"Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it"

     In ages past, this land of steel and stone was preceeded by a land of blood and shadow, a land where legends held sway. This land was also ruled by those with power, and though their rule was no more benign, it was of a different sort. As with all kingdoms, their time passed, and gave way to what was thought to be armageddon. The whims of those that ruled destroyed all that was- but even they could not destroy all that was to be. Telos grew out of the storms of their folly, surviving despite the worst that could be thrown at it. It grew into a bastion of security among the wastelands that surround it. Though others fell around it, Telos became a fortress among the ruins of a civilization destroyed.

     But this security is an illusion. Those that are left of these long-lost titans battle over scraps from their table, and in their ignorance may once again repeat the follies of their past...

     ...but there is hope. The descendants of these great giants possess abilities inherited from their forebears. These abilities, while not the equal of those that have gone before, may be just enough for them to pierce the veil that has been thrown over Telos, and save her from herself before it is too late...

Top

Posting Guidelines

1. Post: Yes, this is simplistic. So what. Make sure you respond to every move, even if it's a quick note saying "I don't really have something to do so I'll just do research" or something. Ideally, you should be posting at least twice a week. If you are unable to post for a time due to say, vacation, or illness, send your GM or the Chat list an email letting them know.

2. Always Write In Third Person: You know... say "he", "she", and "it". Avoid first person like the plague; never write your narration with "I did this" and "I did that". You are trying to tell a story, not write a diary.

3. Use the Past Tense as your Primary. In other words, 'Oswald walked to the door, turned to survey the room and sneered, "If you are so fond of your secrets, you shall be permitted to keep them - for now!" And then he was gone.'

Not - 'Oswald walks to the door, turns to survey the room and sneers, "If you are so fond of your secrets, you shall be permitted to keep them - for now!" And then he is gone.'

4. Use Proper Spelling And Grammar: Regardless of what language you are writing in, choppy paragraphs and badly constructed sentences make your writing hard for other people to read. They are also prone to never read your posts if they continually cannot decipher what you read.

5. Avoid Bad Posts: There are several different types of posts to be wary of. Each has its own problems:

Non-Game-Related Messages: If you feel you've got to say something to the people on the list, say it on the Chat list, not the Game list. If you must say it on the Game list, say it quickly and get to the point and make sure everyone knows its an out of character post. Use “OOC” in the subject header to indicate such things.

Rambling Messages That Say Nothing: These messages are usually five miles of unremoved quotes and old text followed by three lines of new text. This is not only impolite, its incredibly annoying. It borders on spamming... and for the record, spamming on one of the mailing lists is something that will get you banned from playing. It's usually a good idea to quote the message you are replying to in your new response, but only quote applicable text.

Messages From The Willingly Oblivious: These messages come about when one player totally ignores something posted by someone else, be it another player or the GM. If you don't like something that's been posted, you are NOT allowed to just ignore it and move on... especially if it came from the GM. Feel free to voice your objection to the GM, in a private message.

Super-Hero Syndrome: Basically a post of this sort involves your character doing things he simply isn't capable of doing, and not responding correctly to his weaknesses. The best example would be a character who should be hobbling around in pain after being grievously wounded, but instead is prancing around like he was Errol Flynn in Captain Blood.

Flames: Now, when I say flames, I don't just mean two player characters hurling insults at each other. That's entirely permissible, as it's IC (In-Character). There are two types of Flames – The first is the dirty trick known as the In-Character Flame War. In such a flamefest, two or more players will use their characters to fight each other over problems they are having in real life. You can tell this is going on when two characters who have no reason to be hostile to each other suddenly start fighting. Not good. It screws up the GM's storylines and annoys the hell out of everyone else. The second is the OOC Flame War, in which people directly begin to start nasty arguments, generally over the Chat list. Also not good.

Assassin Posts: To put it simply, do not kill, seriously maim, or otherwise destroy another character without the both a good cause in the story, and the express permission of the GM. Killing other PCs (or even important NPCs) off because you can without a good story reason is a great way to get booted from the game. “Because I am edgy and gritty” is not a good story reason.

Plot Changers: Do not post a message which drastically change the plotline the game follows. The GM is there for a reason, after all, and it's her game, not yours. If you have a good idea for a plotline, contact the GM.

6. When Presenting Dialog, Use The Correct Encapsulating Characters To Help Identify How The Dialog Is Being Heard By Others:

The correct dialog conventions are as follows:

"Use quotation marks here," the speaker said aloud.

*Asterisks are used here,* came a voice over the radio.

<<Double angled brackets are an indication of a foreign language being spoken,>> said a voice in perfectly accented Vordanian.

::Typed text, such as that appearing in a book or in a newspaper, should appear in double colons::, the hero read.

~Cedillas are used here,~ the man thought to himself.

^Odd little hats are used here,^ came the mysterious telepathic voice in your head.

7. The GM's Word Is Law: The Game Masters of the game are always willing to listen to opposing opinions, but never, ever present your opposing opinion to them on the game's Chat or Game mailing list. Send it privately. And if a GM ever says something along the lines as "my decision stands", let the issue go. We mean it, let it drop. Continuing to argue after one of us has reached a decision is not a smart thing to do.

8. Be Heard, But Don't Shout Others Down: If you're naturally quiet, try to post often enough to at least be recognized as being around. If you're a big talker, be silent once in a while and let someone else get a word in edgewise.

9. Avoid Time Crunches: Basically, this means reply to a new move in a timely fashion. Sure, sometimes it's impossible, but at least make the effort. It also means avoid spiraling timescales. It is rare that an action CAN and MUST take place at such and such a time and no later. If you can do something later and thereby avoid wedging in an unnecessary action now, you'll be the GM's friend for life. The game cannot move forward if everyone is always trying to get the last word in. Don't do this if you can help it.

10. Treat These Games As If They Were Games: No one is going to come up with a cure for cancer while typing away at these stories... and these stories don't promote world peace. They're just games. This actually has three meanings:

1. First, it means never forget that your life isn't changed just because your character gets reamed.

2. Second, remember that your actions can either contribute to the group enjoyment or take away from it. It's up to you whether or not you have fun.

3. Third, if your real life is interfering in your game play, see to your real life first.

Always Remember The Most Important Rule: If You Become A Problem, You Will Be Removed.
Be polite. It's not that hard. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, occasionally doubt your own infallibility. This has nothing to do with what your character does with the other characters - that should be whatever it takes to keep him or her in character. It involves other real people and whether or not they're enjoying the game with you in it. Be considerate and polite whenever possible. Remember.... If You Become A Problem, You Will Be Removed.

Top

     Telos is known by many names; the Land-of-Do-As-You-Please, the World of Progress, City of Dark Miracles, and, most commonly, Cyberia. It is a realm of wonders and questions, dreams and nightmares. Twenty-nine billion souls have transformed a once lush planet into an endless sprawl of glass towers, neon, and ferroconcrete. Beyond its walls remains only desolation and pain; a cinder formerly known as Shadow Gaea. Rather than spreading outward, the citizens have moved upward and inward, raising columns of steel to the heavens and weaving new worlds in virtual reality. Telos has become the heart of the solar system, serving as the last bastion of hope for a race dying from its own corpulence and greed. And yet… rumors persist that something lurks beyond the Cannibal Sectors, something forgotten long ago. A fantasy paradise spawned by fevered dreams.

     But for now, the one constant is Cyberia; a world where life is measured in nanoseconds and bound by credit balance. Devils and angels walk side by side, and sometimes you can’t tell the difference between the two. The Flesh is antiquated, passé. The human race has evolved beyond its fragility, becoming one with the Machine and Ether. The genome hasn’t been broken, it’s been shattered; allowing creations more animal than man. And all these monsters have been packed into one cage. Welcome to Cyberia.

     For a more indepth look into the areas that make up Telos, click here.

Top

     Computers have taken over the world. As such, they touch everyone's lives, even the lowlifes in the Tatters. To make use of this information, the corporations and government have created a landscape made of raw data- this expansion of the network that already existed makes data a commodity both easily accessible and easily hoarded.

     The best definition of this reality is a consensual hallucination, composed of a surreality of thoughts, dreams, possibilities and beliefs become real through technnology. It's been referred to as the 'net, the Otherworlds or Dreamtime, but the most common nomenclature is the Ether or Ethersoace. It's inhabited by the the icons representing entities both living and created- Avatars for users and programs. These Avatars range the gamut from ghosts to robots, fairies to spirits, angels to demons and everything in between. Its said that all possible worlds exist somewhere there.

     This wealth of information required a new approach to interface- information overload made the use of a manual interface a useless proposition at best. From this need, the brain-wire was born. Sort of a wireless network connected to the user's brainstem, now most people have a Brain-wire connected at birth (free of charge by TriOptimum Corp). It is VERY rare for a citizen in Cyberia not to be wired. In the presence of a computer, a head-display appears like a ghostly image in front of the user. To manipulate the data, either hand gestures or eye movements, are utilized. This is the typical interface. The Ether can be accessed through full-immersion as well, which is almost always used by programmers and hackers due to the high reaction times provided. However, full-immersion can be addictive and deadly (especially for hackers). This virtual world has claimed numerous lives, both the willing and unwilling.

     Beneath the surface of the Ether lies Deep Etherspace, the Outer Space of the Ether. Most hackers know very little about this unreality...It is the strict province of daemons and data realms, the province of dangerous threats best left to the initiated. Of the features in Deep Etherspace only some things are known- as most are fashioned from the minds of inhabitants of the realm.

     More information on the Ether and its inhabitants can be found here.

Top

Amok: Addict driven kill-crazy by combat drugs (shoot them many, many times).
Archology: A self-contained residential area (also called city-blocks).
Baseline: Normal human.
Bioware: Genetic augmentation; typically from via nanotechnology.
Bland: Gengineered subservient lifeform (slave labor for the rich & powerful).
BLT: Blissful-Life-Technology (a head-chip that ‘paints’ a fantasy world over the user’s real world perception).
Brain: Psykers (keep your thoughts to yourself around them).
Burnout: Neurological damage caused when a Psyker pushes him or herself beyond
their limits.
Cannibal 1-6: (see Geography section)
Cloak: Any type of undercover operative (usually augmented! Beware).
Clot: Common curse word; a "clotter" is someone that you typically don't like.
Crystal Trap: Psychic resonance device (best defense against Brains).
Cyberware: Cybernetic augmentation.
Doll: see Bland.
EtherSpace: The Ether, the Net, Virtual Reality, etc. (see Etherspace section)
Frak: Common curse word; if you're "Frakked," you're typically dead, or about to be.
Freak: Human with accidental or intentional mutations.
Geek: Mutated humans from the Cannibal sectors.
Gibson: Ethernaut or hacker; usually one with talent.
Gorehound: Mutated pig from the Cannibal sectors.
Grease: Someone killed in a messy fashion.
Grifter: Street hustler.
Gundam: A TriOptimum Hunter-Killer (15ft tall mobile, weapon’s platform with an
attitude)
Gutter: Low-life, bum, a nobody.
Headware: Neurological augmentation.
ICE: Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics.
Justicar: Security agent of Archon Security (would make Judge Dredd crap his pants!).
Kill-happy: A TriOptimum Guardian security drone (its tri-barrel .50 gatling gun can drop pretty much anything).
Kill-Sat: One of the satellites stationed in Telos' orbit- meant to stop reality shifting within the Shadow.
Knee-biter: A TriOptimum Safe N’ Sound security drone (small but lethal).
Love-bombing: Deliberate release of a membot that cause euphoria or sexual excitement (oooh baby, you gotta try this!).
Machine City: (see Geography section)
Man, the: High-paying patron.
Membot: Psychoactive RNA viruses that are gengineered to alter the brain temporarily or
permanently.
MemFatale: A membot designed to kill or incapacitate.
Morph: Animal/Human hybrid (isn’t bioware wonderful?).
Mr. Johnson: Patron from a MultiNat.
MultiNat: One of the major corporations in Telos Prime.
Muscle: Non-augmented thug.
Nocturne: (see Geography section)
Parts: Victim (Dead is dead, part is parts, dead people is parts).
Pocket Pal: Nickname for a PS20 plasma-thrower.
Prime: The city center (safest place to be in Telos)
Psycho: Augmented human gone insane (run away, nuke the area, repeat).
Ribbon: A long string of linked archologies.
Spook: A cloak brain.
Sprayer: Dispenser for psychotropic or pheromone agents (usually love-bombs).
Straight: See baseline.
Tank: Heavily augmented warrior (by their very nature, all Justicars are Tanks).
Tatters, the: (see Geography section)
Tellie: Citizen of Telos Prime.
Toadies: Low-level servants to more influential people.
Tombs, the: (see Geography section)
Ugly: A truly bizarre or grotesque Freak.
The Weave: The remnants of the pattern in Cyberia, allowing transversal of Shadow.
Wraiths: Hybrid cloaks that resemble giant rats (you’ll only know one is around after a .3006 DPU slug removes your upper torso).
Zoner: Burn-out (be it from drugs, ICE, bad headware, psychic, whatever).

Top

Movies: Animatrix, Akira, Black Rain, Bladerunner, Cowboy Beebop, Event Horizon, Equilibrium, Fallen, Gattaca, Logan's Run, Minority Report, Mobile Suit: Gundam, Pitch Black, Robocop, Swordfish, Terminator I, II, and III, The Firm, The Matrix, The Matrix: Reloaded, The Matrix: Revolutions, Wallstreet

Books: Burning Chrome, Dreampark, Gorgon's Child, I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, Mirrorshades, Neuromancer, Streetlethal, The Barsoom Project, The California Voodoo Game, When Gravity Fails

RPGS: Cyberpunk 2020, Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Kult, Over the Edge, Shadowrun, SLA Industries, System Shock I & II, Trinity, Torg

Comics: Planetary, Stormwatch, The Authority, Transmetropolitan, Wetworks, WildC.A.T.S.

Top