Midnight Train

On the Space-Time Midnight Train

What is this?

This is a game taking place on a reality hopping, time-traveling luxury express. The Train has a sort of sentience of its own, making it difficult for those at Headquarters to accurately track it. After all, when a train can be anywhere, any when, how, exactly, do you find it?

Does the game run in real time?

No. There will be biweekly week changes posted with the new event(s). You have two weeks to play out the existing week. If this pace proves too arduous, we'll adjust. To assist with keeping pace, think of it as a new game day every other real-life day.

The dates of the reality the train stops in will be listed on the week change writeups, and will very often not coincide with the real-time dates. However, characters have no way of knowing when a train will stop, or when an event will end, as that information will never be displayed on their devices. You as a player will know, so you as a player will know when the next plot goes live -- but your character will never know when to expect a scenery change or a stop.

If someone posts for day 4, can I still post for day 2?

Yes. You don't have to keep pace with anyone else, but do keep in mind the week will change on its assigned day; if you want to play more days later in the week, it's best to try to keep on the same page as everyone else.

On Arrival

How does my character show up here?

However you want. They can be in the middle of something only to turn around and find themselves on a train. Or they can be asleep and wake up on the train. They can be running from someone, flying on a broom, whatever -- and they'll show up in their assigned room (usually, anyway - this is not always the case) with their device near by.

What does my character have on them?

Only what was physically on their person on in their hands at the time. So if your character was in the shower with a bottle of shampoo in their hand - yup, that's how they show up. Fast asleep but holding onto a blanket? The blanket would show up, too. Backpacking across the Alps? Whatever they've got in their pack or in their hands.

Is there any way off the train?

There is not. While it is in motion, passengers are restricted to the train and its cars. When the train stops in a reality, they may disembark then.

What if they jump off the open-air observation car?

They can't. If they try, it will be something like slamming into a brick wall. Or sliding glass door. They can reach through the air over the railing with no resistance, or lean over to peer down, but any attempts to jump (or push someone off) will be met with the barrier resistance.

Additionally, thrown objects and spells will bounce off this barrier as well, in the interest of not contaminating the current reality.

On Characters

Can I play a fandom character?

You can plan a canon character, yes. You may also play OCs from a fandom world. You may not however play a non-canon relation to a canon character.

Can I play a magic user? Super human? Alien?

You can play anything you'd like, human or not, but no character, no matter how powerful they are, will be able to escape the train, depower the train, interfere with the train, or in any way derail the train. No game-breaking abilities are allowed. Applications found to possess abilities I consider potentially gamebreaking may be rejected out of hand.

Any player found metagaming, powerplaying, or abusing general rules of consent will be removed upon receipt of evidence.

How many characters can I play?

As many as you can handle and maintain activity for. If you prefer to focus on one, that's fine. If you prefer to play a dozen, that's fine as well.

On face-claims

Are face claims required?

No. I personally prefer a visual and I personally prefer real people, but I completely understand it's not for everyone, so they are not required to play here.

If two characters share a faceclaim, are they identical?

No. Two characters portrayed by the same person will not be identical, though they will bear strong resemblances to each other. Over the network, they can be mistaken for one another, but in person, their mannerisms and speech patterns should be enough to differentiate them from each other.

On sustenance

What about food?

The train is stocked with silverware, glasses, and cookware. There is no staff, however; some characters will have to take on the task of preparing food. The food does restock, but it's fairly generic and bland; it's suggested when the train stops people go shopping.

On stops

So, the train does stop?

The train does stop. It stops in different wheres and whens, and each place has its own set of trials to overcome. When the train stops, it cannot be seen by the natives (or the passengers), unless the person is holding something from the train. It can be anything from a salt shaker to a matchbook to a pillow case to a decorative soap, as long as it is part of the train and not something one of the passengers brought on themselves.

So if I was playing a native to the universe the train was stopped in ...

They would have to be holding onto something from the train to see it. Otherwise, it doesn't exist for them. The passengers do, and they are certainly welcome to interact with the natives.

What about supply runs?

It is suggested characters divvy up "shopping" (well, stealing) responsibilities at the stops to keep the train well stocked.

The train does not provide any funds (though it does offer a currency converter), so the characters won't get any help there. They'll have to rely on each other to get what they need.

On Technology

The device my character has ...

The characters actually get two devices now. They have a smartphone (Samsung/Pixel/iPhone/etc type per your preference), and some sort of tablet (iPad, Kindle, etc). Both devices connect to the train's network, allowing your character to communicate with the other passengers on the train. They can also use the phones to text, and the tablets to play games or read books.

Displayed

For purposes of identification, the network displays some sort of identifying moniker for your character as well as an icon.

For characters sharing a faceclaim, no two characters look identical (with the exception of identical twins), but they will bear strong resemblances to one another and upon first glance at a network picture may be mistaken for one another.

The devices also display any alerts and destinations the train is inclined to share.

The arrival note from the senior conductor also appears on these devices.

Googling

Google and other search engines can be used when the train is in a reality with applicable technology. If they're in 2010 Oklahoma, you have Google. If they're in 900 AD France, you don't. However, the train does have a built in informational database like Google that can be accessed in areas with no wi-fi and no internet. It's just more limited.

Filters

Entries can be made private or filtered to specific people. I strongly discourage vague filters (friends of, close friends of, etc); if you're filtering it, use the names or very specific groups ("known magic users" is fine).

Any entry that is private or filtered must have the designation in either the body or the subject line (or both, if you want to cover all your bases, but it only needs to be one or the other).

The same goes for any deliveries made: the designation needs to be in the subject line or the body.

Types of Entries

Your devices can do whatever their real world counterparts can do - within the constraints of the train. Can you put up a voice post? Yup. Upload a video of yourself? For sure.

Unless otherwise specified, all entries are considered textual. Text that is stricken (for example) is considered to be deleted and therefore does not exist in the entry; it is for player-knowledge only. It cannot be replied to, and there should be no conversations carried out through stricken text.

On the sleeper cars

Front sleepers

The front 6 sleeper cars have the original design. There are 8 rooms, and each room will accommodate two people. Most rooms have one large king sized bed, and the A halves of the suites (F 101-A & 106-A, F 201-A & F 206-A, etc) will have bunk beds. These six rooms are the only rooms in the front sleeper cars with two beds.

Rear sleepers

The rear 6 sleeper cars have the June design. There are 8 rooms, but most of the rooms here have two separate beds. The 01 suites (R 101, R 201, etc) contain a single king bed in each half of the suite. The 06 suites (R 106, R 206, etc) contain two twin beds in each half of the suite.

The room numbers are on the door, as is the character's name.

Are there windows in the bedrooms?

Yes. It isn't reflected on the picture, but the bedrooms do have a single window in them.

My character is magic and split the bed into two. Does that work?

For a few hours, yes. But the train resets itself every night and repairs any and all damages to itself -- including split beds.

On the chance car

There's no picture of the chance car. Why not?

The chance car can be just about anything that could reasonably be expected to fit within an area the size of a train car.

The only catch is that nothing inside the car and native to it can be brought to the rest of the train. So if your character finds a huge wardrobe full of classy clothes they'd love to have, they can play dress-up in that car all they want -- but all the clothing will remain in that car.

So, my character can just picture what he/she wants, and the car will be that?

Not quite how it works, no. Your character can continue to open and close the door until it becomes something suitable, but they cannot mentally design the car before they enter it.

What if someone's already using the car?

Given the versatile nature of the car, multiple people can occupy different versions of the chance car at any given time. They can also open the door and find the car occupied by another player's character if they were interested in joining that scene.

If the car is simultaneously in use by two different characters, there will not be any overlap. Character A won't suddenly start seeing Character B's version of the room. They can, however, exit the room and reenter it to find Character B and Character B's room present in the car.