[OOC] Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

[LanaStorm]

instantly cancels flux

[ERode]

Should the current war be put on hold then, Flux? Right now, Matthias is more leaning towards the "quickly finish the war by beating the shit outta people before the lack of aid becomes a problem" method of handling things, but I can understand if you don't want to puppet Est's characters in this case.

[Yankee]

It does leave my character(s) in a bit of a sticky situation (my own fault really), but I certainly don't mind waiting to resolve that, and seeing what other characters get up to in the interim.

[The Savant]

Currently, my character and NPCs are in an interesting situation, because I was writing up a storm with Est in a google document.

People were asking for those "nice break scenes" we could possibly put everything on hold and have an imaginary reality sequence or something. So it's not overly serious and can be fun while Est is away.

[Qia]

Currently, my character and NPCs are in an interesting situation, because I was writing up a storm with Est in a google document.

People were asking for those "nice break scenes" we could possibly put everything on hold and have an imaginary reality sequence or something. So it's not overly serious and can be fun while Est is away.

@The Savant

I like this idea, that way Est will have an easier time once they return ^^. Nothing to catch up to. It would be like a nice...filler episode haha.

[The Savant]

<Snipped quote by The Savant>

I like this idea, that way Est will have an easier time once they return ^^. Nothing to catch up to. It would be like a nice...filler episode haha.

@Qia

Every anime has those random filler episodes that don't make sense or they take way too long like Naruto. 😂 It could be a nice touch and it would help keep everyone interested hopefully along with making it easier for est to return too.

I'm excited to see what ideas Flux has up their sleeve as well. Their post got me interested.

[Qia]

<Snipped quote by Qia>

Every anime has those random filler episodes that don't make sense or they take way too long like Naruto. 😂 It could be a nice touch and it would help keep everyone interested hopefully along with making it easier for est to return too.

I'm excited to see what ideas Flux has up their sleeve as well. Their post got me interested.

@The Savant

Samee. I'm sure it will be great :) No pressure of course.

[flux]

Alrighty finally sat down sorry. First post will just be replying to stuff then second post will be the pplan inbetween Est's return:

instantly cancels flux

@LanaStorm

*Me being immediately deleted*
*WARNING LOUD*

Please no destroy me haha

Should the current war be put on hold then, Flux? Right now, Matthias is more leaning towards the "quickly finish the war by beating the shit outta people before the lack of aid becomes a problem" method of handling things, but I can understand if you don't want to puppet Est's characters in this case.

@ERode

The current war will be placed on hold for the moment. I'm thinking of a scene/round where players have to establish some form of self sustainment for their faction/districts themselves or through collabs. Potential examples: @The Savant Asterion's public fruit gardens being expanded, @LanaStorm Emily's relationship with Noc Noc burg for infinite chow. (Will explain this micro crisis and reasoning further in next post).

It does leave my character(s) in a bit of a sticky situation (my own fault really), but I certainly don't mind waiting to resolve that, and seeing what other characters get up to in the interim.

@Yankee

For the next 2-4 weeks if the aid blockade crisis goes ahead that shouldn't be an issue. After that it'll actually be a very good way to sideline Ezra for later while getting Adel back into the game if Esty is still away. (Can explain Adel in PM's. Will explain Ezra and Esty's other chars in second post after this).

Currently, my character and NPCs are in an interesting situation, because I was writing up a storm with Est in a google document.

@The Savant

I imagine that is very heavily intertwined with Esty's characters directly, in which case out of respect I'm not sure I can help with unfortunately. I am happy to look at what's there and we can try rewrite it in the context of different character interactions though if that's possible and you still want to use that work. Otherwise can always wait until Esty's back and reformat it for that time ^_^.

People were asking for those "nice break scenes" we could possibly put everything on hold and have an imaginary reality sequence or something. So it's not overly serious and can be fun while Est is away.

@The Savant

I like this idea, that way Est will have an easier time once they return ^^. Nothing to catch up to. It would be like a nice...filler episode haha.

@Qia

Every anime has those random filler episodes that don't make sense or they take way too long like Naruto. 😂 It could be a nice touch and it would help keep everyone interested hopefully along with making it easier for est to return too.

@The Savant

I was thinking exactly this and going with that 'beach day' idea I proposed not too long ago. I also think everyone deserves a fun piece to commemorate how far this has come. I really mean this when I say everyone has done a phenomenal amount of work toward this. All of it's quality material to read and some pieces are reaching the length of a tenth of a novel, combined together is truly becoming an epic and everyone should be proud of that <3.

<Snipped quote by Qia>
I'm excited to see what ideas Flux has up their sleeve as well. Their post got me interested.

@The Savant

I have A LOT of ideas I could run with, but I'll need some time to make sure I understand everyone's characters and the setting well enough to keep it faithful to it's origins and something that Esty can comfortably come back to. This is something I'll explain further in the second post.

[flux]

I'll get to writing the second post now, might be a little lengthy, but summary of it is:
- Next round will be a 'beach day' for everyone's characters to be goobers.
- Round after with be the Aid Crisis.
- After that, we'll discuss together if Est still isn't back and I'll likely write her characters aside for her to use later.

[ERode]

In this case, I'd say that it'd make sense to temporarily put a pause to Wealth/Personnel gain during this 'Est is gone' period as well for at least, I guess, 4-6 months RL or so. Otherwise all of Nocturnia would be Aristocrat districts and we'd be well on our way to having hundreds of Wealth and thousands of Personnel.

Beach filler should also be separate from the main thread; just makes sense for making things slightly easier to find.

In either cause, what should the current round be about? Both Yankee and I had plans of jumping Pennystakes, and Matthias personally just wants to beat the shit outta Ezra and Antonio before their sticky fingers become a problem down the line. If not though, I'd just upgrade a district or something.

[SporkoBug]

[wiggling Webb gently]
My 8 pages will have to wait for a bit then hehe

[flux]

Alright, I'll break this down into sections with headings so hopefully it makes it easier to read. There will be a summary in the next post too if this is too much. Please feel free to ask me any questions or make any suggestions.

Order of contents:
- General continuation of the game (Peronsel/Wealth, The War and Esty characters).
- District conflict resolution (Supplement rules if required, otherwise as agreed by players)
- Beach Episode (Fun little piece and time to regroup ideas/direction)
- Aid Crisis round (minor story impact event)
- Me in this situation (An unexpected turn of events)

- : Peronsel/Wealth generation, The War and Estylwen character territories : -

The beach episode will not acquire anyone Wealth or Personel as it is an out of character event. The end of the Aid Crisis round will continue standard play and I'll maintain the 0'th post in terms of Wealth and Personel income. (Unless agreed otherwise by players).

Regarding the war. In my mind it does not feel right to play out Estylwen's characters (Ezra Blackheart, Antonia Franchesca, Vincenzo “Vincent” Accardo) when she has worked so hard to build them and establish their presence in the world. For this reason I think it best to hold the war and interactions with Esty's characters for that of a month (longer if we can easily manage it). After this period we will decide as a group what to do moving forward, voting on options we place on the table and failing that I'll make the call. I propose two options at this point (and welcome others to propose solutions as well):

Option 1: We classify Estylwen's area's as locked down. Writing this should be easy, @SporkoBug's monsters overrun the area, military assumes martial law and occupies it etc, the lock down cleared once Esty returns.

Option 2: After a wait period Esty's territory becomes free game. I'll write resistance but otherwise it'd be like acquiring any empty territory. Once Esty returns those territories or some territories of the strongest players would undergo a "revolution" of sorts to return Esty's characters to the game with land to fight from.

In my opinion, option 2 would be best but relies on the good will of the strongest players to accept the loss of some territories to allow @Estylwen's return when she gets back. This would ensure that the territories don't get left behind through no upgrades or lack of geopolitical activity. Option 1 is easier, but leaves swarths of area inaccessible in stasis.

I propose these options so everyone can continue playing until her return. In my experience, projects like this that go on hiatus for extended periods rarely pick up again, so I hope my options allow Nocturnia to continue while keeping the seat warm for Esty so to speak.

Regardless of what is decided, Esty's characters will be written aside so they are free to return with her and free characters currently locked in interactions with them (Example: Ezra holding Adel, will PM @Yankee and @ERode about that. Anyone else locked in Esty interactions let me know and we'll figure a route out of it if necessary).

With that being said, onto that of faction vs faction conflict.

- : Game battles and District wars : -

My experience so far with fighting for districts has been that so long as the aggressor has the manpower/wealth to invade, they can initiate the event. From there the two parties write the battle and more or less amicably agree who the victor is through the writing (Esty explained it as a gacha game, but with no notes on actual mechanics, this is my best interpretation).

If this does not work moving forward, I'll propose a ruleset to roll for district victories so they can be rolled for and settled that way. Otherwise players are more than welcome to continue writing battle conclusions as they agree outside of dice and chance.

Draft district dice roll rules in hider:

Draft district dice roll battle rule

The aggressor pays as they would normally do to acquire the district. This adds that many personel to their pool. The defender can abandon the district or dedicate personel as they choose. Players can then negotiate so many more personel to the fight (1 Wealth = 3 Personel) in turns until both pass adding troops.

Final roll values will be D20 + wagered personel if decided to be a single roll. Otherwise turn by turn rolls where the roller inflicts the D6 casualties per turn (or decided upon dice for larger fights), fight ended when a player loses all dedicated personel and characters or withdraws. Characters would roll D6 vs, the character incapacitated if rolled lower than the other party, but always inflicting those casualties they rolled.

Example scenario:
Khor the attacker(A) has invaded Adel the defender(D) in Silverside. Silverside is an aristocratic district so Khor(A) requires 20 wealth and 40 personel to invade. The 40 personel go to Khor's(A) dedicated count, Adel(D) chooses to add 30 personel. Khor(A) adds another 10 personel to reach 50 total personel. Adel(D) spend 5 wealth to add 15 personel to reach 45 personel. Khor(A) passes further reinforcement. Adel(D) passes further reinforcement. Battle begins.

Single dice roll rule:
Khor(A) rolls a D20 for 5, her D20 result(5) + 50 personel = 55, Adel(D) rolls a D20 for 18, his D20 result(18) + 45 = 63
Adel(D) has successfully defended his district, losing 45 personel. Khor(A) has been defeated and loses 50 personel.

Turn by Turn dice roll rules:
Khor(A) and Adel(D) agree to roll a D20 instead of a D6 to speed up the fight. As the attacker Khor goes first, rolling a 13. Adel(D) loses 13 personel leaving him with 45 - 13 = 32 personel left, he rolls a 20. Khor(A) now has 50 - 20 = 30 men. This continues until Khor(A) has no men and Adel(D) has 10. Khor(A) decides to join the fight in character rather than retreat. Khor(A) rolls a 13 and Adel(D) rolls a 15. Khor(A) successfully wipes out all remaining troops but cannot conquer the district as she is incapacitated. Adel(D) may decide Khor's(A) fate.

The above rules are only there for players who wish to use them or settle disputes in battles if required.

- : Beach episode : -

I propose we take two weeks minimum to develop this (9th March - 23rd March) as both a well earned fun break and time for Esty to return. If anyone has direct contact or alternative details it'd be a really nice piece if they could send it to her as a PDF for her to read in her spare time.

I've also contacted an artist friend to hopefully commission and help co-create a beach portrait of all the current major characters. Something of a "Best Wishes/Get Well Soon" postcard and little gift for everyone for putting so much into this so far. Worst case we'll have the PDF at the very least. Once it's done or close to finished we'll decide if it goes in the IC posted clearly as an INTERMISSION - ALT UNIVERSE piece, in the OOC or somewhere else entirely.

In terms of the beach piece. Here's the setting:

Martin Luthin is a lifeguard, but he's better known as a dick who kicks over sandcastles. He likes the rules, and it's time to ruin Martin's day.

You get 3 points for every rule you break. I'll decide which player gets the points if multiple people break the same rule based on creative and comedic value with runners up for 2 and 1 points. The player with the most points at the end earns the honor of having ruined martins day.
(Or you can just write your characters doing whatever they want, interacting with whoever, however. Enjoy~!)

RULES TO BE BROKEN:
1 - No open fires/flammable sources.
2 - No loud music/noises.
3 - No firearms/weapons/explosives.
4 - No hunting.
5 - No vehicles.
6 - No camping.
7 - No Animals.
8 - No drugs.
9 - No surfing.
10 - Do not feed the wildlife.

Also, PM me or post in the OOC mentioning me with what your main player character would wear to the beach and me and friend will get to starting the art piece for the beach episode to be sent along with the final piece for Esty and everyone here. We can get char refs from the portraits but further detail is always appreciated~. A character brief should include:
- Character clothing.
- Character pose.
- Character activity (optional).

For example: Khor wears a full wetsuit with a scuba rebreather and purple/magenta stripes. She's intense in a comedic sense with her pose. She's throwing Adel into the surf.

- : Aid Crisis round : -

If Esty isn't back after the 'beach episode' round, we'll continue with the Aid Crisis IC to keep things rolling. The aim is for this to be a significant event that doesn't alter Esty's overall plot but provides players the opportunity to continue their dominion of Nocturnia. The reason for this is to avoid a long Hiatus (unless it is agreed upon by all players) to avoid the RP from dying out.

At this stage I'll likely PM all players at the start of it inquiring any plotlines they had with Esty and where they'd like their characters to go/what plots they'd like to ensure the RP is tailored to peoples preferences (to the limit of staying in the lines of Nocturnia's setting).

Ultimately for me this would mean my characters would also take a background role and my territories would be up for grabs by anyone as if they were free so I can focus on maintaining the world's reactions to or supporting player's actions. Khor, Antonio and Akir will still play their roles due to their place in the story now but can assumed to be 'factionless'.

This would also begin deviating from Esty's ultimate vision for Nocturnia. I'll do everything I can to respect her work and ideas but I simply just don't know everything she had planned and my additions will inevitable change the course somewhat. My efforts will be in the best of faith, but even my style of writing compared to hers is going to make things feel different, so I apologize in advance if that becomes more noticeable over time.

Finally, my position in this!

- : Flux the accidental show runner : -

Me and Esty have discussed deep plot points, no complete reveals but I have a general idea as to the source of power and how to make that a wild good event should players go for it (it'll shine best as players pooling resources and going together to find it). As for leaving the city, that's at least fairly self explanatory and pieces writing for the military have left me well equipped to handle that one.

On this though, I have no notes, no over arching plot, no idea outside what is mostly posted in the OOC first post about what and how Nocturnia is. It'll take me some time to develop some basic framework to follow (the beach episode will hopefully be long enough) but I'll also reach out to players for plots/developments they'd like to see to weave in.

Moving forward I'll coordinate the game/story according to arcs/chapters. This arc being The War. Once it concludes I'll see what direction everyone is going in and decide the next crisis/challenge to overcome until players are satisfied to write an ultimate ending or exit for their character/s. For example the next Arc could be Finding the Source of Power, if the prerequisite is paid for.

Finally, my own situation. I've been working a bit back and forth with Esty on this and have committed a fair amount of effort, but in open honesty I'm not currently sure if I'm in the position to run this indefinitely. I can do this for a month without impacting myself in the foreseeable future but beyond I simply won't know until we get there.

At that point, I'll either confirm myself able to continue or at least hopefully hold long enough to pass the reins again should it be necessary.

- : PHEW : -

Well this was a long damn post wasn't it? Don't worry I'll have a summary below.

[flux]

Holy hell Flux that was a lot of words. Why. WHY.
(Don’t worry I’ve got you, minimal summary of the above).

General Continuation of the Game
- Beach Episode will not grant Wealth/Personnel on completion.
- War will be on hold for 2 Rounds (Beach and Aid Crisis).
- Options for how Estywen’s characters are written aside.

District Conflict Resolution
- Current interpretation of district fights is that of player resolution.
- Draft dice roll rulesets for fight resolution provided, optional use.

Beach episode
- Two week (9th – 23rd) project period for Estywen return (longer if agreed upon).
- Setting: Beach Day, make Martin cry and/or just have fun (collabs encouraged).
- Break Lifeguard Martin’s mind minigame rules(optional).
- Potential gift art piece of main char’s for Est/Everyone.
- Provide clothing, pose, activity(optional) if MC desired to be in piece.

Aid Crisis Round
- Ceasefire round, return to semi-normal play.
- Wealth/Personel income granted at end of round.
- Writing characters free from Esty interactions to return to play.
- Beginning to write Esty’s characters aside to be later picked up.

(Flux)Oh hey, responsibility!
- I have some understanding of Esty’s direction, but not completely.
- I’ll develop some ideas for arcs moving forward after The War.
- I am absolutely open to ideas from players.
- I don’t know if I can fulfill this role long term.
- I will ensure to the best of my ability to pass the reins over if required.

And that’s the above ~2000 words summarised in ~250. If you need more detail read the above post section or feel free to PM me/Mention me in OOC. If you want to discuss any of the posted points please Mention me in OOC so everyone can see the discussion/alteration/solution.

EDIT: I will have the beach day draft document up in 24 hours hopefully for people to start working on/having fun with~.

[SporkoBug]

Im immediately breaking at least 2 of those beach rules. Webb and Harriet kinda both count as animals(webb more than Harry), plus the Morrigan has her crows so she WILL be feeding the wildlife.

[flux]

Im immediately breaking at least 2 of those beach rules. Webb and Harriet kinda both count as animals(webb more than Harry), plus the Morrigan has her crows so she WILL be feeding the wildlife.

@SporkoBug

Excellent hahaha

[flux]

Actually I do have another idea, one that could keep us working on Nocturnia while keeping the game in a 'frozen' state until Esty is ready to return.

Would anyone be interested in turning what we have so far into an actual book? The process would comprise of us rewriting scenes to better flow into each other but maintain their overall content. Such could then be put onto book sites like say word press and royal road.

We could construct everything up to The War. If we agreed upon it necessary scenes could be added/removed as well (nothing that would dramatically alter the overall plot or main characters so far).

Reason I suggest this is that if the majority of people don't want to continue without Esty, this'll be a good way to keep the spirit alive while waiting for when she's able to return. Also would provide those involved a good piece of work for personal portfolios and/or get more exposure for creatives amongst us.

My only caution would be that it'd be a considerable amount of work (mostly cleaning up and making the existing writing 'efficient' for reading quality).

If most people are keen I can draft up a pipeline for development.

[Qia]

Actually I do have another idea, one that could keep us working on Nocturnia while keeping the game in a 'frozen' state until Esty is ready to return.

Would anyone be interested in turning what we have so far into an actual book? The process would comprise of us rewriting scenes to better flow into each other but maintain their overall content. Such could then be put onto book sites like say word press and royal road.

We could construct everything up to The War. If we agreed upon it necessary scenes could be added/removed as well (nothing that would dramatically alter the overall plot or main characters so far).

Reason I suggest this is that if the majority of people don't want to continue without Esty, this'll be a good way to keep the spirit alive while waiting for when she's able to return. Also would provide those involved a good piece of work for personal portfolios and/or get more exposure for creatives amongst us.

My only caution would be that it'd be a considerable amount of work (mostly cleaning up and making the existing writing 'efficient' for reading quality).

If most people are keen I can draft up a pipeline for development.

@flux

This sounds interesting. I'm guessing this something that can be worked on together in like...a Google doc I guess? So we can talk out what to cut and what to keep and how to make things flow a little better since rp is way different than writing a book.

[Yankee]

I appreciate the in depth thoughts, co-captain @flux. I agree that the story has come a long way in just three months, it's been a great time and I'm invested in every single person's characters, and I think the options you laid out will be good for keeping it going hopefully until captain Esty's safe return.

I'll put all my thoughts in a hider:

Yankee thoughts

General Continuation:
As far as wealth generation during aid crisis, perhaps that could go to a player vote/opinion. Especially if we pause war/wars during that time, it might be better to pause all mechanics just during that time and focus just on story and dealing with the lack of aid. This would make things a little easier for you, too. The wealth and personnel are generated from drugs or taxes (or other ways), but I think it makes sense if that wealth/personnel that would normally be generated and going to whatever faction rules said districts, to instead go towards the citizens/etc in that district. Like say in a district that makes money with drugs, the "people buying the drugs" (the mechanic itself) has to conserve their money for the now increased cost of food and other necessities that a pause in aid would mean.

Does that make sense? Honestly, I don't mind if the wealth generation continues during the aid crisis, its just something I thought of.

As for Esty's characters, Vincent and Ezra have "unknown" districts (and Vincent was just detained) so I think they would be fine no matter what happens in the end. I would motion for Antonia's Jeweled Bank to be "locked down" though (maybe not with monsters but just super guarded since the jail, police HQ, and mayor's seat of power is there). Doesn't have to only be one or the other, could be mix and match of options 1 and 2.

And for myself, well, yes I will PM you ^^

Game Battles:
Unless everyone agrees to it, I would say we stick with free-form action rather than a dice mechanic. I like the dice rolling when its relevant, but as far as I can tell Esty meant for the battles to be more true to "arena" style writing. Basically, going into the battle without an outcome in mind, writing the fight as it goes with no outline, and determining the winner based on how the writing goes. This is is my first RP together with Esty so I can't speak for her, but while I don't think she would be upset at more dice mechanics in fights or anything, I think her vision was definitely more free form for taking territories.

Going Forward:
I concur that "non-canon"/beach day is a good idea. Will keep people's characters in action so to speak and keep interest while being low stakes, and an option to show a different side to everyone's characters. Will be a lot of fun. I also agree with ERode that maybe it shouldn't go into the main IC section of the RP, so I would be fine with a giant google doc to decide what to do with afterward lol. Or even separate thread...? Making as a present sounds sweet, and commissioned art is above and beyond, so thank you if you do go through with that.

Aid crisis sounds perfect for a mini-event, so all good there. It would really hammer in that Nocturnia is isolated and has unique issues to deal with besides super powered trouble makers. I know that I would love to see people/characters handling that and trying to juggle logistics, hopefully its of interest to everyone else too.

It would also be a good time just to see some nice character writing from everyone as people regroup and talk after the days events and how they plan to handle things moving forward.

You (and me!)
Its clear that you are having fun with and love the setting flux, and you already stepping up with ideas is a good thing. It is understandable though if it turns out you don't think you can, or don't want to, keep a GM-like role indefinitely. In which case, I would be fine with the RP going into a hiatus until Esty is back. You are right in that a lot of the time games like this don't survive a hiatus, but I have confidence we can keep up for a little longer at least. I would really hate to see the hard work everyone put in stop, so we'll see what we can do!

We together have all those pre-written posts to go a little longer at least too, in the interim, and can put those out any time before, during, or after the aid crisis depending on how far that goes.

As for Adel in the long term, I will say that he is in a very unique position in regards to the RP's goals ahaha, but I will leave the details to PM.

Book?
That could be something to work on if people decide we'd rather hiatus/wait, but I'm not sure about the other traditional things that come to mind when you think of "book" like publishing whether just to a different online site. That would be a whole other can of worms (especially when you factor in the players that are no longer with us). Certainly rewriting sections and working together to format chapters and flow might be fun though, as a project in general.

Ultimately I think the direction for Esty's absence is a fine one and hopefully we can keep interest alive until their return. Like I said, personally I got very invested into this RP very fast and I really love reading every post. Though if we do end up needing/preferring a break/hiatus I'll be back for when it kicks off again ^^

[Herald]

You get 3 points for every rule you break. I'll decide which player gets the points if multiple people break the same rule based on creative and comedic value with runners up for 2 and 1 points. The player with the most points at the end earns the honor of having ruined martins day.
(Or you can just write your characters doing whatever they want, interacting with whoever, however. Enjoy~!)

Leon(cowardly lion voice): B-b-b-b-break th-the ru-r-r-rules? I could never do that!

[The Savant]

Alright, I'll break this down into sections with headings so hopefully it makes it easier to read. There will be a summary in the next post too if this is too much. Please feel free to ask me any questions or make any suggestions.

Order of contents:
- General continuation of the game (Peronsel/Wealth, The War and Esty characters).
- District conflict resolution (Supplement rules if required, otherwise as agreed by players)
- Beach Episode (Fun little piece and time to regroup ideas/direction)
- Aid Crisis round (minor story impact event)
- Me in this situation (An unexpected turn of events)

- : Peronsel/Wealth generation, The War and Estylwen character territories : -

The beach episode will not acquire anyone Wealth or Personel as it is an out of character event. The end of the Aid Crisis round will continue standard play and I'll maintain the 0'th post in terms of Wealth and Personel income. (Unless agreed otherwise by players).

Regarding the war. In my mind it does not feel right to play out Estylwen's characters (Ezra Blackheart, Antonia Franchesca, Vincenzo “Vincent” Accardo) when she has worked so hard to build them and establish their presence in the world. For this reason I think it best to hold the war and interactions with Esty's characters for that of a month (longer if we can easily manage it). After this period we will decide as a group what to do moving forward, voting on options we place on the table and failing that I'll make the call. I propose two options at this point (and welcome others to propose solutions as well):

Option 1: We classify Estylwen's area's as locked down. Writing this should be easy, @SporkoBug's monsters overrun the area, military assumes martial law and occupies it etc, the lock down cleared once Esty returns.

Option 2: After a wait period Esty's territory becomes free game. I'll write resistance but otherwise it'd be like acquiring any empty territory. Once Esty returns those territories or some territories of the strongest players would undergo a "revolution" of sorts to return Esty's characters to the game with land to fight from.

In my opinion, option 2 would be best but relies on the good will of the strongest players to accept the loss of some territories to allow @Estylwen's return when she gets back. This would ensure that the territories don't get left behind through no upgrades or lack of geopolitical activity. Option 1 is easier, but leaves swarths of area inaccessible in stasis.

I propose these options so everyone can continue playing until her return. In my experience, projects like this that go on hiatus for extended periods rarely pick up again, so I hope my options allow Nocturnia to continue while keeping the seat warm for Esty so to speak.

Regardless of what is decided, Esty's characters will be written aside so they are free to return with her and free characters currently locked in interactions with them (Example: Ezra holding Adel, will PM @Yankee and @ERode about that. Anyone else locked in Esty interactions let me know and we'll figure a route out of it if necessary).

With that being said, onto that of faction vs faction conflict.

- : Game battles and District wars : -

My experience so far with fighting for districts has been that so long as the aggressor has the manpower/wealth to invade, they can initiate the event. From there the two parties write the battle and more or less amicably agree who the victor is through the writing (Esty explained it as a gacha game, but with no notes on actual mechanics, this is my best interpretation).

If this does not work moving forward, I'll propose a ruleset to roll for district victories so they can be rolled for and settled that way. Otherwise players are more than welcome to continue writing battle conclusions as they agree outside of dice and chance.

Draft district dice roll rules in hider:

Draft district dice roll battle rule

The aggressor pays as they would normally do to acquire the district. This adds that many personel to their pool. The defender can abandon the district or dedicate personel as they choose. Players can then negotiate so many more personel to the fight (1 Wealth = 3 Personel) in turns until both pass adding troops.

Final roll values will be D20 + wagered personel if decided to be a single roll. Otherwise turn by turn rolls where the roller inflicts the D6 casualties per turn (or decided upon dice for larger fights), fight ended when a player loses all dedicated personel and characters or withdraws. Characters would roll D6 vs, the character incapacitated if rolled lower than the other party, but always inflicting those casualties they rolled.

Example scenario:
Khor the attacker(A) has invaded Adel the defender(D) in Silverside. Silverside is an aristocratic district so Khor(A) requires 20 wealth and 40 personel to invade. The 40 personel go to Khor's(A) dedicated count, Adel(D) chooses to add 30 personel. Khor(A) adds another 10 personel to reach 50 total personel. Adel(D) spend 5 wealth to add 15 personel to reach 45 personel. Khor(A) passes further reinforcement. Adel(D) passes further reinforcement. Battle begins.

Single dice roll rule:
Khor(A) rolls a D20 for 5, her D20 result(5) + 50 personel = 55, Adel(D) rolls a D20 for 18, his D20 result(18) + 45 = 63
Adel(D) has successfully defended his district, losing 45 personel. Khor(A) has been defeated and loses 50 personel.

Turn by Turn dice roll rules:
Khor(A) and Adel(D) agree to roll a D20 instead of a D6 to speed up the fight. As the attacker Khor goes first, rolling a 13. Adel(D) loses 13 personel leaving him with 45 - 13 = 32 personel left, he rolls a 20. Khor(A) now has 50 - 20 = 30 men. This continues until Khor(A) has no men and Adel(D) has 10. Khor(A) decides to join the fight in character rather than retreat. Khor(A) rolls a 13 and Adel(D) rolls a 15. Khor(A) successfully wipes out all remaining troops but cannot conquer the district as she is incapacitated. Adel(D) may decide Khor's(A) fate.

The above rules are only there for players who wish to use them or settle disputes in battles if required.

- : Beach episode : -

I propose we take two weeks minimum to develop this (9th March - 23rd March) as both a well earned fun break and time for Esty to return. If anyone has direct contact or alternative details it'd be a really nice piece if they could send it to her as a PDF for her to read in her spare time.

I've also contacted an artist friend to hopefully commission and help co-create a beach portrait of all the current major characters. Something of a "Best Wishes/Get Well Soon" postcard and little gift for everyone for putting so much into this so far. Worst case we'll have the PDF at the very least. Once it's done or close to finished we'll decide if it goes in the IC posted clearly as an INTERMISSION - ALT UNIVERSE piece, in the OOC or somewhere else entirely.

In terms of the beach piece. Here's the setting:

Martin Luthin is a lifeguard, but he's better known as a dick who kicks over sandcastles. He likes the rules, and it's time to ruin Martin's day.

You get 3 points for every rule you break. I'll decide which player gets the points if multiple people break the same rule based on creative and comedic value with runners up for 2 and 1 points. The player with the most points at the end earns the honor of having ruined martins day.
(Or you can just write your characters doing whatever they want, interacting with whoever, however. Enjoy~!)

RULES TO BE BROKEN:
1 - No open fires/flammable sources.
2 - No loud music/noises.
3 - No firearms/weapons/explosives.
4 - No hunting.
5 - No vehicles.
6 - No camping.
7 - No Animals.
8 - No drugs.
9 - No surfing.
10 - Do not feed the wildlife.

Also, PM me or post in the OOC mentioning me with what your main player character would wear to the beach and me and friend will get to starting the art piece for the beach episode to be sent along with the final piece for Esty and everyone here. We can get char refs from the portraits but further detail is always appreciated~. A character brief should include:
- Character clothing.
- Character pose.
- Character activity (optional).

For example: Khor wears a full wetsuit with a scuba rebreather and purple/magenta stripes. She's intense in a comedic sense with her pose. She's throwing Adel into the surf.

- : Aid Crisis round : -

If Esty isn't back after the 'beach episode' round, we'll continue with the Aid Crisis IC to keep things rolling. The aim is for this to be a significant event that doesn't alter Esty's overall plot but provides players the opportunity to continue their dominion of Nocturnia. The reason for this is to avoid a long Hiatus (unless it is agreed upon by all players) to avoid the RP from dying out.

At this stage I'll likely PM all players at the start of it inquiring any plotlines they had with Esty and where they'd like their characters to go/what plots they'd like to ensure the RP is tailored to peoples preferences (to the limit of staying in the lines of Nocturnia's setting).

Ultimately for me this would mean my characters would also take a background role and my territories would be up for grabs by anyone as if they were free so I can focus on maintaining the world's reactions to or supporting player's actions. Khor, Antonio and Akir will still play their roles due to their place in the story now but can assumed to be 'factionless'.

This would also begin deviating from Esty's ultimate vision for Nocturnia. I'll do everything I can to respect her work and ideas but I simply just don't know everything she had planned and my additions will inevitable change the course somewhat. My efforts will be in the best of faith, but even my style of writing compared to hers is going to make things feel different, so I apologize in advance if that becomes more noticeable over time.

Finally, my position in this!

- : Flux the accidental show runner : -

Me and Esty have discussed deep plot points, no complete reveals but I have a general idea as to the source of power and how to make that a wild good event should players go for it (it'll shine best as players pooling resources and going together to find it). As for leaving the city, that's at least fairly self explanatory and pieces writing for the military have left me well equipped to handle that one.

On this though, I have no notes, no over arching plot, no idea outside what is mostly posted in the OOC first post about what and how Nocturnia is. It'll take me some time to develop some basic framework to follow (the beach episode will hopefully be long enough) but I'll also reach out to players for plots/developments they'd like to see to weave in.

Moving forward I'll coordinate the game/story according to arcs/chapters. This arc being The War. Once it concludes I'll see what direction everyone is going in and decide the next crisis/challenge to overcome until players are satisfied to write an ultimate ending or exit for their character/s. For example the next Arc could be Finding the Source of Power, if the prerequisite is paid for.

Finally, my own situation. I've been working a bit back and forth with Esty on this and have committed a fair amount of effort, but in open honesty I'm not currently sure if I'm in the position to run this indefinitely. I can do this for a month without impacting myself in the foreseeable future but beyond I simply won't know until we get there.

At that point, I'll either confirm myself able to continue or at least hopefully hold long enough to pass the reins again should it be necessary.

- : PHEW : -

Well this was a long damn post wasn't it? Don't worry I'll have a summary below.

@flux

I feel like Asterion might break two of those rules... probably four. Maybe five. What if he wants to surf?

Also, I like the read over of everything.

However, I think it wouldn't make sense to keep giving wealth and personnel (Erode brought that up to) so I don't know if expanding the fruit gardens/patches of plants would make sense for Asterion and his men to do.