Introducing: The Complete Guide to the SFF Adventure!Why, hello there! Glad to see you've taken an interest in the
Shur'tugal Fan Fiction Adventure, or, as it it is more commonly known, the
SFF Adventure! Newbie or veteran, this is your handy-dandy guide to everything (yes, *everything*) all in one post about all that's going on about the SFF Adventure, which will hopefully help clear up any misconceptions/confusions about it. It's certainly a bit daunting at first, particularly for the person who's just joining, to look at all the boards and subboards to try and decipher what you're supposed to do first, what are the elusive "rules" everyone keeps mentioning, what on earth do you have to do to be part of Roleplaying, and most importantly, why join?
Fear not! This is where the Guide comes in handy! So, sit back, relax, read on, and enjoy.
*NOTE: Also, whenever you feel inclined, go ahead and skip over sections--I hopefully explained each enough that you should be alright if you're just confused in one area without having to read it all to understand. Most of it's just there for clarification's sake.
SFF Adventure: A History The Shur'tugal Fan Fiction Adventure was created way back in September 2008 by our very own Shadowjhunter, former mod. Not only is he the reason it exists in the first instance, he also headed it for many months, providing all the backbone information as well as getting down deeper to the intricacies that were involved with the Adventure, creating all the fun interactive stuff you'll see below as well as providing an enriching environment for users to design their characters in. But, when time came around that he had to relinquish his leadership, he left it in the capable hands of swenson, current administrator. She is basically in charge of everything that is the SFF Adventure--from validating characters to designing new Challenges and writing new Chapters for your entertainment purposes.
So, we all have to be very grateful to both of them, without whom the SFF Adventure wouldn't exist at all.
SFF Adventure: What is it? And now that you know who's in charge, how about some information on the SFF Adventure itself?
To begin, you'll want to check out this thread:
General SFF Adventure FAQYes, it is the General SFF Adventure FAQ, and answers pretty much all the basic questions you'll need to know about the SFF Adventure. There is a similar SFF Adventure FAQ thread in this board as well, so if you want a quick run-through of the FAQ before you begin, that's also a great resource to check out. Both will tell you all the basic whats, whys, and hows about the SFF Adventure you can think of, so they're good when getting started.
SFF Adventure: The RulesIt is
CRUCIAL that you understand the Rules of the SFF Adventure before participating in any parts of it--after all, it's never fun to have to redo stuff just because of a simple, preventable mistake! So, here's all the Rules you'll need to know!
General Roleplaying RulesUpdated Roleplaying RulesWhich happen to all be Roleplaying Rules, though it's still no less important to know them if you're involved in that section of the SFF Adventure! Further Rules are always displayed whenever necessary in the threads about them, such as in the Character Creation/Discussion board.
SFF Adventure: How to Begin--Part I: Where?So, you've successfully reviewed all the Rules and are certain that you're ready to begin. First off, congratulations! You're ready to begin!
The Question: Where do I start?Simple question, and yet actually a very good one, considering all that's involved with the SFF Adventure.
The Answer: Start here.That links you directly to the Discussion board of the SFF Adventure, where you'll see two child boards. One is the
Theories and Other Discussion on SFF Adventure board, where you can discuss with other SFF Adventure participants all your theories about the latest chapters in the SFF Adventure. The other child board is the
Character Discussion board, and this is the one you need to really pay attention to.
SFF Adventure: How to Begin--Part II: My Character?The SFF Adventure is all about creating a character and leading that character through a series of prompted tasks (posted as Challenges) where you'll need to use your writer's intellect to keep them alive with few resources. So, logically, the first part of this is creating your character! In the Character Discussion board, you'll find a nice long list of other participants' characters, most of which have been accepted into the SFF Adventure.
*TIP: Read some of those before attempting your own character! For one, there are also some Rules to be obeyed here as well on what your character can and cannot have, as well as a lot of great advice/suggestion on what you're character should have. Reading these will also give you an idea what makes an acceptable character. You'll need to create a new topic using your character's name (one only!) and then continuing by posting the provided Character Sheet with the appropriate information. If you're character fits the rules, then either swenson or myself (skulblaka_fricai) will accept it into the SFF Adventure. Once accepted, you're free to begin the writing tasks, as well as join collaborative tasks such as Roleplaying. If rejected, you'll need to revise your character according to what swenson or I says needs fixing before waiting to possibly be accepted.
Before you go out and start writing your first Challenge, though, there's still something you might want to read first:
SFF Adventure: The Story!The Story is the basis for all of the SFF Adventure, and essentially guides it along on its path. Whatever happens in the story will affect your character's adventure! So it's good to be updated on what's happening there, so you won't be confused later on by new additions to the SFF Adventure.
There are currently four parts to the Story:
Or, for you SparkNoter-ish people:
Summary of the Story, written by swenson for your convenience.
SFF Adventure: Interactive Events!Alright,
this is truly where the fun with the SFF Adventure lies. There are several divisions of Interactive events that you can participate in:
Explore those a bit and you'll see what they're about--but it's basically as it says. Riddles and tasks are completed on an individual basis; crossroads and boss battles are completed through collaborative effort. The success (or lack thereof) when completing these things influences your character's Adventure--for example, correctly answering a Riddle earns you a certain number of Player Points, which I'll go over later on, and tasks can earn you an additional prize as well (such as a horse for your character in the latest one) if completed correctly. Crossroads directly influence the path of your character--the stakes are unknown in the beginning, though failing to complete can be fatal for your characters (the initial price of failure for the first Crossroad would have been to kill off your newly created companion; fortunately we solved that one!). Boss battles are similar to Crossroads; they affect the path of your character in your own story, whether they will flee or fight, etc.
SFF Adventure: Your Character's Story--Challenges!So, what about your character's story? After all, that's what the SFF Adventure is all about--creating a character and then having them make their way through a series of
Challenges! Each Challenge is written according to the events in the Story (which is why it's much easier to simply read the Story as well) and is a task which you yourself must complete on your own time. There are no deadlines for the most part, though getting them in as soon as you are able to qualifies you for Active status (able to participate in other interactive events/earn prizes/etc.) while not doing so can label your character as Inactive. Also, not all Challenges are compulsory (mandatory); some are optional, so whether you choose to participate in these or not is your choice.
Important Note: Before you submit your Challenges, you
must have an *accepted* character posted in the Character Discussion board, as well as have submitted the Character Sheet to SFF as a new story with the first chapter being the Character Sheet, and subsequent chapters being the Challenges.
Here is a list of the current Challenges, and whether or not they are compulsory/optional:
SFF Adventure: The World of the SFF AdventureThis is perhaps the most difficult part to remember about the SFF Adventure, and seems to be the most vague in a number of explanations. Basically, the SFF Adventure takes place in an "Alternate Universe" sort of setting. It is still set in Alagaesia, and has many of its elements incorporated into it (such as the presence of Dragon Riders), but it's timeframe is different than 'true' Alagaesian history. There will be minor changes here and there to the 'true' Alagaesian history, though basically, it takes place
before the fall of the Riders. As far as the Story of the SFF Adventure, that takes place in many different places, currently two.
Narda, your character's fairly prosperous home-village (and yes, your character *must* be in Narda at the beginning of the SFF Adventure), is the first destination on our list. But, pushed along courtesy of the Story, the characters have been forced to migrate to
Therinsford, a run-down village that provides temporary refuge for the escaped villagers. If you are just joining the Adventure, you will still start in Narda with your own story (Challenges), but in Roleplaying you will only have access to Therinsford.
SFF Adventure: RoleplayingSpeaking of Roleplaying... I'd better go through that as well. Due to a new rule to encourage more people to write Challenges, you *must* have completed Challenge 1 to participate in Roleplaying. Roleplaying is exactly as it sounds--you Roleplay your character according to whatever plot the Roleplay-creator has devised and go from there. The setting is, as mentioned above, Therinsford, and it is highly advisable you read through the rules before starting, otherwise you can and will be banned from Roleplaying if necessary (though it would be horrible to have to do this to anyone, so hopefully you'll read the Rules).
Here's Roleplaying!:
NardaTherinsfordTherinsford 2Allow me to make this very clear when I say this--
you may Roleplay in the most recent Roleplaying board, and the most recent Roleplaying board only. If you are found trying to create new threads in any other sections, your posts will be deleted without warning and you may earn yourself a strike. Participating in Roleplaying is a great experience, though, as it provides you an opportunity to allow your character to interact with others' characters.
Another (new) feature to Roleplaying is a News section devoted entirely to news based on Roleplaying and whatever is going on with that--you can find that
here.
SFF Adventure: Player PointsPlayer Points are actually very simple--you earn them from various things (from completing Challenges to Interactive events) and use them to purchase stuff later on. Earning as much as you can now could prove useful in the future, so getting involved is a great way to not only have some fun but also boost your character's adventure as well. Here's the basic rundown of that:
Player PointsList of PlayersFairly self-explanatory--I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.
SFF Adventure: GangsWhich brings me to the last (but definitely not least) section of our little (*cough*
) guide here: Gangs! Gangs are a fairly recent addition to the SFF Adventure, and have quickly grown into a Challenge-like adventure in themselves. They provide characters with new opportunities to explore Therinsford as well as explore themselves, forced to swear oaths and complete missions for whichever gang leader they fall under. Therinsford is home to four gangs:
Brawlers GangLurkers GangThe CouncilThe RoguesYou can find more information on each gang by clicking on it. To join, you have to have completed at least two challenges, though once you have done so, you can swear an oath (guideline for that under each gang description) that signs your character into that particular gang. With new rivalries and alliances brewing between certain gangs, it's already looking to be a part of the SFF Adventure you don't want to miss out on!
Further information on the Gangs that you might find useful can be found
here (Gang FAQ). But that's not the only thing you want to look at when checking out the Gangs: a new
Gang Mini-Challenge has been posted as well, revealing a new segment of the Story of solely Gang affairs. Additionally, a thread on the
Gang Leaders would probably be helpful for you to know before entering one of the Gangs--after all, you want to know what's your leader like!
SFF Adventure: In ConclusionSo you survived the Guide! Congratulations! Hopefully this will help anyone wishing to know the full story without having to go searching it all for themselves, and that this will help clear up any misunderstandings about the SFF Adventure.
