Post by Brownie on Nov 28, 2023 15:36:22 GMT -5
Okay so these things are really popular on the discord and I thought I'd bring the trend over here ^^
What is Clangen?
It's a simulation game that allows the player to watch the life of a Clan. Each moon, events and patrols occur that impact the cats. The goal is to grow your Clan and survive the random events that occur each turn. I'd suggest looking up a playthrough of the game on youtube if you've never heard of it before, as I'm going to assume every player will have basic knowledge of the game's mechanics and gameplay.
The concept: create short writing responses for your cat that follows the simulation's prompts.
To begin, I'll create a Clan on Clangen. There will be 7-10 cats at the start to claim. To start, players can only claim one cat. When you claim the cat, I'll give you the starting thought bubble above their head, and you can write a starter for your cat to show how you want to represent their characteristics and personality.
NOTE: At any time, players may respond to other players' prompts with their own cat's reaction. This is more a collaborative story writing thread than a true back-and-forth roleplay, but if you're both on within the time span between moons, feel free to roleplay a scene! Cats that interact a lot through roleplay may receive bonuses in-game (;
Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday I will move the game up a moon and give new details for your cat(s). If your cat is in a major event (moon events or significant patrols), you will be expected to write a short prompt about how the event happened and what your cat did/thinks of it. Others may respond to these prompts and begin scenes or roleplay. Scenes only last until the next moon skip, so you'll only have three days to make your cat's response to major events; it doesn't have to be a long thing, but players who respond to major events will have more opportunities for their cat to gain experience and grow.
Minor events, like relationship pips, thought bubbles, or minor patrols, also occur every moon. You may detail responses to these as well, but they are not required and can be ignored if they feel out-of-character for your cat. These are often the best way to make your cat's personality and place in the Clan unique, so I would encourage at least short responses to these minor events.
How patrols work:
Every moon, cats go on patrol. I will, by default, assign the healer [+1 random] for a herb patrol, [+3 random] for border, and the remainder for hunting. Each individual cat has a value for [proceed], [do not proceed] or [antagonize] based on their personality traits (which will be shown before they are claimed). Adding these values for each patrol member will give me which the patrol will choose when facing a problem. In the case of ties, the safest option will be chosen.
NOTE: [antagonize] isn't always a bad thing; there are several events in which [proceed] and [do not proceed] both result in deaths, where [antagonize] is the "correct" option (usually in the case of rogue ambushes). All values can be valuable in different scenarios and having a balanced party will result in the most successes.
Before the moon change, players may discuss which cats go on which patrol. If patrols are assigned, they will proceed in that order on the next moon and will not follow the random default.
NOTE: Mentors and apprentices will go on a training patrol every other moon. They will also patrol together wherever possible.
A disclaimer:
Your cat does not have plot armor in Clangen. The simulator is very cruel, sometimes, and cats often die from patrols or sickness that is difficult to prevent. If your cat dies, you will have the first claim on any newcomer that joins the Clan or kits that are born.
Likewise, the simulation is in control of a lot of aspects about your cat's life: it chooses who your claim has a crush on, who they are jealous of, and can change their role to mediator or healer half-way through their life, or even their gender identity. The game assigns apprentices to mentors, picks deputies, and mates. These things can be influenced, but never completely. The joy of using the simulator like this is to grow with your cat; you'll have some control, but not all of it, and hopefully that bit of randomness will give you ideas for their character development that you'd never come up with on your own.
I will be sitting in the back seat, however, to steer the narrative into something that is satisfying. I know a lot about file manipulation, save editing and changing event odds and relationships. Players who put creativity and love into crafting their written responses for the moon will be rewarded with tangible in-game changes: players who roleplay their character as mediating and diffusing arguments might find themselves with the mediator title; others who roleplay their character as creative, or playful, or sneaky might find their character slowly changing to that personality trait; players who spend time responding to another players' character will find their relationship (platonic or romantic) growing.
So what can you change about your claim?
- Starting name
- if you've roleplayed a kitten since birth
- you can choose if they will train to be a warrior or healer (or mediator, if one is available to mentor them)
- you also have a say in their mentor, but it's not 100% that you'll get that mentor
- Apprentices will be given three options for their warrior name to choose from
- What patrol the cat will be on next moon
- You are always in charge of toggling the "can have kits" option; keep it off when you don't want kits, turn it back on when you want the option to be available. By default, all cats are available to be a parent. Even with this option on, there's no guarantee your cat will ever have kits.
- When claiming an outsider, you may have three options of warrior name presented by the leader or choose to keep their original name. You don't have to claim the name immediately and may do so at any time.
What is Clangen?
It's a simulation game that allows the player to watch the life of a Clan. Each moon, events and patrols occur that impact the cats. The goal is to grow your Clan and survive the random events that occur each turn. I'd suggest looking up a playthrough of the game on youtube if you've never heard of it before, as I'm going to assume every player will have basic knowledge of the game's mechanics and gameplay.
The concept: create short writing responses for your cat that follows the simulation's prompts.
To begin, I'll create a Clan on Clangen. There will be 7-10 cats at the start to claim. To start, players can only claim one cat. When you claim the cat, I'll give you the starting thought bubble above their head, and you can write a starter for your cat to show how you want to represent their characteristics and personality.
NOTE: At any time, players may respond to other players' prompts with their own cat's reaction. This is more a collaborative story writing thread than a true back-and-forth roleplay, but if you're both on within the time span between moons, feel free to roleplay a scene! Cats that interact a lot through roleplay may receive bonuses in-game (;
Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday I will move the game up a moon and give new details for your cat(s). If your cat is in a major event (moon events or significant patrols), you will be expected to write a short prompt about how the event happened and what your cat did/thinks of it. Others may respond to these prompts and begin scenes or roleplay. Scenes only last until the next moon skip, so you'll only have three days to make your cat's response to major events; it doesn't have to be a long thing, but players who respond to major events will have more opportunities for their cat to gain experience and grow.
Minor events, like relationship pips, thought bubbles, or minor patrols, also occur every moon. You may detail responses to these as well, but they are not required and can be ignored if they feel out-of-character for your cat. These are often the best way to make your cat's personality and place in the Clan unique, so I would encourage at least short responses to these minor events.
How patrols work:
Every moon, cats go on patrol. I will, by default, assign the healer [+1 random] for a herb patrol, [+3 random] for border, and the remainder for hunting. Each individual cat has a value for [proceed], [do not proceed] or [antagonize] based on their personality traits (which will be shown before they are claimed). Adding these values for each patrol member will give me which the patrol will choose when facing a problem. In the case of ties, the safest option will be chosen.
NOTE: [antagonize] isn't always a bad thing; there are several events in which [proceed] and [do not proceed] both result in deaths, where [antagonize] is the "correct" option (usually in the case of rogue ambushes). All values can be valuable in different scenarios and having a balanced party will result in the most successes.
Before the moon change, players may discuss which cats go on which patrol. If patrols are assigned, they will proceed in that order on the next moon and will not follow the random default.
NOTE: Mentors and apprentices will go on a training patrol every other moon. They will also patrol together wherever possible.
A disclaimer:
Your cat does not have plot armor in Clangen. The simulator is very cruel, sometimes, and cats often die from patrols or sickness that is difficult to prevent. If your cat dies, you will have the first claim on any newcomer that joins the Clan or kits that are born.
Likewise, the simulation is in control of a lot of aspects about your cat's life: it chooses who your claim has a crush on, who they are jealous of, and can change their role to mediator or healer half-way through their life, or even their gender identity. The game assigns apprentices to mentors, picks deputies, and mates. These things can be influenced, but never completely. The joy of using the simulator like this is to grow with your cat; you'll have some control, but not all of it, and hopefully that bit of randomness will give you ideas for their character development that you'd never come up with on your own.
I will be sitting in the back seat, however, to steer the narrative into something that is satisfying. I know a lot about file manipulation, save editing and changing event odds and relationships. Players who put creativity and love into crafting their written responses for the moon will be rewarded with tangible in-game changes: players who roleplay their character as mediating and diffusing arguments might find themselves with the mediator title; others who roleplay their character as creative, or playful, or sneaky might find their character slowly changing to that personality trait; players who spend time responding to another players' character will find their relationship (platonic or romantic) growing.
So what can you change about your claim?
- Starting name
- if you've roleplayed a kitten since birth
- you can choose if they will train to be a warrior or healer (or mediator, if one is available to mentor them)
- you also have a say in their mentor, but it's not 100% that you'll get that mentor
- Apprentices will be given three options for their warrior name to choose from
- What patrol the cat will be on next moon
- You are always in charge of toggling the "can have kits" option; keep it off when you don't want kits, turn it back on when you want the option to be available. By default, all cats are available to be a parent. Even with this option on, there's no guarantee your cat will ever have kits.
- When claiming an outsider, you may have three options of warrior name presented by the leader or choose to keep their original name. You don't have to claim the name immediately and may do so at any time.