Test Drive 2.1

Welcome to your tutorial.

For this Test Drive, you are welcome to select any role(s) you please. However, the roles played here will not necessarily carry over into the game itself. If you would like to keep your TDM threads canon despite this discrepancy, you may. From an IC perspective, the TDM is a ‘tutorial’ in which the characters are introduced to their setting, and learn/teach others the mechanics of the game. It will terminate after two weeks whether or not the plot has come to completion.

You wake up in a small town, your bed warm but your body cold. A faint blue light fades from your room, the remnants of the system printing you into your new setting. The ringing in your ears will soon be replaced by a soft, inhuman female voice. “Hello, and welcome to Corwin, Indiana. The year is 2008, and while technology has not completely reached this place, you have been provided with a cell phone at your bedside. Please pay close attention to the upcoming instructions regarding your role.You are not permitted to discuss your role with anyone, at any time. Obedience ensures an enjoyable and immersive experience for our audience. We hope you enjoy your stay in this idyllic town.

Everyone in Corwin will be given a role. Most roles will be simple. Some will be a local: someone who was born and raised in this town, with no intention to leave. Maybe you’re still in school, or maybe you own one of the district’s many fine, small businesses. Others will be tourists: those staying in Corwin for a quiet vacation away from the hustle of their home cities. They may experience some culture shock in the small town environment, but they’re eager to explore the quaint opportunities this hamlet has to offer. More specific roles are available below, and build atop of the roles mentioned above.

GENERAL PROMPTS

Cold Nights
Here in Corwin, there’s no reason for anything to stay open much past 9 pm. The next day comes bright and early, and most residents of this town dedicate themselves staying well rested. Unfortunately, this means there are no services at the hotel front desk after hours. If you’ve lost your key, you’ll just have to find other lodging until the morning. Trying to catch some shut-eye streetside is risky - at this time of year, the weather can dip below freezing at night, frost dusting every surface come morning. Locals aren’t spared the headache, either. Those irresponsible enough to stay out late and lose their own keys won’t have much luck calling the police station for help. Ostensibly, there’s always someone on-call, but it seems the night shift officer prioritizes his sleep as much as everyone else. You’re either stuck outside, or left waking your neighbors with a knock at their door.
This is the Only Bar in Town
Corwin has four streets, and only one bar. A source of community for the adults of the town, the bar is located in a cozy venue, filled with wooden furnishings. Here, any spirits can be purchased without judgement, and enjoyed at the bar and small tables alike. For entertainment, this bar possesses a single old Sinbad™ pinball machine, a pool table, and a dart board. No need to ask the bartender for the equipment, it’s right where the last folks left it. Overall, there’s nothing to boast of here, other than the unshakably consistent friendly service and the odd smell in the bathrooms.

However, with the holidays approaching, the bar is advertising its weekly “Holiday Trivia Contest”! Compete in a tournament to prove your knowledge and win a chance to take home the town’s largest, locally raised turkey! If that’s not enough to entice you, there’s also a $250 cash prize to go along with it.
Make a Wish
The center of this small town is adorned with an old, stone fountain. With clear waters lit up by holiday lights, the display is a comforting sight for locals and tourists alike. Surrounded by stone benches, this is the perfect location to stop for a rest.

A plaque on the fountain reads: Make a Wish - all donations flow back into the community. Flip in a coin and try for yourself. Superstition says managing to land your coin in the very top basin of the fountain ensures your desire will be met. Many have tried, and most have failed. The biggest pool of the fountain is littered with coins, some of which aren’t from around here. Of course, you wouldn’t know that unless you’ve gone and fished them out, would you?
Send to 8 People
Some receive the message during the day, and others in the dead of the night. The sender has been blocked, leaving only a cryptic message:

(1/2) in two weeks the one u love and thinks ur cute will kiss you at 8pm...to come tru u must send this message to 8 other ppl in the half hour you read this

(2/2) ...if not bad luck will fall upon u… i got this message and knew it was fake but it wasnt and i failed a test and broke my arm….u have 30 mins!!!

What appears to be a silly child’s prank is easy to dismiss for most, except the bad luck mentioned in the text is very real. Those who do not send the message out within 30 minutes will soon be met with a terrible misfortune - whether that be being forced to pay for a round of drinks or slipping on a patch of ice and injuring themselves. Next time you get the message, think twice about ignoring it.
Wildcard
In addition to the prompts above, please feel free to check this setting’s information page. All areas currently described there are accessible, and may be used in TDM threads. We will be adding more to this page when the Corwin plot officially begins on December 1st, 2018.
TUTORIAL ROLES
Vandal (Local or Tourist): At least once every twenty-four hours, you are compelled to graffiti some part of the town with the above image. There is no artistic ability required for this role - once you have selected a location, your body will move by itself to adorn the town with this illustration. If you do not complete one mural a day, you will begin to suffer consequences. Additionally, as you are breaking the law, you must avoid being discovered and/or being apprehended at all costs.

Buddy Cops (x2) (Locals Only): A pair of police officers are on the case of the recent defacing that threatens to ruin the small town’s pristine scenery. One of you is incredibly offended by the gall of this serial vandal, and the other isn’t very interested in doing much other than staking out and eating snacks. Despite this dynamic, you are both determined to catch this perpetrator one way or another, and book them for their crimes. Failure to pursue the criminal will result in consequences. In addition to this particular case, you are charged with addressing any other crimes or public concerns in Corwin.

Drunk (Local or Tourist): You have a terrible headache, but the only way to alleviate your pain is to drink. A lot. You have an open tab at every establishment that sells alcohol, and somehow they allow you to add as much as you like to it. Your alcohol tolerance isn’t altered by this role, nor are the consequences of drinking too much. It’s all a balancing act: drinking the right amount, and staying standing.

Relentlessly Suspicious (Local or Tourist): You cannot resist any opportunity to arouse suspicion about yourself. You will never outright claim to have perpetrated any crimes, but you may make sympathetic comments about the vandal, allude to your huge spray paint collection, or be caught loitering near crime scenes without an alibi. Your propensity to act sketchy-as-hell is not limited to the current vandalism plaguing your town - for example, you may find yourself making comments only a kidnapper would make. Failure to raise eyebrows or passing up an opportunity to leave suspicion in the minds of others will be met with consequences.

Gossip (Local Only): You act as if you know everything there is to know about everyone in this town. Maybe you do - you certainly know more than most. You cannot resist a chance to eavesdrop, or to ask intrusive questions. Once armed with the town’s juicy secrets, you must spill them. This may be in conversation, in fliers posted around town, or in mass-texts sent from a blocked number. The means of communication doesn’t matter. If you try to keep a secret, or do not pursue an opportunity to learn more about another, you will suffer consequences.

In addition to these roles, you may take up ownership of any of the local businesses mentioned on the setting page.
SETTING GLITCHES

Too Close for Comfort - You are unable to speak without touching another person. The contact does not need to be skin to skin, and you do not need to touch the person you are talking to. Without this connection, you are mute, and must rely on other means of communication.

Midnight Midnight Midnight - No matter how hard you try, you cannot sleep. Night after night, lying down leaves you restless. Fatigue will occur in waves, sometimes overwhelming, and sometimes replaced by a state of ‘slap happy’ mania.

Please, I’m Starving - If you see or smell food, you will be unable to resist the urge to eat it. Whether it’s on your plate, across the room, or behind closed doors, you cannot stop until it’s gone. You’ll never get full, though eating will sate your immediate hunger until you’re exposed to food again. If you go too long without food, you may begin to fantasize about eating inedible things, such as interior decor, rocks, and other people.

These Hands are Stained with… - Any color you touch will stain your skin, like a layer of spray paint. Skin to skin contact will always dye your skin whatever other color is present, however, you can remove the blemish by establishing contact with someone unaffected by this glitch, or washing your hands in (clear) water.

I’m Sensitive - You are 100% more likely to cry as a result of any elevated emotion. Happiness, sadness, rage - all sentiments above a baseline normal will cause tears to well in your eyes. You may simply choke up, or you may begin to bawl, depending on how predisposed to crying you usually are, and on the severity of the emotion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is the Only Bar in Town

Everyone needs a drink from time to time, right? And the smallest places always have at least one bar. Seeing as there's not a whole lot else to do around small towns. The boredom gets to you eventually, even when you like there. She doesn't, but this is seeming more and more like a bad choice for a vacation. Still, she's got to be here for a reason, right? There's always a reason.

If she has one word to describe the bar it's...cozy. Kind of quaint. Definitely a small town bar. Homey maybe? Nothing like she's used to seeing, and she's pretty certain most of the patrons aren't used to seeing someone like her, either. She's an outsider, she can't really blame them.

She gravitates first to the dartboard, picking up the darts and tossing them without a whole lot of ceremony, landing bullseye after bullseye. Still got it.

She turns with a grin to the person who's come up to stand behind her, not at all sheepish. Maybe they're a challenger? That would be fun.

"Beginner's luck?"

Make a Wish

Aw, how cute. A tiny little town with a tiny wishing well to go with it. Or not so tiny. Probably not so tiny to the locals. But how charming is this? Definitely way more adorable than what she's used to. Granted most of what she's used to is a shithole, but that is so not the point. It's a compliment to be better than a shithole.

At first she takes a seat on one of the benches, just taking the opportunity to people watch for a while. The mix of people is so interesting. Definitely far away from home. Eventually, this turns into a game of Spot the Tourist, but it's pretty hard to figure who belongs here, especially since she hasn't been around that long either. It's pretty funny, though, how much a lot of them stick out. Herself included.

After a few minutes she stands up and moves to the fountain, fishing a coin out of a pocket and throwing it in where it lands in the highest basin.

"Huh, first try. Lucky me."

Send to 8 People

[That phone is hilarious. Do people even still use these? It's like the stone age. And of course, the first thing she gets is one of those ridiculous chain texts. She rolls her eyes and puts the phone back in her pocket and goes about her day in town. Really, what 8 people is she going to send that to? Even if she were the type?

After about an hour, though, she's next to a puddle and a car drives through it, splashing all over her clothes. Then a few minutes later she trips on a curb. After that, she walks right into a pole she didn't see. This is definitely not at all normal.]

Damn. That's...different.

((Voicetesting, please be gentle))

Edited 2018-11-18 05:18 (UTC)

[ When that car splashed her, all Genis could do was jump even further back on the sidewalk. He really didn’t like how close and how fast the cars were here... But at least she was okay; that could have been a lot worse. He eyed the road warily for a few seconds before shifting his bookbag (he was supposed to be a local student, after all) and turning away, continuing on his route...

...until a sudden thunk drew his attention back over to her.

Did she really just run into a pole? Genis couldn't help but feel a little bad for her... That's an almost impressive level of clumsiness. If it was just clumsiness, which he honestly couldn’t rule out...but that isn't really normal, is it? If she's really out of it, he can't just ignore her.

So he takes the chance to wander up to her carefully. ]

Hey, are you okay? Are you dizzy?

No. No, I'm...fine? [Is she really, though? She's awfully unlucky today...and that shouldn't even be a thing. How weird is this?]

Guess it's just not my day today.

Test Drive 2.1

GENERAL PROMPTS

TUTORIAL ROLES

SETTING GLITCHES

QUESTIONS

Domino | Deadpool Live Action | Tourist: OTA, couple of formats, will match

Send to 8 People

no subject

Make a Wish

This is the Only Bar in Town

Genis Sage | Tales of Symphonia | OTA

Park

(A) Send to 8 People

Oboro | Gintama | Buddy Cop OTA

Buddy Cop

Cold Nights

Too Close

Buddy Cop

Peter Parker | MCU | Tourist, Vandal. OTA

Make A Wish

Make a wish.

Dr. Taklamakan Strange Love | élDLIVE | third times the charm i guess

sandman

bad & naughty

bad and naughty children get put in the pear wiggler

darn teenagers

Nakajima Atsushi | Bungo Stray Dogs | OTA, various roles

2

2 - Gossip