![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
June 2022 Newsletter
JUNE 2022 NEWSLETTER
Welcome to Deer Country's Newsletter! This is a half IC, half OOC informational post. We strongly urge our player base to read all Newsletters posted to the community as they contain important information about that month's weather, environmental changes, other plot-important information, important dates, and any important mod announcements. Newsletters will allow a chance for players to post about the impact their characters may have made in the setting using the form down below.
You can always feel free to ask questions on newsletters. Of course, we may sometimes suggest you wait until the event for certain questions, but for the most part, we should be able to help you out! Players are welcome to engage with the prompts/elements from Newsletter as soon as they are accepted into the game. Players may also use newsletter prompts as a basis for writing samples in applications.
You can always feel free to ask questions on newsletters. Of course, we may sometimes suggest you wait until the event for certain questions, but for the most part, we should be able to help you out! Players are welcome to engage with the prompts/elements from Newsletter as soon as they are accepted into the game. Players may also use newsletter prompts as a basis for writing samples in applications.
[NAVIGATION]
Enviormental Changes • Influences on Blood Types • Monthly Calendar • Mod Announcements • Impact Summaries • Newsletter Questions
ENVIORMENTAL CHANGES (IC)
Enviormental Changes • Influences on Blood Types • Monthly Calendar • Mod Announcements • Impact Summaries • Newsletter Questions
CURRENT SEASON:: This is the last month of the Season of Tears. You can feel the start of summer creeping in, and while growing plants is usually more difficult in Trench, there will be a multitude of blossomed trees that are turning out ripened fruit this month! The air smells heavily sweet with it.
THE MOON:: The Flushed Moon is a deeper rose pink and it still leaves a warm and comfortable glow. People who stare at it may find themselves feeling nostalgia for things from home.
PATRON PTHUMERIAN:: Remina is about even more so than usual and she seems to be particularly keen on sharing her knowledge. She's completely incapable of being damaged or killed, so don't try to fight her. Just be kind to her and she's likely to share some knowledge with you. She'll blink in and out of existence all over the city and will frequently land on the heads and shoulders of sleepers, making herself comfortable. She will enjoy reflecting on old memories with you or even show you the histories of other worlds. She'll heavily encourage people to spend more time in the archives: be sure to be respectful of any books you take out! Remina has killed people for damaging manuscripts in the past.
MONTHLY BLESSINGS:: On your Blessed Day this month, your Patron Pthumerian will bless you with a Memory Box. This is a small, rectangular box made out of a dark stained wood. The lid has a burned carving of the receivers omen that seems to glow when it's exposed to moonlight. The box holds every memory of the receiver inside of it. If they wish, they can use it to share their memories with others by merely focusing in on the memory they want to share when they open the lid. It will project from the box like a holographic image and play out in rich detail for both viewers. If the receiver has memories that were blocked, lost, or stolen from them, they may find they are able to have them restored by the memory box, though it is possible that if the event was traumatic enough, it will only come back in pieces (this will be left up to player discretion). Given the personal nature of the gift, the box will not work for anyone but the one it was gifted too.
THE WEATHER:: The days are growing hotter and the nights are starting to get a comfortable warmth to them. Plants are now in full bloom around Trench and many of the flowers are starting to make way for ripening fruit. The air is thick and rich with the smell of it and as the month goes on, it will start to add to the humidity. You may start to feel tempted to take some of the fruit right off the tree and bite into it just to feel a little cooler. It really works! Hopefully there aren't any pesky side effects in anyone's favorites.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES:: None at this time.
EFFECTS FROM PREVIOUS MONTH:: Most of the insects have started to disappear from last month, though your typical fruit flies are definitely lingering about for the rest of June.
MONTHLY INFLUENCE ON BLOOD TYPES (IC)
THE MOON:: The Flushed Moon is a deeper rose pink and it still leaves a warm and comfortable glow. People who stare at it may find themselves feeling nostalgia for things from home.
PATRON PTHUMERIAN:: Remina is about even more so than usual and she seems to be particularly keen on sharing her knowledge. She's completely incapable of being damaged or killed, so don't try to fight her. Just be kind to her and she's likely to share some knowledge with you. She'll blink in and out of existence all over the city and will frequently land on the heads and shoulders of sleepers, making herself comfortable. She will enjoy reflecting on old memories with you or even show you the histories of other worlds. She'll heavily encourage people to spend more time in the archives: be sure to be respectful of any books you take out! Remina has killed people for damaging manuscripts in the past.
MONTHLY BLESSINGS:: On your Blessed Day this month, your Patron Pthumerian will bless you with a Memory Box. This is a small, rectangular box made out of a dark stained wood. The lid has a burned carving of the receivers omen that seems to glow when it's exposed to moonlight. The box holds every memory of the receiver inside of it. If they wish, they can use it to share their memories with others by merely focusing in on the memory they want to share when they open the lid. It will project from the box like a holographic image and play out in rich detail for both viewers. If the receiver has memories that were blocked, lost, or stolen from them, they may find they are able to have them restored by the memory box, though it is possible that if the event was traumatic enough, it will only come back in pieces (this will be left up to player discretion). Given the personal nature of the gift, the box will not work for anyone but the one it was gifted too.
THE WEATHER:: The days are growing hotter and the nights are starting to get a comfortable warmth to them. Plants are now in full bloom around Trench and many of the flowers are starting to make way for ripening fruit. The air is thick and rich with the smell of it and as the month goes on, it will start to add to the humidity. You may start to feel tempted to take some of the fruit right off the tree and bite into it just to feel a little cooler. It really works! Hopefully there aren't any pesky side effects in anyone's favorites.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES:: None at this time.
EFFECTS FROM PREVIOUS MONTH:: Most of the insects have started to disappear from last month, though your typical fruit flies are definitely lingering about for the rest of June.
Each month, blood types will be impacted differently depending on events, Pthumerians, and moon cycles. These changes will vary significantly. These changes are meant to represent the intricate relationship between Sleeper blood and the world around them.
Players are always welcome to opt-out of anything in this section, but we do strongly encourage participants to help create a consistent atmosphere for the game. To those who opt-out OOCly, characters cannot ICly contradict these events.
There will be some months where all blood types are impacted or only some blood types are impacted. Rarely will there be months where no blood types are impacted.
WARMBLOODS:: Warmbloods will find themselves drawn to teach others this month. It doesn't matter the topic, whether it's something typically associated with education such as math or science, or just something they're passionate about, or a skill they're trained in, they will want to spread any knowledge they have to anyone who will sit long enough to listen. Teaching others will give them a clear mind and they'll feel refreshed after every lesson. They will have a hard time listening when someone says they aren't interested, however, so hopefully what they have to teach isn't putting anyone to sleep.
COLDBLOODS:: Coldbloods will crave adventure, even more so than usual. They will look for new experiences in every shape and form, from making new friends to exploring new areas to fighting a new enemy with nothing but their bare hands. If Indiana Jones would do it, so would they, and they will completely ignore any and all danger that might come with it. Time to find some ancient ruins to desecrate, mate. Hopefully you don't get too injured in the process.
PALEBLOODS:: Palebloods will find themselves even more strongly drawn to the fruit than other blood types. While this could put them at risk during the event, it might be well worth it in the end. They will want to cook with fruit, bake with fruit, make jam, and will try to pass it out to others. Anything they bake with the fruit will be emotionally healing to others and can even help to rid another of corruption or turn them back from beasthood. These goods can be preserved in full for up to 6 months. Jams specifically can be preserved for up to one year.
VILEBLOODS:: Vilebloods will be find they've been gifted with an internal compass, a natural knack for finding their way out of tight spaces or around new areas without having to look at a map or ask for directions. This could be very handy if someone were to get stuck in some sort of twisted, underground maze at some point in the near future.
DARKBLOODS:: Darkbloods will be given the gift of psychometry. When they touch an object, they will be able to hear conversations from the past that were had around that object, or by the people who touched that object before them. With OOC permission, this can also extend to touching people and getting small, blurry/broken clips of their past. If they touch another Darkblood, they may even end up sharing a piece of their own past with them.
LEVELS OF CORRUPTION:: High, particularly during the event. Eating the fruit can help to slightly calm corruption levels throughout the month.
LEVELS OF BEASTHOOD:: Low. Eating the fruit will make it less likely for people to turn into beasts this month.
MONTHLY CALENDAR (OOC)
Players are always welcome to opt-out of anything in this section, but we do strongly encourage participants to help create a consistent atmosphere for the game. To those who opt-out OOCly, characters cannot ICly contradict these events.
There will be some months where all blood types are impacted or only some blood types are impacted. Rarely will there be months where no blood types are impacted.
WARMBLOODS:: Warmbloods will find themselves drawn to teach others this month. It doesn't matter the topic, whether it's something typically associated with education such as math or science, or just something they're passionate about, or a skill they're trained in, they will want to spread any knowledge they have to anyone who will sit long enough to listen. Teaching others will give them a clear mind and they'll feel refreshed after every lesson. They will have a hard time listening when someone says they aren't interested, however, so hopefully what they have to teach isn't putting anyone to sleep.
COLDBLOODS:: Coldbloods will crave adventure, even more so than usual. They will look for new experiences in every shape and form, from making new friends to exploring new areas to fighting a new enemy with nothing but their bare hands. If Indiana Jones would do it, so would they, and they will completely ignore any and all danger that might come with it. Time to find some ancient ruins to desecrate, mate. Hopefully you don't get too injured in the process.
PALEBLOODS:: Palebloods will find themselves even more strongly drawn to the fruit than other blood types. While this could put them at risk during the event, it might be well worth it in the end. They will want to cook with fruit, bake with fruit, make jam, and will try to pass it out to others. Anything they bake with the fruit will be emotionally healing to others and can even help to rid another of corruption or turn them back from beasthood. These goods can be preserved in full for up to 6 months. Jams specifically can be preserved for up to one year.
VILEBLOODS:: Vilebloods will be find they've been gifted with an internal compass, a natural knack for finding their way out of tight spaces or around new areas without having to look at a map or ask for directions. This could be very handy if someone were to get stuck in some sort of twisted, underground maze at some point in the near future.
DARKBLOODS:: Darkbloods will be given the gift of psychometry. When they touch an object, they will be able to hear conversations from the past that were had around that object, or by the people who touched that object before them. With OOC permission, this can also extend to touching people and getting small, blurry/broken clips of their past. If they touch another Darkblood, they may even end up sharing a piece of their own past with them.
LEVELS OF CORRUPTION:: High, particularly during the event. Eating the fruit can help to slightly calm corruption levels throughout the month.
LEVELS OF BEASTHOOD:: Low. Eating the fruit will make it less likely for people to turn into beasts this month.
All Newsletters will be posted around the end of each month.
1st:
MOD ANNOUNCEMENTS (OOC)
1st:
Activity Check opens at 12:00 am.Rolling 2-5th::
Reserves close at 12:00 am.
Application Cycle opens at 12:00 am.
OOC Introduction Post made for new players. Will be posted upon first batch of replies sent to applicants.5th:
Application cycle close at 12:00 am.Rolling 5-10th::
Activity Check closes at 12:00 am.
Event Plotting Post incountryclub
Activity Check results posted including allowances for error correction.8th:
House keeping post included with Activity Check Results.
Game Event goes live in15th:
Character Relationship Meme posted to24th-26th::
Test Drive Meme goes live in26th:
Reserves open.
As was previously announced, Milk has stepped down from her position as mod, and Simcha is now head mod. Again, if you have any questions about the game, plot, events or newsletters in the future, please feel free to reach out to her at any time, either on plurk (![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
keshet), in the Discord server, or on a private discord message (cunnilinguist#4424). You can also still continue to use official mod channels and PMs to the mod journal.
With this change, and the fact that we are coming up on our one year anniversary in August, we are hoping for some general feedback about the game so far and are interested in hearing what everyone would like to see from the game going forward. This can be general prompt ideas for the event, requests for specific types of plot (exploration, lore, etc.), improvements in mod communication, etc. Please leave any feedback you have on this post or on our mod contact page! We'll be checking in regularly.
IMPACT SUMMARIES (OOC/IC)
With this change, and the fact that we are coming up on our one year anniversary in August, we are hoping for some general feedback about the game so far and are interested in hearing what everyone would like to see from the game going forward. This can be general prompt ideas for the event, requests for specific types of plot (exploration, lore, etc.), improvements in mod communication, etc. Please leave any feedback you have on this post or on our mod contact page! We'll be checking in regularly.
Did your character start a new business last month? Did they have a massive fight? Solve some mysteries? Then this is the place to summarize the impact they have had on the setting! We hope this makes it easier for everyone to collectively stay in the loop about what other players are doing. This is not required but we feel it will help provide a sense of community among the characters. All impacts summarized should be incidents that could be publically discovered or referenced. Impacts can be from player plots, mod events, TDMs, character-created businesses, or other such concepts.
This will also serve as a light plotting post for those who are interested in bringing on more people for whatever they have done/how they plan to continue with their personal plots. Please fill out the following form and post it as a comment on this page!
Impact summaries are more or less meant to keep characters and/or players in the loop. This does not take the place of proper CR memes or plotting posts for events.
There will be a OOC Impact Top Level comment players can use to discuss OOC impacts in a more formal, OOC manner where players can discuss the nitty-gritty details and ask questions or plot. This is where you can use the form:
This will also serve as a light plotting post for those who are interested in bringing on more people for whatever they have done/how they plan to continue with their personal plots. Please fill out the following form and post it as a comment on this page!
Impact summaries are more or less meant to keep characters and/or players in the loop. This does not take the place of proper CR memes or plotting posts for events.
There will be a OOC Impact Top Level comment players can use to discuss OOC impacts in a more formal, OOC manner where players can discuss the nitty-gritty details and ask questions or plot. This is where you can use the form:
Questions
no subject
Because... this is going to be awful.
no subject
no subject
no subject
how long do festival fruits stay cursed..........
no subject
The fruits are cursed all month. For future reference, there's a "when" posted in the details of each prompt in both the TDM and the events which will let you know if it's month long or time specific.
no subject
is it possible for remina to show memories of people not in game (ie character's canon families and friends)?
and would an attempt to grow or summon the fruits thru character magic, without using local seeds, also result in cursed fruit?
no subject
It would all result in cursed fruit, however fruit that is summoned by magic would have weaker effects that would fade faster than fruit that is grown in Trench.
no subject
adaine has offered to summon lemoncakes from a pocket dimension for sansa and remove any potential curses. would this work?
and does wine count as sufficiently transforming the grapes??
no subject
And yes, wine would count.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Impact Summaries OOC
Re: Impact Summaries OOC
IC/OOC Limits: N/A
Content Warnings: Implied body horror, drinking squid ink (drinking SLEEPER squid ink at that), possibly complications
Character Name(s): Vira-Lorr
When the impact happened: Since March, she's been working on it. this is more of a heads up to the next step in June.
Nature of Impact: Personal Plot (Creating something hopefully useful)
Impact Summary: Since Vira-Lorr discovered Sleeper Squid Ink (CW body horror) she has been researching the squid ink's properties in a hope to create something similar to the Antidote Potions that were available in Deerington.
I'd like to continue this in June with an actual offer by her (probably second week) on the network seeking volunteers to try out the ink. The goal is to infuse squid ink with a small amount of sleeper blood.
Possible complication: The wrong blood type infused causes hallucinations, paranoia or rage that lasts for a few hours.
Future Impact Plans:
Main plan at this point is to run by the mods if they're ok with including potions as a way of short-term alleviating corruption symptoms (but not removing that corruption). I'll let the mods decide just how far this could be taken.
Impact Summaries IC
General Feedback
So first off I'd just like say thank you to the mods past and present for all your hard work on the game. I wish you all the best going forward with whatever you do.
In general I would love to see a more exploration and lore explored in future events. There have been good inklings sprinkled around in events and the game pages but I do feel like there could be a little more done to involve the characters with it.
Game Feedback
I cannot believe you managed to give us:
- a dangerous exploration-adventure location with a concrete goal
- lore which characters must work and take risks to uncover
- an item with concrete, limited supply, which can progress the setting's central conflict (the desire of Sleepers to purify the world)
- hints towards a greater and more ominous force behind the curtain (the Old Ones)
This takes all my favorite elements of November's Sleeper Farm and February's Catacombs, plus it contributes more of a Deerington-like sense of overarching mystery. I recognize that comparisons to Deerington may not be wholly appropriate as Deer Country is meant to stand alone, but Deerington's plot-heavy early-2020-to-endgame run was the highlight of my dwrp experience. So, to speak from that baseline:
imo, because it shares so much of itself upfront instead of requiring Sleepers to struggle for lore or resources, Deer Country has felt notably slice-of-life instead of adventure-oriented.
For all that Deer Country's calendar seems more built for it, I feel that Deerington was prone to longer-term and heavier-impact setting shifts, with more emphasis on survival horror and resource scarcity. I loved scrambling for magic items or CR to get through recurring months of "surprise, the air is toxic" or "only magical light works in this darkness" etc. It encouraged Sleepers to band together to solve major problems. In Deer Country, I'm delighted every time a certain Blood Type or Blessed Item has recurring and consistent use, because slowly building a toolkit or CR team makes it feel like characters are "leveling up" in a hostile world.
Even if you don't intend to write a linear metaplot progression for Deer Country, I'd love a feeling of increasing setting mastery and setting impact— like a recurrence of purification Orbs, or more permanence to event locations. If Sodder was worshipped as a god who reshaped reality in her image, and we are her legacy, it feels satisfyingly thematic to see Sleepers reshape the world. I think there's untapped thematic potential in the "belief magic" of Pthumerians and Deerington's central questions about agency, legacy, and self-identity. If we're demigods, what kind will we choose to be? What parts of ourselves and the world will we nurture or destroy? etc.
(I recognize Deerington's permanent event changes got really unwieldy, but that seems like good reason to build on already-introduced elements. Like: what's the Sleeper Farm doing right now? Can somebody still get into the Catacombs? Can I do something with Tethers mid-year? Adventure- and lore-oriented prompts seem the most versatile for reuse.)
In general, my main point of uncertainty has been regarding the boundaries of the setting. In Deerington, we were used to Story Clues: a very active player could cash in their AC to access prewritten secrets or adventures. Here, it's not wholly clear how players should access new content. Should players construct stuff totally solo and just get it signed off? Should players be working with mods to pitch ideas? Should we build off elements introduced by events, to maintain consistency? I feel like we'd benefit from a revamp to the Player Plots page to give guidance on the boundaries of the setting.
Similarly, I've seen NPC interactivity discussed, and think we might benefit from interaction guidelines: where the NPCs hang out, how they respond to hostility, and how they respond to friendship. I feel like the Patron Pthumerians page could be revamped to highlight this info in a quick and uniform format. That way, their cameos in TDMs and events would feel like an exciting spotlight or deviation from a norm, and could build on existing headcanon relationships.
THIS GOT VERY LONG I AM SORRY. Overall: Simcha, I am super stoked to see what you do with the game, because it seems like you've done a fantastic job thus far. Milk has had an amazing run and built something really cool. Thank you all for your hard work!
no subject
That all being said, I agree that we can definitely rework the Player Plot page to make that more clear. We'll also be offering events like this more consistently, to try and help give a little more to people who enjoy lore/mystery oriented events in their games, despite this not being as much of a plot-based setting as Deerington. Hopefully we'll be able to find a good balance and we're always open to hearing from people on whether or not we need more/less plot-driven events to keep things interesting.
As for NPCs, I think we can definitely work on trying to make those aspects a little more straightforward. I know that each one currently lists most of that info, but I agree that it's difficult to find quickly, and could be made more easily accessible for people for interactive purposes. Minor Pthumerians are also always available for people to invent if the list of Patron Pthumerians doesn't cover something people need/want from the game, or if people are feeling too hesitant at creating headcanons with the more major figures for any reason.
❤❤❤
/chinhands at the game and everyone in it
feedback
It would be great if some of the things that happened in the events stuck around for a little while. (Will the tunnels be staying in July? Would there be a possibility that the tunnels remain for a few months and then slowly refill? Or will they be gone completely for July? [I don't expect any answers to those questions, btw. It's just something I wanted to raise.]) I did enjoy it a few months back when one of the newsletter prompts lasted for two months rather than one and it'd be awesome to see some things linger every now and then.
I think it would be great to know a little more about the patrons and possibly how they may react to certain characters and if there are opportunities for some 1:1 interactions with them. I know this is something I took into consideration with my applications and if there's an opportunity to build 1:1 relationships with them (even if it's not threaded out; I wouldn't want to add more to the mod team) that's something I would love to pursue!
I just wanted to say again that I really love June's vibe. I hope this feedback helps in some way. ♥