GEOSURGE
FAQ
OVERVIEW
What is Geosurge about?
This game will be exploration and survival, with a dash of optional body horror. The setting will be discovered as characters explore it, and the plot will be a mixture of mod-guided and character driven. Everything characters do will reflect upon the game and guide the way the narrative unfolds. Information within the FAQ will be updated as characters discover it, including the overall plot of the game. It is currently planned to span about two years, but players will be kept updated if that estimate changes.
Geosurge is currently invite-only; a player invite system will go into effect after the first round of apps.
How did my character get here?
The full write-up can be found here, but in short: characters don't know who brought them here or why, and there is certainly no automatic system to greet them and explain things. They will find, however, that some new arrivals have been granted strange new powers, and any lethal injuries will be partially healed, to the point of no longer being life-threatening.
APPLYING
What kind of characters can be played?
- Fandom characters.
- Canon AUs of fandom characters.
- Original characters.
- Original characters from open-world fandoms, such as World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, and Guild Wars.
- Nonhuman characters, such as robots and dragons, as long as they're sapient. They will not be made human, or altered in any way upon arrival. Please use your best judgment to determine whether a nonhuman character would be suited to the game.
- Underage characters. There is no age restriction, but the character must be suited to the dark themes of the game and able to look after themselves.
What kind of characters aren't allowed?
- Fandom OCs, such as a player-made hunter from Supernatural.
- Characters with history from previous RP games.
- Characters who have died in canon, unless they've been revived or are undead.
- Biographical characters. Highly fictionalized versions are permitted, and you are welcome to ask about the viability of specific cases.
- Character doubles. For example, if we have Peter Parker from 616, we will not accept an MCU Peter Parker.
- Fandom-created AUs. There must be official canon supporting the alternate universe you'd like to play from, and enough canon that your characterization isn't entirely extrapolation.
How many characters are allowed?
There is currently a cap of 30 characters in game, with one per player.
How do powers work?
Whatever powers characters have in their own settings will be kept intact, and not capped. If a character has a power that could break the game, or make things too easy for them, you are welcome to limit it yourself. Otherwise we ask that you explain within your app why your character would not use the powers to break the setting, if they have the potential to.
Any character that arrives in game is eligible to gain a new power upon arrival, whether they already have powers or not. This is an optional choice, and players may keep their characters as they are in canon instead.
Only one power will be granted, although there is currently no limit to what powers can be assigned. You are welcome to assign the power limits, such as number of times per day it can be used, or physical repercussions of using it, or keep it simple and straightforward, such as invisibility that can be activated at any time for any length of time. Mods reserve the right to ask a player to rework a proposed power if it seems excessive or if the character already has formidable powers of their own.
What items can a character bring with them?
Only whatever they had on them when the ground swallowed them. This includes non-sapient pets, if they are small enough to be held in the character's arms.
What about characters that have a special requirement to survive?
This will be left up to the player. If you'd like your vampire to keep drinking blood and dodging the sun, that is fine, but you are also welcome to say whatever property of arrival cures lethal wounds also cured that need.
When do apps open?
Apps will be open unless otherwise noted, or until we reach our cap of 30 characters. In the event of dropping back below the cap, applications will be reopened on a date to be announced on the OOC comm and on the application page.
OOC MECHANICS
What timezone does this game run on?
All deadlines, including Activity Check, will be on PST, GMT-8.
What are the activity requirements?
Activity counts as 7 network comments from your character, or 5 log comments, or 15 IC inbox comments, and one example is required per month. This is intended as the bare minimum of acceptable activity on months players are too busy to engage otherwise, and if this is consistently all the engagement a player shows, mods reserve the right to ask for more activity.
We also ask for a brief summary of how your character was involved with the game for the month. It can be anything from exploration, to personal projects, to character growth or interpersonal drama. No links are necessary, but we ask that you try to keep your summary under 300 words. There is no minimum length required; if you can sum it up in 20 words, that's fine too.
Because activity is so low, we don't allow strikes during activity check, and missed activity may only be excused by a hiatus. Extenuating circumstances may be brought to the mods for consideration.
How do hiatuses work?
A hiatus may be taken at any time, for any reason. One hiatus may be taken every three months, if needed. It can last up to four weeks, and will exempt a player from one activity check.
How does dropping work?
Characters who have been dropped may be re-apped by another player, but it will be a different version of the character, without memories of their previous time in game. A character can be dropped three different ways, which would affect potential re-apps by the same player.
Disappearance: The character simply wandered away and disappeared. They will be presumed dead, although no body is ever found. Using this option, the character may be re-apped by the same player with their memories intact.
Death: This may be played out, or handwaved. Drop via death constitutes a permanent drop, unless other characters are able to facilitate reviving a dead character. Otherwise the same player may re-app the same character, but it would be a new version, without memories.
Conversion: This option is not yet available, but will be uncovered and explained as setting information is discovered.
What about canon updates?
Due to the nature of the game, after characters have arrived in the setting there is no opportunity to visit home. The only option to change a chosen canon point would be to permanently drop your character and re-app a different version, without memories, from a different canon point. There are otherwise no canon updates, so choose your initial canon point carefully!
What if my character dies?
Unless characters in game have the ability to revive the dead, there is no way to bring back a deceased person, and a death would count as a drop.
IC MECHANICS
What is the in-game to out of character time ratio?
Unless otherwise stated, one day in character is the same as one day out of character. This may be temporarily changed to facilitate, for example, a fast-paced event, or an uneventful length of time.
What if my character speaks a different language from the others?
Characters will find that arrival has granted them all a common spoken language. It becomes the one they default to and think in, and only with conscious effort will they speak their native language or other learned languages. They have not been granted the same ability when it comes to the written word, and each character writes or types in whatever languages they came with.
Is there a network?
As of recently, characters have rediscovered the internet! Full information about it can be found here, but basically, it is extremely low-tech internet boards, and can only be used for text-only posts. (Although it will read the text out loud for you, in case someone is writing in a language you can't read.) It may be assumed your character finds a device (they look an awful lot like alien smartphones) shortly upon arrival to connect with.
You may also use the network for in-person gathering threads, such as this campfire post, for short and mostly-dialog exchanges. Please use the !in person tag to differentiate these from network posts.
GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
What can my character reasonably find within the setting?
A large part of the game is based around exploration and scavenging, and players don't need mod permission to assume they can find basic materials that one would expect of the setting. For example, within the city it would be reasonable to find food and drink, basic electronics and associated scrap, clothing, simple weapons, etc. Players are welcome to ask on a current mod log's question thread if it's possible to locate specific items beyond that as their characters explore, and mods will occasionally allocate special items such as military grade weapons, armor, working vehicles, etc.
Are there any NPCs?
There are currently no NPCs, but this will be updated as necessary.
What is this about plot threads?
Once a month, players may sign up for a plot thread. This will be a scheduled conversation between a player and a mod for the purpose of getting unique information about a newly encountered setting, situation, or event to the player. You can think of it as a typical conversation with a DM while exploring in a tabletop game: the mod will describe the setting and the player may interact with it via their character, and receive immediate results, reactions, and feedback. Together the mod and player will explore the scenario as fully as the character would care to, usually to unlock some new information or part of the setting. You can find more information and an example thread here.
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With regards to the water in the city:
1. At this point, if I read the setting right, there are no intact bridges. What is the state of the foundations of the bridges, and/or the extent of the damage? Asking in order to get an idea where would be feasible to rebuild using a different style.
2. Is the city water currently safe to drink without being filtered or boiled?
3. Is there flora growing in the rivers as well as in the fountains, and if so, is it healthy? (And edible, if healthy?)
4. Is there evidence of any boats on these rivers/the wreckage of any in the rivers? Who knows what recreational activities this city had before!
5. Are these rivers in natural basins or are they in person-made structures? More like are these natural or cultivated rivers flowing through the city, or are they waterways flowing through cement aqueducts?
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1. There might be a few intact bridges — they weren’t destroyed with any specific intention, but as a byproduct of whatever chaos happened here. It would not be difficult to patch up, rebuild, or create makeshift bridges over the smaller channels. The waterways are larger and wider toward where they drain into the shanty town, and so those bridges were sturdier and are now largely more intact. Those that are broken down, though, are probably too large a project for the time being.
2. It is not; it’s been sitting stagnant for a long time.
3. There is flora along the water, and it does not give any sign that there’s anything wrong with the water beyond the stagnation. Eating them would be fine.
4. The waterways in the city at large were mostly ornamental, and not large enough for boats — but toward the shanty town and the lake therein, one might find a few motorized leisure boats long gone out of commission.
5. The rivers are entirely person-made; all the water in this area was guided by the hand of civilization. It’s a series of grates and pipes in the Industrial district, underground aqueducts shown off by ornamental grating in Downtown, highly decorative water features in the Residential district, and more naturalistic cultivated rivers in the shanty town, ending in a lake at the westmost edge (which drains out into the underground sewers.)
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4. Wonderful! Are any intact enough to be slept in?
5. Ooooh so it drains out into the sewers! Where this draining point occurs, is there any like... what words do I want. Is the mechanism by which this drains evident? Such as a sucking hole in the water, a large grate, a stopped up area in the lake bottom because (insert reason here)?
Thank you so much for all these answers!
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4. Sure, go for it, become the boat hobo of your dreams, Licyn.
5. There is a grate at the center of the lake, incorporated into the design of it (it was probably once a fountain with ornamental lights, but of course none of that functions anymore).
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Edit: no wait hold on I have a further question now that it's in my brain, what happens if she tries to talk with them? Would they run away? Ignore her? Would they tell her anything, even if it is cryptic?! Would this be something I'd have to try to get a plot thread for?!?
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To the east, opposite side of the city where the new arrivals had approached, there is something small, dark, and jagged looking, that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the dull, rocky landscape. It could just be a large, oddly shaped, dark rock. Even with her eagle eyes, it's difficult to say.
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If someone where to have a decent knowledge of like... distance and math or whatever (which Max has and I obviously do not), roughly how many miles out would the dark shape be?
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im planning a lil adventure with a few folks, would it be better to ask for details here or should i pm you so we can work it out?
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1) Do the cars in the city run on fuel or some other kind of power source?
2) Can Max makes one functional?
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if max were to make a compass (the water and needle kind) does the planet have a polar north?
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