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Roles
Upon arrival, all Visitors will find an entire life is already waiting for them in Ashbrook. Residents of Ashbrook will treat the Visitors like they've lived there for months, years, maybe even their entire lives. Their homes will be filled with books, photographs, journals, letters, souvenirs, artwork - a lifetime's worth of personal touches. Even their names and dates of birth appear in official registries and databases.
When you apply, part of your application will be solely about your character's role. The mods will use this section to assign your character's Ashbrook counterpart a background, occupation, and several advantages and disadvantages that they'll experience during their time in Ashbrook. You may also request to have the mods provide 5 additional and optional background details for you to use.
While you are not required to keep track of your character's role and backstory, we strongly recommend doing so. Many events may prompt you to make use of the details that we've provided or that you've added, and you may find those same details useful when making investigation submissions.
If there is something in your role assignment that you absolutely cannot handle having in your character's backstory, please contact the mods ASAP and we will redo part or all of your role assignment.
When you apply, part of your application will be solely about your character's role. The mods will use this section to assign your character's Ashbrook counterpart a background, occupation, and several advantages and disadvantages that they'll experience during their time in Ashbrook. You may also request to have the mods provide 5 additional and optional background details for you to use.
While you are not required to keep track of your character's role and backstory, we strongly recommend doing so. Many events may prompt you to make use of the details that we've provided or that you've added, and you may find those same details useful when making investigation submissions.
If there is something in your role assignment that you absolutely cannot handle having in your character's backstory, please contact the mods ASAP and we will redo part or all of your role assignment.
Adding Details
While the role assignment background will highlight several important moments of your character's alternate life, many details will be left intentionally vague to allow for player input and creativity. You may add family, friends, coworkers, and even enemies based on their background. You're also welcome to insert as many significant events or educational, employment, or medical history you feel would be interesting to include.
You're also free to connect your character's alternate life with those of other characters! Sasuke Uchiha and Eleven can be neighbors; Saul Goodman and Phoenix Wright may have been roommates in college; and Han Solo and Princess Peach might be siblings.
There are only three exceptions to your ability to freely alter your character's background.
First, you cannot add any details that directly contradict or conflict with the role the character is assigned; if you'd like to do so, please contact the mods and we can evaluate your request on a case-by-case basis.
Second, you cannot include any canon character not in the game, no matter how minor, in your character's alternate background. A character with siblings might still have them, but they'll be completely different people.
And finally, even if your castmates are in the game and you decide to link backgrounds, the characters' alternate lives cannot have the exact same type of relationship. Luke and Leia may only be cousins or friends instead of siblings; Scully and Mulder may only be acquaintances instead of partners; and Peter Parker and Mary Jane may just be friends instead of dating. And in all cases, they could be perfect strangers to one another.
There are absolutely no exceptions to the last two rules.
You're also free to connect your character's alternate life with those of other characters! Sasuke Uchiha and Eleven can be neighbors; Saul Goodman and Phoenix Wright may have been roommates in college; and Han Solo and Princess Peach might be siblings.
There are only three exceptions to your ability to freely alter your character's background.
First, you cannot add any details that directly contradict or conflict with the role the character is assigned; if you'd like to do so, please contact the mods and we can evaluate your request on a case-by-case basis.
Second, you cannot include any canon character not in the game, no matter how minor, in your character's alternate background. A character with siblings might still have them, but they'll be completely different people.
And finally, even if your castmates are in the game and you decide to link backgrounds, the characters' alternate lives cannot have the exact same type of relationship. Luke and Leia may only be cousins or friends instead of siblings; Scully and Mulder may only be acquaintances instead of partners; and Peter Parker and Mary Jane may just be friends instead of dating. And in all cases, they could be perfect strangers to one another.
There are absolutely no exceptions to the last two rules.
Knowledge and Skills
For the most part, Visitors will know next to nothing about their lives in Ashbrook. If they want to learn something, they need to do so by piecing together information they can glean from the setting (e.g.: maybe your character's alternate self kept a journal, or has a very chatty NPC neighbor).
However, there are some exceptions. All Visitors will have explicit knowledge of:
• Where their home is located
• Where they work or go to school, and what their role is there
• How to access the Ashbrook Visitor's Center forums
If a role requires a skill that a Visitor doesn't already have, they'll have to learn it - but the process will be different for each Visitor.
Some Visitors may find they need to learn the entirety of their job again from day one, like a complete novice. Others might find that the knowledge of what comes to them naturally, as in the old ‘it's like riding a bike' adage. Still others may be somewhere in between the two extremes: having a knack for what they do, but still needing to master certain skills.
ICly, there's no rhyme or reason to which Visitors may struggle with which jobs. A former medieval bog witch may thrive at her software development job, while in the meantime the former giant robot pilot working at a nearby cafe is fighting for his life against the register's POS software.
OOCly, the difficulty a character has is left entirely in the hands of the players. Do you want your character to deal with the anxiety of being thrust into a role they're wildly unqualified for? Do you want them to confront the existential horror of knowing things they definitely shouldn't? Or do you just want them to have kind of a weird time? The choice is yours.
However, there are some exceptions. All Visitors will have explicit knowledge of:
• Where their home is located
• Where they work or go to school, and what their role is there
• How to access the Ashbrook Visitor's Center forums
If a role requires a skill that a Visitor doesn't already have, they'll have to learn it - but the process will be different for each Visitor.
Some Visitors may find they need to learn the entirety of their job again from day one, like a complete novice. Others might find that the knowledge of what comes to them naturally, as in the old ‘it's like riding a bike' adage. Still others may be somewhere in between the two extremes: having a knack for what they do, but still needing to master certain skills.
ICly, there's no rhyme or reason to which Visitors may struggle with which jobs. A former medieval bog witch may thrive at her software development job, while in the meantime the former giant robot pilot working at a nearby cafe is fighting for his life against the register's POS software.
OOCly, the difficulty a character has is left entirely in the hands of the players. Do you want your character to deal with the anxiety of being thrust into a role they're wildly unqualified for? Do you want them to confront the existential horror of knowing things they definitely shouldn't? Or do you just want them to have kind of a weird time? The choice is yours.