✎ how_to_play [Spirit]

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======How to Play======

//Spirit// will run like other society games and forum games, with alternating periods of uptime (in which players interact on the [[http://spiritgame.freeforums.net|forum]] and via emails) and downtime (in which the forums and emails are closed, and character actions described in turnsheets are processed by the GMs). In //Spirit//, both uptime and downtime last one week (so you write a turnsheet every two weeks).

=====Downtimes=====

Downtimes will be managed through turnsheets containing a single major action each. A major action is something requiring a plan, cooperation with other players, or resources to achieve. The type and scope of actions you can carry out in turnsheets will change over the course of the game: we will contact players in advance of turnsheet deadlines to explain these.

Turnsheets can also contain minor actions: these should be actions which are straightforward and can be resolved in a single sentence. We reserve the right to ignore immoderate numbers of minor actions.

Turnsheets are submitted on this wiki. Go to your User Page by clicking the link at the top, and from there click the link to the turnsheet for the appropriate turn. You can then create this page, and fill in the template provided. You can write your turnsheet throughout the uptime week - it will only be taken as final once the uptime period has ended. Turnsheet deadlines are Saturday nights at 23.59, on the dates shown below.

| Turnsheet 1  | 23rd June      | 
| Turnsheet 2  | 7th July       |
| Turnsheet 3  | 21st July      | 
| Turnsheet 4  | 4th August     |
| Turnsheet 5  | 18th August    |
| Turnsheet 6  | 1st September  |
| Eternity     | 15th September |

The GMs will process your turnsheet, and append their summary of what happens to the end. These results will be visible to players by 23.59 the following Saturday, ready for the next week’s uptime.

=====Uptimes====

Uptime will work a little differently to previous forum games. In addition to freeform discussion threads and roleplaying with other PCs, which will form the heart of the game during uptime, there will also be 'Experience' threads, which will appear occasionally within the 'Experiences' forum when the GMs initiate them. For details of these threads please see below.

Otherwise, the forum experience is what players make it - please feel free to create your own threads in the 'Home' forum, and engage in whatever forms of discussion/ballgowning/wild mass guessing you enjoy. NPCs may also appear in the 'Home' forum to talk to PCs. 

====Experiences====

'Experiences' are short, linear roleplaying encounters that take place within special forum threads. These threads can only be created by GMs, but can be posted in by any PC. A dedicated Experience GM forum account will be used to describe what happens in the Experience (N.B. this is explicitly not a game character, it is an OC GMing account). Players can post in an Experience to indicate how they are interacting with it, which will elicit GM responses and drive the Experience forward.

Experiences offer an opportunity to gain additional character [[behaviours|Behaviours]]. Once characters have engaged in a thread sufficiently to bring an Experience to a conclusion, the thread will be closed and it will not be possible to participate in it any more (although it will remain readable). Players who posted in the thread will be contacted by the GMs with a choice of new Behaviours based on how they engaged with the thread.

Experiences are not all like each other: some are stories in which there are only a few 'correct' options to move the story forwards, others are much more open and will allow players full control over the outcomes. The outcomes of these threads may not always be obvious. Some Experiences may appear straightforward, some may be very abstract. There is no right or wrong way to engage with these threads: we would especially note that you do not need to wait for a previous player’s post to be answered/resolved before making new posts in these threads. The threads are not strictly linear in the time between GM posts, and will react to all decisions/actions of players who engage with them during that time. In particular, if you disagree with something someone else is trying to do in an Experience thread, the correct course of action is to post what you would do instead, allowing the Experience to be shaped by the disagreement.

There will not be a fixed number of Experience threads per week: we are currently planning to run 2-3 per week but this will depend on plot requirements and GM availability. Once posted, Experience threads will usually stay open for around 2 days, and will receive regular GM updates at intervals while open, usually a minimum of 2-3 times per day. We will try to spread Experience threads across the uptime week to ensure people get the chance to engage with at least some. Posting in an Experience thread does not remove you from the rest of the forum - while engaged in an Experience, you are still able to post in the Home board or even in other Experience threads.

**Important Note**: it is a completely valid character development choice not to engage with these threads if you do not wish to gain additional Behaviours: this will not affect your ability to play the game. Since Behaviours can be both positive and negative in application, it is not intended that characters with more Behaviours should be ‘better’ in any way - it is just a characterisation choice. Experience threads are open for all to read, and remain so once closed.

====Contacting Other Characters During Uptime====

Please do not use the private messaging function on the forums (we believe we have disabled this entirely, but just in case) - for all private messages please use the wiki email system, since this is copied to the GMs and allows us to know what you are planning. 

Within this setting it is not possible to be uncontactable by other players. Your numerical ID is known to all (see [[character_creation#character_naming_and_forum_conventions|here]]) and is the same as your email ID: i.e. the character identified by '132' can be reached at 132@spirit.chaosdeathfish.com.

Private communications to NPCs should be sent to [[gm@spirit.chaosdeathfish.com]], preferably with 'FAO: [NPC Name]' in the subject. If you are unsure whether a forum user you want to contact is an NPC, feel free to email us to ask.

=====Game Etiquette=====

We would like everyone to have a fun and enjoyable time playing //Spirit//, but this is a group effort. While the following are not hard and fast rules, we would encourage all players:

  * To keep in mind that every player differs in the quantity of time they are able to devote to the game. In particular, not everyone is able to make adjustments to their turnsheets right up until the last second of the turnsheet deadline - so if you need to communicate something groundbreaking to other players, try not to leave it to the last minute!
  * To try to keep forum threads on topic in as far as is practical. The topic of discussion in any given thread may evolve naturally as it progresses, and this is fine, but unnecessary derailments, or the introduction of multiple different topics running concurrently within the same thread, can make forum discussions hard to parse. Players are encouraged to make new threads for new topics of discussion that arise within existing threads.

=====Style Guide====

A short note: this game has definitely been influenced by other fictional sources, which we would like to acknowledge. At game start, however, listing them would unfortunately spoil some aspects of the plot. We’ll acknowledge them at debrief - until then, feel free to play in whatever style you feel like.
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