Office of the Dean
1 Raven's Loop
Pinebox, TX
Dear Student,
Welcome, and congratulations on your acceptance as an incoming Freshman student at East Texas University. I would like to take this opportunity to direct you to information that will make your transition to ETU as smooth as possible.
First, I would like to remind you that all Freshman and Sophomores are required to live in on-campus housing. This both ensures your safety and helps you build friendships that will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Go to fightingravens.com to fill out your dorm application and submit your deposit.
Next, I would like to remind you that Freshman orientation, which we call Sweat Lodge, coincides with dorm check-in on the third weekend in August. Please plan to attend one of the sessions on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening. At Sweat Lodge you'll learn about the importance of campus safety, our university traditions and fight song, the Raven's Honor Code, and advice from Seniors. The Saturday night Sweat Lodge ends with free pizza and a show by local rockers A Jury of Robots.
Again, let me congratulate you on your first step into a larger world. College is what you make of it, and an acceptance to ETU is a great start!
Go Ravens!
President James Nelson
Congratulations! You've been accepted into one of the colleges rated in the Top 20 Best Education Value for a public university. It services over 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students in almost 60 fields and more than 35 countries. It has a nationally ranked ROTC program and was recently awarded a grant to become a Homeland Defense Training School. It has a very active Journalism department and it's own student run television and radio stations. It also offers nearly any amenity a student could need right on campus including an on campus movie theater, bowling alley, art gallery, well-equipped gym and recreational sports center, paintball field, bookstore, convenience store, food court, emergency care, bus transit system, and more.
All of this is located right outside the quaint town of Pinebox, nestled on the remains of a once-vast, dense forest called The Big Thicket - which ranges across Texas, Louisiana, and beyond. The area boasts numerous hiking and biking trails as well as excellent fishing and water sports opportunities at nearby Lake Greystone. The town itself is barely bigger than the college, home to only slightly more than 19,000 permanent residents - not counting the 13,000 students. There are dozens of dining opportunities in town that are a mix of national restaurant chains and local favorites. Despite hosting a nationally ranked university, Pinebox has managed to maintain its rural roots, something many students have said is one of the best things about ETU.
That's the basic setting for you. What you need to know is that this is a college based game where all the characters will be starting out as Freshmen. For all intensive purposes, the town and ETU are both your average everyday - run of the mill - type places. But you'll learn quickly that's not the case. There's more to it than meets the eye, and graduating from ETU doesn't simply mean passing your exams - you have to survive. Strange things go bump in the night in the Big Thicket, and live beneath the surface at Lake Greystone; unfortunately, your biggest concern can't just be pass your classes or survive the monsters - you have to do them both.
There are quite a few restrictions I'm going to be placing on characters - for now - but it won't last for long. Your character can be any background, any origin, almost any country, major, whatever....However, they should be fresh out of high school and
normal. That means no coming in with magical powers or super great at anything right off the bat, though these things may come up.
Feel free to pitch concepts if you're not sure if it would be okay, and definitely ask questions. If you're not sure about something, definitely ask first before going through the effort of a write up without knowing if it will pass or not.
At least 3 paragraphs per post. I am looking for quality over quantity, so if you only manage one or two but they're good and drive interaction forward and/or show character development, I won't mind it.
I try not to ask for certain things about a character because I believe they come out best in actual RP. That said, if there is something stated in your sheet - that is fact and if it just randomly changes/is ignored, I will ask you to edit your post. Please note that a character evolving - like a pacifist finally giving up nonviolence - should do so in a way that shows there is character growth and potentially even some internal struggle for it.
This is a third person, past tense RP.
I am all for player suggestions and plotting. That being said, don't just add something to the RP without clearing it with me first. Anything that would impact the general setting, plot, or several characters should be cleared with me (and definitely the people involved) before it happens. General courtesy, ya know.
Planning character interactions ahead of time should be avoided. I don't mind if you guys 'what if' stuff, but I'd rather not see any elaborate plots worked out between two characters - it has a way of making things seem more scripted/stiff.
Please no more than 3 characters per person. If there isn't a lot of interest and someone would like to play more - I may remove this. Definitely do not put in more than you can handle. I'd rather one character that is well written than four characters that barely manage to get a min requirement and/or have no substance to their posts.
As this is advanced, all the normal advanced requirements of attempting for proper spelling and grammar are expected. Follow the other site rules, and if you want to do more than just fade to black between two characters - take it to PM.
Realism in characters is not just a request. If your character has blue hair and purple eyes - I want to know their natural hair and eye color and if it's a wig or dye and if the contacts are prescription, irritate their eyes, and/or are special order. If you think they might be tiptoeing the line of improbable/outlandish - please send me a PM with an overview of them.
Please try to post at least every other day. I know people have lives (two jobs myself) so things come up. If you know you'll be busy for a few days post and won't be able to RP, at least give us a heads up. I will message you if you disappear for more than three days without even a word in OOC - especially if you're active elsewhere - and let you know you may end up left behind, or your characters may be killed off.
Death and disfigurement is possible in this RP. Please be aware of that. I will not purposefully set up for something horrible to happen to someone, but sometimes people lose limbs and eyes or are horribly scarred when they manage to survive mortal wounds like having their guts torn out by a ravenous werewolf. (If you want something dramatic like that to happen to one of your characters, that's definitely something to ask me about rather than just doing yourself in thread.)
I will have more information to provide when I make the OOC. But that's just a bit about everything basic. It's kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Supernatural for the setting and you guys are all making characters that are the Willows and Zanders of it.
