Info / FAQ

[expiationmods]

INFO / FAQ About Expiation⇁ Expiation is a pan-fandom adventure game with science fiction, fantasy, and subtle horror elements that explore the concepts of crime versus innocence, definition of atonement, and reflection of self. An overarching storyline will encourage characters to determine the truth about why they’ve been brought to this world and will be impacted by character discoveries and actions taken during the bimonthly events. Player-run events and plots are welcome during months where there is downtime. Characters are mysteriously plucked from their world of origin, dropped into the white nothingness of disembodied voices, and told they’ll be treated as 'all of the others' have been. They awaken in this newer world largely pleasant to the eye in the close proximity of a populated town. In hand, they carry documentation that accuses them of a crime, whether it be true or false, and they are instructed to simply wait until they face their sentencing. For prospective players, it is imperative that you understand Expiation is not a fast-paced game and the answers that characters are seeking will not be immediately provided to them. It will require players and characters alike to piece together potentially cryptic information that is supplied in events. The moderator team will provide as much information per situation as can be without releasing or spoiling the overarching storyline. If you are seeking a hasty pay-off, require a consistent feed of information or action, you may not find this game to be a good fit for you. For more information about what is happening behind the scenes, we suggest you read the Premise and End Game section of our April 2023 State of the Game. You may also find the remainder of that entry of interest and full of valuable information. Themes⇁ The ideas of what constitutes criminal behaviour versus innocence, and the shades of grey in between are meant to be a point of reflection and consideration that may differ from character to character. This is not a physical prison or inmate game, but more rather a metaphorical one. The crime that characters are accused of may have nothing to do with how they carried themselves in their original world. On the other hand, said crime could be something that the character committed. It is the notion of crime or actions taken that have resulted in regret or remorse experienced by said character. Expiation is an environment meant to give characters the opportunity to analyse and reflect on their past actions in an effort to define and discover their own self-atonement and forgiveness. They may also perhaps seek forgiveness from others that they may have wronged, inadvertently or direct. It is not necessarily rehabilitation, but rather dissection of character motivation and evolution, based on individual dynamic and relationships with others. Sentencing⇁ So if it’s not actually a prison game, why are characters being told they must prepare and wait for 'sentencing?' Not everything in Expiation is quite the way it seems. To the locals who are native to this world, they seem to define ‘sentencing’ as merely a very natural way of life, implying that it may not necessarily be equivalent to punishment or declaration of innocence. As the bimonthly events occur and characters discover more about why they are in Expiation and how they got here, the pieces will begin to fall into place and they may be surprised by the end result. On occasion (months opposite events starting approximately June 2023), players may submit their characters for sentencing (with a positive, negative, or neutral result, depending on player preference), and upon return from sentencing, they will be free to share their learned information with other characters in the game. Arrival⇁ Characters will arrive with inventory they may have been carrying, within reason. If they had anything in their possession that would be considered ‘world breaking,’ they will find that it is missing. Arrival will not always necessarily be in the exact same location. Monthly cycles of applications accepted will come with a different location that the newly-arrived will initially occupy. They will, however, always be within a relatively safe, if not slightly exhausting, walking distance of a populated town where the locals will probably be friendly. Probably. In addition to their base inventory, characters will all arrive with parchment detailing the crime they’ve been accused of. This parchment is indestructible. It cannot be cut. It cannot be burnt. It cannot be destroyed. There’s no sign of it being specially preserved, so to the touch, it feels strangely archaic and possibly out of place. Locals⇁ The locals are what have made the world of Expiation as comfortable and as welcoming as it appears to be. They’ve established simple places to eat and drink, lodgings, taverns, clothing stores, clinics, and just about anything else you might expect to find in a hearty little town. They rely largely on farming and fishing from the local land and bodies of water to provide sustenance for themselves and for those who are brought to this world. They are not excessively technologically advanced, but do have things like cameras, simple computers, and so on. The locals, as a whole, worship and revere something they refer to as 'Those Who Were There.' Different locals in different locations across the world of Expiation come with various cultures, traditions, and beliefs. More of these will be uncovered as the storyline of the game proceeds. Their government and life routine is a rather simple one. They operate under a council of elders and consider themselves a theocratic people, most large decisions made by those dedicated to their greater beings. This same council determines how to handle crimes committed in Expiation by or against locals and player characters. Bestiary⇁ There is no official page for the bestiary and though the moderator team is not planning to make one, that plan may one day change if it absolutely necessary and vital to do so. At this time, it is safe for players to assume that one month after initial arrival, some of the animals, beasts, and other creatures from a character's naturally-occurring homeworld will begin to appear on the Expiation continent. There will be no mass overpopulation of these creatures and they will seem realistically integrated depending on the environment they're found in. With regards to Shadows from the Persona verse or other creatures akin to, at this time, these will not be found casually in the world. Despite our real-world view of changes to an ecosystem when new lifeforms are introduced to something they ordinarily are not native to, that will not apply here. At present, there will be no ecosystem alterations as a result of this. In the interim, it is safe to think that these various creatures are acclimating well, and perhaps better than some of the Chosen are. We ask that all players be realistic about what will and can show up. If we notice anything that seems excessive, we will address it accordingly, though suggest if you are uncertain, you contact us for clarification beforehand. Network⇁ There is no global-wide internet or equivalent connector. As such, characters who may arrive with a mobile device or small personal computer will find that they are not able to acquire a signal, but programmes not requiring an internet connection will still work largely as intended, with the occasional mysterious glitch here or there. Locals will outfit all newly-arrived with a golden charm depicting waves of water. This charm is a moderate size and light of weight, can be fashioned onto a necklace, a bracelet, an earring, or even something as simple as a keychain like attachment. Use of this charm allows all residents of Expiation to communicate with one another as individuals and as a community. How does it work? Not even the locals know. If asked, they will simply cryptically indicate that it was a gift bestowed upon them by Those Who Were There. In contrast to many of the world’s more simple forms of living, this charm can accept speech and even translate it to text upon request. When video is used, it comes across in a strangely holographic presentation. This charm also allows for universal communication, eliminating the need for language interpretation and translation. If a character loses their charm, or in the unlikely scenario it’s destroyed, it will take one week for a new one to be crafted and procured, removing the character’s ability to communicate with others over distance. It would be prudent to treat the charms with respect. Currency⇁ The world of Expiation uses peculiarly shaped coins as their form of currency. Currency can be obtained by performing deeds for the locals. Help gather materials, assist on the farmlands, work in one of the shops or other establishments, keep the townspeople safe by slaying the wildlife that comes too close, and so on. Currency will not be tracked. Simply be realistic about what your character might have obtained. The moderator team will be keeping an eye on any spending that seems unfeasible. Death⇁ According to the locals, death too, is a natural way of life. Characters and locals alike can die, much the way they would have in their original worlds. A character who dies will come back a fortnight after their passing, however, under the caveat that something about them has changed, and they may not be aware of it. Upon death, it is not uncommon that locals, such as clinicians or other related fields, may be interested in partaking of some experimentation on the dead for medical or other advancements. For each death a human character incurs, a part of their body will be replaced with synthetic material. What happens when a character no longer has any organic matter left? Who can say for sure. We probably don’t want to find out. For each death a non-human character incurs (read: android or similar), a part of their body will be replaced with a like material, however, will occasionally suffer malfunctions such as short-circuiting, lack of function, or other strange and mysterious behaviours, at the player's discretion. Until characters make the discovery that death includes this or that the locals may be inclined to experiment, consider this information only OOC knowledge. This will be updated as necessary. If your character dies, please notify the mod team. Rewards⇁ Rewards with extra activity can be redeemed by using the rewards page. This includes approved inventory from home, the ability to run one’s own business, and other like ideas. Please see the page for additional details, how to redeem, and other requirements. Drops & Canon Updates⇁ Canon updates, drops, and hiatuses can all be submitted on the appropriate page. When a character drops, there is no great fanfare. They are simply gone, much in the way they arrived. The record of the crime they were accused of will remain since the parchment that contains that information is indestructible. Any inventory that isn’t on their person will also remain in the world or can be claimed by other characters with player permission. Characters dropped and reapplied for later will not initially retain memories of their previous time in Expiation (if played by the same player). They can regain these memories by submitting extra AC on the rewards page. Characters who are going to be updated in canon will be absent for a minimum of one week (or longer, depending on circumstance). Temporarily they will be extracted from Expiation, but upon return, they will not be assigned a new piece of parchment and will otherwise wake up in their lodgings. They will have no memory of extraction. It will be as if they simply had a long, extensive nap. Applications & Reserves⇁ This is a pan-fandom game, accepting monthly applications for video game, live action, book, film, and other related mediums, including original characters. We have a Player Cap of 70. We have a Canon Cap of 10. (This refers to the number of characters per specific canon.) Reserves are a first-come, first-served system and limited to two characters at a time. Due to our player cap, note that we will only accept as many players as we have player slots, however, we will review all applications submitted during the cycle. We will not accept child characters, though extenuating circumstances may apply (read: a younger physical appearance who may be thousands of years old, or a character who may be a construct in an age of single digits). Please consider the nature of the game and the age of your character. A literal child likely would not be suitable to the environment or the concepts we'll be exploring. We suggest teenagers and older. We will not accept applications for characters who we find are inappropriate for the atmosphere. There is a six month wait on applying for characters from a newly-released canon. For example, Fire Emblem: Engage released at the end of January 2023. We would begin accepting characters from it by the end of July 2023 / early August 2023. If your canon character has a lack of canon material / information and you are relying heavily and mostly on headcanon to the point where your character is likened to an OC, we will not accept the application. We accept CRAU characters with the caveat that they must still accurately represent the character in their canon state. If they are too far removed from canon, we will not accept them, but we do understand the desire to move CR without having to completely rebuild it from scratch. We accept malleable protagonists, such as the Warden from Dragon Age, Commander Shepard from Mass Effect, and the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy XIV. That said, only one of these can exist [per applicable canon] and they must be applied for without preexisting relationships to canon characters aside from what base storyline dictates. (Exceptions will potentially be made for CRAUs and handled on a case-by-case basis.) Fandom OCs, such as World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV creatables will also be accepted, however, they cannot be the Champion of Azeroth, Warrior of Light, or equitable title if there is already one in the game, and thus will be treated as OCs who live in and come from these preexisting worlds. The same rules apply as above. They cannot have preexisting relationships with canon characters. (Exceptions will potentially be made for CRAUs and handled on a case-by-case basis.) We do not accept duplicates (for example: Leon from Kingdom Hearts versus Squall from Dissidia Final Fantasy versus Squall from Final Fantasy VIII). You can check the application and reserve pages for additional details, including cycle dates and other requirements.

Comments

[kiseijuu]

Hello mods! I have a question about a potential character with a Weird Situation. Shinichi is an unfortunate horror teen who comes with an alien parasite that biologically / anatomically is his right arm & hand, considering it "ate" and replaced them.... and without being attached to Shinichi, it would die. The parasite does have sentience / a personality, but I don't think it could count as an appable character on its own since it literally is Shinichi's arm & hand now. But I definitely wanted to check with you guys to see how you felt about that kind of situation.

Thank you for your time!

[expiationmods]

Although we don't have any like characters in the game, the moderator team is familiar with other characters from other canons who experience similar situations (immediately coming to mind is Kainé from NieR Gestalt / Replicant). For the sake of convenience we would not consider the parasite to be a separate appable character.

As it is part of Shinichi's arm, we would consider it a part of Shinichi as an individual and you would be able to play and provide narrative and introspection for both Shinichi and the parasite.

[beshackled]

Are their any limitations on the height of characters in this game? Characters from the unsundered Etheirys in Final Fantasy XIV are shown to be of substantial stature. The character I am currently considering normally stands at slightly under 18 feet. His transformation is much larger.

[expiationmods]

We've had others interested in playing the Ascians from FFXIV previously and the decision has uniformly been that these characters be downsized due to their drastically larger size in the game / canon (including any transformations akin to Emet-Selch's Hades). Whilst we haven't set a numerical limit, we would likely put the cut off to about 7 or 8 feet at maximum. This is likely larger than most of the other characters present in the game, but not so large as to be cumbersome.

[megatheorem]

good morning mods, i have Dead Character Questions.

if you aren't familiar with the locked tomb, the series is full of necromancers and everyone's relationship to death is kinda sideways. palamedes here is "dead" in the sense that his body is dead, but he spends 2 out of 3 books as a soul possessing something else (first his own bones, then timesharing his bestie's body). the question is: how would these "dead" canon points work vis-a-vis apping? would the world restore his original body (or, i guess, a copy of it. he disintegrated)? if so, would it automatically come with a death penalty synthetic part?

asking this because i've seen the "healed right back from before-death moment" questions but this guy genuinely has no body for more of the canon than he has one, so...! he briefly exits the body-timeshare to puppet, you know, somebody else's corpse around, so moving his soul into Other Bodies has precedent, but i'm not sure of the game's preferred mechanic in this Situation.

final questions... this time about powers... palamedes has a psychometric ability that allows him to "read" the history of an object he touches by sensing lingering energy on them. in the canon this is used to do things like carbon-date architecture, sense the presence of someone who painted a wall and when, who touched items, etc. he already comes with the vague nerf of "if you get to it early" and "if there's a strong association," so it's not an instant thing all the time, but would this have to be nerfed further?

also because he would absolutely try to use this power on stuff in the setting, would he be able to sense anything about how old the places are/anything else that would Stand Out? the more confusing the better tbh.

[expiationmods]

Hello!

We're going to try to simplify our responses here, because the nature of your questions have the potential to be convoluted.

1. When it comes to body possession and physical form, this would largely be dependent on what canon point you are choosing to app from. If you choose to app from the point at which he is sharing his best friend's body, he would arrive in his best friend's body, sans best friend. If you choose to app from the point at which he has his own bones / body, then he would arrive in his body (even if it was post his own death in canon), since we require everyone have some kind of physical body as to not bypass the death mechanic.

2. Regardless of which body, death mechanic would apply.

3. We've thought a lot about how his psychometric ability would translate into this world. We want to encourage his usage of this and would say largely to let him keep that ability intact. With that said, information on construction origins (materials, dates, and so on) of the things in Expiation's world correlate directly with the overarching storyline.

As a result, we propose that he is capable of sensing origin information, however, right now would find that detailed information surrounding that to be mysteriously redacted or not something he can access. Liken it to a piece of programming code that is unreadable or perhaps glitched. This way, he knows he still has the ability, but also has the mystery to solve of why is this information redacted and how can he solve that.

This would only apply to things specific to Expiation's world. When it comes to items and related that belong to other characters / worlds, we would leave that to player discretion and communication between necessary parties. Same would apply to anything that comes from his home world via AC rewards and related.

Hope that helps!

[laserguy]

SO asking for a friend......

but how does telepathy work in this game? some telepaths are strong enough to hear people's thoughts without it being noticeable to the other person, so how would that affect other player characters and NPCs? would it be entirely nerfed or something else?

[expiationmods]

Hello! For NPCs, telepathy will be limited to basic, surface-level thoughts, meaning nothing that will divulge secrets about the world or the people therein. For other player characters, reading thoughts is fine as long as there is communication and consent between the players in question! What the character may learn through the thoughts of another player character is up to the player. Communication is key!

[brightestmoon]

the character i'm considering is both dead & missing his eyes at the canon point i'd like to bring him in from. is him being dead & getting magically revived an issue? if so, i can just pluck him from right before his death.

as for the missing eyes (happened years before his death), is there a way for him to either have them when he arrives or to eventually regain them (or get new ones) in game?

[expiationmods]

Not sure how we missed this, and we're very sorry for the delay—

There is no issue with him being dead in his canon. We have at least one character already in the game who is dead and arrived very confused about why she was alive in this world.

With regards to the eyes, this we choose to leave to player discretion. If you prefer to initially play him missing his eyes, but being able to regain them (as a result of the world's technology or magic), that is acceptable. If you wish to have him enter already possessing his eyes, that is also acceptable. We encourage you to follow the path you would like to, based on what you'd like to explore with him.

[totheno1]

Hello mods!

First of all, I am sorry in advance because Persona 1 and 2 are kinda (okay a lot) weird with some Persona stuff that the later games changed, so I wanted to make sure before I app/tdm Kei properly that I had all my ducks in a row in regards to his powers / what he can do / also a neat little question about his sentencing.

1) Basically in P1 and P2, all characters (even non-protags) are wildcards but with affinities (so unique, great, good, normal, bad). Would Kei be allowed to keep the wildcard ability if, say, for example he has only Personas that are either his unique ones + great affinity? (which I figured would work with the great duress rule you've implemented for the other Persona users. Honestly, 90% of the time that would mean his Dead Dad-Butler on a Surfboard vs an actual mythological figure).

2) Personas are used in the real world (no dark hour / tv world / mementos), so I just wanted to make sure that changes nothing.

3) Additionally, while there are no Navigators in the original games, characters can sense each other's Personas. It's certainly not as powerful as navigators, as it's been shown to be something more to being akin to seeing someone and knowing they also have a Persona (or in some cases being close at a rival Persona user and commenting how their own persona is getting angry about it). Would that still be allowed?

4)In Persona 3 (all versions so far) mention that the Kirijo Family broke off from the Nanjo Group. So I was wondering for his sentence, would it be possible to have something that technically happens in his future (aka "you failed to stop the Kirijos from potentially ending the world / your actions lead to the creation of the Kirijo group")?

Thank you very much and have a great day!

[expiationmods]

Hello and thanks for your interest in the game! We appreciate that you've taken the time to look over some of the questions / answers we've provided to our other Persona users (as we haven't yet streamlined that information just yet and it can be a bit of a hassle to go digging through for that).

01. As we understand P1 and P2 are rather unique in comparison to what follows post them, we see no reason Kei would lose his wildcard ability. We agree that he should keep his unique / great affinity. We haven't specified a number limited to the other wildcard characters, just nothing excessive.

02. There's no dark hour / tv world / mementos in Expiation, which hasn't stopped the others from accessing Personas, so it'd be no different for Kei.

03. We agree that it is feasible and plausible that Persona users would be able, to some extent, be able to recognise that shared ability in others. This likely would differ from person to person, depending on intuition, observance, and other personal traits that might lend credence to ability to perceive. Not that we necessarily feel this may come into play, but the ability to perceive demons (since P1 / P2 is more heavily aligned with the SMT universe as opposed to Persona) would be different than perceiving Persona.

04. The idea for Kei to be responsible for the creation of the Kirijo group / related events is a good one and we encourage it! Innovative thinking!

Feel free to reach out to us if you find yourself with any additional questions. We look forward to seeing you on the TDM!

[accommodated]

quick question about application samples: do you have to provide linkable threads, or can you write them? i haven't rp'd in quite sometime and so i don't have anything newer than four or five years old

[expiationmods]

Both links and written samples are accepted. Some people find links more convenient, but since there may be cases similar to yours, we wanted to be conscientious of that. Feel free to write your samples!

[prozaic]

Hello! Just a couple of questions. I'm not planning on apping this month because I can't decide which character I want to write, but hopefully getting answers to these questions will help me figure out who to app.

1) Are there any mechanics or accommodations for characters who come in ill or injured? What about for disabled characters?

2) For a more specific and potentially weird situation: A couple of the characters I'm considering (this one included) have a terminal illness that's very much like a scifi cancer, so it progresses over time, and is accelerated when they use their powers. Is there any mechanic that prevents this progression, or can cure similar things outright? I'm not willing to just let it run its course since their bodies infect others with scifi cancer when they die, and I don't consider pandemic plots fun.

Thank you!

[expiationmods]

Hi there and thank you for the excellent questions!

1) We've had other players ask similarly about characters coming in near death or with fatal injuries. We tend to leave this up to player discretion. It would be possible to app in a character who just died shortly after arriving as a result of their injuries. These would be treated the same way as a death occurring any other time (experimentation by the locals, synthetic part replacement—or occasionally malfunctioning parts for those who are already synthetic).

Characters who arrive with those injuries can also get assistance from the locals or other Chosen (the name for other characters in the game) in obtaining healing. (Certainly something that could be done through a catch-all or even on a TDM.)

We haven't had anyone come in with characters with disabilities (though we've had players contact us regarding special conditions) and likely the kind of disability would have to be taken into consideration, so we don't have a blanket answer for that. If it involves a physical disability, we would likely leave it to player discretion to explore the possibility of having the locals to the world over time develop a means to help live with the disability or find ways to combat / heal it if that's what the character / player wanted.

The locals aren't super technologically adept, but if someone goes to them and talks about an issue they need assistance with, they're kind enough to try developing a way that helps. We just expect this to be handled with a fair amount of realism and not an instant finger-snap of resolution. Hopefully the above helps answer that a little more.

2) This is similar in the idea we mentioned regarding if your character wanted to find a way to decelerate this condition, the locals might be able to develop something. It's certainly within the realm of possibility.

That could be explored as a long-term project for the character, and maybe each month (or few weeks, whatever makes sense), could lead to additional progression, maybe to the pinnacle of an eventual success. Could also pursue the notion of a suspended treatment, where it could freeze / halt the progress of this condition (if you wanted to avoid an outright elimination of it).

This could also be something pursued with other characters in the game. There's a fair amount of healers and healing-like, so it could provide an interesting thing for characters to explore during downtime when we're not running events.

[nullificates]

hey mods! i hope y'all cool!

i was wondering -- would there be any healing potion or technology that could/would work on dazai, considering 'no longer human'? i've had him suffer as he deserves.

thank you!

[expiationmods]

Hello!

As long as you're approaching it with a somewhat realistic perception of time for development, the locals should be able to help craft or put together some other means for helping him. Even if there isn't a means of curing, there may be a means of stalling or suspending. We leave this up to your discretion on how you want to handle that and what you might prefer.

[parasaito]

Hi mods! I have a few, quite specific questions regarding death!

1. Regarding what happens to a character's body and consciousness when they die:
a. Do they fall into a comatose-like state for 14 days or... something else entirely?
b. Do they wake up at the same place they died, or at any other specific place?

2. It's said that local clinicians and other people from the field might be interested in experimenting on the dead. About this:
a. Is this the reason dead characters are "gone" for 14 days?
b. Do characters experience any noticeable aftereffects not related to the part of their body that gets replaced?
c. Do characters ever learn they were experimented on?

3. Can synthetic parts replaced for human characters suffer malfunctions, like with non-human characters? Specifically thinking of brain areas/parts here.

AND FINALLY 4. Just out of curiosity, is it just the Chosen that get to come back to life, or does the same apply to human NPCs?

Whew, this was a lot, but thank you in advance!

[expiationmods]

1a: This would be an accurate comparison. Just as we, in real life, don't know what death feels like, but we might feel a sense of looming dread or heaviness, it would be expected that characters experiencing death would feel something akin to that. Essentially to them, after that fourteen day period, it would probably just feel like a really long nap to them. They can experience dreams or night terrors during this period as well, which could lead to curious or disturbing aftermath.

1b: Characters who die will wake (at present) in a room at the inn. Likely one that belongs to the character in question. Or wherever the character is residing. When we have future personal housing, then people would return to their abodes at that time. Think of it like 'respawning' in an first-person shooter, as that's the closest similarity that we can draw (and it's fairly accurate).

2a: The keyword here is 'may be interested,' and that wording is specifically there for players who may want to explore that. For those who do, yes, in the period of that fourteen days, various experiments would take place. (This isn't a case of inner organs being replaced with animal organs or anything like that. It's more a case of the locals just being curious over the similarities between their people and the Chosen who come in.)

This, however, is not required. Players who want to avoid that aspect of experimentation can. We don't require mod permission or notification either way. Players cannot bypass the synthetic material replacement.

2b: This is really up to player discretion, but needs to be taken with some realistic consideration. For instance, say a portion of the body connected to muscle / tendon was replaced with a synthetic part. Since our muscles are connected from one to the other, it's feasible that a connection might feel different if the movement of the source has been replaced with a different material. If one played a character who was deeply observant or particularly well-versed regarding biology, anatomy, fitness, or other bodily health, it's feasible that they might notice something is off and we would welcome a player honouring that. (Even if they notice this, however, at this current point in time, locals will not be willing to share any information about what happened post death.)

2c: This is part of overarching storyline, but yes, we'd like for characters to eventually make this discovery and that is an intentional plot point that we'll be exploring. We don't expect this to come up until some more time in. (We'd be surprised to see it this year and would expect more to see it arise sometime next year by rough timeline.)

3. It's a synthetic part, which does fall a little into technological category, so we would welcome the malfunctioning aspect, whether that's a select portion of the brain or extremities like fingers, toes, legs, arms, and so on.

4. NPCs can experience death as the Chosen can, but the difference is that the NPCs do not experience synthetic replacement of parts. They do experience, however, experimentation, and they have their own process they go through in order to be brought back. It is very unlikely that Chosen would be able to tell when / if an NPC dies (at this current moment), unless they personally witnessed it.

Hope this helps!

[suicideprototype]

Hello, mods! While doing supplemental research into Caligula, I discovered that what I shrugged off as just quirks of the gameplay were actually meant to be powers specific to Ritsu (and I am very sorry if that puts you guys in an awkward position), and essentially, I'm wondering if it would be possible to add a couple of things to Ritsu's abilities section.

Caligula's battle system has an imaginary chain mechanic, in which you can watch how potential commands you've selected will play out in battle beforehand in order to determine which move is optimal. Ritsu has an ability that enables this known as Visions of Infinity, which lets him visualize battle possibilities up to twelve seconds into the future. This means that if he's fighting against someone he just isn't a match for, he'll be able to see that attacking this person head-on will lead to him or his allies getting quickly countered and killed. He can also share these visions with nearby allies. (However, his visions are only possibilities of potential futures, so they aren't necessarily guaranteed to come true.)

Essentially, I thought, given the way Expiation's plot has been going, that maybe this would be useful in an event where the playable characters decide to go after an NPC that actually isn't beatable at that stage! Ritsu is the definition of "curiosity killed the cat," so anything that can dissuade him from sticking his nose where it definitely does not belong, you know?

In addition to this, with the way that battles work in Caligula, new enemies can notice your fight and join in at any time, which puts you in a pretty disadvantageous position. Ritsu can prevent this with an ability known as the Perception Effect, which seems to work by making a specific target aware of his presence and location and compelling them to seek him out and initiate combat. This also then erases his presence in the eyes of other nearby enemies. Essentially, it's a handy ability that allows for dramatic 1v1 showdowns where they might otherwise be impossible. However, it can be pretty tricky to use: you have to be fairly close to your target, so if you're noticed by someone else while trying to get within range, it fails. It also sometimes pulls in more people than intended, or is repulsed entirely.

I realize that both of these abilities are pretty odd, so I apologize if any of this was unclear or difficult to understand!

[expiationmods]

Visions of Infinity could be a very interesting addition. We're fine with the addition, though we do want to emphasise that it would likely be something to discuss with any necessary parties in the future when using it comes into play. We're not expecting any problems with it, so that's mostly required mod jargon on our part. It's certainly possible to use it for events as well, such as being one of the few who would have known attacking the robed figures in Event #2 would have resulted in knowing such an attack to be fruitless.

Our feelings regarding his Perception Effect are largely the same. When it comes to Event battles with NPCs or monsters, whatever the case might be, provided these aren't skills being used to solve a situation in one-go, it's not an issue. We want to avoid anyone trying to use their skills to preemptively shut down something we've put together. Same rule would apply when it comes to other players / characters. Just communicate where it's necessary.

Consider them both retroactive and grandfathered in. You can just assume he's had access to them all along.

[nullificates]

hello mods how u doing i come with a question that i got out of nowhere, i'm not planning on anything at this present moment, but it'd be good future reference for me!

at the moment, where is the furthest place from aldrip someone might reach, to hide and/or stash someone else, or some thing...

thank you... (ominous)

[expiationmods]

This really depends on a variety of outside variables such as weather, personal health of the character, circumstance (adrenaline, for instance, would allow a character to push themselves beyond normal boundaries of the physical), and the related, so unfortunately, we don't really have a blanket response for this.

We can provide the same estimated time limits that we've given another player with regards to how long it takes to get somewhere and perhaps that will help give you some ideas on how to realistically approach this, depending on the details surrounding whenever this might possibly come into play.

Aldrip → Rumpitur: 1 Day
Aldrip → Ketsora: 3 Days
Aldrip → Tower of Narbeth: 1 Week (7 Days)
Aldrip → Gunma: 1.5 Weeks (10 / 11 Days)
Aldrip → Brorudun: 5 / 6 Days

Note that this kind of time is also impacted by where a character intends to go and what their survivability is like. Someone who's never lived off the land, for instance, might not make it out in the wilderness for more than a day or two. Someone who's never lived in a desert, probably won't last long in the Witless Desert or en route to Ketsora.

Hopefully this helps at least a little.

[beautifulleopard]

Hello mods! I'm here with two questions:

What the rooms at the inns are like approximately? I've more or less just assumed them to be mostly one person rooms with a simple kitchen, living area and bathroom. I was wondering if it's ok just to go and assume that there's bigger rooms that could possibly host two people. Would they be rooms with two different bedrooms or just have two separate beds?

Another question: is it possible to find items from neighbor towns and cities at the market place? If so what kind?

Thanks in advance!

[expiationmods]

Because we've had people in the past room with other people, in situations like that, rooms are provided that can comfortably house that. It is assumed that the rooms people have are akin to a large master bedroom, probably with a walk-in closet, and a simple place to make food / eat. We've never provided any images of what those rooms might look like as we weren't able to provide a blanket response since there are variations in how people would have residence.

Players are allowed to have some creative liberty with their living space, just so long as if it's in the inn, that it's following the main wooden, old-fashioned style of the inn. (You can refer to the image in this mingle log, for an idea on that.)

Aldrip does have travelling merchants come in from outside of Aldrip with various items. These would likely consist of foods local to wherever they came from (Rumpitur, Ketsora, etc.), materials (gemstones, metal), clothing. We're not inclined to provide an exhaustive list on this, but their inventory would likely consist of things not ordinarily found specifically in Aldrip.

[coordinatroll]

Hello, mods! I have a couple of rather canon-specific questions regarding how a character would work in the game.

The first question requires a bit of a background write-up:

spoilers for key elements of Puella Magi Madoka Magica setting

Characters in PMMM become magical girls by forming a contract with a creature called Kyubey; in exchange for a single wish, they agree to fight beings known as Witches, who are responsible for spreading curses. As they keep using their powers, their source, Soul Gems, begin to darken with impurities (experiencing feelings of distress and other negative emotions has a similar effect) and need to be periodically purified using items called Grief Seeds, which are collected from the defeated Witches. The small print catch is, should a girl fail to purify her Soul Gem for long enough, she herself turns into a Witch. The process is irreversible, and the most that can be done is put the transformed girl out of her misery.

With the above in mind, I would like to ask how it would work in-game? Would magical girls be able to harvest Grief Seeds to replenish their magical power from Witches (assuming they count as monsters that will start appearing after the character's arrival) or obtain them by other means?

The next question concerns the character specifically ─ Mitama has a unique ability that allows her to unlock lenient potential and strengthen the magical powers of other people. I was thinking that, in a panfandom environment, this could be applied to various soul-based powers. Using Persona as an example, I figure that given enough time and some guinea pigs─ I mean volunteers, she could perhaps learn how to adjust those powers the way she does for her fellow magical girls (whether it would be simply strengthening Personas, allowing the users to summon Personas with less effort, or maybe even eventually fusing them would probably depend on other players' interest). Do you think that would be an acceptable route to take with the character's powers in the game?

Thank you in advance!

[expiationmods]

In the way that other potential things that are canon-specific which will likely not have a one-for-one equivalent in the world of Expiation (for example, any character who might derive magical abilities from their home world's god / gods, characters with a special link to a life force that may exist in their original world, and so on), characters can assume there is at least that simulated experience.

To simplify, since there are no Grief Seeds in Expiation, there are a couple of different ways to approach this and we would leave this up to player discretion. One could look to the locals of the world for developing something (technological, magical, consumable, you get the idea) to combat the potential of becoming what the characters in PMMM are fighting against. One could also play with the notion that something akin to Grief Seeds would be available specifically to applicable PMMM characters, which would serve the same purpose as Grief Seeds in original canon. This is not something the moderator team has intentions of policing and therefore we would just expect players to handle that accordingly and responsibly.

If Mitama is capable of strengthening the powers of her allies in original canon, we see no reason why she wouldn't be able to eventually develop something akin to this in the world of Expiation as well. Whether this is specific to a certain power set or would only apply to applicable other characters fitting predetermined criteria, it's feasible that she would be able to have something resembling that in game. We would ask as we do with any character possessing particularly powerful abilities to use them with care and consideration for the circumstance.

Hope this helps!

[usarinpa]

hello mods!

so, at he end of may during the branding event, saito killed an NPC. i am just wondering if we can assume the NPC can be seen again at the tavern where he was once found or whether things would be different for NPCs than PC characters.

i know this is probably not an ideal time to ask, but thank you for taking the time anyway.

[expiationmods]

This is correct and a fantastic question, so thank you for asking it.

Any NPCs who die will mysteriously just reappear, resuming whatever life they were living prior to being killed. That said, the time for this is approximate and will take place between a few days and a couple of weeks. We leave this to player discretion.

Whyever could this be...? (The world may never know.)

[breakin_ur_lore]

It sounds like there's some magic that is "native" to the world, such as that used by the clerics of Aldrip and the fairy-creatures of the forest. What, if anything, would someone knowledgeable/sensitive be able to tell about this native magic? I'm thinking stuff like, does it come from a higher power or ley lines or ~the elements~ or whatever, is it used in many places throughout the land or concentrated in one spot, etc.? And, is there much information about it available to inquisitive researchers, or is it kept secret/not studied much in general?

[expiationmods]

i am so sorry i didn't get a notification for this

The magic the world uses is unlike the kind that comes from most places. It seems as if it can come from anywhere, with no real concentrated point of it. It might feel a little weak or slightly more powerful at times though, as if something might be influencing it...

There will be information on it! It just hasn't been found yet. Aldrip is pretty lacking in the way of solid information, which may or may not be purposeful on the part of the original habitants of the city.

[opheliac]

hi mods, i have a question about the charms: (i had 2 questions but i forgot what the second one was)

this is more so on the video function of the charm. i understand that when one starts a video with someone or on the network, it's a hologram. but i'm curious about one-on-one with someone (IC inbox way).

for example:

character A wants to video call/chat with character B. when they start the video call with character B, does the character b's charm automatically connects to video and character A can see what character B is doing in the video before they can answer?

kinda like so:

character A: (video starts) "hey Character B! What are -- "
character B's charm: (video connects/starts and hologram shows that character b is in the middle of eating breakfast)
character A: oh! sorry, did i catch you at a bad time?

does it work this way or does character B have to "accept" the call/video? i hope this makes sense in some way? hahaha.

[expiationmods]

It makes sense!

Characters do have to accept the call to start the conversation, and they can also end it by "hanging up" at any time. Both can be done by tapping the charms twice.

Let us know if you remember your other question!

[snowslip]

hello mods! if marianne wanted to request that the statue of her be melted down and the materials recycled, would they allow it?

if this is something i can turn in threads for as a "reward", i could do that too lol. she just finds it really embarrassing

[expiationmods]

The locals would be horrified, and even if she were to melt it down... there'd be another one the next day in her image.

They just really like you Chosen.

[snowslip]

sorry for the double post, i had another question! if a muse wanted to get involved with organizing aldrip's food and supplies for future emergencies, i'm wondering if oocly we can pursue this plot? and if so, could i run some ideas by you to know how they would be received by the townspeople? an example being speaking to merchants in town about donating to an emergency fund

[expiationmods]

You're fine!

Go ahead! If she were to explain what she was doing to the townspeople, they'd be more than happy to help where they can. Feel free to run more ideas by us on how exactly you'd like to do this if you have more!

[emet_sulk]

Dear modly mods,

Would it be acceptable to say that one may occasionally find an Earth-sized shoebill around Expiation? I have no reason for this request other than the thought of Emet-Selch and some others from FFXIV running across it and being absolutely gobsmacked that it isn't ankle-height being extremely funny.

:')

[expiationmods]

Sure! Go on ahead.

[emet_sulk]

Proper question this time: Emet-Selch is able to see the flow of aether of the natural world as well as people's souls in his canon. Is there any sort of sign to explain why everyone in Expiation might be de-powered? His wild theory is that the gods are siphoning power from everyone which means he would probably see signs of that power flowing somewhere.

If not, is there any other sort of sign he might pick up?

[expiationmods]

What Emet-Selch can pick up on is the fact that aether only seems to fuel the powers and abilities of other characters from his own world. Aside from those characters, including himself, there is no sign of anything like aether that seems to be flowing throughout the world of Expiation.

In terms of seeing peoples' souls, we would suggest you put up an opt-in for that type of ability, as it's the sort of thing players should be able to consent to beforehand.

[strength_of_will]

In William's canon it is possible for the devout to pray to a particular god for a single loaf of bread (more like a bread roll really). Is this something William would be able to do in Expiation? To be clear, it's not something that can be used to feed multiple people - only oneself.

Editing because I realised that he does pray for bread for others in canon after all. Also, small bump as I'm still waiting on an answer! ;;;

[expiationmods]

I'M SO SORRY I THOUGHT I ANSWERED THIS

But if he prays for bread, he won't get any but he will hear whisperers at times. Nothing he can make out in particular, though.

[furrowing]

Hi! I saw that your apps were open soon, and I was wondering if non-WoL OCs from an MMO like FFXIV would be OK? Assuming that the OC doesn't really tie in with canon NPCs and all.

[expiationmods]

Yes, our apps allow for fandom OCs to exist, so long as they have no pre-existing relationships with original characters from that canon.

[silvercoated]

Hello mods!

I'm hoping to app Ethel soon, and had a few questions about how certain things would work as/after she's plunged into Expiation's world.

- Many of the people within her canon, including Ethel herself, are branded with a tattoo that limits them to a lifespan of 10 years. However, at the end of the game, its seen that everyone has lost these tattoos due to the BBEG being defeated. Would it be reasonable to assume that, since the influence from these villains would no longer be able to reach her, the tattoo would no longer limit her lifespan?

- When it comes to bringing technology into the world, at what point is it considered "world breaking"? Ethel has what is essentially a small computer in her eye, and while I did read the world has access to simple computers, I wasn't sure if if hers would be considered too strong.

[expiationmods]

You're correct on your first question. The tattoo wouldn't limit her lifespan so long as she's in Expiation.

She may be able to find basic info or "capture" images with her eye, but she won't be getting updates while in the game. If she has a signal to anything, it's lost. If it gives her hacking or lockpicking abilities that she wouldn't know normally, that is also lost. Basically, it's there to limit what she may find without mod approval or consent from other players.

[ashaya]

HELLO MODS.

Quick question: in threads that have more than two characters, would you select which individual you would like to use for AC that month? For example: Character A, Character B, and Character C have a thread. As the new rules ask for a variety of characters and that one character cannot be used for more than two months in a row, I just wanted to clarify. I know that sometimes this helps develop ongoing dynamics (or new ones!), so I just wanted to be clear and wanted to ask instead of assume.

Thanks guys!