Premise, Rules, & FAQ

[wearethecrystalmods]

Premise

You're not really sure how you fit yourself into this hole. Maybe you're just too big to be the kind of person who goes around crawling into strange holes. Maybe you're not from the kind of place where holes usually appear? Or maybe, instead, everything about this was completely unremarkable, until...until... ...Until something. And now you're here instead of there, and the hole keeps going in front of you while the rest of it has vanished behind you, and for some reason this isn't as alarming as it should be. You might as well keep going. You get the strangest feeling that some new adventure waits you at the exit... ☆ ☆ ☆ You tumble out of the hole, and into a room. It's all stone and crystal and light, a cavern with carved walls and a vaulted ceiling, and out of the center of the floor rises a great jewel. It pulses with light, steady, like a heartbeat - the Heart of this place, whatever this place is. When you look back, your hole is gone, and a strange sense of deja-vu permeates the air, as if you had been here once before. You also feel...different. Changed. Upon inspection, you find yourself in the possession of a magical gemstone. Though it may be more accurate to say the gemstone has come into possession of you, fused to your very being, and now as much a part of you as you are of it. A gut feeling tells you that removing the gem by any means or methods is not an option, and, as you will soon come to learn, damaging it is also a very bad idea. You find yourself turning back to the Heart and only then do you see the sign. It prompts you, cheerfully - "Touch Me!"

Game

☆ What is Cosmographia? cosmographia is a panfandom jamjar community-based roleplaying game inspired by the lore of Steven Universe. Characters are brought to the town of Waverly Bay and arrive… changed. Whatever they were before coming to Waverly Bay, they’re now a Gem – and they’re going to have to learn to deal with it while settling into a completely different world and learning how to use their new powers. Play primarily takes place in the cosmographia community. This includes face-to-face interaction, as well as any psychic or electronic interaction between characters. We have an OOC community (cosmoooc), and a meme community (crystalclods) that give players places to congregate, plot, and discuss game events. ☆ What kind of game is Cosmographia? Cosmographia is an adventure/sandbox exploration game with elements of slice-of-life and mystery solving. We have an overarching plot involving the mysteries of the game world and encourage player exploration of plot and world locations to solve these mysteries and become stronger Gems! There are plenty of things for characters to explore, as well as opportunity for player and mod-run events that will allow your character to fight monsters, experiment with magic, and so on. However, the most important aspect of Cosmographia is that players should feel free to do what they want. Being influenced by gems, gaining powers, fighting monsters and participating in events - that is all an optional part of the game and they simply exist to give you, the players, opportunity to interact more closely with the game's premise. ☆ This sounds great, but I haven't watched Steven Universe! And you don't have to! Cosmographia is inspired by Steven Universe lore but has an original plot that diverges from canon. The game and information pages are set up to be accessible for canon familiar and canonblind players both. Mods and players alike are also always happy to answer questions when they come up! There are also a series of official videos released by the Steven Universe team. The "Classroom Gems" Youtube Playlist covers the basics of what Gems are and how they work. They're short and contain some spoilers, but worth watching if you're not familiar with the show!

Rules & Considerations

☆ Respect Policy Rule one of Cosmographia is quite simply don’t be a jerk. Roleplaying is a collaborative hobby, and in order everyone to have fun you need to have some healthy respect your fellow players and mods! This means playing according to the general etiquette of RP: ☆ No godmoding, infomodding or powergaming. ☆ Try to avoid springing things on people. ☆ Communication is key! Quite simply, we ask that you remain courteous and respectful towards your fellow players even in the event of a disagreement. And remember that if you and a fellow player are having problems you cannot settle yourselves, please approach the mods. We’re here to help and to make sure everyone has fun in Cosmographia! ☆ Tone of the Game Please keep in mind that, while Steven Universe does deal with heavy emotional themes, Cosmographia is not intended to stray into consistently grimdark or NSFW territory. While we do not have any kind of formal rating on the game, please be sure to keep anything explicitly sexual or graphically gorey off-comm – you’re free to set these scenes up, but please fade to black or link back to your journal before things get too heavy. That said, the nature of a panfandom game may mean that there will be potentially disturbing material from time to time. While we will not restrict players outside of the content listed above, we ask that players warn for potentially disturbing material (such as body horror, discussions of abuse, etc) when instances of such happen in threads. Use your own discretion in cases such as this. If you have any problems with anything in game then please do not hesitate to contact the mods. Again, we’re here to help! ☆ Strikes and Bans Players accrue strikes when incidents such as rule breaks or serious contribution to an unsafe environment for other players in the game occur. Players are allowed up to three strikes, with the third resulting in a permanent ban from the game. ☆ In Character vs. Out of Character While the focus of Cosmographia is primarily on fun, and pushing the boundaries of some characterization is considered acceptable to make things work for players, please respect the IC/OOC division. Cosmographia encourages character growth and development, but this does not mean that you can ignore characterization! Keep in mind who you're playing and why you chose to play them the way you did. Also, remember that you are not your character, and that any behavior towards your character or opinions held do not reflect on you OOCly. If you have a serious issue with another player's characterization, or other 'in play' issues that have not been resolved through discussion with that player, please notify a mod. There will be dialogue and possibly a strike issued if the characterization is truly grossly out of character. ☆ Make Activity This should come as no surprise. Regularly playing will make the game much more fun for everyone! You can find our activity policy here. ☆ Remember Setting Constraints Be sure to read the info pages and follow the "rules" of the game's setting. There is a powercap in the world of Cosmographia, which causes characters not to start with the skills they had in canon. This may alter the experience of playing certain characters, so be sure to think about how a character will live in Cosmographia before apping!

Applications

☆ How can I join? Once you've read all the information pages, head over to the application page and fill in the application form there. You can also reserve a character before you apply, though this isn’t a requirement. Application threads are screened for player privacy. ☆ How often are apps processed? Applications are processed by the following Saturday at the latest, but potentially earlier if the mods have spare time. Once accepted, follow the instructions given and your character can be intro'd to the game as soon as your journal is accepted onto the comms! ☆ What kind of characters can I apply? Cosmographia accepts canon characters (including silent/customizable protagonists), AUs (canon, player created and CRAU), original characters and fandom OCs. Please be aware that any characters coming with history from previous games (CRAUs) must have been played in that game - you cannot app a character from a game you have not played in. Triples of characters are allowed, but each version must be different in some way. i.e. a canon version, an alternate universe version, or a version that has come from a previous game. Cosmographia does not currently have any limits on what kind of characters can be apped, but we ask that players keep appropriateness for the setting and tone of the game in mind when choosing potential characters. Apping a character that is hellbent on murder or explicitly sexual behavior, and completely unable to adapt, would not be suitable and apps will be judged appropriately. ☆ How many characters can I app? The current character cap for players in Cosmographia is six characters, with an additional limit of two characters per canon. We also ask that, if you plan to app two characters who are canonmates, that you detail on your application how you plan to handle this in game – and please be aware that we may choose to reject your application should we feel two canonmates are too close to be played by the same person. Due to the large character cap, we do not currently allow for players to negotiate for more character slots, regardless of their level of activity. ☆ How can I drop from the game? Can I app back if I do? Simply post your drop on the drop page and we’ll remove you from the list of Players & Characters. You have a few options with what to do with your character when you drop, which you can find on the drop page itself. If you’ve dropped from the game previously, then apping back in is a simple enough task! Just submit an application on the app page using the re-app form.

Activity

☆ How does Activity Check work in Cosmographia? Activity check goes up once a month, on the 25th, and is posted on cosmoooc. Players have until the fourth of the following month to submit their activity at which point a warning list will be posted with characters who have not yet submitted their activity. Players on the warning list then have until the 10th of the same month to submit their activity or they will be swept from the game. ☆ What are the activity requirements for Cosmographia? Activity requirements for Cosmographia are as follows; A thread of 15 comments or more A thread involving an event challenge A thread with new CR (a character you have never threaded with before) Running a post, or posting a mingle provided that you play in at least one thread in that mingle If you are newly apped for the month, then we do not require you to provide a full activity proof. We would appreciate you check in on the AC post regardless. ☆ What happens if I can't make activity for one month? If you can't make activity for a given month, you are free to take a strike. You can do this simply by replying to the activity check post and requesting a strike. This will give you a pass on that month's activity check. However, you must provide two proofs of activity come the next month or you will be swept from the game. Please also note that strikes are granted at the discretion of the mod team and if a player consistently requests strikes across AC periods the mod team may choose to speak with them about their activity in the game. ☆ I need to take a break! How do I go on hiatus? Going on hiatus is as simple as commenting to the hiatus post to let us know you're going to be gone and how long for. Characters on hiatus are given a pass on activity checks that happen during the months of their hiatus period though only if the player posts a comment on the hiatus page with their expected timeframe. Please note that if a player is found to be abusing the hiatus system to skip out on activity check and squat on their character then the mods will discuss their activity with them and issue a strike. In extreme circumstances (extensive abuse of hiatus and extended squatting), a player may be removed from the game. Characters on hiatus have a few options for explaining their absence. The default is that your character is simply "on autopilot" - that is to say, they are not actually absent from Waverly Bay, but you are not currently playing out their lives and interactions during this period. You may also choose for your character to go for a trip and explore the world away from Waverly Bay. Finally, characters can also revert to gem form for a while, to hibernate and consolidate power. It could be that they pushed themselves too much and are simply exhausted.

Canon Updating

☆ How does canon updating work? When apping a character to Cosmographia, we ask that players let us know what point of their canon the character is being taken from, to give the mods an idea of what sort of development and powers to expect. If there are events following the canon point chosen, you may canon update your character to a later point in time to give them experience of these events. If your character has an AU (canon or player made/CRAU) that diverges from canon at a point after your initial canon point, you may choose to canon update to this point as well. For example, if a character’s canon has a spinoff AU that diverges from the end of their canon, the player may choose to canon update to this AU rather than the end of their original canon. ☆ How can I canon update in Cosmographia? Easily enough! Just head on over to the canon update page and fill in the form there. Once your canon update is approved, you can go ahead and introduce it in game. ☆ How does a character experience their canon update? There are currently two options for characters going through canon updates. The first option is to return home through their hole, just as they arrived, and return to Waverly Bay shortly afterwards fresh from their new canon events. Alternatively, canon updates can occur while a Gem has dissipated their form and is "dormant" in their gem. This can happen either as a coincidence after being poofed through injury, or spontaneously, with no apparent explanation. They will experience the events of their canon update, then reform, feeling as though they've woken up from a dream. Both options may play out similarly to a drop-and-re-app, just with some canon experiences in between. Any more questions? Wondering about something we didn’t cover here? Just contact us and we’ll be more than happy to answer any questions for you!