(no subject)

[astonishing_xmods]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is the Xavier Institute?

A: Xavier Institute is an Alternate Universe (AU) role play (RP) with a school setting. It covers middle school (grades 7-8), high school (9-12), and offers some college level courses. It is a boarding school rather than your average high school. It also has several instructors and adjunct staff. These staff members can live on or off campus. It is based on the school of the same name from the Marvel Universe. All characters are Mutants, though the school does not advertise this openly for safety reasons.

Q: So what does that mean?

A: First off, AU means that any characters apped to this game hav lived in this universe for all their lives. This is a psuedo-Marvel universe setting more or less identical to our own, except with mutants (it is not 616 or the movieverse or any given canon Marvel universe). They won’t remember ninja-land, wizard-land or super-space-planet because they never lived there to begin with. So this means you’ll have to come up with all new histories for where they lived and how they came to discover their mutant status. Of course, you’ll probably want these events to mirror their canon lives as much as possible – and of course, if your character grew up on Earth anyway in canon, you may not have to change much at all! But the most important, common factor here is mutation, and how it has changed their lives and brought them to the Institute.

Q: So, mutant powers?

A: Yes. This will be applied multiple ways. Characters without any powers in their canon proper will be allowed to assign powers to that character. They do not have to be mundane. Characters with a laundry list of powers in canon, however, will likely be asked to scale things back. Omega Class mutants will be appable, but only one per player and they cannot be your first character in the game. All powers apped with need to be related in some way. You can't have a grab bag of abilities. We suggest potential players stick with one power and go from there.

Q: What if I have trouble coming up with a mutant power for my character?

A: No worries; there's a wiki for this sort of thing. This site lists many many powers and abilities, but you're not limited to its lists. If you can make one more appropriate for your character, then go for it!

Q: What is the plot hook in this game?

A: Mutants, at large, are a minority race that is feared and misunderstood by much of humanity. However, with their unique gifts and talents, they can also do great good for the world. The enemies and challenges of humanity and mutants alike will be faced in this game.

Q: So where does this take place?

A: The academy is located at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center (part of the town of North Salem), located in the very northeast corner of Westchester County, New York. However, certain events may send characters to any part of the known world and beyond. But, for the most part, the game will take place at the school.

Q: Mutants come to the Institute from around the world. Will my character have to know English?

A: Nope! We feel that the individual players can decide what language, if any, their character will speak. Of course the school offers all sorts of language classes, as well.

Q: So who can we app here?

A: Well, you can apply from pretty much any canon imaginable! If you can link us to it and show us it exists and we can understand it enough to judge your app, we’ll probably be willing to let it in. Obviously, you might run into trouble if you try to app Tony the Tiger or Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, but we’re otherwise pretty open-minded! On the other hand, you can just app… anyone imaginable! That’s right, we allow Original Characters (OCs), though those will be put under a bit more scrutiny than normal apps.

All this said, one thing that must be kept in mind is that this game is based in a version of the larger Marvel Universe, and due to this, there will be certain 'big name' Marvel characters that will be off-limits. Sadly, this means Captain America, Spider-Man, and the like will not be allowed in the game, either for the sake of consistency or for later use in plots. That doesn't, however, prohibit characters with similar powers from being apped, like Mayday Parker (Spider-Girl), Miles Morales (Ultimate Spider-Man), Elijah Bradley (Patriot), among others.

Also for the above plot reasons, certain X-Men characters are likewise unable to be apped. This is primarily limited to a handful of X-Men (utilized as NPCs at the school) and certain high-profile villains and allies. This may sound like a lot of restrictions, but there actually aren't as many characters off-limits as it sounds; we're just being intentionally vague to keep plotlines and future plans under wraps. The bottom line is, if you think a character might fall into one of these categories, please don't hesitate to ask! Odds are, even if they do, we can recommend a suitable substitute.

Q: Who in game can we play as? Just students or can we be teachers too?

A: Both teaching and student positions are open to be applied for. The administrative board and such will be mod-run, but normal teaching positions as well as other staff positions (counselors, groundskeepers, coaches and the like) will be able to be applied for. And of course, you can apply for students! If your character is an adult and doesn't really fill the "instructor" role, there are tons of adjunct staff positions for current and former X-team members that basically amount to odd jobs and eating all of the food. Perfect life, really.

Q: So do I always have to be the new student who pops in mid-semester?

A: You can either apply as a new student just transferring in or entering the school, or you can app in as a student who has been here for a while – there are plenty of NPC students running around, so you’ll just take one of their places. In either case, you’ll be given a new room assignment and a new roommate.

Q: Roommates?

A: Yup, as a boarding school, you’ll be set up in a room (segregated by gender) with another student, generally played by another player unless an NPC is requested or there simply is an odd number of players. When you first enter, your roommate assignment will be randomized. In addition to this, rooms will be occasionally scrambled for one reason or another. This is why new players who app in as “old” students can suddenly find themselves with a roommate they’ve never met before! After a month, you’ll be allowed to request room changes, both ICly (your character wants to get a room with their best friend) and OOCly (you and your friend think it would be hilarious if your two characters who hate each other got shoved into a room together!). And of course, you can always ask to be randomized a new roommate!

Q: So what’s the teacher’s living situation like?

A: Teachers have the option of living off-grounds or in the faculty/x-men living quarters. They obviously will have special rooms and generally nicer accommodations. Perks.

Q: What if I want to play someone as a student, but they’re canonically too old to be one? Is my only hope to be a really young teacher or pretend they flunked a few grades? Or what if my character is younger than 12 (AKA the normal minimum age for a 7th grader)?

A: We actually have a couple work-arounds for this. Students in their fourth year of high school will have to complete a faculty-approved senior project in order to "graduate" so even after the age of 18, they may end up sticking around for a few years longer perfecting that or taking more classes or higher-courses – the Institute has college level courses, after all. Of course, for those with the opposite problem, we can let you skip a few grades if you can justify it. However, the youngest we’ll allow is 10 years old. We encourage student characters to be in the standard age range of 12-18 and exceptions should be rare.

Q: What about characters over 20 or under 10 we want as students?

A: This is why we’re also allowing you to age-up or age-down your character.

Q: We can make our characters jump up or down some years when they enter school?

A: Since this is an AU, they won’t magically change age upon entering the game; they’ll have always been that age! You can apply for any character at any age (within reason) besides just their canon age. This isn’t just so you can play your favorite nine-year old as a normal-aged middle-schooler or that edgy nineteen-year old as still having a couple years of high-school left, feel free to do stuff for the heck of it. Maybe you want to play that 13 year old as a high school student, or that 17 year old as a teacher who isn’t amazingly young. Of course, be a little reasonable – drastic age-downs (taking a full grown adult and dropping them back into middle school, say) and drastic age-ups (taking your teenager and making them forty) may need a lot more inspection, and if it’s judged that you’ve pretty much just struck out into OC territory, we may not allow it (though you could always make a similar OC…). Again, we encourage student characters to be canonically in the standard age range of 12-18 and faculty characters to be over 18. Preferably older.

Q: What about changing sexes and/or genders?

A: That’s actually perfectly fine! Since this is an AU, there was no magical sex-change, simply they were born as whatever sex you want, or present whatever gender you want. We’ll also allow other changes or tweaks that you may want, but don’t go overboard – when all is said and done, they should still be, at their core, the same character as they were in canon – just older, younger, with a different body, gender-identity, or whatever else. We reserve the right to judge you have jumped off the deep end and created an entirely new character.

On a similar note, we’re allowing you to app from AUs with different histories to base as your “canon” – so if there are canon AUs (Age of Apocalypse, for example) or wide differences between versions (the various incarnations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), all would be allowed simultaneously.

Q: So with all these “variations”, does that mean we can have a girl version, a boy version, a grown up version, a kid version and a secret 2nd manga AU version of a character all running around?

A: Sort of. This will be done within reason and it's obviously something you'll need to work out with other players. If you can give us something that makes sense, we'll allow it. Remember, this is Marvel. Anything can happen. But just because anything can happen, doesn't mean it should. Also, keep in mind that a player may only app one version of a character; kind of unfair to hog all the Kitty Prydes to yourself, isn't it?

Q: Can I have my character be from an alternate timeline then? Or the future? Or from another planet?

A: In the interest of keeping a reasonable scope for this game's setting, in spite of all of these being something that happens in X-Men continuity, they are not allowed to be apped to this game.

Q: So this is some fancy international boarding school. Does that mean my character has to come from some rich family?

A: Not necessarily! The Xavier Institute isn't really tuition funded. So anyone of any background can attend. Charles has never turned away a mutant in need just because they couldn't pay.

Q: So what grades are able to be apped into?

A: Well, Middle School (Grades 7-8) is generally 12-14, and High School (Grades 9-12) is generally 14-18, though we’ll allow as young as 10 and as old as about 20 for students. Teachers have to be legal adults, at least 18 but would prefer older. We’re allowing age ups and age downs, either to suit these requirements or just for fun. Additionally, because there will likely be content not suitable for all ages (drugs, sex and rock’n’roll), we’re requiring that all Players be at least 16 years old.

Q: Sex?

A: Obviously, sex, drugs and alcohol are prohibited by school rules, but we all know that’s not going to stop a bunch of teenagers from getting into trouble. We’re allowing sexual situations with characters of any age, but please be smart about it. If you present material that makes players very uncomfortable (such as say, a sexual situation between a 30-year old teacher and a 13 year old student), we may ask you to remove it. Also as a rule, any sexual situation involving a character that is younger than 16 must either fade to black or be taken off site. You can say it happened and treat it as game canon, but it can’t be actually played out on the game communities. For any sexual situation not falling under these categories, they are allowed to be played out but must be member-locked, hidden behind a cut, and marked with appropriate warnings. Players must be 18 or older for their character to participate in sexual activity.

Q: What about violence? X-Men is petty violent sometimes.

A: Anything involving graphic violence or other potentially offensive and/or triggering subjects should also be hidden behind a cut and marked with warnings, though they don’t necessarily have to be member-locked. The mod team would appreciate a heads-up regarding overt violence as there will be IC disciplinary action.

Q: What kind of school-related things can we do besides taking classes?

A: Lots of things! There are student council matters, elections, clubs and all the other things you might expect at a school. Oh, also you can become a member of an X-Team.

Q: Clubs? What kind of clubs? And X-Team? I can be an X-Man?

A: Well, pretty much any club you want within reason! Just run it by the mods and chances are, we’ll approve it if it’s reasonable. Though something crazy like the “Rocket Lawnchair Club” or something may need a bit more scrutiny. Either way, you get the idea.

And yes, part of the purpose of the institute is to train future heroes. This is a big part of the game, if you haven't caught on, yet. While very few characters aside from instructors will be X-Men right off the bat, students will be formed into various X-Teams as the plot progresses. More on that below.

Q: What happens if I drop? What if I reapp? What if someone else reapps as the same character?

A: Characters that are dropped are, to the general populace (student body and faculty), considered to have transferred/left the institute. Characters transfer in frequently so it makes sense characters would leave just as often. Should you decide to reapp and pick the character back up again, you can come up with any number of reasons as to why the character was absent ranging from illness to a family emergency to a family vacation to being temporarily suspended if the transferring out and back in idea doesn't appeal to you. Even death is possible, though a bit discouraged for non long-term players. If someone else apps the same character, the fact that this is Marvel helps. The revolving door of characters is kind of thing there, and personality changes and history tweaks are not unheard of. If Marvel can do it, so can we.

Q: Okay, so this all sounds pretty awesome. Where do I apply?

A: Well, you can go to our app pages and reserve pages (over here and over here, respectively). That will explain the apps, when apps open, and when reserves open. Players can only submit a maximum of two character applications per cycle.

Q: When can I reserve and/or apply? And what about Activity check?

A: We'll be following a strict schedule for these important dates. They are as follows:

AC start - 25th
Warnings - 1st
Ejections - 2nd
Reserves open - 3rd
Reserves end - 7th
Apps open - 8th
Reserves expire - 11th
Apps end - 15th

So generally, you have a week for apps, a week for reserves and roughly two weeks for activity check. Yes, some months are shorter than others (We're looking at you, February), but we'll work out those details when the time comes.

Q: So how about those X-Teams? Will my characters be able to form them?

A: Absolutely. The Institute is about helping students discover who they’re meant to be and if it so happens that your character is meant for leadership, then they could very possibly start up a team of their own. Of course, managing a team is a big responsibility, so you can’t just wake up one day and throw a bunch of your friends together and call yourselves a team; there’s a process. OOCly, this means coordinating things with your fellow players and making sure all of the participants have the willingness to go through with it. They take dedication, much like any school or sports club.

Unlike in the last version of this game, Teams will not be managed by the mods. In fact, we're taking a rather hands off approach. There are some requirements, however. Namely, there needs to be at least one adult adviser to each team; either one of the NPCs or one of the capable faculty. Team leaders, and the make up of their teams, are left entirely to the players beyond that requirement. The only times the mods will intervene is if IC actions beget that IC consequences are needed. The formation of the teams are left to the players. There is a directory of current teams here [LINK].

Q: What communities are you using?

A: This is a community-based game, so we have a few communities to be used: xavier_institute is the main community, where all the Intranet posts will go – these are first-person reply and response deals. xavier_institute_logs is the Log community, where in-person actions and events will happen, logged in either 3rd person prose or action style as the players choose. xavier_institute_ooc is the OOC community where out-of-character business like intros, hiatus announcements, drops, and plotting can all take place. Memes and Test Drives will also be posted there, for the time being.

Q: What if a canonmate wants to app in and coordinate AU Histories with my character but my character is already in play?

A: We understand that canon relationships are a lot of fun to carry over into AU, especially when such relationships affect a character's personality a lot. That being the case, with mod approval, we will allow retconning/rewriting of an accepted character's AU History to accommodate the new character. It's Mahvel, baby.

Q: What is the Intranet?

A: The Intranet is a school-only social network system that allows both students and faculty to communicate amongst each other. Every student is assigned a username upon enrollment as is the faculty when they are hired. The interface is similar to other international web communities the characters may have encountered or used back home. Their username is not the DW account name. Instead, it is just their initials and a randomized seven digit number.

Q: How do you access the Intranet?

A: The Intranet can be accessed by any internet capable device such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, iPad, Smartphone or stationary terminals located in the library, student lounges and faculty offices.

Q: Internet capable devices? Does this mean we have access to the World Wide Web (WWW)?

A: Yes, you do have access to the WWW or global network. The school places very heavy content filters on anything cross-posted to the Intranet, so there will be no pornography or other inappropriate content allowed in the Intranet or school terminals. Character personal internet devices are another thing. Those do have free access to the WWW and therefore all characters can make use of it. Inappropriate content is still prohibited and, if caught, there will be disciplinary action.

Q: What type of entries can be posted on the Intranet?

A: There are three types of entries possible - Text, Voice and Video. All school terminals are capable of these functions, as are most laptops, but if your character's personal device that you've chosen them to use does not contain a web camera, video posts would not be possible. It is assumed characters have multiple ways of accessing and posting to the Intranet.

Q: What are filters?

A: A filter is a specific setting on an entry that restricts those capable of viewing specific entry or response in question. The standard filters are [Faculty] and [Student] though it is possible that the faculty user settings could allow faculty to view everything under the general [Student] filter. In order for regular faculty to view the general [Student] filter, they must ICly request an override from the Administration. Meaning contact the mods about it with a reason for the override.

It is also possible to filter entries and responses to specific usernames aka other people or a specific group of people. All that needs to be done is to use the handy-dandy filter application that does all the work for you if you're not particularly computer savvy.

Q: What about those characters that are super computer savvy? Can we hack filters?

A: Yes! If your character is particularly skilled with computers or has a related mutant power and it's listed in their application, it is possible to hack various filters depending on the skill level of the character. All filters created using the supplied filter app are fairly easy to hack, but it is possible to create custom filters without using the pre-coded ones. That means there are various levels to filters and hacking. We do not allow ooc tags such as '90% unhackable' or 'moderately hackable'. Please do not use them or we'll have to unleash the Brood.

Please keep in mind not everyone can hack at the high school level and it's even rarer at the middle school level, mutant powes aside. Also, if your character wishes to hack a non-general filtered entry or response, seek player permission before doing so. Communication is very important here!

Q: Can the system as a whole be hacked/messed with?

A: Yes it can, if the character is of a very high computer savvy/hacker level or related mutant ability. This MUST be specified within the application as well as the general type of things/reasons the character would mess with the network. All system-wide disruptions need to be mod-approved as there are members of the faculty specifically for maintaining and trouble-shooting the Intranet. And just because something worked once doesn't mean it will always work.

Q: Can a character with the right skills post to the Intranet as 'anonymous'?

A: As with the previous question, this is something only a highly skilled character would be capable of an also needs to be mod-approved. Removing the username tag is very difficult and even then there are ways the faculty tech monkeys can trace a post. It's best to not give this a try as such entries and responses are instant red-flags that garner attention. But it still can be done.

Q: This sure looks nice. Who did all of this aesthetic work?

A: kvatch and vigils are to thank for all this lovely coding and graphic work. We are in their debt.

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Comments

[tracedarte]

am i the first to post.....

Okay I have a lot of questions so I'm sorry in advance!

One of my characters I'm planning on apping has a canon IQ of 1.8 million. In the AU I'm not asking for it to be that high, but I would him to have been tested on the MENSA level and treated as a child prodigy, etc. Since he's narcissistic, he kind of needs that. I wanted to know if that would have to be a mutant power? Because in canon he's a demon with light manipulation powers and that's what I was planning on and not his intelligence. Can he still just be naturally smart?

My other question is a little more intense... The other character I'm planning on apping is the clone of someone else in canon. His original was ten when he was cloned, so my character is technically only 7 in canon even though he's physically 17. As a clone, he and his original have telepathic connections and share feelings and even see through the eyes of each other at some points. His original can even control his body with enough mental strength. My question would be if Luke could still be a clone in this? X-Men kind of has a track record of ridiculous experiments and such so I'm sure it wouldn't be like... unheard of that there's a clone of a mutant in the world but I wanted to make sure before I started writing anything! Otherwise, they would just be AU'd to being twin brothers instead so it's fine either way.

[astonishing_xmods]

Considering super-intelligent child prodigies do exist, if incredibly rarely, in real life, it doesn't need to be classified as a power.

You are right, that this is something X-Men has done before. Since the telepathic connection ONLY applies to his clone, I am willing to allow this. It just needs to be detailed in the app.

[hearmyfeels]

Asking here then! The power I was tossing around was silly, the somewhat involuntary ability to turn negative emotions into cats. Mostly based on that ASW comic going around. If it's not alright, I totally understand!

[astonishing_xmods]

Cute as it sounds, it definitely seems a little too far-fetched.

How about instead of literal cats, changing them into psychic projections of cats? That at least is in the same ballpark, power wise (empathic manipulation/psionic projection)

[overlordkun]

Yoo! I'm super excited for the game! I just had a few questions, mostly regarding the Neyaphem (or just demons mutants in general.)

Laharl within canon is the demonic prince of the Netherwrold, which is basically Hell, so I was hoping on applying him into the game with Neyaphem heritage for the parallel. Mostly, my main worry is if that's acceptable? I was thinking along the lines of Laharl's father was the demon while his mother was either just human or another mutant of some kind so his powers wouldn't compare (nothing extremely Gary Sue, feel me?)

Mostly, I'm looking to get comfy with what you guys are comfy with because a character like Laharl has the potential to be.... unique. I don't want to step on any toes.

[astonishing_xmods]

This is a tricky one, especially since the common backstory for Nightcrawler is very similar. Give us mods a few days to discuss this and we'll get back to you.

[erfingi]

Question: Villains?

In specifics, what if I want to play a character that is a villain in their canon and keep their villainous ways in tact?

Reason, I play bitchy villainous assholes and I don't want to woobify them (have them slowly turn to the side of good by working through their myriad issues, yes, but not snap of the finger suddenly good or just-misunderstood)

[astonishing_xmods]

It is possible to have villains in the game. People who come to the school, especially students, do not necessarily need to meld with Xavier's ideals. I personally played a character like that, Juri Han, in the last incarnation of the game.

The thing is, it would be very difficult to play a character that will actively work against the school. It's not woobifying, but it would generally work better to have a villain just have generally anti-social (not reticent, more the legal definition of the term) behavior than being actively evil, you know what I mean?

[sockpuppetry]

Recently in the X-men comics, the five members of Xavier's "First Class" were pulled forward in time to the present day.

While obviously the events that led to that would probably be changed (the Phoenix Five, Avengers vs X-men) or possibly vague/a mystery to the character, would it be feasible to app one of the First Class members?

[astonishing_xmods]

Warren Worthington and Bobby Drake, yes. Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Hank McCoy are off limits for plot reasons. Warren and Bobby were mentioned off hand occasionally in the previous incarnation of the game, but Hank's knowledge of them can easily be tweaked or retconned (like that one episode of Evolution that referenced the First Class).

[sockwall]

Could you tick the journal entries on the comms to show the default DW skin instead of the custom journal one? The Test Drive is super hard to read through like it is.

[astonishing_xmods]

I thought we already had. I unchecked the box to show entries in the chosen style as opposed to the site skin.

[readingtoponds]

Two questions about wildly different characters (nothing to do with this journal):

1. I know it's said somewhere that you guys don't want aliens, but how about robot students? Specifically if they're a robot made to pretend to be a human, but it's important to their personality for them to remain a robot, rather than be AU'd to be human with robot-y powers.


2. Also, for adult/instructor apps, what's the opinion on non-aging/semi-immortal characters if it's via a kind of hack of their powers? They certainly wouldn't be Wolverine-style old and invincible.

[astonishing_xmods]

1. Sad to say it, but that's a no. For the purposes of the Institute, pretty much only mutant students are allowed.

2. Immortality tends to peak into Omega-class territory (which Wolverine manages to avoid somehow, I guess because he can indeed still die), so we'd need a pretty thorough explanation of what you're going for before we can make a decision.

[cutsnoslack]

As I go back and forth between which version of TMNT I want to app from, there's one thing that might make the decision for me, so I'm here to ask!

One of the main differences between the IDW comics turtles and the many other versions is that IDW added a reincarnation component to the backstory; Hamato Yoshi and his four sons were killed back in feudal Japan, and then reincarnated as Splinter and the turtles. Splinter is the only one who remembers much of this, though he's told the others about it; Leonardo has some kind of...fleeting, disconnected images from his past life, mostly of his mother, but doesn't seem to remember much that he can string together coherently.

Is reincarnation too out there to work into this setting? It's probably the only major difference that I really see keeping around if I were to app from IDW (which I'm still not sure I'll do at all, admittedly), so if it's not allowed, that kind of makes the decision for me anyway!

[cutsnoslack]

Actually, okay, addendum here (replying rather than editing because shir's annoying on mobile, sorry):

The other thing that interests me about maybe playing from the IDW version is a specific story arc, and while my initial thought was that it would be a pain in the butt to work into an AU backstory, I think that it probably would be doable in some way...provided that the Foot Clan (or something like it) exists. So part 2 of my query is: would writing the Foot into marvelverse be acceptable, or if not, would finding an existing group to stand in somehow be acceptable? (In the very first TMNT comics, they were kind of made as an obvious nod to the Hand, but I have read nothing ever with the Hand and I am uncertain if humping wiki to try and learn just enough to fold the Foot into them would be okay.)

Basic parameters of what we're looking at here is an old and corrupt ninja clan that dates back to feudal Japan, with a strong influence over the criminal underworld and a lot of dealings with Mysterious Shit; most of that last can easily be explained as either mutants, or just left ambiguous or out entirely so as to work with the plot. :|a

[thirdarrow]

Hey mods, my character canonically has three (or four, depending how you look at it) unrelated powers: hydrokinesis, shield projection, energy manipulation and telekinesis. They are all not Omega-level power, for sure, toned down to reasonable levels. Am I allowed to keep all three, or do I have to drop one (or two)?

[astonishing_xmods]

Powers have to be related somehow. You'll need to trim.

[spider_bite]

Hi mods! I have a few questions, just out of curiosity.

1. I see that it says that Spider-man is not allowed. I'm assuming that means any incarnation of Peter Parker Spider-man, as in that same part of the F.A.Q., its noted that Miles can be applicable? May I ask exactly why that is?

2. Does this mean that the Marvel Universe as a whole are all mutants, rather than mutants and supers? I guess I'm just not fully understanding why some Marvel characters are allowed while others are not. I understand why most plot-important mutants from X-Men must be used as NPCs, but past that its unclear. I also saw SHIELD listed as well somewhere, and while they work with mutants, they are primarily for the broader Marvel Universe.

3. World of X-Men. I noted that along with the Xavier Institute, Genosha, and the Brotherhood of Mutants is also mentioned on that page. Will characters applying only be students/faculty of Xavier Institute or are they allowed to join the Brotherhood of Mutants?


I apologise for all the questions, but as I had only heard of the previous version of the game, I don't if this is something that was fundamental to the setup of this AU originally anyway or not.

[astonishing_xmods]

1. Because in the assumed universe of the game, Peter is Spidey, not Miles. That's basically it. But we are perfectly alright with Miles being a Spider-man expy within this game's universe. Same powers, just not the prestige, you know?

2. No. The main reason some Marvel characters are allowed as opposed to others is purely plot related, not because they're mutants. Major movers and shakers like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury, Scarlet Witch (who is a mutant, but such an important one we'd rather her be available for NPC use in future plots rather than a player character), Adam Warlock, etc are all locked from player use because there may be a time where they, and the clout they have with the Marvel Universe at large, can be used for plots. ESPECIALLY if they're New York based, like Spider-man or the Fantastic Four.

3. Players are allowed to be sleeper agents for the Brotherhood, as we've had some in past incarnations, as well as faculty who served as go-betweens (Lauren Atkinson). Being active members of the Brotherhood mostly poses a problem for setting than anything else, given the majority of the game takes place on campus. But no one apping into the game is required to align with Xavier's ideals. They can be pro Genoshan or pro Brotherhood as well.

[witchinghour]

1. For characters who in their canons traditionally just cast magic with a variety of elements or say someone like one of the avatars from, uh, avatar who can manipulate earth, fire, air and water etc. etc., would you guys prefer to see us pick whichever "element" they're most strongly associated with for their power to revolve around? Or is it permissible to have that multi-"element" control?

2. For characters who look more or less normal in their canons but who have some quirk about them that has a super negative stigma in that world but which wouldn't necessarily in this one... are we permitted to give them some inconvenient physical thing a la nightcrawler's body or mystique's natural skin as a stand in for the whatever it is that gave them the stigma in canon? . . . my apologies if that doesn't make sense. I can try to clarify or offer more concrete examples!

[astonishing_xmods]

1. We had Korra very briefly last game and they opted to start with one element and eventually learn to master more. This is pretty much the rare exception to the rule, as it is a central part of the character and their philosophy to know those specific four elements. We wound up tying them all together in the same way Storm ties all of her various powers together. It is workable, but we'd definitely need to see it justified, and well, in the app.

2. Physical mutations are absolutely okay. They don't even need to be related to their main power. Nightcrawler is pretty much exactly why we allow it, ha ha.

[skullphones]

Hi mods, I have a question!

So Beat here was in the last version of Institute. Back there, he had two sets of powers: sound manipulation, and another really weird set that allowed him to instantly create street art or something? It was never used in-game and didn't really serve any purpose aside from being canonically accurate.

Two years ago I thought it was important, but as I look back, I'm starting to figure that it's... kind of stupid. Would it be possible to OOCly ret-con that aspect of his power out?

[astonishing_xmods]

Absolutely. And yeah, I don't recall it ever being used for anything.

[merely_human]

Mentioned this in the plurk, wasn't sure to ask there or here sorry.
When it comes to immortality, Kamen Rider Kuuga has the power to save someone from death. But they are dead for the process of regenerating.
It could be day/s or even weeks depending on how they were killed. And in the end after thousands of years its shown they simply live to be ever living corpses. Would this be considered Omega level?
I mean complete vaporisation would def kill them.

[astonishing_xmods]

Okay! Talked it over with the mod gang, especially one who is Rider savvy, and we're going to give this a tentative okay. We'll judge it in the app stage.

[thirdarrow]

Sorry, more questions. What positions can faculty apply for? Other than the conventional subjects, I mean. Are 'library overseer', 'honourary gardener' and 'probably the only actual practicing doctor' acceptable? Seeing that he does all those things.

[astonishing_xmods]

Yep. Those are all doable. Get creative!

[wingedwitch]

Say I wanted to app a canon X-Men character, like Pixie here, how much of her history would I need to change to make them fit into the game? I mean, obviously I'd need to rework any canon stuff that hasn't happened in game canon. But as far as stuff that was influenced by other characters, like Magick tearing out part Pixie's soul and turning it into a soul dagger and teaching her magic, would I need to just fore go those events (and the resulting powers)? Or make up some other event to have had it happen?

[astonishing_xmods]

You can change it as much as you need to/would like to, though I do personally recommend cutting the bits with Magick out, as it would stretch past the limits as to what we allow for entry-level powers for player characters.

[frigokinetic]

Hey guys, it's me again! And I'm back with more power questions. In her canon, Elsa is... well, insanely OP. At a very young age she was able to generate enough snow and ice to turn a large, empty ballroom into a winter wonderland. At 21, she could cover a kingdom and the surrounding area in snow, turn a chunk of ice into an elaborately-designed bridge, raise a structurally sound castle from nothing, and create sapient life.

I'm just... wondering what to do about this. If I'm apping two characters at once, can I app Elsa in as an omega? If not, what are the limits I would need to place on her to bring her down to a powerful student's level?

[astonishing_xmods]

Well, Omega level ice powers in canon, you have an example in Iceman. We would really really strongly prefer her not to be on Iceman's level. Maybe close to it, but for the sake of game balance, we'd request she be toned down. Enough to be dangerous enough for her background to work, but not so much she may throw the game off balance.

[speedster]

Okay hopefully I didn't miss anything reading things over, but! For the canon reference section the app, what do you want to see if there isn't anything suitable to link to? There's a lot of misinformation based on old fan theories that were disproved by more recent canon in both the fanwiki and official wiki page for the canon I'm apping from, unfortunately, but I have written up both a history section and general explanation of the canon when I apped the character elsewhere. Is it alright if I link to that?

[astonishing_xmods]

You are free to link to that, though out of curiosity, what is the canon in question?

[kamiizumi]

Quick app question - there are minimum lengths given for linked threads, but not for if you just write the samples out! Is there a target number you're looking for in these?

[astonishing_xmods]

We don't have a set length in mind. So long as it's enough to show what is required, we're not concerned with how long it is.

[eternalprincess]

So if gaining additional powers is a thing, what if kegs here gained her eternity power? Just how much will it need to be toned down?

[astonishing_xmods]

Under the caveat of it effecting objects. Immortality is Omega level, after all.

[toycommander]

Power question! I'm looking at apping an aged-down version of Velveteen from the lovely Velveteen vs. series. Velveteen's main power is the ability to animate toys, and grant them 'species appropriate weaponry" - ie stuffed bears gain teeth and claws, toy soldiers have working (if tiny) guns, etc). However, it's mentioned in notes, and then in later bits of canon that she can animate pretty much anything that has a recognizable human or animal shape, up to and including dead people. Since her animating people works more as actual resurrection - they come back to life, mind intact, I worry that might be pushing the power limit, even though she's not aware that she can do so and doing so comes at the cost of her own life force.

So my question is, can she keep the full range of her power, with the understanding that the only aspect she knows of at the moment is the 'animate toys' bit, or should I scale back the ability to animate everything?

Also, minor other question for the purpose of AUing background - can a representative of the school have approached her parents to recruit Vel?

[astonishing_xmods]

That is definitely pushing the power limit. Even providing 'weaponry' to her toys is pushing it. We have someone else, Gaige from Borderlands, apping in with a similar power, but she still needs to add the weapons to their servants herself, for example. However, while it is pushing it, so long as this is balanced properly, we are willing to allow the toys having weapons. At least at app phase. But the animate everything bit is right out, in combination with everything else.

As for the other question, that's perfectly acceptable.

[the_prodigal_son]

So here's a weird circumstance.

Uhh... so in canon Jack is a product of genetic reprogramming on a grand scale. He has DNA from his mother and father, but it was rearranged to the point where he's more like a weapon in human shape than a real human. He has an advanced aging ability so he's actually about four years old but looks like he's about 18-25. And then he has a godmoddy amount of other powers (super strength and endurance, apparent inability to feel pain, electricity powers, fire powers, ice powers, telekinesis, hypnosis, etc etc etc) but they have their limitation and are their own story IDK he'll probably just get electric powers and/or super strength if they're too much (spoilers they probably are).

My question is can he be 4 years old or do I need to come up with something he's been doing for the last 6 years.

[astonishing_xmods]

Goon on you for having the initiative to cut things from the power list! Because yeah, he would definitely need to be toned back.

As for being 4 years old, well, we have another character apping in with a similar situation so we're willing to allow it so long as he is still genetically a humanoid mutant.

[thirdarrow]

flies in with a third question, is there a garden in the school? if not can I request to add one like those ecological gardens with lots of flora and stuff which are covered in syllabus and etc.

[astonishing_xmods]

There is an indoor, glass roof garden in the attic, where Storm actually lives, but it's mostly a botanical garden, and probably not open access. If you want to start one, you are welcome to!

[whosafraidofthe]

Power question!

So Bigby in canon is a giant immortal wolf that was given the ability to turn human at will but occasionally loses control and turns into a werewolf or, under serious pressure, turns fully into his true form (about two stories tall and very bitey) and has the ability to blow strong enough winds out of his mouth in this form to level shoddy buildings.

So I'm gonna guess it'd be smarter to dumb him down to a glorified werewolf with advanced healing powers, but what are y'all's thoughts on letting him be a wolf that can turn human as opposed to a human that turns into a wolf?

[astonishing_xmods]

That is a fair compromise on the powers. However, as far as that last bit goes, do you mean he was born human and his mutation defaults him to a wolf form? Because we would not allow someone to app an animal.

[batsass]

Hey, modly types, quick question!

In canon Adelaide here is a vampire and her abilities include changing into a bat, agelessness, conditional immortality, super strength, ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound (or rather just great reflexes but I couldn't pass up a Superman joke) and the usual of needing to drink blood, no sunlight or garlic, ect.

My question is would it be doable to have her keep her vampire-y powers as her mutation? Aside from the immortality, drinking blood and not being able to eat garlic stuff. And if is is okay could I give her a sensitivity to sunlight and slowed aging as opposed to total agelessness?

[astonishing_xmods]

Lucky for you there ARE vampires in the Marvel universe. In fact, at least a handful of X-Men have been vampires over the years. So it doesn't need to be her mutation. That being said, for balance issues, if she is a Marvel Vampire (more info here), her actual mutant power would need to be something considerably less amazing.

[summerset]

What's the stance on characters from alternate Marvel timelines, like Rachel here?

[astonishing_xmods]

In general, we do not allow timetravel, cosmic, or alternate timeline origins due to keeping the scope in check. If it's possible to rewrite her background to be within those limits, we don't have issue with her being related to Scott or Jean in some way. But, as said, for the sake of the scope of the game itself, we can't go full Marvel with things like that, you know?