Welcome to The Coast After Dark, an 18+ Vampire the Masquerade (5e Play by Post) roleplay hosted on Discord. This guide is intended to help you get started.
Table of Contents
Read the House Rules
Read the Setting Guide:
On the Discord server, navigate to #server-rules read and agree to them so that you can get the Reader Role
#general-ooc channel found under “Out of Character”.Familiarize yourself with the Notion. The Coast After Dark
Visit Character Creation and the #start-here-character-creation channel on the server and open a ticket with staff to discuss your character ideas.
#workshop channel is available on the server to talk to fellow players about your character, but the staff are the definitive resourceInteract with the server!
What is PBP?
Play by Post (PBP) is a form of collaborative writing roleplay. Instead of sitting around a physical table or being in a voice call, players interact with the world and take action through their writing. PBP is not dependent on real-time participation and allows players to interact in the same scene from all around the world, in different time zones, as they are available.
Because this is a game that heavily depends on writing, you are expected to be engaged in reading not only the rules but the posts of the players you are interacting with.
PBP games allow you to explore your character’s motivations and personality in more depth than most real-time games, because you have the space to describe their thoughts alongside their actions.
What time zone is the game in?
EST/EDT or UTC-5/UTC-4 depending on season. This time zone impacts the change of date/time of night but does not impact general play since the game is designed to be asynchronous.
How does time work?
Time is still important in PBP games. In the Coast, one in-game night is equivalent to two real life weeks. Saturday is considered to be the end of the week.
Week 1: Sunset to midnight
Week 2: Midnight to sunrise
How frequently do I need to post and when should I expect replies?
There is no set requirement for how frequently you should post. Some players are able to post multiple times a day, while some may only be able to post once. It can be a good idea to communicate with your scene partner in the #cheap-seats channel about when you will both be engaged, but keep in mind that real life always takes precedence over the game and sometimes things happen that may cause someone to be slower than anticipated. Always be respectful and understanding when asking another player about when they will be able to post.
Storyteller replies are dependent on the availability of staff with the Storyteller role. You may notice that Storyteller replies slow on the weekends. This is due to real life obligations that the staff have. Your patience is appreciated.
How does turn/posting order work?
Turn/Posting Order determines who is next to post in a scene. If you are interacting with one other person, you want to wait until they have had the opportunity to post before you post again. If you have three people in a scene, you will want to wait until everyone has had an opportunity to post before you post again.
Example:
Maggie makes a post. Sharie replies. Aine replies. Then Maggie posts again.
Tagging characters with the post order may help you keep track.
When you have a large scene with 4 or more character, posting order gets less strict to accommodate for players having different schedules while still progressing the scene.
Storytellers may interject posts at any time without regards to turn/posting order
Do you allow sex scenes? Violence? Gore?
We try to keep scenes to a PG-13 rating. A “fade to black” approach is preferred for characters engaging in sexual acts.
Heavy violence and gore should be placed behind spoilers with a content warning at the top of the post to gives players the opportunity to choose whether they want to read it. (Example - Content Warning: mutilation)
If you are aware that something is a common trigger (Example - discussion of suicidal ideation) we ask that you please put it behind a spoiler and provide a trigger warning beneath the header of the post.
The World of Darkness is a setting that allows for the exploration of dark themes. Be aware that your actions matter and that they do have consequences. Over the course of play, your character may be subject to violence. It is up to you to determine whether the setting is suitable for your own boundaries, core beliefs, and sensibilities.
Why can’t I play a Malkavian or a Caitiff?
Malkavian PCs have been banned on the server after determining that they were difficult for players to portray in a realistic way with sensitivity to real life mental health issues. Further, because of a tendency for people interested in playing Malkavians to be disruptive to scenes without purpose and without the ability maturely handle the consequences of that disruption.
Caitiff PCs have been banned because their very nature goes against the server tenet of “Belonging Grants Protection”. This makes them incredibly difficult to play, and just about guarantees a quick death.
How long does it take to get a character approved?
Generally speaking, it takes anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks to get a character approved. When you submit a character for approval in your ticket, you will start by filling out a questionnaire. Staff will go over your answers before you move on to a character sheet and may ask you questions about your character concept to determine how they will fit into the world. The more time you invest in being familiar with the setting and rules, researching the area, and looking through the Notion, the faster your character will be approved simply because there will be less kinks to work out.
Please note that our staff are volunteers. They are not paid to do this, and they will approve characters as they are able to. It is alright to ask questions, but do not pressure staff to approve you faster. This leaves a poor impression.
I have a character from another game. Can I play them here?
This only works on very rare occasions. We encourage you to create a unique character designed to fit in with our established setting.
When I played VTM before, they did (blank). Can I do that here? Why or why not?
Every table, every server, and every game is as unique as their Storytellers and players. Something that may have been the standard in your old game may be against the rules here, or not common practice. The way something is or was done somewhere else does not override how it is done here. Please familiarize yourself with our rules, setting, and player culture.
What happens if my character dies?
Character deaths can and do happen for a variety of reasons. We value our characters and recognize that a lot of time and energy is invested in them by individual players, and by the staff in the process of getting them approved. Because characters are a huge investment in time and energy character deaths should be rare, but death is still a possible consequence of in-game actions.
If your character dies, you’re invited to post about them in the #in-rememberance channel on the server.
You may make a new character. Depending on the circumstances around the death of your previous character, there may be some stipulations around your nwew one, and some delay in the time that it takes to have the character approved. You’re encouraged to communicate with the staff about what steps to take next.
New characters begin at 0 XP.
I don’t want to play this character anymore. What do I do?
Character creation takes a significant amount of time on behalf of the staff. Once you make a post, your character exists in the world. Once they exist in the world, they make an impact. Your character is not just a collection of stats on a page, they are a part of the overall narrative and the world that we play in.
When you abandon a character, it impacts more than just you, as their player. It impacts things like characters that you interacted with (and their players), storylines and narratives you were involved with, and SPC connections. Beyond IC disruptions, abandoning a character can have OOC ramifications. Other players may see you as unreliable, and may choose not to engage with you again out of concern that you will abandon your character (again). Remember that this is a collaborative game, and maintaining good will with the other players and staff is important.
If you abandon a character, you will be subject to a mandatory waiting period of one real-life week, plus the next in-game midnight or sunrise before you are able to re-enter the character creation process and return to play. This timeout gives staff the time to ensure the integrity of the story while determining what to do with the abandoned character, and players the time to make similar adjustments to their play.
If you do need to step away from a character permanently, please talk about this with staff so that they can help you resolve and transition your character’s story in a way that honors the impact that they had. The ties we create in this world matter, and even when a character is lost, their absence should be given the weight and reverence it deserves. We are all here to create something meaningful, and respecting the narratives we weave together ensures that this space remains a home for immersive, impactful, and deeply human storytelling.
New characters begin at 0 XP.
Life is getting crazy and I don’t have the time to play right now. What should I do?