are you taking notes on how to be cool???

• Inspirations include Silent Hill (the first three, specifically), the movie "1408", House of Leaves, the movie "As Above So Below", a little hint of Dante's "Inferno", liminal spaces in general (a little splash of the Backrooms), and a "haunted hotel" type horror tropes for flavor.
• Themes will lean heavily on psychological horror and exploring trauma, grief, fear, and existential dread. There is less focus on overcoming those things, but if it happens for some characters, good for them. :)

• The game takes place in a large, extravagant hotel which has become old, outdated, and run-down, giving it an eerie feeling (appearance will be based largely off the Hotel Cecil/"Stay on Main" in Los Angeles).
• The hotel will be expanded upon from real-world influences to better fit a DWRP setting—amenities include an indoor pool, workout room, conference spaces, convention/party spaces, some shops, a couple of small restaurants, a bar, a planted atrium, etc. similar in concept to a Vegas-style hotel, but maintaining the dreary and cheap, uncomfortable atmosphere.
• There are no outdoor spaces and no way to exit, but there will be a day/night cycle, ways to (occasionally inconsistently) tell time, and calendars (accurate to present day), but no indication of what year it actually is.
• There will be a seemingly disproportionate amount of rooms to the size of the hotel, giving the impression that is much bigger on the inside, or perhaps "growing" as its population does. Some areas may change (hallways, stairways, elevators etc. leading to different places than previously, for example) at times.
• Rooms are assigned on arrival. A new room can be requested (requires Taken List update).
• NPCs will exist in some fashion to maintain function in the hotel, the vast majority of which will be unnamed, "background" characters. There will be a couple of named, (occasionally) interactable NPCs as well, such as the individual working the reception desk.


• A standard jamjar, characters will be brought inside and unable to exit by any means.

• Events will mostly center around bringing fears, tragedies, and dark secrets to the forefront of characters' experience, as well as some horror elements (body horror will be one). Less focus on physical danger, with some exceptions.
• A focus will be placed on keeping characters in a state of unease, though there will be opportunities for respite. CR-building will play an important role throughout.

• There is a loose "story"/metaplot, but is ultimately designed to be open-ended with no particular set game length.

• Pace is expected to be slow and backtag friendly. Events will be spaced out to allow for time to make real progress with threads and encourage meaningful results. Event schedule pending.

• Each character will be burdened by either a phantasm or a malison.
Phantasms will take the form of a twisted creature borne from the depths of a character's darkest inner spaces. The appearance and function of the phantasm is up to player discretion. Behavior can be as simple (scary monster that tries to eat you) or as complex as the player would like. This will function akin to James Sunderland's Red Pyramid, for example—a horrific aspect of one of his inner demons that manifests itself as a gruesome humanoid monster. These entities will be made manifest during certain events.

Malisons are essentially a type of curse which cause the character to look, feel, act, etc. in a way that befits one of their darker traits, or can cause them to experience phenomena around them relating to an inner trauma. They may relive a horrible moment in their life, experience hallucinations, see others as monsters, see themself as a monster... to name a few examples. This function is also up to player discretion and can be as simple or as complex as you like. The malison will be made manifest during certain events.

• More examples and expansions will be provided to help shape ideas for applicants.

• Working title: The Seventh (or First...) Circle Hotel, Hotel Toujours (lmao), The Monolith Hotel (lmao)

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you're brought to a halt by an unusual sound. Whether you've ever heard it before or not, the noise eventually becomes clearer, more distinct: an old landline phone, ringing, the receiver rattling on its dock. As your ears tune into the sound, it gets louder, and louder, and louder, echoing and growing exponentially in volume with each reverberation, until it's earsplitting, until it's physically painful, and still it grows louder—you clench your eyes shut, cover your ears, grit your teeth, maybe you scream, but it's drowned out by the piercing ring of a telephone you can't see, only hear, it's deafening—

You open your eyes. You're standing in the lobby of a hotel. Beigeish marble as far as you can see: the floor, the pillars, the walls. It's clean, but the dingy, yellowed lighting of the old, cobweb-covered chandeliers make everything look much more grim than it might be otherwise. The double doors behind you don't open and there don't seem to be any windows, at least not on this floor. There's a phone ringing, still, but this time the source is clear and the volume is normal. It's at the reception desk, and this time, someone picks it up. You can just make out an overly cheery voice from across the lobby.

No one waylays you as you explore the space, mostly because there isn't really anywhere to go. The two elevators require a keycard to activate, as does the strangely ornate gateway blocking the way to the stairs leading up. No other doors and nothing else of interest other than maybe a few baggage carts littered about leave you to realize, somewhat jarringly, that there isn't another soul around other than the person behind the front counter. Bars, almost like those of a prison cell, separate you from the person behind the counter, with only a small opening near the bottom big enough to fit a hand.

The moment you approach, the attendant sets down the phone and immediately turns their attention on you. You realize they're a woman... probably; long brown hair, big brown eyes, olive skin, feminine features, pretty but unremarkable, and yet there's something inhuman about her face. Something about her movements, too smooth, too even to be natural, make you wonder if she's even real.

"Checking in?" she asks with a smile. Chipper. Too chipper. Without waiting for an answer, or indeed without acknowledging any questions, she slides a piece of paper through the opening in the bars. The stationary has a logo at the top, depicting a grand gate much like the one blocking the stairway, with a name printed across the top: The Seventh Circle Hotel. Below that is a form, already filled out with information you haven't provided, and yet they already have—your name, age, the place you come from, and a room number. There's also a photo of you, grainy, faded, and oddly reminiscent of a mugshot, that you're sure you've never posed for. And at the bottom, a blank white square labeled with the instruction: Mark here.

The receptionist passes an inkpad over, smiling. Any fingerprint will do; or, if you don't have any, a smudge of ink will do just fine. Compliant guests who mark the box receive a chipper "thank you!" and their keycard, along with a tiny instruction booklet explaining the card's basic functions. Those that refuse, though, well.

The receptionist simply stares, eyes vacant, smile vacant. Waiting. She doesn't move a muscle and nothing about her changes, but after a few seconds you feel a force taking control of your arm, your hand, like gravity has clamped around it and bends it to its own will. No matter how you fight, one digit or another ends up in the ink and pressed into the square on the paper. Then you get your "thank you" and your keycard. After that, the receptionist picks up the phone again, answering before it even has a chance to ring.

"Enjoy your stay," she says, "at the Seventh Circle."

You turn around, feeling a strange heat at your back, and find that the lobby has suddenly populated with people. Adults, children, someone walking a poodle on a leash, a bellhop with another uncanny face that asks you if you need help with your luggage, in spite of the fact that you have none. There may also be some new arrivals, fresh out of check-in, standing there looking dazed just like you. For a fleeting moment, you think you see someone from your past among the throng of people, someone that couldn't possibly be here. You feel the blood pounding in your ears, but as you search the crowd, you can't find them.

The welcoming ding of an elevator arriving beckons. Best go find your room before things get any stranger.

INVITE ONLY? Yes, with locked communities (21+ player age requirement, 16+ character age requirement).

CHARACTER, CAST, ETC CAP? None planned, may change if needed.

POWERS ENABLED? Yes*, but you are free to nerf some or all.
*there will be no teleporting, walking through walls, portal shenanigans etc.; anything that can break the confines of the game must be nerfed. Immortality also does not apply, although quick-healing, regeneration, and other related abilities can.

NON-HUMAN CHARACTERS? Permitted, big biggies will need to be shrunk to fit through doors, humanization is allowed if you want. Supernatural entities may function as normal, ask on FAQ for specifics.

PERSONAL ITEMS ON ARRIVAL? No weapons (this includes any that can be summoned or that live in hammerspace), other items only what they have on their person. You can find new weapons later.

PETS/CREATURES? SUMMONS? PERSONAS? One creature from home. One summonable entity is allowed, and these must be basic/initial summons with their standard kit (example: Orpheus for Minato).

NETWORK ELEMENTS? Each character's room keycard additionally doubles as a small tablet (like a very simplified ipad). The keycard is registered with the character's unique ID (room number in the format of #0XX(XXXX...), for example #001, #0135, #02589) and their name. If you change rooms, you receive a new ID. Text, voice and video posts are possible via a built-in mic and tiny camera lens. You can ping another user's ID directly or post to an app simply titled "Share".

The only other function on the keycard is the ability to order room service or contact the front desk. There is no internet and no other apps.

TECHNOLOGY? Only keycards and native technology (lights, landline phones, appliances, pagers, walkie talkies... etc) will function inside the hotel. Tech from characters' worlds can turn on, but will have no signal or produce any result when used.

CAN CHARACTERS DIE? Yes, but not permanently. (There will be penalties)

CAN YOU APP A DEAD/DYING CHARACTER? Dead: yep. Dying: yes, but the staff doesn't give a shit and will still make them check in.

ACTIVITY CHECK? Check in, two links to threads of any length (no comment counting), and summary of events for that month. Example will be provided for clarity.

WHAT CANNOT BE APPED? Real-life individuals, CRAUs, fandom OCs, doubles/alternates of characters already in-game (some special exceptions exist - please ask first), more than one malleable protagonist per canon.

MODS? Me beetch.

- Name, contact info
- character name, canon, age
- room # request (can opt for random)
- history (please link a wiki or write a brief summary)
- personality (use bullet points and go over the fine points, be brief)
- powers (even if nerfing, please list)
^^^keep it simple, I don't want to read all that shit
- inventory (remember, no weapons, pets/creatures go here)
- samples: one thread link from the last 2 years, one written response to prompts (will be provided on the app page)