Dandy's Journal

I don't know what this game-thing could be called yet. I'm going to refer to it as RCA (Red Crayon Aristocrats) for now.

While this is based on Rule of Rose, I have taken some liberties to how things work. Also, there are no monsters (they're kinda pointless even in canon).

Premise

Your character doesn't remember anything of their real life. Instead, they remember something that could be very different: a normal childhood, friends, school, family - up until the sudden and tragic accident that led to their parents' death. Now alone, your character is taken to an orphanage, housed in a large dirigible. This old airship is their home until they're adopted or age out, the latter usually coming first.

Once aboard, your character finds themselves initially ignored by the other residents of the orphanage. Most of them even hide from your character, leaving them alone to find their room. After your character's first night, they awaken to the laughter of children outside the door. If they open it, the children will be gone, leaving only a letter behind that has been slipped under the door.

Greetings from the Red Crayon Aristocrats!
You have been invited to join our prestigious association. If you accept, then come to the Aristocrat Club to receive your first order.
If you don't accept, that would be a very bad thing.
And bad children must be punished.

RCA is a psychological horror game where your character is made to complete tasks set forth by the Red Crayon Aristocrats, a group of children who rule the orphanage using intimidation, manipulation, and sometimes brute force. By playing their game, your character can move up in the hierarchy, enjoying better social standing as well as other perks in the process, but as one person moves up others must move down.

How many backs is your character willing to climb over to help themselves, and how many friends will they willingly betray in the process?

Setting

The orphanage your character has been taken to is located on a large, labyrinthine airship. It is entirely too big for the small number of passengers it holds, giving plenty of places for children to play, hide, and get lost in.



Most of the furnishings are old-fashioned (think early 1900s), and a lot of the rooms are bare, or have the innards of the ship exposed. Most of the ship is dimly lit, and a lot of it is dirty.




The ship spends most of its time in the air, only landing at night to pick up new residents and refuel. Occasionally, the ship will land in cities and give the children some time to stretch their legs and tour around. These will be real world cities like Paris or St. Petersburg. For fully memory-wiped characters, these cities will seem normal, but as they regain their memories, characters from Earth will start to realize that these cities seem a bit... off.

The Red Crayon Aristocrats



The Red Crayon Aristocrats run things in the orphanage. While the few adults who run the place don't acknowledge them as such, they never do anything to discourage their behavior, and even give the "royalty" members the best food, clothing, and living quarters. Rebelling against the Aristocrats, or even simply choosing not to play their game, results in characters being isolated, and even punished.

Every month, the Aristocrats give characters a task. The characters have all month to complete it, and those that do have a chance to move up in rank, getting them ever closer to a coveted spot among the royalty and earning them better and better living conditions. Those that don't, or those that do an unsatisfactory job, risk falling in rank, and receiving punishment.

The basic flow of gameplay goes like this:

1. The Aristocrats post their task on the door of the Aristocrat Club on the first day of the month.


2. Sometime over the course of the month, characters complete the task or prepare a gift. If there is something physical involved, they must keep it safe until the last week of the month.


3. During the last week of the month, characters submit their gift or prove they completed the task to the Aristocrats.


4. After this is submitted, character ranks are voted on (icly) by the royalty. Those who failed to complete the task or who moved down are punished by those who moved up.

Tasks:

There are essentially two different tasks that the Aristocrats can give characters. The more common type is a "fetch quest" type task, while the other involves harming other characters in some way.

• Fetch quest type tasks are pretty straightforward. The Aristocrats post on the door that they want one gift per person, for example a blue flower. All your character has to do is put a blue flower in the box on the door at the end of the month, with their name attached. How your character gets a blue flower is up to them. Maybe they find an actual blue flower, or maybe they paint a picture of one, or maybe they embroider one on a pillow. It all depends on their personality.
  
  OOCly, to prove your character has completed the task, you just have to mention it in a thread somewhere. It can be the focus of the thread, but doesn't have to be. For example, a log where Jimmy is searching all over the ship for a blue flower, and other characters join in to help, would count as completing the task. A closed thread where Jenny is mentioned to be painting a picture of a flower before being interrupted by Dan, with whom she has an entirely unrelated conversation, would also count. This isn't meant to stress anyone out, it's just meant to keep task completion from being entirely handwaved.
  
  Your character can also fail to complete the task, or have their gift stolen/destroyed, or just do a really bad job and have their gift deemed unacceptable. What happens to your character's gift and whether they succeed or not is all up to player discretion, so feel free to play with whatever is most fun! Having a character fail a task doesn't OOCly affect you in any way, and doesn't make a difference toward activity check. ICly, however... well, we'll get to that.



• Character specific tasks are less common, and a bit more special. Basically, if your character has been really getting on a member of the royalty's nerves, they might decide to give a task that specifically targets your character. It can be anything from stealing a prized possession of the character's, to calling them a name they really hate, to even attacking that character.
  
  OOCly, you can request one of these plots against your character, or the mod(s) might approach you with one that you can accept or decline. Before requesting a plot, or accepting one, be sure you'll be available for most of the month and don't plan to hiatus. Obviously unexpected things happen, but if you agree to a plot like this and then hiatus for an already planned vacation or something of the like, you probably won't be allowed another plot against your character for awhile.
  
  These kinds of tasks will differ by character and circumstance, but the flow is generally the same. The task will be announced at the first of the month as usual. It is up to the player of the targeted character to plot outcomes at that time, and it is up to their discretion how many threads they can take on related to the plot, and what character eventually succeeds. This plotting has to be open to the public - while this sort of plot can further personal CR plots between characters, we don't want to lock anyone out, either.
  
  Also, remember that just because the targeted character can't take anymore threads, doesn't necessarily mean that has to be the ultimate conclusion. Especially when there is theft involved, the "winning" character has to keep their prize safe until the end of the month, opening them up to being stolen from in turn. We encourage players to plot and make the most out of character specific tasks, to build and break relationships between characters.
  
  Since these are a very case by case situation, there will be case by case rules on what to do to "complete" them, and how they affect ranking. Sometimes they might not even end in a change in ranking, which might make your character feel bad about punching their best friend in the face.

Rankings:

As mentioned, the Red Crayon Aristocrats have imposed a social hierarchy on the other orphans. There are effectively four "castes" your character can be a part of, with each higher caste bringing them steadily more benefits. Characters move up in rankings by building up favor with the royalty and by completing tasks, and move down by upsetting the royalty, or failing to complete tasks.

The castes:

• Peasants: Everyone starts out as a peasant. As a peasant, your character has effectively no rights on the ship: they must act deferential to characters in castes above them (including bowing/curtsying, and addressing nobility and royalty with their title), they must do anything those in higher castes tell them to do, and they must wait last to eat. Peasants are also given dirty, smelly rooms with bad mattresses and moth-eaten blankets to live in, are given ragged, worn out clothing, and are always given the most unpleasant of chores. Failing to act as a peasant results in punishment.
  
  There can be as many peasants as there are people on the ship.



• Merchants: Despite the name, merchants don't actually have to sell anything. Merchants are basically peasants, but more respectable. While they still have to do what nobility and royalty tell them and act deferential toward them, they can also order the peasants around, and don't have to do as many chores. They also get to eat before peasants at mealtimes, and are given better rooms and clothing.
  
  There can be up to 5 merchants.



• Nobility: The nobility caste is where characters start getting more freedoms. They get much nicer clothing and rooms, sometimes even with heaters and fans! They no longer have to do chores at all if they don't want, instead passing them off to lower characters. Nobles can take a title for themselves (whatever your character thinks sounds cool, basically), and merchants and peasants are required to call them by either that title or as "my lord" or "my lady," or else the noble can punish them. Of course, they don't have to punish anyone, but might be seen as weird by the other nobility/royalty, especially NPCs, if they don't. Nobles can still be punished for not acting deferential toward the royalty, although most of them talk casually with the royalty, unless that particular royal is a dick. They can still be ordered around by the royalty, and still have to present gifts.
  
  There can be up to 5 nobles.



• Royalty: The royals are the top of the ladder. They have the best rooms (suites that have private baths), they get any new clothing that comes in, they are always at the front of the food line, and they don't have to answer to anyone (even the adult staff, apparently). The royals are the ones who set the tasks for the Red Crayon Aristocrats, and they are the ones who judge the gifts and hand out punishments. They are generally referred to as "Prince" or "Princess," or "your Highness." Royals do not have to give gifts or participate in tasks if they do not want to, but they might if they feel like their position as a royal is being threatened - they can be ousted just like anyone else.
  
  There are always 4 royals.

Characters can only move up one caste at a time, so even if there are no merchants to have to climb over, your peasant character can't move straight to overtaking a noble's spot. They must become a merchant first.

After fetch quest tasks, character ranks are decidedly ICly by the royals voting on which gifts they like best. OOCly, this works by characters being assigned points using RNG, and then using those to determine if characters move up or down (this will probably get tweaked in practice, to make it fair for everyone).

For character-focused tasks, how characters move in the aftermath will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

In addition, characters who are in castes Merchant and up all get a certain amount of base points added to their score automatically. Just like in real life, there are advantages bestowed on those of a higher social class.

Favor:

And, just like in real life, the system in the Red Crayon Aristocrats is rigged. Characters who suck up to the royalty will get more votes in their favor, while those that anger the royalty will find the vote biased against them.

• For NPC royalty, the main way to increase favor is by replying to favor posts. Every now and then (once every couple weeks or so), a favor post will go up in the IC comm, presenting a situation a royal is in. You will then have some amount of time (48 hours or so) to respond to the post with how your character reacts. Depending on the response, your character's favor with that royal will go up or down.
  
  For example: a favor post goes up that says, "Princess Meg is trying to bake a cake, but has never baked anything before and isn't sure what to do. What does your character do?" If you respond that your character teaches Meg how to crack eggs, your character's favor with Meg will go up, making it easier for them to go up in rank. On the other hand, you could respond that your character laughs at Meg and throws flour in her face, meaning your character's favor goes down, making it harder for them to rise in rank and making it easier for other characters to push them down.
  
  Sometimes, personal plot reasons might make favor go up and down too. Obviously, if your character is leading a campaign to oust a particular royal, favor with that royal will go down (and favor with other royals might go up, if they think it would be in their favor to oust that royal). Players will always be informed if something their character is doing will increase or decrease favor.
  
  Neither of these ways to increase/decrease favor require threading with NPCs. While threading with NPCs might occasionally be available for plot reasons, that is more to add fun to the game than to be a mechanic, and won't factor into favor. We don't want anyone to feel like they need to prioritize NPCs over PCs.



• If/when PCs start becoming royalty, they can put in to increase or decrease favor as well. This will require them to show significant threading that justifies the increase or decrease: a thread where the two characters clearly enjoy each other's company, a thread where the two characters get in a fight, etc. If there isn't threaded evidence available, then players cannot increase or decrease favor - no handwaving.

Favor is factored in after your character's points are first rolled. For example, if your character was given 5 points by RNG and the character one rank above them was given 10 points by RNG, just left at that ranks would stay as they are. But if your character had some favor with the royalty, while the other character had lost favor with the royalty, the points could end being 10 for your character and 5 for the other, causing your character to move up in rank, and their character to go down.

Favor does not affect players OOCly.

Punishments:

So, you've turned in evidence that your character completed their task, the ranks have been calculated, and it turns out your character moved down. Now what?

Now, your character faces punishment.

Punishments happen at the tail end of the month, and are always decided on by the royalty. Punishments range from the unpleasant, like having to wear wet, moldy bags as clothing for a day, to the skin-crawling, like having to lie still while a large spider is put on your character's face, to the dangerously terrifying, like having to walk across the top of the airship and back without a tether. While punishments are not usually something physically violent (like being hit or lashed), they could occasionally be.

However, while the royals decide the punishment, it is not them who administers it. If the punishment is to lie still while a spider is placed on your character's face, the one who has to put the spider there, and the one who has to hold your character down and make sure they endure it, is the character who moved up to take your character's spot. The characters who move up are always the ones to torture those who move down. And if the character refuses to do so, they will have to be punished as well.

Characters of a higher caste can also punish characters of a lower caste if the lower character refuses to follow an order, or insults them in some way. These punishments can be whatever the higher character chooses (ICly). OOCly, feel free to plot with punishments and use them to advance CR.

NPCs

There are 7 child NPCs and 3 adult NPCs. While they may occasionally be available for threading, they aren't usually. Feel free to handwave minor interactions with NPCs, though please check with the mods before assuming any major interactions.

The child NPCs are the 4 royals and 3 nobles.

The adult NPCs generally seem uninterested in actually taking care of the children and are only here to get their paycheck.

[more individual info will be here soon]

Memory Loss, and Regaining Memories

As mentioned previously, when your character first arrives at the airship, their canon memories have been replaced with memories of a mundane, movie-standard childhood, up until your character's parents' deaths. At first, your character will truly believe that living in the orphanage and somehow making the best of it is their only choice, until they get adopted (unlikely) or age out.

Despite their changed memories, characters should still have the same personality that they have at the canonpoint they're brought from. Even if a major event affected a personality change in them, they're still have that personality, even if they can't remember the event that made them this way.

Characters who are adults will see themselves as children or teenagers (17 or younger). Other characters will treat them like they are adolescents, and until they start to regain their memories, they will not remember being an adult. Non-human characters will work similarly - they will see themselves as human and remember themselves growing up human, and others will treat them as human.

Characters can remember canonmates to some extent. For example, if characters were friends, they might remember each other as schoolmates and remember that they were generally friendly with each other. If characters were enemies, they might remember this as a rivalry between them, or just remember that they didn't like each other. Characters who are lovers might remember that they have a crush on each other. But they won't remember the full depth of their relationship, or any significant events that happened between them, until they start to regain their memories. Characters who are family members will remember each other better, like siblings having memories of growing up together, though they still won't remember any significant events to happen between them.

Other than their parents' deaths, your character should not remember anything big or out of the ordinary having happened to them, even if those memories are fake. For example, a character will not have memories of graduating school early and entering college as a teenager, even if that was something they did or could do in canon. The life your character remembers is boring and as close to standard as possible.

Let me know if you would prefer a holiday card over a Christmas card! Comments are screened of course.

In which Hajime does something right and everyone is proud.

...

( Jack only had the TV on for background noise... )

Something I've been working on since around Christmas. Finally finished it. Enjoy!

( Excuse me, Tanaka-san? )

I don't know what I'm doing.

( Whooooooooo! )