Q: So, is this a Heroes game, or…?
A: String Theory began as a Heroes game, based off the season one episode "Five Years Gone", which depicted a possible future timeline wherein New York was destroyed from the impending nuclear explosion that haunts season one. After several years of development, worldbuilding, the prominence of new organisations and original characters, we have somewhat outgrown our Heroes roots. Although we still feature known Heroes characters and themes, we have a lot of original content too. Take a look at +news Theme and +news Setting for a more thorough idea of what we're about.
Q: What kinds of characters can I play here?
A: The most basic premise of a Heroes game is this: an ordinary, realistic human being, who has a superhuman ability, or is affected by a world with superhuman abilities — and having a reason to be in New York, our primary setting, is useful too. We also welcome characters who fit in with some of our other prominent themes, such as corporate espionage, near-future type science fiction, dystopian conventions, war heroes, political power playing, law enforcement and investigation, criminal underbellies, and so on, all the while bearing in mind that despite all the insanity that might be going on, we encourage realistic, human depictions of fully-realised characters.
You can also app characters as seen in Heroes, including the Heroes graphic novels, if they are not taken. Please inquire with staff if you would like to apply for such a character. As we are a game with some legacy, it may be that your character of choice has some history you will need to factor in, not to mention the fact that we have diverged from Heroes canon as of the end of season one.
Check out our Aftermath: Timeline for further information on what kinds of events might inform your character concept and their recent history.
Q: Where does RP take place?
A: Due to the nature of our adult lives, we've had to get a little creative with our RPing.
For the most part, RPing on the MU* grid is still a key means of producing scenes, which we then encourage you to add to the current logs page (see under Events). It's on the MU* that scenes are solicited, discussed, and planned, with an active notice board, a fully realised setting grid that we continue to develop, and an +events code for big public scenes. This is really where our community exists and flourishes.
However, due to the availability limitations many of our players (and staff) have, we have also taken to an informal system of RPing via Google Drive. When two players or more agree to start a scene, they may choose to create a new document in Google Drive, and take the time they need to pose directly into that document, which, once finished, is published onto the logs page. This can be tricky, due to scenes taking a longer time than usual, but communication and keeping track of when and where things are taking place help mitigate any potential issues. We are also absolutely fine with backdated scenes, so long as they don't disrupt the canon of events that take place after them.
If you're unsure about how to wrangle the above method, just reach out to any of our players, and they'd be happy to help.
Q: I'm a fan of the show and have seen the episode "Five Years Gone" upon which this game is loosely based, but I'm still a little unclear on the setting's details. Help!
A: We recommend reading Aftermath: Timeline, +news Abilities, and +news Setting. The primary living location of most PCs is the New York Safe Zone, but you may want to browse around our other location pages to get an idea of the geography of this version of the United States.
If you still have questions after browsing the wiki, please feel free to log in as a guest and query a staff member. You can also try asking over one of the public channels; chances are that one of our current players knows the answer to your question and will be able to help you in the absence of a staffer.
Q: How do I get a log icon? How many can I have?
A: Post to this forum thread with your preferred picture, and Queens or Hudson will sort you out!
You only need one icon, mainly, but you are free to have multiple icons to convey different moods. We will sometimes also use different icon conventions for flashback scenes, alternative timelines, dream motifs, secret identities, and many other situations, and we'll help you out if it comes up.
Consider this a live document, to be updated as more questions are asked frequently.