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utopiamods) wrote2010-12-10 05:15 pm
utopiamods) wrote2010-12-10 05:15 pm
EXACLAN
Exaclan is the name of the battle system used in the City of Rakuen. It is a tactile holographic virtual reality system that covers the entire city, allowing for such things as pulling weapons out of people's chests and fighting deadly battles without danger. Anything that happens in Exaclan is "real", i.e. it really happens, but battles using Weapons that do not cause physical damage (though they still cause very real pain).
At first glance, Exaclan seems like a very complicated game. And in fact, it is. For the characters, that is. The basics of it, however, are rather simple.
A game is not a game unless someone is playing it. The players of Exaclan are those characters who are named, aptly enough, Players. At any given time, a small percent of each school consists of Players; anyone who is not a Player is a Weapon. Weapons have no rights; they belong to their respective Players and must be available for battle at all times, without exceptions. Weapons flouting this rule will receive a warning penalty and a fine. Weapons are not permitted to use any of the school facilities (including the library, gymnasium, computer lab, swimming pool, or boats) without permission from their Player.
A Weapon without a Player is known as a Discard, and has even fewer rights and may not use any of the school facilities at all; the only exception is that Discards may use school computers to access the "Seeking..." forum.
While everyone has a controller — a white glove embroidered with the Exaclan symbol: a shield for Fortitude and a sword for Conquest — when a character is a Weapon, their controller is inactive. Only the Players' controllers work. Controllers are necessary for drawing a weapon (see Battling); they are also used for discarding and transferring Weapons. Finally, if a Weapon activates the warning penalty, their name appears on their owner's glove.
In order to obtain an unowned Weapon, a Player must vow to own and protect that Weapon, and the Weapon must agree. That exact wording need not be used; for example, ownership may accidentally be invoked if a Player casually promises to protect a Discard and the Discard says "Okay!" When a Weapon accepts a Player's vow of protection, the symbol of ownership (a shield or sword) appears on the back of one hand, depending on the school of the Player (not the school of the Weapon!). Furthermore, a Player and Weapon from two different schools cannot vow with one another, although a Player from one school can win a Weapon from another school, and two people from different schools can enter into a Link.
Although the Weapon's consent is needed for ownership, once a Player owns a Weapon that ownership cannot be revoked until the end of the round, aside from battling, transferring, and discarding. Thus, a Weapon must think carefully before agreeing to ownership; once owned, the Weapon can do nothing to force their own release.
If, for whatever reason, a Player decides that they have no use for one of their Weapons, they have two options (outside of losing that Weapon in battle, of course):
The Player may transfer the Weapon to another Player. To do so, the Player must speak the words, "Transfer (Weapon) to (Other Player)", or something else to that effect, while holding their glove up to their mouth.
The Player may discard the Weapon. To do so, the Player must speak the words, "Discard (Weapon)", or something else to that effect, while holding their glove up to their mouth. When a Weapon is discarded, they no longer have an owner and are fair game for bullying (as the warning penalty does not affect Player-Discard interactions) and other such fun things.
The Weapon in question has no say in either of these matters.
Exaclan is all about fighting. In most cases, battling is completely optional; however, if a Player goes three days without participating in a battle, he or she starts to lose twenty Raks per day, starting on the fourth day, until the end of the round or until a battle is fought, whichever comes first. It is perfectly possible for a character to drop into negative raks in this way; if this winds up happening, please let the mods know or make a note in the shop post.
To fight, a Player equips their personalised Exaclan glove and makes physical contact with their chosen Weapon. This marks an acceptance of the battle terms, and the Player can then draw their holographic weapon from the body of their partner, usually from their chest. Usually this is accompanied by a flash of light, and it tends to stagger the Weapon involved as the process is somewhat disorienting. This 'unsheathed' weapon is an empathic representation of the character it was drawn from, and often takes a form appropriate to their personality or a particularly strong memory. Any damage taken is felt by the Weapon themselves, so fighting carelessly is not recommended: when a Weapon loses consciousness, their battle form vanishes, and the Player is left defenseless and almost always loses the match unless they invoke another of their Weapons immediately.
One both side's weapons are drawn the battle has started. The aim of the game is to make the other Player unable to fight; this can be accomplished in a number of ways:
By breaking the opposing weapon (note that if a Player breaks his or her own weapon it counts as a draw, unless done under the influence of Confusion); By doing enough damage that the opposing Player passes out or is unable to fight; By forcing the other Player to forfeit. Running away also counts as a forfeit.
Whatever method is used to obtain victory, once the battle ends, the loser's Weapon is automatically transferred to the winner. If multiple Weapons were used over the course of the fight, they are all transferred; however, if the loser has several Weapons but only used one or two of them, the ones that were not used aren't transferred.
Every battle is logged in the system and broadcast live over the network, and results are posted on the constantly-updating boards around the grounds and city. You can even have either a complete feed or the progress of individual players sent to your PDA through a simple registration process at the foyer of your school, if you so wish.
Battles can either be logged, where all characters involved RP through the challenge and consequent fight, or resolved through referee. In the latter case, you report the battle as taking place, and the mods will declare the victor. Alternatively, you can simply decide amongst yourselves the outcome of the match, and declare that yourself. In the latter case, all muns must agree on the result before the declaration is made. All battles, threaded out or handwaved, must be reported in this post in order to count.
As with all games, it's possible to cheat at Exaclan. There are a number of ways to cheat, each of them having their own punishments.
Not fighting: Some Players once got the brilliant idea to determine the winner of their fight by an outside method, with the determined loser forfeiting the "real" battle. Unfortunately for them, this method is forbidden. The punishment is thirty seconds of the warning headache and a five-Rak fine for all parties involved — both Players, and whichever Weapons they chose to use.
Dual-Wielding: Unless one of the Weapons involved has the Dual-Wielding ability, drawing more than one weapon at a time in battle is against the rules — and even if the Dual-Wielding ability is involved, more than two weapons at a time is right out. The punishment is, once again, the warning headache for all involved — the Player and both/all Weapons from which the weapons were drawn, lasting until the end of the battle. However, if the Player is able to achieve victory despite the headache there are no other penalties.
It is absolutely forbidden for a Player to touch someone else's Weapon. If physical contact of any sort occurs, or if physical (not verbal) assault takes place that does not involve contact, then that Player and the Weapon will both suffer sudden splitting headaches. The pain will get progressively worse for five minutes, at which point if contact is not broken, both parties will pass out. Additionally, the Weapon's Player will receive a faint headache which acts more as an alert than a penalty for the duration of the contact, and the name of the weapon who is being touched will appear on the owner's Exaclan glove.
This system does not affect physical contact between two Players, two Weapons, or a Player and their own Weapon. Discards are considered free game, and therefore do not trigger the warning either.
The warning penalty can also be triggered at will by any staff member for use against characters who break rules. In addition, if a character somehow winds up with fewer than zero Raks, the warning penalty triggers and affects one random person each hour, excluding staff members and the person who triggered the penalty.
Unless specifically noted beforehand, every round lasts one in-game week and officially begins at eight o'clock on Day 1 (game time). Players are not permitted to own Weapons before this time; any Link Weapons a character possesses activate at eight on the dot.
Taking part in a battle (Player or Weapon) earns you 3 raks. For every Weapon vowed with or won, Players earn an additional 5 raks. For every five battles fought (won or lost) in one round you gain 2 raks.
To earn a victory in a round, win five battles or own six weapons simultaneously. A Player who wins a round earns 10 raks, and any Weapons belonging to a winning Player will earn 4 raks.
Winning the round means you may refrain from fighting for the rest of the round, free of penalty, if you so choose (but you may continue to if you wish to).
At the end of each round, there will be a single day in which no student has Player or Weapon status. There will be no classes on this day. The names of the Players for the next round will be released at midday the day after that, on Day 1 of each Round.
Raks are the currency of the Exaclan system and, by extension, the town itself. They can be used to purchase advantages for yourself around the school, or upgrades for yourself or your Weapons in the form of Rings or Charms. As well as many other useful (and relatively useless) things. Only Players can use their Raks; a Weapon’s Raks are considered inactive and can only be transferred. You can earn Raks in a number of ways:
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At first glance, Exaclan seems like a very complicated game. And in fact, it is. For the characters, that is. The basics of it, however, are rather simple.
Players and Weapons
A game is not a game unless someone is playing it. The players of Exaclan are those characters who are named, aptly enough, Players. At any given time, a small percent of each school consists of Players; anyone who is not a Player is a Weapon. Weapons have no rights; they belong to their respective Players and must be available for battle at all times, without exceptions. Weapons flouting this rule will receive a warning penalty and a fine. Weapons are not permitted to use any of the school facilities (including the library, gymnasium, computer lab, swimming pool, or boats) without permission from their Player.
A Weapon without a Player is known as a Discard, and has even fewer rights and may not use any of the school facilities at all; the only exception is that Discards may use school computers to access the "Seeking..." forum.
While everyone has a controller — a white glove embroidered with the Exaclan symbol: a shield for Fortitude and a sword for Conquest — when a character is a Weapon, their controller is inactive. Only the Players' controllers work. Controllers are necessary for drawing a weapon (see Battling); they are also used for discarding and transferring Weapons. Finally, if a Weapon activates the warning penalty, their name appears on their owner's glove.
In order to obtain an unowned Weapon, a Player must vow to own and protect that Weapon, and the Weapon must agree. That exact wording need not be used; for example, ownership may accidentally be invoked if a Player casually promises to protect a Discard and the Discard says "Okay!" When a Weapon accepts a Player's vow of protection, the symbol of ownership (a shield or sword) appears on the back of one hand, depending on the school of the Player (not the school of the Weapon!). Furthermore, a Player and Weapon from two different schools cannot vow with one another, although a Player from one school can win a Weapon from another school, and two people from different schools can enter into a Link.
Although the Weapon's consent is needed for ownership, once a Player owns a Weapon that ownership cannot be revoked until the end of the round, aside from battling, transferring, and discarding. Thus, a Weapon must think carefully before agreeing to ownership; once owned, the Weapon can do nothing to force their own release.
If, for whatever reason, a Player decides that they have no use for one of their Weapons, they have two options (outside of losing that Weapon in battle, of course):
The Player may transfer the Weapon to another Player. To do so, the Player must speak the words, "Transfer (Weapon) to (Other Player)", or something else to that effect, while holding their glove up to their mouth.
The Player may discard the Weapon. To do so, the Player must speak the words, "Discard (Weapon)", or something else to that effect, while holding their glove up to their mouth. When a Weapon is discarded, they no longer have an owner and are fair game for bullying (as the warning penalty does not affect Player-Discard interactions) and other such fun things.
The Weapon in question has no say in either of these matters.
Battling
Exaclan is all about fighting. In most cases, battling is completely optional; however, if a Player goes three days without participating in a battle, he or she starts to lose twenty Raks per day, starting on the fourth day, until the end of the round or until a battle is fought, whichever comes first. It is perfectly possible for a character to drop into negative raks in this way; if this winds up happening, please let the mods know or make a note in the shop post.
To fight, a Player equips their personalised Exaclan glove and makes physical contact with their chosen Weapon. This marks an acceptance of the battle terms, and the Player can then draw their holographic weapon from the body of their partner, usually from their chest. Usually this is accompanied by a flash of light, and it tends to stagger the Weapon involved as the process is somewhat disorienting. This 'unsheathed' weapon is an empathic representation of the character it was drawn from, and often takes a form appropriate to their personality or a particularly strong memory. Any damage taken is felt by the Weapon themselves, so fighting carelessly is not recommended: when a Weapon loses consciousness, their battle form vanishes, and the Player is left defenseless and almost always loses the match unless they invoke another of their Weapons immediately.
One both side's weapons are drawn the battle has started. The aim of the game is to make the other Player unable to fight; this can be accomplished in a number of ways:
By breaking the opposing weapon (note that if a Player breaks his or her own weapon it counts as a draw, unless done under the influence of Confusion); By doing enough damage that the opposing Player passes out or is unable to fight; By forcing the other Player to forfeit. Running away also counts as a forfeit.
Whatever method is used to obtain victory, once the battle ends, the loser's Weapon is automatically transferred to the winner. If multiple Weapons were used over the course of the fight, they are all transferred; however, if the loser has several Weapons but only used one or two of them, the ones that were not used aren't transferred.
Every battle is logged in the system and broadcast live over the network, and results are posted on the constantly-updating boards around the grounds and city. You can even have either a complete feed or the progress of individual players sent to your PDA through a simple registration process at the foyer of your school, if you so wish.
Battles can either be logged, where all characters involved RP through the challenge and consequent fight, or resolved through referee. In the latter case, you report the battle as taking place, and the mods will declare the victor. Alternatively, you can simply decide amongst yourselves the outcome of the match, and declare that yourself. In the latter case, all muns must agree on the result before the declaration is made. All battles, threaded out or handwaved, must be reported in this post in order to count.
Cheating
As with all games, it's possible to cheat at Exaclan. There are a number of ways to cheat, each of them having their own punishments.
Not fighting: Some Players once got the brilliant idea to determine the winner of their fight by an outside method, with the determined loser forfeiting the "real" battle. Unfortunately for them, this method is forbidden. The punishment is thirty seconds of the warning headache and a five-Rak fine for all parties involved — both Players, and whichever Weapons they chose to use.
Dual-Wielding: Unless one of the Weapons involved has the Dual-Wielding ability, drawing more than one weapon at a time in battle is against the rules — and even if the Dual-Wielding ability is involved, more than two weapons at a time is right out. The punishment is, once again, the warning headache for all involved — the Player and both/all Weapons from which the weapons were drawn, lasting until the end of the battle. However, if the Player is able to achieve victory despite the headache there are no other penalties.
Warning system
It is absolutely forbidden for a Player to touch someone else's Weapon. If physical contact of any sort occurs, or if physical (not verbal) assault takes place that does not involve contact, then that Player and the Weapon will both suffer sudden splitting headaches. The pain will get progressively worse for five minutes, at which point if contact is not broken, both parties will pass out. Additionally, the Weapon's Player will receive a faint headache which acts more as an alert than a penalty for the duration of the contact, and the name of the weapon who is being touched will appear on the owner's Exaclan glove.
This system does not affect physical contact between two Players, two Weapons, or a Player and their own Weapon. Discards are considered free game, and therefore do not trigger the warning either.
The warning penalty can also be triggered at will by any staff member for use against characters who break rules. In addition, if a character somehow winds up with fewer than zero Raks, the warning penalty triggers and affects one random person each hour, excluding staff members and the person who triggered the penalty.
Rounds
Unless specifically noted beforehand, every round lasts one in-game week and officially begins at eight o'clock on Day 1 (game time). Players are not permitted to own Weapons before this time; any Link Weapons a character possesses activate at eight on the dot.
Taking part in a battle (Player or Weapon) earns you 3 raks. For every Weapon vowed with or won, Players earn an additional 5 raks. For every five battles fought (won or lost) in one round you gain 2 raks.
To earn a victory in a round, win five battles or own six weapons simultaneously. A Player who wins a round earns 10 raks, and any Weapons belonging to a winning Player will earn 4 raks.
Winning the round means you may refrain from fighting for the rest of the round, free of penalty, if you so choose (but you may continue to if you wish to).
At the end of each round, there will be a single day in which no student has Player or Weapon status. There will be no classes on this day. The names of the Players for the next round will be released at midday the day after that, on Day 1 of each Round.
Raks
Raks are the currency of the Exaclan system and, by extension, the town itself. They can be used to purchase advantages for yourself around the school, or upgrades for yourself or your Weapons in the form of Rings or Charms. As well as many other useful (and relatively useless) things. Only Players can use their Raks; a Weapon’s Raks are considered inactive and can only be transferred. You can earn Raks in a number of ways:
- Everyone arrives with twenty Raks in their bag.
- You earn one Rak a day for going to school or teaching, depending on your assigned role.
- You earn three Raks for every battle you participate in (as Weapon or Player), regardless of outcome. For every 5 battles you participate in (in one round) you earn an additional 2 Raks.
- A Player earns five Raks for every weapon won or vowed with.
- Winning the round -- either by accumulating five victories or owning six Weapons, whichever comes first -- nets Players ten Raks and their Weapons four.
- Being a student or teacher at the winning school (most often the school whose members battle more) each round nets you ten Raks, so get out there and fight!
- Competitions -- quizzes, races, quests and other things -- can often yield Rak prizes.
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