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Note: #hashtag links will take you to the linked room in our Discord server.

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(!) First, ensure that you meet our criteria for joining. If you are not 21 years or older, please come back when you are.

ye3c229dkl4.pngStep One
AotM has a large focus on world building! That means it has a lot of lore, and that can seem pretty intimidating for first timers. Try to think of it as a lego set though. To start playing with legos, all you need to know to begin with is how to put them together. If you want to expand into further sets later, then you can do so!

All you really need to read is our base information and then whatever information pertains to the specific kind of character that you want to play. Everything else is very easy to pick up as you go.

Here's what you need to read to get started here:


Once you're ready to submit a sample post:
  • The pins in the #requests-and-reviews on the Discord!
  • You may also want to sign up with RPR and the AotM forum group here at this point, so you don't have to wait as long to be approved. Make sure your RPR name and your Discord nickname match!

Step Two
Hop into our Discord server here!

We don't require than anyone roleplay specifically in either our server or our forum. Pick which style or mix of styles works for you! However, many of our important mechanics are run through Discord, like our event alerts and important news, so you do have to join us on the server, even if it's only for OOC purposes.

Once you're there:

✔ Ensure that your server nickname matches your RPR name if you have an account.

✔ Make sure that staff can send you private messages.

✔ Sign up for your roles in the #roles-and-alerts room! Just click the buttons!

✔ Come say hi if you'd like!


We've got a handy ice breaker pinned in our #guest-lobby (and reposted here to help you) if you would like to use it.

(CLICK FOR PROMPT!)

**HI! I'M NEW!**

**__About me__**
What should we call you? What're your pronouns? How did you wind up here? Do you have any pets? Give us a lil bio blurb here. Pretend it's your author's page on the back of your best selling novel.

**__Hobbies, Likes__**
Do you have any fandoms you're a part of? Shows, movies, or games you like? Do you enjoy drawing or writing or any other creative pursuits? How about a favorite food or animal? Tell us a little about some of the things you enjoy!


Step Three
Time for your sample post!

Pick a piece of fictional prose that you think represents your average as a writer. It can be an old roleplay post, a solo story, or something you just wrote on the spot.

Check out the pins in our #requests-and-reviews channel where you'll be submitting your sample to see what we screen for. You're looking for the 'Joining the Community' section.

Here's what we'll need from you:

✔ Your sample post! It need to be at least 180 words and include some dialogue. You may post it directly to the channel, or share a link.

✔ A statement of your age. It doesn't have to be specific, just a confirmation that you're at least 21 years old.

✔ The copy and paste statement pinned in that section that shows you have read and agree with our community's rules.


After you've made your submission, feel free to hang out and chat until staff gets back to you! We usually get to things under three days. Once we've looked things over, we'll contact you via DMs with our answer.


Step Four
You've been approved! Excellent! It's time to make your first character!

Take a peek over at the right side of our guide for more specific character creation help. If you already know who you want to make, then head on over to our Character Creation Page!

You'll find everything you need to get you started on your character app there. Once you're done and ready for review, head back over to the #requests-and-reviews channel. Use the form there to let staff know you're finished!

From there, you'll either be asked to make changes to help your character better fit in with our setting, or they'll be approved and you can start roleplaying!


Step Five
Once your first character has been approved, you have a few final steps to take to ensure you have a smooth experience here.

✔ If you haven't filled them out already, fill our your #art-permissions on our Discord server!

✔ Making yourself a Writer's Page is also a good idea! It lets other writers know your preferences and writing limits in an easy to find way.

✔ Optionally, you may consider making a Plot Page and a Tread Tracker for yourself as well.


Once you've finished, head into #plotting-and-rp-talk or check out our #open-thread-list to get started writing!


FUN EXTRAS

AotM has a Supply Store where you can use points you earn doing stuff around the community. They're used to purchase certain character types, but also to buy fun extras like your own discord channels or a glow up for your character's page! We also have an achievement system that you might enjoy if you like badges and challenges.

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Ready to get started with character creation?

If you've already got a general idea of who you want to play, keep reading!

If you need a little inspiration, check out our:

We also have arrival prompts for those who need a little extra help figuring out how their characters got here!

Character sheet details are located here in the dropdown on the first post. You're welcome to design your own character sheet using that information, or use one of our many templates.

Note that some of the information you'll come across in our guides is intentionally written in character to help with immersion.

my2pc8pvvz7.pngWant to play an Interdimensional Secret Agent?
While Civilians mostly stay put in either Sanctuary or Harbor unless they have their own means to hop about the multiverse, AotM agents have Key Gauntlets that allow them to access portals called Gates and travel to other worlds!

They spend a lot of time fighting our plot's main enemy, the Corruption, but they also do work securing allies across the multiverse, studying the flora and fauna of different worlds, and reclaiming and revitalizing Corrupted places.

The AotM have two main branches-- Field Agents, who actively go out and deal with the Corruption, and the Home Team, who focus a lot more on tending to whoever comes back or on less direct dangers. You can find professions such as healers, psychologists, chefs, animal handlers, and researchers on the Home Team.

Most agents are the adult versions of their respective species. However, skilled and determined enough minors are also accepted as agents under the AotM's Provisional Agent Program. They are generally highly supervised and are guided by their Anchors.

Interested in playing a character like this? Check out the Guide Links in the drop down below!

(CLICK TO EXPAND)


The Traveler's Handbook
Your character will receive one of these upon joining the AotM, both a paper and an electronic version. It acts as an orientation guide for anyone joining the AotM, and will help you know what your character knows.

New Agent Supplies
What's a spy story without spy gadgets? Your character will be given special gear and resources upon joining the AotM! This page helps you understand what those are.

Codes of Conduct
These are the in character rules and requirements for AotM agents, and they'll help you know what your character can and can't do while at home and on missions, as well as what the consequences are for breaking those rules.

Active Threats
Active Threats is all about the Corruption, which your agent will likely be actively fighting. It also lists any player controlled enemies of the AotM in case you would like to plot with them.

Specialists & Ranks
This page details the different jobs your character can do within the AotM and how to progress in them. It also details security ranks. Security levels will determine where your character can go in the Omphalos and elsewhere and what missions they can take part on.

Most areas aren't OOCly rank locked, but some places have IC security requirements, and if your character bypasses them and goes somewhere they aren't supposed to be, it may land them in hot water with security.

This page also has some additional info that you will need to submit in order to sign your character up as an AotM agent.

The Omphalos's World Page
Your character is welcome to live anywhere that their security rank allows them to (this info is detailed in many of the world pages). Most agents choose to live within The Omphalos itself though, as they are given a free apartment in exchange for their services (though sometimes they have to share with a room-mate).

The Omphalos is in a space separate from Harbor, Sanctuary, or any of the other worlds to protect it from attacks and location by the enemy. It rests upon a chunk of land free floating in a mysterious pocket dimension. This page will give you an idea of what it's like and what can be found there. Some new agents also choose to live in Sanctuary, though they'll have to pay for and locate their own housing if they do.

There are other residential options located through some of the Gates, but they are not typically accessible to brand new agents.

★ If you know for sure you'd like to make an agent off the bat, then head over here and select the dropdown that says, "OOC Notes, Reprimands, & How to Register", and include the information listed there with your regular character sheet submission.

Agents also get the bonus option of being part of the Mentor Program, which pairs your character with another writer's agent (when available) to help them get their bearings.


j7mmcezpnj7.pngWant to play a Civilian?
Not everyone has what it takes to be an agent, and many people who the AotM wind up rescuing from dead and dying worlds wind up in the organization's refugee city, Sanctuary. While this unnamed world is protected from the Corruption, it poses plenty of challenges of its own. Sanctuary is surrounded by impassable mountains on three sides, and a sea full of monsters on the other. Nobody is going anywhere, anywhere fast, and the winters here can be harsh and even deadly.

To make matters worse, mutating magical storms known as Cracklers or Crackle Storms for the noise they make, often sweep through the area, twisting and changing things in unexpected ways-- especially technology. The city itself may be safe from the storms, but they make building and living outside of the safety of its barriers a challenge.

Still, for many Sanctuary is the only option they have, and most do their best to improve upon their new home in the ways that they can. Some settle here permanently, hoping for a way back home, while others make the most of things while they wait to be placed in a new universe.

Want to play this kind of character? Check out the guide links in the drop down below!

(CLICK TO EXPAND)


The Relocation Program
If your character was rescued from a world taken over by the Corruption or arrived through a rift (a gap in their own world-- Sanctuary is a Nexus), then they will likely be in this program. It will tell you what to expect for them and what resources they get upon arriving. If they arrived through their own power, then they will likely not have access to these resources.

Sanctuary World Page
If you would like to play a civilian who interacts a lot still with the main story, they will likely be living in Sanctuary. This page will help you get an idea of what the area is like and what dangers it presents.

The Omphalos World Page
Civilians can use the public transport Gate in Sanctuary's main square to visit The Omphalos. This is the only way for non-agents to access this location unless they steal a gate key somehow or have considerable power. Deities may be able to simply let themselves in, for example, but they risk drawing the interest of the powers that created it if they do.

Sanctuary citizens are welcome to utilize the public parts of the facility, and many have family who are agents within the AotM. Any area with a clearance level of 0 is considered public. Areas higher than that are off limits to non-agents without an escort. You can see which areas civilians can access by checking out the #setting-and-lore area on the discord.

Other Locations
You are welcome to play as a civilian in any of our listed worlds that allow it. Keep in mind that outside of special circumstances or select worlds, characters who are non-agents cannot utilize world Gates, and therefore their interactions may be limited to their own worlds.

Consider creating a character capable of traveling through dimensions on their own power (Doctor Strange, for example) if you plan on playing a character who lives in a universe that does not have public Gates available.



84apc2zmnv4.pngWant to play a Villain?
Though the AotM side of the plot has a main focus on the hero or hero adjacent characters, there's certainly room for bad guys in our story too! Double agents, enemy of my enemy situations, or pure ambition are scenarios that might come up if you'd like to play a villain in the agency itself.

Maybe your bad guy is pretending to be on the side of good to turn on them later, or maybe they think they know best and plan on trying to take over by climbing the ranks? Or perhaps having their world Corrupted was enough to make them want to ally with the good guys, just long enough to get home again. In many of these scenarios, your villain will be assigned another agent to keep an eye on them until they can be trusted. This is something the AotM calls the Leash Protocol.

Other villains prefer to set up shop with a little more freedom in Harbor, a city found through the winding tunnels through the mountains. They exchange snow for mosquitos and Crackle Storms for uncannily intelligent dinosaurs, but the ability to do exactly whatever they want is worth it for many.

Alternatively, you may opt to play a Big Bad for one of our missions! We're always looking for ambitious story tellers!

Want to play this kind of character? Check out the guide links in the drop down below!

(CLICK TO EXPAND)


AotM's Leash Protocol
If your villain plans on sticking with the AotM and their crimes or villainous behaviors are discoverable, then they will likely become very familiar with the AotM's 'Leash Protocol' until they can be trusted. Please note, the Leash Protocol is usually reserved for violent crimes and dangerous individuals rather than things like theft. If the AotM has reason to believe that your character is not dangerous, their pasts may be overlooked in the face of a common enemy.

Harbor World Page
Want your baddie to have a bit more freedom? They'll likely be living in Harbor. Though Sanctuary is another option, it lies under the watchful eye of the AotM, and its citizens are very much for frontier justice when it comes to trouble makers. The lucky ones are the ones actually caught by the AotM. Most people of the less than sterling persuasion tend to prefer Harbor for this reason (it's also warmer.)

In Harbor, you keep what you take, and the only rules are the ones you make.

Creating Missions
Anyone can create and run a mission! Want to play your terrible, city stomping monster or your all powerful lich? Consider offering them up as a Big Bad while you DM a story for AotM's agents! This page details how you can go about doing that.

You can also check out #the-bounty-network on our discord server for jobs that need to be done, or bounties your character might want to place.




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Moderators: Jabberwookie