Frequently Asked Questions
1) "Can I play "insert your favorite hero here"?" Well, no you can't! IF your character is a hero published by Marvel or any of it's fine competitors. This game is open to ORIGINAL CHARACTER CONCEPTS ONLY and is as such, unable to accommodate a players desire to play Wolverine, Storm, Spiderman or any other copywrite character.
2)"Well fine! Then what can I play?"
X-Tension is an RPG* featuring player made characters of original creation. This means you must create a character yourself. Though I have several premade characters for anyone wishing to temporally "tryout" the game or those not wishing to create their own. If you like a comic book hero, then pattern your character after him/her/it. Try not to make it an exact copy, but patterning your hero after a published comic character is just fine, and is often the case with most characters I receive.
3)"What's an RPG?"
RPG stands for Role Playing Game. This means you "assume" the ROLE or PLAY a character set within my GAME world. You control the character's actions and speech (to a point) and interact with the world I have crafted. This RPG is currently set in the Marvel X-men Universe. Meaning that characters from the Marvel comics make their home here. This game started during the comic issues devoted to ONSLAUGHT and began shortly thereafter. My world has changed from the "OFFICIAL" Marvel Universe, and players are not required to be current on comic happenings.
4)"How do I begin?"
You can begin by fully reading this FAQ. In it I'll cover the quick and easy rules of play. After that send me (Charles) an email detailing the type of character you wish to RP (Role Play) and any back ground or details you have envisioned.

I make use of the Advanced Marvel RPG rules and would prefer characters be sent to me in that format, but this is not required. Those wishing to learn the AMSH RPG rules will find a link within to a site containing downloadable copies of all the major rulebooks.

A COMPLETE VERSION OF THE ULTIMATE POWERS BOOK CAN BE FOUND ON THIS SITE!

Once I get the character I'll check it over according to the Character Creation Guidelines found below. Once authorized, I'll do an intro post for the character and play can begin.

3)"What's a post, and how do I do one?"
Posts are made in the message boards (called GROUPS) used to play the X-Tension game. Each post should describe a character's current actions, as well as any thoughts or speech. To do this, Players are encouraged to post under the following guidelines.

A) Speech: This is posted as you would a quote. "XXX" Game time is kind of fuzzy so you can post multiple sentences or thoughts without disrupting the game too much.

EXAMPLE: "You leave her alone!"

B) Thoughts: Thinking to one self is handled pretty much like speech only silent. Thought speech, talking through telepathy and the like, is enclosed in different symbols. ~XXX~ or *XXX* are acceptable.
EXAMPLE: ~Psi I can't see you. Give me a mental yell!"

C) Actions: Actions are expressed through ::XXX::. Each action you express should be enclosed with these. This lets me know that an action is about to occur and that I need to give it attention. Actions may be written freeform, but should be well worded, whereas posted actions ::XXX:: can be much simpler.
EXAMPLE: ::I bring my powers of lightning down upon Stryfe as hard as I can.::
EXAMPLE 2: From above I call down my elemental bolts. Throwing out my hands, I try and direct them to and through the still laughing Stryfe, with all of the strength I can muster.

Now that you know what it takes to join and post, lets go over a few things you'll need to know to continue with the X-Tension RPG.

* Actions should never be posted as if they succeeded. I determine whether they do or not, and posting they succeed may throw off anyone posting after you. I do give more credit to properly worded and spelled posts however. Though long-winded doesn't get you any extra points.
Here's an example of a complete post....

::Grabbing Alisa by the arm before she had a chance to run off Tamara looks at her with an unhappy grimace upon her face::
"Alisa I need to speak to you about what you did earlier"
:: Tamara raises one eyebrow at the child and looks to her in a loving but stern look. sensing the actions of Lethe Tamara raises her shield in a curious way. with a small shimmer of purple light 4 fairies appear and begin to fly circles around Tamara. Tamara looks to Lethe for but a moment as she raises her hand to her::
"Ain't got the time for your games right now Lethe"
::Tamara lowers her hand and turns back to Alisa as the fairies deflect any incoming snow balls::
"Alisa the job we do has many consequences if it is not done right, and by you trying to make Hal' leave before we did what had to be done, well lets just say it could have changed the lives of everyone. Our future is made up by what we have done in the past and if you alter that it can really mess up things. So please don't try that again"
::Tired from the day and the mental blast that hit her when the two fairies where dissipated by Hal's disappearance Tamara stagers a bit and then looks to Rachel::
"So Rachel are we in our right time? Or what?
The post above blends together actions (:: ::) and spoken words (" ") very well, and goes into enough detail that I well understand what she is trying to get across.
The above guidelines are common across all of my RPG's and are common to games all across the net.
CHARACTER CREATION GUIDELINES !!!
To be considered for any of the X-tension RPG's, a characters should be created using Marvel's mutants as a model. This may seem a bit restrictive but is essential to the storyline.
* Non-mutants are allowed into either game on a case by case basis, and will make up no more than 10% of the total characters.
* To be included in the RPG, characters are allowed one MAIN power (such as Storm's weather control or Iceman's ice creation.).
* Secondary powers are only allowed if they mesh with the main power (such as Storm's flight, or Iceman's ice armor) in some way.
This isn't to keep players from having too many powers, but rather is to make each character more realistic(yeah I know this is a game).
* I make use of the Marvel Super Heroes RPG rules when I govern posts in the RPG and would prefer characters be submitted to me in that format but for those not wanting to learn these rules (they aren't required for play) please be as detailed about your character as you can, including real names, age, powers, skills, and a decent history.
* Power Levels: Characters in this game are for the most part considered new to their powers and not near as powerful & skilled as most heroes in Marvel Comics. Using the Marvel RPG rules a character should have no stat over Amazing<50> and most stats should be well below this. Characters requesting higher stats or large numbers of high stats will be granted on a case by case basis. This covers stats for the character as well as her/his powers, characters should have very good explanations for high physical and mental stats. Just saying a character is a good fighter doesn't mean he's as good as Wolverine. The same goes for mental abilities. There's only one Reed Richards people :)
* Character histories may be as detailed as the player wishes but refrain from connecting a potential character to an established Comic Book Character. I suggest this so that a character's history won't clash with what I have written or planned, plus I don't get that annoying "Hey Storm remember me?" syndrone.
* Super powers will be accepted on a case by case basis that relies on a few things. First I like to keep the characters unique and will probably disallow one submitted if it seems to much like a current character. While the teams may have several characters with the same powers each is done in an unique way (Fairyfire and Psi for instance). Also certain powers may be too powerful or just not what I want for my games. If these come up I'll mention it and a player may elect to change his/her character accordingly.
* Mulitple Characters: This is also handled on a case by case basis but new members may only join as one character. Player requests after being a member for awhile will be considered "IF" the team is in need of more characters.
* As sole creator and director of this game I reserve the right to reject any character at any time even after it has entered into play. This also extends to players as well.

DO NOT PUT WORDS OR ACTIONS IN ANOTHER MEMBERS MOUTH
This had caused problems in the past that I wish not to relive. If a player didn't say it or do it than don't add it to your post.
Posts should be made weekly as these games tend to run fairly fast. IF YOU CANNOT POST AT LEAST 1X A WEEK THAN DO NOT JOIN !!! It is disruptive to those who do post on time to have to wait for slow posters.
Characters may post "talking/nonaction" posts as much as they want, but action posts are limited to one per GM post. I often have to read/respond to 50 posts a week and have to restrict players to this to limit the chaos that can erupt from multiple action posts. You may attempt several actions per post (as seems realistic) but limit them to one post.
Each turn is not a set amount of time and players may make speeches and plees as desired. Even posts just thinking to yourself are welcomed.

GOD-MODING !!!
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GOD-MODING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED!!!
Most RPG players have dealt with this at some point or another and know what I mean but for those who may not know what I mean let me explain....
Posting that your action's always succeed, doing things your character can't usually (without prior permission), generally acting/posting as if your character can never fail, and other postings that are designed to make the character god-like are frowned upon.
Characters are accepted that fit into my guidelines and are accepted along the lines that they know little about their special abilities. Perfect characters (or players who think this way) are just not needed near as much as a character new to his powers and life in general.

ARE YOU MUTANT ENOUGH?
Use the R2-Unit above or send me an email to DungeonMaster@cfl.rr.comYour character should be in MSHrpg format or include as much information as possible before you send it.HR> ALL ARTWORK COPY PROTECTED BY X-TENSION'S AUTOMATED DEFENSES!

SUBMIT YOUR MUTANT HERE!
X-TENSION GM
What If...? Webring
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