TEST DRIVE: March

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: MARCH —

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Date reminders. Reserves open February 22nd and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on March 1st. Apps will only be open for four days!
  
  
• OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
  
  
• Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
  
  
• Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus, those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!
  
  
• Transfer to in-game. If accepted, you can assume threads made on the Test Drive happen in-game if the scenario can reasonably fit. These threads do not count toward AC.

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...

• Prompt D: A curious little item has been distributed throughout the Otherworlder population: a silver pocket watch on a shiny chain. Buckets of them are appearing on doorsteps, in streets, on tables… so go ahead and take one! They’re perfectly steampunk chic, after all. The inside face of the clock is see-through reinforced glass, leaving the tiny cogs and mechanisms that allow the timepiece to function. Unfortunately, it doesn’t function--not in the conventional sense, anyway. Each watch’s hour and minute hands are stubbornly transfixed to the time of birth of the person currently owning it; should ownership change, the watch’s stuck time will change too. That is not the only thing they do, however...

1. Fear, Unloaded: Perhaps the watch of fear and melancholy! Ownership of this watch will lead to impossible imagery of fear manifesting in the eyes of the owner. For instance, they might see shadows crawling loose from between the buildings, approaching closer and closer, only to disappear in a blink. They might see a wall of fire quickly approaching, incinerating everything in its wake, and the scene only reverting to the pristine safety of reality when they feel the searing heat touch their face. They might see the person they are most afraid of, regardless of whether that person is dead, alive, or absent from Empatheias. Then again, they might just feel quite sad and-- hey, is their skin turning pale blue?
   
2. Bubbly Distranslation: Or, perhaps the pocket watch of confidence and bubbliness! In this case, the bubbliness is quite literal: anyone who finds themselves in possession of this watch will find their speech being rendered in text bubbles above their head rather than spoken aloud. If the person affected is also the thoughtful sort, they may see a similar effect occurring with their thoughts. A person's mood could also influence the colour of the text bubble: an angry person, for example, might have a bright red background to their bubble, with words rendered in capslock. Other interesting side effects of owning a watch of confidence and bubbliness are overly affectionate behaviour (hugs! hugs for everyone!) and heightened sensitivity to Dunamis.
   
3. A Fiery End: After realising the unlicensed distribution of the calamitous pocket watches, the Enforcers organized a disposal method that is fun for the whole family: a bonfire, on the beach of Port Niras, to throw the watches in! The residue of the Techmotion lovingly handcrafted into the cogs causes the fire to burn a bright mauve, and its sweet-smelling smoke suffuses languor and calm, docile happiness into anyone who breathes it in. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with this arrangement. The crew of the pirate ship The Dreadful Engineer are not pleased to see their handiwork ended so soon! They linger at the edges of the crowd, shouting insults at anyone who catches their eye. Fortunately, there's no law prohibiting anyone from shouting insults back!

• Prompt E: It turns out, Otherworlders have gained a surprising but sizeable fandom with Verens! This week marks the introduction of the first annual Otherworlder Convention (or OtherCon for short), organised largely by youthful Empatheias natives. The fee is a small five sylvs and that gets access to the entire, week-long convention and all its events. Word of warning for any Otherworlders who attend: expect to hear “can I get a picture of you?” with alarming regularity.

1. A LARPer’s Life For Me: Live Action Roleplay! Or, as it is commonly known, LARP. This event has clearly been well thought out, flush with props and costumes resembling what Empatheias natives think Otherworlders use and wear. Needless to say, it borders on hilariously inaccurate. The plus side? Well, aside from getting to run around and play pretend for hours, any Otherworlder who participates will be treated like royalty. In fact, anyone who claims to be royalty in their world (whether it’s true or not) will be addressed as such. In this game, Otherworlder word is taken as fact and acted out. An imagination is truly a terrible thing to waste, is it not? So go ahead, put on a performance.
   
2. World Showcase: One thing that OtherCon is really excited for is Otherworlders setting up booths about their worlds! Empty stall space is readily available for anyone to sit down in and answer questions about where they come from. Some props will be available, but like in the LARP, they are magnificently irrelevant and slightly inaccurate, such as the screaming rubber chicken meant to present the infamous Earth character, Foghorn Leghorn, or the numerous fanart of Richard Nixon riding a shark titled “Americaland” that someone drew. However, as accuracy is not the name of the game here, anyone who chooses to run a booth can be as liberal as they want with the details. Other people are welcome to ask questions. There’s also a door prize anyone can win, with rewards such as sour candy (guaranteed to make you feel sour!!), or a framed copy of one of the above pieces of fanart (are the eyes following you?), or ten minutes in the ball pit.
   
3. Unconventioned Convention: What would an exciting event be without a twist ending? Turns out, the committee who organized OtherCon failed to properly register an event permit. The Enforcers could technically arrest everyone who attended OtherCon, but they offer a more peaceful alternative: community service! That’s right, everyone who attended OtherCon now has to perform eight hours of community service. There are multiple options available, such as picking up trash on the shore of Lake Niras, or ladling one’s heart out at the soup kitchen, or spending a day cleaning up animal cages at the local shelter, or baking Dunamis bread and distributing it to those less fortunate. It’s only for a single work day, how bad can it possibly be? Of course, any task performed as a pair is guaranteed to make the time fly twice as fast!

• Prompt F: A small cave has been discovered by researchers and they seem to be very, very excited about this. They say that there is a similar cave in Briarlan and Shaarnath, and these caves may all be connected in some way. Now, as exciting as caves and stones sound, these researchers cannot explore by themselves. They need to map out the entire cave! However, it's infested with monsters that need to be dealt with. Sign up and help out for a whopping 2,000 sylvs at the end of the day!

1. Skeleton Key: While there's a number of important things to do in this dungeon, one of the researchers has an important task for you would be adventurers! He somehow dropped his house keys somewhere in the dungeon, so would you mind retrieving them for him? He thinks it was somewhere on the first or second floor. But apparently his memory isn't great, since the keys are actually on the third floor, and seem to have been picked up by a group of skeletons wandering the area. But don't worry, they're not planning on fighting, instead they want to trade his house keys for a skeleton cauldron filled with delicious bone soup. Sorry for all the backtracking, but it wouldn't be a proper dungeon crawl without it!
   
2. Booby Traps: What's an old newly discovered dungeon/temple without a few booby traps, right? And this one has its fair share, so watch out! Step on a wrong tile and anything can happen, from spikes being shot at you, to being incinerated, or just the plain old-fashioned trap door! Most of these traps are ancient, however, and are easily telegraphed due to time lag. A little quick reaction time and maneuvering should keep anyone out of trouble! And if not? Well... let's hope nobody came down here alone.
   
3. Boss Battle: For those who manage to reach the deepest part of the temple will find themselves confronted by a Barrnaccka, the alpha monster of the temple. Defeating it would make all the other monsters scatter and abandon the temple, leaving it free to be explored by researchers. The creature is not to be taken lightly, however, as it can move incredibly fast for its size, and feeds on all emotions. Kill it fast, as long exposure to it will drain anybody of their feelings, including their will to fight eventually.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include steak and/or fake glasses.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!