Everyone's got a secret, and the wizarding world is no exception. These carefully kept guilty secrets, hidden away in the darkest corners of hearts, begin to come to light when the Death Eaters are suspected of making a resurgence in the year after Voldemort's very timely demise. Rebuilding in a time of political turmoil, what will the people of the wizarding world choose? Will they allow the Ministry to arrest and interrogate any and all suspected Death Eaters? Will they speak out against the tactics being used? Will they try to exact revenge by turning in those who've wronged them? Or will their carefully guarded secrets have them treading softly for fear of being arrested themselves?
Guilt by Association is a post-Deathly Hallows, non-epilogue compliant RPG. GbA is a game that encourages character development with the added benefit of a plot arc, as well as game-wide events that lend to personal plotlines.
What you need to know if you plan on playing a...
...character who was/should have been a 7th year student when Snape was Headmaster.
Half-bloods and Purebloods who attended Hogwarts during the 7th year were taught a relatively on-track NEWT curriculum from their professors, with the exception of the Carrows' DADA course. Because the Battle of Hogwarts occurred before spring term was over, 7th year students were offered a summer-long NEWT preparation course, for each subject, taught by professors and community volunteers.
Muggle-borns who were on the run (or imprisoned) and any other students who didn't attend Hogwarts 7th year had the opportunity to take the same NEWT preparation, if they so chose. They were also offered the decision to re-take courses in the NEWTs of their choice during the following school year. Some institutions (the Ministry, Gringotts, St Mungo's) agreed to sponsor a career training program to replace NEWT requirements for those students with "special" circumstances making them unable to take NEWTs during the summer. This career training is basically a six-month to year-long internship with a monthly stipend, to occur before any other career-related training programs. Each intern will be working under an advisor. Upon completion of the internship, interns may be offered a salaried position in the field of their internships.
...character who will be a 7th year this year.
If you were a Muggle-born who missed your sixth year of school, you will be warmly welcomed back this year, only not to Hogwarts castle, but the temporary location at the Quidditch Cup stadium. For all students, nonpermanent classrooms have been created. Professors will be teaching as closely to their old curriculum as possible under these circumstances. Until Hogwarts is finished with its reconstruction, the school will not be boarding students. Instead, children of wizarding families can use the Floo network to arrive at the stadium and Muggle-borns will have special transportation arranged with the Knight Bus. Lunch is provided for all.
Muggle-borns will be offered extra tutoring sessions between classes, taught by professors, alumni, and other community volunteers, to catch them up to where they are expected to be, academically.
...character employed by the Ministry of Magic.
Characters who were in the Ministry during the formation of the Muggle-born Registration Commission have several options. Those who were in quiet disagreement with the running of the Ministry may have done their departmental job as inconspicuously as possible. Muggle-borns at the Ministry may have been turned in by someone, or designed and turned in falsified papers regarding their heritage, or been tried and imprisoned by the Muggle-born Registration Committee, or have gone on the run. Ministry employees may have also gone along with the Muggle-born Registration Commission, helping by contributing names to the list Umbridge was compiling, participating in trial hearings, or aiding the Ministry in the imprisonment of Muggle-borns in other ways.
Depending on your character's situation, he or she may have been interrogated by the department of Magical Law Enforcement using Veritaserum. Those deemed as Death Eater sympathizers may have been fired, demoted, and/or tried for crimes against Muggle-borns, with proof of criminal acts. Should your character have been tried and found guilty by the Wizengamot, he or she may have been required to do Azkaban time. If your character somehow managed to squeak by, even after some involvement in the Muggle-born Registration Committee, it would probably be in his or her best interest to lay low for a while.
If you are newly employed by the Ministry of Magic, there is a possibility that you will be thrown into a position previously belonging to someone who has been ousted or demoted. Because the Ministry is still in the process of "cleaning up", you are welcome to make your character as overwhelmed or clueless as you want -- unexpected and unwarranted promotions, or extra job duties because there was no-one else to do them.
...character who is a known Death Eater.
You are either in prison, on the lam, or as in the case of the Malfoys, under house arrest after giving the Ministry significant information on You-Know-Who, his followers, and events leading up the his demise. Also, if your DE character is in prison for crimes against Muggleborns, then he or she was fined (which went into the Muggleborn Restitution Fund). If, however, your DE character cooperated with the Ministry, the fine was lowered. It should also be noted that any dark artifacts possessed by the arrested DEs would have been confiscated.
...character who is an "unknown" Death Eater.
Your character can go about the game normally, unless he or she has to worry about someone recognizing his or her's true loyalties. We encourage you to play it out in the game.
...a former Snatcher, informant, Imperius'd witch or wizard, or aid to the Death Eaters/Muggleborn Registration Committee in some other way:
The Ministry may have already found out about your character's position, interrogated and tried (if applicable) him or her appropriately. If your character's prior activity is still not widely known, that's fine, too. Much of the plot in this game revolves around the outing (or paranoia of being outed) for past activities.
...former or current Quidditch player.
While the League continued to function last year, muggleborn players lost their positions, replaced by halfblood or pureblood talent. If your character is a muggleborn who was removed from their team's roster, your character will be welcomed back so long as they can prove they're healthy enough to play. If, on the other hand, your character replaced a muggleborn player, they may have lost their starting position on the team and been relegated to reserve status.
Also, please refer to the FAQs for more information!