faq.
I would like to state now that I am no way intending to infrige copyright in any shape, sense or form, and am only borrowing Garth Nix's ideas and world of Shade's children for an roleplay that has no profit what so ever. None of the characters, save Shade and the Overlords, will appear in this roleplay- and the monsters will also appear under the same names. I am not in any way meaning to plagerise this work, but merely celebrate it's ideas in a roleplay environment.
• Is everything exactly the same as from the book?
Mostly, save a couple of differences. For one, you can be a character brought here from their original universe, so a character can be past the age of fourteen, and it would be more common, as very few live past eighteen years of age in the book itself (simply, we'll have a broader ange range than the book). Secondly, is the appearence- you can wear what you wish, and I am not going to force your character to shave their hair to almost nothing. All appearences will stay true to your character as they appear in their respective canons.
• Do you need to read the book to join?
No, not at all. Everything you need to know is provided on this FAQ page and here. But by all means, if you want extra details and a better idea of the universe of Shade's Children, go ahead and read the book. It's a good read in itself.
• AU? OU?
AU stands for Alternative Universe. This is the world Shade inhabits. If your character is AU, they started life in the Dorms, so their background will have to molded round this (it's not too hard: if your character has unique abilities or appearences, feel free to invent an experiment. It makes things more interesting. Run it by the mods if you're not sure). OU stands for Original Universe. This basically means you took the character out of their universe that they live in in canon. For example, Tidus of Final Fantasy X lives in Spira, and you basically took him out of his timeline and dumped him in this world. His history will be that of everything that happened up to the point he was taken.
• Can I only play someone under fourteen?
Not at all! You can play any character you wish.
• What if my character is a lot older? Say for example, over twenty?
This is one rule I will enforce, that if your character is over the age of about twenty-three, that they will have to have come from their own canon universe- as they would not have survived in the world otherwise. They can still be part of the rp though, as said in the answer above.
• My character is about seventeen, do I have to lower their age or something to be AU?
Not at all! Said character could have been with Shade for a while- it's not uncommon for some children to spend a year running before they are found by Shade, or escaping when they are a lot younger, or to have spent several years with Shade himself.
• I don't understand this age thing.
In the world of Shade's Children, children are taken away to be turned into monsters at fourteen. Thus, we are following that. It is possible however for children to escape when they are, say, twelve, and then spend four years with Shade, which would make them sixteen when you take the character up in AU. If your character is AU, they cannot be older than twenty-three in their canon. This is because no one lives that long in Shade's Army or this world; not naturally. If you bring a character from a different universe, who is say, thirty, that is completely fine. The only restriction for you, is that, if your character is older than twenty three, you can't take an AU version of them.
• I want to play an AU character. How much of their original backstory am I allowed to change?
Well, for a start, you need to adapt your AU character to the setting, and keep in mind they've grown up in conditions probably a lot different to in canon. However, they are essentially the same character, so much of their personality remains the same. Keeping friends, family and relationships similar as they were in canon is fine, too, as long as it fits in with their new background.
But you cannot, for example, say that character A - your character - and character B are best friends/relatives/worst enemies/whatever you can think of when it didn't happen in canon. This avoids confusion when a player decides to play character B but finds character As player has set up a backstory for them already. Of course, what happens in the roleplay itself between characters is another matter entirely. This only applies to applications.
If you're really not sure what may affect other characters' backgrounds, ask us mods, or else drop it out of your application altogether.
• That character I want to apply for has a unique appearence or a complicated ability - I want to play them as AU, but what should I do? I don't think it will fit.
Actually, it will. The Dorms do seem a very simple existance of living for fourteen years, but the Overlords are not so simple. There are experiements and other varying things they do to the children. Feel free to invent one up for your character to explain why they look a certain way, but don't make it too extreame. If you're not sure, ask us mods first if it's alright. We're likely to say yes.
If you want an example, one of the mods plays a character called Ranulf, who comes from Fire Emblem. Ranulf is of the species laguz - basically, a cat and what looks like a human. To explain this in his AU canon, an 'experiment' happened in the Dorms where a new steroid drug was tested on a bunch of children. It backfired, but greatly altered their genetics to what they look like now.
• What is each comm used for?
The main comm, pastfourteen, is first person, and used by the characters when they are on board the Sub. The log comm, fourteen_logs, is used for logs and is written in third person, and logs can be either missions, or on board the Sub, or just out and about on patrol, whatever you want. Your journal will be used when on a mission outside the Sub, so things will be recorded in it, such as progress. This will be private and no one else will be able to reply to it, but other players will be able to see what's going on in a log at a glance. After the mission, it can be presumed that these 'notes' will be handed in to Shade. Your character's journal will also be used to archive their video interviews. There is the first interview you do on the application, but more optional ones will come up. These are entirely optional, but it is strongly recommended that you do some. These too, will be private, but other players can read them to get to know your character better. It also gives you a chance to write your character and test how you can do.
• How many characters can I take?
Up to four.
• Someone's applied for an AU character. Does that mean I can take the OU version?
No. It's one or the other, I'm afraid, so there will only be one version of each character.
• What's your take on one player applying for more than one character in a fandom?
It's most likely better off if you didn't take two characters. However, if it's like, say, a really big fandom and there's two characters that never see each other or see each other in passing, than it's fine; for example, Fire Emblem 10, where some characters never interact. And if both of the characters are AU, then its fine as well, since they won't necessarily have met each other. Basically, the same player can't have their characters interacting with one another, hence why it would be best to avoid having two characters that do know each other well being in your roster.
• What's your view on Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy duplicate characters?
Same as the above- chose a version and stick with that version, and the version you chose can be AU or OU.
• What happens if someone say, took AU Sora from Kingdom Hearts and OU Riku from Kingdom Hearts?
Amusement follows, as Riku would recognize Sora but Sora wouldn't know him, since they'd look exactly the same.
• Are original characters allowed?
Nope, only characters from a fandom.
• What kind of fandoms?
Anything from an anime (eg. Card Captor Sakura, Ouran High School Host Club), manga (eg. Absolute Boyfriend, Tokyo Babylon), comic book (eg. Marvel), video game (eg. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Persona 3), film (eg. Enchanted, Pirates of the Carribean), book/novel (eg. Harry Potter, Twilight), or tv drama (eg. Doctor Who, Heroes) can be applied for.
• What's a 'Change Power'?
Thanks to a device in the world, it gives the monsters the ability to see and do impossible things- and also gives your character the ability to have a 'Change Power', at the expense of becoming physically and mentally drained afterwards. Some people have the ability to manifest things- some people can cause items to move with their mind- some can see the future. And some have no change power of any use at all.
• My character has a power in canon. What happens to it?
Thanks to a device in the world, it gives the monsters the ability to see and do impossible things- and also gives your character the ability to have a 'Change Power'. Any characters with powers will retain them, though it will be dulled down to fit the scenario. If they have no powers at all in canon, then it will remain that way. If you aren't sure how to convert your power to fit with the game, check to see if there is anyone else from your selected fandom, as it works for everyone to have the same idea.
• My character is AU. Can I invent them a change power?
No. If your character has no power in their fandom, they won't have one at all.
• There are character teams? How does that work? Who's team leader?
For the time being, Shade will post mission posts and whoever signs up will be a team, or he will announce a team and send them off on a mission. Team leaders will be decided later on. Teams will be no more than four or five characters.
• My character is OU. What will they arrive with?
The clothes on their back, and whatever else they were wearing at the time. Fortunately, Shade isn't going to take you out of the shower and you appear whilst 'dressed', so you will be saved from that moment of indecency.
• How are people communicating on board the sub in the first person comm?
The sub, surprisingly, actually does have an internet like system. There's a special room known to have lots of information booths and access to computers. Anyone can access this and post onto the network. They don't have portable devices as of now, as Shade has only just set it up, but it's a possible thing for the future.
• How does the Monster thing work?
Well, on missions, muns can incorprate monsters into their posts, so, one person can be in charge of the monster running amok, or something of the like. This is mainly allowed since the mods live in the UK and timezones are annoying things, and logs would take forever with having to add another journal into the mix.
Any 'random' monster attacks will be posted by the monster journal in the logs community, and anyone can reply and fight it. Sometimes, the monster journal may also pop up in a log unexpectedly in the middle of a mission.
• Are there NPC's?
Yes. There are all the children in the Dorms, the escapees, and a lode of children on the sub. These won't be played by anyone and can just be presumed to be there.
Shade, the Overlords, and the Monsters are also NPC's.
• In a nutshell?
You are a child/young adult/etc. living on a submarine doing a crazy AI's bidding, as his military unit, for a world you either don't even know or remember, and have to fight monsters that are out to kill you and turn you into monsters like them.
Have a question? Ask away.
synopsis | applications | taken | reservations | hiatus/drop | faq | orientation | comments/feedback | moderator contact
• Is everything exactly the same as from the book?
Mostly, save a couple of differences. For one, you can be a character brought here from their original universe, so a character can be past the age of fourteen, and it would be more common, as very few live past eighteen years of age in the book itself (simply, we'll have a broader ange range than the book). Secondly, is the appearence- you can wear what you wish, and I am not going to force your character to shave their hair to almost nothing. All appearences will stay true to your character as they appear in their respective canons.
• Do you need to read the book to join?
No, not at all. Everything you need to know is provided on this FAQ page and here. But by all means, if you want extra details and a better idea of the universe of Shade's Children, go ahead and read the book. It's a good read in itself.
• AU? OU?
AU stands for Alternative Universe. This is the world Shade inhabits. If your character is AU, they started life in the Dorms, so their background will have to molded round this (it's not too hard: if your character has unique abilities or appearences, feel free to invent an experiment. It makes things more interesting. Run it by the mods if you're not sure). OU stands for Original Universe. This basically means you took the character out of their universe that they live in in canon. For example, Tidus of Final Fantasy X lives in Spira, and you basically took him out of his timeline and dumped him in this world. His history will be that of everything that happened up to the point he was taken.
• Can I only play someone under fourteen?
Not at all! You can play any character you wish.
• What if my character is a lot older? Say for example, over twenty?
This is one rule I will enforce, that if your character is over the age of about twenty-three, that they will have to have come from their own canon universe- as they would not have survived in the world otherwise. They can still be part of the rp though, as said in the answer above.
• My character is about seventeen, do I have to lower their age or something to be AU?
Not at all! Said character could have been with Shade for a while- it's not uncommon for some children to spend a year running before they are found by Shade, or escaping when they are a lot younger, or to have spent several years with Shade himself.
• I don't understand this age thing.
In the world of Shade's Children, children are taken away to be turned into monsters at fourteen. Thus, we are following that. It is possible however for children to escape when they are, say, twelve, and then spend four years with Shade, which would make them sixteen when you take the character up in AU. If your character is AU, they cannot be older than twenty-three in their canon. This is because no one lives that long in Shade's Army or this world; not naturally. If you bring a character from a different universe, who is say, thirty, that is completely fine. The only restriction for you, is that, if your character is older than twenty three, you can't take an AU version of them.
• I want to play an AU character. How much of their original backstory am I allowed to change?
Well, for a start, you need to adapt your AU character to the setting, and keep in mind they've grown up in conditions probably a lot different to in canon. However, they are essentially the same character, so much of their personality remains the same. Keeping friends, family and relationships similar as they were in canon is fine, too, as long as it fits in with their new background.
But you cannot, for example, say that character A - your character - and character B are best friends/relatives/worst enemies/whatever you can think of when it didn't happen in canon. This avoids confusion when a player decides to play character B but finds character As player has set up a backstory for them already. Of course, what happens in the roleplay itself between characters is another matter entirely. This only applies to applications.
If you're really not sure what may affect other characters' backgrounds, ask us mods, or else drop it out of your application altogether.
• That character I want to apply for has a unique appearence or a complicated ability - I want to play them as AU, but what should I do? I don't think it will fit.
Actually, it will. The Dorms do seem a very simple existance of living for fourteen years, but the Overlords are not so simple. There are experiements and other varying things they do to the children. Feel free to invent one up for your character to explain why they look a certain way, but don't make it too extreame. If you're not sure, ask us mods first if it's alright. We're likely to say yes.
If you want an example, one of the mods plays a character called Ranulf, who comes from Fire Emblem. Ranulf is of the species laguz - basically, a cat and what looks like a human. To explain this in his AU canon, an 'experiment' happened in the Dorms where a new steroid drug was tested on a bunch of children. It backfired, but greatly altered their genetics to what they look like now.
• What is each comm used for?
The main comm, pastfourteen, is first person, and used by the characters when they are on board the Sub. The log comm, fourteen_logs, is used for logs and is written in third person, and logs can be either missions, or on board the Sub, or just out and about on patrol, whatever you want. Your journal will be used when on a mission outside the Sub, so things will be recorded in it, such as progress. This will be private and no one else will be able to reply to it, but other players will be able to see what's going on in a log at a glance. After the mission, it can be presumed that these 'notes' will be handed in to Shade. Your character's journal will also be used to archive their video interviews. There is the first interview you do on the application, but more optional ones will come up. These are entirely optional, but it is strongly recommended that you do some. These too, will be private, but other players can read them to get to know your character better. It also gives you a chance to write your character and test how you can do.
• How many characters can I take?
Up to four.
• Someone's applied for an AU character. Does that mean I can take the OU version?
No. It's one or the other, I'm afraid, so there will only be one version of each character.
• What's your take on one player applying for more than one character in a fandom?
It's most likely better off if you didn't take two characters. However, if it's like, say, a really big fandom and there's two characters that never see each other or see each other in passing, than it's fine; for example, Fire Emblem 10, where some characters never interact. And if both of the characters are AU, then its fine as well, since they won't necessarily have met each other. Basically, the same player can't have their characters interacting with one another, hence why it would be best to avoid having two characters that do know each other well being in your roster.
• What's your view on Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy duplicate characters?
Same as the above- chose a version and stick with that version, and the version you chose can be AU or OU.
• What happens if someone say, took AU Sora from Kingdom Hearts and OU Riku from Kingdom Hearts?
Amusement follows, as Riku would recognize Sora but Sora wouldn't know him, since they'd look exactly the same.
• Are original characters allowed?
Nope, only characters from a fandom.
• What kind of fandoms?
Anything from an anime (eg. Card Captor Sakura, Ouran High School Host Club), manga (eg. Absolute Boyfriend, Tokyo Babylon), comic book (eg. Marvel), video game (eg. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Persona 3), film (eg. Enchanted, Pirates of the Carribean), book/novel (eg. Harry Potter, Twilight), or tv drama (eg. Doctor Who, Heroes) can be applied for.
• What's a 'Change Power'?
Thanks to a device in the world, it gives the monsters the ability to see and do impossible things- and also gives your character the ability to have a 'Change Power', at the expense of becoming physically and mentally drained afterwards. Some people have the ability to manifest things- some people can cause items to move with their mind- some can see the future. And some have no change power of any use at all.
• My character has a power in canon. What happens to it?
Thanks to a device in the world, it gives the monsters the ability to see and do impossible things- and also gives your character the ability to have a 'Change Power'. Any characters with powers will retain them, though it will be dulled down to fit the scenario. If they have no powers at all in canon, then it will remain that way. If you aren't sure how to convert your power to fit with the game, check to see if there is anyone else from your selected fandom, as it works for everyone to have the same idea.
• My character is AU. Can I invent them a change power?
No. If your character has no power in their fandom, they won't have one at all.
• There are character teams? How does that work? Who's team leader?
For the time being, Shade will post mission posts and whoever signs up will be a team, or he will announce a team and send them off on a mission. Team leaders will be decided later on. Teams will be no more than four or five characters.
• My character is OU. What will they arrive with?
The clothes on their back, and whatever else they were wearing at the time. Fortunately, Shade isn't going to take you out of the shower and you appear whilst 'dressed', so you will be saved from that moment of indecency.
• How are people communicating on board the sub in the first person comm?
The sub, surprisingly, actually does have an internet like system. There's a special room known to have lots of information booths and access to computers. Anyone can access this and post onto the network. They don't have portable devices as of now, as Shade has only just set it up, but it's a possible thing for the future.
• How does the Monster thing work?
Well, on missions, muns can incorprate monsters into their posts, so, one person can be in charge of the monster running amok, or something of the like. This is mainly allowed since the mods live in the UK and timezones are annoying things, and logs would take forever with having to add another journal into the mix.
Any 'random' monster attacks will be posted by the monster journal in the logs community, and anyone can reply and fight it. Sometimes, the monster journal may also pop up in a log unexpectedly in the middle of a mission.
• Are there NPC's?
Yes. There are all the children in the Dorms, the escapees, and a lode of children on the sub. These won't be played by anyone and can just be presumed to be there.
Shade, the Overlords, and the Monsters are also NPC's.
• In a nutshell?
You are a child/young adult/etc. living on a submarine doing a crazy AI's bidding, as his military unit, for a world you either don't even know or remember, and have to fight monsters that are out to kill you and turn you into monsters like them.
Have a question? Ask away.
synopsis | applications | taken | reservations | hiatus/drop | faq | orientation | comments/feedback | moderator contact