'll ask that you only sign up for the CTA most relevant to your character!
Additionally, major non-CTA actions taken will still have an impact on the outcome of the CTA. There will be a space for players to submit character actions on the setting and NPCs (evidenced by threads, toplevels, etc) that could affect the outcome of the mission. For example, if a group of Reclaimers worked hard to help NPCs clean up after a natural disaster, they might get a boost to mission success chances.
In summary, our watchwords are accessibility and participation. We want to ensure that all characters and players get to have a hand in mission outcomes and will be tweaking mechanics to that end. We're also obviously always here for input on how to improve mechanics, so feel free to hit us up here or on the mod contact post!
So, what's up with Paths?Paths are the class system in Imaginary Island! They are inspired mainly by the class system in D&D 5e, but incorporate elements of a wide array of class systems found in many beloved fantasy properties.
If you are a Balance Transfer, you may notice that some of the Paths and path actions have changed. Some of them have even changed quite a bit! These changes do not retroactively apply. As they regain their memories, characters will ICly become aware that their abilities have changed.
How are new characters inducted into the Bureau of Balance?Your character has come willingly from their world as it was destroyed by the Hunger. Outside of that, though, standard procedure doesn't really apply here! They will have no Test of Initiation, and they will not meet with Johann to be inoculated with the Voidfish's ichor. They won't even remember that they've joined the Bureau of Balance at first.
If you're a new Reclaimer, when you first approach the Fantasy Costco vending machine on the beach, it will immediately dispense a bamboo bottle of Voidfish ichor. It's strongly recommended that you drink it. That's even on the label, which can be peeled off of the bottle and unfolded to reveal basic information about the Path system and your new job as a Reclaimer. Though you won't be able to read the pamphlet properly until you drink the ichor, as some terms like Bureau of Balance and Relic will just appear as static to your eyes and mind.
If you don't drink the contents of the bottle, this won't be your only encounter with the vending machine. If a character walks away from the machine without drinking, they will begin to find that the machine follows them. They will never see it move, but wherever they go, they can look over their shoulder — and suddenly there's the machine, launching another bottle of the nasty stuff at you. This harassment will continue until your character drinks the ichor, so it's probably best to get it over with.
What happens if a character dies?In the Imaginary Island, not very much, at least not on the surface. You don't experience anything in particular, and it doesn't feel as though any time has passed. You just get mortally wounded or eaten or whatever and then . . . wake up, back on the beach, good as new. So that's weird.
Death tolls are optional but encouraged. Some examples of death tolls might be forgetting someone important to you, losing a specific important memory, losing a sense or skill, etc. Any loss, gain, or change of something, tangible or intangible, that would be significant to your character counts.
As for why some characters get death tolls and others don't: the rules are a little bit different here on the Island. There's no technomantic force bringing people back from the dead. It's not something, it's someOne — although ICly, this won't be known at game start. Whoever that someOne is, sometimes they're able to pull souls back from the Astral Plane before a bit of them gets stuck. Sometimes they're not. Luck of the draw ICly, player discretion OOCly.
Hey, my question isn't answered here!Don't worry! This is just the first draft of our FAQ. After our Q&A session wraps up, we will incorporate the most relevant questions from there into the FAQ and continue expanding on it until we go live. Plus, you're welcome and encouraged to ask questions here as often as they occur. So in other words, watch this space!
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