Perks are your character's special abilities beyond the baseline. Anyone can walk, talk, read(unless they have a complication otherwise) and otherwise perform basic actions, but Perks allow you to do more. They describe how your character will approach problems, and how adept they are at solving them with those approaches.
In general, your Perks should cover anything unusual about your character. They need not cover every ability, just any ability that would reasonably be used in RP. Everything from a swordsman's skill with sword, to a magician's flight spell.
Perks have a short description which is around 80 characters maximum, or a mid-length sentence. This should give a good idea of what the Perk can do at a glance. If you find yourself unable to condense the Perk into this sentence, that is a sign that your Perk should be two Perks. If after splitting your Perks you find yourself with a very extensive list of Perks, you may be running into making your character too capable.
Perks also have an optional list of Tags. These are standardized effects which have their own predefined rules already listed, and indicate something about the Perk at a glance. Commonly these are for NPCs, for Copy abilities, or to indicate Edge can be spent for a special effect.
The following is a brief list of banned sorts of perks. This may be expanded as staff encounter perks apped which prove to be too problematic to support, or examples that they did not consider before. In some(but not all) cases, these restrictions may be loosened for apped Plots.
* Straight Immortality. Immortality must have a reasonable catch, and characters must have some ability to lose something when engaging in serious conflict. If a character cannot reasonably fear death, they break this rule. Note that they do not need to fear death and can believe themselves incapable of dying, it just can't be true.
* Time Travel into the past. You can't normally change events that have occurred on the Mush. This restriction is a little complicated, but sums up as being unable to negate previous RP.
* Immunities and Absolutes are banned. You cannot be entirely immune to something, or have an absolute that infringes upon other players. For example, you cannot have an instant kill attack that works on other players, nor a defense that completely blocks a certain kind of damage, etc. If you want to have effects like these, recognize that they are subject to the consent of other players to honor them.
* Literal game mechanics. This applies to both video games and tabletop games. In brief, you should adapt your abilities to something reasonable for a realistic world, and handwave away even in-universe justification for game mechanic abilities. See the Game Mechanics subtopic for more.
Some Perks require closer monitoring, because they can easily result in arguments, abuse, or just spoiling fun for most players. These Perks are not banned, but abuse of them can lead to revocation of rights to apply for them if the player makes no effort to correct their behavior. As always, this list is not complete because there will always be situations we haven't thought of in advance. Use common sense.
* Mind control or similar forced action/corruption abilities. Anything that makes a character perform differently from how they normally would is limited to consent, obviously, for PCs and their associated NPC Perks. Any mind control, even of unattached NPCs, may last for a single scene only, unless applied for and approved by staff in a Plot. Mind control may last more than one scene without an app for an NPC if the player Commits an Edge.
* Alteration and enhancement powers fall under similar rules. Monster of the Week powers are ideal for this, but anything more than one scene requires a plot, apping an upgrade, or Committing Edge. In the case of some abilities like Boss abilities, these do not need a Committed Edge because they are recruited in the background, but acquiring one from someone else's scene does require a Committed Edge, should they agree to it.
* Power granting abilities, similar to the above, can be used on PCs. These should have their own limitations in the power description, but will always be considered single scene enhancements unless an upgrade app is filed. In some cases the recipient of the power(not the one who granted it) may request to keep it longer, and they must Commit an Edge to do so. This is to be done in the interim while an upgrade application is being written and reviewed.
* Crafting abilities, especially for high-tech characters, are in effect a version of power granting. Crafting disciplines should be relatively limited in effect, and the more broad a crafting character is, the less impressive their inventions. Note that an apped plot can allow a crafting character to do more than is normal, so Tony Stark could make a plot that involves building Ultron even if doing so is far beyond his abilities to use in normal scenes. As with power granting, any significant addition to a character's arsenal requires an upgrade application, and Committing an Edge to use it in the interim. Minor crafting enhancements that do not significantly increase abilities do not require this. For example, a gunsmith giving a gunslinger a new gun is not a significant upgrade unless it gives a much different ability, like allowing an area of effect when the gunslinger's Perks specifically forbid it before.
NPCs controlled by a player have their own special entries in the advantages system, with their own special tags in addition to any tags that the NPC itself may possess. Each NPC has a tag for the Tier they may operate at(or a range of Tiers), and a tag indicating the type of NPC. NPCs may be one of four types, each with their own subtopic covering the details of these types, with the possible addition of a fifth type, but a short summary is provided here.
Feature - Feature NPCs are tied closely to the character, and provide most of their ability, such as a summoner's pacted beast. This tag is added to one of the below tags.
Named - These NPCs are capable of being full characters by themselves, and operate largely independently of the character.
Boss - Boss NPCs are unnamed NPCs. They may have a name when being used, but they are intended to be temporary NPCs which may last more than one encounter.
MotW - Short for 'Monster of the Week,' these are short-term NPCs lasting no more than two encounters, with strict rules for deployment but very loose rules for capabilities. Intended for characters who deploy lots of disposable themed minions.
Basic - These NPCs are nameless beings intended to represent generic forces. They are usually very limited in capability and power.
Basic NPCs are the simplest type of NPC. These represent unnamed forces that are disposable, or at least replaceable. They are used for faceless goons and minions, generic armies, and even the leaders of those armies if they are not important to the plot. They may also represent creations, robots, or other constructed resources. Basic NPCs are generally assumed to die when they lose a battle, and always suffer casualties if they are a group. They cannot normally have any restricted powers or powers that use Edge points, as they are supposed to represent normal troops or minions.
Basic NPCs cannot exceed C-Tier, unless this entry also has the Feature tag. They cannot spend Edge unless accompanied by the actual character. Any abilities they are capable of having must be defined in the entry, though some leeway is given to general broad capabilities such as 'use various melee weapons.'
If a Basic NPC entry has the Feature tag, it is presumed that the character they are attached to gains their battle ability by leading troops, and is present when this entry uses their full rating. If the character is present they may use Edge points as normal.
A MotW-tagged NPC - standing for "Monster of the Week" - represents a unique creation usually with a specific gimmick, which is defeated after one or two encounters. MotW NPCs are expected to follow some sort of theme, and expected to last no more than two scenes, though unusual circumstances may extend this. Only one MotW may be deployed at any time, and another cannot be made until the current one is destroyed.
Note that when it is specified that only one MotW may be deployed, this presumes a single interactive entity, which may in fact be two or more beings acting in concert. In this case, the MotW's gimmick should reflect that it has multiple bodies in some way.
In general, MotW NPCs have greater leeway in what sorts of powers they can deploy, but should stick to a basic powerset detailed in their entry, plus a single optional gimmick power beyond that. This gimmick power cannot be a restricted power unless the main character who controls the MotW also has that power. MotW NPCs cannot use Edge.
MotW NPCs are limited to C-Tier or lower, and may only be deployed when the owning PC is GMing a scene, either as the scene runner or as an assistant GM.
If you desire a stronger MotW, you are actually requesting a Boss. See that entry for details.
A Boss NPC is much like a MotW NPC, but with more narrow requirements and more expectation of survival. This represents a recurring but ultimately temporary enemy subservient to the character that has the power. Boss NPCs may have any powers listed in the Boss NPC entry, plus any that the character has. Players may request staff to allow a power beyond this listing, on a per case basis, by having a staffer sign the temporary entry when they make a new Boss. Only one Boss may exist at a time, though like MotW, it may be more than one physical entity acting in concert.
A Boss may spend Edge, and may have Edge-related advantages, except for Copy-T or Copy-P advantages. Boss NPCs are normally limited to a maximum of B-Tier, but it is possible to get an A-Tier Boss slot approved, especially if the slot has the Feature tag as well.
A Boss has limited condeath. If a Boss is defeated and the winners wish to kill or capture the Boss, the player controlling the Boss should have a very good reason if they choose to deny this result. If you want a long-term NPC safe from this, ask for a full Named NPC. If players routinely spare your Boss because they OOCly enjoy fighting and interacting with them, consider upgrading them to a full Named NPC.
Unlike a normal NPC, a Named NPC is a full-fledged character by themselves, and can theoretically have any powers. In order to keep advantage bloat in check, Named NPCs can only have one ability that requires Edge, unless they share an ability the main PC has. Named NPCs can almost always be their entire own character.
Named NPCs are the most common type of Feature NPC.
Named NPCs act just like normal characters, but share their Edge with their main character. They may spend Edge as normal, and have no theoretical limit on their strength, though an S-Tier NPC would be a very hard sell.
Since Named NPCs are normally entirely capable of being their own character, requesting a Named NPC will require a thorough justification of why the Named NPC is required to have a complete character. Is this character necessary for the main character to function within the spirit of their concept? If the answer is no, it is much less likely that a Named NPC will be approved.
Sometimes this can change depending on the progression of a character. An example of this case is Hayate from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, who in Season 2 would naturally have the four Named NPCs of the Wolkenritter, since they define her presence and character at that point. By Season 3, set ten years later, the Wolkenritter and Hayate operate as their own characters and are not necessary to be shared to have their identity, so it would be much less likely that Hayate could have all four as Named NPCs.
The Feature tag is not an NPC tag of its own, but one added to another of the NPC tags, usually a Named NPC. It may also be added to one of the character's other non-NPC Perks.
A Feature NPC is one that is closely-tied to the main character, usually to the point that the character's advantages are in part or in whole a result of the Feature NPC's existence. Feature NPCs often have special rules attached to them, such as allowing the NPC to use Edge when it normally couldn't.
If a Perk requires the presence of the Feature NPC to use, or is enhanced by the Feature NPC, it also has the Feature tag.
Examples of Feature NPCs are a wizard's Familiar, or a being mystically bound to the main character who can't reasonably function without them, such as Chrono from Chrono Crusade being bound to Rosette. It is also used at times for noncombat characters, or characters who would be unlikely to have much interaction with the public, to have a more effective means of combat or interaction. For example, someone playing Princess Renner from Overlord might have Climb as a Feature NPC, as her bodyguard and servant to interact with the outside world.
Power Copy is a sticky issue historically, with a lot of different opinions on the matter. This MUSH handles it by dividing Power Copy into several types, each with strict limitations. This avoids the problem of a long-lived character collecting a vast arsenal of copied attacks and powers. Copy powers are tagged with one of these tags.
Copy-S: Scene-only copy, or mimicry. A simple power may be copied for the duration of the scene.
Copy-T: Temporary Copy. A limited number of narrow use powers may be copied, fading over time. Edge may possibly be used to make a copied ability permanent.
Copy-P: Much more restricted, this type of Copy can copy abilities permanently, but has a very limited number.
Copy-N: A catchall category for power copy abilities that are either extremely limited, or operate so differently they require a special ruling.
Copy-S advantages allow the user to mimic a relatively narrow range of abilities for the duration of a single scene, provided the target has used those abilities this scene. This can be a simple attack, or a specific use of a power. For example, using this on someone with a broad array of ice powers would let the copying character use ice shards to attack like the target used, but would not give the copying character any ability to form walls of ice.
Normally, only one single ability may be copied, but the user may change what is being copied each round. The target being copied has final say over what the limitations of the ability are.
Example: When fighting Firey FireMan the Fire Mage, Copy McCopy sees Firey use an exploding fireball. Copy McCopy copies this fireball, but gains no ability to fly with fire jets, make walls of fire, or to increase the temperature of an object. Copy McCopy later decides they want to fly this scene, so decides copy the flight ability that Firey has shown, but has not yet seen the Wall of Fire used this scene, so cannot copy it, and they can no longer use fireball unless they land(or fall out of the sky).
Much like Copy-S, Copy-T allows the user to copy a single aspect of a power - or the entire power if the power is very narrow and simple - and utilize it as their own. This ability is a little more flexible in what is taken, since it may not be what was used in the scene, depending on the method of copying used. For example, Copy McBitey may gain abilities by biting their enemies, and in combat with Firey FireMan, bites him. The two confer and decide that Copy McBitey gains the ability to melt objects they touch that can melt in normal fire, one of Firey's powers, even though Firey never used that ability this scene.
Copy-T may store up to eight powers, normally, but may only retain them for a maximum of three months. Only one ability may be gained per scene. By Committing an Edge point, the copying character may sacrifice three slots to retain the power as long as they do not regain the Edge. This would allow Copy Mcbitey to keep the Melt Objects power, but their remaining copy slots are reduced to five(for a total of six with Melt Object)
Copy-T must have a specific condition that allows the character to perform the copy. The more rigorous this condition, the more leeway the player has with copied abilities, but very specific conditions may be better served with Copy-P or Copy-N.
Copy-P is a permanent copy, and is subject to the most scrutiny. Copy-P can never copy more than three powers, must have a reasonable condition for copying('seeing the power' is not valid, but 'landing a successful attack' is), and otherwise follows the same rules as Copy-T. Copy-P does require spending an Edge point to use. Copy-P is much more flexible in what it can copy than Copy-T, however. It cannot copy full powersets or even broad powers, but it can copy a reasonable subset, or a narrow enough power wholesale. The target must consent to being copied at all, and work with the copier to determine the final result.
Example: Copy McGrabby traps Firey FireMan in his Net of TakeUrStuff. This lets him absorb a power. FireMan's fire powers are a little too broad, but they eventually settle on fire control: the ability to ignite and extinguish small fires in combustible objects, to shape existing fire, to increase the temperature of the surrounding area in a small range around him, and to fling fireballs. Copy does not get the ability to summon flame golems, walls of flame, or fly with flame, despite FireMan having these abilities in his flame control power.
Permanently copied powers will be subject to regular review by staff to clean them up to power standards, but will not normally be taken away unless gross abuse or overreaching has been repeated after warnings have been issued.
Copy-N is a tag used to represent a custom copy power that doesn't fit within the normal rules. Staff review these carefully and keep an eye on their usage to avoid abuse. These can be a copy power that is so heavily restricted that it is deemed to not require a different tag, or one that operates by such specific rules that it needs its own special ruling.
Examples of these powers can include the swordsman who copies any standard techniques that he witnesses. In such a case, being unable to copy signature techniques and only copying flavor techniques means that this copy power does not meaningfully expand the character's abilities, only the breadth of flavor text. This is a harmless sort of copy that is narratively impressive but can be generally unrestricted.
A more powerful example would be the vampire lord who can absorb abilities from enemies that they kill. This means that they effectively can only use this ability to absorb powers from GMed or plot scenes, and must submit an upgrade for every single power gained. This sort of copy power is merely an excuse for justifying upgrades, and does nothing by itself, so can safely be unrestricted.
One common difficulty in adapting existing characters to a narrative mush is strict adherence to game mechanics, either tabletop or video game. These often do not work well interacting with other media or the narrative structure of a cooperative storytelling mush.
When adapting an ability from a game of any type, it is best to view it as the 'movie version' and look at what the mechanics are trying to describe. Many a tabletop game with a long list of sword techniques can be summed up with 'very skilled in sword techniques' with maybe one or two special mentions. Game mechanics taken literally become cumbersome and often break the rule of absolutes in the Banned Perks section. Some things to watch out for:
* Scripted or very precise techniques. 'Attacks twice' is simply representing higher skill and ability with fighting techniques.
* Exaggerated attacks. Often, the incredibly detailed FMV attack is a dramatization. The most infamous of these is Sephiroth's attack destroying a planet. That does not really happen.
* Invincibility frames. Just don't.
* Extra lives and fast travel. Sometimes games will have in-universe explanations for these, but they are problematic on a mush and should be worked around as much as possible. If you believe these are integral to the experience you are going to need to prepare for a very critical eye from staff.
* Powerup items. These are almost always pure gameplay mechanics and either should not exist in the actual adapted theme, or be extremely rare.
Tags give some instant, standardized information about a Perk, serving as an at-a-glance piece of information. The current list of Perks includes:
Edge - The Perk requires an Edge point to be spent to use the Perk in any fashion.
Edge-C - Usage of the Perk, or some extended use of the Perk, requires an Edge point to be Committed and held, lowering the user's maximum.
Edge-E - The Perk has some aspect to it, detailed in the full description, that is further enhanced by spending Edge. This enhancement goes beyond the normal Edge uses of boosting in power, expanding the area of effect, or other 'regular' uses.
Copy-S, Copy-T, Copy-P, Copy-N - All of these are Copy Tags, stating the type and limitations of a Copy ability. Further information is available under the Perks/Copy News File.
Basic, MotW, Boss, Named - These Tags are to indicate the type of NPC the Perk describes. They receive more explanation in the Perks/NPCs News File
S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier, C-Tier, D-Tier, E-Tier, F-Tier - These Tags are for NPCs, listing the possible Tier level(s) of the NPC.
Feature - The Feature Tag, when applied to an NPC, indicates an NPC closely tied to the character so as to be part of their identity. When applied to a non-NPC Perk, it indicates that some or all of the Perk is only available in the presence of a Feature NPC. Further information can be found in the Perks/NPCs News File.
Plot - This tag indicates a Perk that can only be used when a plot is apped to allow for it. Most special Perk uses do not require any documentation at all if they are a natural extension of a character's abilities, such as a roboticist creating a special robot during a plot. This tag is for abilities that do not arise naturally from reading Perks.
GM-Only - This tag indicates a Perk that can only be used while GMing a scene as the scenerunner, or as an assistant GM with specific permission from the scenerunner. It represents resources and abilities that should not come into play unless specifically used during content generation, above and beyond the resources that are freely available for creating content.
In general, we prefer that players only use Perks that they explicitly have listed. In an open narrative environment with such a vast array of options, however, some situations will come up where it makes sense to act as if a Perk that wasn't explicitly detailed does in fact exist. For example, if a Perk states that you can turn your body into stone, and the RP happens to require something very heavy be placed on a platform, it is fine to assume that someone turned to stone is quite heavy. It is also fine to assume that someone who can mend stone can act as a healer for you, even though this would not work on a flesh and blood being and the target player has no explicit Perk stating they are able to benefit from this. Use common sense.
One ability commonly found in fiction is a type of invulnerability, either just in general or immunity to a specific kind of attack like poison or lightning. When encountering this in a collaborative multi-setting environment, this is a lot more difficult than in a self-contained story, so we have specific rules to deal with this.
An invulnerability/immunity Perk must be the only thing the Perk can do, and each immunity needs to be its own Perk. This is a powerful ability, even with the caveats, and it should merit its own Perk. Kinetic or general 'energy' immunity/absorption is also not allowed for PCs, as this is too broad a spectrum to reasonably make a fun and relatively balanced mush. However, 'elemental' immunities such as fire, wind, 'holy', poison, and so on are allowed. Extremely specific immunities may be 'bundled' as an exception to the one per Perk rule, but this will likely be very rare.
This presumes a level of invulnerability that is equivalent to immunity to commonly-encountered mundane environmental effects. For example, immunity to fire may allow a character to stroll through a burning building, but the corona of a star may still burn without further protection, as this isn't considered mundane.
Does this give invulnerability to elemental attacks? Yes, to a point. Without consent, the player may nullify a /generalist's/ attack. What this means is that if the attacker has a reasonable spread of other options to damage a player, then an elemental attack against an invulnerability can safely be ignored. However, if the player has a very limited number of other options, or is obviously a specialist highly focused in that element, then the defender must have consent to allow invulnerability to take effect. Players should decide what makes for the most interesting story, and this consent is on a per-scene basis. It is perfectly reasonable for a fire-user to allow their attacks to be nullified in one fight, and then in another fight have figured out a new trick to allow them to damage their opponent, without an update app.
It should be noted that a specialist who happens to encounter someone specifically immune to their element is still at a disadvantage. They are allowed to damage the other player in the interest of not being rendered completely useless, so they should reflect this in an effective reduction of Tier by at least one level.
As with all Perks that can be easily abused, players should work together to figure out what is most fun for the situation they are in.
Complications are things about your character that, well, complicate matters. These come in a wide range, from simple weaknesses that can be exploited to behaviors or side effects that make life 'interesting' for the character and those around them. Like Perks, Complications have a brief short description and a longer, more in depth description. Unlike Perks, Complications do not have Tags.
The best Complications provide further RP opportunities to work off of. Each character should have at least three solid Complications. Some may have more, and some may have extra Complications which are not particularly strong, but serve as documentation for an effect or behavior.
Some Complications are simply not allowed, either because they are not effective Complications or because they break other rules. Examples:
* Complications which extend the effectiveness of the character. An example would be a more powerful character who shows up from time to time.
* Complications that are Perk limitations. If your Blow Things Up Perk has a range limited to 200 meters, that is not a Complication.
* Complications which make your character helpless or greatly reduce effectiveness. Losing combat ability under certain circumstances is a good Complication. An instant-lose or instant-death situation is not, as it is not going to be invoked by anyone following good etiquette.
* Complications which are effectively nullified by Perks.
Just like some Perks can be implied to exist, Complications do not always have an explicit definition in a character's sheet. If you are a giant dragon, then it is assumed you cannot fit through a small door even if you haven't written a Complication for such.
Similarly, anti-X abilities are assumed to work against their targets even if the target does not have an explicit Complication. An anti-undead attack will work against a vampire character regardless of Complications, unless they have a mitigating Perk. In fact, it is not allowed to take 'vulnerable to anti-X' Complications unless you would not normally be vulnerable to them. For example, a demon character cannot take a Complication of being vulnerable to anti-demonic measures, but a human who was for some reason vulnerable to anti-demon measures would be able to take that as a Complication, though a relatively rarely-occurring one.
Most applications are done on-mush, with only the player application requiring an email. Even then, this email is most often used to screen for concepts which are simply unworkable, and the bulk of the application is done on-mush.
For players, send your application to worldtreemush@gmail.com. Full instructions can be found on our Wiki, at http://worldtreemush.com
For all other applications, please see the associated +help file. Details for each application can be found in the subtopics.
Sometimes, during work on a character, a player may decide they want to set the current application aside and try a different character. In order to do this, send in a +altreq in for the new alt and detail your reasons for wanting to change characters mid-app. Staff will evaluate the request and provide further instructions.
In most cases, this will mean that the player will @name the in-progress character and start the new one. In certain circumstances, staff may decide instead to allow another character bit to be created, but during the application of the new one, players should not send in the application for the old one.
To make a request for an alt, use the +altreq command and send in your new character request. We do have certain restrictions to applying for multiple alts.
Your second character has no restrictions, effectively, however if you are applying for a Restricted concept you must have played enough on your first character for staff to feel comfortable you have a good grasp on the play style of the mush. This usually takes a handful of scenes, possibly more if the scenes do not have much variety of players and content.
The third and fourth character require you to have played your first two for a reasonable amount, though waivers may be granted for exceptional circumstances.
Alts 5 and 6 require recent activity on at least 2 other alts, indicating an active player.
These limits are fairly flexible because we lean toward allowing characters more than disallowing, but we also do not want our character staffers to be overwhelmed.
World Tree MUSH does not concern itself with exact levels of strength between characters, assuming a similar level of ability for most that ends up roughly equivalent. It works much like Super Smash Brothers, Street Fighter, Injustice, and other fighting games when it comes to player vs player abilities. Mostly.
As a narrative-focused mush, we recognize that it is important to have some difference in ability between different characters. Some need to represent mentors, or the inexperienced, or otherwise make a clear dividing line between ability. One of the ways we model this is in assigning characters to different Tiers(also called Classes), which give a very broad understanding of a character's role in the mush narrative. Characters of the same Tier are roughly equivalent in combat with one another or similar-rated threats.
A quick Tier summary:
F-Tier: Non-combat or very weak combatant.
E-Tier: Combat capable, but low level. Used for depowered states.
D-Tier: Starting combat-capable characters, or not combat-focused.
C-Tier: Established combat-capable characters(most experienced characters will be this)
B-Tier: Veteran/powerful solo heroes, most recurring antagonists.
A-Tier: Non-playable top-tier heroes, most major arc and season finale antagonists.
S-Tier: Top level antagonistic threats, plot-only.
S-Tier characters are at the very top of the power pyramid, with only one or two present in a world at any give time. It is possible for S-Tier threats to repeatedly show up in a world after a previous one has been eliminated, though.
S-Tier characters are always Plot-only, and even then many plots will not have them.
Example S-Tier characters: Sephiroth after joining with Jenova, the Anti-Spiral during the climax of Gurren Lagann, Sailor Galaxia of Sailor Moon, and so on. Super modes with limited access are not usually considered S-Tier, but are instead considered use of Edge.
A-Tier characters are the upper echelon of most played characters. They are usually reserved for Plot characters or antagonists, but mentors of heroes can also be considered this. These are the main villains who usually overpower the heroes through most of the storyline, and when beaten are often only beaten by use of MacGuffins or teamwork of the heroes.
A-Tier characters are very rare outside of Plot characters, and outside of plots are only appable as Antagonists. A-Tier characters and players are expected to have the following traits:
* Have good OOC behavior. They should follow good etiquette, and display good sportsmanship across all characters.
* Generate RP suitable for other characters to attend. Usually, this involves using minions, lower-power modes, or most often running scenes as an Antagonist against multiple opponents.
* Avoid attempting to use the high Tier rating to solve Plots solo.
* Attempt to avoid heavily mismatched combats or matchups with lower-Tier characters, when possible. Either deploy at a lower Tier, or fight a group, unless the opposing player has been given fair warning of the power disparity.
It should be doubly noted that poor OOC behavior toward others is grounds for losing a high tier character.
Example A-Tier characters: Sephiroth during most of the story of FF7, Nomu in My Hero Academia Season 1. Powerful super-modes or attacks are not a Tier-up, and are instead considered use of Edge.
B-Tier characters are generally considered the most powerful characters in their individual worlds, but not always top of the heap. These are the mentors of the characters who inherit the world, or characters whose stories and growth are largely completed and peaked, or recurring villains who regularly pose a challenge and sometimes even defeat the hero.
Most charaters on the mush will be C-Tier, and the game is scaled to assume that C and D Tier are the common heroic characters, and B-Tier the common antagonist characters. B-Tier characters have a consistent output of strength, but rarely go beyond it, usually reserving Edge for usage of special abilities or evening the odds rather than narrative or combat boosts. Things to consider for B-Tier characters:
* If you begin to need more than one hand to count the number of people in your world who could defeat the character reliably, they may be more fitting as a C-Tier.
* Commonly-used 'super modes' are just the normal state of a C-Tier or B-Tier, with their 'regular unpowered' mode being a rank down. Rarely-used, heavily-draining super modes are the ones more fit for Edge use.
* If you find your world has a large number of B-Tiers and fewer C-Tiers, you may need to revise your assessment.
* B-Tier characters rarely struggle with any situation or opponent in their stories in a meaningful way. If your character is regularly challenged, defeated, or struggles to come out on top, they are most likely not B-Tier.
Example B-Tier characters: Most anime main characters by the end of the series when they are retiring from adventures, mentor type characters who are not capable of beating the antagonist by themselves, wild card characters whose motives bring them into conflict with others more often.
C-Tier characters are extremely competent in comparison to most of the world, and are often either main characters, or ensemble characters attached to a main character. They have a serious role to play in the world, but they often struggle to defeat their adversaries.
Most charaters on the mush will be C-Tier. C-Tier characters will tend to push themselves more often than B-Tier characters can, as they have to work harder for their victories ICly. They correspondingly have more Edge and regenerate Edge faster. Things to consider for a C-Tier character:
* C-Tier is the default assumption for a combat-based character, so is a good match for the rest of the mush.
* Characters who operate by a large number of restricted gimmicks(things that require Edge) usually work better as C-Tier or lower.
* With few exceptions, characters who have a major non-combat presence in capability(scientists, crafters, etc) tend to go no higher than C-Tier.
Example C-Tier characters: Most normal fighting game characters, most characters from sources with huge and varied casts(Touhou, etc), side characters who are competent and hold their own like most of the tournament fighters in Dragon Ball Super, most shonen characters who always win by the skin of their teeth and consistently beat 'superior' opponents, and most RPG party members or other characters who normally work in a group.
E-Tier characters are above noncombatant status, able to fight on even footing with D-Tier characters. However, E-Tier characters represent characters unable to 'punch above their weight class,' as it were. They are capable combatants, but against a highter Tier they will almost certainly lose without spending Edge, and are generally ineffective against upper Tiers.
This is not an appable Tier, normally, unless someone is deliberately apping a weak character. It is intended to be a Tier used for NPCs, or for characters in a depowered state, such as power armor users or magical girls who might have some fighting experience outside of their armor or transformed state, but are at a notable disadvantage. It represents a character who is not entirely helpless in a fight in this state, but unable to use their full potential.
D-Tier characters are the first grade of common PC characters. These characters are capable in a fight, but are not able to fight against the big villains in their world without serious teamwork or mitigating circumstances. They are very competent, even so, and often grow into C-Tier over time.
This Tier of character is excellent for adventurers at the start of their career, who are combat-focused but have yet to accumulate a lot of experience. It is also a good Tier for characters who are less focused on combat, and more on support or utility, but are not defenseless in a fight.
* D-Tier is the default assumption for a young or inexperienced character, or a utility-based character.
* Characters whose gimmick involves problem-solving and avoiding direct fights work well as a D-Tier.
* Characters who intend to grow in power dramatically should start as D-Tier.
* This is the default Tier for scientists, crafters, and other 'non-combat' specialists who do have some ability to fight, though a few may reach C-Tier.
Example D-Tier characters: Starting 'young and wet behind the ears' impulsive youths, students, and crafters that have little combat training, or who have combat training but do not build weapons or armor for themselves.
F-Tier characters are basically bystanders in the story. They may have some ability to defend themselves against random mooks, but their presence is largely noncombat in nature. These characters are mostly intended to be used for social scenes and to be objectives, so are much more commonly seen as NPCs than full player characters.
Examples include: Bulma from Dragon Ball, Pepper Potts from Marvel(pre-Rescue upgrade), and April O'Neil in most versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Each player may be allowed up to SIX(6) characters, not counting OOC characters such as staff or helpers, or temporary characters generated for TPs. Most players will not have the full allotment of six characters, due to a system called Player Points.
Each player's account will have a total of 12 Player Points. Making or upgrading characters will expend these points, depending on the Tier of character.
Tier Points
S -
A 5
B 4
C 2
D 1
E 1
F 0
Designated Antagonists will have a 1 point discount on their Player Point cost.
Players are expected to keep their alts from interacting if at all possible, beyond the minimum required. Going to the same scene as your alt should be an extremely rare situation, only set up by ongoing plotlines leading to such a collision. At no point should alts engage in significant combat against one another.
It should be obvious that giving significant gifts, powers, abilities, or other advantages to your alt, even indirectly, is not allowed.
The only exception to this is Plot characters. A character made specifically for a Plot may interact with an alt normally, including combat, but if at all possible the player should find a different player to play the Plot character.
Characters on World Tree are how we interact with one another, so they have certain expectations.
* Characters should be able to be interacted with. This means they must be able to communicate somehow, have a personality and motivations, and be a being that people can generally relate to on some level.
* Characters must be limited in some way. More on this is covered in the Banned subtopic.
* Characters should have individualism. Gestalt characters will be heavily limited(see the Gestalts subtopic), and large numbers of Named NPCs are discouraged, since they make it harder to understand and relate to the central figure in many cases.
* New players should read the Restricted list as well as the Banned list. These concepts are unavailable for first time appers, for various reasons, but are available as future characters.
A designated Antagonist is a character whose major purpose is generating IC conflict for other players to RP against. Antagonists are often the source of plots or scenes that the bulk of the mush will work against. Usually, the long term goals of an antagonist will fail, but it must be stressed that this is not a given, and that in the short term Antagonists often come out ahead. It is even possible for long term plans to come to fruition. The 'good guys' are not always guaranteed victory.
Antagonists may be created in chargen or through an upgrade.
Antagonists have the following properties:
* Antagonists should at least frequently work toward a personal goal that most reasonable sorts would oppose. Antagonists can have allies - usually from the antagonist factions - to help them, but their personal goal must be a source of conflict. At times an Antagonist may find themselves working with protagonist characters instead of against. This is acceptable, but they lose some of their Antagonist benefits while doing so.
* Antagonists regenerate Edge faster than non-Angagonists.
* When fighting against multiple opponents, Antagonists can handle multiple opponents more easily, and if against overwhelming odds Edge spent to even the odds is more effective.
* When running a scene as an Antagonists, Antagonists have one free point of Edge to spend any way they desire. This does not apply when not running a scene, or if the scene being run is not placing the Antagonist in direct conflict(a PvE scene)
* During character approval, Antagonists have more leeway in applying for NPCs.
Some characters are simply not fitting for play on the mush. Sometimes these are available as Plot-only characters, but mostly they are not allowed at all.
* Antagonists over A-Tier, or non-Antagonists over B-Tier. These may exist ICly but they are not available to PCs. They can be present in apped plots.
* Indestructible or 'unbeatable' characters. Most of these are not really unbeatable, but if apped as such they are banned.
* Characters whose motivation or concept would break if apped. Examples are Saitama from One-Punch Man(he is unbeatable in-theme which leads to his concept. Since he can find an equal foe here, his entire purpose as a character becomes moot) and Dr Manhattan from Watchmen(He effectively has no free will)
* Characters who can do anything, or simply have a ridiculously broad skillset. In media, most 'Another World' protagonists fall into this, along with some with very vague abilities like Doctor Strange, or omniscientists like Reed Richards or Tony Stark. Video game characters who do every single sidequest and max their levels often run into this as well(Fallout, Skyrim, Star Ocean, etc) This may require a player to pare down a character's abilities to the 'digest version' or 'movie version' with a narrower set of Perks.
* Characters who break tone. This includes overly sexualized characters(hentai protagonists who do not have a sanitized version of media), characters made entirely for shock value, and overly comedic characters or characters from comedic/parody series.
* Original characters that are basically copies of existing characters, or copies 'but better in every way.' Similarly, original characters apped into a media theme that are designed to supplant an existing character's niche.
* Retreads of old characters that have been 'played out' too much. If you have played a character for years elsewhere, we would like to see something new. This applies to favorite original characters and feature characters you identify with and play extensively.
If you attempt to app a banned character, you will be given an explanation of why they are banned. If the concept is salvageable through modification, some suggestions will be given for how to make the character acceptable.
Some character concepts are workable on the mush, but are discouraged due to the higher difficulty of playing them, or difficulties they present to staff. These are Restricted concepts, and apps asking for anything in this category will be subject to closer scrutiny. New players may not app a Restricted concept, and when apping you will be asked some questions on your plans for the character. However, unless you have shown marked and recent behavior that would lead staff to believe this would be a problem, any good reason to play the character will qualify you to apply. Some concepts require more effort than others.
Restricted concepts include:
* Characters with shaky tone, but which can be adapted. The most common of these is attempting to play slice of life characters, heavily sexual characters, or comedic characters on what is a mush based around conflict and adventure. Applying for one of these requires a plan for adapting them to the tone of the mush.
* Genderswaps of canon characters, or expies of canon characters that are obviously intended to be genderswaps. These will be allowed only very rarely, requiring either published material(Fate/stay night's Saber being a good example) or a very, very thorough explanation of how this genderswap has altered canon events. The reason is that most genderswaps are presented extremely poorly. This is a difficult concept to justify.
* Very large or small characters. Characters below 3 feet(1 meter) in height, or above 8 feet(2.5 meters) in height are restricted. Characters below 1 foot, or above 12-13 feet in normal height, are banned. Characters MAY exceed these limitations temporarily with an Edge-locked Perk.
* Characters with conditions that are controversial in nature, if the condition is likely to come up in play. Obvious drug addiction, mental illness, heavily adult themes, etc. These are often portrayed poorly as well, so we require some presentation of how the player will handle them first.
* Personifications. These are often presented in the most shallow of ways that lead to a parody of themselves. With a little effort, these can be adapted, especially if there exists some serious material on the subject.
* Extremely offensive characters, in the sense that they are trollish or extreme in their behavior. Examples include Duke Nukem from the Duke Nukem series, Lo Wang from Shadow Warrior, and Handsome Jack from Borderlands.
* Characters with a large amount of Named NPCs. More than two or three Named NPCs on a character often indicates a lack of focus on the core character. Some concepts do rely on heavier NPC use by their nature, like monster trainer characters, so get in touch with staff to see if the concept is restricted in this case.
* Metatheme characters. If you are playing a character related to the metatheme, you should have a firm grasp of the theme and understand staff's wishes regarding it. These are not necessarily plot characters and can be an ongoing normal character, but obviously a new player would not be familiar enough with the metatheme to play to it. These are some of the easiest restricted concepts to apply for, with proper research.
At times, staff may request that a player revise or update their character, or may perform such revisions themselves. This is called a Character Audit, and may be triggered by several situations.
* A typographical error that causes a misunderstanding, or similar mistake that simply needs correcting.
* Human error, either as a misunderstanding of the original apper, or in a staffer making a mistake and allowing something that is normally against policy.
* Further information coming to light which invalidates the character's current information. This is almost always the case with characters from media(or original characters belonging to themes based on such), and if this was a natural mistake staff will work with the player to adjust powers as much as possible. If there is significant evidence that this was done deliberately to exploit a weakness in staff knowledge, the audit will be more disciplinary.
* Abuse of powers may trigger an audit, but except in the most blatant and obvious of cases warnings and discussion will occur before discipline.
For those not up on anime/manga terms, shonen is a genre usually aimed at young males with a heavy emphasis on action. One of the common - though not universal - attributes of shonen series is a heavy power creep. Western media does have some equivalent, but the shonen genre is infamous for this.
This is a problem here, if taken literally, because shonen series often start out with a weak character who grows in power dramatically, in numerous stages. With only a handful of power tiers here, this is difficult to impossible to simulate directly, as there may be upwards of dozens of distinct power upgrades through the series.
Players who are from a shonen series, or a similar media with a large number of upgrades involved, have several choices in adapting them to the mush.
* Divide up the stages of growth into the available Tiers. This dramatically compresses each power leap, but keeps the character within the rules easily. Note that a series that is unfinished will have a very hard cap on how high a Tier can be requested.
* Select a Tier to match the narrative importance of the character. Each escalating threat is simply the appearance of a new A or S tier threat, which the character learns how to deal with over the plotline and then uses their new abilities to defeat the enemy, represented by the use of Edge.
* Some combination of the above two situations.
A Gestalt character is a character that consists of two or more individual characters, but are treated as a single character bit for some reason. This is different from a main character with several important Named NPCs in that the Gestalt's individuals, even if they CAN operate independently, very rarely do and it would be inconvenient to have them played by different players.
Examples of characters that would be allowed as Gestalts are The Weasley Twins from Harry Potter, Kiki and Viola DeWynter from Saint's Row, Masa and Mune from Chrono Trigger, and so on.
Gestalts will be considered on a case by case basis, but the more characters involved in the Gestalt, the less likely it will be allowed. Players need a central figure to identify with, and Gestalts make that more difficult.
Gestalts, even if they can operate independently, will generally operate during scenes as a single unit. If they wish to engage in multiple action threads, they must spend Edge as normal.
The short version is: very large characters or characters reliant upon very large vehicles as their main gimmick are not allowed. This is for the fun of everyone, and is explained below.
While the Tier system and the way worlds interact can, in theory, support players who are on foot battling players in giant robots, in practice this often leads to problems. World Tree is centered around singular players, or at times players versus armies, and it can be difficult for some players to wrap their head around interaction with large beings as other players, and it effectively segments the mush into giant robot scenes where people not in giant robots feel neglected, and into 'normal' scenes where giant robot pilots cannot use their main gimmick. Replace 'giant robot' with 'huge dragon/person/etc' for similar effect.
For this reason, any characters with either drastic size-changing, or reliant upon a large vehicle/robot to be effective, should not be apped without great care. Size-changing should be limited to single-pose uses, and giant robot themes are not appable.
Note that giant robots can /exist/ in a World, but they should not be the major focus of conflict. Worlds which have scale-breaking items can be adapted more heavily for those wishing to play characters from them, either by eliminating the giant robots entirely if the story remains similar(G-Gundam is a good example of this), or by adjusting the scale to power armor-sized robots if that will work. If this adaptation cannot occur then it would be better to seek a Mush more inclined toward this sort of RP.
This does not prevent limited size-changing or larger than normal characters/power armor. Characters like Hulk are fine, as are smaller vehicles like Heavy Gear or Space Marine armor from 40k. Battlemechs and full-size Gundams are not. Similarly, if giant beings or robots do exist, they should be the focus of a scene, a la Shadow of the Colossus, not a regular entrant.
One of the common ideas is to app a character from a tabletop setting, especially one with rich lore to explore. The usual approach is to make up their character and then convert it to the mush.
Don't do this.
You are, of course, allowed to app your tabletop character, provided the setting itself is approved. However, a tabletop game usually has rigid rules and a presumed even playing field, and allows for customization options to give a character specific abilities. Players almost always try to apply this too closely to the largely narrative, less rules-bound structure of the mush, and it invariably makes the application process grueling and frustrating for both staff and players.
If you would like to app a tabletop character, do not make a formal sheet for them. We aren't saying you should ignore the rules, but pick a focus or gimmick for your character and build around that like an OC for a novel. Don't worry too much about what is 'reasonable' to have for the tabletop, focus on the character as they present their story. This should make it easier. You may end up not being able to do quite as much, breadth-wise, as an official character, but this is no different than any other adaptation like a video game character with a complex skill tree or a long-running comic book character.
We don't like lots of complex rules, so we'll keep this simple.
1) Don't Be A Jerk - Basically, be civil to one another. Don't get into namecalling, don't harrass people or attack them OOCly, and follow good sportsmanship and etiquette when RPing. Private RL is private, and don't attempt to pry into RL matters or secret alts. Everyone has bad days and slips up from time to time, we're only human, but consistently poor or obviously malicious behavior will result in warnings, followed by discipline if improvement does not occur.
2) Don't Do Illegal Stuff - Links to illegal or grey legality material are not to be traded here. Don't share your anime torrents, your ROMs, or link to scanlation sites. Don't help people bypass their copy protection on their pirated game, etc. Talk /about/ such things, like the legality of an activity in theory, is allowed on appropriate channels, of course.
3) Don't Exploit The Server - Exploiting a bug in code or attempting to attack the server, ferret out IPs, or otherwise work around the system is grounds for Suspension /at minimum/, more likely banning.
4) Don't Break Rating - While we are all likely adults here, the Mush generally tries to maintain a PG-13ish rating. Excessive profanity, excessive gore, and so on are not expected. If you should desire to run a scene with these things, provide a warning beforehand. Explicit sexual situations are not allowed, though innuendo and some level of (non-explicit)nudity in-scene is fine.
5) Don't Be A Weasel - These rules are simple and straightforward. We do not want, and indeed likely cannot, write rules for every edge case. Follow the spirit of the rules, and if you attempt to use rule loopholes to break any of them, that is considered a violation of Rule 1.
So you've run afoul of breaking the rules. What happens now? Well, it's time for Discipline. Staff will discuss amongst themselves the proper approach here, and will attempt to be as fair as possible and transparent when they can.
Warnings - In most cases the first step will be a Warning, before any other punitive measures are considered. The only exceptions that will warrant skipping a Warning are obvious premeditated rule violations, extremely damaging actions, or extremely obviously malicious actions. When given a Warning you will be told what you did wrong and how to avoid doing so again. If Staff has decided a Warning should be skipped, you will be provided a reason why.
Edge Penalties - One possible punishment for poor behavior is removal of Edge points. This is just one step up from Warning, and should be considered a serious sign that your behavior is in need of adjustment and that you are on thin ice.
Muzzling - If OOC channel behavior is an issue, it is possible you will have your ability to speak on one or more channels temporarily removed. The removal may be permanent for chronic issues.
Character Audit - For abuse of Perks or poor RP etiquette related to a specific character, you may undergo an Audit forcing alterations to the character. This may mean adjustment of Perks, stripping of Tier levels, or even character firing if the character itself is a source of great disruption thanks to your portrayal. This is an extreme step, and is unlikely to occur without significant warning signs from Staff. Note that A-Tier and S-Tier characters in general play have stricter standards.
Creative Punishments - In some cases, a more customized punishment may be fitting. The point is to remove the incentive or ability for the problem to occur. To do this, staff may decide upon measures that are limited to a single circumstance. For example, requiring all alts to be listed if a player has been abusing alt anonymity to pester another player.
Suspension - Particularly problematic players may be removed from the mush for a short period. This can be anywhere from a few days to a few months, but if longer than 3 Months it is considered a Ban.
Banning - This is the result of either repeat offendors and problematic players, or extremely damaging actions against the mush. Depending on the nature and severity of the transgression(s), this may be temporary, usually lifted for reapplication after six months, or effectively permanent.
While we do not require characters to be ICly celibate, all such activities are to be kept strictly off-screen and may not be explicitly referenced. Similarly, if the adminship becomes aware of players privately engaging in such RP on-MUSH privately, whether canon or sandbox, appropriate sanctions may be imposed. Other MUSHes are available to cater to this sort of RP for those who wish. It is not permitted here.
When speaking on channels, we have a few rules that you should be aware of!
* Channels are OOC. Please do not get too in-character on channels, they are meant for OOC discussion. Especially do not start using your Perks and abilities on channel, even jokingly, as this escalates quickly.
* We have several channels for various topics, in order to keep people on a channel from being drowned out. Topic drift during a discussion is natural, but please be mindful of how appropriate it is for the channel. This is especially true for topics that should go into fan discussion, as the detailed setting discussions are usually not fit for most other channels.
* Public is a catchall channel for light discussion of almost any topic, and is an exception here. As soon as the discussion moves in-depth about a topic, it should be moved.
* Under no conditions should sexual or political discussions be on channel. Philosophical and religious or otherwise controversial topics should also not be on channel. When in doubt, if a staff member says it is inappropriate, cease discussion immediately.
* While we are all adults here, channel interactions should be kept roughly in the PG to PG-13 range. This is not a mush focused on adult activities, and while some things are allowed during RP, casual conversation should not include overly familiar touches, greetings, or flirtations, nor should it discuss sensitive topics like drug use, alcohol and so on. As said before, we are all adults and these may come up naturally, but it should be the exception, not the rule. We have a wide range of difference in comfort in OOC interaction to consider.
* When a staff member asks someone to stop, do not continue the topic. Do not attempt to get a 'last word' in. Repeatedly doing this will result in loss of channel priviledges.
A few special rules apply to the Guest channel. Players should keep in mind that Guests do not have access to most other channels, and do not have context nor familiarity with the mush. For this reason, it's very important to present a friendly, welcoming face to those on Guest channel. Follow these simple rules.
* It should go without saying, don't insult anyone. Not guests, not other mushes, not even 'famous stories' or the like.
* As a more strict version of the above, don't tease guests. Even if you know them well, the appearance it gives to others on the channel is a very negative one, as they don't necessarily know that it's meant in jest. Text is often a barrier to conveying tone, and friendly ribbing can look like something much more cruel to someone dipping their toe into the community.
* While you're welcome to talk about your RP and answer questions, do not contradict a staffer on channel. This can lead to confusion and uncertainty for guests. If you feel you need to question staff, please do so on another channel like Design, or in private. Staff are normally quite willing to explain matters or discuss disagreements, but the Guest channel is not the place for that.
Edge is a special resource that represent's a character's ability to go above and beyond their normal limits. Basically, those moments in a TV show when a character does something really cool that they don't normally manage? That's Edge in play. Edge rules are relaxed somewhat when running apped plotlines. It can be used for a variety of things.
* During combat, it can be used to allow a lower-Tier character to better fight against a higher-Tier character. This should only be used for moments of drama or character development, not during casual fights.
* Some powers require the use of Edge to use them fully, or even at all, even in a narrative non-combat situation.
* When outnumbered in a combat, Edge can be used to reduce or in some cases eliminate the disadvantage from fighting multiple opponents.
* If the character has some means of performing multiple action threads in a pose round, Edge may be used to address another action thread in a single pose round.
* Scene runners may spend a single point of Edge to introduce a new action thread to a scene.
Every PC has a limited amount of Edge, with a predetermined cap set by their Tier level. Once spent, Edge is regained slowly, usually a point every week or two for active players.
Regaining Edge is simple: participate in RP and encourage RP. The two fastest ways of doing this are to attend scenes and RP, and to run scenes. Good sportsmanship in coded combat can also give a boost in Edge regeneration.
Most of the systems to regain Edge are automated, and staff will very rarely reward Edge or even partial Edge through fiat. However, staff may penalize players for attempting to game the automated systems.
Edge is lost by spending it on a fight boost, or a power usage. Only one Edge may be spent on a fight boost, but there may be power usages with Edge requirements in the same scene.
Edge may also be taken away by staff as a punitive measure for poor behavior, usually poor sportsmanship or noselling of some kind.
Edge can represent many things. Sometimes it is a temporary narrative boost, but it can also represent a new upgrade that has happened, but narratively doesn't lend so much weight past the first use. For example...
* When the plucky hero rises up and snatches victory from defeat, against all odds, through sheer grit and determination to win a fight that they couldn't normally win... that's Edge!
* When the battle is decided by one character reaching further into hidden depths they didn't know they had... that's Edge!
* When the villain defeats the hero the first time, and then the hero returns with some new upgrade or gimmick to win the next encounter, and the new upgrade is never as effective against the next episodic enemies as that one... that, too, is Edge!
Edge is a narrative boost, a one time thing that even if the IC circumstances may logically continue, their actual effect is temporary.
Some perks or circumstances require what is known as Committed Edge. This means that a point of Edge is spent, and the Edge is not regained until the committed action is released.
An example of this is long term mind control of an NPC. A player uses Mind Control on an NPC and wishes to have them recur over the next few scenes. Their options are to app a plot, or commit an Edge. Since they don't have a clear plan on what they will do with the NPC, they skip the documentation required for apping a plot and commit an Edge, immediately spending an Edge point which will not be regained until they release the NPC.
After about 3 weeks and featuring several scenes in which the NPC featured prominently, the player decides the arc is over and uncommits the Edge. Staff now has easy to access documentation of the situation, but the player did not have to go through the entire formal process to app a plot. The player may now start to regain the Edge point they committed.
The amount of Edge you can hold at once is determined by Tier. Tier limits, and how many scenes it usually takes(on average) to regain one Edge point, are listed below.
Tier Limit Scenes
S 2 20
A 2 15
B 3 10
C 5 8
D 6 7
E 3 9
F 3 8
World Tree is mostly a consent-based mush. We say 'mostly' because there are elements of PvP involved, which naturally require some flexibility in what can happen to your character.
In general, a player must give consent for any effect which alters the way in which they can play their character. To be more specific:
* Character death is entirely consent-based. Furthermore, if you are playing a media character involved in a plot, you may also need staff approval for character death. Death of a PC should not be taken lightly.
* Capture of a character is consent-based, since it usually takes them out of action or at least severely restricts RP. Capture should not last more than a couple days at most even with consent, unless a Plot application has been approved.
* Mind control is consent-only. This includes directly controlling another's body, possession, and also indirect influence via altering thoughts or emotions such as artificially increasing anger or jealousy. It does NOT include mental invisibility or illusions or anything similar. These effects do not require consent.
* Crippling of a character's ability to function or fight requires consent. Turning someone to stone is simply not allowed without consent, even temporarily, because it eliminates a character's ability to participate. Similarly, breaking equipment a character needs to function requires consent.
In all cases, please remember to be a good sport. Granting consent in many cases can provide more RP and a more interesting story. It is up to players to discuss and decide amongst themselves what makes for good RP. Also remember that in a PvP or even PvE situation, injury and threat of injury are expected.
In vary rare instances, staff may revoke consent requirements. This is extremely rare and only occurs in the event of abuse of the consent system, such as an unprotected character leaping into an active volcano simply because they can. In all but the most blatant cases(which fall under breaking rules), players will be warned if their actions may result in loss of consent privileges.
These consent rules largely apply to PCs, and players can generally do as they like to random NPCs, provided their perks allow for it. However, scene GMs have final say for important NPCs, especially plot-related, and these NPCs can be considered to have consent protections as well.
The World Tree is the name for a metaphysical construct that exists between dimensions, or Worlds. The name of Tree is very fitting, as massively-sized branches and leaves make up the physical structure of the World Tree. In defiance of the physical space each takes up on the Tree, these branches entwine and interconnect the numerous Worlds that have been drawn in to be a part of the Tree.
It is the Tree that allows all these Worlds with sometimes dramatically different laws of physics and magic to interact with one another. Though nobody knows the full reasons why, the Tree, whether consciously or merely as part of its existence, continuously seeks to merge Worlds into it and add to its growth. A fully merged World becomes indistinguishable from another part of the tree, which is a final fate that many Worlds are reluctant to allow. Most are content to be what is termed a Blossom: a World connected to others enough to allow for growth and import of foreign concepts, but without losing their individuality.
Each World's reality is subtly different, and favors its own behavior. Even worlds that seem very similar will reject offworld influences, and the more wildly different the more strongly they will be rejected. Placing a radio from another world in modern Earth would have basically no effect, since it is functionally and operationally identical to what already exists. Placing that same radio in a medieval Earth, even one that appears to be the same Earth in the past, will result in spotty operation, initially working fine but breaking down the more it alters the status quo. This also applies to effects, making assault rifles in medieval Earth roughly as effective as longbows in the long term. If a World is a Blossom, then the radio above may not have the range or clarity it would have in its home World, but would work much more reliably.
The closer to full integration a World is, the more malleable and accepting of different Worlds it will be. Of more immediate interest is that some individuals can use their native World's abilities, or integrate other World's abilities, without strong rejection. These individuals, who can to a limited degree also extend this protection to those following them, are usually individuals of great import in their own World. In other words, player characters and major NPCs on the game, who can bend the rules and are responsible for the ebb and flow of integration.
The lifecycle of a World in the World tree is simple to describe, but very difficult to manage. Worlds appear as Buds, which have a tenuous connection to the World Tree. It isn't clear if the World Tree creates these Worlds with complete histories, or if they are actually just alternate dimensions that the World Tree connects to. It is very, very difficult to detach a World from the World Tree completely, and such Worlds will often reattach after some time even then.
Buds are connected but difficult to reach at all. More often, an inhabitant of a Bud finds their way to the World Tree or another World in the World Tree. It is theorized that interacting with other Worlds strengthens the bond the inhabitant's World has, allowing traversable branches to connect, even if it takes years.
Eventually a World will Blossom, and connect to other Worlds. The more connections a World has, the more accepting it is of the reality of other Worlds. In turn, the more it is affected by other Worlds, the faster it forms a connection to the Tree. Eventually connections to other Worlds form on their own, quickening the process.
Thorn Worlds(worlds that are dying or otherwise heavily troubled) and Dead Worlds(no life is left at all) can also end up connected. Worlds that these connect to suffer bleedover from the problematic Worlds, either in hostiles or in natural disasters and strange reality twists. It is for this reason that the Gardeners were formed, an organization that carefully manipulates how quickly a World is altered so that they can prevent Thorns from forming or connecting. Often, the inhabitants do not want to completely merge with the Tree either, so the Gardeners prevent that.
If a World changes enough or too quickly, it merges completely with the Tree, becoming part of the metaphysical structure. While still liveable, this often results in a loss of culture and uniqueness. A World that does this is called a Branch.
Time passes oddly in some Worlds. Most of the time, it is with the same flow as the rest of the World Tree, but once in a while time slows or speeds up for certain Worlds in relation to the World Tree. The inhabitants of these Worlds, even if they are not in this World, age at the same rate as their native World. This most often happens with Buds, and the closer a World is to becoming a Branch, the less likely it is to be out of sync.
(This is an IC means of excusing plots and scene timings which do not line up well with the way the plot should be running, due to scheduling conflicts or similar problems. It should not be abused or, given its IC random nature, exploited. It is meant to allow a plot which ICly might be over a couple days to happen over a couple of weeks OOC time, or to allow players who are playing a certain age range to remain within that age range longer, should they desire it. It can also be used to allow for time skips in narrative, though any time skips of significance will require an update to the World description and staff approval.)
When a World is connected to the World Tree via becoming a Blossom, it begins to form attachments to not just the Tree, but to other Worlds. The Gardeners dubbed these connections Vines, though locally they are more often called Portals or Gates.
When a World connects to the Tree, multiple Vines will often connect to the Tree, giving several options to reach the Tree itself. Similarly, when a connection is formed to another World, it usually creates multiple Vines. Travel through Vines is not quite instantaneous, but close enough that it often appears more like a simple shift in scenery rather than a transition to another place. Sometimes, Vines only allow travel through certain approaches, such as walking around a specific rock twice and then between two trees, but more often they are an obvious gap in reality leading to another place.
Vines dislike being locked down, and if traffic is too restricted, they migrate to another place nearby. Whether this is a conscious choice and Vines are sapient, or if it is simply a metaphysical reaction to disuse, is unclear. The end result is that it is impossible to isolate a World completely once a connection has been formed, but it is possible to prevent Vines from dumping an army into the middle of a fortress. Vines should be used to reach narratively important areas, and areas that are isolated in theme generally remain isolated, unless the story calls for what happens when they are suddenly exposed to lack of isolation.
Vines can sometimes be used to shortcut travel, but most often trying to bypass a lengthy journey via Vines leads into dangerous areas outside the World. This means that it might be easier, if considerably longer, to use local transportation to reach a faraway destination. Accessibility of areas should be dependent upon the narrative needs of RP.
The World Tree is partly metaphysical, but it is called a tree for a reason. Attempting to map it doesn't work well in Euclidean space, but it does sort of look like a tree. More importantly it definitely has seeds. World Seeds, as they are called, are extremely rare objects about the size of a basketball, and they warp reality itself around them.
No one has seen a World Seed sprout, but they can be planted and attempt to grow, and they tend to drastically affect a World they are planted on over time. Since this span is measured in centuries, a more common use is to directly manipulate a World through the use of a World Seed. These have numerous uses, but the one thing that everyone with any experience in the World Tree's realms knows is that they can be used to adjust a World's reality boundaries.
A World Seed can be used to instantly forge a connection with another World, or to make a Bud a Blossom if the Bud can be reached. It can accelerate a Blossom's development into a Branch... or into a Thorn. It can help to ease a Thorn back into a Blossom, but this still requires effort. It can make a permanent Vine to connect two places reliably. It can even make reality more malleable in a World, allowing the free use of things that would not normally work well, or adjust the laws of physics or magic in some way.
World Seeds are obviously very sought after, and will only appear as part of an applied Plot, but rumors of their presence may be used to drive RP as desired.
The Gardeners represent the force of order and safety in the World Tree, as a sort of multi-world police force. At least, that's how they'd like to present themselves. In most Worlds their PR matches this official statement, but it's very easy to find that this isn't the case. The World Tree's 'police force' has no problems imposing their will on worlds that have no interest in being a part of their organization, and though they attempt to work within local laws and customs whenever possible, they do not consider themselves beholden to them.
The actual purpose of the Gardeners is the stability of the World Tree itself. Usually this involves encouraging the controlled blossoming of worlds and making certain that they peacefully coexist with others. Not every interaction is so benign, and sometimes the Gardeners make a decision to rearrange connections or even eliminate a World from the Tree, either by forcing it to become a Bud or sometimes through more drastic means of forcing an integration. This can involve forcibly creating wars or mass deaths, creating natural disasters via forcing unnatural linkages, or pushing for unjust laws to bring a world in or out of alignment with another. In short, despite their pretty face, the Gardeners are not a completely benign presence, and only their vast collection of World Seeds and powerful artifacts allow them to maintain their grip on the control of how Worlds interact.
Despite all of this, the Gardeners are usually tolerated by most, because they so rarely interfere and most of their interference is good for the short term. Most people only know them from small local offices that offer simple bounty tasks, and it is these that bring most adventurer sorts out from their own Worlds. These usually seem relatively innocent, such as investigate areas or eliminate offworld monsters, but persistent(and most likely at least partly accurate) rumors say that they also make less savory requests such as assassinations and thefts under the table. In all, they seem focused upon the greater good and prosperity of the World Tree as a whole, even if some victims of their 'pruning' may have good reason to dislike their methods.
The actual Gardeners are relatively small in number, and most people only interact with a paid middleman or agent who has neither knowledge nor interest in the true Gardener beliefs and goals. The Gardener Council truly only consists of a dozen or so people, but they do have several hundred active, loyalist agents to send when mercenaries won't work. These agents are known to be extremely competent and powerful, and are usually roughly on PC level(Tier D or C), though a very rare few of their most elite may actually reach into the A-Tier levels. A few hundred agents to cover the entirety of the World Tree is wholly impractical though, resulting in the heavy reliance upon bounty jobs.
With so many worlds possessing different physics and rules, communication between them can be very difficult. Nearby worlds with similar technologies sometimes make shared communications networks, but long-range communications are unreliable and difficult. Larger factions have access to backbones that can allow for swift delivery of messages, but these are expensive to maintain and use, and reserved for quick emergency updates, with two-way communication being extremely rare and brief.
More commonly, small guilds and organizations offer message delivery to other worlds, or assistance in setting up reliable communication between two specific points. News travels surprisingly fast despite these limitations, thanks to the constant need for messages sent between worlds, and constant travel from merchants and traders. News reaches other worlds in days or hours, not weeks, with important events sometimes taking even less time.
Occasionally, technology and local needs do allow for a connection to go through. This allows brief intercommunication across worlds, though not reliably. It can be used to allow for scene hooks and to set up RP, but should be used sparingly for more general communication.
One of the more difficult things to determine when writing a pose is 'how much can I do?' This is especially true of characters who have abilities like cloning themselves or large numbers of NPCs. On World Tree Mush, we have simplified this down to a single answer: you can perform one action, no matter how many Perks you might have.
To be more specific, this is not limited to a single X does Y action. The actual 'action' may involve multiple steps, within reason, but what is meant by an action here is addressing a singular problem, sometimes referred to as an Action Thread. Using the Objectives system it is easy to determine what is a single problem, but if you are not using that system, the definition is 'one single task that takes your attention.' This means that you can attempt to save civilians from being crushed by Mister Evildoer's trap, OR you may punch Mister Evildoer in the face, OR you may steal the Doomsday Plans from Mister Evildoer's desk, but you may not do all of these or even two of them.
In most cases, defending yourself against multiple attackers is considered one action.
If you have reasonable IC means to do more than one action, either through great skill or some kind of duplication ability or NPCs, then you may address multiple Action Threads in a turn by spending a point of Edge. This only allows you to perform an extra action for that single pose turn.
During Player vs Environment(PvE), scenerunners may generally introduce new action threads for their scene freely, within reason, but if it is a PvP scene they may introduce a new action thread by spending an Edge, and that thread will remain active throughout the rest of the scene unless something occurs to resolve it. This is generally only useful for Antagonists, who have a free Edge to do this with.
The overall tone of this mush is 'action-adventure' and 'drama.' For a good comparison, see Star Wars, most Marvel movies, and other popular films and stories that focus around larger than life activities and character development via complex character interactions. This also means that the tone will largely avoid mature themes like heavy politics or 'darker' themes such as drugs, sexuality, rape, and other controversial topics.
This is not to say that these topics cannot ever appear. While the tone is inspired by stories intended for younger viewers, the players involved are presumed to be adults who are able to handle including more mature elements. However, these elements should always be a smaller part of an overarching plot or scene more suited for the overall tone, rather than the focus of RP for their own sake.
World Tree recognizes four different types of NPCs, with differing levels of freedom in how they can be used in RP.
* Apped NPCs are characters that a player has applied for and gotten approved on their character.
* Plot NPCs are part of an apped and approved plotline.
* Scene NPCs are important characters to the current scene, or for unapproved plots.
* Background NPCs are basically set dressing and environmental NPCs, such as bystanders or mook troops.
While the full rules for Apped NPCs are in the Perks section, the general guidelines to remember are:
* No matter how many Apped NPCs you have, you can only pursue one Action Thread unless running a scene or spending an Edge.
* Apped NPCs do not have separate Edge. All NPCs use the main character bit's Edge.
Background NPCs are not named(unless needed for atmosphere - they killed Fritz!), and are generally not important to the goal of a scene, except as a minor obstacle or to be protected. Noncombat Background NPCs can generally be killed without much effort, unless a PC devotes attention to protecting them. Combat-based Background NPCs are not an obstacle unless the GM has made them an obstacle, and may not have any significant Perk-level abilities beyond the scope of the scene.
What the latter statement means is, if the point of the scene is a zombie attack, then the zombies are an obstacle and operate with any Perklike abilities the zombies of that setting may have, but are not capable of having any other special abilities. An exceptional zombie would be a Scene NPC.
Background NPCs may not contribute meaningfully to a PC's capabilities without prior approval of staff or all involved, unless an Antagonist has made them into an Action Thread. Exceptions for non-Antagonists are only granted where it makes sense, such as assaulting a stronghold.
Scene NPCs are usually the objective or focus of a Scene. In a scene run by an Antagonist, they are usually the goal of the scene, to capture or kill for example. They may also be used in unapped or apped plots as an Action Thread, if it makes sense, but they must follow the other general rules of Scene NPCs. For non-Antagonist scenes, they may be the object of the scene, such as an escort or capture, or they could be the antagonist of the scene. In any case, Scene NPCs used in this way should never be above the equivalent of B-Tier, and should rarely be above C-Tier. They should not use any Perklike abilities which require Edge or special rules like Copy, and should never directly contribute any abilities to another character beyond what is necessary for the scene.
For example, guarding a scientist while they hack the computer system is fine, even if nobody in the scene has computer skills. Fighting off enemies with your ice mage while a fire mage NPC burns the enemies vulnerable to fire is not okay.
An exception to this is made for 'quest-giver' type NPCs and unapped media characters in a World. The player of Cloud, for example, can have Tifa show up in a scene as a cameo or to give an objective, but they are not to get involved in any 'action' if at all possible. Their point is to lend flavor and theme to the World, not to replace PCs.
Plot NPCs have been approved by an apped plotline, and will usually have their abilities predefined during approval. In some cases, an umbrella may be given to make up Plot NPCs. In general, the only difference between Scene and Plot NPCs is that Plot NPCs may have abilities that last beyond the current scene, such as Copy-T type powers, and may otherwise break the limitations of Scene NPCs with prior approval.
Communication between worlds is facilitated by the same mysterious binding powers that allow different physics to interact. When interacting with a being of another world, languages are roughly 'mapped' to the likelihood of the player knowing them depending on the significance of the language.
In simpler terms, characters who know the dominant language of a world will know the dominant language of another world. The 'dominant language' is simply the language that the world's source material is based upon, so most anime sources set in Japan will consider Japanese the dominant language. This can result in some bizarre circumstances, such as having an American travel to the America of a different world and being unable to speak the language, because the dominant language of their world is English, and the dominant language of the target world is something else.
The ability to understand another language is likewise based on the similarity to the cultural niche the language has in the character's home world. This makes linguists valuable when dealing with unusual languages in another world.
If the character is literate in their equivalent language, they are literate in the target world's language.
TL;DR, language isn't a problem unless it's supposed to be a problem.
World Tree MUSH has several Factions to enhance RP opportunities. Players are encouraged, but not required, to join one or more of these Factions when possible. Currently, Factions are divided into three staff-backed Factions tied to the Mush theme, and any number of Player Factions. See the subtopics for more details, but the overview is:
* Gardeners - The Gardeners maintain order between Worlds, and intervene in Thorn Worlds in order to stabilize them. They have a strict code of conduct and are not intended to be a Faction players join.
* Keepers - Short for 'Groundskeepers,' the Keepers for whatever reason desire to separate Worlds from the World Tree, and to this end attempt to kill the tree by encouraging Thorns. This is a heavily antagonistic Faction.
* Harvesters - Believing that the Worlds of the World Tree are best exploited by them, the Harvesters seek to leverage interference between Worlds to profit in some way. Some by simple monetary profit, some by a personal goal. They are a mildly antagonistic faction with flexible membership requirements suitable for more tame villains and anti-heroes.
* Player Groups - See +groups for a listing of player groups. These are formed with specific cross-worlds goals in mind.
In the experience of staffers here on World Tree, people tend to view staff on RP places as a largely rules enforcement group. And... to some degree that is true. Someone has to step in and arbitrate, and at times, that calls for harshness.
That isn't what we are really here for, though.
Staff is here to make this place fun for everyone. This includes you, yes you. If that means discipline, it is to prevent something worse from cropping up further down the road, but most often contact from staff will not be with intent to chide you.
We are here to make the best possible experience. Sometimes, we may ask you to do things for us. These aren't always because you've done something 'wrong' but merely because things could be better. As an example, we may ask you to revise a Perk or Complication after you've been in play for a while. Sometimes, this is due to abuse that actively makes things less fun for other people. That's bad, and you should feel bad if that's the case. Other times, it may be because what we see just isn't working out all that well compared to what it could be, and that isn't necessarily a flaw on your part or ours.
This isn't something we expect for free, either. We want players to feel like they can approach us with problems, with suggestions, and to make the mush a better place. Maybe we'll tell you no, but we will always hear you out, and if possible explain why we make the decisions we do.
Communication is a two way street. Listen to staff, because we see a lot that players don't, but staff is not all-seeing. Talk to us, and let us know if it feels like we aren't listening.
A Plot is simply a series of connected RPs that last more than one session. These usually end up resolving with some kind of feeling of completion, though multiple Plots can be strung together for an ongoing narrative. In general, players are encouraged to run Plots, but some require staff approval or intervention. Plots are divided into four categories. Summaries are below, but more thorough explanations can be found in the subtopics.
* Trivial - Trivial Plots do not have appreciable long-term effects, and do not contain any controversial elements. Trivial Plots do not require staff approval at all.
* Minor - Minor plots may change some large aspects of the setting, and may include restricted elements like long-term mind control. They do require staff approval but may be started before approval is given.
* Major - Major Plots change the setting in a major way or have ongoing controversial elements(mind control, defection, etc) or powerful NPCs. They are usually the 'main plot' of a setting, or at least a season of a TV series.
* Metaplot - Metaplot level Plots change the actual metatheme, or a large number of Worlds at once. Only staff may run Metaplot level Plots that change the metatheme, but it is possible(though rare) for a player to apply for a Metaplot level Plot involving multiple Worlds.
Trivial Plots are so named because of the amount of effort required to get them approved. A Trivial TP cannot have any particularly long term effects, no more than gaining control of a small fortress or city which does not appreciably alter the political landscape. This is ideal for personal-level plotlines dealing with character stories, and is equivalent to a short sidequest in a video game.
Trivial plots may not have any long term mind control, serious defections, capture, or controversial elements that might disturb players such as heavy drug use themes or other extremely mature topics that are considered sensitive. They should not last longer than a month or two at most, and most will wrap up within two weeks and consist of only a handful of scenes.
Minor Plots have an increase in scope and more flexibility, but are largely run like Trivial Plots. Unlike Trivial Plots, Minor Plots can have long term effects such as subjugating, freeing, or otherwise altering a small kingdom or city, or defeating a reasonably dangerous villain. This cannot have any significant effect on the overall flow of history on the world, so toppling large empires or the like is not allowed.
Minor Plots may also, with approval of staff, have elements such as long term mind control, defections, and mature themes, but be prepared to answer questions about these aspects.
Minor Plots require approval from staff, but the plot may be run while the review process is underway. This may take time, however, and none of the elements that require approval may be introduced until the approval is gained. For this reason, it is best to keep any early scenes run low-key, or simply wait for approval. This option is intended more in the case of a Trivial Plot that turns into a Minor Plot, allowing the runner to upgrade into approved options.
This is also the first level of plot that allows for apped Plot NPCs to be added to the application, thus allowing NPCs with Perks and abilities more complex than a Trivial Plot would allow.
Moving up from the Minor Plot in scope, a Major Plot can do anything a Minor Plot can, but as usual any controversial elements must be clearly included in the application. A Major Plot MUST be approved before it can be started, though an approved Minor Plot can be upgraded to a Major.
Major Plots can include higher-scale Plot characters, and greater scale in changing the status quo. Where a Minor might allow players to change the fate of a small kingdom or nation that has little effect on the long term course of the world, World-changing events are typical of a Major Plot, or the defeat or triumph of a major NPC.
Major Plots, if based around existing material, will never be assumed to play out exactly as the source material. Assumption of external influence is a requirement for a Major Plot to be approved. It is also allowed to have a Major Plot be the intersection of two or more plots from different Worlds, for much more intricate crossovers, but great care must be taken in planning this. Past three World-level Plots being heavily involved, this is considered a Metaplot Plot.
The most complex and difficult Plot to app is the Metaplot. These consist of two possible levels.
The first type of Metaplot is the one apped by players or staff, involving a large crossover of more than three Worlds, or drastic changes to Worlds such as merging two Worlds or splitting a World, or the destruction of an entire World.
The second kind of Metaplot is for staff only, and changes the actual meta-setting of the World Tree itself in some way. This will be used for changing how the mush operates in some way, such as adding or eliminating Factions or rearranging the Grid in a significant manner.
OOC chat etiquette falls under the rules, and includes being civil to one another in a common sense way. This file describes etiquette during RP and scenes.
* Be observant of limits, schedules, and RL whenever possible. This goes both ways, however, and if RL is consistently an issue, provide ample warning before entering into a RP, so that those available can accomodate delays or pauses.
* World Tree does not normally adhere to a strict pose order, allowing people to pose multiple times in a round. When doing this, it is expected that you will only pose actions that do not invalidate previous actions in the pose round, nor require someone writing an in-progress reply to drastically change it. In other words, if the GM is writing, posing stuff at another player is fine, but only react to the GM /once/.
* Respect the abilities and efforts of other players. This means that you should recognize the threats villains pose and treat them as a threat, and villains should give appropriate respect - often in the form of cursing the heroes - to heroes even if they are weaker. With very powerful characters or large power gaps this can be a difficult balance to achieve, so please be in tune with your audience.
* Scene runners should attempt to provide something for people to do, but players should not be completely passive. This is a cooperative effort, communication is key.
* Only use the combat system when uncertainty in the outcome is acceptable. For many scenes and storylines, it makes more narrative sense to usually have the higher Tier win in a direct confrontation and skip use of the combat system, but the higher Tier character has the responsibility of providing a way for the lower Tier character to feel accomplishment, even if the payoff is not immediate.
* Do not include 'shock elements' or other situations or details meant only to disturb players. If your scene may have elements that others could find objectionable, provide fair warning beforehand.
* Do not provide 'no-win situations' without prior staff approval, usually for a Plot. It is okay to have a singular objective that is not winnable, but during RP, the character's efforts should mean something, so each scene should have something that can be accomplished.
* Heroes should be aware that on World Tree, the villains /often/ have the upper hand. This is a fact of life. Villains should also be aware that heroes will eventually thwart their more destructive plans unless an apped Plot includes the opportunity otherwise, but it is okay to have more minor victories along the way, especially for non-plot Antagonists. The heroes are not guaranteed victory, especially if they fail to coordinate.
World Tree is not a progression-based mush, but a narrative-based one. This means that the goal of RP is to advance a personal story, not to increase in power and ability. Some personal stories may do this, but it is not the expectation.
For this reason, World Tree does not call a change in character status an upgrade. Some, such as the D+ hero maturing into his or her power, may involve increasing the Tier or adding new Perks, but often an Update is simply a matter of shuffling things around or clarifying. Sometimes it can be removing a Perk, or adding a new one, to reflect ongoing RP.
Updates can be frequent or infrequent, with ongoing revision expected. Staff will expect the updates to reflect the character's current concept, and adding new abilities and Perks will have an upper limit just like the upper limit of an applied character's total capability. In other words, once you start gathering a lot of different Perks, you'll eventually start needing to swap out Perks instead of adding new ones.
In short, Updates can be frequent, but continuous expansion of capability is not something this mush will cater to.
When speaking of recent releases/media, it is generally considered polite to ask ahead of time if anyone minds spoilers. Anything released within the spoiler period should automatically be considered a spoiler, and move to the T-Spoilers channel for discussion. Anything over the spoiler period, use your best judgement.
What is the spoiler period?
* Most media releases are subject to spoiler periods until one month after either RETAIL RELEASE for one-shot media like video games or movies. This means one month after the DVD/Blu-Ray release of a movie, not the theatrical release, or one month after the streaming release.
* Ongoing media like television shows, either internet-only or broadcast, are considered to be under spoilers until one month after the COMPLETION OF A SEASON, after which that season is no longer under spoilers.
* Regular-release material such as comic books and manga are subject to spoilers until one month after COMPLETION OF A STORY ARC.
* Instant-consumption materials such as tabletop games without metaplot tied in to them, or card game releases, do not have a spoiler period associated with rules and setting material, only with plot or GM-only information, if present. For those with plot elements, the spoiler period is one month after release.
During the Christmas holiday season, spoiler periods are extended to one month after December 25th(to Jan 25th), for any media released for purchase on or after October 1st, to account for gifts received. Continuous release, streaming-only release, seasonal release, and instant consumption material is not subject to this and maintains normal spoiler periods.
Obviously these periods apply to applying for characters with elements from these spoiler periods as well. If applying for a character, the alt request cannot be sent until AFTER the spoiler period is up, unless the alt request is somehow arguing for why it is not under spoiler.
This is a US-based server, and the spoiler periods assume the US release. However, US release often lags behind foreign releases, and it is never clear if an official localization will arrive. In these cases, spoiler periods should follow the official US release schedule if the material has a US release date announced. For material which does not yet have a US release date, spoiler periods start /one year/ after foreign release, instead of one month. If a release has not been announced within one year, it can safely be assumed that one will not be coming any time soon.
When adapting themes and characters to the Mush, there are several points to keep in mind. It is impossible to fully list everything that needs done for every theme, or to make a complete step by step list of rules, which is why themes require staff review for integration and adaptation. In general, adaptation of character abilities and themes follows two major rules:
1) MUSH Rules always take precedence over local rules and concepts.
2) If something interferes with playability, interactability, or fun, then it must be adapted.
For a better idea of what is and isn't acceptable, see the existing adapted themes, and the Advice subtopic of this entry.
As an example of adaptations that often need done, consider the following.
* Themes in which integration would cause an immediate disaster or disruptive matter. While such events may not be impossible with the apping of a TP, staff will be very reluctant to approve such a plot without some very good planning and confidence. Examples include themes undergoing a zombie apocalypse with some ridiculously simple means of transmission(most zombie apocalypse themes, really), or themes with deadly diseases ravaging the world(The Stand, or Exalted's Great Contagion). Usually, the easiest adaptation is to say it only affects natives.
* If everyone in your theme interacts with the theme in a certain way, then the assumption is that those outside the theme can do the same. You cannot declare a theme's technology runs entirely on magic or psionic energy and state that outsiders cannot use it, for example, unless you are willing to take a similar penalty in dealing with other worlds.
* Powers or abilities that are extremely commonplace(IE, basically everyone can use them) that would be exceptional abilities in other worlds do not work in other worlds. As an example, if every single living person on your world can drain life from other living beings, you cannot assume you have a drain life that applies equally to other worlds.
* Anything that requires an absolute or complete superiority of theme over another. A being with complete immunity to cold in your theme is still vulnerable to Ria the Ice Witch, the OC who has nothing but ice powers.
An Alt-U, short for Alternate Universe, is an alternate take on a canon media World. While every World is expected to diverge from the canon events upon integration with the World Tree, Alt-U Worlds have something fundamentally different about them even before joining with the World Tree. These are commonly What-If scenarios, such as what if Superman crashed in Russia instead of North America.
Alt-U Worlds must still maintain the theme of the original, usually. In this we mean that how the World operates is unchanged from canon, unless the what-if scenario's entire point is a change in operation. Some minor changes to account for playability may be allowed, but the further divergent in various areas, the more critical staff will be of the application. In the above example, Superman would have been raised by the USSR, but it would not be okay to give him magical powers because that is not something Superman would reasonably have as a result of this divergence.
An Alt-U should also not be designed specifically to make the entire World, or most of its denizens, a greater threat, nor to give a favorite character center stage at the expense of relevancy of everyone else. As another example, removing Goku from Dragonball Z to make Krillin the major guardian of Earth might be okay, if presented as an alternate take where all the more minor characters of Dragonball Z became the main cast instead. Making Krillin the guardian of Earth and keeping all other characters minor characters or eliminating them entirely is a much more difficult pitch to staff.
Do not use Alt-U Worlds to simply add more powers and abilities to characters, even cast-wide. If your Alt-U makes the entirety of the canon media inferior, it is not a well-designed Alt-U.
Worlds have several levels of integration with the rest of the World Tree, and these levels are determined by how difficult it is to interact with said worlds. On an OOC level, they also dictate how involved you can be with your own world, and what you can do inside it. These levels are:
Bud - A Bud is very, very difficult to reach, and difficult to return from even for characters with portal and transport abilities. It is not generally possible for characters from a Bud to have significant on-world resources or to RP in the world without an approved TP.
Blossom - A Blossom World has attached to the World Tree enough to have regular commerce, and can have regular RP within its bounds. This means that staff have reviewed problematic integration questions and approved the World for general play.
Branch - A Branch World is completely integrated into the tree, and is usually so changed that it is not very recognizable. It has effectively become part of the meta-landscape.
Thorn - Thorn Worlds are Worlds that are dying or otherwise damaging the Tree, and may cause problems if their own problems are not resolved.
Blight - Blight Worlds are the Worlds that interfere with the development of other Worlds, spawning deep and complex issues that cause other Worlds to turn into Dead or Thorn Worlds.
Dead - A Dead World is just that. It is entirely dead and nothing happens there without the presence of offworld entities.
A Thorn World is a special type of Blossom, a World connected to the tree but with damaging influence. Thorn Worlds are problems because they tend to harm both the people living on the Tree, and the Tree itself, causing it to struggle to bring more Worlds in as Blossoms, or to integrate them fully. Often, Thorn Worlds actually cause problems in nearby Blossoms as well.
A Thorn World is usually dying in some way, and always has severe problems. These problems are always the result of external interference, though. A World dying through the actions of its own people, completely from the consequences of its own internal actions, is not a Thorn. If World A has a nuclear holocaust because someone went to World B and used the Artifact of Doom to pull the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse into World A, then it is World A that becomes a Thorn, being the actual epicenter of the difficulty.
In effect, Worlds that are dying due to their own actions regardless of the Tree's presence can be thought of as naturally-dying leaves, which will fall away of their own accord with no harm done. A Thorn can be thought of as a fungus or infected injury that is rotting the nearby branches.
It must be noted that a Thorn World is not necessarily hostile to the Tree, but is causing damage to it by existing. Fixing a Thorn may involve trimming Blossoms around it, or simply removing the external influence.
A Branch world is in some ways like a Blossom, as it is possible to relatively freely travel to and from this World. However, unlike a Blossom, Vines do not open from a Branch into the World Tree or other Branches, but only to Blossoms. Branches are integrated into the landscape of the Tree in some way, to the point that they are not contiguous... a Branch may end up with a city down the road from another Branch's city, while their former neighbor is hundreds of miles away. This is an extreme case as normally it is regions that are divided up, not to the granularity of cities, but it is quite common for terrain and nearby landmarks to shift during the transition from Blossom to Branch.
Branch worlds are common in the background of the setting, but are extremely rare to apply for, since it requires giving up some of the setting's original identity and uniqueness in favor of the meta-setting.
Blight Worlds are related to Thorn Worlds, but are a different problem. Whereas Thorn Worlds are dying due to offworld interference and causing a disruption in the Tree, requiring that they be 'saved' in some way, Blight Worlds are causing Thorns to appear or killing other Worlds. They may or may not be dying Worlds themselves.
To be a Blight World, initiative must be taken to cause problems with another World. Worlds are never inherently Blight Worlds due to some nature of the World... the Tree tends to reject and isolate those types of Worlds itself. A World with a highly contagious zombie plague would not be a Blight World, because the plague would find it has difficulty spreading beyond its borders, though it is possible. Blight Worlds require intervention, usually from Harbingers, in order to cause issues with other Worlds. This could be a dangerous military force sweeping through nearby Worlds, or some sort of deliberate alteration to a plague to allow it to spread offworld. Often, the Tree itself will prune Blight Worlds, but the more subtle ones require intervention, usually from the Gardeners.