FAQ.

[brandedmods]

FAQ

GENERAL

WHAT IS BRANDED ABOUT?
Branded is a panfandom sex game that takes place in a growing city on another world. It centers around "brand tattoos" that every character receives upon entry. Each tattoo has ten tally marks. As one day passes in game one mark disappears from the brand with disastrous consequences if a brand reaches zero tally marks. The brand can be reset to ten again only by participating in sexual acts.

IS THERE AN OVERARCHING PLOT?
While the moderator team certainly plans to add some plot to events and is happy to answer questions and facilitate player plots, we aren't locking ourselves into one solid overarching plot. That is to say: we will be telling stories and helping players to write stories they would like to write, but our main goal is to create engaging events and to assist our players in telling the stories they'd like to tell. We will absolutely allow characters to investigate whatever they would wish and do encourage players to reach out to us if there is anything they would like their character to do or investigate so we can tailor some information for you but this isn't a game where players and characters are expected to solve mysteries or fight anything specific.

SO WHAT WILL EVENTS BE LIKE?
Our events will have a heavy lean towards options to encourage smut, but we will also have gen options as well. Erato is plagued by peculiar weather and magic phenomenon and Branded are particularly susceptible to both of these things. Many Branded have long since given up solving how they arrived or why but characters are free to dedicate themselves to that if they wish - or to any other cause that might appeal to them. There isn't anything in particular anyone in the City expects them to do other than eventually figure out how to handle themselves, but during times of crises characters will be expected to pitch in much in the same way anyone in a particular group would be expected to pitch in. Living in the City means working for it. Of course, if you want to live as a hermit in the woods no one is actually stopping you beyond the pain of your brand.

HOW DO CHARACTERS ARRIVE?
They simply wake up in the city already branded and with a phone on their person. It's up to them what they do from there. There isn't any specific area of arrival in the city, though the central plaza seems to be the "epicenter" of arrivals and any new characters will find themselves within a mile or two of there.

SETTING

WHERE DOES BRANDED TAKE PLACE?
On the planet of Erato in the Nameless City.

CAN CHARACTERS LEAVE THE CITY?
Sure. They'll be able to go further away as the game progresses, but for now they're limited in scope to a few miles out. The city has the ocean to one side and a mountain range to the other and neither is easily passable without the proper preparation.

WHAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY LEVEL?
The Nameless City has an interesting fusion of technologically advanced and fantasy. There's computers and mobile phones but there's also magical journals and swords to be found. The architecture of the City is similarly a fusion of fantasy and modern-day technology, although some neighborhoods lean more one way or the other depending on the preference of the residents there.

ARE THERE NPCS?
Sort of. The moderators won't be playing any specific named NPCs with a great deal of unassailable power or anything like that but the Nameless City does have other people in it. Most of the population is Branded, all of them from other worlds, but there is also a significant portion of Unbranded. Unbranded characters were born on Erato, and many of the younger Unbranded in the city are actually the progeny of Branded who woke up in the Nameless City decades back.

The City isn't beholden to any particular Kingdom or State but instead operates as a sort of independent City-State. It's run by a Council of elected representatives that change out every year, typically made up of various guild members, merchants, and simply well-liked citizens. The Council concerns themselves with keeping the City in good order but don't seem particularly interested in micromanaging new arrivals. They're friendly, but not overly so. Characters will be given initial help to find their footing but then most of the City populace will expect them to make their own way, whatever they might choose that to be.

Players may dream up their own NPCs within the framework of the City and use them as they wish, or they may contact the moderators for who might be about or what they might have to say. While we're not going to actively thread out logs with people as a habit in order to make sure we don't overload ourselves with too much, we are happy to give out answers or do ooc threads commenting "in response to that, this Council member would say or do this, etc" on a dungeon master level. Depending on how popular this is or how our workload looks with it, we may eventually institute a limit on how many times a month someone can ask for this sort of thing but we don't currently have one.

ARE ALL THE NPCS HUMANS?
No. They range in species from the standard fantasy races to fantasy-esque androids. Humans are the largest population in the city, however.

IS THERE MAGIC?
Yes. All magic on Erato is sexually powered. Unbranded find it much easier to use this magic than Branded would, although Branded with more highly awakened brands will find Erato's magic easier and easier to use.

WHAT LANGUAGE DOES EVERYONE SPEAK?
There's dozens of languages spoken in the Nameless City. It's a popular and famous port for both merchants and tourists and characters will hear these languages as they're spoken. The most common tongue is...well, Common. It doesn't sound familiar to any of the characters.

Similarly, every character will be speaking their own language upon arrival.

HOW DO THEY UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER?
Anyone with a brand will find they can comprehend what other people are saying, even if their ear still perceives it as a spoken language they don't know or get. It can be a bit disorienting for newcomers but it's a handy talent that has landed many Branded positions as interpreters in the past. The network accessible by Branded similarly displays various languages they may or may not know but which they find they can understand the meaning of. The written word translation only works on the network, however - they'll find themselves having to learn to read any other language themselves if they want to parse it.

WHAT IS THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE OF THE CITY?
Typically signs and such on main avenues are written in Common. Specific neighborhoods inhabited by Branded from certain places occasionally have their own native languages in use however - it isn't uncommon to pass signs in certain suburbs with, say, English or Elvish or Korean on them. Similarly there are books to be found written in tongues native to Erato as well as tongues from other worlds - you can very likely find works in your own tongue if you wish.

IC MECHANICS

IS THERE A NETWORK?
Yes. Characters will receive a phone with a keyboard that slides out upon arrival. These vary in color, brand, and quality. There are speech to text and text to speech functions for characters who require them. If they don't like this phone they can purchase their own device somewhere in the city once they have the coin for it. Interestingly enough, magical-bound journals seem to work as well. There seems to be a general "internet" (magical and mundane in a mix) but the Branded are always able to access a network only those with brands can see. This does include some of the NPCs in the city but many of the Branded who have been here much longer are fairly caught up in their own settled lives and seem to have stopped using the network some time ago.

SO WHAT ARE BRANDS EXACTLY?
Brands are tattoos that every character has upon arrival. Each brand will vary in specific design (these are given upon acceptance) but will have some version of ten tally marks. Every day that passes ICly removes one tally mark from the brand. Having sexual relations of any kind with another branded resets the tally marks.

WHAT HAPPENS AS THE BRANDS LOSE MARKS?
Characters will find that the fewer tally marks they have, the weaker any unlocked powers they have are. Additionally, they will feel any variety of negative physical effects. These can range from migraines to feeling light-headed to generalized weakness. They will also feel more and more desperate for relief. Once they get to one tally mark, characters may find they have trouble thinking straight and may feel short of breath.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE BRANDS GET TO ZERO?
Characters will experience either a loss or a death. Any 0 mark should be submitted to our Brand page so the moderators can keep track and discuss any specialized negative effects players may be interested in. Losses involve losing one important memory, power, or sense which can be regained through our AC rewards system, but deaths come with a permanent loss of one important memory, power, or sense. The more 0 marks someone hits, the worse the effects.

DOES THAT MEAN I HAVE TO THREAD SMUT EVERY 10 DAYS?
No. In terms of the brands we do allow sexual activity with other branded to be handwaved. There are NPC branded as well. We do have smut AC which you can read more about in the AC section, but essentially the brands and their marks are an IC mechanic that does not have to be perfectly followed OOCly.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHARACTER DIES OUTSIDE OF THE BRAND?
Loss of an important memory, power, or sense will occur and will be permanent.

CAN THE BRANDS HURT OR HELP MY CHARACTER IN OTHER WAYS?
Characters will find that if they aren't near at least one other Branded - within a range of give or take a mile - it can get intensely painful for them. On the other hand, being around other Branded can give them a boost in health and mood. This is why not many Branded leave the City even in smaller groups - it gets more dangerous as they risk the chance of ever being separated from their companions. Some do still travel out further, of course, but it's not common and that is part of why the City continues to grow.

ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN CHARACTER'S BRANDS?
Yes. Brands will be assigned upon acceptance. The broader difference with brands is that we have four groups determining their colors which are mod-assigned. These colors do not in any way offer special powers or the like and there is no benefit to being in one over another. They do effect the visual appearance of the brand. OOCly, we use these groups in order to offer brand compulsions during events.

WHAT IS A BRAND COMPULSION?
During every event we will offer several small prompts semi-connected to the larger prompts, where players will be encouraged to play out certain activities with one or more characters of various other brand types. For example, one event might note that two different specific brands may gain certain rewards for completing a task together. It's meant to encourage players to tag out and around and our bonus AC has several options for thread submission of these types. There may also be IC rewards in the event logs for anyone who threads these out.

WHAT IS A BRAND AWAKENING?
A brand awakening can be purchased from our AC rewards system, but we also will occasionally run events that allow an awakening if certain goals are met. These will not be extremely common and will only happen maybe once or twice a year. The awakening itself gives characters access to a unique magic that is specific to themselves and their brand.

SMUT

IS SMUT REQUIRED?
Yes. We have alternating smut and non-smut AC, which you can read about below in the Activity section.

CAN I FADE TO BLACK?
We aren't going to police what you do in most of your threads. That said, smut AC threads cannot fade to black and fade to black threads aren't going to be eligible for any of the smut AC bonus things. But otherwise? Sure, go for it. If you don't want to play smut at all, however, this is not the game for you.

ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT WE CAN PLAY OUT?
The moderator team requests that no rape or pregnancy plots be played out due to the tension and discomfort these particular topics can cause. We are fine with dubcon, but please keep in mind the comfort of other players. ALWAYS mark anything questionable in subject headers whenever possible.

ACTIVITY

WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITY CHECK REQUIREMENTS?
Branded uses an alternating AC system. Every even numbered month is a smut-free AC month. Every odd numbered month is a smut AC month. Our monthly game posts will also alert players as to what is required that month.

Every month, whether it is a smut AC month or non-smut AC month, requires player to submit activity of 15 comments over no more than two threads. These threads must have been started in the month AC is being checked for. We do not care if they are log or network comments.

In smut AC months we require players to submit one completed smut thread. This thread may have been started either the month immediately prior or during the month AC is being checked. For example: January would be a smut AC month. The thread submitted in January could be started either in December or January, and must be a complete and finished scene. This is in addition to normal AC as players have a solid two months to finish a scene for it.

You may view our Activity Check page for further details.

WAIT, WHAT IF MY FIRST MONTH IS A SMUT AC MONTH?
It won't be. Our application rounds happen in odd-numbered months (that is to say, smut ac months) so new players will only arrive during smut-free ac months. Any change to our application schedules based on moderator availability will be announced as far in advance as possible.

WHAT ARE THE HIATUS AND STRIKE POLICIES?
We allow players to take a hiatus once every three months. Hiatuses should be submitted to our hiatus page. If a player takes a hiatus during a smut AC month, they will however have to either supply two smut threads at the next smut AC month or treat the next smut-free AC month as a smut AC month and submit an appropriate thread with it.

We do not permit strikes.

I FAILED AC AND WAS SWEPT FROM THE GAME, NOW WHAT?
Players who are swept from the game may re-apply after one application cycle has passed. If they are swept from the game a second time they will not be welcome to re-apply to the game with any character.

IS THERE AN AC REWARDS SYSTEM?
Yes. Our bonus AC system operates on points gained from completed smut thread submission, player plots/submissions, or completion of "brand compulsions" in a given month. Threads qualifying for bonus points should be submitted with your AC forms. You can view what threads qualify and for how much on our AC page. These points can be redeemed after AC is finished at our AC Rewards page.

Players may purchase any variety of items, powers, or canon pets, etc, in addition to brand awakenings. The moderator team is happy to figure out other purchases if players come up with something they would like.

APPLICATIONS

WHO CAN I APPLY FOR?
Canon characters or original characters from original canons may be applied for. We do not accept fandom OCs, fandom AUs, or non-fictional historical characters. In terms of malleable protagonists we will only accept one version per canon. We count the Warrior of Light as a malleable protagonist.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER CHARACTER LIMITATIONS?
Characters must be at least 16 years of age physically and mentally. We realize there may be some fringe cases in the case of AI and clones and you should feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your potential characters.

DO YOU ACCEPT CRAUS?
Yes, with a bit of a twist. We only permit memories from up to one past game - and those memories must be purchased through our AC Rewards system. This is to help everyone start off on around the same foot. Any physical modifications from previous games will be reset and any powers from previous games will not be available upon arrival. Buybacks of physical changes and powers will be dependent on what they are and priced after discussion with the moderators.

HOW MANY CHARACTERS CAN I PLAY?
You may play two characters. You may only apply for one character per application round and you must pass one round of AC in which you submit at least one complete smut thread in order to apply for a second character.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER RESTRICTIONS?
Your characters may not be from the same franchise. We also currently have a cast cap of 8 and a franchise cap of 15. These caps may be reviewed at a later time but for now are solidly in place.

WILL MY NON-HUMAN CHARACTER BE HUMANIZED?
No. Only CRAU characters get reset to their canon states.

WILL MY CHARACTER HAVE THEIR POWERS?
Powers will initially be locked but may be purchased back through our AC rewards system.

CAN MY CHARACTER HAVE THEIR PET?
Not on arrival. Non-applicable companions may be purchased back through our AC rewards system. Alternately, your character can look into simply adopting a pet in game. They'd need to earn some coin to do so - not AC currency, but actual in-game currency - but there's plenty of work to be found. Or they can go catch a wild animal and tame that, if they wanted? No one is stopping them.

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