@Pavel
I applied to play two characters - the first was a Mage, nothing out of the ordinary, the process would be slow-going; I understood, the sole staffer was swamped with what was described as eight applications in a small period of time. Totally cool, even relatable. Every day, I check in on the job. There’s some back-and-forth with the very-helpful Magewiz on the topic; mostly, it’s in fixing up the paradigm and avatar, which are usually my weak point. Progress is made, updates are posted to fit with stated criteria, the Mage is not the issue.
In the interim, I apply for a Changeling; I’m familiar with the source material over the last (ha ha, I am old) thirty years, so I feel pretty confident in it. There’s no guidelines to follow, just vibes, and no help is on offer. I wing it, and my first effort falls short, because it doesn’t fit the “setting.” Which, well, it’s their game, they know it best. I get told to update it to fit the game mechanics, to ensure that I include the words, “Troll,” “Kithain,” “Dreaming,” “Fae,” “Noble,” “Glamour,” “Banality,” “Changeling.”
In the CtD20 core rulebook, the opening story that runs from page 14 to 24, uses the word “pooka” exactly twice and none of the other aforementioned words. How in the shady side of Hades someone is to compete with that narrative and somehow shoehorn in those terms, I’m certainly intrigued on that process for setting up a background.
Asking for help on their Discord in the “Help Me” section netted no actual help. There were helpful people and they did offer assets, inclusive of someone who provided me with a link to a historical website detailing the goings-on in the era and locale; given that I’d been alive and around the same time and place, it was gratefully accepted although of limited use.
A while later, I got a message from one of the admins which was also accompanied by what I thought was a spammer’s message; some routine antisemitic stuff, nothing that unusual.
As a freebie, I was blocked, which I consider a very strong positive, all things considered.
A quote from the app process comes to mind: The criteria are largely subjective, not objective.
Earlier, I had joked about a vibes-based character generation process. I feel eerily prescient now.
