Willing Participant and Collaborative storytelling
What makes a painting Art vs. just colors on a canvas? Emotion. Art, if viewed and executed properly, is supposed to make you feel something. This game is a horror setting, if executed well, and if you as a participant view it properly, it is supposed to make you feel: uneasy, paranoid, uncomfortable, stressed, and afraid. That said, participants have to buy into the setting and genre, and atmosphere is crucial. The scariest movie ever isn’t nearly as frightening in broad daylight with people talking throughout it.
PCs are just as responsible for their own and other players fun as staff. Even if you are fearless, don’t sabotage the atmosphere for others. We aren't saying you cannot play a hardened character, but consider the evolution of the character as the game's getting scarier and at what point does your brave character might go from sceptic to suspicious and eventually turns into "oh fu*k! I've never been so scared in my life." We ask that you help us build on the setting, and keep RP towards enhancing the story for you and your fellow players. Design a character who supports the setting instead of fights against it.
Horror
This game is a Survival Horror game, there is a very good chance your character will die before the end of the story. It is a part of the genre and one that, if you wish to play, you may have to come to terms with. Death isn’t always the end, or maybe things aren't as bad as they seem. There may be ways to resume play despite dying in Emanation, but your character being killed IS one of those possible outcomes. If you as a player have Specific Triggers and Phobia that may impact your game play negatively, please include this in your registration form and if needed reach out to us directly. If said trigger is present in the narrative and we can steer you away from it, or remove you while it is present we will try to do so. Furthermore, all players may always “Opt out” using the Plague mechanic (See Plague below). Up front this is a one event game, if you have a problem with types of scenarios or monster designs that are going to be prevalent or common, there won’t be much as a staff we do to accommodate, and playing Emanation may not be the best fit. We want to set up our players to succeed by scaring you, not by actually traumatizing anyone.
Being Altered and OOG information
This setting may have your characters undergo a change of some kind. This change can be subtle a slight adjustment of priorities, or even massive; completely altering who and frankly *what* you are. Some of these changes may happen quickly, others it may take time to come into effect. This only works with an OOG understanding of this from our players, and a willingness to “play along” if you will. We may provide you with instructions/rules that only come into effect under certain circumstances of if certain stimuli trigger them. So you the player may need to know what to do/what happens in advance, but we are asking you to separate that knowledge from your character, who should remain blissfully oblivious until such a thing comes to pass. Additionally, we ask that you don't share this information with other players during game, so the surprise isn't ruined for them. Incidentally, this may mean that friends are not what they seem, if that is a concern for you OOG, then this might not be the game for you.
We understand this is a break away from the traditional Accelerant “you know what you know” philosophy regarding metagaming but this setting really does require it to function efficiently and effectively.
Plagued
Sometimes a player has a real-world reason that they cannot continue gameplay, and this might interfere with ideals of character or the gravity of the situation. When this happens, a player can decide that the “Plague” has taken their character. The “Plague” is untreatable and debilitating. It can’t be cured until the player makes the out of game decision to end the effect. The player has only enough skill and mobility to get to their cabin or an out of game area and no game skills or mechanics will help them until the player decides they feel well enough to re-enter the game.
When a player is “Plagued” the rest of the participants will gracefully accept that the player is out of the action. We do not allow players to try to shame or guilt the plagued players to continue the game. We respect their need for downtime, and in-game characters will both understand the severity of the ailment that takes their character out of the action, but also understand that characters eventually recover from the “Plague” and they do not need to worry about the afflicted character.
A note when your fellow players may declare themself Plagued, you may not know why. It is essential to respect this regardless. If someone breaks their arm it's obvious why they must remove themselves from participating. Other issues can be just as debilitating, but are NOT visibly obvious. You are not owed an explanation and the middle of game is not the time for it even if you are the best of friends. As a community we expect you to support each other regardless of the circumstances, if someone needs to leave a scene in a hurry declaring themself Plagued; cover for them, keep the scene going so they are not left with awkward pressures to try and justify or explain themselves.