( TDM | #1 )

[spellbindmods]

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over. Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well. There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones. Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you? A ▢ Your character's first experience here will be waking up in a forest. Specifically, located here. It's up to them to traverse and try to figure out where they are, whether they make it to the beach or the main house area. There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory.

After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right? There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them? B ▢ Feel free to have your character explore the mansion (the won't find much but you can take some liberties with the TDM), and they're free to open these mysterious crates. In them they'll find edible fruit and bread, modern clothing in a variety of sizes and portable medical kits. Characters who apply using the TDM are free to carry these objects into the game opening. If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were? C ▢ Here's where you can play around with the telepathy mechanic. It's likely your character won't be used to it which can lead to accidental broadcasting. If they happen to tap the signet purposefully or try to pull it out, everyone within a radius of 100 feet will feel a throbbing pain in their head. But your character won't know that, will they? For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house. D ▢ Despite containing steamy water and luxury bathing accommodations, the bathhouse is currently being overrun with crabs. The not-so-smart members of this species have fallen into the extremely hot water, flash boiling themselves after being unable to get back out. Others are a little more intelligent but equally aggressive. Characters: watch your toes and be cautious if you really want to take a much-needed bath! They may also want to check twice before using the restroom, otherwise the experience might be more painful than they're used to.

Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice! It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety. E ▢ Time to explore the beach huts! Most of them are abandoned, but your characters will notice they seem to be more livable than the mansion somehow. This is in part due to a little note tacked to the door of each beach hut that reports in scrawling script "Claim your hut, please!" Will your character listen or reject the sinking feeling that they may not be leaving anytime soon? Some huts are also bigger than others, and a few even contain small sinks and softer beds. Grab these while they're available! Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels. There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic. In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect." F ▢ Here's the official prompt for playing with newfound magic (and telepathy if you want more practice). It's likely characters have already accidentally broadcast their thoughts, utilized the C prompt or used their magic inadvertently, but maybe this new information and small explanation has motivated them to try and see what they're truly capable of. Don't worry. If they're lucky enough to stick around, all will be explained. ...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore! G ▢ Wildcard prompt. Go nuts and utilize your own creativity within the setting. This can mean striking out on your own or utilizing a certain location in a different way. The world is your oyster!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

[splinten]

[And this is without his flashstepping! One day Lloyd will see him go REALLY fast.]

I'd be down for sparring.

[a beat]

If you can show me how you use a sheathe properly.

[sword_of_swords]

[There's a small fist pump. 'Cause this would be as challenging as a real fight to the death with the way Dirk moves. In fact Lloyd is so stoked that he almost misses the request.]

What?

[He remembers he came in on the guy trying to...do...something? with his sword, but he didn't know how to use a sheath?]

What did you do before?

[However, he comes over to look over Dirk's outfit and how he's actually holding the sword.]

Well, you want it to hang kind of loose, so you aren't stuck drawing it just one way. We need to get you another belt.

[splinten]

[Aww yeah fist pump, Dirk is excited too.

Except, you know, this issue.]

I kept it in my Strife Specibus.

[That probably needs explaining.]

I basically pulled it out of thin air and put it back when I was done.

[sword_of_swords]

Ho-- You--

[Lloyd flings his hands up in a "stop" gesture. Sure, he came from a place that had Half-Elves that lived on a rock they put a safety leash on, and there were spirits and all manner of things magical in nature; that was beyond him. Out of his reach. Something so ingrained in his mind that Dirk literally just described magic to him.

He isn't jealous. Much.

But, damn if that's not cool as hell]

Why can't you... Oh yeah. I can't use my Exsphere here, either.

[He looks over the jewelry embedded in his hand quietly. Sulking about cool stuff isn't going to get Dirk a belt though!]

Hey, let's go back to the Mansion, we'll find one in those crates.

[Or, he can look in the sack he made out of a bed sheet to hold his slowly increasing hoard. He kneels down to do that, forgetting he just said they should go somewhere, and pulls a belt from the pile of clothes and supplies.]

I forgot I grabbed one in case one of mine broke, here.

[splinten]

[One day, Lloyd, this hammerspace could be yours. Or probably not but still. It was cool, and now he can't do it.

It's why he walks over. He does notice that Lloyd said 'go to the mansion' and then didn't. He assumes this is just how Lloyd is, and watches him search for the belt.]

Thanks.

[He will try to fasten it the way Lloyd does his.]

This right?

[sword_of_swords]

[Maybe he's just tired, but Lloyd has been feeling out of sorts since he got here, too. Just overlook him, Dirk.]

That's pretty close.

[He looks down to his own belts just to double-check, and decides Dirk does pretty much have it.]

All you have to do is make sure it's comfortable for you, but I just like mine slung low, you might want yours higher since it's longer.

[splinten]

[That is a good point. Hm, he got a sheathe from Dave, so he'll... try this? Just hooking it in. He tries walking a bit.]

This weight is fuckin' weird. How do you do it?

[sword_of_swords]

Well, I mean you get used to it...

[He's also got two, Dirk. So balance and all that.]

After a while, it's so familiar that I get nervous if I'm not wearing them. But we might need to get you a frog so you can hang it off the belt instead of just tucking it in. I guess I could make one if we've got some extra leather.

[splinten]

[what]

...A frog can't be what I first thought it was.

[OR. IS IT??? IS IT???]

[sword_of_swords]

What?

[He looks down at his belts and pauses, before he smirks. One joke will be okay.]

It's not that bad, we're just going down to the river over that way.

[splinten]

[Lloyd is not exactly subtle, except I guess if coffee is involved, but that smirk gives him away. So Dirk has to make a decision: call him out, or play along in deadpan irony with the intention of hoisting Lloyd by his own prankster petard?

He knows what he must do.]

You're the expert. Let's go.

[sword_of_swords]

[Dirk agreeing wasn't something expected and Lloyd pauses for a moment to consider his options.

Too bad he was the idealist in the group, not the brains. On the verge of a breakdown, with the onslaught of actual thought, he gives a faint shake of his head.]

Alright!

[Plus it's more chances for Dirk to get used to actually walking with a sword. He turns and heads right for the river.]

[splinten]

[Like, bright side? Dirk is at least indeed getting practice. It's weird, but he always has adapted quickly so he's working out a smooth walk with it. (But it is weird.)]

I'm interested in your expertise on this subject. For example, if it has to be a specific breed of frog, or if there are sizes or traits that are more advantageous than others.

[Yeah he's going hard on this one, Lloyd.]