First of all, you will find our community members and roleplay within our Discord: https://discord.gg/dvhfxe6
How do I get started?
It’s super easy! It’s as simple as entering one of the IC channels and typing out your first action. You can play as any character you like (within reason), so just focus on telling a compelling story. Before you do that, however, you can do a couple other optional things that’ll help:
- Change your nickname to your character name.
- Request a text channel in the Character Bios section, where you can write out your character’s backstory and provide pictures. This is essentially your ‘profile’.
- Introduce yourself to the Offtopic channel and start talking with other players.
- Request verification from a member of staff to access voice channels.
How do I make a character?
Same way as you’d create a character for any piece of written fiction: think hard, make some notes if that helps, maybe write some backstory or a narrative piece. Think about appearance, background, their ‘story so far’, etc. You could also find a photo reference or use your artistic talents to create an image of your character. To canonise your character in our server, you’ll need to create a Character Bio. Just ask a member of staff and you can throw all your information in there for others to refer back to.
How should I write/format my posts?
There’s no requirement - write in whatever way you like. Generally speaking, however, you should probably be writing in present-tense third person. Most people will use formatting to distinguish action from dialogue - usually action in italics (which can be done on Discord by putting an asterisk before & after your desired text), dialogue in standard formatting. Refer to this Official Discord guide for more information on how to format text:
https://support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/210298617
Where can I read about City 12’s interpretation of canon?
Within our Discord, the ‘Lore Guides & Resources’ section contains a number of guides where we’ve fleshed out the details of our world. You’re welcome to challenge us and riff on them, but head over there to learn the guidelines.
Okay, but what are the key facts I should know?
The most important dates for your calendar are:
May 16th, 2001 - The Black Mesa Incident and the start of the portal storms.
2010 - The Seven Hour War and the start of Combine Occupation
2018 - The current year.
The remaining Combine controlled cities are:
City 1 - NYC
City 2 - Minsk
City 8 - Tokyo
City 9 - Beijing
City 12 - London
City 14 - Paris
and, of course, City 17.
How does Civil Protection (CP) work?
You don’t need to apply to become a standard beat cop; your character can even be a patrol leader. If you’re playing a patrol leader, you can also play generic squad members under your command. There are two default sociostability squads - SWORD and EMPIRE; feel free to be in either. There’s also specialist squads like WRAITH (psychological warfare) and more if you’re interested in, say medical or technical specialisation. If you’d like to play as Civil Protection commander, let us know and we’ll work something out. The syntax for Civil Protection callsigns is: CCA.C12.SQUAD.04.12345
How does the Overwatch Transhuman Arm (OTA) work?
Anyone is able to play an OTA grunt, but players must remember that they must abide by certain restrictions. These characters are barely-human supersoldiers - tools more than individuals. Their identities are suppressed, their emotions are muted and they only show up in important situations. If that sounds good to you, you can join UMBRA, our OTA squad. If you’d like to play as an OTA commander, talk to us. The name format for Overwatch characters is OTA.C12-UMBRA.#####
Can I play as a vortigaunt (or other Xen creatures)?
Absolutely! Characters don’t have to be human. If you’ve got an idea for an alien character, go straight ahead. There will be other players who are playing these kinds of characters, but there’s no leadership or group to join. In our fiction, vortigaunts all live in a slum together, so they’ll likely know eachother, but there’s also potential for your character to be a loner or newcomer.
Can my character be a part of the resistance?
Yep! There are two things to keep in mind, however: the first is that you will likely be starting out as a lowly disgruntled citizen, someone with a chip on their shoulder about the Universal Union and ready to cause trouble. It will take time to acquire, in character, the equipment needed to really make waves. The second is that carrying weapons in the City, particularly firearms, is an extremely dangerous prospect. Tread carefully.
Can I form my own group?
Of course. So long as it’s realistic, it’s permissible. You can use the ‘In Character Documents And News’ channels to advertise your group.
How are character deaths handled?
Destroying a character is a serious matter. Due to the fact that players often put their heart and soul into their characters, we won’t force players to kill off their character without their express consent. In the case of death, City 12 offers a new life policy in which actions that lead up to a characters death can be ‘forgotten’. Exceptions will be made, however, if a player abuses this system.
How accessible are weapons?
Since City 12 is set in the ruins of London, England, guns are rare. Since guns are rare to find in the UK today, they are doubly hard to find in an ultra police-state such as the ones our characters find themselves in. That isn’t however to say they don’t exist, Civil Protection do of course have access to plenty of firearms, some of which are bound to fall into the wrong hands. Players should be aware however that by carrying a gun, they are taking a grave risk with their character. Weapons other than firearms are however commonplace, especially amongst the criminal elements. From knives, bats, clubs and more, mankind has always had a penchant for hitting each other over the head with various objects. Like all things, we trust that our players will have thought out valid reasons as to how and why their character is armed.
Can my character start with a weapon?
Obviously, improvised melee weapons are easy to come across or create - it’s as simple as picking up a brick. More advanced weapons which require technical skill or a factory to create are harder to come by, but can be explained in your backstory. As long as you roleplay responsibly, it’s fine. If you’re looking to start with a firearm, just check in with a member of staff to ensure it’s not ridiculous.
What’s the monetary system like under Combine rule?
In the interests of encouraging roleplay, we’ve overlooked the fact that there’s no proof of a monetary system in the original game. The following is a purely-speculative credit system which could work as the post-Combine economy, which, depending on your interpretation can work...essentially however you want.
Assuming a person can get by on £3 a day, that they would spend £21 a week and that there are two ration distributions per week, the average citizen would need to spend £15 (as 2/7 days they are fed by the state) to survive. With that in mind, we divided 500 (the number of credits we arbitrarily decided were in two ration packs) by 21 and got 24.8, which we rounded down to 20. So that makes $1 equivalent to 20 credits. 20 is enough to buy a sandwich. This means a citizen can save 120 credits per week. However, there are additional costs to consider such as laundry, which can cost as much as 200 credits to use both the washer and the dryer. A complete new set of standard clothing (including underwear, jeans, shirt, jacket and shoes) would cost something around 600 credits.
I have an idea for an event/storyline; how do I implement it?
Unless your ideas hinder the potential for other people to roleplay, you don't need permission - just head into an IC room and do it. City 12 lives and breathes through player creativity, so if you have an idea, roll with it. Most of all we encourage people to let the actions and desires of their own characters drive things forwards.
What’s the OOC management structure?
We operate under a flat structure - there’s no hierarchy here, just people looking to tell good stories. The four founders, IDOTS, Zuppo, Mird and Watchman act as shepherds and janitors, but we’re not looking to restrict people or ‘administrate’. We’d like you to see us as members of staff providing a service rather than your superiors or landlords.
How do I get started?
It’s super easy! It’s as simple as entering one of the IC channels and typing out your first action. You can play as any character you like (within reason), so just focus on telling a compelling story. Before you do that, however, you can do a couple other optional things that’ll help:
- Change your nickname to your character name.
- Request a text channel in the Character Bios section, where you can write out your character’s backstory and provide pictures. This is essentially your ‘profile’.
- Introduce yourself to the Offtopic channel and start talking with other players.
- Request verification from a member of staff to access voice channels.
How do I make a character?
Same way as you’d create a character for any piece of written fiction: think hard, make some notes if that helps, maybe write some backstory or a narrative piece. Think about appearance, background, their ‘story so far’, etc. You could also find a photo reference or use your artistic talents to create an image of your character. To canonise your character in our server, you’ll need to create a Character Bio. Just ask a member of staff and you can throw all your information in there for others to refer back to.
How should I write/format my posts?
There’s no requirement - write in whatever way you like. Generally speaking, however, you should probably be writing in present-tense third person. Most people will use formatting to distinguish action from dialogue - usually action in italics (which can be done on Discord by putting an asterisk before & after your desired text), dialogue in standard formatting. Refer to this Official Discord guide for more information on how to format text:
https://support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/210298617
Where can I read about City 12’s interpretation of canon?
Within our Discord, the ‘Lore Guides & Resources’ section contains a number of guides where we’ve fleshed out the details of our world. You’re welcome to challenge us and riff on them, but head over there to learn the guidelines.
Okay, but what are the key facts I should know?
The most important dates for your calendar are:
May 16th, 2001 - The Black Mesa Incident and the start of the portal storms.
2010 - The Seven Hour War and the start of Combine Occupation
2018 - The current year.
The remaining Combine controlled cities are:
City 1 - NYC
City 2 - Minsk
City 8 - Tokyo
City 9 - Beijing
City 12 - London
City 14 - Paris
and, of course, City 17.
How does Civil Protection (CP) work?
You don’t need to apply to become a standard beat cop; your character can even be a patrol leader. If you’re playing a patrol leader, you can also play generic squad members under your command. There are two default sociostability squads - SWORD and EMPIRE; feel free to be in either. There’s also specialist squads like WRAITH (psychological warfare) and more if you’re interested in, say medical or technical specialisation. If you’d like to play as Civil Protection commander, let us know and we’ll work something out. The syntax for Civil Protection callsigns is: CCA.C12.SQUAD.04.12345
How does the Overwatch Transhuman Arm (OTA) work?
Anyone is able to play an OTA grunt, but players must remember that they must abide by certain restrictions. These characters are barely-human supersoldiers - tools more than individuals. Their identities are suppressed, their emotions are muted and they only show up in important situations. If that sounds good to you, you can join UMBRA, our OTA squad. If you’d like to play as an OTA commander, talk to us. The name format for Overwatch characters is OTA.C12-UMBRA.#####
Can I play as a vortigaunt (or other Xen creatures)?
Absolutely! Characters don’t have to be human. If you’ve got an idea for an alien character, go straight ahead. There will be other players who are playing these kinds of characters, but there’s no leadership or group to join. In our fiction, vortigaunts all live in a slum together, so they’ll likely know eachother, but there’s also potential for your character to be a loner or newcomer.
Can my character be a part of the resistance?
Yep! There are two things to keep in mind, however: the first is that you will likely be starting out as a lowly disgruntled citizen, someone with a chip on their shoulder about the Universal Union and ready to cause trouble. It will take time to acquire, in character, the equipment needed to really make waves. The second is that carrying weapons in the City, particularly firearms, is an extremely dangerous prospect. Tread carefully.
Can I form my own group?
Of course. So long as it’s realistic, it’s permissible. You can use the ‘In Character Documents And News’ channels to advertise your group.
How are character deaths handled?
Destroying a character is a serious matter. Due to the fact that players often put their heart and soul into their characters, we won’t force players to kill off their character without their express consent. In the case of death, City 12 offers a new life policy in which actions that lead up to a characters death can be ‘forgotten’. Exceptions will be made, however, if a player abuses this system.
How accessible are weapons?
Since City 12 is set in the ruins of London, England, guns are rare. Since guns are rare to find in the UK today, they are doubly hard to find in an ultra police-state such as the ones our characters find themselves in. That isn’t however to say they don’t exist, Civil Protection do of course have access to plenty of firearms, some of which are bound to fall into the wrong hands. Players should be aware however that by carrying a gun, they are taking a grave risk with their character. Weapons other than firearms are however commonplace, especially amongst the criminal elements. From knives, bats, clubs and more, mankind has always had a penchant for hitting each other over the head with various objects. Like all things, we trust that our players will have thought out valid reasons as to how and why their character is armed.
Can my character start with a weapon?
Obviously, improvised melee weapons are easy to come across or create - it’s as simple as picking up a brick. More advanced weapons which require technical skill or a factory to create are harder to come by, but can be explained in your backstory. As long as you roleplay responsibly, it’s fine. If you’re looking to start with a firearm, just check in with a member of staff to ensure it’s not ridiculous.
What’s the monetary system like under Combine rule?
In the interests of encouraging roleplay, we’ve overlooked the fact that there’s no proof of a monetary system in the original game. The following is a purely-speculative credit system which could work as the post-Combine economy, which, depending on your interpretation can work...essentially however you want.
Assuming a person can get by on £3 a day, that they would spend £21 a week and that there are two ration distributions per week, the average citizen would need to spend £15 (as 2/7 days they are fed by the state) to survive. With that in mind, we divided 500 (the number of credits we arbitrarily decided were in two ration packs) by 21 and got 24.8, which we rounded down to 20. So that makes $1 equivalent to 20 credits. 20 is enough to buy a sandwich. This means a citizen can save 120 credits per week. However, there are additional costs to consider such as laundry, which can cost as much as 200 credits to use both the washer and the dryer. A complete new set of standard clothing (including underwear, jeans, shirt, jacket and shoes) would cost something around 600 credits.
I have an idea for an event/storyline; how do I implement it?
Unless your ideas hinder the potential for other people to roleplay, you don't need permission - just head into an IC room and do it. City 12 lives and breathes through player creativity, so if you have an idea, roll with it. Most of all we encourage people to let the actions and desires of their own characters drive things forwards.
What’s the OOC management structure?
We operate under a flat structure - there’s no hierarchy here, just people looking to tell good stories. The four founders, IDOTS, Zuppo, Mird and Watchman act as shepherds and janitors, but we’re not looking to restrict people or ‘administrate’. We’d like you to see us as members of staff providing a service rather than your superiors or landlords.
