What is Pleiades?
Pleiades can refer to one of three things: this forum (often referred to as "the board," "Pleiades," or "TPP"), The Pleiades Project (often just referred to as "the game" or "TPP" as well), or the Realm of Pleiades (often called "the world" or just "Pleiades"). The Pleiades Project is an interactive, immersive roleplaying game that combines high fantasy and science fiction elements into one seamless world. Here at Pleiades, we encourage creativity and craftsmanship in writing as well as the pleasure of enjoying a good game and a good story.

Why the name?
Marushia Dark originally took the name "The Pleiades Project" from a non-fiction book of the same title, which talked about the relationship between humans and an alien race called the Pleiades, who allegedly live in the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(star_cluster)]star cluster[/url] of the same name. Unfortunately, the original book seems to have fallen off the face of the earth, so he can't really say anything more about it. The name is also used by a number of other people to describe a number of other things which have nothing to do with the original book or this forum.

What's the storyline?
There is a main storyline to TPP that will slowly be revealed over the course of the game, but for the most part it will remain a secret, the idea being that we want TPP to be sustainable for a very long time. If you stay here long enough, though, you'll find out what it is. That aside the world mainly functions like a giant sandbox for you to make characters, put them through their paces, develop characterization, level up, and improve your storytelling abilities. Generally speaking, if you do something to upset the direction of the story, though, we'll let you know.

Don't science fiction and high fantasy clash?
Not really. Arthur C. Clarke famously stated that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Nowhere is that more true than in the real world where you have NASA astronauts and CERN scientists living a stone's throw away from clairvoyants, mystics, and Buddhist monks. It's just a matter of how informed a person chooses to be or not be. There are also plenty of books and movies that pull off the science-magic crossover rather well - like Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Hellboy - and many that don't. If you're able to think critically about these sorts of things and tell the story well, you shouldn't have a problem with mixing the genres. That said, you don't necessarily have to get involved in the matter if you don't want to. You could choose to have your character stay strictly within one field or the other and there are even places within the Pleiades world that cater to such things, like Seido and Geiger Island.

What kind of characters can I play as?
The short answer is, you're free to do whatever you want within the Realm of Pleiades, as long as you're able to tell it well. There is no hard-and-fast limit to the genre or age group you can choose to write form. You can choose to be a brilliant scientist, a powerful magician, a courageous warrior, a feeble old man with a three-legged dog who has a hard time getting laid, or a drugged up hooker who has a fetish for old men with three-legged dogs, it doesn't really matter. Whatever character you want to make and whatever story you wanna tell, there will more than likely be a way to tie it into the Realm of Pleiades. The emphasis here is that we've made a world for you to go and tell a good story in and we will do our best to help you make it as good as it can be.

So I can do anything I want?
Well, not quite. As a general rule, you can do anything you want so long as it's told well, but there are some limitations. Obviously, anything that kills the storyline or ruins the game for other players, such as blowing up the planet will not be allowed. Major actions, like building a magical space ship to bring alien civilizations or godlike beings down to rain fire on an entire island would not be good, even if it was well written, unless you're somehow able to explain how people would be able to resume their day-to-day lives as if it never happened. There will be instances where the mods will create activities that advance the plot of the story, but by-and-large the game was created to cater to all types of play. That means allowing for both magic and science and there are certain actions that would logically change the Realm of Pleiades in such a way as to limit players who want to do something else. Ultimately, the mods will determine whether something is allowable or not, so if you aren't sure if your specific idea can work, just ask.

Do I have to make a character profile?
Yes, you do. Before playing the game, you have to create a profile for your main character in the Character Profiles forum, which must then be approved by at least two mods before you can begin to use him or her. It's basically the mods' way of seeing that you've thought through you're idea and actually developed some personality, drive, and motivation to your character beyond the stereotypical RPG job classes of mage, warrior, paladin, tech knight, engineer, etc. Again, we're looking for people who are interested in developing their abilities as good writers and storytellers and character is primary toward that end.

Can I have multiple characters?
Yes, you can. Unlike most other RPGs, Pleaides allows you to have several characters at the same time. Aside from your main character, all players will be allowed to control certain non-playable characters (NPCs) when they need to, unless using a game master. However, if you choose to have several main characters that only you can control, you'll have to make a separate character profile for each of them and get them approved first. If you want to make it so that your characters travel as a group, you will also have to make a Party Profile to describe their relationship and get that approved as well. Any characters used within the game that do not have a profile that can be referenced back to will be considered NCPs and deemed fair game for anyone to use.

What if I suck at writing?
That's ok. We'll help you out. Again, we encourage good writers and we'd be terrible people if we didn't try to help bad writers become good ones or good ones become great ones. Take comfort in the fact that nearly everyone is capable of telling good stories in their day-to-day lives and good writing is just a matter of taking that and translating into written form. If you need help, try going over to the Training Grounds forum and hopefully someone there will be able to assist you. I would also recommend the book "On Directing Film," by David Mammet for learning how to tell an effective story.

What type of RPing will I be doing?
Generally, RPing is classified into five different types: quests, spars, tournaments, clan activities, and mod missions. Quests are your standard plot-driven prose adventure stories that have some predefined goal in mind. You can craft them alone or in conjunction with other players, depending on what you want to do. Quests are generally done in the Realm of Pleiades forum. Spars refer to any form of competition between two or more players. They can be fights, duels, cook-offs, dance contests, whatever. Quests and spars will be rendered a judgment by the mods upon completion to help you advance through the game. Spars are generally held in the Dueling Grounds forum. Clan activity involves getting a group together to work as a team towards some specific purpose. You can have quests and spars for just your clan or team up as a group with or against other groups for the same reasons. Clan activities are held where-ever is most appropriate to the type of activity, be it quests, spars, or otherwise. Tournaments are ideas for competitions proposed by players held over a period of time. The rules of the tournament are outlined by whomever proposes it. All tournaments and clans must demonstrate interest in the idea and be approved by mods before they can go into effect. Tournaments are held where ever is deemed most appropriate with the Mod Missions forum being the de facto section for now. And finally, mod missions are periodic events (quests, spars, or tournaments) created by the mods to advance the storyline of TPP. Players will usually have a hand in determining the ultimate outcome of missions, which in turn may affect the realm lore. These are obviously held in the Mod Missions forum.

What if I'm not into writing or roleplaying?
Then this probably isn't the forum for you, or else you might choose to just enjoy stimulating conversations in the Out of Character (OOC) sections, which is the place for all general discussion not pertaining to RPing.

What if I have other questions?
If you have other questions about TPP, your best bet is to ask a moderator or more experienced member. If you have questions about RPing in general, you can take them to the Training Grounds. All other questions should be posted here in the Navigator Forum. Just be sure to read the rules first.