Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I play?

This is a "Gladiator-style" Role-Playing Game (RPG). Basically, the game is "played" by a Storyteller (GM). Once you create a character, it falls to the GMs to include your character in their stories. You control your character by governing its daily activities, spending earned Experience points, and purchasing/maintaining his or her equipment. You perform these actions through e-mail, as explained in the Rules.

2. Who can I play as?

You have two choices. First, you can play as a pre-existing character (PEC), a character that was made by someone else, like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII or DC's Superman. Should you choose to play a PEC, I would hope that you stick to the PEC's character. Superman would never go around killing people for no reason, after all. The second option is to create your own character. I strongly encourage anyone to make their own character. Player created characters (PCC) aren't restricted to a PEC's set personality and tend to be more fun to play. However, a PCC cannot be a clone of another character. For instance, someone is already playing as Batman and George decides to make a character named Nighthawk. Because George likes Batman so much, he gives Nighthawk the same personality, background, friends, and equipment as Batman. Nighthawk is nothing more than a clone of Batman and thus, won't be accepted into the game.

3. How many characters can I control? What's a Companion and how do I get one?

If you've read the Rules, you should already know that you can only control one (1) character. If I find that you are in fact controlling multiple characters, I will simply delete all your character from the game. As stated on the Rules page (which you should have already read), babysitting someone else's character is considered the same as controlling multiple characters and will get your's and the babysat character deleted.

That being said, there is a loophole to this rule that comes in the form of Companion characters. A Companion character (or Henchperson) is a support character that you can acquire through a Storyline, usually written by myself. Companions are essentially nothing more than a second or third character that you can legally control. There are a few caviates, though.

Firstly, all Companion characters are considered "temporary," that is, they may leave if angered or abused by your main character. It's best to give them a break from activity and/or give them a gift every once in a while. Keep the Companion happy and they'll stay with you. Secondly, all Companions are more prone to die in a Storyline. Assuming you've kept him or her happy, a Companion is more willing to take a killing blow meant for your main character. Finally, any and all items purchased or found by your Companion are his or her's. A Companion will not simply give up their gear because you tell them to. You can offer to purchase an item from a Companion, though.

4. What's a Storyteller?

A Storyteller (or GM) can be considered the only true "player" in the game. He or she is responsible for creating and writing a Storyline, including his or her own character(s), the characters of a pre-determined number of other player characters and/or Companions, as well as a number of Non-Player Characters (NPCs) that he or she may create specifically for the Storyline. Anyone can become a Storyteller; however, there are a few requirements that must be followed:

• A GM must be willing to include at least two (2) other player characters and/or Companion characters in addition to his or her own character(s) in the Storyline. A GM's character(s) may be the driving force of the story, but the other characters must have prevalent roles as well. It is preferable to include as many player characters as possible, keeping in mind that the more characters there are, the harder it is to find something for everyone to do.
• A Storyline must be completed in a timely manner. Do not begin a Storyline unless you know you can complete it in the given span of time.
• You must be literate in the (North American) English language. While this might sound bigoted, this site is coded in English and I will not accept something written in another language as acceptable material. That includes anything that mimics or paraphrases the English language, such as "bad" English, 1337Z0l2Z, Ebonics, Morse code, or Braille. Proper usage of grammar and a high degree of spelling accuracy are also preferred, but not absolutely required.

5. What are my Stats and what do they mean?

The Statistics (Stats) for this game are borrowed from the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (game rules © 1998 TSR, Inc.) and include your character's Strength, Agility, Intellect, and Willpower. Each Stat has a value between 1 and 30, but most characters will never have a stat over 10 (in fact, a newly created character may not even start with more than one Stat over 10). Each Stat and the meaning of its corresponding value can be found in the following table:

In addition to personal Strength, every material on the planet has a material strength. A material's strength is key in many Powers, Stunts, and Limits. A table of material strengths and example weights (for lifting) follows. To lift an item with "weight equal to" whatever, you need either a Strength score or Power intensity (Telekinesis, Magnetic Control, etc) of the listed "Material Strength."

6. What does my character start with?

When creating your new character, you have 15 Stat Points, 4 Skill Points, 40 Power Points, and 30 Freebie Points. All characters begin play with 100 Cash, Resource Rank 1, Health 10, and a Level equal to 1/2 of the average of all other players (or Level 1, whichever is higher).

7. How do I earn Experience/gain Levels?

In case it hasn't been explained yet, your character's "Level" is little more than his or her total Experience, therefore in gaining Experience you are gaining "leveling up" at the same time. That said, there are currently only two ways to earn Experience/Levels: Storylines and Idle Training.

Experience rewards for a Storyline can vary greatly, depending on a number of factors such as length (number of weeks) and activity (what's accomplished in the Storyline), amongst others. Storylines are a weekly affair, posted only on Sundays and usually require a roll call by the writer on the forum. All Storyline rewards are subject to my approval, but I usually go with what the writer suggests.

A character can also gain Experience through monotonous Idle Training, either solo or group. Solo Idle Training is a 3-day activity, after which the character gains 1 Experience/Level. Group (2 or more people) Idle Training is a 2-day activity, after which the characters involved each gain 1 Experience/Level. Note that Group Training requires that all characters involved start and end the training on the same day.

8. How do I earn Cash?

Like earning Experience, there are two ways to earn Cash: Storylines and Working. As with Experience, Cash is also a common reward for a Storyline, usually split evenly amongst all involved characters. Generally, these Cash rewards are rather generous and can be considered the main source for Cash in the game.

The other way to earn Cash is to have your character Work. A character gains Cash equal to his or her Resource Rank (RR) times 100 each day he or she Works. For example, The Ram has a RR of 1, while The Beaver has a RR of 5; The Ram gains 100 each day, The Beaver 500. A character can only increase his or her RR with my permission, and will only gain said permission after having Worked for an extended period (mimicing a pay raise). Raising one's RR costs Experience equal to the current RR.

9. What forms of travel are there and how do I go about acquiring a vehicle?

There are four forms of travel in the game: walking, driving, flying, and boating. Walking requires nothing more than a desire to travel to a new location. It takes 7 days to travel by foot to or from a main planet section to or from any sub-section (or 14 days to travel between sub-sections). Driving requires an automobile (see Nappa's Junk Yard) and the Driving Skill. Like walking, it takes 7 days to travel, but this time is reduced by the vehicle's quality. Boating is similar to driving (see Nappa's Junk Yard), but requires the Boating Skill instead.

Flying is quite different from the other three forms. Each planet page (access from the Locations page) has a table of values for flight which replace the 7 day base travel time for the other travel types. To pilot an aircraft, you must have the Piloting Skill and like driving, these times are further reduced by vehicle quality (see Nappa's Junk Yard). In addition, travel between planets is accomplished through flight; however, only spacecraft can even attempt spaceflight and a character must have both the Piloting and Spacecraft Skills. The Locations page features a table of travel times for interplanetary travel which can be traversed with a purchased space ship (see Nappa's Junk Yard).

In addition to purchasing a vehicle, certain Powers also reduce travel time. Lightning Speed (without the Burst Only limit) reduces like driving, with the time equal to (7 times intensity/30). Flight acts in the same manner, only with the Base times from the planet's page (Base times intensity/30). Similarly, Space Flight lets you travel in Space, but you must also possess intensity 15+ Life Support (naturally or with an Artifact) to do so (time equals Base times intensity/30).

10. Why is So-and-so's character more powerful than mine?

Each player chooses a character (original or existing) when they join the game. Some people choose to play twinkish characters, some people prefer more normal characters. If another character is more powerful than your's, well, that player thinks playing such a character is fun. Note that most people find it hard to write content for super-powerful characters, so playing a less powerful character may actually give you an advantage.... That said, if you're playing a weak character, there's no one to blame but yourself....

11. What's the point of this game?

The point of most games is to have fun. This game provides several methods for which this can happen, but in the end you must chose to pursue what you find fun on your own. Some examples are writing interesting stories (if you like writing), learning as many Powers as possible, maxing out your Stats, Level grinding, seeking riches, getting lots of toys, or perhaps creating your own character from scratch. In the end it's up to you.