nextnightmods: (Default)
𝕋ℍ𝔼 ℕ𝔼𝕏𝕋 ℕ𝕀𝔾ℍ𝕋. ([personal profile] nextnightmods) wrote2020-04-20 11:03 pm

EXPLORATION.


EXPLORATION


ACTIVE EXPLORATION SLOTS: 1/4

Explorations are currently OPEN. They will close again when we run out of active exploration slots.


β€’β€’β€’

The forest engulfing Beacon is dense and uncharted, but that just means there's never a shortage of cool stuff to discover lurking off the beaten path. There's always new locations, plot clues, or extra resources to be found, so although venturing into the woods is always dangerous, the rewards may just outweigh the risks.

Once you come up with a plan, please fill out and submit the form below. We'll respond in one of two ways, depending on the nature of your exploration:

  • In most cases, we'll respond with a single write-up detailing the outcome of your exploration. For example, characters venturing out into unknown areas may discover a new location! In that case, you'll receive a full description of that new location, along with any other details worth noting, such as forest spirit encounters or difficulties along the way. If your group would then like to react to any of this or explore that location after its discovery, you can then respond with your own write-up of everything your group would investigate, and we'll let you know what happens as a result. And that's it! Then the exploration is wrapped, the location becomes available to the GPSL at large, and you're welcome to thread out any details of the exploration if you like.

  • In limited cases, an exploration request will open a dialogue between the players and mods to determine the outcome of your exploration. For example, characters attempting to interact with forest spirits may get the chance to play out that encounter, whether it be a pleasant conversation or, uh, the forest spirit trying to kill you, since that happens sometimes. Explorations of this nature will not always result in a response like this, as it'll depend on our availability as mods. If you're interested in doing an exploration like this and don't want to leave it up to chance, PM us! We'll work with you to schedule an encounter.

Regardless of which type of exploration you end up with, what you do during an exploration is entirely up to you, so feel free to get creative! We always try to reward creativity in some way, even if it's not a success in the way that you hoped for.

β€’β€’β€’

Before you embark on your quest, here's everything you need to know about explorations:

  • Exploring uncharted territory is intended to be dangerous, and there is always a risk of failure, injury, and other setbacks. If you're not on board with these risks, exploration may not be in the cards for you.

  • That said, the exploration form includes an opt-in for serious injury and death. If you aren't interested in having your character(s) at risk for that stuff at this time, you can let us know upfront. Please keep in mind that opting out of serious injury/death does not mean you're opting out of the above risks of failure, injury, and other setbacks. Those risks are always in play during explorations. In addition, while opting out of serious risks doesn't mean you'll get a watered down exploration, some discoveries lurking out in the forest are reserved for risk-taking characters. For example, opting out of serious risks eliminates the chance of running into the hostile green-eyed spirits, so characters interested in pursuing green-eyed spirit plot threads will have to put themselves on the line to do so.

  • If you choose to opt into the risks of serious injury and death, your character's safety is forfeit and you give the mods the right to maim accordingly (though, of course, we'll check permissions posts in doing so). This does not mean that groups opting into these risks will always be tormented and killed! It's just helpful for us to know your preferences and expectations upfront. Please keep in mind that opting into the risk of serious injury or death applies to the whole group, not just individual characters.

  • Explorations into the area of Beacon currently occupied by the Parade will always be extra dangerous. Characters will run the risk of encountering the Parade itself, but besides that, the Parade's presence gets all the forest spirits in the area extra revved up, increasing their hostility. We'll give you the "danger zone warning" at the top of the exploration if you're about to head into Parade-infested territory, as characters may be seriously injured or killed at any point during an exploration within the parade route. You can check the Parade's schedule on the calendar page.

  • Chance of success will be left up to a mix of mod discretion and RNG. We'll typically use a RNG to determine what you find, if anything, but we'll also take player/character ingenuity into account. In short: If you have a solid, creative plan, you're more likely to be rewarded for that. Aimlessly wandering won't always get you nothing, but it's less likely to earn you something neat for your trouble. (However, please do be encouraged to follow the dumb idea that's in your character's heart. We will reward for IC idiocy, too.)

  • Having torches from the bonfire with you will also increase your chance of success, though be careful: If you lose the torches while exploring, someone will have to recover them or they're lost forever. Additionally, you must request torches through the item request page in order to take them on explorations. Torches not logged through the item requests page are not considered game canon.

  • Once you receive a mod response to your exploration, you will have one week to tag us back. If that week timer runs out, we'll consider that exploration closed, and mod responses will stop. You're welcome to handwave your own IC conclusion to the exploration at that point. To be extra clear: the time it takes for us mods to respond to your exploration is not included in that time limit. The timer starts fresh each time we tag you back.

  • Explorations over two weeks old will be wrapped in the next mod response. This is to prevent explorations from dragging on for too long, which will slow up our system, but more importantly, it'll make for awkward timing issues in the game! We don't want to leave players waiting on exploration outcomes to be able to engage with the rest of the GPSL.

  • Characters may only embark on one exploration a month. This is to allow all characters to have equal opportunity to make an impact on the setting, as well as to foster more cooperation between characters! With only one explore a month, we implore you to collaborate with other individuals and complete explores as a group when possible.

  • We will only accept a maximum of 4 active explorations at a time. If those 4 slots fill up, we'll close the queue to new submissions until we're able to wrap some of the active adventures. This number is based on mod availability, and we are looking to get comfortable with the system before we up the number in the future.

  • Explorations will always be closed during events except under rare special circumstances. Similarly, explorations can't be forward- or back-dated to happen during an event. Go do event things instead!

  • We have recently moved setting and building updates to the Setting Page. If you're interested in doing that, head on over that way!


To EMBARK ON AN EXPLORATION, please fill out the form below:



QUICKNAV
comms | network β€’ logs β€’ memes β€’ ooc
pages | rules β€’ faq β€’ taken β€’ mod contact β€’ player contact β€’ calendar β€’ setting β€’ exploration β€’ item requests β€’ full nav
immortalaccursed: (train that's pullin the sick and twisted)

[personal profile] immortalaccursed 2020-05-01 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
player name(s): Psi
character(s): Ardyn Izunia
area of exploration: unspecified, but he was at the Landmark during the flood so probably Downtown somewhere.
date(s) of exploration: Early May
plan: Ardyn will be searching for any forest spirits that have been left stranded or who are now out exploring after the rain. If he finds a weaker looking one he intends to pounce upon it, daemonify it (infect it with Starscourge) then absorb it into his body which will also give him some of its memories...Or will it? He's hoping to learn something about the setting or at least learn to speak the forest spirit's language... Hey it worked for learning the language of the Hexatheon back home.

More on how daemonification works can be read here in his app under the Starscourge section.
is your group willing to accept risk of serious injury/death? Yes! But if things start to look bad he'll try to escape by collapsing into miasma and phantom leaping away.
immortalaccursed: (This is no disease you don't need a cure)

[personal profile] immortalaccursed 2020-05-03 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
OH GOD.

Are the green eyes temporary?
fjorgedinfire: By <user name=cherryspliced site=tumblr.com> (Smug bastard)

[personal profile] fjorgedinfire 2020-05-03 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
player name(s): Maniette and Gail
character(s): Fjord and Soldat!
area of exploration: The tunnels under the church, starting at the mudslide; Fjord has already excavated the church-side tunnel.
date(s) of exploration: May 11th
plan: Fjord wants to explore the tunnels leading to the church and needs supervision, so Soldat is here. The aim is to follow the open tunnel as far as it goes, investigate that immediate area, and back up immediately if something threatens to go wrong.

They are both coming thoroughly overprepared, since there's no knowing what happens if they die. Soldat has So Many knives, a mix of small and large guns and plenty of hand-to-hand combat experience; Fjord has a magic sword, can teleport, and can cast ranged spells; Soldat has patched up tactical armour, Fjord has leather armour. They also both have charms: Soldat's "friend to spirits" charm that he got from Owl Friend, and Fjord's Constitution charm (makes Fjord unable to feel pain) and Wisdom charm (better insight into other beings and their motives). Soldat also has snacks!

If they make it all the way to the end and back in one piece, Fjord wants to test their luck and shovel clear the tunnel leading away from the church and see where that goes.
is your group willing to accept risk of serious injury/death? No death please
fjorgedinfire: By <user name=kapavitz site=tumblr.com> (Staring)

[personal profile] fjorgedinfire 2020-05-04 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
The boys would like to go down what we have now dubbed Bloodstink Tunnel, with Soldat taking point and leading with his metal arm.
fjorgedinfire: By <user name=samijen site=tumblr.com> (Well hell)

[personal profile] fjorgedinfire 2020-05-04 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Fjord gets inside, takes one look at the bodies of people he knows, and immediately leaves so he can vomit. Soldat ties his handkerchief around his nose, motions for Fjord to stay the fuck put, investigates each box while he holds his breath as much as he can... collects the rapier and as many of the lantern bits as he can get into the bag he used to use for memory opals, and then tries the door before coming back.

After that they'll double back together and try the second tunnel heading downhill.
Edited 2020-05-04 03:17 (UTC)
fjorgedinfire: Official art by <user name=ornerine site=tumblr.com> (Default)

[personal profile] fjorgedinfire 2020-05-04 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
Soldat is going to try and fiddle with the keypad before they leave, and see if they can't learn anything about it - like how many numbers it takes before it beeps at them in disappointment - but they will for sure leave after that.
scarsolderthanyou: (Default)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2020-05-05 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
player name(s): Gail, Mawi, Lauren, and Erica
character(s): Stone, Sora, Rosinante, and Jason
area of exploration: Leaving from the Invincible and flying across the unexplored forest to the lighthouse
date(s) of exploration: 5/5-ish, once the first two bridges have been built
plan:
The group is going to go investigate the collapse of the lighthouse and look for Robin! As they are flying (Stone carrying Rosinante in winged form, Jason flying his own self, and Sora being yeeted into the sky by Stone since apparently he needs a boost to fly), they do not expect to be gone very long. In case of trouble, Jason brings his lightning and wind powers and his sword, Sora brings a variety of magics and his keyblade, Rosinante his guns and his cutlass, and all three younger men are good fighters. Stone has claws and teeth and, you know, being very big. They're bringing tablets to take pictures and communicate with people outside if necessary, some medical supplies in case Robin is there somewhere and needs it, and Sora's torch.

is your group willing to accept risk of serious injury/death? No please
Edited 2020-05-05 16:24 (UTC)
sunsbreath: (pic#13823723)

[personal profile] sunsbreath 2020-05-07 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
player name(s): Mawi, Daz, Raven, Helena
character(s): Ephrim, Pudding, Misty, Xayah
area of exploration: The Greenhouse
date(s) of exploration: Somewhere around the 5th?
plan: There are new weeds in the greenhouse and Ephrim is going to go above and beyond to figure out what these new guys are! Secondary goals are going to be to take stock of the greenhouse itself to see what's available to grow, food and resource-wise, and how long it'll take to grow, but the weeds are the least known factor here and Ephrim wants to take a look at them before they rip 'em all up. Misty and Xayah are both greenhouse regulars who are interested in the well-being of the greenhouse in general, and Pudding is there for her culinary interests almost solely and schadenfreude only somewhat.

Ephrim: look if you document unknown and almost 100% dangerous plant species during a ten year food crisis you learn a thing or two about research and calculated risks. He's there to make sure everything is organized and documented, and he'll be testing things on his own body bc he's ephrim and that's what he does. He's also done a tiny bit of research on local plantlife at the library but he's going to leave off-world knowledge of plants to the other people in the party. He's also somewhat magical, but that doesn't really apply here unless the plants are magical in origin.

Misty: Earth plant touchstone, here. Also an avid grower and appreciator of plants, and can probably encourage plants to grow faster. May (???) heal in the case that anyone gets, like, super poisoned.

Xayah: Not Earth plant touchstone. A plant and nature appreciator. Here to flick peanuts at Ephrim and laugh if he fails.

Pudding: Not Earth plant touchstone 2 (pirate edition). Not as much a gardener, but she specializes in plants used in cooking and baking, so she will definitely want to advise in the case that these weeds end up being edible. Also here to flick peanuts at Ephrim and laugh if he fails (but like, very innocently, so Ephrim isn't allowed to get mad).

is your group willing to accept risk of serious injury/death? No please! Making someone v sick is on the table, though.
scarsolderthanyou: (Default)

[personal profile] scarsolderthanyou 2020-05-08 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
First step is to search the rubble for signs of Robin. Stone will be doing a lot of checking for scents, particularly on her personal belongings, so he learns what she smells like and see if he can track it at all (if he can't, he won't be surprised, but it's worth a shot).

They'll all give the door to the outbuilding a shot, first knocking politely, then yelling through it to see if anyone answers, and then Sora will attempt to set his keyblade to it to unlock it.

Rosinante will also be looking around for signs of other spirits, since they had been so protective of the place before, which Stone will help with using his famous nose (tongue? technically it's his tongue). If they find any, it's up to Jason with his command of the spirit tongue to try and translate.
unwieldy: (Default)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2020-05-13 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
player name(s): Yuul, Kitty, Carlee, Wind
character(s): Haein, Carmilla, Meg, Masaomi
area of exploration: The abandoned building that Carmilla and Xayah stumbled upon.
date(s) of exploration: Mid-May
plan: Carmilla leads this ragtag party to the abandoned building she and Xayah had previously discovered. They're all in relatively good health, and Masaomi is armed with a crowbar, two knives, and his sporty delinquent attitude. Meg is armed to the teeth with her sharp tongue and wit, while Haein's got a bad personality and a torch that he never returned to the bonfire. Carmilla's the powerhouse here with her vampire abilities, but she's expecting Masaomi to do all the heavy lifting for her.

For their first order of business, they'll try to break into the shuttered building with Masaomi's crowbar, and if that doesn't work, Carmilla will order Masaomi to distract Haein and Meg while she tries teleporting inside. The goal is to discover what's inside the building and what its function/history was. Three of the four are exploration newbies and don't really know what to expect.

is your group willing to accept risk of serious injury/death? Yes.
unwieldy: (anyway i'm nearly done.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2020-05-14 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
Soon after everyone steps inside, they decide to split up to cover more ground. Masaomi and Meg are the smart ones and stick together to check out the main office. While Meg searches the inside of the office, Masaomi will remain close to the door to keep an eye out. He's not all that fond of the prints left in the mud, and calls out after Carmilla to scream if anything happens.

Haein breaks off for the hallway... He'll start with the first room on the right!

Carmilla, the brave soul, ascends the stairs to see what caused the noise. She's fully prepared to teleport away at anything murderous.
unwieldy: (too exasperated to function.)

[personal profile] unwieldy 2020-05-14 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Now sporting several cuts, Haein will vow revenge on the culprit(s?) who had set up the wire before yelling out to the rest of the group that the place is booby-trapped and to watch where they step. He'll try to wipe off the mud on his face as best as he can before thoroughly searching the kitchen for anything that might be of interest. This time, he's very wary as he moves around the area.

Upon hearing a thump, Masaomi pokes his head out to see that Haein had fallen and waves that whole ordeal aside because that's a guy and therefore not a priority. He'll then turn back to the office and lean in to try to read the headline on the brochure in the trash can, but won't touch it because it's gross. Meg makes a note of the vast number of forms and its need for more in-depth research and suggests to Masaomi that they move on for now. They head to the kitchen where Haein is, and stop by the door to inspect the wire there.

Footsteps from above be damned. Carmilla makes for the door on the right where she'd heard the squeal and scurrying feet and, having heard Haein's warning with her vampire hearing, is careful when entering.

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