![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Nitpicker's Guide
Welcome to the Nitpicker's Guide to Haven!
Because the game is always changing as a consequence of events and player actions, some of the answers to the player-asked questions on the Rules page are not always relevant any more. That's what this page is for! All the specific information on the setting, game mechanics, and rules will be compiled here and continually edited to reflect the current status of the game. If you have changed the setting in some way which requires the Nitpicker's Guide to be amended (such as destroying or creating buildings) then please comment on this post with the necessary information.
So if you have any questions, please look through this guide first, as well as the other information pages, to check if it's already been answered. If it's not been answered, then please ask on the Rules and FAQ page. Because there is a lot of information, I've done my best to group it into headings for ease of finding what you're looking for - but you can check the whole entry using cntrl+f to find your keywords!
To jump to one of the sections, please click on one of the links below:
Haven West/Wasteland
Haven North
Haven East
The Haven
Subway Tunnels
Phones
Language and Writing
Miscellaneous
HAVEN WEST/WASTELAND
The main description of Haven West can be found here on the Location's page.
GENERAL INFORMATION
-> Haven West is approximately 26 square miles.
-> The barrier now stretches for three days walk in all directions. Outside the 26 square miles of the city, there is a desert wasteland.
-> The architecture of the buildings dates between 1970 and 1995, and is predominately Western style.
-> 90% of the buildings are either in total ruins or structurally unsound due to what looks like severe bombing attacks.
-> Buildings of all types which may be found in a British town circa 2000 may be found in ruins in the town (shops, houses, community centres, etc) with the exception of book stores or libraries.
-> There are NO schools in Haven West.
-> There are areas which might once have been parks, but there no living plants growing there. There may be one or two twisted and dead trees to be found.
-> The soil used to be toxic, but is not any longer, and therefore characters may attempt to grow their own plants.
-> To see the current weather, please refer to the sticky post in the OOC community - although this does not match to the IC date.
-> The phases of the moon follow IRL time and can be tracked. The stars can be seen, but no recognisable constellations.
-> Very occasionally a rat or mouse may be found. No other animal, bird, or insect life can be found in Haven West at all.
-> However, in the wasteland, some desert creatures and plantlife can be found. Such as cacti, desert hares, and hawks.
-> The inner barrier extends upwards 400 feet, and can be scaled. It also extends underground for an unspecified depth.
-> At the south-east of town the ground falls away into nothingness. Looking down into the gaping hole (roughly the size of the entire housing spiral) will reveal nothing but an abyss of blackness. Characters who fall or jump into the abyss will need to PM the moderator for consequences.
-> At the North edge of the town there is a ruined hospital. This is merely the shell of a building and does not contain any supplies. It is structurally sound and over three floors with wards and offices, but even the beds have been removed. It is painted lilac inside.
-> A single crate of medical supplies will be left outside the clinic door once per month. This crate will contain bandages, painkillers, antiseptic, needles, splints, band-aids, various basic tablets (such as anti-histamines), syringes, and blankets.
BILLBOARD
-> The billboard is 50 feet high and 30 feet wide. It can be seen from all windows in the apartment, no matter the direction the window is facing. In actuality it stands next to housing block 40, on the outer edge of the housing spiral.
SUPPLIES
While it would be impossible to list literally everything available or not available, please take the following as guidelines. If you are unsure, please feel free to ask!
-> All supplies are very hard to find at the moment. Characters may find enough for a single meal each, on five days out of seven.
-> Toiletries and clothes are in shorter supply - it might be smelly around Haven West at the moment!
-> Electronics and other supplies are the rarest to find. Characters may find one item of this type every week on average.
-> Items listed under the luxury heading may be found once per month.
What can be found:->Basic canned food goods, such as spam, beans, and rice pudding.
-> Long lasting packaged food, such as dried pasta or condensed milk tins.
-> Basic toiletries such as toilet paper, toothpaste, and bars of plain soap.
-> Clothes of mostly adult sizes. Mostly jeans, T-shirts, coats, and knee-length skirts. Some sneakers and (strangely) stilettos.
-> Broken basic electronics, such as a toaster or microwave.
-> Broken furniture and general home/store fittings, such as sofas, clothes rails, lighting cabling, etc.
-> Buckets, bags, and other random containers.
-> The following rare luxury items: alcohol, cans of soda, make-up, tools (such as hammers, wrenches, etc), sponges, torches, batteries, blankets, flour, sugar, washing powder, cooking equipment, cutlery and dishes, cigarettes, antiseptic, needles (both sewing and hypodermic), CDs and CD players (all CDs found will be opera or classical music).
-> If a character has a specific need for something in order to survive (such as blood for a vampire, or grief seeds for a Madoka magical girl), they may find only enough to keep them alive and not a surplus.
What cannot be found:-> Anything perishable such as fruit, vegetables, dairy, fresh meat, bread products, and eggs.
-> Frozen foods.
-> Juice, bottled water, drinks in general other than the exceptions listed above.
-> Any luxury toiletry items such as towels, body wash, creams, etc.
-> Toys.
-> Computers and all associated paraphernalia.
-> Decorations such as paintings, throws, ornaments.
-> Jewellery and "dressy" clothing.
-> Condoms and other contraceptive items.
-> Medication.
-> Weapons and ammunition.
-> Paper, writing equipment, paints, pastels, etc.
THE HOUSING SPIRAL AND INDIVIDUAL HOUSING BLOCKS
The following two images show how Wan has altered the sinkhole in order to create steps up to ground level.
-> As of December 2014 the housing spiral is now located within a forty foot deep sinkhole. This sinkhole is protected from the Yao Corporation and has a fresh spring located where the well used to be.
-> Each housing block contains three apartments, one living space, and one bathroom. The living space and bathroom are shared between all three apartments within the block.
-> Each apartment contains two sets of bunk-beds to house four people per room. Each apartment room is only just big enough for the bunk beds and two small storage cabinets.
-> Each housing block has a radio, which occasionally works.
-> Power and plumbing in the housing blocks have been cut off as of the December 2014 event, due to the spiral sinking into the ground.
-> The outer door to each housing block opens towards the center of the spiral.
-> Characters are unable to sleep away from, or in a different, apartment than their own. Attempts to try will result in severe nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
-> Characters who do not need to sleep are punished by the same set of effects if absent from their apartment for longer than 24 hours.
-> These effects can be negated if the tiny spiral on each door is sanded off.
-> Characters accepted from December 2014 onwards will not suffer the apartment sickness if staying away, even if the spiral is not sanded from their door, this is due to the event of earlier that same month.
UNDERGROUND ROOM
-> At the West edge are the ruins of the apartment block and roof garden (see below). The layout of the walls leading down to the underground room have been altered by IC actions, as detailed here.
Leading off from the main underground room, there are four short corridors, one in each compass direction:
-> To the West side (which is where the garden has fallen), the corridor leads to a metal door, which can be forced with effort. Printed in white stencil letters on the front of the door are the words STORAGE UNIT C5. Inside the room is a single wooden crate with a piece of paper attached to the top. Inside the crate is a small faceless and genderless statue of a person, seemingly made of stone and only two feet high. Both paper and statue can be removed from the area, but the paper will go blank if brought up to Haven West.
-> To the South side, the corridor leads to a cave in of rubble and earth. This cave in has been cleared and now leads down a rough tunnel to underground cave garden.
-> To the East side, the corridor leads to a metal door, which can be forced with effort. Printed in white stencil letters on the front of the door are the words CENTRAL ATMOSPHERE CONTROL UNIT C5. Inside the room is a set of computer banks which are humming with power. The three lit screens are all showing Chinese characters and asking for a password. It is possible for these machines to be hacked with enough expertise and an understanding of Chinese. If they are hacked, the computers can be used to alter the atmosphere within Haven West only. This ranges from changing and controlling the weather, to making the air a hydrogen blend instead of an oxygen one, so be careful making tweaks!
-> To the North side, the corridor leads to a door marked with a large white stencilled spiral. It is highly reinforced and is made from a variety of materials, including iron, wood, gold, and human bone. It cannot be forced currently.
-> Powers function at 10% capacity within the underground room.
-> It is thirty feet below Haven West.
THE GARDEN
-> The plants and relevant effects can be found on this page.
-> Fruit, nuts, and berries can be harvested here for those brave enough to fight the other, more deadly, plants.
-> Plants can be removed from the garden and raised/cared for by characters if they should so desire.
THE CLINIC AND THE CHURCH
-> These are both character built buildings.
-> To reach the clinic and the church, travel North for ten minutes from the Housing Spiral, and then go West for the church and East for the clinic.
-> The clinic has some donated beds from the apartment block, please see this post for further details. As of January 2015 the clinic has been expanded and refurbished thanks to Korra, as can be seen on the previously linked post.
-> A single crate of medical supplies will be left outside the clinic door once per month. This crate will contain bandages, painkillers, antiseptic, needles, splints, band-aids, various basic tablets (such as anti-histamines), syringes, and blankets.
-> The church is now a functional and well constructed building, with very simple furnishings.
-> Near the church is now a large metal, bone, and wooden box which contains a nightmare fog, bound in the event of June 2014.
CONVENIENCE STORE AND SUBWAY STATION
-> The convenience store and subway station are located next door to one another at the North East of town.
-> There is also a convenience store in Haven North, and one out in the wasteland, identical to the one in Haven West.
-> The convenience store currently cannot be assaulted and penetrated. It has shut itself down and simply looks like a boarded up store.
-> The subway station entrance and tunnels beyond can now be accessed once again to reach Haven North and Haven East.
HAVEN NORTH
The main description of Haven North can be found here on the Location's page.
GENERAL INFORMATION
-> Haven North is approximately 10 square miles.
-> The architecture of the buildings dates from the early to mid 2000s, and is predominately Western style.
-> Buildings of all types which may be found in an American town circa 2000 may be found in this area of town (shops, houses, community centres, book stores etc). They are all in tact, but most have only basic things left inside them.
-> Shop signs are written in a mixture of Chinese and English.
-> The billboard is identical to Haven West, with the notable absence of gas masks in the picture.
-> There are no schools in Haven North.
-> There are park areas which contain only dead tree.
-> Haven North has running water and electricity throughout.
-> Haven North has a fully operational fun-fair, sports recreation centre, and swimming pool.
-> To see the current weather, please refer to the sticky post in the OOC community - although this does not match to the IC date.
-> The phases of the moon follow IRL time and can be tracked. The stars can be seen, but no recognisable constellations.
-> No animal life can be found in Haven North at all.
-> The barrier extends upwards 400 feet, and can be scaled. It also extends underground for an unspecified depth.
-> Characters may remain in Haven North for up to four hours before they begin to grow ever-more paranoid of their surroundings and the people around them. These paranoid thoughts will be accompanied by an increasing desire to return to Haven West. After twelve hours they will not be able to ignore this desire any more and must return.
THE LIBRARY
-> The ground floor is fiction of all types. Again, the books are split between Chinese and English in language. Characters can find books from their worlds if they want - but please do not break the fourth wall by having a character find a copy of Spider Man (for example). The next storey up is reference books. Mostly history and economy, again of various worlds and in the dual language. The final storey is full of computer banks, but all will only flash the message NO NETWORK if turned on.
-> Some information that has been found in the Haven North books can be found information for the December 2013 event.
-> Players may PM the moderator for a new plot relevant piece of information once per month (providing they are going to Haven North regularly). If you receive library plot points, via PM or otherwise, it is advised to add them both to the OOC and IC plot pages so that everyone can benefit from it.
-> On the ground floor of the library is a public book serving as an IC record of events and information.
-> Any books taken back to Haven West will turn blank and will remain blank for good.
SUPPLIES
While it would be impossible to list literally everything available or not available, please take the following as guidelines. If you are unsure, please feel free to ask!
-> Supplies are more plentiful in Haven North than in Haven West, but are still not abundant.
What can be found:->Basic canned food goods, such as spam, beans, and rice pudding.
-> Long lasting packaged food, such as dried pasta or condensed milk tins.
-> Basic toiletries such as toilet paper, toothpaste, and bars of plain soap.
-> Clothes of mostly adult sizes. Mostly jeans, T-shirts, coats, and knee-length skirts. Some sneakers and (strangely) stilettos.
-> Broken basic electronics, such as a toaster or microwave.
-> Broken furniture and general home/store fittings, such as sofas, clothes rails, lighting cabling, etc.
-> Buckets, bags, and other random containers.
-> Basic sports equipment including baseball bats, tennis rackets, hockey sticks, and a variety of ball sizes.
-> Tinned fruit and tinned puddings.
-> Toys.
-> Hunting knives and bullets for guns (but not guns).
-> Basic medicine (painkillers, fever reducers, throat lozenges, etc).
-> Bread, frozen fish, and frozen meat in Haven North. These will be in short supply (think once per week), and not to be found anywhere else.
-> Aerosols such as deodorants, hair spray, and lighter fluid.
-> Writing equipment.
-> If a character has a specific need for something in order to survive (such as blood for a vampire, or grief seeds for a Madoka magical girl), they may find only enough to keep them alive and not a surplus.
What cannot be found:-> Anything perishable such as fruit, vegetables, dairy, and eggs.
-> Frozen foods.
-> Juice, bottled water, drinks in general.
-> Any luxury toiletry items such as towels, body wash, creams, etc.
-> Computers and all associated paraphernalia.
-> Decorations such as paintings, throws, ornaments.
-> Jewellery and "dressy" clothing.
-> Condoms and other contraceptive items.
HAVEN EAST
The main description of Haven East can be found here on the Location's page.
GENERAL INFORMATION
-> Haven East is approximately 20 square miles.
-> The architecture of the buildings dates between 1970 and 1995, and is predominately Western style.
-> The buildings are almost a replica of the ruins in Haven West, but are all tightly boarded up and mostly stripped clean. Except the kitchens, and some stores, which retain some supplies (see below).
-> Haven East has running water.
-> There is two schools in Haven East, inside characters would be able to find that all the schools only had classrooms that could hold up to 10 children at a time. Each desk and chair set is fitted with soft cuff-type restraints and a sack on a chain. All the books that remain are written in Chinese or English, and most use the Yao Corporation in text book examples. (E.G. If the Yao Corporation grants us 50 years of peace and then another 10 years of prosperity, how many years of happiness is that in total?) .
-> There are the ruins of a library and hospital in Haven East. Next to the hospital is a broken generator, which is hollow inside.
-> The nearer the houses are to the hospital, the more recently they seem to have been abandoned. They are also of a less decent quality (almost like slum housing). In the ones closest to the hospital, there are empty shackles on the walls and bars on the windows.
-> All the numbers on the residential houses are prime numbers.
-> Very observant characters might notice the houses don't always seem to be in the same places as they were the day before. One day a bakery might be next to residential house, the next day it's beside a music shop.
-> There are areas which might once have been parks, but there no living plants growing there. There may be one or two twisted and dead trees to be found.
-> The subway station is a replica of the ones in Haven West and Haven North, except for the murals designs throughout. The murals are all of completely fantastical beasts with no basis even in mythology. Three of them (a serpent with bird wings, a horse with a shark's head, and a centipede with a human face) are all tagged with the name Philip Kite in small, hidden graffiti.
-> To see the current weather, please refer to the sticky post in the OOC community - although this does not match to the IC date.
-> The phases of the moon follow IRL time and can be tracked. The stars can be seen, but no recognisable constellations.
-> Cockroaches can be found in Haven East, but nothing else.
-> The barrier extends upwards 400 feet, and can be scaled. It also extends underground for an unspecified depth.
-> Stepping into Haven East feels like stepping into an ice cold shower and all powers will only work at a maximum of 10% efficiency - meaning characters who could fly may only be able to hover, characters who can shoot fireballs may be able to light a small candle.
-> Any character remaining in Haven East for longer than two days will find themselves growing sick with radiation poisoning, which will get worse each progressive hour they stay, until they die from it on the third day.
SUPPLIES
While it would be impossible to list literally everything available or not available, please take the following as guidelines. If you are unsure, please feel free to ask!
-> Supplies are easy to find in Haven East.
What can be found:->Slightly better canned food goods, such as canned fruit, canned meats, even some salt and pepper (although no spices more exotic than that).
-> Long lasting packaged food, such as dried pasta or condensed milk tins.
-> Better toiletries such as toilet paper, toothpaste, and bars of scented soap, as well as shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash.
-> Clothes of all adult sizes in all designs.
-> Broken basic electronics, such as a toaster or microwave.
-> Furniture and general home/store fittings, such as sofas, clothes rails, lighting cabling, etc.
-> Buckets, bags, and other random containers.
-> Medical supplies in the hospital, such as bone saws, needles, and medicine.
-> If a character has a specific need for something in order to survive (such as blood for a vampire, or grief seeds for a Madoka magical girl), they may find only enough to keep them alive and not a surplus.
What cannot be found:-> Luxury items such as alcohol, cigarettes, nicer food.
-> Perishable food such as dairy, bread, meat, etc.
-> Frozen foods.
-> Juice, bottled water, drinks in general.
-> Computers and all associated paraphernalia.
-> Condoms and other contraceptive items.
THE HAVEN
The main description of The Haven and information on the holograms can be found here on the Location's page.
GENERAL INFORMATION
-> The Haven is currently inaccessible due to the events of February 2014.
-> The Haven is approximately 26 square miles.
-> The architecture of the buildings dates between 1970 and 1995, and is predominately Western style.
-> The city is almost a mirror of Haven West above it, with many of the buildings laid out in the same pattern.
-> The buildings are in tact, but are mostly stripped empty and covered in a layer of dust.
-> There is no electricity or running water.
-> There is three schools in The Haven, a mirror of the three in Haven West.
-> There is a library in the West corner of town, but it is completely empty.
-> There is a cinema, the only building with electricity as it continually shows Toy Story 3 (with appropriate Fourth Wall changes - such as Budd Lightmonth).
-> There is a bowling alley (the pins can be set up manually), and an ice rink which remains cold.
THE TOWN HALL
-> The atrium has white walls and a polished marble floor. There is an abandoned reception desk at the end of the atrium, but no objects or papers around.
-> The staircase is carpeted in luxurious red, as is the corridor on the upper level.
-> The first of the downstairs rooms appears to be a break room. It has a table, coffee making facilities, and a fridge (none of which work now). It also has a TV and a small bookshelf with a deck of blank playing cards. There are three chairs around the table and all are occupied with skeletons, the skeletons are manacled to the chair floor and table by wrists and ankles.
-> The second of the downstairs rooms is very large, nearly twice the size of the atrium, and is fully filled with banks and banks of computer memory cards. Hundreds of them are plugged in, tens of thousands more are in storage.
-> The first of the upstairs rooms does not fit with the function of a town hall. It is a child's playroom, kitted out for a pre-school aged girl. It's very stereotypical, the walls are pink and decorated with fairies and ponies. There are soft toys scattered around, as well as some board games and (blank) children's books.
-> The second upstairs room is an empty Mayor's office.
THE LAKE
-> The lake is underneath where the well should be, but no sign of the well can be seen dipping into it.
-> Characters swimming in the lake will gain slimy skin like a snail for 48 hours.
-> Characters drinking the water of the lake will slowly turn into giant snails themselves over a period of three weeks. Stopping drinking the water will result in a reversal of this process.
-> Plants watered using lake water will grow strangely, their leaves and stems curling in a spiral shape. If they are eaten, the character will gain a slimy skin until the food is passed out.
SUPPLIES
-> Supplies cannot be found in The Haven, barring the equipment for bowling and ice skating.
THE SUBWAY TUNNELS
The main description of the subway tunnels can be found here on the Location's page.
MONSTER INFORMATION
-> Low level monsters from any canon that has ever been represented in Haven, past or present, may be encountered in the tunnels. If you are unsure if a monster is permitted, please ask.
-> Dead monsters can be removed from the tunnels.
-> Monsters can be cooked and eaten, if the characters are brave enough.
PHONES
-> Phones do not have a record or playback function, all conversations are one time only.
-> IC Inboxes are allowed, but not mandatory, for personal one-to-one conversation, but do not count towards AC.
-> Contacts are displayed by a picture of the character, not as text.
-> Phones can only perform voice or video calls, they have no other function at all.
-> Phones only work within each area - for example, someone in Haven West can call others in Haven West, and someone in Haven North can call someone in Haven North, but someone in Haven West cannot call anyone in Haven North.
-> Phones are indestructible.
-> Any attempt to reprogram the phones will result in a growing obsession with spirals. Please PM the moderator if your character is attempting this for further information.
-> Characters on hiatus will remain as contacts in the phone as usual.
-> Dropped characters will disappear from the contacts.
-> Conversations are public and viewable to all unless otherwise stated.
LANGUAGE AND WRITING
-> All characters appear to be speaking the same language, and deaf characters will automatically see characters' lips moving in the language they recognise.
-> However, characters making a concentrated effort to speak another language will be able to.
-> Particularly observant characters might notice that the words they hear and the movement of a person's lips do not always exactly match up, as though the translation is taking a moment.
-> Characters cannot automatically read another language than the ones they already know, and anything written is not translated.
-> Characters can write in Haven North and Haven East.
-> Any form of writing in Haven West, or The Haven will vanish after 30 minutes. Drawings the characters do themselves behave in the same way, drawings which already exist (in books from Haven North, or items brought in) will not vanish.
MISCELLANEOUS
-> Characters who were in the game during October 2013 own a weapon gifted by the ghosts of Haven West apartments. These weapons were manifested from shadows, but then became ordinary weapons. This weapon could be a knife, a scythe, or a spear. It can be kept or given away at will and has no magical properties.
-> The ghosts of Haven West can be summoned with supreme effort, and a player attempting to do so must contact the moderators first. They can only be summoned from within the apartment block itself.
-> Empathic characters may feel a sense of desolation and fear in all parts of Haven.
-> Characters sensitive to death will feel a huge number of souls located in the lake in The Haven.
-> Characters who have powers allowing them to communicate with machines or computers, and attempt to do so, will gain a massive headache.
-> Characters who have an innate sense of plants may feel the plants in the garden are very joyful. Anyone attempting to talk to them will find they have little thought other than a hunger. With the exception of Audrey II plants which cannot be communicated with mentally or emotionally.
-> Characters who can teleport can do so only with each area. So from one part of Haven West to another part of Haven West, but not from Haven West to Haven North.
-> Life threatening diseases and illnesses are cured on entrance to Haven. Characters may catch illnesses in Haven - such as colds, strep, etc. These will progress and heal as they would IRL.
-> Characters do not physically age in Haven, but their hair and nails will continue to grow.
-> Characters cannot get pregnant in Haven.
-> As per the death rules, scars may be up to player discretion. For example, if a character was killed with fifty stab wounds, not all of these need to leave a scar.
-> Pitch Black's Nightmares are not in Haven North any longer.
-> Spirals play a big part in Haven's subplot. Once characters start looking for the spirals and examining them, they'll slowly grow more and more obsessed with seeing spirals everywhere (eg. in fingerprints, in the whorl of the inner ear). They'll also start arranging the things around them (like their furniture & their meals) in spiral patterns. When the obsession reaches its peak, the characters will turn their own bodies into a spiral by breaking their own bones, resulting in their deaths. This entire process takes about two months. If you wish your character involved in that, just give the moderator a head's up! - PLEASE NOTE: The spiral obsessions are no longer in effect, following the destruction of the Uzumaki during the September 2014 event.
-> Villain characters can cut a deal to work with the NPCs.
no subject