Fortuna University [NC-H] [Sandboxy college game]

[Blythe]

So I wasn't sure if anyone might be interested in a game like this, but...I miss some good ol' contemporary collegiate settings, and I realized "Well, I ought to run one!" for a group.

Take a looky at the worldbuilding here, and post here if you might be interested? The 'setting' is not wholly developed since I'd like to customize what the University has available based on player interests/input, but the base of things is there!

But for those who need a TL;DR summary and don't wanna slog through the world building to see if they're interested:

* I am the GM of the game, and I am not seeking a co-GM at this time.
* A contemporary sandbox game with a few GM-led plot events, set on a university campus.
* You can have up to two characters, but one must be a student.
* The game is set in Sept. 2024, the first week of the month, with the start of a new school year
* Characters must be 18+
* There's no posting minimum or posting length requirement, but if I don't hear from you OOCly for a month, you'll be seen as inactive. Please see the worldbuilding thread regarding inactivity and how I handle that: you must agree to that to be able to play.
* The game's category is Non-consensual Human, but triggering topics will still require trigger warnings in post tagging so people don't have to engage with darker stuff if they don't want to. Special note: The game will have a GM plot that is a murder mystery, so if that's not your cuppa tea, you might prefer the sandbox parts of the game, not GM events.
* LGBTQA+ and poly friendly, though I will mention I don't write poly content myself. Please note trans* characters should be reasonable representations and not something fetishy.
* Photograph/celebrity face claims only, no illustrations, please! You may reserve a face claim by posting in this thread, but if you don't make a sheet for it within a week, I will automatically un-reserve it to make it available to others again.


If you read this far, thanks for reading! <3

Reserved Face Claims

Reserved for Alias
Iris Apatow

Reserved for Amaris
Jason Ralph

Reserved by Blythe
Evan Peters

Reserved for CyrodillicBrandy
Toby Regbo

Reserved by Dark Rabbit
Oscar Isaac
Amita Suman

Reserved for Elandra
Sophia Lillis

Reserved by HopeAndFaith
Ivy Matheson

Reserved for JustDrew
Austin Casey

Reserved for LamentingQuill
Rachel Georgina
Kamijo

Reserved for Lovely Complex
Mason Gooding

Lyrical
Jihyo (Park Ji-hyo)

Reserved for Peripherie
Daisy Edgar-Jones

Reserved for Sara Nilsson
Alina Lopex

[Dark Rabbit]

This looks great! I've actually been on a murder mystery kick recently.

I would like to reserve Oscar Isaac and Amita Suman for faceclaims.

Also, and not that I'm planning on it, but is this game open to having player characters be non-academics living in Saltview?

(Later addition:) How large/prestigious is FU considered in this world? I'm imagining a campus closer to a liberal arts college than a large research institution but maybe I'm picturing it incorrectly.

[Fiadh]

Oh, Bly, you have tempted me mightily! I'll keep an eye on this. :)

[Geeklet]

Not really in a place to write reliably at the moment, but if this is still going in a few months, I do have some ideas.

[Blythe]

This looks great! I've actually been on a murder mystery kick recently.

I would like to reserve Oscar Isaac and Amita Suman for faceclaims.

Also, and not that I'm planning on it, but is this game open to having player characters be non-academics living in Saltview?

(Later addition:) How large/prestigious is FU considered in this world? I'm imagining a campus closer to a liberal arts college than a large research institution but maybe I'm picturing it incorrectly.

You got it! I'll update the first post shortly with a 'reserved face claim' list!

I might be open to the game having player characters be non-academics in Saltview, but I would still require one of your main characters to be a student and the other could potentially be something else. I'd need really sold on the concept of why a non-academic would fit the game. But I'm open to it!

So for now I'm picturing it as a large liberal arts university with it's culture, post-grad studies available, moreso for the culture of having a diverse set of curriculum available without having to make it a "huge" campus so I don't have to micromanage what majors people pick.

Oh, Bly, you have tempted me mightily! I'll keep an eye on this. :)

Hi Fiadh! *waves*

Not really in a place to write reliably at the moment, but if this is still going in a few months, I do have some ideas.

I do hope I get this off the ground--if I do and it's still going in a few months, you know you'd be more than welcome to join, geekers <3

[Elandra]

I am interested and was thinking of writing a post graduate/teaching assistant type character.

Please reserve Sophia Lillis for me. 

[Blythe]

I am interested and was thinking of writing a post graduate/teaching assistant type character.

Please reserve Sophia Lillis for me.

Yay, hi Elandra! That sort of concept would work well for this game!

Added to the Reserved Face Claim list! <3

[Elandra]

Yay, hi Elandra! That sort of concept would work well for this game!

Added to the Reserved Face Claim list! <3

She could also be an RA for either the co-ed or female dorm.

[Blythe]

She could also be an RA for either the co-ed or female dorm.

I really like the RA idea--this would allow for your character to have a lot of automatic character connections given her role!


As a note for people reading along, I had a change of heart about a few things:

* People can have up to two characters, as per the original game info. If you have two, one of them must be a student, but your first character doesn't have to be a student.

* I would consider characters other than students or academic faculty. I'd consider other employees of Fortuna as characters, such as a person who works in Admissions, someone who is a member of the groundskeeping crew, someone who helps sort/deliver mail in the campus room, someone part of janitorial who helps clean/service dorms, etc. The reason I'd consider these characters is there should be sufficient reason for students and faculty to encounter them to where they could be reasonably included. I don't have a CS template for them yet, but I'll make one if I see people interested in this sort of thing.

[Dark Rabbit]

Okay I wanted to put forward ideas for a student and a professor. I'm would love any feedback from people about them and if they seem compelling. I'm also very open to adjusting the backstories as needed to establish prior character relationships.

Pia Lakhani

Sex / Gender Identity: Cis female
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Face Claim: Amita Suman
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 110 lbs
Distinguishing Marks: None of note while in professional settings; while "out" often in goth jewlery/makeup: dark eyeshadow and lipstick, pentagram choker, large silver earrings
Age: 19
Birthday: July 14, 2005

Year: Sophomore
Major: Bio-chem (premed), thinking of switching to creative writing
Residence: Lockhart Hall

Personality: Thoughtful, hard working, loyal || Timid, reserved, uncertain

History: Pia Lakhani had her entire life decided for her by her parents since before she could talk. She was going to study biochemstry and become an oncologist. Already in high school her summers were spent interning at a hospital to build a resume for med school. For the most part she was content with it - she enjoyed her science classes well enough, was a good student, and was happy to make her parents happy.

Then, in her junior year of highschool, things changed. Pia's class read Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey and something awoke within her. For the first time in her life, Pia found something she was compelled by, not out of her parents' desires, not even out of her own desires, but out of a necessity. She began picking up and tearing through any Gothic horror she could get her hands on. First Frankenstein and Dracula, then on to the works of Poe, Jackson, and Rice; from there it was on to science fiction and fantasy which she went through with equal passion. Pia knew one thing -- she had to be an author.

When she tried broaching the subject to her parents, they didn't take it well. "People aren't reading books anymore, what future is their for you in writing?" was pretty much their only response. Her English teacher encouraged her though, and convince her to apply to the Marian Lockhart Creative Writing Scholarship at Fortuna. She won the scholarship and admission for a short story about an immortal serial killer and received her parents' blessing to attend when they learned of FU's prestigious premedical program.

To please her parents she registered as a biochemistry major in the pre-med track, but is still dreaming of becoming an author and taking literature and creative writing courses at FU. She works for the speculative fiction lit mag as a contributor and editor, and the faculty advisor of the magazine has been encouraging her to change her major.

As a premed in the same year as RiffRaff she knew him, and even had a bit of a crush on him, but had been too scared to admit her feelings to him, and had not been in his closest circle of friends.

Character Ons/Offs: See Dark Rabbit's O/Os- Note that the O/O linked is for male characters - this is my first time trying out a female character, so flip certain ons as appropriate (e.g. Pia is sexually submissive/switch). Pia also has a kink for (in character) monster roleplay.


Classes and Activities:Note: Happy to edit these as needed to fit with the established cannon or what other players want

• Organic Chemistry (CHEM 203)
• Cell Biology (ANAT 221)
• Introduction to Speculative Fiction (LIT 262)
• Additional creative writing/literature class
• FUture doctors of the world (Fortuna University premed society)
• FU Literary Magazine (editor/contributor)

Max Eisenman

Sex / Gender Identity: Cis male
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Face Claim: Oscar Isaac
Hair Color: Once black, now mostly grey
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5'11
Weight: 165 lbs
Distinguishing Marks: Glasses
Age: 42
Birthday: November 18, 1981

Degree: PhD in pure mathematics
Department: Mathematics
Residence: Max lives by himself in a studio apartment in "downtown" Saltview. Max often bikes to work.

Personality: Smart, direct, outspoken || Reckless, egotistical, blunt

History: Professor Max Eisenman had once been a rising star in the world of theoretical mathematics. After breakthrough results on how randomness in geometric structures arise, he had been a frontrunner for winning the Fields medal, one of math's highest honors. And after an interviews where he showed that mathematicians, too, can be handsome and charming, he became something of a celebrity on his {East Coast University} campus (or at least as much of a celebrity as one can be for a mathematician).

But then came that fucking rave.

A colleague of his brought Max to a party. Just a way to kick back and celebrate the end of the school year. "Just a few drinks," he said. "You'll have a good time," he said.

Max should have been more careful, should have asked his "friend" more about the party, shouldn't have started sucking face with a stranger. Because near a college campus, events are likely to be organized by undergrads.

"my prof is making out with my friend?!?!?" went the Tiktok. Max, face lit up by glow-stick bracelets, was clearly visible.

Viral outrage spreads faster than truth, and "professor makes out with student's friend" quickly became "professor makes out with student" became "professor uses power over student to drug and sexually abuse them."

Despite the fact that Max's violation of university code had been minor, and that the student he had kissed testified in favor of him, he was quickly fired from his position in light of public pressure, and his funding agencies quickly pulled support from his grants. And despite their agreement to a partially open relationship, his fiancee called off the wedding.

And so in August of 2019 Professor Max Eisenman found himself jobless, friendless, toxic, and single. He would have been completely up shit's creek haad it not been for Michael Rafferty (father of Raphael, the murder victim).

Michael Rafferty reached out to Max and offered his connection to find Max a faculty position at Fortuna -- on the agreement that Max be willing to do pro bono consulting for the companies his VC firm invests in. Seeing no other options, Max moved across the country, to Satlview, Washington.

Professor Eisenman was alone, virtually friendless (save for Michael Rafferty) still settling in to his new position when Covid-19 hit, and everything went virtual.

Even a few years after things reopened, Max never found a community or circle of friends in his new town. People still remember the scandal and faculty keep their distance. In addition, the Fortuna University Dean has done everything in his power to limit Professor Eisenman's interaction with students. Because of these he's developed a reputation as kind of strange and reclusive among the student body.

Character Ons/Offs: See Dark Rabbit's O/Os


Classes and Activities: Note: as with Pia, open to editing this based on other player interests.

• Class: Mathematical thinking (MATH 110)
• Class: Point set topology (MATH 288)
• "Advanced reading in research mathematics" - Faculty at FU are required to engage in "outreach" activities. This includes sponsoring clubs, advising students, and running special advancd seminars. However, given Professor Eisenman's history, the dean of the university wanted to limit his interaction with students. This reading seminar exists within the university but has not previously had any students as prerequisites were set too high.
• Consulting for Michael Rafferty.

[LamentingQuill]

Would like to reserve instagram model Rachel Georgina, please.

[Blythe]

Would like to reserve instagram model Rachel Georgina, please.

You got it--first post updated with the FC reserve! 

[Sara Nilsson]

mmm interesting.. planting tentative interest while I do some thinking.. in between murdering cultists in Rogue Trader.

[Blythe]

mmm interesting.. planting tentative interest while I do some thinking.. in between murdering cultists in Rogue Trader.

I need to buy Rogue Trader, one of my RL besties is playing the heck out of it and says it's amazing~

Here's hoping the muse grabs you for this group game though, but even if not, thank you for reading and the tentative interest, Sara! <3

[Sara Nilsson]

mm it is much easier to get into then their other games for sure.

question, does the school have a sports team or something that they are proud of?

[Blythe]

mm it is much easier to get into then their other games for sure.

question, does the school have a sports team or something that they are proud of?

The only sport that I've got 'established' is soccer for sure, but Fortuna University's mascot is "the Fighting Falcons." I'm very open to players creating characters for other sporting teams if they would like to see a specific sport represented in the game! 

[Blythe]

Ah, and I almost forgot! For Dark Rabbit who submitted sheets here in thread, and LamentingQuill who submitted a sheet via PM--I'll be reviewing sheets in the next couple of days! I promise I've read your sheets, and you'll get feedback in the next coupla days! 

[Dark Rabbit]

Ah, and I almost forgot! For Dark Rabbit who submitted sheets here in thread, and LamentingQuill who submitted a sheet via PM--I'll be reviewing sheets in the next couple of days! I promise I've read your sheets, and you'll get feedback in the next coupla days! 

Thanks! Looking forward to it.

[Lovely Complex]

Interesting concept here, Bly!

Can I please reserve Mason Gooding? I’ll try to get a sheet up this weekend since I’ll have some time.

[Blythe]

Interesting concept here, Bly!

Can I please reserve Mason Gooding? I’ll try to get a sheet up this weekend since I’ll have some time.

Of course! I’ll update the first post shortly with your face claim reservation! 

[Lovely Complex]

Of course! I’ll update the first post shortly with your face claim reservation! 

Thank you! ^^

[CyrodilicBrandy]

i want in!

[Blythe]

i want in!

Welcome! 

[Amaris]

Will be working on something for this over the weekend!

[Blythe]

Will be working on something for this over the weekend!

Welcome, Ama <3