machiavellian

PREMISE

↪ Welcome to Rift City!

Aztmus is set in a 1920s-ish urban fantasy citystate etched into the sides of a vast canyon of hostile landscape. Magic and mystery swirl about the place. Some cosmic accident or uncontrolled power, keeps drawing in unwitting orphans of the multiverse and dumping them on the doorstep of the Atzmus Agency.

Alongside an overarching plot that will be affected by player choices, Aztmus has optional quests with tricky puzzles, plenty of fighting, and commensurate rewards for successful adventurers.

ARRIVAL

↪ What is arrival like?

Maybe you were minding your own business and tripped over a bump in the sidewalk or maybe you were in a fight for your life and the fate of your world. We don't know your business, all we do know is that it feels a little like waking from a dream while an assortment of psychedelic albums are being played in reverse in your head.

Before you're able to really piece together what's happening, a stressed but helpful sounding person is strongly encouraging you to 'calmly move away from the Gate'. There's a little waiting area while a collection of people in comfortable uniforms fuss about, offer medical support, snacks and drinks, and information.

"You're in Yesh me-Ayin, the city of Rifts, and we don't really know how or why you're here, but we can get you home again. It just takes a while. In the meantime, here's a letter from Aztmus that ought to help explain some of it?"

↪ What do my characters arrive with?

Whatever they were wearing and/or holding at the time. Additionally, somewhere in the city there is something from their homeworld. (Check out 'world building' for more info.)

SETTING

↪ Where is this game set?

Yesh me-Ayin, commonly just called Rift City or 'the Rift' is a sprawling, glittering city set on terraces into a vast, deep valley. No one has any real knowledge of how old the city is and if someone tries to sell an artifact from the First City, it's a con job. At the heart of the most powerful nation, YmA is the largest city on the continent. There's a general consensus that it's been a hub for trading, commerce, and study since the fall of the last major age.

Set into a valley, with both vertical and horizontal space to spread out, Rift City is a literally stratified society. As a general rule, the rich live higher up on the walls, with the poor going lower and lower until you're in the Dregs and quite literally subterranean. Broad streets and open plazas are a benefit enjoyed by those on upper levels, with narrow, twisting and jack-knifing tracks the norm.

↪ Politics

The official head of state is Their Most Serene and Wise Dux Akras and their symbol is a bundle of flax arched over a basket full of vegetables and meat.

There is an elected assembly that manages most of the daily political concerns, but the Dux is more than just a figurehead.

There is a semi-free press in YmA. Differing opinions are common, and it's only the more radical ideas that are suppressed. Nasty subjects like raising demons, unions, and unionized demons may be discussed in secret and sometimes make their way into disreputable pamphlets.

↪ Technology

The technology in YmA is a mix of magic, science, and anything that works. Rifters are a practical sort and with a few exceptions, so long as the job gets done, no one is going to worry about how it gets done.

In comparison to our own world, the technology level is roughly on par with the early 1920s.

YES:
Electricity, public transit (trams more common than anything gas-powered), phones exist but are rare and usually magically boosted, early vaccination and the beginnings of germ theory, silent movies, radios.

↪ Sounds great. Where can I learn more?

Expanded world information is a work in progress and will be updated more as the game progresses.

WORLD BUILDING

↪ Wait, is this literal?

Yes. When characters arrive, somewhere in the city a little bit of their world comes with them. It could be something as small as a marble or as large a couple houses.

↪ Who owns these things?

Ideally, your character! If someone else finds it first and takes it, your character can chose to bring a case to the Ministry of Mirare and have it arbitrated. Odds are, if they've been a productive citizen and helped out at the Atzmus Agency, it will go in their favour.

MECHANICS

↪ Character Types.

All characters must be +18.

Canon characters and OCs are welcome.

AUs are welcome to apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. (If it's hella cool and you're not playing Bruce Wayne's long lost twin brother, you're probably fine.)

In-world OCs are also welcomed on a case-by-case basis. If you want to play a native to the Rift City, let's talk.

↪ Character Powers (Arrival).

Provided the powers don't break the setting, players are welcome to import powers, skills, magical knowledge from their homeworld. If you're not sure if it's a 'setting breaking' level of ability, please ask!

↪ Character Powers (Learned).

After arrival and integration with the Atzmus Agency, players can choose to have their characters begin learning magic. If this interests you, come chat with the mods and we can work something out.

↪ Character Death.

Yes, and permanently. In fact, we strongly encourage players to come talk to the mods and then kill their darlings.

↪ Is there a network?

Sorry folks, the internet hasn't reached YmA just yet. Your characters are equipped with a device commonly called a 'sea-box' that allows for brief voice or voice-to-text messages. It runs on a dodgy hybrid of science and goblin magic.

↪ Activity Checks.

Activity goes up during the beginning of the month. For new characters, the first month is check-in only, and each month after will require two of the following:
Five log comments from your character

An open post from your character

Ten text comments from your character

Fifteen private inbox comments from your character
TDM threads can be used. Log style are five comments and text style are ten comments.

EXPECTATIONS

↪ Mod Expectations

Respect the players and communicate.

Practice common sense and courtesy.

Do what needs doing to keep the game running smoothly, including: have a six month gameplan, with contingencies in place; process and deliver feedback on applications within a reasonable length of time; be industrious lil' weirdos.

Be rad.

↪ Player Expectations

Respect each other and communicate. This means content warnings: we're dealing with icky, sticky, and unpleasant topics and it's just good manners to warn when you're wading into that sort of territory.

Practice common sense and courtesy.

While mod input is always available, players should be able to react to one another and maintain their own storylines. You are responsible for your own fun.

Inform the mod team if you need to go on hiatus. There's no stigma attached to a hiatus or drop, just sadness when no one tells the modteam that it's necessary.

If you need to drop an unfinished thread, remember that is okay, but please, do talk to the other participants and sort out a satisfactory end. You could even post a brief summary of that decision to the thread as a comment (to appease your friends and fans in surveillance).

Be rad.

TESSISAMESS

faq