Crescent City: Mods -

GAME FAQ

GAME FAQ - RPG FAQ

GAME FAQ
Q. When is the game set?
A. The game is set in real time. August 12th 2010 in real time is August 12th 2010 in game.

Q. Are there specific rules on PBs?
A. The sky is nearly the limit when it comes to choosing a PB. Please make sure that the look of the PB fits the age of the character. As it is a bit difficult to find a PB the same age or close to that of the character, your PB can be within 5 years of age of your character. The mods reserve the right to ask you to choose another PB if we do not feel they are age appropriate for the character.

Q. Can my character be related to characters from the Harry Potter books?
A. No. Characters may be descendants of victims of the witch trials in Salem as well as witches in other parts of the country (excluding Marie Laveau). They may not have any relation to the characters from the Harry Potter series, other fandoms, or celebrities.

Q. How old can my character be?
A. We are only permitting characters for the Freshman through Transitional (year 13) years at CCI. The birthdate cutoff for admission is September 1st. Students born later than that will matriculate the following year.

Students for the 2011-2012 school year as freshmen will need to be born between September 2nd 1996 and August 31st 1997.

Q. Why is there a 13th grade?
A. A thirteenth grade has been put into place so that those who join the game playing seniors have the opportunity to play them longer. Housing is separate from that of the regular house dormitories and they have more free time in their schedule for electives or specialized classes to help them with any post-graduation plans.

Q. Are the houses the same as Hogwarts?
A. In theory, yes. There are some details that differ from the four standard Hogwarts houses, but the essence of each is the same. Please note that unlike it is presented in Harry Potter, the house of Lalaurie (most related to Slytherin) is not simply a house full of villains. Nasty characters can be in any of the four houses.

Q. Can my character be from another magical school?
A. Only if it is from a school within the US. CCI does not accept transfers from International schools such as Hogwarts, Beauxbaton’s, or Durmstrang. Students can be born and raised in another country or in the US on a visa, but they would have had to been within the US and attending CCI’s Lower Institute (6th-8th grades) before entering the high school years.

Q. Are there other schools in the country? Where does it pull its student base?
A. There are indeed other schools scattered around the country. CCI accepts all US citizens though the majority of its student base are from the southern states. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of students that aren’t.

Q. How do characters get back and forth from school?
A. There are several means in which a student can travel. Locally, students are allowed to have their own cars on campus as long as they are in possession of a Muggle driving license. There are several Floo stations located within cities, much like bus or train stations, that students can Floo to. Taxis may not be called to pick up or drop students off at the school, nor can students apparate from and to campus.

Getting from school to home, if they are not local, also has its options. They can travel by Muggle methods such as cars, buses, trains, or planes. They can also Floo to a station close to home and obtain transportation from there.

Q. Why isn’t Blood Status mentioned at all?
A. Unlike in wizarding Britain, blood status isn’t as important in the States. There are certainly traditional wizarding pureblood families that look down on those of lower blood, but it is not going to become a large factor in the game. The wizarding and Muggle worlds in our game are fairly well integrated, while the Muggles are still in the dark, and therefore blood purity is not as much of a concern.

Q. What pets/familiars are allowed?
A. Animals that are also permitted at Hogwarts are permitted here. This includes pets like cats, toads, owls, and anything small and harmless. Dogs and Crups are not permitted due to the higher maintenance and damage they may cause. Each dormitory has an owlery.

Q. How muggle is the school (phones, laptops, cars)?
A. While the school and wizarding socity within the city are very well steeped in tradition and have been for many years, recently the students have become more integrated in Muggle culture. Laptops are allowed on school campus with free Wi-Fi. Cell phones are permitted on campus though they are not usable during class hours. Students are permitted to have cars. Each dormitory room has a landline phone as well as televisions, and many students have video gaming consoles.

Please note that Muggle devices such as iPods or laptops cannot be repaired or modified with magic. Any attempt to mix the two will result in the destruction of the item. Magic and electronics do not mix.

Q. How do holidays work at CCI? What are the religious observances?
A. CCI has time off for the standard holidays (Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.) as well as holidays celebrated around New Orleans. The school operates on a long year opposed to a two semester year, and the students are given 2-3 week breaks in the spring, summer, and over the holiday winter season. A calendar for in-game events and holidays will be posted each month for player reference.

Students are permitted to take a day off of school due to religious observances (Wiccan and Pagan religions included). All work missed for the day still must be made up for the absence.

Q. What are the rules on underage magic?
A. Like in the UK, the US has a Decree on Underage Magic. Persons under the age of 17 are not permitted to use magic outside of school unless it is a matter of self-defense. Violations will be noted and depending on the severity or number of violations, the student will either obtain warnings for the violation or face expulsion from CCI.

If the student lives in a magical household, they are permitted to use magic while in their own home. Students who live with Muggles are not permitted to use magic (please note that Harry was unable to use magic while living with the Dursleys).

Q. Can my character apparate?
A. Once a student turns 17, they are considered and adult in the eyes of the wizarding community. At that age they are able to go out and obtain an apparition license after they have taken some level of training (classes can be taken at a local branch of the Administration of American Wizards office). They cannot be self-taught and the class is required in order to obtain the license. Students with apparition licenses are not permitted to apparate on campus.

Q. Can my character have a baby?
A. It is not uncommon for the older female members of the student body in many schools to have had children. CCI does not have a day care and does not allow student children on campus. A character is allowed to have a child, however, the child must be raised by family (or another source) off campus.

The number of students with children will be limited to 3 students. Please ask one of the Mods if you are interested to see if all the places have been filled, or check the Capped list on our application page.

Q. Are students required to pick electives?
A. Not entirely. Students are only required to take the core classes for their year. As a player, you are not required to assign elective classes for your character. They are able to take electives as they wish or use the slot for a free period. The exception is in later years (12th and 13th grades) when there are a minimum number of classes that must be taken.

Many electives can only be taken once, as the curriculum doesn’t change. Electives that don’t have more than one year notated are one-shot classes.

RPG FAQ
Q. How do you determine whether or not a student gets caught doing something bad?
A. If a student is sneaking around campus after curfew, engaging in inappropriate behavior with another student, or other such things where they could be caught breaking a school rule a roll will be made by a mod (with a witness as well as the parties involved present) to determine whether they are caught or not.

Please note that if the fact the characters are doing something against school rules is not brought to the attention of the mods so that a roll can be made, a mod has the right to pause a scene in progress to ensure that the roll is made to determine the outcome. Also please be aware that there will be in game consequences for actions taken by a student. Characters will not get a free pass on getting away with everything.

Q. How do you determine the outcome of sports games?
A. A moderator will roll for the outcome of the game via AIM chat and add in modifiers. Screencaps are taken of these rolls in case of dispute. For more information on rolls, see our rules page.

Q. Why do I need to post the character information in my journal post-acceptance?
A. For other people to be able to read about your character. It is there for the knowledge of possible applicants as well as current players who would like to know how their own characters will get along with yours.

Q. How do journals work in game?
A. A very wonderful thing called the Worldwide Wizarding Web. It functions very similarly to the Muggle internet, though on a smaller scale and only accessible by magical folk. Journals can be "charmed" to be private, public, or viewable to only a certain few. If no filters have been made, the entry is considered public and anyone can read it. By the clever use of brackets or LJ cuts, you can control who can see and react from an In Character perspective.

For example, a private filter is: [Private] and [/Private] when finished. If you want only one or a few characters to see what is between the filter, you may with use their [Name] or a [Private: Character able to read]

Q. How do ~~strikethroughs~~ work in game?
A. Regular strikethroughs ~~like this~~ mean that the words underneath are crossed out, but are still readable to other characters. Bolded strikethroughs ~~such as this~~ notate that the words underneath cannot be read by anyone.

Q. How are scenes done?
A. Scenes are performed in one of two ways. The first way is via a thread, which has the initial opening posted in a journal post to the In Character community and the scene goes on via comments. The other option is to do a scene via a log through a messenger program such as AIM. Logs, like threads, must be posted in the In Character community.

Q. What does an “Open Thread” mean?
A. Open threads are usually posted by one character and it means that any other character is welcome to jump in. Simply place your character in a location that can be accessed by other characters.

Q. What if I want to drop a character?
A. Contact the mods if you would like to drop a character. Also post a notice to the OOC community to inform any players that may have had relations with yours. You have a three day grace period to recind the drop, but after three days a character is dropped permanently. If you wish to take that character up again, you will have to reapply with them and the slate is wiped clean.

Q. I want to apply for a new character, but the PB I want is already on hold.
A. If a PB is on hold for a prospective applicant and that hold is still in effect, that PB is off limits to other incoming applications. If the hold expires the PB is once again up for grabs.

Q. How do i do journal cuts?
A. Journal cuts are a very simple HTML tag. Messenger logs are to be placed under a cut, as well as introductions to threads. Large posts (such as the character profiles and any storyline charts) should also be placed under a cut as to not blow up peoples friends lists.

The code for a journal cut is as follows:

Q. What is the format for threads and logs?
A. When posting logs or threads, please use the following format:

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