Introduction

Hello and welcome to the website for CryptoNet, which is an Oxford University Roleplaying Game Society forum-based game which will be running over the 2019 Summer vacation! If you've never played a roleplaying game (or if you've never played one on a forum before) then this page should hopefully give you some idea of how they work. There's also a quick guide to sections of the site at the bottom of the page.

One important thing to be aware of first: you don't need to read this entire website!

There's a lot of material here, and you certainly don't need to know all of it to start playing (although if you do want to, that's great)! Read only what interests you and what's relevant to a character you might like to play. You will find a guide to sections of the website and what they tell you below.

As a quick guide, you will probably want to have a look at:

• The CryptoNet page, to get an idea of one of the primary settings of the game,
• The Character Creation page, to find out how to make your character,
• The Encounters page, to learn a bit more about what forum Encounter threads are and to help decide whether you want to interact, and
• Last but not least, the Turnsheets page, to see what your character can do between uptimes.

Any questions, concerns and character concepts should be e-mailed to the The GM Team.

This forum game is going to be run slightly differently to most Society Games. Because of this, and because the themes of the game involve the weirdest parts of the Internet, we would like to urge every player who has triggers or other content needs, no matter what they are, to send a message to the GMs to flag this in advance. This also includes gif warnings and similar requirements for colours and lights. Normal CAT Policy rules apply otherwise.

The structure and tone of this game are heavily based around the unexpected, stranger corners of the Internet and the supernatural. While we wish to emphasise that nothing that is forbidden under CAT Policy rules will show up in this game at all, some aspects of the world we are building will reflect the character submissions we receive. Therefore we are not necessarily able to let players know what they’re going to encounter in advance. This is why we would like players to communicate with GMs about what we need to do to help you feel safe while exploring even the most surprising parts of the game.

We make player safety and comfort an absolute priority and any information/communication will be treated with the strictest confidence. Please feel free to send us a message if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your cooperation.

There are a few acronyms used throughout the website which might be a little confusing if you've never played before. Don't worry - help is at hand! And if you're confused by anything, feel free to email us to ask questions!

• OOC or OC - Out of Character. Events and circumstances in the real world - for when you aren't roleplaying.
  
• IC - In Character. Events and people in the World of CryptoNet. For example, the Forum.
  
• GM - Game Master or Game Moderator. The amazing team of people who write, run and maintain the game for you! Come to us if you have any questions.
  
• PC - Player Character. You! The characters that the players create and represent in the fictional world. You will usually play the same PC throughout the course of the game, though you may switch or retire a character if you get bored or your character dies.
  
• NPC - Non-Player Character. Those characters in the game that aren't played by players, but will instead be played by a GM. NPCs may pop-up frequently or infrequently, and each GM will play several of them.
  
• PvE and PvP - Terms to describe the nature of any fight or struggle your character might face, 'Player vs Environment' (i.e. you against the world) or 'Player vs Player' (i.e. you against another player). CryptoNet is designed so that both of these will occur, but you'll have the option to favour one or the other (or both or neither!) depending on what you'd prefer. See our policy on PvP and PvE for more details.
• Uptime - This is the time when you can actively post on the Forum, contact other players or GMs in character, either on the boards or through the lovely medium of email, post in Encounter threads, and generally scheme make plans with PCs/NPCs. At the end of each Uptime, you can submit a turnsheet. Details on uptime timings can be found below.
• Downtime - Unfortunately, uptime must eventually end. This will happen after the turnsheet deadline. During downtime, you cannot post on the forum, or email other PCs/NPCs. The GM team will send an email announcing the end of each downtime. Again, details on timings can be found below.
• Turnsheet - Although the forum will be closed over downtime, your character may well be active in the world in some weird and wonderful way. Before the end of each uptime, you can submit a turnsheet, detailing one major thing your character plans to do between turns. Before the start of the next uptime, GMs will give feedback to describe how that went. See the turnsheets page for more details.
• Eternity - The final turnsheet is called an Eternity. Instead of representing what your character is up to between turns, the Eternity will represent what your character does for the rest of their life. More specific details will be released before or during the final uptime.

CryptoNet will run for a total of 7 uptimes, with a live session after eternities have been completed and the main game has been concluded. Below are the expected dates each CryptoNet turn will run:

Each uptime will be no more than 4 days long, and will run from midday on Saturday to 11.59PM on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated (*). We will let you know before a given uptime starts if there are any changes to this schedule.

Outside of these times, remember that you should not post on the forums or send in character emails.

Time in CryptoNet matches time in the real world. When the forum is open on the 29th of June for player use, it will also open for the first time in two months for characters (see: CryptoNet). Likewise, each turnsheet will represent the time between the end of one uptime and the start of the next.

Although this game will be running for 7 turns including the final Eternity turn, there will be a live session set to run after the main game has completed. This will run in Oxford in one of the Society Game off-weeks over Michaelmas Term. More specific details, including date, time, and location will be revealed closer to the time.

In the meantime, to address specific questions:

• As stated, this session will run after the main game has finished. Things achieved in this session may affect the world, but they will not affect the already completed story. This is intended as a one-shot event, and will be treated accordingly.
• Speaking of this being a one-shot event, if you are new to the game or know someone who hasn't played but would be interested, there is definitely a place for you. The story of this event is intended as stand-alone, with nods to events that have happened in the main game.
• You can choose to come as either your character or a new character specifically for this event. How new characters will work for this event will be revealed closer to the time.

• PvP and PvE - Both are allowed and expected. We will consider plans, relevant Pros and Cons, and any preparation that your character has completed prior to a given PvP/PvE confrontation, and try to give a fair outcome after considering these and other relevant factors. Please bear in mind we will treat illegal activities e.g. attempted murder of another character as such. After all, the UK in 1997 was not a lawless land. For further details, see our Policy on PvE and PvP.
• Emailing - Unless someone gives you their CryptoNet email, it may not be clear whether the person you're interacting with is a PC or an NPC. Rather than trying to guess a character's email or assuming that they do indeed have a player behind them, if you want to send an email to a certain character we recommend sending an email to the GM team with your message and who you're trying to contact. The goal is immersion, and part of this is keeping the division between PC and NPC more ambiguous. Please note that there is nothing to stop you giving your email address out either in a GM-routed email or the forums, and we would encourage you to do that if it makes sense for your character.
• Direct messaging - Specifically, direct messaging on the forum itself. The GM team asks that you do not use the direct messaging option on the forum. Unfortunately, we cannot track these messages and, among other things, this may make it harder for us to follow or clarify points in a plan while processing turnsheets.
• On the Forum - Much like on a real forum it's hard to read someone's body language and gauge how uncomfortable someone is. If someone is making you uncomfortable out of character, either due to post content or themes that are not strictly banned but are uncomfortable for you, you are well within your rights to indicate OC that you would like the other user(s) to back off. Although we hope that our players will respect a request to move on, if this continues to be a problem, or you are uncomfortable asking a user to stop discussing a given topic, you can email the GMs, and we will intervene. And, naturally, banned topics, as indicated on our Conduct & Themes page will not be tolerated on the forum, and you will be asked by the GM team to stop. If you continue despite the warning we reserve the right to ban you from the game.