FAQ

[neosapienmods]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

PREMISE & GAME CONTENT • AUs & APPLICATIONS • NETWORK

PREMISE & GAME CONTENT

What is Neo Sapien?

Neo Sapien is an alternate universe cyberpunk-themed RP set in the fictional megalopolis of New Gate City. Players apping in can choose to have their characters be either typical humans or Meta-humans, an emergent genetic mutation among the human race. Meta-humans can have physical mutations, special powers, etc. They are considered a minority in this world, though, and face many struggles as a result. The Neo Sapien Organization is a privately funded group that aims to give aid and purpose to these Meta-humans that find themselves within New Gate City.

So what does that mean?

Any characters apped to this game will be an AU version of themselves, meaning they have lived in this universe for all their lives. Characters won’t remember ninja-land, wizard-land or super-space-planet because they never lived there to begin with. This means you’ll have to come up with all new histories for where they lived and how they came to live in New Gate City and/or discovered their Meta-human status if you app them as one. Of course, you’ll probably want these events to mirror their canon lives as much as possible – and of course, if your character grew up on Earth anyway in canon, you may not have to change much at all! This setting is based in an alternate future in a world that is more-or-less the same as our own. It's still Earth, just in a cyberpunk dystopian future.

But the most important, common factor here is Meta-humans. If your character is one, you'll have to decide how that has affected their life within New Gate City. If your character is involved with the Neo Sapien Organization, you'll have to decide how that came to be. Normal humans will still have to engage with the Meta-human element of the game on some level, as they will be central to the plot.

What's this game's plot hook?

The year is 2120.

In the 22nd century, humanity has seemingly reached the limit of its time on Earth. The environment and climate has been able to be bolstered and sustained by technological advances, but the clock can only be delayed so far. Most of humanity now exist within massive cosmopolitan, culturally-mixed megalopolis. This game primarily takes place in New Gate City, located on the East Coast of America.

While there is technically an existing city government, like most cities, New Gate City is for the most part under the control of corporations and oligarchs. The most influential of these is the Douman Zaibatsu, a conglomerate with its hands in many industries (but primarily in applied technology - aerospace, communications, and pharmaceuticals). New Gate City's growth and population has largely been shaped by the influence of this group, whom even have their own private military in order to "help" city officials enforce the law.

More about New Gate City can be found on our premise and setting page.

So, special powers?

Yes. This will be applied multiple ways. Characters without any powers in their canon proper will be allowed to assign powers to that character. They do not have to be mundane. Characters with a laundry list of powers in canon, however, will likely be asked to scale things back. All powers need to be related in some way. You can't have a grab bag of random abilities. We suggest potential players stick with one power and go from there.

What if I have trouble coming up with a special power for my character?

No worries; there's a wiki for this sort of thing. This site lists many many powers and abilities, but you're not limited to its lists. If you can make one more appropriate for your character, then go for it!

Our characters can have super powers. Can they be superheroes?

The Neo Sapien Organization does not officially condone the use of powers in vigilantism, but, on the hush hush, they do sponsor it. Some of those working for the NSO can, in fact, be called superheroes. They can have identity hiding gear, codenames, the whole deal. Part of rehabilitating the public image of Meta-humans against the anti-Meta propaganda of companies like the Douman Zaibatsu is associating Meta-humans with the good their powers can do for society.

But characters don't have to be heroes, either, and if your character is the type to be more likely to use their Meta-human gifts for more selfish ends, they are free to do so. Just remember that there are in-game consequences for those who are eventually caught. But of course there are some shady groups that are more than willing to sponsor the chaos, too...

Does the Neo Sapien Organization offer school and housing for characters that are young and/or have nowhere else to go?

Absolutely. The Neo Sapien Organization doubles as a private school and residence for several Meta-humans and provides housing for its staff, as well. They will be randomly assigned roommates if they choose to live at the organization, though.

Roommates?

Yup. Your character will be set up in a room with another. Your roommate assignment will be randomized. Rooms are segregated by age, but not by gender, so co-ed living can and will be a thing. The rooms in question will generally have separated sleeping quarters, but shared living, dining, and cooking space, as well as a shared bathroom. Most of the younger characters will obviously be students, but not all adult characters need to be staff to actually live in the NSO headquarters.

Is character death permanent?

In almost all cases, yes. If an exception can or will be made, the mods will absolutely communicate it, but for the most part, you should absolutely assume that death is permanent in this game.

Is adult content allowed? Can I play smut in this game, or involve my character in drugs or other sordid topics?

We're a game that's positive towards adult content. We do require appropriate content warnings be used when dealing with these topics, but we will not disallow them from being played here or force players to take the threads off somewhere else. That being said, this is not a smut game and events will not be geared towards that content.

What communities does this game use?

This is a community-based game, so we have a few communities to be used: neosapien is the main community, where all the netork posts will go - these are IC network reply and response deals. Mostly text, but voice and video options are available. It's the cyberpunk future so communication tech is very advanced... neosapienlogs is the log community, where in-person actions and events will happen, logged in either 3rd person prose or action style as the players choose. neosapienooc is the OOC community where out-of-character business like intros, hiatus announcements, drops, and plotting can all take place. Memes and Test Drives will also be posted there.

This sure looks nice. Who can I thank?

Credit for the layout goes to pagans!

TOP.

AUs & APPLICATIONS

So who can we app here?

Well, you can apply from pretty much any canon imaginable! If you can link us to it and show us it exists and we can understand it enough to judge your app, we’ll probably be willing to let it in. Original Characters are allowed as well.

What kind of roles can our characters hold within the world?

Realistically speaking, most characters will be involved with the Neo Sapien Organization in some way, either under their care or employed by them, but this is a cyberpunk dystopia setting, so your imagination is kind of the limit here. Want to play an elite hacker? Hack the planet, baby. Want to play an outlaw bounty hunter? See you, space cowboy. Characters can even be involved with the Douman Zaibatsu if they choose - it's actually kind of hard to avoid having a legitimate profession that is not in some way connected to them. If you have a question about a specific scenario, by all means, ask!

What are the limits of changes I can make to my character's AU self? Can they be a different age?

You can apply for any character at any age (within reason) besides just their canon age. This isn’t just so you can play your favorite nine-year old as a normal-aged middle-schooler or that edgy nineteen-year old as still having a couple years of high-school left, feel free to do stuff for the heck of it. Maybe you want to play that 13 year old as a high school student, or that 17 year old as a young adult. Of course, be a little reasonable – drastic age-downs (taking a full grown adult and dropping them back into middle school, say) and drastic age-ups (taking your teenager and making them forty) may need a lot more inspection, and if it’s judged that you’ve pretty much just struck out into OC territory, we may not allow it (though you could always make a similar OC…).

What about changing sexes and/or genders?

That’s actually perfectly fine! Since this is an AU, the character can be whatever sex and gender you want, or present whatever gender you want. We’ll also allow other changes or tweaks that you may want, but don’t go overboard – when all is said and done, they should still be, at their core, the same character as they were in canon – just older, younger, with a different body, gender-identity, or whatever else. We reserve the right to judge you have jumped off the deep end and created an entirely new character.

So with all these “variations”, does that mean we can have a girl version, a boy version, a grown up version, a kid version and a secret 2nd manga AU version of a character all running around?

Sort of. This will be done within reason and it's obviously something you'll need to work out with other players. If you can give us something that makes sense, we'll allow it. Remember, this is cyberpunk. Anything can happen. But just because anything can happen, doesn't mean it should. Also, keep in mind that a player may only app one version of a character; kind of unfair to hog all the different versions of that character to yourself, isn't it?

Can I have my character be from an alternate timeline then? Or the future? Or from another planet?

In the interest of keeping a reasonable scope for this game's setting, they are not allowed to be apped to this game.

People come to New Gate City from around the world. Will my character have to know English?

Nope! We feel that the individual players can decide what language, if any, their character will speak. Of course the school offers all sorts of language classes, as well. Besides, translation technology in the cyberpunk future is good for this kind of thing.

What happens if I drop? What if I reapp? What if someone else reapps as the same character?

Characters that are dropped are considered to have left the city for one reason or another. Should you decide to reapp and pick the character back up again, you can come up with any number of reasons as to why the character was gone.. Even death is possible, though a bit discouraged for non long-term players. If someone else apps the same character, they have the option to re-do the AU and are not obligated to play what you already established, but communication is generally encouraged here.

What if a canonmate wants to app in and coordinate AU Histories with my character but my character is already in play?

We understand that canon relationships are a lot of fun to carry over into AU, especially when such relationships affect a character's personality a lot. That being the case, with mod approval, we will allow retconning/rewriting of an accepted character's AU history to accommodate the new character.

Okay, so this all sounds pretty awesome. Where do I apply?

Well, you can go to our application and reserve pages. We ask that players only submit two applications per month, even though they will always be open.

When can I reserve and/or apply? And what about activity check?

We'll be following a schedule for these important dates. They are as follows:

Reserves are Always Open and last for one week from the placement of the reserve. A week must pass before a reserve for the same character by the same player can be placed again.
Applications are also ALWAYS open.
This always open status is subject to being changed if necessary, but for now we expect this to remain the state of things.
Activity Check will be the last five days of any given month. Results will be posted on the first of the following month, along with a breakdown of what to expect in the game that month

TOP.

NETWORK

Is the network exclusive to in-game characters?

ICly, the network is controlled and maintained by the NSO, one of the only networks in game that is not controlled by the Douman Zaibatsu, which is why in-game characters have access to it, but the NSO, in their general "if we didn't see it, it didn't happen" also maintains a completely non-monitored network. It's kind of the wild-west out there.

How do you ICly access the network?

The NSO network can be accessed by any internet capable device, which as it turns out in this cyberpunk future, is a LOT of things.

Can my character access non-NSO networks?

Yes, though fair warning, anything else is the Douman Zaibatsu's territory, and they do monitor and record and gather data on everything.

What type of entries can be posted on the Network?

There are three types of entries possible - Text, Voice and Video. The city has multiple terminals that are capable of these functions, as are most portable devices, but if your character's personal device that you've chosen them to use does not contain a web camera, video posts would not be possible, for example. It is assumed characters have multiple ways of accessing and posting to the Network.

What about hackers? This is cyberpunk after all.

The NSO network may be hands-off in terms of monitoring, but it's not insecure, and even the best in-game hackers will have trouble breaking any locked posts on it or causing any other kind of compromised security. If your character is a hacker and interested in a little breaking of the network, please contact the mods and we can see if it's possible, and how it'll work out if it is.

Is anonymous posting available?

Yes! Posts can be posted anonymously, and given the NSO logs no data on users aside from basic identification information, it is nearly impossible to find out who posted what. For the purposes of the game, posts and comments are only labeled as anonymous. We do not allow actual, dreamwidth anonymous commenting in the IC communities.

TOP.

➤NAVIGATION

Comments

(frozen comment) DIRECTORY FOR PLAYER ASKED QUESTIONS

[neosapienmods]

links will go here to any answered player questions

alternate timelines clarification
eligibility for newer canons to be apped from AND eligibility of bit part/low screen time characters
game structure; plot vs SoL
when meta-human powers manifest
apping robots or homonculi type characters
other pro-meta organizations in other parts of the world
limits on time-based powers.
can meta-human status be granted, by accident or experiment?
non-humanoid vessels for AI
limits on physical mutations
War
anime hair colors
mass hypnosis powers
clarifications on law enforcement and NSO sponsored vigilantism
State of AI rights/technology
clones/cloning
transportation / medical tech and neural implants / NSO volunteering in Last Ward / Yakashbah organization
internet and videogames
Military organizations

Alternate timelines

[spaghettimonster]

Hiya, I wanted to ask a clarification about one of the questions.

There's one that starts "Can I have my character be from an alternate timeline then?", as a followup to questions about what sorts of variations and versions players can apply to AU'd versions of characters. I can't tell from the current wording whether people can base their characters from canonical alternate timelines - like the different endings to Undertale, for example, make a big difference for some of the characters.

Is that answer specifically about the AU versions, as in no one can be from New Gate City from the year 2210? Or is it more of the previously mentioned idea that, if your character diverges too hard from canon, it's best to make an OC of them?

[neosapienmods]

You can base the AU you're crafting for this character on canon divergences. For example, someone apping Saber from Fate/Stay Night could base their AU for them based on any of the various canon diverging paths the character takes in canon.

But if you mean an AU to *this* game's universe, then no, that is not allowed. You could not shape your character around an alternate version of this game's setting.

We hope that helps clarify the position.

[(Anonymous)]

Are there any rules about the eligibility of characters that could be apped? For example, apping a character who's canon is fairly recent (ex: released in Dec. 2019) or who might not be eligible due to a lack of screen time (ex: Mello from Death Note, a victim of the week character from Supernatural, etc.)

[neosapienmods]

Given this is an AU game, it's pretty difficult to spoil canon events, given they'll either have not happened, or at the very least happened a very different way.

That being said, we still generally feel it's best to wait a month or two for things like this, but it's not a strict rule, and will have to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

EDIT BECAUSE I TOTALLY MISSED THE SECOND PART OF THE QUESTION LIKE A DUMMY: yes, low-screen-time characters are 100% eligible. It'd be pretty hypocritical to accept OCs but not accept those, we figure.

[(Anonymous)]

So how much of this game is plot-driven versus player-driven? Unless I’m misunderstanding (which I totally could be), the game seems very SoL heavy? Will there be missions, etc? Basically, what kind of game would you classify this as? (Besides an AU lol)

[neosapienmods]

While there will not be a strict mission structure for all players (the vigilante side of the NSO is, after all, purely voluntary) there will definitely be tasks players can volunteer for, and the game is definitely driven by the major plot points of the premise; NSO vs Douman Zaibatsu, humans vs meta-humans, etc.

there will be SOL elements to this game as we feel an All Drive All The Time style story gets very exhausting very quickly, but it is definitely not SOL heavy.

[(Anonymous)]

When it comes to meta-human powers, are most meta-humans aware of what they're able to do at birth or are there cases of metas not realizing what they are until later in their lives?

[neosapienmods]

That's mostly up to the player! We will say that, generally, unless it's a physical manifestation, most meta-human abilities don't become obvious until after puberty.

[(Anonymous)]

what is the compatibility of applying for a character that, in canon, is not human or does not have a flesh-and-blood body? would they need to be converted into a human or meta-human in this AU?

by this, I mean a character who is a robot, android/gynoid, artificial intelligence, or some mix of those. artificial constructs or creations that have a distinct personality and capacity to learn.

examples that come to mind include characters such as: S.H.O.D.A.N. from System Shock, the combat androids (or even machine lifeforms) from NieR: Automata, Hatsune Miku, Data from Star Trek, Penny Polendina from RWBY, Shale from Dragon Age, the homunculus characters of Fullmetal Alchemist, and so on.

[neosapienmods]

AI is pretty advanced in this game, and it is absolutely possible to app sentient robots. But keep in mind this sort of AI is still exceptional, so it should be noted as part of the AU you build that they are particularly advanced/special.

Data is honestly a good baseline of what would be considered advanced AI in this setting; exceptional in its rarity, but still not quite passing as human.

Characters that are flesh-and-blood artificial constructs or homonculi but not specifically robots would likely need to be reworked into being Meta-humans or cyborgs, however.

[jediparkour]

Hello, mods! Before posting into the AU Workshop, I wanted to get clarification on how to handle translating another organization into the game.

Basically: I have here a character with a background whose main crux depends on having belonged to a metahuman organization in another area (possibly located on the west coast or idk, Canada) that got wiped out.

With that in mind, how large or relevant am I allowed to make this AU version of the Jedi Order? I'm not anticipating making them nearly as big as they are in canon, but how big is too big? Can I say they were fairly influential in their area or is it better to go with a more spread-out or strictly local interpretation? I know a lot of this depends on your vision of the game, so I figured it'd be better to get some guidance first.

[neosapienmods]

this sounds perfectly workable! yakashbah, NSO, etc are mostly prevalent in the gmae because they're local, not because they're the Biggest Deals on the planet with regards to Metas.

i feel like you already have a good feel for how to integrate them into this universe, so consider this the go ahead to put your interpretation out there!

[constructadditionalheroes]

Hi two questions:

1: Is there any limit on time travel powers? I don’t think Tracer’s “rewind time four seconds” ability is terribly broken but I figured I’d check because I’ve been in games with a very hardline “NO TIME TRAVEL” policy and would need to take that into account when figuring out her AU

2: Is it cool to have someone awaken to being a metahuman as a result of a scientific accident instead of just “they were born that way”/.

[neosapienmods]

1. For the sake of keeping the scope of the game in control, time travel is definitely still a thing that's not possible. With specific regards to Tracer's power, we may allow some wiggle room, though, so long as it stays pretty close to its in-game functionality.

2. Because meta-human status is a genetic condition, it is definitely something that has to be baked into the human recipe of a person, not something that can be inserted later via accident.

[unreliablenavigator]

On the topic of AIs, would you require that AI characters have a humanoid form?

Ada here is the navigation system for a spaceship. I get that you probably wouldnt want her to be capable of space travel, but would it be possible to AU her as a kind of airship? I'd like for her to be able to act as a transport vehicle.

[neosapienmods]

While that would technically be within our rules, we highly recommend not taking that route, as it would pretty heavily limit what the character could do in terms of interacting with the game and its plot.

[forgetstheplan]

What's the limit on Metahumanity's more visible mutations? Is there one at all?

[neosapienmods]

Generally, no.

Pardon the wrong account, just using it for the moment

[neighfeni]

Hello! Have 2 questions, 1 about the background of the world, 1 about standard earth stuff.
1. Since this is taking place in the US, have there been any recent military conflicts of note that might get someone drafted? That's what happens in Nephenee's canon, so wondered about that.

2. Since this is Earth, I am assuming standard genetics beyond the powers they get? Because this girl's got green anime hair!

[neosapienmods]

Most wars these days aren't between nations but rather between corporations and private armies. While there are some independent nations out in the world, most of them do not have the capability of standing up to corporate military.

As far wild anime hair color goes, we'll leave it up to the player whether that's just a thing that happens or if it's meta related.

[(Anonymous)]

How would the game deal with aliens, by chance? Would we have to humanize them oooor...??

[neosapienmods]

As said in the FAQ, you cannot app someone from another planet. In their AU for this game, they would need to be from Earth.

[mammal_robot]

I'm hoping to app Atomic Robo as one of the first and oldest fully sapient AIs, so I've got some AI questions!

1: How long have AIs been around?
2: Do AIs have rights as people or are they generally considered to be tools?
3: In canon, Robo is powered by a tiny nuclear reactor (hence the "Atomic" in his name). Can I keep this in this game as mysterious black box technology that no one has been able to reverse engineer?

[neosapienmods]

Hey, just letting you know, the mod in charge of that particular part of the game's worldbuilding has been having a busy time, but we ARE working on a response! Thank you for your patience!

[abgrund]

How okay is it ooc-wise to mind control NPCs? I want to app a character who has that power scope (which you probably have already seen on the AU workshop, haha) and I just wanted to run by the 'helps his father run a hypnotized cult' thing by the mods.

[neosapienmods]

The mods discussed this and we feel like there needs to be a catalyst of interest in those being hypnotized for it to work on a mass scale. Basically they need to be inclined to believe in the first place.

We feel like this is a reasonable limitation so they can still have the cult without it potentially breaking the game.

[digitalgirl]

hello, is there any cloning technology in this setting?

[neosapienmods]

cloning exists, but it's something of a black market tech, and isn't an accepted medical practice. the extend to which the general medical community allows it is in cloned organs for transplants, for those that can't (or refuse) cybernetic organs. but actual, like full person cloning, while it exists, is very much illegal.

[carvedintostone]

Hi mods!

Can I get some broad details on what the situation in England was like? I want to make sure Lora talks about it accurately and not assume too much.

[neosapienmods]

All of southern England is a megalopolis now, and while Douman Zaibatsu isn't the chief corporate power there, with the other companies currently outnumbering them, they have the largest slice of the pie, so to speak.

Beyond that, you're free to fill in the rest of the details.

[abstains]

So if my character kills an npc 12/13 years pre game because said npc killed someone close to them, what extent would he be punished/how long would it take?

[neosapienmods]

Up to you! We try not to limit the sort of backgrounds characters can have.

[afterthemoment]

Hello, mods! I have a list of worldbuilding questions that I could use some answers for to help finalize my AU:

- What modes of transportation and vehicles are available in the setting? If characters wished do travel between wards, how long would their commute be? Are there any restrictions on that?

- What kinds of medical technology are available in the setting? I'd like more information on what kinds of hospitals and medical cybernetics are available and an estimate of costs. In the AU version I'm building, the character was in a coma for about a decade, required extended care, and woke up with some degree of brain damage that I was going to have corrected with a medical cybernetic. Does that sound plausible?

- How widespread is the NSO's influence in the other wards? Specifically, I was wondering if they'd have any sort of outreach programs, schools, or community resources for metahumans in the Last Ward. If metahumans within their organization wished to do this and volunteered for it, would that work?

- How is Yakashbah structured as an organization? Do they have cells or any kind of inner hierarchy? How long have they been around? Do they train their members in anyway? The idea that I'm considering for my character is that he's a former operative of Yakashbah or was involved with an adjacent meta rights extremist group with militant leanings over a decade ago that's since the disbanded or been wiped out. Would something like that work?

Apologies for all the questions and thank you for your time!

[neosapienmods]

- Land-based vehicles and hover-based both exist, as well as public transit rails that connect the various wards with much lower travel times compared to driving. There are checkpoints at the various ward borders, however, which for most people is just a mild annoyance, but is generally done to keep criminal elements from filtering in and out of various wards. Not that there aren't ways around this, too.

- What you've said is entirely plausible! However it's worth nothing that neuro-cybernetics are considered highly risky and may cause other medical issues down the line. Sclerosis of the tissue surrounding the brain is the most common side effect, but there can be other cognitive issues as well. We'll let you decide how to explore that!

- The NSO does a lot of outreach and volunteer work in Last Ward. As an example, there was a huge power outage towards the beginning of the game and NSO workers went in to voluntarily fix furnaces and provide warm blankets and food for those in the Parish

- We're keeping the organizational structure of Yakashbah purposefully vague at this point BUT we can say that they do indeed operate in cells and do indeed train their own members.

also no worries about questions, we think these greatly help flesh things out!

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe a weird question but what is the internet like in this setting? What about the video game industry? About on par with our world or are their any additional regulations or advances or whatever I’d need to know about if I apped someone canonically fond of browsing the Internet or gaming (or both)?

[neosapienmods]

The internet is definitely as lively, if not more so, as it is today. Internet culture is roughly the same cornucopia of memes and other weirdness. There are more modern ways of interfacing with it (think Google Glasses but not awkward and actually fitting with the world) but the nature of it is still kind of the same.

THAT BEING SAID it is not a truly "free" internet. Douman Zaibatsu owns the services and networks, and can and will drive out content from the mainstream internet that it doesn't strictly approve of. Private companies running websites tend to pay fealty to the DZ in a metaphorical sense, and will not be kind to criticisms of it.

There are "dark web" alternatives, of course. You're more likely to come across Yakashbah here, as well as a lot of criminal elements. Browse at your own risk, etc.


As far as video games go, virtual reality is still the leading draw for a lot of gaming, but it's not the only format. They're about what you'd imagine, but there does seem to be a lack of "superhero" genre... anything. With the existence of Metas, the human imagination for the superhuman kind of clashes with the reality of it. The most popular games are multiplayer, team-based virtual reality arena games when engaging with consoles and arcades, and mindless zen-inducing puzzle games. (so, once again, not that different from now, lmao)

[cutepolicewoman]

Sorry if this is covered somewhere and I just missed it like a dummy: What is the military like in cyberpunk-America and/or Japan? Kiruko here was effectively raised as a super soldier after her parents died and worked for a special ops team. I’d like to keep something similar if i brought her in. Actually, as I’m writing this, it occurs to me that since she’d likely be a metahuman (as her strength is absolutely superhuman level in canon) maybe it’d be more of a NSO or Yakashbah thing than military (unless the military was running metahuman programs?)

BASICALLY: what's the military like and are or were there any grooming/raising programs underway by any groups?

[neosapienmods]

All military are privately run organizations owned by various super corporations, leading to literal corporate wars and takeovers. The largest of which is obviously the one run by Douman Zaibatsu. Also, as of recent plot reveals, if her meta-human nature had been obvious during her service, she likely would have been "volunteered" for experimentation.