CONGRATULATIONS Hello, good sir/ma'am. I am Overseer Kyrus, and you have been selected to be a part of our social Experiment. The purpose of the Spherus Magna Social Observation Experiment is fairly self-explanatory; to isolate a large group of civilians, introduce scenarios into the Control Zone, record the reactions of individuals in the Experiment Logs, and then categorise them into a number of Archetypes, which will be used for future experiments. However, to keep the population of the Control Zone in check, we need Supervisors. Up to five Volunteers, people who have stepped up to the mark and offered to be placed inside the Control Zone, will be placed under your watchful eye. It is your job to observe and record their daily lives in the Experiment Log, for the purposes of gathering data on how people would react to different scenarios, as well as to help create different Personality and Physical Archetypes. The Control Zone is a sealed dome designed to simulate a Day/Night cycle and Weather in a small suburban settlement. All Volunteers are given separate housing, although some may choose to live together if requested. Houses are equipped with standard facilities, kitchen, living room, lavatory, etc. In place of pantries and refrigerators, however, there are food and drink dispensers. Ingredients may be ordered through the dispensers, if Volunteers wish to prepare their own food or drinks. Houses are also equipped with a Terminal with which receive news of current events and communicate with others inside the Control Zone, as well as send and receive mail to those outside. Unbeknownst to the Volunteers, the inside of the Control Zone is completely reconfigurable. Buildings can be instantly constructed or deconstructed in the event of an overabundance or scarcity of Volunteers. This can be used to simulate a wide-scale disaster in one of the many scenarios we have planned. Hardlight-Hologram Projectors are also placed all over the Control Zone, so that we can simulate scenarios involving civilians without the need to hire actors, and directly address the inhabitants of the Control Zone. I myself will be writing entries in the Logs concerning major events in the Control Zone. I also have the authority to write about individual Volunteers, independent of other Supervisors. SUMMARY You are a Supervisor in an Experiment to determine how different people would react in different given circumstances. Volunteers have been sealed inside a giant, reconfigurable dome, in which we introduce variables and scenarios into the society. You are to record their lives in the Experiment Logs, which will be used to collect data on different members of society, and group them into Archetypes. MAP Note: This is what happens when I don't oversee the cartography process. Remind me to fire him. This is an incredibly simplified representation of the Control Zone. As you can see, the outer rim is a forest, to obscure the wall on the lower portion of the dome separating the Experiment from the rest of the world. Inward from that is the Housing Ring, where all accommodation is located. Further in from that is the Market District, where, of course, all shops are located. This can range from specialised food not available from our dispensers, to tools, materials and other specialised items that a Volunteer may need for a hobby or other such project. Dominating the middle of the Control Zone is the Central Tower, a city hall where Volunteers gather for official announcements from the Overseers, and Great Spirit Park, a public park for purposes of recreation. VOLUNTEER PROFILES NAME:(What is the name of your Volunteer? Please, no impersonators of important figures)SPECIES:(What species are they? Toa, Matoran, Glatorian, or Agori?)GENDER:(Self-explanatory)APPEARANCE:(What do they look like?)POWERS/ABILITIES:(What exceptional talents do they possess?)EQUIPMENT:(What do they frequently carry on your person?)PERSONALITY:(What are they like as a person?)BIOGRAPHY:(Who are they, and who were they?) SPECIES GUIDE ToaThe only species allowed in the Experiment capable of using Elemental Abilities, the sudden abundance of Toa has downgraded their status from folk-hero to guard or other such muscle-for-hire jobs. MatoranThe thinkers of the population, they are mostly seen in laboratories and workshops, inventing and tinkering with tech. Physically smaller than Agori, but slightly more intelligent. GlatorianPhysically strong, and skilled in the use of tools (and, if need be, weaponry). AgoriThe working men, they take on the task of physical labour. Larger than Matoran, but of average intelligence. NOTES If a Volunteer wishes to bring a custom-made Kanohi into the Experiment, it must be made within reason. Illegal Kanohi include the Ignika, Vahi, Avohkii, Kraakhan, Mask of Creation, Olmak Sanok, Komau, Mohtrek, Clairvoyance, Aki, Rua, Tryna, and Mask of Possibilities. I'm not even sure where a Volunteer could get one of these. Illegal Species include those not in the Species Guide above. Illegal Elements include Sand, Rock, Light, and Shadow. A maximum of five Volunteers are allowed in a Supervisor Group. RULES First of all, all established, unspoken rules of society still apply (BZPRPG rules). Supervisors are asked to be truthful in the depiction of their Volunteer's routines and interactions That said, no Supervisor is allowed to extensively log or "bunny" the activity of a Volunteer from another Supervisor Group. The same applies to the (hopefully unlikely) depiction of battle. Supervisors are however permitted to briefly comment on Volunteers outside their group (no bunnying/autohitting). Supervisors are asked to clearly define between Volunteer Perspective (VP) and Supervisor Perspective (SP) posts. That said, no purely Supervisor Perspective posts. We have a Coffee Room for that (no OOC posts in the gameplay topic). Volunteers are disadvised from fighting the Civil Protection officers, as they are well-trained, and you will probably end up minus one Volunteer at the end of the conflict (don't kill large groups of guards/NPCs at a time). Volunteers are not given any knowledge of the inner workings of the Experiment. If your Volunteer(s) tell others of important Experiment data, assume they are lying. (no metagaming). Supervisors are asked not to "troll" or "flame" the Experiment Logs. This will not be tolerated. Insults directed at other Supervisors will also be grounds for punishment. Respect the Overseers, for their word is law. If we disagree with you, it's likely for a good reason. Overseers reserve the right to injure (severely or otherwise) or even remove Volunteers for purposes of advancing the Experiment. It's in their contract, they knew what they were getting into. PUNISHMENTSSupervisors are to abide the rules. If rules are disregarded, the punishments will escalate as follows; FIRST OFFENCE: Your first and only warning. Heed our advice at this point.SECOND OFFENCE: One of your Volunteers will be grievously injured.THIRD OFFENCE: One of your Volunteers will be removed from the Experiment, and any requests to have another Volunteer join your group will be denied.FOURTH OFFENCE: All of your Volunteers will be removed. You may have one more Volunteer join your group if you wish to gain favour with us again, after which we will allow you three others.FIFTH OFFENCE: You will be banned from participating in the Experiment permanently. Please, don't let it come to this. It is also strongly advised that you use good grammar, simply because it annoys the heck out of me. Please use good grammar, for the sake of your fellow Supervisors' collective sanity. Welcome to the Spherus Magna Social Observation Experiment. Please do well. The future of Spherus Magna depends on it. Okay, this is pretty much the ONLY part of this RPG that will be out of character, along with the various notes dotted around the place. All other interaction with me or my admins will be done in-character. Okay, so, as you've probably gathered, you are a Supervisor. No, not you, acting through a character, are a Supervisor, I mean YOU. As a MEMBER OF THIS WEBSITE and THIS RPG. You will type as you would type, not as your character would. You will make comments based on what you think, not what your Volunteer thinks. Your display name is your codename within the Experiment, for reasons of privacy. You are you. You will create our story from the viewpoint of you, experiencing the elaborate scenarios that I and other players will concoct. On the surface, this will be played as any traditional forum RPG, you make things up, you write things down, others write things depending on what you write, etcetera. However, you will be doing so from the viewpoint of an Experiment Supervisor (how many times do I have to say it?). And in time, maybe you yourself will become a victim of my game. Enjoy yourselves, and try not to drown in the self-referential nature of the Spherus Magna Social Observation Experiment.
