Uptime and Sessions

Romancing the Toaster will be played using Discord, a platform that’s sort of like Teamspeak and Facebook Messenger mashed into one. It has both voice and text capability, though this game will be conducted through text and not voice. The following is a guide to how it will be used, and how you can use it.

Here's a quick guide to joining the Romancing the Toaster Discord server for the first time. For a definition of some of the terms used here, please see the Glossary.

1. Create your character. Once approved, we'll email you a link to our Discord server.
2. Sign up to Discord using an email account (this should be a personal address, not your IC email address). You can do this by downloading and installing the Discord desktop app, or by simply using the browser version.
3. Click on the invite link that the GMs will have sent you by email (example link: https://discord.gg/Zrk2cj) and it will automatically give you the option to join the server.
4. You can see all the servers that you are part of in the Discord sidebar on the left-hand side, where they will be represented by circular icons. Select the Romancing the Toaster server from this sidebar.
5. Once you've joined the server, right click on your name in the user sidebar on the right-hand side and select “change nickname”. Change it to your character's name along with their preferred pronouns. Discord nicknames are not general IC knowledge, though your character will likely want to introduce themselves!
6. You can change your profile picture by clicking the gear icon (User Settings) at the bottom of the channel sidebar on the left-hand side. This will take you to the 'My Account' tab where you can edit your username, password and profile picture. Like Discord nicknames, profile pictures will not be general IC knowledge, though they can be helpful for distinguishing who is talking.
7. By left clicking on your name in the user sidebar, you can see which roles you have been given. These represent sets of access permissions that the GMs have given you. Discord roles do not exist IC and should not be used to gain information about other characters. They are instead used to represent your character's abilities, locations, equipment, and other things. If you think there is something wrong with your roles (e.g. you're missing one that you think you should have, or you have one but don't know what it means) feel free to ask a GM.

During Uptime, you will have access to text channels, both IC and OC. They will be listed in the channel sidebar on the left-hand side and will be appropriately named so it is clear what they are for. Channel names always start with a # (hash) symbol. Selecting one will allow you to view them, and if you have permission to do so, type in it. Some channels you may be able to only type in sometimes, or view but not type in. If you feel there are errors, contact a GM (who will be listed under the “GM” subheading in the user sidebar on the right-hand side) by right-clicking their name and sending them a message.

During the game, new text channels may appear to you, and old ones may disappear. This does not mean they no longer exist, but you no longer can view them. This may reflect a change in location, status, or another in-game occurrence that would help or hinder your communications with others. If you believe there has been an error, message a GM before messaging in the channel. There will be mechanics by which you can request special channels with others. These will be arranged and monitored by GMs.

Remember, access to the internet can vary significantly in quality, as can the functionality of peoples' computers, so please don't become frustrated if someone doesn't respond to you immediately: they may be experiencing technical difficulties!

Private messaging within Discord is not an IC mechanic and should not be used to convey information except to GMs, or to others with a GM's express permission.

Actions you may take during Uptime include:

• Talking to PCs and NPCs in the channels available to you
• Travelling and doing a linear with a GM
• Exploring in a physical/virtual landscape represented by several channels
• Investigating using your skills and learning new information
• Hacking or decrypting something, which may reveal new channels
• Requesting to have a private channel to chat IC away from prying eyes (possible with a Room Key)
• Making a website with the appropriate skills (contact a GM)
• Making/breaking a Bond (contact Relationship-bot)
• Invoking a quirk (contact a GM, or contact Relationship-bot if it is a relationship-specific quirk)

This is a Discord text roleplaying game, which to those that haven’t tried it before can be strange. The following are helpful things to know whilst roleplaying on Discord:

• To have a message be in italics, bold, or strikethrough, highlight the text and select the appropriate option(s).

• You can also quote a message by selecting the quote marks that appear when you select text. This displays the highlighted message clearly as a quote. Right clicking (on the app only) or selecting the three dots that appear when you hover over a message that has already been sent will allow you to select the “quote” option. This will allow you to send a direct reply which quotes the original message and notifies the person who originally sent it.
  • Please note that you cannot use this to reply to NPC accounts with the “BOT” label - you'll notice that if you try quote-replying to a message sent by one of these accounts, Discord will try and fail to @ it.
  • Instead, please react to a message sent by an NPC “BOT” account using the :bell: emoji. This will notify the GM who sent the message, ensuring that they won't miss your reply! Alternatively, you can simply @ the GM who controls the NPC if you happen to know who that is.

• A message that is blacked out is spoilered. You can view these messages by clicking on them. Spoilering may be used by GMs but is not something that player characters can do, so we ask players to avoid using this formatting option.

• To address a message directly to someone in a public channel, type @ before their handle, and this will notify them, taking them directly to your message.

• To start a new line without sending the message, hold shift and press enter.

Before playing this game, please be aware of the conventions we will be using. To avoid confusion, players must not use square brackets in IC interactions, as these should be reserved for important OC clarifications and safety calls.

• Italics represent descriptions of a thing or an action your character is taking.

• Bold text in a Linear Channel represent communication to a GM (if you have a question otherwise in a public channel, click on a GM's name in the user sidebar on the right-hand side and message them privately)

• [Square brackets] indicate OC communication. These should be used to make safety calls (below), or sparingly for short comments and clarifications, not for extended conversation. As above, we discourage players from extensively communicating OC throughout session as this can clog up IC channels, break the immersion of other players, and may encourage metagaming.¹⁾

• [STOP]: This is a safety call meaning that everyone must stop roleplaying the current topic. All players seeing this call must stop roleplaying the topic in question. When used by a GM, this may indicate that the topic has strayed into themes which are forbidden in the game.

• [OUT]: This is a safety call meaning that the user does not wish to further engage in this topic. Once this call is used, other players should carry on roleplaying, but should treat the player calling [OUT] as if they are not/were never part of the interaction.

• [DOWN]: This is a safety call meaning 'tone it down', to be used when player interaction is getting too intense and you would like to signal to others to tone it down without shutting down the roleplay altogether. This is particularly important in angry, argument-based scenarios or highly emotional scenarios that deal with sensitive themes.

• [PAUSE]: This indicates during a high-stress or time-sensitive situation that you would like to pause to look something up or ask a GM about something. This call will hold for a maximum of 5 minutes, after which it is automatically void .

• [DONE]: This call can be made after any other call to indicate that it is all good now, you are ready to jump back into the roleplay and the IC situation can proceed as normal.

• [GTG]: Short for 'got to go', this indicates that the user is logging off or needs to leave, either for an extended period of time or for the rest of session. Others will not wait for you to continue roleplaying but will not assume that your character has broken down/gotten abducted/lost connection IC.

…is that it's not the end of the world if you're new to any or all of this! If you're unsure, you can always refer to this page or to the OC rules channel which will be set up on the server, or you can contact one of us (the GMs) privately if you'd like us to explain something in more detail. As GMs, we'll also be working out some technical difficulties, so you won't be alone! We hope you enjoy your Romancing the Toaster experience, and we'll hopefully see you on the server very soon.