So what is this game really about? The idea is that there is a secluded mansion in the coastal county of Sussex that has been repurposed with honest intentions by the Ministry of Magic for treatment and rehabilitation of those in the magical community who have suffered severely from the war. Not to bring the real world too far into our pretend-y games, but we've all been witnessing firsthand how these sort of events can be genuinely traumatic to people as both an individual and as a whole.
Unfortunately, the Ministry is still cleaning itself out and didn't vet the head doctor as well as they should. The Director of this facility isn't exactly in it for the health and recovery of the patients. They're more just bored and have power, and like to see what people do in various situations. So they've turned the Retreat into their own lab rat observational chamber... and the characters at the Retreat are the rats. The Director is incredibly unethical. It makes for good drama.
So, while both trying to recover and make progress, the characters get to deal with various observational experiments, contentious co-habitants, and other little things that get thrown in their general direction.
Can you explain the game mechanics? Day Changes: In-game days will not reflect real-world days. Instead, there will be posted day changes once every few days, depending on the pace and progression during each in-game day. These day changes will include new patient arrivals (if any), weather reports, any notable occurrences from the previous day, and any notable events that will be taking place that day.
Journals: Like most games, each character will be given a journal. Journal posts will be made directly through the character's IJ journal. Every so often a therapist will assign a task to their patients, whether it be to write home to mom and dad, to post an apology on another patient’s door for past mistakes and/or grievances, or to write home to long forgotten friends.
Any assignments, letters, or notes to other people in the retreat can be put behind a cut and placed in the character’s journal. While magic in the retreat is limited, it isn't limited to the point where hexes on journals can't be made – there is a feature built into the journals that allows this to happen. When posting private journal entries please mark said portions of the entry. This goes along with entries viewable only to specific people. Please note that all entries, regardless of their security levels, can be read by a character's assigned counselor if the counselor has the character's journal in their hands.
Counselors may give other tasks, dependent on what they feel is beneficial for the patient. Otherwise, characters will go about their lives and attempt to adjust to living in the Retreat both with themselves and with others. The Director will also be mucking something up for people to deal with.
So this is AU? When does this take place? Absolutely! Our canon divergence point is post-book six, Half Blood Prince. The same basic steps happened, but it allows for a little more wiggle room in the how of things. It also allows players to pay homage to canon compliance while not being bound to it if they don't want to be.
The game takes place starting in mid-October 2002, nearly marking the four-year anniversary of the final defeat of Voldemort. The Trio and their class will be turning 22/23 this year.
Does my character have to be a patient? Definitely not! We also need counselors, Aurors, and medical staff as well!
Can I apply for a dead character? If they haven't died by HBP, then yes! If they died in canon with family already in the game, please check in with the connected character players to be sure that they're still alive. For example, if you want to apply for Fred Weasley, but there's already a Ron and Charlie in-game, please check with them to ensure that Fred is alive in their backstory.
How does backstory work? It's a hopeful combination of collaboration and first-come-first-serve. The hope is that people will work together to create a cohesive collective backstory (ie Harry, Ron, and Hermione players all work together to figure out how they fit into each other's history post-HBP) while being able to respect a writer's interpretation of their own character. Using the Trio again, the Harry player may have written that he ran away to do the Horcruxes on his own, but an in-coming Ron and Hermione could write from their POVs how they put a tracker on his shoe, found him, and then hit him upside the head. That sort of thing.
What if the character I'd like to play is dead as of HBP or in backstory? If they are dead as of HBP, please talk with the mods and pitch your idea! We're open and love a good drama.
If they're dead in a backstory, please consult with the respective players. If they're open as well, great! If they are not, please respect their interpretations and dazzle us with another character in that creative head of yours.
Do you have a character limit? Yes, our character limit is three. If a player is established, comfortable and active with three characters and wants another, we're open to making exceptions!
Magic is limited? Yes. Upon arriving at the Sanctuary, patients are required to give up their wands and put on a magically binding bracelet that will keep them from using any sort of magic, whether with a wand or wandless. Similarly, normally magical things such as brooms are also dampened. Although they can be given access to brooms, said brooms fail the minute people get out of the grounds, although they can fly as high as they wish no matter how high they fly they still pass over a boundary and the moment that happens well...let's just say we don't suggest it.
So what can my character have? Patients are allowed to bring a small, unenchanted, bag of personal belongings that will be searched upon arrival. Anything of value will be recommended to be kept safe in the Aurors' office, and anything dangerous will be confiscated. They will, also upon arrival, be given an essentials kit of toiletries and some clothing in the form of a few pairs of trousers/skirts (based on preference) and shirts in both black and white. Heavier clothing will be given out when the weather turns.
Staff are allowed to bring a little bit more, but will also have the essentials provided for them.
What kind of plot will you have? What kind of plot can I create? Mod plots will be more event-oriented in order to facilitate activity. It's possible that one day magic will come back in some wonky manner, or that breakfast was spiked with Veritaserum or something to that effect. Character plots that you create can run the gamut! Just have it make sense for the setting/premise of the game, and go for it. But if you think "maybe I should run it by the mods," then please follow that thought and do so!
The author of these books--ick. We completely agree with you. It's both disgusting and horrifying that someone who had such a cultural impact is using their platform to spew absolute garbage. And we do not condone any of her transphobia, TERFism, or racism in real life or here in this game. Any OOC acts of violence like these will not be tolerated and dealt with quickly.
We are hoping soon to gather up some resources and put them on a page for people to easily access information and possible help for not only the above issues but also for mental health. Please check back soon!
I have a question that I don't see here. Drop a comment and a mod will get you an answer ASAP! Comments are not screened here, however if you would prefer to reach out privately you can always reach out to the mods at doneanddustedmods@gmail.com.