FAQ

[whimsicalism]

OOC FAQ

What is this?

This is Castle Whimsical, a murdergame meant for younger characters. The IC reason for this is that the mastermind, the Queen, has a distaste for adults and finds them unsuitable for being friends with her. The OOC reason is just that sometimes you want to play a younger character in a murdergame and can't. There's no judgement here on that just trying to find a niche for those characters who might not be eligible elsewhere.

Okay, so what's the premise? Just what is this? Who's running this?

The Queen, for whatever reason, has decided she wants some friends! (Much to the chagrin of her best friend, the Cat.) So, she has whisked all of you to her Castle out in... somewhere? Can you even call this a castle? Either way, the Queen is also bored and started a game with her new friends. It's simple, really, someone must kill someone else and get away with it or she'll continue to erase your memories. More of the setting will be explained in the IC FAQ and the mechanics in the OOC.


For the person who is OOCly running this, that would be Yue (savingdaisydiva).


Who can I app?

While there's no minimum age, due to the nature of murder games I strongly suggest choosing a character who you think will be fun playing in highly stressful situations.

There is a maximum age of sixteen. However, there are a few situations that can change whether a character can be played here or not. If the character is human, that rule is still in place. If they aren't or magic is in play things can get tricky. Here's a few guidelines (all of these are just guidelines, as I can't predict who everyone wants to play so feel free to ask on specifics in the comments) :

1. Let's say your character physically is under the maximum age but is a clone, robot, monster, homunculus, etc. Yet, they physically look a teenager or older and other characters in their canon believe this to be true. This character probably isn't probably suitable for this game.

2. The opposite. Your character is older than the maximum age but for whatever reasons passes for a younger person. For the sake of clarity for this point and the above situation, I do mean they are mistaken in canon. The reasons for this is that they are supernatural in nature (elf, dragon, vampire, etc), are under a spell, are just short or have a baby face, etc.

This is a tricky situation. If they're supposed to be older, probably not unless there is some mental regression in play. Supernatural beings that are physically over the age is a tough call.

Are they parents or can become parents in canon? That means they really aren't suitable. Are the majority of them sort of supernatural beings and compared to the rest they are considered a child? Then, they certainly can be.

3. Your character is an animal in a canon that doesn't use human ages or similar creature (like a Pokemon or Digimon). This one is simple: if they are a 'young' animal/non human being, then they can join in on the 'fun'.

Age aside, characters can be from any canon or medium, with some conditions.

Original Characters are allowed! They will require more write up in the application to explain their canon to me. Fandom OCs are also allowed, given that they are completely unrelated to the main canon and there will be extra scrutiny.

Silent (or maybe not so silent) characters that are shaped by the player's actions are also applicable. Just provide the world state in your application.

Characters based on real, alive people aren't allowed. No internet celebrities, regular celebrities, or actors. Yet characters from series like Fate/ are acceptable.

No characters that are already in the game.

Finally, no CRAU's. This one might change for other rounds but due to the memory loss element of the game I'm hesitant to allow them.


Is there a character limit? How many can I play?

Each player can only play one character. Only two characters are allowed from a canon. Depending on interest, the cast cap will be between 25 but we likely can run it with at least 20 characters.

What about powers?

For the sake of evening the playing field, they have been taken away by the Queen.

What if my character isn't human?

As long as they have at least human level sentience and are able to communicate, they're probably fine here. Yes, even if they normally wouldn't leave behind a body! For the sake of the game, the Queen has provided a body. If they have a non-normal diet, the Queen will provide for them. You can play around with non-standard physiology if you want or you can say the Queen considers that cheating alongside powers. If you have questions, message me or leave a comment.


What is this 'erasing memories' you mentioned earlier? What if I don't want my character to lose any?

In the application for Castle Whimsical, you will be asked to list seven things that your character will forget over the course of the game. Every week (yes, even the murder-free first week) your character will forget one of the memories listed on your app. You can pick which one you want them to forget but you must include which one you picked when you submit your AC for the week.

These memories should be a mix of important and things that are more neutral. All of the memories should be things that your character would reasonably figure out are missing. Your character's favorite food and the moment where they saw their father thrown off a cliff are both valid options.

What if I want my character to forget more than just seven things?

That can be arranged! It's not advised but if you want to get in some more memory loss the Queen will happily take more away. These can be for extra regains that you forgot to put in your app (or didn't have room for), punishments... Just send me a message and we can talk things out privately.

What about reservations/applications?

Reserves will open on September 25 at 12:00 PM EST. Applications will open after that and both will close on October 3 at 11:59 PM EST. The game proper will likely start the next day on October 4.

What about AC?

Just 10 comments, from your character from no more than two threads.

Okay, so when are things going to happen?

The weekly post for exploration and mingling will be posted (normally) around noon EST on Sundays. Motive comments will unlock and be posted also at noon EST on Tuesdays. Investigations will be on Fridays at noon EST. As for trials, those will go up on noon EST on Saturdays.

The trials won't have a concrete ending point but if things are going long (think five or six hours), there will be some OOC discussion how to proceed.

What about a discord server?

I've got you covered! Though, of course, if you're not in the game I'm sorry but you can't join us.

IC FAQ

Wait--this isn't where I'm supposed to be!

Hello, dear friend! You're currently in the Queen's Castle. This is your new home so you better start making yourself comfortable. Once this little introductory game is over there's no telling what adventures will happen!

Friend? New home? I don't know you and this isn't my home!

That's very rude, you know. You will have to learn some manners while you're here! The Queen decided you're to be one of her new friends and stay with her in her Castle. Isn't that a grand gift?

No! Who does this Queen think she is?

The Queen of her Castle, naturally. She's quite friendly and since this is her Castle she can be contacted at anytime or anywhere. After all, you're her friends. Maybe you'll actually get to meet her one day. Isn't that exciting?

Why didn't she take any adults if she's so powerful?

Adults are boring at best and just awful at worst. It's probably for the best that no one ages in the Castle.

Alright, okay. What was this 'game'?

Oh, that's easy! Obviously, you're not happy to be here so the Queen has devised a little game for everyone to get to know each other. If one of you can kill someone else and get away with it, the Queen will let you go. The others will stay.

Kill? As in actually murder someone?

The Queen prefers to think of it as playing until someone breaks but yes, murder.

What if we just don't?

Well... the Queen thought of that. It's not a game if it doesn't, sadly, have an ending. Every week you'll be giving some memories from your old boring home to the Queen. If no one wins the game by the time everyone forgets everything about their homes then the Queen wins and everyone gets to stay.

So by 'getting away with it', you mean the others can catch me?

Of course. If you really want to get home, don't let them find you out. Keep it a secret until they force you to tell.

What happens if they catch me?

The Queen will execute you. You could say that she'll murder you.

Um. What if they don't?

You'll go home, maybe get an extra prize from the Queen... and the others will get executed.

Wait, wait. If the Queen wants us to kill each other won't she have less, uh, friends? Why execute them?

Not at all! Dying here doesn't mean you're gone for good. You won't be able to interact with your dead friends until the game's over but the Queen isn't that careless. Don't break a toy unless you can fix it, after all.

That didn't tell me why she needs to kill them?

The Queen is a queen, she doesn't need to answer silly questions like 'why'.

Wait--hold on. Okay, so, back to the memories. Will I ever get them back?

If you win, yes. If one of you or your friends win, everyone gets their memories back! Consider it a consolation prize. If the Queen wins, well. Sorry. It'll be as if you always lived in the Castle.

I still don't get it. Why do we have to die if the Queen can just bring us back? Doesn't that mean that death doesn't matter here?

Those are two questions, you know. To the first, the Queen has her reasons. You might even get to find them out later. As for death... there is something worse than death in the Castle.

Worse than death?!

Yes. Let's just say there's something that even the Queen can't save you from...

That's ominous!

: )

Hey! There's empty rooms that are locked!

Yes, yes there are. You can open them by finding something that belonged to the person beyond handwriting. You can open their door and find out more about that person including how they died, if they died, later. A belonging, a piece of clothing, or some such will work.


There might be even evidence for people occupying your room. There will be an added question to that later.

Does this mean we can get into each others rooms this way?

Not if you're living and they're living. You can try, of course, but it's not going to work. If they're dead their room is open for everyone. Being dead means no more privacy.

Hey... something's really weird with the clock! It create time travel?!

To some degree, yes. It can create brief scenes of the numerous tragedies that have occurred in the Castle, current and past. However, without the needed information, it won't work at all and only will change the day/night cycle in the outdoor areas of the Castle. These pieces of information are needed:

1. Evidence of the victim. Basically, if you can find and get into their room then you can check this requirement out. (See the empty room question.)

2. The murder location. If there's a really suspicious spot that could mean something went down? You found it. It might not even be super suspicious but if the spot's been investigated at all, then this is checked off. Such as a piece of mysteriously broken furniture in a new area or smoke stains in a room where there shouldn't be could be indicators of this.

3. The murder weapon. What was used to kill the victim? A poisonous plant found dried in a corner, a knife hidden under a carpet, or even a broken tree branch.

4. Time of death. Just fiddle with the clock and you'll get it.

For an OOC note, 'needed information' means that all the needed parts have been found in some manner. As in, one person might discover the crime scene one day, someone might find something belonging to the victim a different day, and the weapon might be found two weeks later by a third character. Now that this mechanic is discovered if all three pieces of OOC info are found, then the clock can be used. A top level will go up the next OOC day when it's time for a ghost investigation. If you've already investigated one, try to hold off.

What does these ghost scenes look like? If I'm in the same area can I witness it?

These are small recreations of murder! The moment of death is recreated for investigation. There is no body involved in these recreations. This is mainly an auditory experience where those nearest to the crime scene can hear it. There might be some changes to the area as well but nothing that can't be cleaned up later.

Afterwards, most of the time you'll have enough information on who the victim and murderer were. Then you can go find their rooms and check their portraits to see if you were right or not.

Can I recreate murders of the previous weeks?

Yes, technically you can.

OOCly ask the people involved first. This is mainly for background information on the Castle and no one is obligated to participate.

So... can I just, like, use the clock to cheat in investigations?

No! The clock will be magically locked during investigations to curb cheating. You can try but it won't work. It'll be funny, though.