![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
au_chancellorSETTING
**Alternate University takes place in a modern day setting on a shockingly earth-like planet and boasts openly about the diversity within the school. Their students are from all walks of life from all over the universe. As technology advances within the school, especially with the broad assortment of great minds coming together from all over their world, the town surrounding the University may gradually take on a few new modifications. However, for the sake of the start of the game, Newtownville will remain heartbreakingly ‘normal’.**
You can check out more on the specific locations on the Settings page!
Is this a JamJar setting? no.
As noted in the CHARACTERS section above, ALL CHARACTERS MUST BE AU’d INTO THE SETTING and be aware of the vast world they live in. Consider your fandom/world/universe an existing part of the world of Alternate University- It’s a big, big place! This is NOT a JamJar game- upon admission to the University, your character should already be well aware of the college and it’s restrictions, as well as a vague, general idea of the town (unless their parents have forced them to go to school and they’ve never visited before- it’s all in the backstory!).
EXAMPLE: Johnny Martian from the planet Boop786 has always dreamed of leaving home and attending the universally renowned Alternate University. He finally arrives November 1st, and is shocked by how different the area is than his hometown, but is still just as excited to be there. Hilarity ensues as he learns to navigate the area and see how these humans actually live. He’s heard of a refrigerator before, but has never had the chance to use one, as they’re obsolete on his planet. However, he is very aware and not at all shocked to be at AU, nor does he feel too out of place, as there are many other people from all over the universe attending the university.
Alternatively: Johnny Martian has lived in Newtownville all his life, just outside the city limits, and has always aspired to attend the school. He is delighted to meet different people from outside of town and is equally as excited to learn about their homes.
Power Nerfing Barriers
The University strives to create a fair and equal environment for their students to promote a steady education and provide the same opportunities for each individual. With this in mind, all unique powers, natural or learned, are completely nullified while on the campus and while attending university sponsored events. Magical objects in a student’s possession will also lose their potency unless carried off-campus.
Example: My character is a mind reading, fire breathing demon boy with the ability to hide his wings and horns at will!
Solution: He won’t be weilding fire AT ALL while on campus (especially as it’s super bad for the lawn and would scare the groundskeepers to death!), and if he comes onto campus with his wings and horns out, they’re on full display until he decides to leave campus again. NOTE: Yes, this DOES mean that during some events your character will not have access to their natural powers- but that’s what makes the challenges so fun. ;)
Housing
Characters will be assigned generic dorm housing upon admission, but proper dormitory assignments can be applied for here!
**Characters CAN request to live off campus, but please consider the IC implications- can they afford it? How far is it from the school? etc.
*At this time, pets (aside from service animals) will not be allowed in dormitory housing.
Transportation
While the University does provide a bus and taxi system for their students throughout the town, characters are allowed to apply for transportation of their own, within reason. They can be applied for within your original app or through
Can my character get a part time job? College is expensive!
YES. Absolutely- it's even encouraged by the University staff!
Those of you with special powers might even consider putting them to good use, if working off campus.
---
CHARACTERS
Duplicate Canon Characters
At this time, we will not be admitting multiple versions of the same character from within a canon.
OCs/CRAU/and More
PLEASE bring your OCs! The only original characters we will not be allowing are those with connections to canon characters (Example: You cannot app a fandom OC that is ‘InsertPopularCanonCharacter’s’ cousin / brother / sister / lover / etc) written into their backstories.
CRAU characters are a bit different: While CRAU characters are welcome, the AU aspect of the game… sort of makes it a moot point. They’ll still need their own AU backstory to fit the setting, but feel free to write in elements of their lives from previous games as part of that AU. That said, feel free to bring in previous CR with other players if necessary! While we love making new friends (and making the same friends over and over again in new ways each time), you’re more than welcome to create hand waved CR if it suits the setting. Just make sure everyone within the CR is on board!
MMO characters welcome, though they’ll also need their own AU backstory. This INCLUDES player characters (ie FinalFantasy14)- while their stories may be similar at Alternate University, they must have a unique AU. If a player chooses to utilize a lot of the main canon story within their AU, that's okay! Just please be mindful when discussing other existing characters from within the canon (create other names for them, other roles, etc).
Two characters may have strikingly similar stories, but hey- what a crazy random happenstance it might be!
How many characters can I have?
Eventually, you may have up to five characters at any given time, but for the launch of the game, we are limiting applications to TWO for the initial reserves. :)
How do I handle a cast from my character's original canon?
This might feel a bit tricky, but it's actually pretty straightforward! If the character is in the game, players will oocly need to discuss the connection the characters will have if there is any at all for their AU. If one character's AU is a little too twisted up/different from the AU the other has in mind, but the character technically still exists in character 2's AU story, character 1 can really remind character 2 of someone from home- a vague other version of character 1.
My Character isn’t human!
That’s okay! If your character is lucky enough to earn an acceptance letter, you are more than welcome to study at Alternate University, and you have a few options to work with!
OPTION ONE: You can make your character 100% human, through and through. We LOVE this option, because it really pushes players to work on that AU backstory and come up with some fun twists and challenges during events! We will leave it up to the players’ discretion to consciously and respectfully design the humanized version of their character and ask that players please be mindful of the sensitivities that may go along with the culture, race, etc. that you choose.
OPTION TWO: Your character stays as they are physically, with FULL KNOWLEDGE of the campus barrier and an AU backstory that fits the setting/world. It’s well known within the university and Newtownville a blur of backgrounds, genders, races and appearances. Anyone not from your neck of the universe might look a little different, but there’s no favoritism or advantage when it comes to midterms or group projects!
Can my character be aged up/down to fit the setting?
Yes! Feel free to do either to best suit the game you want to play! There is a grade school connected to the university for those who want to try their hand at younger characters, and there are always open staff positions at the University and in town.
NOTE: if you do choose to age up a character that is underaged and start down a romantic path, please check with your partner to make sure they're comfortable with the situation and if at all possible, use appropriately aged icons!
My Character is a celebrity/royal/etc. How does that effect them in-game?
It should be noted that the University itself is comprised of a very well rounded student body, and neither the staff nor the administrators will be treating your character any differently than the others. Not everyone can be the president’s daughter or the princess of Genovia, but if you are, make it interesting!
My character is a bad guy/criminal/assassin/murderer.
Again, all exceptional students are admitted to the University for one reason or another. HOWEVER, this does not excuse any of their behavior while they are enrolled in the school. DO know that IC actions should/will have IC consequences! If you’re concerned about what ifs, please reach out to a mod for guidance!
My character is a vampire/werewolf/has special dietary/physical needs-
While diet is easily resolved (all characters will be more than satisfied nutritionally by the normal food located in the cafeteria and student centers), the physical dynamics of a character may pose quite the puzzle!
For example, if your character is a ghost with the ability to wander through walls at will, SURPRISE! They now have a more corporeal form to learn while on campus grounds! HOWEVER, should they leave campus and shift to a much more fluid form and forget to return to their new and solid state, they’ll be trapped as literal ghosts until they leave campus once more.
If your character is a giant… good luck fitting into the tiny dorm beds. You’re on your own, kid-
(Though we do suggest the players consider shrinking them to a more game-friendly height, it’s not required. Have fun with it!)
---
GAMEPLAY
What’s the time scale of the game?
1:1- If the calendar reads as October, it’s October in-game!
Is there a Calendar of Upcoming Events?
YES! You can find the calendar for the month posted in the main comm at the beginning of each month. It’ll be pinned to the ‘message board’ at the top :) PLEASE use this calendar to plot out fun for your characters, and if you’d like to host something game-wide, be sure to let me know so we can add it!
***This message board will also host game-wide announcements from the Admins and the Chancellor themselves, so be sure to keep an eye on it!
How do I keep things organized?
While we only have one IC comm (
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
alternate_university), both AU Network posts [VIDEO/VOICE/TEXT/PHOTO] AND action prompts [ACTION] can be posted in the same place. Just be sure to appropriately mark it in the title!The OOC comm (
au_ooc) is to be used for player/character introductions, plotting posts, etc!The
au_collegiatechaos page is strictly for memes and fun things (IC and OOC)! We also
Speaking of….
ACTIVITY CHECK
For now, activity checks will occur every other month, with a requirement of only 10 comments/tags spread out across no more than 3 threads. Yes, we know this is basically just a check in, but as this is a brand new game, we’re just testing the waters! This may increase, depending on character demand/stalled characters.
Can I break the 4th wall if my character knows the other character?
No. Everything is AU, so no need for 4th wall.
Can I thread out steamy collegiate situations?
Pretty please mark your threads as necessary if you see things going that way, and take it back to your place for anything past the leadup! ;)
Who are the mods?
Tori-mod here! You can come to me with any questions/concerns you have! Depending on the size of the game, I’ll probably be adding more mods to our School Board, but for now, it’s just me and a handful of secret sponsors. ;)
But please, feel free to chat with me whenever you like! Player input is critical.
PLURK:
DISCORD: Tori#4418
NOTE: I do work a full 8-5, Monday through Friday job as well, so bear with me if you don’t get immediate feedback!
Unspoken (but CLEARLY written) rules
-No god modding. No ooc drama bleeding into IC interactions. No playercest.
PLEASE communicate with other players (and the mods!) throughout your time here with us! We want this to be safe and fun for everyone!
no subject
Date: 2019-10-21 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-23 06:14 pm (UTC)Sorry for the delay- We're going to stick with 21+ as the drinking age, though we're sure there will be plenty of underage hooligans having fun. :)
no subject
Date: 2019-10-22 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-22 11:36 pm (UTC)Yes, that's totally acceptable. Just keep the implications in mind! (where to park it, plumbing, blah blah blah) :)
no subject
Date: 2019-10-23 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-23 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-23 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-23 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-26 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-12 06:00 pm (UTC)Of course! Just be sure their time management is somewhat realistic. ;)
no subject
Date: 2019-11-06 10:49 pm (UTC)This may be obvious, be just to be clear:
Is Newtonville in... America? It says 'Shockingly Earth-like' and a lot of the references strike me as American, but I can't see a clear indication of this! If it is, could I get a vague gauge of what area (or what city it's based off?) or, it isn't, where I should be using as a reference!
Take pity on me I am not American, I have never been to America, I just need to know where I should be pretending to be from and where I should be centring my pop culture references around.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-12 06:00 pm (UTC)Yes, for my own sanity it's probably best to just go ahead and say it's based on pieces of American towns and cities. ^^; As for a specific one, it's DEFINITELY not as large as New York City, but it's still a fairly sizable town!
BUT, given that people can be from anywhere on this 'earth', feel free to reference whatever pop culture references you'd like!
no subject
Date: 2019-11-11 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-12 05:58 pm (UTC)I'll hopefully be able to get a full job spreadsheet up this weekend, but feel free to go ahead and have him hire them if you think he would.
Is 'head librarian' an okay description for Aziraphale, or did you have something else in mind?
no subject
Date: 2019-11-12 06:09 pm (UTC)Setting Question
Date: 2019-12-01 09:50 pm (UTC)Is AU unusual in its ability to bring students from all over the universe? Like do you only see alternate universe people while at the university or do they immigrate to earth sometimes independently?
Do we know what powers the barrier? Is it some kind of mundane earth entity that just knows how to nullify powers or is AU run by some supremely powerful entity?
Is AU politically in the jurisdiction of the state where it takes place, or is it some legal gray area and its ruled by some United Dimensions counsel?
no subject
Date: 2019-12-02 02:53 pm (UTC)Newtownville boasts a blend of 'locals', born and raised in the city and those surrounding it and transplants from all over the universe. You don't have to be a student to make your way to the city! :) For the sake of the game, ALL universes are connected- The University just happens to be a popular place for folks to get together, but hypothetically, people could immigrate pretty much anywhere.
Only the President and his School Board know what powers the barrier. They are also the only ones who can alter it or move it (for example, off campus but university sponsored events).
Jurisdiction of the state! (We're loosely basing the area on a USA state/city if that helps).