⬡ General Info
⬡ Applications
⬡ IC Info
⬡ Technology
⬡ Game Mechanics
⬡ OOC Info
GENERAL INFO
⬡ Wtf is this game?
Kostka is a panfandom, scifi, survival/horror jamjar, with elements of psychological and body horror (in varying, opt-out-able levels) peppered along with your general monster movie fair, driven by character interaction and influence with heavy meta-plot guided by regular mod events. Set on a mobile ship traversing through differing dimensions, characters are transported into semi-organic, synthetic bodies that replicate their canon form, able to be upgraded with powers through bonus AC rewards, and brought onto the crew to assist a debilitated AI in escaping a force destroying the multiverse, while they seek to salvage what remains of life. Events will feature some known canon worlds (like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Bioshock, etc), along with some uniquely built between mods and player world-building. This game is invite-only, and we have a player cap of 30, with two character slots available for each player. The game has been inspired by: Battlestar Galactica, SOMA, Altered Carbon, Mass Effect, Passengers, Black Mirror, and various others.
⬡ Invite Only:
You must be invited by either a mod or a player currently in game to app. The apps will have a section on them where you can state who has invited you. You do not need an invitation to play on the TDM or reserve, only to apply.
⬡ Player / Character Caps:
30 players, each player gets 2 character slots. If we hit our player cap but not our character cap (60), in-game players that do not want to app a second character can volunteer their second character slot to a new player, but both old and new player can only have one character in game each, until we go under the player cap again.
⬡ Activity Requirements:
Provide one proof of the following: » 1 open log / network post
» 8 network comments
» 5 log / action style comments
» 12 inbox comments If you’re doing action tags in an inbox, you may count those as log/action style tags. We’re separating out network and inbox comments, though, for the sake of encouraging network tagging and activity on the comm posts.
Upon joining the game, your welcome message will have a link to the AC page, where you will start a thread for your characters. Each month, you can use the code form we provide to record your AC, along with your bonus AC. We will check that post for everyone’s activity on the 1st of each month, and post a warning list of those who haven’t replied yet. You will have 5 days from that warning list to reply with your AC.
⬡ Bonus AC Rewards:
Git u sum points, MORE TO GO HERE once we figure out a system.
⬡ IC:OOC Day Ratio:
1:1, the game runs in real time, because we’re lazy. If that needs to change, we can discuss it as a game later on.
⬡ What timezone does this game run on OOC?
For the sake of simplicity, we’re running on EST, and most things will probably be done at 8pm or 9pm EST, since one mod works an office job and the other gets scared when she’s alone.
⬡ Why hexagons tho?
Don’t ask stupid questions.
APPLICATIONS
⬡ Appable characters:
YES: Canon characters, OCs, Dead characters, Canon AUs, Characters 16+ year olds.
⬡ Not Appable characters:
NO: Fandom OCs, Fandom AUs, Historical figures (not from an alternate fictional canon like Assassin's Creed, Hamilton, The Borgias, etc), Characters under 16 years old (unless aging up, see more below)
⬡ Multiple versions of the same character:
We will allow up to 3. So you can have MCU Peter Parker, 616 Peter Parker aaand Spider-Verse Peter Parker.
⬡ Face Twins:
If you are apping in with the same PB that a currently in game character is already using, you MUST ask that player if they are alright with your character looking identical to theirs/being a face twin. If they say yes, go for it. If they say no, you can still app your character and use that PB, but it will be understood by the game at large that the two characters with the same PB are not identical. They will only look very similar, but not enough that one could be mistaken for the other. If you do not get an answer from the other player, assume the latter is true by default. The latter will be true for all NPCs that might share PBs with PCs. Please be sure to notate somewhere clearly visible on your character's profile or permissions page whether or not they are identical to the other character using the same PB, or only similar, for the ease of others tagging you. The game will not accept any more that 3 face twins of the same character at a time.
⬡ CRAUs:
CRAUs are allowed, and when it comes to the ‘3 multiple versions’ count, they’ll be considered as if they are an OU. For example, if we have Amazing Spider-Man!Gwen Stacy (CRAU) + Spider-Verse!Gwen Stacy, then we cannot have a Amazing Spider-Man!Gwen Stacy (Non-CRAU) app in. But, if someone came along wanting to app Gwenpool!Gwen Stacy, we could accept that, regardless of previous CR coming in or not. Basically: ignore CRAU, you don't have to put that anywhere except in the initial app saying what development is coming in with them - we only want to know what version of canon they're from.
⬡ New Canon Limitations:
New canon material (movie, episode, manga chapter, whatever) must have been out for 2 weeks, at least, before it can be apped from or canon updated to. Even then, we still advise putting spoiler warnings on all content regarding that new canon.
⬡ IC Age Restrictions:
Due to the mature nature of the game, we’re putting an age restriction on appable characters. Characters must be 16 years or older to be in game. We will allow aging up, but we ask that you fill out the ‘suitability’ section on the app to explain how the character will fit the game realistically while remaining IC.
⬡ How many characters can one player app?
Each player gets two character slots. You can app them both in the same round, if you like. You may reserve up to 2 characters at a time.
⬡ Application rounds:
For now, we’re setting apps up as monthly rounds, for the sake of simplicity. We may adjust this for them to be always open later, but for the time being, we’d like to contain them to a few days. Apps will be open from the 5th of each month (at 8PM EST) to the 10th (at 8PM EST).
⬡ Cast Cap:
As this game is pretty small, we are going to start out this first app round with a cast cap of 5 characters per canon. After that, we'd like to get to a point that no cast takes up more than 20% of the game's total population, as we know the size may fluctuation. Ideally, we won't be lumping some of the canons with different iterations together. For example, Final Fantasy 7, 8, 14, and 15 would not all go under one "Final Fantasy" franchise section, but we do recognize that this could potentially get unwieldy, if we end up with 15 different Final Fantasy casts all at 5 people each. With that in mind, this rule is subject to change, but we hope we won't need to go that far with it.
IC INFO
⬡ Arrival:
Characters arrive into the game via an upload of their mind to a HOST body held in a cryo pod on the Kostka IV (see here for HOST details), which will morph to resemble the last body your character was in. When they wake in the cryo pod (after a jolt of electricity to kick-start the HOST body), they’ll be completely naked, no items brought with them, arising from a lovely blue goo with cables and tubes attached to their person (or shoved in all the non-pelvic orifices, it’s a good time). Something new PCs will notice: there is a tattoo shaped like a hexagon on the back of each character's neck, with an ID code written inside of it, like: IV 01-738-84739
From there, all the cryo pod halls lead into a small medbay, where you'll find a stack of bedsheets folded up and waiting on one of the exam tables. Dry off all the space goop from your person (Or, you know, eat it - it tastes kind of like fruity Sprite) and make a toga, because that's all the clothing you'll get until you make your way to the storage vault (about a ten minute walk), for your own, personal, loud orange jumpsuit. You’re released into the wild, blue yonder of the Kostka IV. Try not to die.
⬡ Injuries, prosthetics, etc:
The HOST bodies will heal any fatal injuries the characters have at their current canon point (including death), but if you’d like to keep any of the lesser ones, you’re welcome to. Or you can have those healed too. Whatever you like, follow your dreams. As for prosthetics, like Bucky Barnes’ metal arm, we leave it up to player discretion if you’d like them to keep those prosthetics or show up without them, however, if they do show up with those prosthetics, they must be depowered as far as strength or anything else super-human goes. So, Bucky Barnes can have his robo-arm, but he can’t rip car doors off with it until he cashes in his AC Bonus points to get his canon powers back. If they do not show up with their prosthetics, everything on the ship is pretty glitchy, so it would be ICly explained that the transfers aren’t always 100% accurate. Glasses: characters needing things like glasses will not wake up with them, but upon running into the droids, who will do a quick medical scan of them, they will zip off, and zip back about 10 minutes later with a new pair of glasses for your character. You’re welcome. (Or, just decide to fix their eye sight with the HOST body. Whatever you want.)
⬡ Where am I?:
The Kostka IV! It’s a big ass spaceship! In space! This will be explained to characters upon entry. Unless brought in during a specific event, characters will most often be in some part of unknown space, in some unknown dimension.
⬡ Why am I here?:
Because something is rapidly destroying the multiverse, and the AI that’s trying to save humanity / warn the rest of the multiverse needs a crew to keep her going. Your world is in line to be destroyed anyway, so what better do you have to be doing?
⬡ Can I leave?:
Sure, airlock’s right over there.
⬡ What happens if I do?:
Ya ded.
Ripley will explain to characters that she does not know what happens if they aren’t re-uploaded to a new HOST body after killing their last one. She assumes they’re simply deleted information. But she does ask, if someone plans to kill themself, please leave her fancy, synthetic skin-suit behind. Just let her euthanize you instead. You’re wasting resources. (PS, if your character plans to do this, please hit up the plot request page)
⬡ What’s up with this AI, why is she weird?
RIP (Responsive Intelligent Personality) is Kostka IV's onboard AI. Ripley has ultimate control over all ship functions and facilities - on Kostka IV, Ripley is God. However, due to severe data corruption, and extensive damage from an unknown event prior to the game’s start, she’s having a lot of trouble keeping the ship going. Ripley is Not All There. Sadly, she's going a little bit wonky, and warring with herself while simultaneously trying to keep a ship that would normally take hundreds and hundreds of people to run it operating with just herself and a team of droids (also powered by her). Run low on physical resources, uncorrupted data space, and processing capacity, Ripley has to reduce herself down to the most basic and necessary functions to be certain she still has the ability to make transdimensional jumps and outrun what’s hunting the ship, and those aboard it.
As PCs take on more responsibilities on the ship, and thus relieve the droids (which are extensions of Ripley) of the need to handle them, Ripley will be capable of taking on more processes and unlocking more parts of the ship/resources for PCs to utilize.
PS: Ripley loves K-Pop.
⬡ Inventory:
You have no inventory :( PCs wake up naked and stuff-less. Sorry, friends. If there is something generic that your character needs to survive (like medicine, etc), the HOST bodies will adjust their biological systems to function without it. If there’s a special scenario your character has with an item, drop us a question down below, and we’ll figure it out with you.
⬡ Powers:
HOST bodies start out as baseline human, because Ripley does not have the resources/sanity to spare to upgrade their bodies, thus no one will have powers when they first enter the game. BUT they will be able to regain canon powers/add new powers through purchasing rewards with Bonus AC Points. ICly: the more the players thread, the more (we assume) they are working to keep the ship running, the more processing and data stress they are taking off Ripley, the more allowance Ripley has to expend on powering up her new children. If your character needs a power to survive (Like Cable, who uses his telekinesis to hold back the disease that is killing him), the HOST bodies will adjust the character’s biology to function without it/not transfer over the disease. If, for some reason, that does not work for your character, or blocks out something core to their personality, drop us an explanation below, and we can figure something out with you.
⬡ Powers Buy-Back / Bonus AC + Limitations:
Canon Powers Buy-Back is set at a lower price than purchasing new powers, as Ripley does not need as much data and processing power to recreate something that there’s already “blueprints” for within a character’s mind/biology. New powers will cost a bit more, as it’s something she’ll have to create out of nothing. (If your CRAU gained new powers in their last game, those will be considered the same as canon powers - you buy them back with the "Canon Powers Buy-Back" reward.) This is for the sake of not making you play a character without the fun bits for too long. That said, there will be some events that depower characters again, explained by a strain on the HOST bodies to keep up, or their ‘life batteries’ being sapped. It’s a survival/horror game, we don’t want to make it too easy on you.
This said, there will be limitations placed on canon powers once they are brought back, and we'd like you to go over those in your application (please list all canon powers in the apps - if they aren't there, you won't be able to buy them back in game). We cannot allow any game breaking powers, and all destructive powers (like strength, pyromancy, telekinesis, etc) must be limited to pick-up truck sized area of effect. So, destroy a truck, lift a truck, set a truck sized area on fire, turn a truck into slime, etc etc. You guys get the idea. Use your own judgment on limiting powers, and if something isn't nerfed enough, we'll discuss it with you in the app process. No one will be declined just for power adjustments.
It's a horror game, we need to keep it threatening, so Doctor Manhattan is just gonna have to chill his ass out.
⬡ Vampires / Zombies / Ghosts / Werewolves Whatever:
Supernatural creatures come in baseline human until they're able to upgrade. Once they do upgrade, it will be up to you if they change their physiological states to require the same needs they'd have in canon (ie, vampires and blood), or take only the pros and leave out the cons. Up to the player. OOCly it can be argued that Ripley's only able to calibrate with the specific canon template, and thus cons must come with pros, etc etc. It can vary per character, as this is all incredibly new and untested technology. Up to player discretion.
⬡ Non-Humanoid characters/features:
If your character does not have a humanoid body in canon (like Wheatley, JARVIS, or a Transformer), the HOST body will generate a random one for them (Player’s choice OOCly). If your character is still humanoid but with slight changes, like pointed ears for Elves, or horns and tails for Teiflings, the HOST body can accommodate those within reason. Wings would probably be pushing it (and given they’d usually allow flight, would need to be bought with Bonus AC for canon powers), but if there’s something you’re not sure about, feel free to drop us a question about it below.
TECHNOLOGY
⬡ Droids:
All through the ship, there are tiny little helper droids zipping through the vessel, managing tasks and tending to the ship. If something breaks, about 5 of them immediately show up to fix it. They do not respond to Walkers (PCs), do not talk, and will only beep increasingly loudly at any PC’s attempting to detain them, until eventually setting off an EMP, shutting down the PC’s HOST body for about an hour before it's able to reboot. Once they wake, no matter what room or trap or what-have-you they've been contained in, the droid will be gone. For more about the droids, visit the technology page. If a player wishes to plot some shenanigans with them, please post a comment to the plot requests page.
⬡ HOST bodies:
HO/ST: Holistic Occupancy/Synthetic Terminal (yes, you may call yourself a HO if you like). These are artificial, semi-organic, absurdly advanced, generically humanoid bodies that morph to replicate the body the uploaded mind was inside of at the time of their canon point (special circumstances (like fatal wounds) may cause alterations). They start in the cryo pods, housed in a blue space-soup looking goo, that is edible, highly nutritious, and completely sanitary. Of course, once the pod is open, that sanitation can no longer be 100% guaranteed, but you get what we mean. HOSTs are woken up with a jolt of electricity, like taking a hit from a defibrillator, times 10, thus activating the HOST body and kicking it into life. Because the HOST bodies have never walked before being uploaded with a mind and released from the pods, PCs start out with Bambi legs, having to re-teach themselves what walking is, and get over the muscle atrophy and stiffness of the body. They will be told that consuming the cryo fluid, or staying in their pod for longer, will accelerate this process. For more information, see the Technology Page.
⬡ Network:
There is no phone device thing or wristband that characters will use to access the network, as they do not need them. The HOST bodies are designed to interlink with ease, so communication can be done through Text, Audio, Video or Projection (more info on that below). Projection, however, is very trippy, and Ripley will not be unlocking that one until she has the space freed up to work on it (so get working, little worker bees). For more information, see the Technology Page.
⬡ Projection:
Projection will become available, once characters unlock/figure it out/Ripley has the spare resources for it. Projection is about what it sounds like - a holographic projection of the PC broadcasting the message appears within the visual perception of all PCs that accept the message.
Example: Tony Stark wants to show everyone his new dance, so he broadcasts a Projection invitation. Leon Kennedy likes dances, so he accepts this invitation, and he can now see a holographic (non-tangible), life-sized version of Tony Stark dancing around his quarters. Should Leon Kennedy wish to reply to this Projection with his own, he will send a Projection Request himself, and if Tony Stark accepts, he will see a holographic (non-tangible), life-sized version of Leon Kennedy golf clapping for him. However, Hannibal Lector has decided he is done with Tony Stark's shit. He declines the request/invitation to receive Tony's Projection, and all Tony gets in response is a text notice stating "Hannibal Lector (IV 00-001-84739) has declined your Projection request". Hannibal Lector experiences no extra visual interferences.
A Projection cannot be forced, and it will only allow 3 requests to be sent before blocking the sender with a spam violation for up to 24 hours. For more information, see the Technology Page.
⬡ Can we talk to Ripley?
Sure. If it isn’t urgent (or if it’s a question she doesn’t want to answer), she might ignore you for a while. Usually, she’ll send you some K-Pop while you’re waiting for her reply. Send her a message in Ripley's inbox.
⬡ Why K-Pop tho?
Don’t ask stupid questions.
GAME MECHANICS
⬡ Jobs:
See the Jobs Spreadsheet (once I've put it together). Each sector will have a limited number of job slots in them, so that the workforce is well spread out. Every character will be randomly assigned a job from the open slots available when they first enter the game, but if there is an open slot in another sector they would rather be doing, so long as they have the training for it, they can transfer. All they need do is contact Ripley to request the transfer, and if the spot is open and they tell her they can handle that job, she'll allow it. Should she notice that they're not attending to that job in the way they should, back to the old job they go.
⬡ What if I don’t want to do a job?
You sleep in the atrium and eat algae and get zero luxuries until you contribute better.
⬡ What if I still don’t want to do a job?
Ripley disconnects you. You’re wasting resources. (Please hit up the plot request page for this, as we'll want to plot with you directly for what happens during disconnection. There will be a period of no IC contact, and it won't be a process she will repeat forever without deciding on euthanasia instead D: Contact us, and we can work with you on it! )
⬡ Death:
There are spare HOST bodies, but they’re a limited supply. Ripley will allow up to 3 HOST bodies per person before she stops reloading them, and each reload comes with damage to the individual’s mind and physical functions. If you plan on having your character die, please hit up the plot request page.
OOC INFO
⬡ Canon Updates:
We do allow canon updates! The IC way they works is that Ripley makes some kind of executive decision to patch that individual during the night. The droids escort them to their cryo pod for sleep (unless they're already in there, then they'll be gentle put into sleep mode and worked on), and while they are unconscious, Ripley runs the patch on them. Their memories will update, their body will update, but any change in powers will not. They will need to make a new purchase for a power change (use the Canon Powers Buy-Back option again, basically).
⬡ Hiatus:
There are two options for hiatusing your character. 1) The character is on auto-pilot, you can toss up a post on the OOC comm detailing what they’ll be up to, what can be handwaved, if anyone has authority to make assumptions/godmod them, etc. Or, 2) Cryo sleep. If we go with cryo sleep, it means that the HOST body has started to malfunction (this is experimental tech, after all), and the Ripley has had her droids escort the character back to their cryo pod to enter a state of cryo sleep similar to what the HOST body had been in prior to initial arrival into the game. It may take her a good amount of time and processing power to work through what is malfunctioning with the HOST body, and get it fixed. During that time, the body must be offline to ensure no further damage.
⬡ Drop:
The HOSTs, mind saves, and with the cross-dimensional transfers are all extremely experimental and volatile tech. Not every dimensions operates with the same laws of physics, biology and technology. It doesn’t always work, and it doesn’t always hold flawlessly. When a character is dropped, the droids with gather up the HOST body and return it to the original cryo pod it emerged from. The lid will fog again, and it will fill with the same, blue, cryo soup fluid. In something strangely like mourning, RIP will project a fractal lotus onto the lid of the pod. Should anyone ask, she explains with ‘In Greek mythology, the lotus is a legendary plant that induces a dreamy forgetfulness, and an unwillingness to depart.’
⬡ Events:
Major events will occur on a 3 month cycle (we think, we’ll see how it goes), and nearly all involve docking at another planet, ship or station - a setting change. Some mod events needed to advance the plot may differ, but the idea is to give a couple months for player plots and smaller events, with a larger one taking up a good chunk of the last month in that cycle. Again, this may change depending on pacing and playerbase feedback.
Major, environment changing events will either be original ideas from us (in which case, we will open up an OOC post to the playerbase to volunteer ideas for world building), or canon worlds, like Rapture, Dead Space or Silent Hill, etc. Docked mission objectives: the highest priority will typically be finding friendly, sentient life forms to bring onboard, or at least genetic samples of them, so that Ripley can continue to preserve life/restock on life, as her lifeform count is kinda low right now. Secondary, is collect resources. Third would be recon, to learn about their enemy and try to find ideas or new resources that will help protect the ship and crew survive.
⬡ Player plots:
Give them to us! Our goal is to try our best to let you guys thread whatever the fuck you want. That said, we don’t want to break the game, or plug in stuff that doesn’t make sense with Ripley, the ship, or the world at large. If we have to tell you no one some aspect of a plot, we will try our best to provide alternate solutions or ideas. To request a player plot, or for any other plot idea that might affect the game at large, have a significant impact on Ripley or the ship, or has otherwise been mentioned as something we’d like you to come to us about before executing it ICly (like launching your character our an airlock), please hit up the plot requests page.
⬡ Codes and stuff:
Want some codes? Have some codes. You don’t have to use them, but there they are!
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HUMANOID NON HUMAN question
Thank you!
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And that is correct about the physical benefits - breathing underwater and increased resistances would have to be bought with AC.
Thank you!
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