atonementmods

FAQs

GAME FAQ

Are characters considered dead upon arriving? What if they're alive in canon?

For all intents and purposes, yes, they are treated as the dead whether or not they died in their canon. They don't have to remember their deaths at all, if you don't want them to. They can just remember one minute being home, and the next walking into Penance. Perhaps it's the trauma of death or the swiftness of it that they don't remember it at all, or perhaps they don't remember for some other more curious reason. It doesn't matter since they won't get to return to the land of the living without paying their dues anyway.

How do characters communicate?

They are given a device similar to a smart phone with all the usual options. Video, text, etc. They are also allowed to keep their own phone if they arrive with one.

Can characters sin even more while they're in Penance?

Well, yes. Technically. It will be added to their debts to pay off and extend their stay. How much time that's added depends on the severity of the sin committed and left up to player discretion. Stealing an extra cookie wouldn't get more than a few seconds, but cheating, murdering, etc. will significantly extend their stay so please take this into consideration. It may also warrant immediate punishment, whether a town-wide one is coming up or not.

If you're absolutely unsure how much time should be added or if they deserve an immediate punishment, please contact the mod!

Do characters pay for only what Penance deems a sin or do the character's environment/opinions have an influence?
Characters are officially punished for what the higher-ups consider sins. Killing, stealing, lying, abuse, etc. However, if a character feels they've sinned for whatever type of relationship they've had, divorces, or anything else deemed taboo, they are definitely allowed to ask for additional punishment or time. They won't be denied!

What comforts will be available in Penance?

To start, there are shops full of clothing and food available, some simple technology, but not much else. As characters move in, they may start their own businesses or make requests to their hosts for additional establishments or items. If making requests, please remember that there will be a price of some sort to pay.

All modern conveniences such as plumbing, electricity, etc. are up and running. All houses are equipped with modern appliances as well. Please note that there may, in the future, be intermittent outages if all the new citizens put a strain on the system.

What sort of punishments will characters undergo?

Punishments will range from simple (albeit humiliating) acts to those of a gory, painful nature. Characters will be expected to participate and, if they decline, will have no time removed the first time. Repeated offenses will be recorded and time will be added. Punishments happen once a month for all citizens of Penance.

If my character never participates, what will happen?

Then they will be escorted to Hell, which means they will be swept from the game. Overall though, character participation in events will not be monitored closely unless the mod receives complaints about activity or lack of participation.

Will powers or abilities be taken away?

Powers are not capped except in cases of teleportation where they could potentially leave. It will be limited to within the city only to prevent any potential escapes. Other than that, all characters maintain their original abilities. The only exception may be potential punishments in the future, but it will only be temporary.

Can my character die in Penance? What happens?

Yes, they can! They will be revived in two days within the game and their memories of events will feel hazy for a bit after. They will always generally feel unwell, like they've had a long night before/the world's worst hangover for a day or so.

PLAYER FAQ

How many characters are we allowed to app at a time?

Two characters per round for a total of four characters. Exceptions may be made if you've shown you can make AC consistently.

What kinds of characters are allowed to be apped?

Characters from any and all types of entertainment are allowed. Canon AUs will be allowed (I.E. Tony Stark from the movies, Tony Stark from the comics, etc. will all be allowed to be played at the same time), but fan-created AUs will not (Rule 63s, coffee shop AUs, etc). This may change at a later date if there's interest. OCs will be allowed as long as they are not fandom-based. CRAUs will be considered as well. Characters made for specific settings like DnD, MMOs, etc. will be considered original creations and be appable.

Given the nature of the game, no character under the age of 14 will be considered.

Are relationships/sex allowed?

Sure. There aren't any hard and fast rules other than there shouldn't be any smut played out with characters under the age of 16. Younger characters are allowed to date/fool around as they please and with who they please, but please fade to black on anything else.

Also, please keep in mind that while sinning is allowed in this game, there will be IC repercussions if anything like rape or dubious consent happens. If this occurs, it should also be agreed upon by the players and given all possible and appropriate warnings. The same goes for any other taboo or questionable types of relationships. They aren't forbidden, but consequences will happen for them.

What is AC like?

For now, it's one of the following:

1 log or network post.
5 comments (per character) on a network post/inbox post.
3 comments (per character) on a log.

Since this is more of a sandbox type of community, the mod would like to keep things relatively light, AC-wise. If it's felt to be needed later, there will also be proof required for punishment logs or mentions.

If AC is failed, a strike may be taken. No additional AC will be required the next round, but if you fail again, your character will be swept from the game.

What is the character cap? Will it expand?

Initially, the game will be capped at 80 characters, which is probably fairly enthusiastic for a new game. The cap will be likely be increased to the 100s later if there's a need and the game doesn't prove too difficult to maintain.

What if my character is pure and free of sin?

Everyone has some sort of sin they're guilty of, even if it's telling a little white lie! It doesn't matter what you come up with, go wild as long as it fits the character.

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I love the idea of this game.

Can I clarify what this means though? "The same goes for any other taboo or questionable types of relationships. They aren't forbidden, but consequences will happen for them." Does this mean underage, bestiality, abusive relationships? Given the sort of religious undertones in terms like "sin" and "Hell", are gay relationships included in this?

Thank you for your interest in the game! The penalties will apply to relationships involving underage partners, bestiality, abuse, incest, etc. It will also apply to acts of prostitution, cheating, lying, and any sort of coercive sex/rape. Comparatively speaking, gay relationships won't add time! I hope that clears it up for you!

Yeah, that helps! I wasn't going to be upset if gay relationships did count (since IC != OOC), just wanted to make sure.

It was a really good question! I should add clarification to the FAQ soon.

Kinda going off of that-- if you have characters coming from a canon set in RL's history, some things that were considered sins aren't anymore, but are for the time period they're coming from. For example, someone from the Tudors, with divorce being a sin, or Hamilton with same sex relationships or similar. If a character considers something a sin, would it add to their time/be part of their first punishment?

While these things aren't necessarily considered sins in Penance, characters will be allowed to serve extra time for any acts they personally feel are wrong. Hope that helps!

Can you clarify what in a character’s past constitutes a “sin”? For example, murder is obviously a sin, but would killing in self-defense or for survival be considered less of one, or be treated the same and given the same penalties? What if a character had been forced to commit an act, or done so unknowingly? I’m assuming the definition will be pretty broad to allow as many characters as possible to be appable to the game so I thought I’d ask. Thanks!

This is left up to the player as much as possible! Killing in self-defense or for survival would likely carry only half the weight of killing in cold blood, but it would still carry some.

Being forced to commit an act or being mislead into doing so would fall more on the character that forced their hand, I would say!

But it all also depends on how the character in question perceives things. If they feel personally guilty for it, they can seek to atone for it regardless.

Does that clear things up a bit?

Can you elaborate a little on what constitutes a fandom OC? I assume this includes Harry Potter's cousin Ravyn Storme, but would it also apply to rando wizard #53 who's interning at the Ukrainian Ministry of Magic?

To be clear it's cool if both are no, I just need to figure out how much finagling needs to be done in a potential character's history. :D

Anything based in the Harry Potter world would be considered a fandom-based OC! But a wizard who interns at the Ukrainian Ministry of Magic divorced from the Harry Potter universe would be entirely fine.

I hope that helps and looking forward to seeing you around the TDM!

I have a character who has been banned from Heaven and Hell. To keep from giving you a really long tl;dr summary, he's not allowed in Hell after successfully outsmarting and tricking every demon he's ever come across, and he's not allowed in Heaven after having locked up the angel of death for a while after tricking her, too. I love this game concept and I like the idea of him having to serve out a punishment before going anywhere, but I guess I just wanted to check with the mods what their stance is on characters that have canonically been kicked out of one or more sections of the afterlife.

That would be fine and definitely very interesting! He could have been sent to Penance as a last resort/some place to just keep him out of the way and out of Heaven and Hell's hair, if you'd like.

I have a very silly question. Would it be correct to assume that the electricity is still running and the indoor plumbing still works. So modernish conveniences like lights, hot and cold running water are a thing?

No such thing as a silly question, haha. It would be, yes! All electricity and plumbing is still in working order, so no modern conveniences should be lacking in any of the homes or other businesses.

I have a question about what kind of characters are appable. Are non-humans allowed? If not, is humanization an option?

It depends on the character, anon! Along what lines were you thinking?

If it's a living, breathing creature that's capable of interacting with humans and independent and intelligent thought, then there's no reason it shouldn't be allowed. However, if it's larger than a normal human, it ought to be sized down! So, basically as long as it's not say, Godzilla or am actual Titan from Attack on Titan, then it should be fine. Humanoid-type characters like Hellboy, Abe Sapien, or Garrus from Mass Effect would all be fine.

Machines like Transformers would have to be humanized and sized down in some way to make them fit with the setting a bit easier however.

I hope that helps!

I was considering Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, who has a physical form from the point I plan on playing him, but who is essentially just a floating triangle. So my main concern is punishments that are physical looked tattoos/branding/etc.

Thanks for the response! Good to know for other character types.

I see! As long as he has a physical form that can be scarred, it should be okay, but it's also perfectly fine to say he had to be humanized to fit in at Penance! I'll leave that to the player's discretion.

No problem!

So how would Penance handle a character who actually loves pain and would enjoy painful punishments?

Either by pushing them beyond the limits of what they typically enjoy, or if that's impossible, find ways to deny them what they enjoy. Not all punishments will necessary be physical pain either. There are psychological tortures and other uncomfortable acts that will happen as well.

Hope that helps, anon!

I'm just curious about your reasoning against fandom created AUs if you allow multiples anyway. Will they never be allowed?

I have nothing against fandom AUs at all, but I do think it would make applications a little more difficult to process and require a lot more information on the player's part. Unless there's a lot of interest in them, I don't think fandom AUs will be allowed anytime soon!

Question regarding Leo here. He's actually a monster in human guise and can't eat normal human food. The only way he can survive is by eating the souls of sinners, which unfortunately kills the victim in the process. Would he be adding additional time or punishment considering he is technically murdering every time he does so?

If it's in his nature, the Penance may be able to help him by giving him damned souls from Hell itself to eat. If that wouldn't help or satisfy him, then I think it could be a grey area in this case, punishment-wise

For instance, if he murders someone and it's against their will, more time will be added just as it will be for anyone. If it's mutually agreed upon and the victim sees it as a form of voluntary punishment/absolution for their own sins, then there probably won't be any additional time added on at all.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the response!

I think the damned souls from Hell would work well enough, though he'll probably still snack on the occasional willing victim. He'd see it as helping them reach absolution.

No problem at all, glad to help.

That would be perfectly fine. If you need any other help figuring out anything else for your character, let me know!

So, here's a question. The FAQ mentions punishments and that the setting would note characters who didn't participate and add to their time served (even if it doesn't come up ICly unless they never participate). What if the character would ICly go along with it, but it hits a squick or trigger in the player?

I strive to make the punishments as varied as possible during the events to give multiple options, but in the case of a player OOCly not being interested in any of them, you're free to handwave involvement and have it happen off camera so to speak, or ignore it. No one ever has to thread out something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

I hope that helps!

I have some questions regarding my character's appability. He's a robot who grew a conscience and sentience over time, so can I assume for the purposes of RP that means he has a soul and could thus show up in the afterlife?

He has definitely sinned - murder, specifically, he was an assassin before he had his big What Have I Done moment - but due to being metal with a holographic disguise projector, I'm not sure if a lot of the game's punishments would work for him and I'm curious if there'll be alternatives for the more physical ones since otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to app him at all given he'd be suffering significantly less than the other characters.

Lastly, with regards to the age rule, does that apply to nonhumans, be they robots or organic, who are canonically considered to be adults in their source material/appear as such?

Thank you in advance for the clarification.

Sorry for the delay! But yes, assuming he has a soul would be fine!

As for punishments, those could always be modified so that he could feel the pain, or he could be given an actual body to endure them. I'm entirely willing to work on alternative forms of punishment for characters who may not be human/have the same weaknesses as more humanoid types!

As long as the characters appear to be adults and are capable of caring for themselves/understanding why they're where they are, then that should be fine, yes.

No problem at all! Thank you for bringing up these questions. I hope this helps.

Quick question regarding how much canon a character is required to have: if they have very little but can be reasonably analyzed and described with canon evidence to back the analysis, is this acceptable?

That would be fine, yes. As long as there's enough canon to get a feel for their personality/background information and what sort of sins they'd be guilty of, that's all that's really needed!

Weird question: I'd love to join, but my character is literally Satan. I'm completely unsure of how that would work out here, and if I can still app him. Help?

It should be fine, anon! He will just be considered a Satan/Lucifer from another dimension or world and fair game for torture. Penance has their own devil they answer to, so that wouldn't be an issue.

Was peeking around and haven't seen this addressed, so forgive me if it's somewhere and I just missed it:

Since characters are given the option of using their cellphones, what is the limit on personal items they can bring over? Namely, if a character is armed. Are weapons confiscated or are they fair game?

Hello!

Characters can bring with them whatever they can carry on their person, so weapons will not be taken away! But they will be strongly advised against using them on their fellow citizens.

Awesome, and thank you for getting back to me so quickly! Appreciate it.

A couple questions on the setting: is there a change of clothes in the houses when characters first enter, or is it just general things like furniture/plumbing? Likewise, is there no food until the character buys it?

Also, what is the currency here? I assume if the character has brought currency from their home world on them that would be taken (for a while at least?), but what about when that runs out? Or what if they don't have any?

[Edit] One more question:
I assume that characters in Penance heal from their wounds overtime, is there some sort of time frame for that? How long until maimed characters are up and running again?

Thank you!

Edited 2018-03-27 23:19 (UTC)

Hello! Sorry for the delay. Somehow the notif didn't make it to my inbox!

Anyway, there could be clothes in the homes, yes. They're basically abandoned, so all sorts of belongings are sitting around. Whether the clothes will fit or be appropriate is up to the player! There are also freshly stocked stores in town where characters are free to take what they need! No charge. No need to worry about money during their stay in Penance.

As for healing times-- they heal at a normal rate unless the character in question is killed, then they are revived and generally fully healed, if not feeling a bit worse for the wear.

I hope that helps!

Thank you!! Oh dear, so the only way to heal a lost limb is to kill them, eh? That makes things very interesting!

Again, this is an awesome premise so thank you for making it!!

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