frequently asked questions

[airlockedmods]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Game

- What is Airlocked?

Airlocked is a five-part murdergame in the same weekly format of Trustfell or Dangan Roleplay, but with an extraterrestrial twist. This one is set in space!



The premise is that 20 Champions from various worlds have been brought together as representatives of the best and the brightest that their homes have to offer. With the guidance of the Overseers and the mysterious, invisible Benefactors, the Champions will have the ability to rise to the challenge, or else succumb to the despair and attempt to escape with the one option available to them: murder.

- How long is this going to last?

Round 1 will begin officially on February 13, 2017. Endgame Weekend will be April 14-15/16, and Round 1 will be Officially Over by Wednesday, April 19. 1 OOC day = 1 IC day, except for investigations and trials, which are on a 2:1 day scale (meaning: investigations and trials take place on Fridays ICly, but Friday-Saturday

HOWEVER, because the overarching plot of Airlocked is so tightly-knit, we encourage players and potential players to consider Airlocked more as a five-act play than a single round. We understand that circumstances can change, especially when planning so far in advance, but before you apply - and especially if you're hoping to make survivor pool - we urge you to consider whether you will be willing to return for an encore in round 5. This is because Round 5's apps will only be open to survivors from rounds 1-3, so additionally we will be strictly enforcing the rule that each player can only have at most one character in Rounds 1-3 make it to survivor pool, to maximize the amount of appable characters.

This means that if player A apps Jane to Round 1 and makes survivor pool, then when they app Andy to Round 3 they do so with the knowledge that he will have to be death rolled.

- Who can I app?

All canons are accepted. Appable characters must be at least 15 in human years (except under certain circumstances), have human-level sentience and be able to communicate. Animals who show human-level intelligence and sentience are appable (ex. Simba from The Lion King) but animals who do not (Ex. Ein from Cowboy Bebop) are not.

Basically, you can app Goofy but not Pluto.

We do accept OCs. Their apps will be judged with more scrutiny than fandom apps. We are accepting 2, like the rest of the canons.

We also accept customizable protagonists (eg. the Warden, Hawke, or Inquisitor from Dragon Age, the Sole Survivor from Fallout 4, etc.). These apps will be judged with the same scrutiny as OCs from original universes. If there's more than one reserve from a highly choice-driven/branching game, it is the responsibility of the players to communicate with one another about their world states. We don't require that two characters be from the same world state (for instance, Player A plays Dorian from a world state with a male human warrior Inquisitor, but Player B brings in Varric from a world state with a female Qunari mage Inquisitor), but don't spring any surprise choices on your cast mate.

-My character is under 15 but they’ve seen some shit in canon. Are they appable?

Characters who are between 12-14 but whose canons deal with heavy themes (ex. Animorphs, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Puella Magi Madoka Magica) are appable under our maturity clause. If you believe your character's canon applies, then make your case in the app. We may ask for more clarification or for an additional paragraph explaining this character's suitability.

- What if my character died in canon?

Bring 'em anyway! As long as they have a solid, corporeal body that will remain solid and corporeal after their death, they're considered

- Do I need to reserve before I app?

Yes. We will only be processing and accepting apps that have been reserved. We also require you submit your app with the same account you used to reserve (this does not have to be your character journal, as long as you tell us the character journal you plan on using in your app).

- Are challenge reserves accepted?

No.

- I want to app but I won’t be around to reserve right away!

That’s okay! We understand people have lives outside the internet and this is why we’re allowing proxy reserves. You can have a friend post the reserve for you, we just require that you comment with a confirmation that yes, this is for you and you intend to app. More about proxy reserves on the reserves page

- When do apps open/close?

Apps are due February 11th, reserves and apps open February 4th. Reserves will be closed after the first 20 characters. Once we reach 20 reserves we will post a mod comment marking the reserves as closed for the time being.

- I made it after the 20 mark but before the mod comment!

We aren't doing a waitlist this time around. If somebody drops a reserve, the slot will be opened back up and it will be first come first serve.

- I was on the waitlist for Dangan Roleplay Round 3, are you still going to honor that?

Yes, but only for round 1. All future rounds of Airlocked will simply be first come, first serve.

- Can I change my reserve?

Before you submit your app, yes. Just comment to your original reserve with the change.

- What if I reserve, but then decide not to app?

Because of the limited cast, we would appreciate it if you would tell us if you change your mind and decide not to app, either by leaving a comment on your original reserve or by contacting us via PM or PP. Your reserve slot will be opened again for someone else.

Activity requirements

Living characters must submit two ten-comment threads with two different characters per week. Dead characters need only comment to check-in as a formality.

We will also be awarding incentives as a reward for checking in on time! Submitting the minimum amount of comments for both threads (20 comments total) characters will receive one free item from the Benefactors. This is essentially the same as a free roll for the Benefactors' Hold. For another 30 comments (50 total), characters will receive a Sabotage/Boon from the Overseers. If you're a total all-star and turn in two threads that total 200 comments (or 100 from your character) in one week, you get a one-time Shield Token. This means if the Overseers approach your character with a Sabotage, you can spend the shield token to bounce that sabotage back on the character who targeted yours. Each character cannot hold more than one Shield Token at a time, and they cannot earn more than two Shield Tokens over the course of the game. The mods will reply to your AC with what rewards you have earned.

AC threads may come from the weekly mingle log or any player-posted logs from the check period, but since the trials have their own activity requirements they are ineligible for the activity check.

Failure to meet AC without informing the mods will result in a strike. Two weeks in a row will result in an automatic death roll. AC will go up on Sundays for the previous Sunday-Friday, and will close at 12:00 pm (EST) on the following Friday. Activity checks will be screened, to preserve some sense of secrecy for the distribution of Boons and Sabotages.


IC FAQ

- Where am I?

Welcome to the Deep Space Station! It's a fully-functional, fully-stocked space port with its own gravity field and plenty of amenities for an extended stay.

- Who are you?

We're the Overseers. It's our job to enforce order on the space station.

- How did we get here?

You were chosen for your exceptional talents to represent your homes as Champions.

- Is there a network?

Nope! The Personal Identification Program on your non-dominant arm has a limited note-taking function (allowing you to add notes about your fellow Champions and make a list of your belongings - you know, like a Last Will) and unlimited customizable appearance screens, but there's no video, text, or audio communication functions.

- What does Champion even mean?

It means exactly what you think it does, honestly. It means that whatever you're the Champion of, you were noticed for being the top of your field. Congratulations!

- What happened to my powers?

For your own protection and to encourage creativity, your powers have been dampened for the duration of your stay.

- Hold on, a space station? What kind of boring slice-of-life game is this?

Contrary to what you may think, this game isn't going to be slice of life at all! (Well maybe. A little. At some parts, if you want it to be.) Nobody wants to watch 20 of the cream of the crop just sit around and be boring.

So we're going to liven things up a bit! You see, just going around making friends is boring, so we're going to provide a little incentive. You were all brought here to represent your homes - and the only way to prove yourself the Ultimate Champion and win a ticket out of here is to kill somebody and get away with it.

- So wait, how exactly is this "game" going to work?

You see, when a victim and a culprit love each other very much—

Wait, that's not the right story.

Starting the Sunday of the week before that death is slated to happen, your lovely and bootylicious mods will make a roll for the victim and culprit (there will not be a murder during Week 1, so that you all can get nice and attached to each other). This will effectively give the involved parties a week and some change to hammer out the details of the crime. We will proceed to contact both players, who will have until Monday at 12pm EST to check in with one of us in any way shape or form (email, PM, Plurk, AIM, messenger pigeon) to let us know that they received the notification and are on board for the trial.

The incredibly sexy and charismatic mods will then put the Victim and Culprit in contact with one another to work out the details of the crime (note: the Victim and the Culprit are not predetermined. The players will decide amongst themselves once they've been paired up which one is the Victim and which is the Culprit). The mods will release a motive the following Tuesday in the weekly log. The players will have until the Thursday before their trial weekend to plot out their crime, so as to encourage as much detail as possible.

Friday, the dedicated and hardworking mods will diligently write the body discovery log and post it. This will be the Investigation Start.

A full autopsy report will be broadcast to each character's Personal Identification Program once the body is identified, which is the One Free Clue that everyone will get. The other clues will be distributed by the mod team as the log progresses, depending on the activity of the log AND what the characters are doing. There will also be a list posted that includes the number of total clues to be found, the number of clues in each location and, once clues have been found, they’ll be listed there for player reference.

After the successful body investigation comes the trial. Trial logs will be posted on Saturday, and the players will have 24 hours to fulfill the trial requirements. The second half of the password is Boss.

- What are the trial requirements?

On the off chance that you thirsty little fighter jets don’t ferret out the killer within the time limit, we have separate win conditions that aren’t dependent on the characters actually solving the crime. 75% of the surviving cast have to post a comment anywhere on the trial log (this does not have to be a top-level!! Threadjacking is encouraged, to create a more despairing trial atmosphere), and a specific comment count has to be met. This comment count will fluctuate depending on the difficulty of the case, the demonstrated skill of the players, and the stage of the game. So the first case's requirement will be much lower than the last non-mastermind case's.

- Okay, so the players don't know about the comment count. Then how will they know when they've met it?

If the win conditions are met: Congratulations! You figured out who the killer was!

Now comes the fun part – the Execution! Each execution is tailor made to the culprit in the interest of maximum justice and written out in loving detail by your caring and patient moderators. The execution will be posted on the trial log, and players are encouraged to thread out the aftermath of the execution. Just remember, attacking the Overseers is against the rules, and will be punished accordingly!

- So what happens if the players don't meet the trial requirements?

Luckily, this has literally never happened. On the off chance that it does, the result depends on what exactly went wrong. If the case was completely unsolvable, a failure to solve it will not be held against the players. We like to think we've got this down to an art form by now, but we're not infallible. If the OOC trial requirements are met but the case isn't ICly solved, the execution will be posted anyway with an explanation of the crime.

If the trial doesn't meet OOC trial requirements (aka lack of activity), the mods will post a poll about what went wrong/what prevented people from tagging in as well as a couple of options. While the options will depend on each case's specific circumstances, in all likelihood for a normal trial they will be something like A) have everyone wake up on Sunday from the same vivid dream, with the case participants still alive (effectively scrapping and re-rolling the trial), or B) allotting an extra day or two to solve the trial.

- So how is endgame going to work?

We encourage organic and player-driven Endgame! We have our own guidelines for the final investigation itself, but while we have a loose plan for the transition to endgame we purposefully keep our options open. We'll get you there on time, but we're more than open to giving you the reins and letting the players steer into the gate.

The participants in the last non-Mastermind trial of the round may be given ideas or asked to include elements that will set endgame in motion (e.g. It's Curtains Case 5, ), but planning the case is still 90% the players, and endgame will kick off on schedule regardless of the outcome of the trial (well, unless everyone dies ;D).

- What happens to the characters when they die? Do I still get to play in the game?

At the moment, we have no plans to roll out a "deadland" for Airlocked like we have in previous games. This is in part to prevent mod burnout (deadland being one of the first things that usually slips between the cracks) because the Airlocked rounds are going to be much more cohesive and one right after the other, and because - for the moment - Airlocked is just Ri and Lynny.

If anyone has an idea for deadland and would like to come on board as a Deadland-specific mod, contact Ri and Lynny with your idea. This does not guarantee that we'll utilize it, but we will reach out to induct you onto the mod team if we decide that it is a workable option (and if not, we'll tell you so).

- What if my character gets rolled but I have plans for them?

Then you can opt out of the death roll! But this is only an option once, and you must have weekly activity that meets the standards to receive a Boon from the Overseers (50 comments total, or at least 25 from your character). Think of it basically as receiving a Get-Out-of-Death-Free Boon from the Overseers.

- I still have more questions!

If you have a general question about the setting, mechanics, or apps, then post it as a reply here and the mod account will respond accordingly. If you have a specific question, ie whether a certain character or canon is applicable, then contact the mods either through PM (to the mod journal) or on Plurk (airlockedmods, or personally at ResplendentRi and frickninja).