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Mechanics 101
Pearl has a number of fairly simplistic mechanics that you are expected to keep track of yourself, but they do design how you play the game.
Houses and Elements:
Every house has an element, but these are more or less flavor. So for example you can have your characters abilities be colored with use of their element in whatever way you want, we aren't going to dictate that. But there aren't really any rules here other than the lightning house can't have water elemental spells.
Roles
-Roles are essentially simplistic RPG classes, only instead of fighting monsters you have to play the role you are given. Each class has a handful of things they should do, and things they should not. When they play their role they increase the overall status of their House and help keep themselves mentally stable, when they do things they should not, they decrease their house's status and threaten their own mental stability.
-Each class also has specific abilities. While ability is determined by class, how powerful they are at/how many times they can use it is determined by what power level they are currently at, which is determined by feeding.
-You don't need to remember what every role does. ICLy your characters only know their own role and abilities, and trying to remember it all will probably be overwhelming and impede your RP experience. It's perfectly fine to only know what you learn ICly.
Feeding
-There is no conventional food in the game, nor do characters have any understanding of it. Each character instead 'feeds' off of something that they get from another person; bodily fluids, lies, misery, violence.
-It is more or less up to you how much your character has to eat to be satisfied. The purpose of these feeding types is to give players a reason to interact in interesting ways, and so making someone cry and licking up just a single tear will net you an AC thread. But if you WANT your character to hunger for a pint of blood or need more and more misery to satiate their hunger, go for it. Some people are just big eaters.
-There is nothing to ICly tell your family or other families what your character feeds on, so they can lie about/hide this information
-Feeding is tied into AC, feeding must be played out (if not fully finished, at least started, you can't handwave feeding ever). You must have 2 feeding threads a month to pass AC. This will also ensure that your character does not die or go berserk due to starvation.
-Characters inherently are at level 0 in terms of power, which defines how often they can use their class based abilities. For every 2 additional feeding threads you have per month, the power level goes up by 1, to a maximum of three. So:
2 Feedings: Level 1
4 Feedings: Level 2
6 Feedings: Level 3
-Power levels restart at the beginning of each month, so if you get in your sixth feeding on the 25th of October you only get to use your level 3 powers until the end of the month.
Seasons
Once an OOC month, on the 1st, the Season will change, and will last until the 23rd. This will be marked by the weather in Pearl changing dramatically, and then remaining the same for the duration of the Season. Whenever the Season changes, this means the Church has received information on a new role for everyone to perform, usually in the form of an objective for all members of all houses to meet. The houses will need to do what they can (trade, spy, interrogate) to learn what the role of the Season is.
The Season ends on, OOCly, the 24rd of the month. The weather will stop to mark this. During this time teams will receive the results of the Season and will have until the next Season begins to play with whatever those turn out to be.
Participation in Seasons will increase your house's standing as it counts as 'playing your role'. Houses that do the best will obtain certain bonuses and their territory will be in better shape. Houses that do poorly will find their territory degrades. Success in Seasons in known ICly as being integral to winning so everyone should be motivated to be involved.
BUT WHAT ABOUT...???
There are all kinds of things that aren't spelled out on these pages. Because, frankly, there is already a lot of shit spelled out on these pages. IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW SOMETHING WILL WORK, please feel free to give it an IC try. Your mods may be prepared for that contingency, or they may not. Either way, we will do our best to keep the results interesting!
Houses and Elements:
Every house has an element, but these are more or less flavor. So for example you can have your characters abilities be colored with use of their element in whatever way you want, we aren't going to dictate that. But there aren't really any rules here other than the lightning house can't have water elemental spells.
Roles
-Roles are essentially simplistic RPG classes, only instead of fighting monsters you have to play the role you are given. Each class has a handful of things they should do, and things they should not. When they play their role they increase the overall status of their House and help keep themselves mentally stable, when they do things they should not, they decrease their house's status and threaten their own mental stability.
-Each class also has specific abilities. While ability is determined by class, how powerful they are at/how many times they can use it is determined by what power level they are currently at, which is determined by feeding.
-You don't need to remember what every role does. ICLy your characters only know their own role and abilities, and trying to remember it all will probably be overwhelming and impede your RP experience. It's perfectly fine to only know what you learn ICly.
Feeding
-There is no conventional food in the game, nor do characters have any understanding of it. Each character instead 'feeds' off of something that they get from another person; bodily fluids, lies, misery, violence.
- Bodily Fluids: If it's fluid an the body generates it, it will count. Sweat, tears, saliva, blood, come, and piss are all equally free game. Characters who choose bodily fluids can not be a Courtesan
- Lies: Successfully lying to other characters. If the lie is 'discovered' (or the truth is told) this will redact the feeding. Characters who feed on lies can't be the Pierrot class
- Violence: Straight up abuse and brutality! The more violent the more filling and tasty. Characters who feed on violence cannot be the Champion class.
- Misery: Other people's misery, of course. Making other characters sad is sooo tasty. They have to actually cause, or at least amplify the misery in some way. Being passively around unhappy people won't do it. Characters who feed on misery cannot be the Governess class.
-It is more or less up to you how much your character has to eat to be satisfied. The purpose of these feeding types is to give players a reason to interact in interesting ways, and so making someone cry and licking up just a single tear will net you an AC thread. But if you WANT your character to hunger for a pint of blood or need more and more misery to satiate their hunger, go for it. Some people are just big eaters.
-There is nothing to ICly tell your family or other families what your character feeds on, so they can lie about/hide this information
-Feeding is tied into AC, feeding must be played out (if not fully finished, at least started, you can't handwave feeding ever). You must have 2 feeding threads a month to pass AC. This will also ensure that your character does not die or go berserk due to starvation.
-Characters inherently are at level 0 in terms of power, which defines how often they can use their class based abilities. For every 2 additional feeding threads you have per month, the power level goes up by 1, to a maximum of three. So:
2 Feedings: Level 1
4 Feedings: Level 2
6 Feedings: Level 3
-Power levels restart at the beginning of each month, so if you get in your sixth feeding on the 25th of October you only get to use your level 3 powers until the end of the month.
Seasons
Once an OOC month, on the 1st, the Season will change, and will last until the 23rd. This will be marked by the weather in Pearl changing dramatically, and then remaining the same for the duration of the Season. Whenever the Season changes, this means the Church has received information on a new role for everyone to perform, usually in the form of an objective for all members of all houses to meet. The houses will need to do what they can (trade, spy, interrogate) to learn what the role of the Season is.
The Season ends on, OOCly, the 24rd of the month. The weather will stop to mark this. During this time teams will receive the results of the Season and will have until the next Season begins to play with whatever those turn out to be.
Participation in Seasons will increase your house's standing as it counts as 'playing your role'. Houses that do the best will obtain certain bonuses and their territory will be in better shape. Houses that do poorly will find their territory degrades. Success in Seasons in known ICly as being integral to winning so everyone should be motivated to be involved.
BUT WHAT ABOUT...???
There are all kinds of things that aren't spelled out on these pages. Because, frankly, there is already a lot of shit spelled out on these pages. IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW SOMETHING WILL WORK, please feel free to give it an IC try. Your mods may be prepared for that contingency, or they may not. Either way, we will do our best to keep the results interesting!