Action Threads

Action Threads (ATs) are an optional thread type that enables players to engage in stories with higher stakes than ordinary threads. While you are in an Action Thread, you may not join new threads. However, you may still post in threads you have already joined. The stakes of an AT will determine both its type, and any specific restrictions that apply to it. A breakdown of these is as follows:

• Personal stakes are classified as Challenge [CH] and have customizable risk, but are generally death-optional.
• Area stakes are classified as Conquest [CO] and are death-optional.
• Planetary stakes are classified as Carnage [CA] and are death-enabled.

Different types of Action Threads will have different barriers to entry, which can be viewed in the more extensive thread breakdown below. The higher the stakes, the higher the potential rewards. Players should not feel compelled to engage in Action Threads however, as they will not enable any mechanical rewards that would place frequent participants at an unfair advantage.

As Action Threads will have the highest stakes of any threads on site, it is also likely that emotions may run high out-of-character. For that reason, we also ask that all players keep in mind the core rules of the site before engaging in any individual thread.

You are expected to have an in-character reason for joining any Action Threads. You must also provide an in-character reason for wanting to affect or destroy any board.

Character Risk

• Death-Optional (DO) means that characters can be wounded, but can only be killed upon consent or if they have enough wounds to die. You may not choose to die from an attack unless permission is given from the initial attacker. You may also choose to merely knock-out your opponent.
• Death-Enabled (DE) means that characters can be killed without out-of-character consent. Wounds and knock-outs may still be delivered.
  

You can read more about what Wounds are and what happens if your character dies in the Wounds, Death, and the Afterlife thread.

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General Restrictions

• You MUST post your AT in the Action Threads Tracker. Following your post in this, the AT opens to new entries for 72 hours after the time of the post in the tracker. Nobody can join your AT until you post here.

• You must wait the 72 hours until your AT closes before posting again and progressing the thread.

• You have 48 hours to post on your turn in an AT, following the thread's closing. If you exceed 48 hours, you are automatically skipped and may not post until your next turn in the rotation. In this event, the following player's turn begins as soon as you pass the 48 hour mark.

• To exit from an AT, you need to make an Exit Attempt. If a full rotation goes by without being interrupted, your exit is successful. If you do not have a Solar Flare technique, others don't need to use KP to interrupt your exit, but they still may if they wish to.

• On posts where a character attempts an exit, they can use KP to defend against oncoming attacks, but they cannot attack other characters during an escape attempt.

• You may skip ahead of the post order with consent of all the players between you and the point you wish to skip to.

• If you wish to block for an ally ahead of you in the post order, you only need their consent. However, you cannot attack on your post if you do so and return back to your original spot in the rotation come next post rotation.

• To wound or kill an unconscious player, depending on your intent and the type of AT, a full post rotation needs to pass before it is confirmed to allow others to guard for the unconscious player.

• Only one Action Thread can be occurring per board / challenged location at once. i.e You cannot make an Action Thread to destroy Earth as there is a still ongoing one to take it over.

• Your character must have been approved for at least 30 days to create a Conquest thread, or 60 days to create a Carnage thread. Existing characters must have been active for the same durations to create a Conquest or Carnage thread respectively.

• Action Threads created on a planet that you are already AT-locked on as another character will prompt a review to ensure no collusion is going on between characters of the same account.

Travel Restrictions
You must be on the planet at the time an Action Thread is launched in order to join. This restriction is waived for Conquest-level Action Threads for characters' home regions (see below). This restriction is also waived for Carnage-level Action Threads regardless of location.

Home Region Bypass
You may designate a single region of a large planet (i.e Earth's Rocky North or Plant's Lychee Sector) or small planet (outside of the 'core four' of Earth, Arcose, Plant and Namek) as your home. You may always enter threads to defend areas within this designated region, regardless of travel or power restrictions. You are unable to wound or kill players in threads joined this way, and any player who is wounded or killed as a result of your intervention may opt to be knocked out instead.

If you enter a thread this way, the creator has the option to open it up for general entry. This will grant free, uninterruptable escapes to all players who joined before you.

AT Creation Cooldown
Atop the cooldown for the Action Thread's initial creator, all aggressors fighting for the side of the Action Thread's creator- the ones who want to destroy, take over, or otherwise aiming to accomplish the goal of the Action Thread- are put on a timer that starts ticking at an Action Thread's end. Those affected by this timer cannot create any ATs, but they can still join existing ATs made by others. The duration of this timer varies between the different types of ATs, listed in the next post below.

When it comes to character swapping sides, if you ever allied with the aggressors at any point in the thread, you will still be affected by this cooldown timer. This means a former defender turning to join the baddies at the end of the thread to save their own hide, and an aggressor seeing the error of their ways and turning to join the defenders will still both be unable to create an AT for a set period of time. If you join an existing AT as an aggressor and it finishes while you still have an ongoing cooldown timer, it extends by the amount of months given by the AT type.

Split Threads
For especially crowded Action Threads, there is the option to split it into multiple, linked threads to speed things up.

To create a split a character simply states their intention to split off with with their desired opponent/allies as a note in their post, each character requested to be apart of the split has a chance on their next post to choose to join it, the character who initiated the split (or someone else as agreed upon by the participants) can begin the split once the current round of the AT ends, any character who chooses not to join remains in the 'Main' AT thread.

If a decline results in no opposition being present in a split the creation of that split is voided and the characters remain apart of the established thread.

Once a split is established other characters can move to or from it however attempts to do so can be blocked in the same manner as an attempt to exit an AT entirely and likewise escape techniques can be used to move with reduced concern of an interception. If you are not blocked you may join the thread at any point after the start of a new round of posting for that thread.*

When an AT has Splits the gains for a Split are calculated based off of the number of players involved in that split.


*Example: You attempt to move from the Main thread(4 Characters) of an AT to a split(3 Characters), the 3 other characters are present in the thread, none make an effort to stop you, once the post order has cycled back to where you would be you are removed from that thread and apart of the Split, once the 3 participants of the Split have finished their current round of posts you may join in at any point during the new post cycle but must at least join as the last poster in the new cycle.

Split Speed Bump (SSB)
If a split reaches more than three times the amount of rotations that have elapsed in the main thread since the split's creation, players in that split must wait one additional rotation (two rotations total) to rejoin the fight. This is intended to give the main thread time to make up for any narrative dissonance in terms of times passing, as well as keeping players in the main thread from being blindsided by sudden returns from relatively fresh fighters from other splits.

Currently, this is capped at one additional rotation. This does not equalize rotations between the Main Thread and Splits, but rather provides a little extra breathing room.

Emergency Exits
Should someone create a Carnage thread on a planet where your Home Region is located while you are locked in a different AT, you may skip ahead in the post order of your AT with an uninterruptible exit to go to the larger AT. You cannot join any other threads- you must go straight to the Carnage AT.

Should someone create a Conquest thread in your home region while you are locked in a different AT, you may open a ticket with staff to request Emergency Exit be permitted in your case. If it is, you may skip ahead in the post order of your AT with an uninterruptible exit to go to the new AT. You cannot join any other threads- you must go straight to your new AT.

A couple restrictions apply:

• If using an Emergency Exit would create a loophole, such as allowing you to avoid certain defeat and the resulting wound, it will be denied.
• In order to switch from one Conquest to another, you must be able to demonstrate why the new thread would take priority for your character in addition to it being a home region. This is primarily what the ticket is for.

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THE SPORTSMANSHIP BONUS

All members of open Action Threads rated at Conquest [CO] or higher will be eligible to receive a Sportsmanship Bonus. This is a bonus of +4,000 XP for fair and friendly out-of-character behavior during an Action Thread. It is assumed on entry that all players will receive this bonus.

However, excessive negative behavior during a thread will result in the loss of this bonus. Harassment, excessive gloating, excessive complaining or guilting, or other forms of personal attack will result in the bonus being forfeited. More extreme behavior may result in suspension from Action Threads or other site punishments. You must be an active participant of the AT to qualify for this as well, being skipped an excessive number of times or vanishing from the site means you won't qualify for this bonus. In addition, your AT must have received opposition to receive this bonus.

The Sportsmanship Bonus is +6,000 XP in Carnage [CA] threads to reflect their higher stakes.
The XP earned from the Sportsmanship Bonus is also affected by Malus when applicable.

Remember: we're all here to have fun. Be fair and friendly in your dealings with other players and, if the emotions run too high, take a step back and cool off.

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TEMPERATURE ASSESSMENT

In order to ensure that activity on the site is not diminished by excess Action Threads, the requirements for creating Action Threads may change depending on the site's current 'temperature.'

Ordinarily, the site will be rated at cool temperature, and the requirements listed above will be the sole considerations governing the creation of a new Action Thread. However, the site may move into a period of hot temperature when a large portion of the site's active characters are locked in threads. When this happens, the requirements will tighten.

New Action Threads during a hot temperature period will need to have demonstrable, on-site development leading up to the creation of an Action Thread. This will need to be reasonably long term: at least a couple of weeks, but usually more than a month. This is to allow plots that have developed through on-site interaction, while preventing more spontaneous Action Threads until things have cooled down somewhat.

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