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Entry tags:
TLV - IC FAQ
Premise and In-Game Mechanics
→ Barge Overview
→ Warden Overview
↳ Warden Items
↳ Warden Deals
↳ Demotion and Punishment of Wardens
→ Inmate Overview
↳ Arrival
↳ Graduation
- Pairings
↳ Permanent Pairings
↳ Temporary Pairings
→ Ports
→ Floods
→ Breaches
→ Journals/Communication
→ Barge Network
→ Cabins
→ Language Barrier
→ Jobs
→ Access Keys
→ Setting Destruction
→ Dying and Injuries
↳ Barge Comas (Stasis)
→ IC Punishments
→ Admiral Requests
IN-GAME MECHANICS
- What is the Barge?
The Barge is a massive ship that traverses time, space, and dimension. It draws new passengers onto it all the time, for reasons that are rarely explained to anyone. It does not travel on water, but rather floats through unknown space, which can be seen from the deck. It has eleven levels, including the deck levels and level 0.
More information can be found about the physical structure of the Barge and how its components function on the Settings and Locations page. - What are Wardens?
Wardens are the keepers of the Inmates, and when a Warden is assigned to a permanent Inmate, they'll be given a file on their Inmate’s history. It’s a Warden's job to help their Inmate to redemption, in whatever form that might take. Unlike Inmates, Wardens have the option to leave when they feel like they’ve done all they can. Wardens also won't come to the Barge confused about where they are: they've been invited onboard to fulfill a purpose, and have willingly accepted it. They've already made their deal with the Admiral, and they already know what is expected of them. The form and function of the conversation with the Admiral is up to player discretion based on what works best for their character, as this is an IC level motivation to get them into the game, but they will not remember much about the Admiral himself.
Wardens with special powers will, generally speaking, keep all of their abilities upon arriving onboard the Barge. However, godlike powers that have a high potential for breaking the game and/or setting will need to be limited. - What are Warden items and how do they work?
Warden Items can be just about anything, so long as it's portable. They serve several purposes:
1. They act as keys to the Warden-Only areas, as well as the Level 0 cells.
2. They help Wardens locate their Inmate in ports and on board the ship.
3. They tell Wardens when their Inmate is dead.
Each Warden Item is different, and their methods of communication are different, too. If your Warden has a compass, it may simply point in the direction of their Inmate. If they have a notebook, it might scrawl hints. Be as creative as you'd like with your items. - What are Warden deals?
Every Warden comes on board after having made a deal with the Admiral, and upon graduating an Inmate, they will receive their deal with no funny business involved. Wardens may graduate multiple Inmates for multiple deals. Deals may consist of basically anything, considering the Admiral's semi-cosmic, all powerful... power, but will need to be approved by the mods OOCly before they're granted. In most cases, this will happen during the application process. However, if your Warden character should either change their mind about their deal during their time in-game or come onboard unsure of what they want their deal to be, you'll need to seek approval for their finalized deal upon their Inmate's graduation. - What's this demotion business? Is demotion the only way that a warden can be punished?
As Wardens are considered to be the individuals in power on the ship (with the exception of the Admiral), as well as setting the example by which the Inmates are expected to learn and redeem themselves, there is an unspoken code of conduct. It's not a very strict one, and there are plenty of "unsavory" behaviors that wardens can get away with, but major transgressions (abuse of power over other passengers, murder, intentionally or repeatedly harmful behavior towards others, etcetera) may result in the Warden finding themselves on the other side of the bars. Generally, demotion can be initiated at the player's discretion to get the desired character development out of the game and environment. For more information about demotions, or to note that you'd like your character to be demoted, please go here.
Additionally, Wardens will receive consequences from the Admiral if they arm or re-power an Inmate who then goes on to use those weapons/powers irresponsibly, such as (for example) attacking other passengers unprovoked or with undue force. These consequences can take a wide variety of forms (some examples if you're having trouble thinking of something: a temporary hold on making Admiral requests, a temporary or permanent reduction in cabin size, or a temporary or permanent loss of their own personal powers or weaponry), and will always be up to the player of the Warden in question. If you're hitting your Warden character with an Admiral punishment, please let us know about it here so that we know who's in the Admiral's doghouse! Alternately, if you'd like us to throw you a curveball and pick the punishment ourselves, we can do that. - What are Inmates?
Inmates are villains, baddies, and miscreants who are, at their canonpoint, heading down a bad path that they need outside influence and persuasion to swerve from. The Barge snaps them up when they die, or right before they're about to die, in an effort to offer them a chance to reform in exchange for a second chance at life.
Unlike Wardens, powered Inmates will generally find their abilities significantly limited, if not removed entirely. When you apply for an Inmate, you will need to set power limitations. The mods will check over your reductions and ask for revisions if necessary. Power nerfs and reductions are handled on a character-by-character basis, but as a general rule, powers that directly affect other people will likely be removed entirely, and powers that only affect the Inmate who has them are likely to be less harshly restricted. Nerfed powers can always be returned (either in full or in part) at the request of an Inmate's permanent Warden. - How do Inmates arrive on the Barge?
Inmates will have one of two experiences between their death and their awakening on the Barge. The first possibility is that the Admiral will simply take them from the point of their death and bring them to the Barge without their consent. In this scenario, the Inmate will have no idea where they are or how they got there.
The second possibility, introduced in May 2016, is that at the moment of death, the Admiral will appear to Inmates who might be persuaded to give up their freedom in order to save their own lives. He will have a conversation with them similar to his conversation with Wardens: memory of this conversation will be vague, but Inmates will remember being told that the Admiral can give them a second chance at life if they come with him.
It's up to player discretion which of these options is the best fit for their character. Note that once an Inmate agrees to come aboard, the decision can't be reversed: unlike Wardens, no Inmate can willingly choose to leave before graduation. - How do Inmates graduate? Who decides that?
Graduating your inmate character is made at your discretion as their player. Whenever you feel they have learned the lessons you originally outlined in your Path to Redemption upon applying to the game, or when you feel they have advanced as far as they can in their development as an inmate, please fill out the form here. Once your comment has been unscreened, you may proceed however you see fit. A popular method for discovering graduation is that an inmate stops registering on their Warden's item, or discovers that they suddenly have a full bathroom as opposed to only a sink and a toilet as outlined in the Cabins section below. It's also somewhat common to get a plateful of cookies from the Admiral upon graduation.
A graduated Inmate may decide to leave immediately, or they may decide to remain onboard the Barge as a Warden to procure a deal of their own. There's no in-between state here, and all Inmates who have graduated become Wardens from the jump. - What are permanent pairings?
Permanent pairings are the entire point of this game: Wardens and Inmates that have been assigned to each other by the Admiral. Announcements for pairings happen on the 15th and 30th of each month unless an event interrupts this schedule, and though these are ICly chosen by the Admiral, permanent pairings are OOCly completely up to the players. Both players of the Inmate and Warden halves of the pairing must agree to it and comment to the pairing post in order to be permanently paired. Either player may exit the pairing at any time. Characters do not get a say in this.
A permanently paired Warden will receive a file on their assigned Inmate, who will also register on their Warden item as outlined above. This is the Inmate that a Warden must graduate to receive their deal, and this is the Warden for whom an Inmate will have to answer to their actions. The specifics of how this happens, as well as the dynamic that the pairing develops, are completely up to the players involved; however wardens who blatantly and openly sleep with their own permanent inmates will risk demotion by doing so. - What are temporary pairings?
Introduced in April 2014, temporary pairings are the solution to unpaired Wardens having nothing to do and unpaired Inmates having no one to mind them. Temporary pairings are announced on the 15th of every month, and will change each month. They are generated randomly by the moderator team. If a player wishes to avoid a particular match-up for their character, or if they wish to opt out of the temporary pairing lottery entirely, they can comment here.
Temporary Wardens do NOT receive inmate files (though they, like all Wardens, will have access to the information in the inmate ledger), and temporary pairings may be broken up for permanent pairings at any time at player discretion. Temporary Wardens will not receive a deal should their temporary Inmate graduate during their pairing. - What are ports?
Every port is a (usually optional) stopover in a certain world, scheduled as an event by the moderators. Some are more dangerous than others. Before landing, the Admiral will typically announce the port and - if applicable - explain any specific tasks he wants the Warden and Inmate pairs to do while they’re there. In ports where leaving the ship is optional, Inmates will need to be accompanied by a Warden in order to do so.
Sometimes when making port, there may be characters who fall overboard. Falling off the Barge causes a person to become integrated into the port world. As with breaches (see below), they’ll have no memory of who they really are, and while overboard Inmates will generally still register on their Wardens' items, the location-finding functionalities may be a bit wonky (recalculating... recalculating...). Overboard characters will not be able to visit the Barge, nor will they have access to the Barge's network, and overboard Wardens will not have their Warden items. Whether a character falls overboard, chooses to leave the ship and visit port under their own power, or chooses to remain aboard the Barge during port will generally be left up to the player, unless otherwise noted in the event description.
For information on how canon NPCs are treated during ports, check out number fourteen in the OOC FAQ. - What are floods?
Every now and then, the Barge will pass close enough to a world that some of its essence will seep onto the ship. Though there is no actual water involved, this phenomenon is called a flood, and will generally last for one week. Floods may involve some change to the Barge, or to characters themselves; they may have effects varying from something as innocuous as invisibility, to something as major as characters swapping places with someone else from their canon. Characters may or may not be affected by floods at the player's discretion, unless otherwise noted by the moderator team. To see examples of recent floods, go here. - What are breaches?
Breaches happen when the Barge partially collides with one of the worlds it is passing without actually docking there, causing it to overlap onto the structure of the Barge itself and throwing all characters into a shared AU for the duration of the event. Breaches affect every conscious character onboard, and typically last a week. A player may choose to coma their character if they do not wish to take part in the event. To see examples of recent breaches, go here.
- What are journals/communicators and what are they capable of?
All characters come into the game with a portable communication device. Unlike warden items, these devices ARE universal. Everybody has the same type of communicator with the same functions. Think of it as a smart phone. It can even come in different colors, and they have full emoji libraries. 😂😂😂
Communicators are completely unhackable. If hacking is a skill or an innate ability that a character has, they'll fin that the communicators' technology is simply too alien for them to make any headway. The only way someone can get access to another person's communicator is for a warden to request access from the Admiral to monitor their Inmate, or for a communicator to be stolen from someone else. If access is granted by the Admiral, a warden cannot backread the filter or see the replies their inmate's messages get. A warden also can't see what an inmate posts to the general inmate filter.
In addition, communicators have a Special Access function that allows the people on the filter to access the character in question's cabin with magical, supernatural, or technological means; for more information on this, see the Cabin information below.
If your character breaks open a communicator in an attempt to rewire it, the actual device will be filled with miscellaneous materials (ex. buttons, silly string, circus peanuts...). - What is the Barge network?
Think of it a little like a closed circuit internet, if that internet was limited to a blogging site: it allows the characters to communicate with one another and new characters to back-read old public posts from characters that may no longer even be present on board, via the communicators outlined above. The network is just enough technology and just enough magic to prevent characters proficient with either from messing with it.
In terms of display, the Barge network registers communicator IDs rather than character names - more like an IP address than anything else. As such, when your character first comes on board the Barge, if they don't identify themselves in their initial broadcast, their name won't be anywhere on the display. However, communicator IDs cannot be edited, so once your character identifies themselves they lose any sense of anonymity on the network. Additionally, there is not an anon function on the network: all posts will be tied to your character's communicator ID. - What sort of cabin will my character be placed in?
Any sort of cabin you want, within reason!
1. Cabin Appearance: All unoccupied cabins appear as upscale cabins on a luxury cruise ship. Each comes with a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a living area, all furnished tastefully but sparsely. When the cabin becomes occupied, it (as well as its door) changes to suit its new inhabitant. This could be a reflection of home, where they spent their childhood, somewhere where they were imprisoned, or even a hotel room they stayed in overnight once - so long as, however briefly, it was home. Warden cabins can be changed on request, and Inmate cabins may be changed if their Warden makes the ask.
The view from the windows is the same as the view from deck. As on deck, during daytime hours there's something enough like sunlight to sustain any potted plants that might be present on a windowsill, but different enough from sunlight that it will not cause any adverse effects to characters that are sensitive to it.
The ship rooms may be larger on the inside than they appear from the corridors. Wardens may have the benefit of having full bathing facilities, while inmates can only have a sink and a toilet rather than a whole bathroom (making it necessary for them to use the public inmate showers). Wardens also may have a small full-sized house (within reason; over five rooms is pushing it), arranged as the player sees fit (main floor, basement, attic, etc). Inmates only get one room, along with their adjoining restroom.
Doors are numbered alternately, with evens on one side and odds on the other. Level 1 is immediately below deck; Level 0 is at the bottom of the ship, just below Level 8.
Inmate rooms will be devoid of dangerous and potentially dangerous items including (but not limited to) weapons, munitions, and drugs (excepting alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine). If you are not sure if something that should be in your character's room would be brought onto the Barge, please ask the mods before assuming.
2. Cabin Invasions: Cabins are protected areas of the ship. By default, scanners, magical amulets, spells, and special abilities that allow for visual or mental intrusion will not work on an occupied cabin. In order to come or see inside, the door has to be opened or a hole has to be made. The only device that can see into a cabin that's not "breached" in such a fashion is a Warden Item, if their paired inmate is inside. This works both ways: if a character is shut inside their cabin, they will be unable to use any powers or remotely-controlled devices to cause chaos outside. However, traditional senses will still work (depending on how well insulated the cabin supposedly is), so if someone is bleeding to death or calling out for help, they can be found.
That said, it's possible for a character to allow another character to access their room using the abilities or items mentioned above via the Special Access Filter, an option that is built into every Barge communicator. Wardens are automatically added to their Inmate's Special Access Filter, and cannot be removed. All other characters can be added and removed at will. To clarify, the Special Access Filter does not function as a key. It only permits the use of skills or technology that would remotely scan or penetrate an individual's cabin as mentioned above. However, the locks of occupied rooms may be picked with the permission of the character's player.
The doors of unoccupied cabins do not lock, so it's possible to hide out in one. They are not subject to the protections mentioned above.
Despite the strange ambiguous size issue that cabins present, doors can be broken down, floors can broken through so that someone falls through someone else's ceiling, and a hole can be knocked in someone's wall following standard physics rules. - How does language and language barriers work on the Barge?
By and large, this is left up to player discretion. Most players tend to handwave away the more fiddly issues of language barriers (by, for instance, not questioning whether or not Earth and non-Earth characters should be able to easily communicate) for the sake of making development and CR-building easier, but if playing up communication barriers is of interest to you with your character, feel free! - What are Barge jobs?
As with any community of people, there are certain functions that do best assigned to individuals to be responsible for, or that require individuals with a specific skillset. In this instance, it also doesn't hurt to have something to occupy otherwise idle hands to keep them out of trouble, and that's where the jobs come in! Any character with an IC motivation to do so may fill a job position, which is a decision made at the discretion of the player. The official jobs are listed here. - Can my warden have a Barge job?
Yes, with some caveats! Each job comes with a supervisor position, and wardens are the only ones who can fill these; there are generally one or two supervisors per job. Please note that there is no enforced hierarchy of supervisors in areas with multiple keys such as the infirmary or the dining hall, and all key-carrying supervisors of any given area have equal authority. - But wait, what are access keys and how do they work?
Keys look like basic old-school keys; the room or area a key unlocks is inscribed along the side. Wardens must request keys from the Admiral.
Like the Barge communicators or Warden Items, the keys and corresponding locks are more than they seem: keys cannot be copied by any means. Characters who are skilled at lockpicking will be stumped by these locks; characters with superpowers/magic/etc. will not be able to break through the doors. Just as above-deck areas cannot be accessed without an Item, restricted areas cannot be accessed without the appropriate key. Keys can be borrowed or stolen, though only at the discretion of the relevant player(s). If a key is lost, the Admiral will be reluctant to replace it, so take care. If a supervising Warden leaves the Barge, unless they have given their key to another Warden, their key will automatically return to the Admiral. - Can my character destroy the Library/Infirmary/Etc.? Can my character kill everybody in port?
If you'd like your character to cause some trouble, please do plot judiciously with everyone who might be affected: this might include your Inmate's Warden (where applicable), characters who have cabins on the affected level, and/or characters who work in an affected area of the ship. Damage to public spaces with no assigned workers (hallways, common rooms, etc.) doesn't require special permission beforehand, but for anything large-scale that other characters might reasonably notice or react to, please fill out the short form here, and make a post on the OOC comm about it. A plotting plurk is not a suitable substitution for OOC notice in cases like this: while not everybody has the entire game friended, everyone does have access to the OOC comm, and all important plot info must be posted there.
Remember too that this is a contained setting filled with nosy, motivated characters. Getting away with trouble doesn't have to be impossible, but it shouldn't be done in a way that godmodes everyone into negligence, apathy, or complicity. Something like stealing from the infirmary without discussing it with the players whose characters work in the infirmary godmods incompetence onto them. Setting the library on fire without letting other players, whose characters may actually be in there at the time, know is godmodding complacency on them. We understand that accidents happen, but unapproved or mishandled setting destruction will be retconned out of the game, and doing it persistently will get you a warning.
Attacking or killing NPCs in ports does not require mod approval - just please keep it within reason, and expect IC consequences for it should it be done in a particularly flashy or noticeable way. - What happens when my character dies?
When a Warden dies on or off the Barge, they'll be automatically revived between approximately 8 and 24 hours after death. Inmates will revive upon the request of their Warden (or another Warden, if theirs is not available or they are not assigned). Characters who die in port, during breaches, or by falling/jumping/being pushed over the deck railing will revive in the infirmary (once the event is over, in the case of breaches).
Upon revival, all characters will find that their bodies will have returned to whatever their default state is in canon, and any injuries, scars, or body modifications (tattoos, piercings, etc.) that they might have acquired during their time onboard the Barge will vanish. Life state changes (such as the species changes mentioned below) will remain intact, as will any modifications that were made as a result of a Warden deal or an Admiral request. Additionally, all newly-revived characters will suffer from a temporary Death Toll. - What's the Death Toll?
The Death Toll is temporary side-effect from coming back to life. Effects of the Death Toll include:
1. Fatigue for at least 72 hours.
2. General malaise for at least 72 hours.
3. Ghost pains of the injuries received prior to death for at least a week, decreasing in severity as time passes. These will reflect the injuries that characters received prior to death, up to and including the final death blow. Severe injuries (such as severed arm/leg/head) will create more intense ghost pains for a shorter period of time, while more minor injuries will generate less intense ghost pains over a longer span of time.
4. Nausea/inability to hold down food for the first few days.
5. Headache, dizziness and impaired motor skills lasting from 24-72 hours (longer if desired).
Note: The severity of the death toll and how long these effects last are also dependent on the character. If the character has enhanced stamina, strength, or endurance, they may overcome the Death Toll faster than somebody who doesn’t have any enhanced physical capacities. - What about death-by-vampire?
If your character gets drained by a vampire, they suffer the standard Death Toll. If they're turned by a vampire, however, they suffer from a modified Death Toll, which is as follows:
1. A vampire can turn a character, but this will last only a week. It is strictly temporary.
2. For the first five days, the newly-vampiric character would act as if they had been turned for 'real'. If the other vampire's canon dictates they should be a blood-thirsty predator, right from the start, then they'll be like that.
3. By day six, any character who has been turned will start to experience the on-set of humanity returning to them. It won't necessarily hurt, but they'll find their bodies not wanting to drink blood/whatever as much, able to experience things which their vampiric self might have been harmed by and any superhuman abilities will start to weaken.
4. All vampire effects go away by the seventh or eighth day.
The type of vampire your character will become is dictated by the type of vampire who turned them: If Lestat turns you, then you'll be an Anne Rice type of vampire. If Aleera turns you, you'd be a Van Helsing type of vampire. If Spike turns you, you'd become a Slayerverse type of vampire. So, make sure you're familiar with their source material if you embark on that! Make sure, also, that your character could psychologically/emotionally handle the memories of being whatever type of vampire they're temporarily getting transformed into! - What about becoming a werewolf?
1. If a werewolf (or similar) curses another character, that curse may remain in place indefinitely.
2. If the cursed character is an Inmate, their transformation and any other related abilities will be subject to Inmate restrictions, regardless of whether that Inmate's Warden has lifted restrictions on any other abilities they have. If the original werewolf is an Inmate, the cursed character will have the same restrictions that the original came on board with. If the original is a Warden, please contact a mod to discuss Inmate restrictions.
3. The curse can be lifted either by characters who are capable of that sort of thing, or by the Admiral (in an Inmate's case, this request can come from their Warden). Please note that the Admiral will only act of behalf of characters infected while on board the ship. Recently de-cursed characters will suffer three days of debilitating fatigue after the fact, similar to the Death Toll.
The form of werewolf that the cursed person will become will also reflect the original's canon. If they are from An American Werewolf in London they may have no control over their transformations, while another may end up a Discworld yennork with the inability to change forms. - What is a Barge Coma?
The Barge Coma, also called "stasis" by some characters, is the popular IC solution for an OOC player absence. Barge comas are exactly what it says on the tin: characters will fall unconscious without need for food, water, or any other kind of basic care except some place to sleep it off in peace. Inmates in comas will NOT disappear off warden items, and doors will not go blank.
Comas, their duration, how and when they happen, and how and when they end is all up to the discretion of the player. Comas may end or begin even if an event is ongoing in the game if necessary. Arrange with your CR or paired Warden/Inmate ahead of time so they aren't left in the cold, but this is a tool that can be used to opt-out of events beyond simple non-participation, or to explain where a character has gone and what they are doing while you are busy IRL. - My inmate's out of control. How do I punish them?
BE CREATIVE!
That isn't very helpful, is it? Still, that's the rule of thumb for dealing with problem inmates: creativity. Think about what will really have an impact on the inmate, based on your warden-character's knowledge and abilities. Every inmate is different. If your warden needs some help from the Admiral to enact their punishment, they can make a request to him.
And a note on the cells: Level 0 exists as a player tool, not as the ultimate solution for bad inmates. It is to get a character out of the general populace if they've become a threat, while keeping them open to interactions with others, such as wardens who are guarding Level Zero, cellmates, and visitors. - How long can a character be locked in Level 0?
A character can be locked in Zero for a maximum of seven consecutive days, at which point the cell will unlock automatically. Exceptions will be made for cases like hiatuses if the player consents. While IC actions do have IC consequences, the intent behind Zero it is to give characters a way to temporarily nullify active threats, and it can be OOCly limiting and dull to have perpetual lock-up be the first and last response to any and all inmate troublemaking. This is why we encourage the use of creative punishments and deterrent methods for poorly-behaved inmates. - Who can open the Level 0 cells?
For unoccupied cells: anybody with a Warden Item on hand.
For occupied cells: only the Warden Item belonging to the inmate's paired warden will do the job. If the inmate is unassigned, then the warden who locked them up in the first place is the only one who can release them. If an assigned inmate was placed in Zero by a warden other than their own, then either the warden who locked them up or their assigned warden can release them.
A Warden who is locked up by either an Inmate with a stolen Warden Item or another warden can only be released by the Item that locked them in.
Please remember that, if a cell is occupied, you should assume that there is at least one warden on guard, unless the players of any attendant wardens (Zero supervisors, the paired warden of the inmate in lock-up, and/or the warden who locked them in the cell) have told you that their character(s) left the premises. Breaking out, having two inmates attack each other without any intervention, having an inmate sneak in, having an inmate steal a Warden Item and lock somebody in, etc., without taking this into account and letting others know is godmodding. We want to let chaos happen! You just need to make sure that everyone involved is OOCly aware and on board. - What if I need to ask the Admiral for something?
Visit the Admiral Requests page! Currently, requests to revive dead inmates are the only requests that can be handwaved; all other requests must be done manually.
The FAQ will be updated as questions arise. If you have a question that isn't addressed here, feel free to comment, and we'll get back to you ASAP!
Last updated: 4/1/2024
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