As you hopefully understand by now, the weapons and/or support item you randomly receive will be a big part of your strategy.

With powers and everything that makes a prime a prime essentially neutered, you're going to want to hope you get a great weapon (or helpful item), pair up with someone who does, or kill someone and take theirs.

Weapons and Support Items are divide into four categories based on how big of an advantage they will give you when you find yourself awaiting the results of a Face to Face confrontation.

These categories are hopefully pretty self-explanatory: Great, Good, Okay, and Trolololololol.

Each day (starting shortly after I post this) I will release a weapon. I won't say what category it falls into, but I'm sure you can figure it out with a little brain power.

As of right now I have 20 weapons, with 5 more as Easter Eggs and 10 more on stand-by for if we have an outpour of competitors (which I hope we do).

Step 0 – If you have two characters, you must decide on which one will enter the competition. You may have your second character sign up, but only the one you choose will become a contestant. The other will be free to remain at the staging area, watching the contest with everyone else and benefiting from having their presence known.

Step 1 – Write a roleplay in which your character heads to a registration booth (these are located near all major population centers). There they will find queues for several identical booths. Once at the front of the line, your character will be asked to provide their name and demonstrate ‘what they bring to the competition’ for the cameras (this can be fighting, smack talk, or anything else). After this, they will provided with a form and ushered into another line where they’ll wait to enter through the Dante Verse, where they will arrive in the Lobby of the Preshow Complex.

Please make the subject of your post whatever Verse you are registering from!

Step 2 – You, the writer, will fill out the below information and send it to Proto Man.

Appearance – Your character’s appearance (a picture will suffice for canonical characters).

Personality – Your character’s personality in a few sentences.

Possible Reactions – How would your character respond to certain situations? How might they respond to other types of people?
-Example - Proto Man has entered the competition to seek glory and money to give back to his community. He would go out of his way not to hurt anyone, except in self-defense, and he would try his hardest not to betray people. On the other hand, Shang Tsung is out for his own glory and interests. He wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone he could, and he wouldn't think twice about using anything to his advantage.

Relationships – State any important friendships/rivalries you have with other contestants. Example - Guu and Gilgamesh fought each other in the past, so those two crossing paths would be something the audience would be keen on watching for.

‘Combat’ Style – Now by this I don’t mean a fighting style. I’m looking more at how your character will react if thrown into violent situations. Do they go fists flying? Will they retreat to find a better advantage? Will they be cowardly? Will they defend their allies above all?

Eligible Powers – List these, I will reference this over your Roster.

Moves – List your eligible moves (if you have any) AND put in a roster link to where I can find their descriptions. Also, BOLD moves that your character frequently uses (their ‘bread n’ butter’).

Extra – Anything you think I must know to properly write your character.

Quotes – List a quote or two your character has said or may say.

The point of this is not only to provide a quick run-down of your character but also to serve as an additional aide and point-of-reference for me when I write your character. As always, you should be ready to deal with foreign or alien situations. This is Dante’s Abyss. Anything can happen.

More information to come when we approach launch.

#hypetrain

(Great)
BFG
Flak Cannon
Lancer
B. Serum
Rocket Launcher
Dynamite
Iron Man Glove
Hawkeye Bow
G. Gun
Sniper Rifle
Flamethrower

(Good)
Jetpak
Vibranium Shd
Camera Drone
Gunblade
Molotovs
Lightsaber
Thorplate
Pyramid Helmet
GPS
'Mana' Potion

(Okay)
Binocs
Nail Gun
Crossbow
Stimpaks
Hammer
Glaive
Claw Glove
PEELS
Master Sword
Power Pole
Mine
Nailed 2x4

(Joke)
Uno Cards
Plastic Bag
TB Spork
Wilson
Cell Phone
Super Barbie
Mirror
Hulk Hands
Severed Arm
Deadpony
Mr. T

(Other)
Pokeball

Special Events –

A special event is any event that will affect everyone on the island. Events and their duration will be broadcast during daily updates. Some special events are less impactful than others.

Weather – Assume that the weather on Dante is what you’d expect if you lived in a temperate climate in the late spring. A weather special event can be anything from a cloudy afternoon to a thunderstorm. On a rare occasion a small tornado may strike a random zone or the coast may be buffeted by high winds and waves. Characters that stay around in the affected are may be injured.

‘Easter Egg’ Weapon – Every so often, an announcement will be made that an unknown weapon will be available at a set location. The weapon contained could be of great value or be flamboyant trash – it’s up to you to determine if the risk is worth the payoff. If you want your character to try and get the Easter Egg, send me a PM. With the next update, the Face to Face will be posted and the winner(s) will get whatever is in the egg. The contents will be revealed in the Face to Face.

After the Face to Face, all characters will return to their original locations. Repeat – You do not need to use your moves to reach the location of the egg. You just need to PM me your intention. You may not back out after you send me the message.

Other events may unfold that I don't want to talk about ahead of time for sake of spoilers.

At least five NPCs (they will be primes) will be present on the island. These NPCs may be Site NPCs or NPCs created specifically for Dante’s Abyss. These NPCs will be competing in Dante’s Abyss. They will be subject to the same restrictions as any other prime in the competition. They will also receive a random weapon.

Unlike player characters, the NPCs all travel at a set interval every 12 OOC hours. Near the end of each thread, I will post an ‘NPC Update’ that will include what the NPC has done for the last half-day.

In the event that a player enters the same square as an NPC, a Face to Face will occur just as if they had encountered another PC. Despite the fact that an NPC is involved, the F2F will follow the same rules, and I will be making the same considerations. As NPCs won’t be writing, I can’t really judge the writing/story of the character as I would with a PC. Due to this, each NPC will have a pre-set ‘Handicap’ (from 1 to 5) that I will consider when they are fighting with a PC. A higher handicap indicates a character that will be harder to kill.

NPCs will move after participating in a Face to Face.

Due to the random nature of weapons, do not expect NPCs to be pushovers. If you have a spork and are fighting an NPC with a high handicap who also happens to have the rocket launcher, you should expect bad things to happen.

NPCs, along with their handicap, will be included in the Profile forum.

Note – When half of the contestants are dead, any surviving NPCs will start to roam like normal players.

Note - All PMs for Dante's Abyss should be sent to Karl Jak, not Proto Man

The private messaging system is the official way that updates will be done for Dante’s Abyss. You may ask me general questions through other media, but updates and official correspondence must go through the PM system. Do not send your movements or updates through anything else. I’ll kindly redirect you once and then just ignore you.

Keep some space in your inbox. If I get a message bounced back to me, I will not bother to do so again. This is your warning.

By default, all your messages should be copied into your ‘Sent Folder.’ Make sure this is set so you can retain the messages you receive from me, at least for the day that they are relevant. Why? I have a large inbox, but I will be deleting things as I receive them, because my space isn’t infinite and I also just hate clutter in general (I'm not one of those people that has like, 900 unread messages in their gmail account... that's gross).

As a result, I may accidentally delete a message that I shouldn’t have. I probably won't, but it could happen.

If that happens, the burden is then on you to provide me with proof. I’m a nice guy (ask my students), but for this contest, I won’t be giving you the benefit of the doubt. Send me a screenshot or a screen capture, and I’ll gladly reverse the decision.

Also be aware that a message will be in your Outbox Folder until it is read by the recipient. This way, you can know whether or not I read your private message yet, so there should be no confusion.

Lastly, I will not reply to your update messages. If I read it, you can assume that you’re updated.

Just like in the Omniverse, you can take 20 points of damage in Dante’s Abyss. At 20, your character dies and will wake back up in the lobby. In this pocket verse, however, how the damage accrues is slightly different.

Damage results from ‘Face of Face’ events. You accrue points of damage from injuries and super moves.

The only way to heal damage is if you have a Support Item whose stated purpose is to heal damage. I repeat – you cannot heal damage in any other way. Your character can improvise bandages or splints, but this will not positively impact your damage and the severity of your injuries will remain unchanged.

Super Moves – Super Moves cause damage equal tothe SP cost. A Tier 1 Super Move that hits full-on will deal 2 points of damage.

Injuries – Face to Faces will almost always result in injuries. Injuries in Dante Verse work on a slightly accelerated rate than injuries in the rest of the Omniverse. Injuries and how many points they deduct are listed below:

Story Injury (0 pts) – These are extremely insignificant injuries, like a small cut or abrasion. They are for roleplay purposes only.

Minor Injury (2-4 pts) – Minor injuries will hinder you but they’re not terribly serious. These are like deep cuts that may take a while to stop bleeding. These also include things like sprains and minor head injuries. They can be healed completely with 1 use of a healing item.

Major Injury (6 pts) – These are things like broken limbs, impaired senses (like blindness), serious head injuries, and lacerations that won’t stop bleeding on their own. These can be healed down to Minor Injuries with a healing item but won’t go away completely.

Insane Injury (10 pts) – These are injuries you CANNOT heal whatsoever. Things like lost or mutilated limbs. An insane injury guarantees that you’re not going to enjoy the rest of the game.

Mortal Injury – These are very rare, but they can happen. These are insane injuries that will kill you within 12 IC hours unless you are healed. Unlike an Insane Injury, a healed Mortal Injury becomes a Major Injury.

Death – In the event that your character accrues 20 points of damage, they will die and ‘respawn’ in the lobby (first half of competitors) or the medical lab (last half of competitors). From there, they will be ushered into an exit hall and to a machine that will teleport them to the verse of their choosing (except the Oververse or Void).

Note – Characters who die via collar explosions (inactivity, gross violation of rules) will turn into Death Shrouds at the Fountain of Infinity. They must remain in that state for 6 OOC days.

Competition and Judging

Welcome to the premier event in survival. In Dante's Abyss, you are writing your character's experience on the island. You, the writer, are also taking place in a game that requires a great deal of luck and strategy. As much as this is a competition about writing engaging characters, this is also a contest of wits between the members of the community.

Many things are in your control -- Your allies, where you move, how you spend SP, how your write.

But somethings are out of your control -- Your starting Weapon/Item and the various fights that occur.

Anytime that two or more characters land on the same square, a ‘face to face’ will occur.

A ‘Face to Face’ is a confrontation authored by the Host of Dante’s Abyss. The moment a ‘Face to Face’ occurs the Host will make a post in the thread that states ‘Face to Face’ and includes the characters involved. Those characters cannot post in the meantime (anyone else may continue to post normally).

When a Face to Face has happened, you'll see a post like this:

Quote:

Face to Face
Retane, Guu, Atelos

Every day in-character equals four days out-of-character (1 Day IC = 4 Days OOC)

Each day will consist of two threads (Day X Morning and Day X Evening)

Twenty-four hours after a thread is posted, I will lock the thread for less than one hour to post an update that includes any deaths, any new danger zones, and signaling sunrise or sunset.

Every day OOC (or every 6 hours IC), you may move up to three times (or three spaces). You move by sending me a private message stating what squares you want to move through ("I move from G4 to H4 to H3 to H2"). This will be important once Danger Zones become more prevalent. You may not move diagonally, but you may move over one square and up one square (be aware that you’d be using two moves). Only the spot you wind up on will determine if you are in a Face to Face, so some of you may want to move one space at a time, rather than all three at once.

Movement is optional, you may choose to stay in the same spot if you think you’ll be safe or you want to wait for someone to find you. Remember that moving in or even trying to move through a danger zone means prolonged death. Do not do it

Moves do not accumulate or build up over time.

If you are moving to someone with the purpose of aligning with them, you must both confirm before you send in the move. Otherwise, I will assume that you are enemies or that one of you is planning to backstab the other. When you are in a group, be aware that any member of that group can move everyone so be certain that you’re all communicating well. If I receive multiple moves, I will go with the first one I received.

I will never allow someone to 'take back' a move for any reason.

Super Notice: It is your responsibility to keep an updated map of who is alive and what zones are disabled. I will not track this for you. I provided you with a map, and it is on you to keep it updated. My best advice is to use MS Paint. Put the map as your desktop if you need to. Do whatever it is that will keep you alive long enough to win.