Insight Adventure Tags (and What They Mean)

[The Narrator]

Hello Traveler,

When writing a story in the Outer Sanctum, you will have noticed that there are different prefixes that you can use for your adventure: Open Journey, Closed Adventure, and [Location].

Here's what the prefixes mean, and how they work!

Open Journey

When a story is marked as an Open Journey, you are placing the path of your story in the hands of fate. If your story is an Open Story, there is no telling who might join in. You might wind up traveling with the future love of your character's life or the most bitter enemy they'll ever have. Or perhaps multiple people will show up and you'll form a cohesive team. There are limitless possibilities as the Gods roll dice with the world. As long as your story is marked as an Open Journey, any other character (who is reasonably in the same geographical region as you) can join. As quickly as one might join a group, people may leave. Not everyone who we meet is destined to remain in our lives forever.​

Closed Expedition

A story can be marked as a Closed Expedition for a few reasons. For example, if your character is participating in a solo story (to build their backstory or to accomplish a specific task alone), this would be a Closed Expedition. Also, if the players in an Open Story have decided that they want to work on an adventure together but don't want more people joining into the thread, they can close the thread off from new participants by switching the prefix to Closed Expedition. Finally, if you want to roleplay with someone specific and have spoken to the player (or you have responded to another member's Request Thread), your story may also begin as a Closed Expedition.​

Establishment

Stories that occur with an "Establishment" prefix are a little different in that the thread is a "setting within a setting". This might be a food stand, a tailor's shop, or a tavern, but the location is a place where characters will enter and leave the story and there is not a specific story. The interactions, transient as they might be, come and go.​

Sanctioned Story

Much like Closed Adventures, Sanctioned Stories are closed off and cannot be joined after they have started. While in a Closed Adventure, characters may leave the story to go do other things, it is strongly recommended that anyone who participates in a Sanctioned Story remains until the end.​

Finished Chapter

When a story has been finished, the creator of the thread can change the prefix to Finished Chapter to indicate that this particular chapter in the characters' story is finished. These stories cannot be joined and have been added to the legends and myths of the Outer Realms forever.​

A few notes on thread etiquette

1. While Open Threads are for anyone, it is generally considered to be polite to reach out to the person who started the thread to check and see if they are alright with your character joining. That person may already be involved in in-depth discussion with one (or several) other people who are about to join the thread. Reaching out is always the best way to make sure that the story continues smoothly.

2. The creator of a thread is generally considered to be the representative of that story. If you reach out and the person says that they have something else in mind and not want your character to join. This isn't personal. If a player is hoping for a "lighthearted jaunt through the woods on their way to Tethis," your "mass murdering cannibal" might not be the kind of partner they want to have. Kindly respect their wishes.

3. If you have selected an Open Thread for your story, understand that the world is chaotic and you won't always meet "good" people. The stories of our lives are filled with great memories, but sometimes bad experiences also help in defining and shaping who we are.​

If you have any further questions about how these prefixes work, please post them in the Q&A thread.