Either Needed 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 // Recruitment | a horror-themed group roleplay about liminal space and the quiet horror of staying in one place too long

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Either Needed 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 // Recruitment | a horror-themed group roleplay about liminal space and the quiet horror of staying in one place too long

Rules Check
  1. Confirmed
Pairings
  1. Any (Groups)
Genre Preferences
  1. Horror

chap

ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ʀʜɪɴᴇsᴛᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴏᴡʙᴏʏ
Inner Sanctum Nobility
♔ Champion ♔
Local time
Today 1:37 AM
Messages
198
Location
app-uh-latch-uh
Pronouns
he/him



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➤OVERVIEW
Elsehwere is a (brand new, we haven't started yet!) collaborative horror roleplay set on St. Else Island, a forgotten speck off the coast of New England that doesn't exist on any map. It's perpetually wrapped in fog. There's a lighthouse, a very small town filled with stilted, strange residents, a diner that serves burnt coffee, deep pinewoods swallowing most of the island's interior, and distant smokestacks standing like industrial ruins. It's an otherworldly place; a liminal refuge built from stagnation and slow rot of things left unresolved.

All player characters begin as outsiders. They don't set out to find St. Else. They remember packing a bag, boarding a ferry... but not choosing where they were going. They 'come to' mid-journey, already too close to turn back, with no clear sense that anything is wrong. Not yet. Some may have distant family ties or old connections on the island, but no one arrives with answers. Everyone arrives at a rough spot in their lives, stripped of purpose, drifting.

At first, the island is merely unsettling. Time behaves oddly. Conversations repeat. Familiar things feel misaligned, like memories borrowed from a dream. The town offers the illusion of comfort, but the longer you stay, the stranger things get. The woods are not empty. The lighthouse is not just a landmark. People go missing. Elsewhere is horror that starts psychological and turns physical; a slow escalation from unease to consequence. Survival is not guaranteed. Comfort is a lie that wears thin fast.

The island is patient, but it's not safe.

You can find a ton more information in the worldbuilding thread.



➤RULES
1a. The site rules still apply here. Follow them.

1b.. The Golden Rule: Don't be a dick.

1c. The Other Golden Rule: Don't be a creep.

2. Communication is key. Communication is everything. Know your fellow players. Interact with them. Plan and plot with them.

3. The GM is chap. He'll be running the show, acting as the omniscient narrator, and controlling a bunch of the NPCs. Ask him anything. He's laidbakc. I promise.

4. This game is inclusive and welcomes all genders, all colors, and all sexualities. Stop on by.

5. The game is, for all intents and purposes, non-sexual in nature. Sex can be referenced and alluded to, characters can flirt and things can get heavy, but recognize that there's a line. Fade to black if things are getting too explicit.

5. This game has one foot solidly planted in the horror genre. That means themes involving violence, gore, and psychological distress may be present. Trigger warnings apply.

7. Post Length Expectations: I don't like the idea of enforcing anything too rigid. Use your best judgement. Nothing too short, nothing too long. Every post should add to the scene and/or provide insight into your character. The length of the post doesn't matter at all. That being said, take some pride in your writing. Shoot for the stars.

8. Post Frequency Expectations: There's no hard and fast rules on how often you should post. Real life always comes first and you should write at the pace you're most comfortable with. That being said, if you're going to be unavailable for a large length of time, please communicate that with the group.

9. This goes back to the Golden Rule(s): No godmodding. No controlling other player's characters without their consent. No trying to make everything about your character at all times.

10. Don't stress. Have fun. Write cool stuff.



➤HOW TO JOIN
Easy peasy! Create a character using the code included down below, send it to @chap via PM, let him give it a little read/approve it, and then we're off to the races. A few quick notes on characters, just to make it easy for everyone involved:
- All characters are outsiders. Everyone begins by arriving on the ferry with no clear recollection of when or why they chose to come to St. Else. Something brought you here, but you don't get to know what yet.

-Keep them grounded. Regular people work best in Elsewhere. No superheroes, no monster hunters, no chosen ones. Confusion and vulnerability are part of the fun.

-Connections are fine, knowledge is not. Your character can have a distant relative on the island, an old friend they haven't seen in years, or some other personal tie that makes the arrival feel less random. That being said, they should still have no real understanding of what St. Else is or what's happening there.

- Characters should be arriving at a rough spot in their lives. Elsewhere works best when people come to the island untethered. Post-divorce, dead-end job, grief, burnout, addiction, regret. Something has hollowed out the purpose in their life. St. Else finds you when you're unsure what comes next.

-Leave room to discover. Elsehwere is a slow-burn mystery. The best characters come in with questions, not answers, and plenty of space for the island to get its hooks into them.

-If you get turned down, don't be a dick. Sometimes a concept just won't fit on the first pass. That's totally normal! I'll offer suggestions and edits to help get it where it needs to be. This is meant to be collaborative, not combative.

With all that out of the way... here's the character sheet. Fill it out, send it in, and let's see what happens!

CODE
Code:
[div=margin:auto; width:100%; max-width:1000px; display:flex; flex-direction:column;][div=border: 5px solid black; width:100%; line-height:0;]
[IMG]<<--Your character image will go here. Chap will generate one for you and give you some options. Just include a good physical description.-->[/IMG]
[/div]

[div=margin-top:8px; border:5px solid black; background-image:url('https://i.imgur.com/8anR1Uf.jpeg'); background-size:cover; width:100%; line-height:0; padding:8px;][div=border:5px solid black; background:rgba(0,0,0,0.90); padding:12px;][div=color:#709090; font-family: georgia; font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; 
text-align: justify;][COLOR=#708090][SIZE=25px][B]<<-CHARACTER NAME GOES HERE-->[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR=#708090][SIZE=20px][B]BASIC INFORMATION[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#708090][B]Nickname(s)[/B][/COLOR] Have a nickname? Put it here.
[COLOR=#708090][B]Gender:[/B][/COLOR] Male, Female, Non-Binary, etc.
[COLOR=#708090][B]Age:[/B][/COLOR] How old are you?
[COLOR=#708090][B]Ethnicity:[/B][/COLOR] African American, Asian, Caucasian, etc.
[COLOR=#708090][B]Sexual Orientation:[/B][/COLOR] Heteosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.

[COLOR=#708090][SIZE=20px][B]PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#708090][B]Height:[/B][/COLOR] Ft'In"
[COLOR=#708090][B]Weight:[/B][/COLOR] A gentleman never asks...
[COLOR=#708090][B]Eye Color:[/B][/COLOR] Windows to the soul.
[COLOR=#708090][B]Hair Color:[/B][/COLOR] Is that a dye job?
[COLOR=#708090][B]Prominent Features or Distinguishing Marks:[/B][/COLOR] Tattoos? Piercings? Old scars? Birthmarks?

[COLOR=#708090][B]General Physical Description:[/B][/COLOR] What do you look like?

[COLOR=#708090][SIZE=20px][B]PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#708090][B]Personality Traits:[/B][/COLOR] Choose five.[LIST]
[*] 
[*] 
[*] 
[*] 
[*] 
[/LIST]
[COLOR=#708090][B]Likes:[/B][/COLOR] What gets you through the day?
[COLOR=#708090][B]Dislikes:[/B][/COLOR] We all have pet peeves.

[COLOR=#708090][SIZE=20px][B]HISTORY[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#708090][B]Biography:[/B][/COLOR] Everyone has a story.

[COLOR=#708090][B]Notable Relationships:[/B][/COLOR] Who do you love? Who do you hate? Any family in town?
[/div][/div][/div][/div]

CHARACTER SHEET EXAMPLE

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SHERIFF BARK

BASIC INFORMATION
Nickname(s) Barkley, Mr. Barks, Good Cop
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Ethnicity: Pomeranian
Sexual Orientation: Asexual

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 200lbs.
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Prominent Features or Distinguishing Marks: A tattoo on his belly where he got fixed, a small scar above his eye from a cat scratch.

General Physical Description: Sheriff Barks is very small and compact with a soft, fluffy coat in warm golden and cream tones. His face is rounded with a short snout, a little black nose, and faint whiskers visible against the pale fur. His ears are small and triangular, partly blending into the thick fur around his head. His body appears plush and well-groomed with a full, feathery tail curling upward behind it, emphasizing his light, cloudlike build.

PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION
Personality Traits:
  • Confident - He knows he's in charge.
  • Calm - Relaxed, not easily rattled.
  • Stoic - A serious little man, almost poker-faced.
  • Stubborn - The kind of dog who decides what he wants to do and won't budge.
  • Aloof - Comes across a little too cool and detached.
Likes: Cozy spots, short adventures, treats and snacks, headpats, ball launchers, and THE LAW.
Dislikes: Loud noises, beind told what to do, getting wet and/or dirty, strangers invading his space, crime

HISTORY
Biography: He wasn't always a little legend in the making. Once, he was just a fluff of golden fur trotting through quiet afternoons, content with warm laps and small comforts. But somewhere along the way, he developed a reputation: the dog who always seemed to be watching, always sitting a little straighter than the others, like he understood more than he let on. He became a familiar presence, a tiny guardian of the city, stubbornly patrolling his domain from the couch to the kitchen with calm authority. Over time, people started treating him less like a pet and more like what he really was: the sheriff of Barktown.

Notable Relationships:
Chap: His best friend.
Mrs. Bark: a stuffed animal that he pretends he's married to.
Crimelord Cat: His worst enemy.




➤CONCLUSION
I think that just about sums it up! If you have any questions, concerns, or need help, feel free to reach out to me via PM or just reply to the thread.
 
Last edited:
Had a followup question while I was thinking about this: What kind of time setting would we be looking at in this story? Modern times? 1930s-ish/Lovecraftian-type era? Something else? Just curious!
 
Had a followup question while I was thinking about this: What kind of time setting would we be looking at in this story? Modern times? 1930s-ish/Lovecraftian-type era? Something else? Just curious!
So, I actually thought about this before I posted the idea, but I was trying to nail down the concept a bit more before I included it.

I really like the idea of time on the island not lining up the way it should. Some things feel modern and other things feel old. A cellphone might work for a few minutes, but it pulls up a weather report from 1973, A radio in a house plays a news bulletin about something that hasn't happened yet. The lighthouse logbook lists dates that skip backward and forward with no pattern. Some streets are lit by soft, flickering gaslamps while others by humming LED lights. None of the people who live on the island, aside from the players, seem to notice or care about these tiny little differences.

I think that sort of dissonance and time-slippage adds to the more overt horror. It makes the island feel even more purgatorial. It's not the kind of thing that jumps out and screams at you, it just quietly erodes your sense of what's normal until even the familiar starts to feel unreliable.

This could definitely extend to the players. Characters don't all have to feel like they stepped out of the same decade. Someone might carry the sensibilities of the 1930s while someone else feels distinctly modern. The island treats both as equally natural. No one comments on it, no one tries to reconcile it, and that quiet mismatch just makes everything else feel so wrong.
 
ALSO! A little status update.

Thanks for the interest, gang. <3 It means a lot to see this weird little idea actually have legs. I sort've wasn't expecting it, to be honest. I've got quite a bit of plotting and planning and worldbuilding to do before this thing actually kicks off, so patience is going to be a virtue with this one. I'll do my best to keep y'all updated and link any worldbuilding/NPC/etc. threads here. The next couple days are b u s y for me, but expect to see something new by the weekend.
 
First little update: I promise I'm working on stuff. Next week will (hopefully?) be less busy than last week, so I should be able to get a proper worldbuilding and character section put together along with a character sheet. For now, I'll just leave this here. It ain't much, but it's a map!

Ira2J7z.png

More soon. <3
 
Hey, God? It's me, Margaret.

Please tell me I'm not too late.
Snooze you lose, loser. Sucks to suck, sucker.

jkjkjk. Work has been crushing me and I haven’t even got a character sheet built yet. Plenty of time, not too late at all. :D

I'm very, very new to group roleplays, but the concept is hella interesting ! I'm digging this.
I’m glad you like it! Group games are weird and can be a little intimidating, but if you decide to dip your toes in, you’re more than welcomed!
 
I'm interested in trying a Group RP, I'm thinking about my character possibly being a therapist... is that a fun addition? Silent Hill is all about trauma unresolved in their backstory? Fun group story idea!
I somehow totally missed this! A therapist could definitely work, I think. :D


Also, for everyone else, the worldbuilding thread is officially up.
I'm snowed in, so I'm going to hopefully peck away at it a bunch tonight/tomorrow.
 
Locations? Complete.

Woof. That was a lot. Thank goodness for snow days, huh? Hope you guys enjoy reading what I've put together so far. As always, more to come. Stay tuned.
 
Annnnd that has the NPCs finished. There's a bunch of them! Sorry about that, I might have gotten a little carried away.

Just a bit of housekeeping:
1) Just to make it clear with anyone interested in this whole thing, I don't expect anyone to memorize all the pre-RP stuff I'm writing for it. NPCs, Locations, all of this is mostly for flavor, reference, and to give a sense of immersion. Basically, I know it's a lot to read and I really don't expect everyone to absorb all of it before the game begins. That being said, if you want to connect your character to any of the NPCs on the island in some way (distant family, old friend, acquaintance, etc.), I'd be happy to try to make it work.

2) I've got a teensy bit more to add to the worldbuilding thread just to put a cherry on top. That should be finished over the weekend. Next week, I'm going to start putting together the more logistical junk; the rules, any game mechanics, and yes, the actual character sheet for the players.

3) Speaking of character applications/creation... here's what the process is going to look like.
  • This isn't going to be an open RP. You'll submit your character sheet to me, I'll give it a read, and (probably) approve it unless there's anything glaringly off-theme/not working.
  • For faceclaims, I'd really like to try to maintain a cohesive visual aesthetic. I'm thinking players will give me a detailed physical description for their character and I'll AI gen up some faceclaim options for them. Alternatively, if they can closely match the style, they're welcome to do it themselves. If someone is strongly opposed to using AI, I get it, buuut the alternative is probably just... not having a face for your character? I'm not too open to the idea of using real life people or vastly different art styles.
  • Once we have an established group of players, applications for new players in the future will be a group decision. Meaning, they'll send the application to me for a first glance and then I'll send it to the group as a whole to get the final say. This isn't to create exclusivity and/or clique mentality, it's just to keep things even and make sure everyone wants to work together.

Anyway. I've got a lot of other ideas bubbling in my brain, but that's enough for now. More soon.. <3
 
WELP.

I... think all the worldbuilding is done? Finally? I just finished adding the last of the monstrosities that lurk on the island. That's a ton of stuff, I know, I know.

Tomorrow, I should have an actual character application up for those still interested. Also rules, an actual recruitment thread, and any other little logistical things that need doing.

Home stretch, folks.
 
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