FAQ

This page may also be found on the moderator journal under FAQ.

What happens when I arrive?
Bete Noire is the end of a journey. Some arrivals have sought this place all their lives; some drift here by accident, because of their own pain, because of the darkness in their own soul.

Whatever route you take internally, Bete Noire appears to you the same way: you're traveling, a journey along a road that gets emptier and emptier as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky. And then, at the instant of sunset, you find the city.

How do the journals work?
Communication in Bete Noire is through a shared network of half-magic, half-technology. You find, on arrival, that you have something appropriate to your own world with you, whether it be a PDA, a written diary, or a handheld radio. These now access the Noire network, and nothing else.

The network is accessible by every person who lives in the city, which means thousands or even millions of people, though the vast majority of them don't use it. Think of it as a Craigslist type place, used for advertisements, notes, and untraceable contact.

Hacking the network would require great sophistication, as well as either magical or computer aptitude. This is possible, but we'd like it if you run it by the player whose post you're hacking first.

How do my character's powers work?
Each apped character keeps, for the most part, the powers they originally had. Bete Noire is the city that creates the world, and each world is a part of it. However, repeated use of powers, or meddling where you don't belong, will earn the city's revenge -- there's only one set of rulers in Bete Noire.

What if my character uses magic, not superpowers?
Your character, again, keeps that magical ability. But the magical power in this city is unclean, sullied. The more you use corrupted magic, the more that taint of corruption is passed onto you, yourself.

What happens if a character dies?
Due to the events of the first plot arc, ending in July, the death rules have been revised. Now, as the power center of the City of Death has been destroyed, there cannot be any death. No matter how many wounds a person sustains, their heart will not stop beating. Even if the heart is torn from their chest, it won't stop beating. Life will not flee from their body.

Eventually, those wounds will heal, and the person will return to full health.

What about ordinary injuries?
Injuries will heal at a pace that's normal for your character.

What happens if I want to app a character that someone else has dropped? Do they keep their memories?
This is player choice, and can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. If you want your character to remember their previous experiences in Bete Noire, they can; if you want to start the character afresh, that's allowable too.

What if I want to play a non-human fandom/original character?
You have a couple of options, as far as non-humans go.

In the first option, non-human characters are transformed into human form as they enter Bete Noire. Supernatural creatures that are human-form (vampires, angels, etc.) stay vampiric or angelic; vampires are still driven by their desire for blood. Anthropomorphic creatures are made human.

In the second option, your character could retain their original form. We understand that Bete Noire is a plot-heavy and character-heavy game, as well as being smut-friendly, and we understand that many people app wanting to pursue other in-character concerns besides sex. As such, we will consider pitches for a character to retain their original form, though we will keep an eye on relative power and overpowered characters. For example, it's unlikely that we would approve original-form Transformers, simply because their physical prowess would be significant enough to disrupt gamely, though we will not dismiss any pitch out of hand.

Shapeshifting is allowed, but bestiality is not.

What if my character is underage?
Again, you have two options.

First, you may age your character to be biologically and physically 18.

Second, if you feel it is important for your character to be in their original form, and you do not intend to play with them in smut, you may make a pitch for them to keep their underage form.

We will not accept characters under the age of 14, and we reserve the right to deny applications for under-18 characters based on age and maturity level alone.

But wait, Bete Noire is a city with people in it, right? What are they like?
The inhabitants of Bete Noire are not unlike you. There are some who've been there for a long time, who understand the rhythm and pace of the city. But mostly, the population of Bete Noire is victims, those who've been drawn here the same way you have.

Can my character have sex with/murder/abuse/be employed by/employ the inhabitants of the city?
Yes, they can. However, narratives, and interactions with solely NPCs, do not count towards activity check requirements. You must have a log with PCs or post on the network.

Can I pitch an inhabitant of the city?
Yes, you can, but there are a couple extra rules for this.

An inhabitant of the city is, for all intents and purposes, a Fallen Angel OC, which is most definitely allowed. However, as this kind of person would know a great deal about Bete Noire and would have to be a part of its own peculiar structure, we will be reviewing them with a little bit of a harsher standard -- it won't just be an app, it will be a pitch.

Likewise, we will not be accepting pitches for inhabitants of Bete Noire as a first character. You must have a character in the RP already.

Can my character have been in Bete Noire/have lived in Bete Noire for a while now?
Yes. If you pitch this, your character has had all of their canon backstory, but arrives in Bete Noire a matter of months or even years before you enter the RP. Bete Noire is a big city; it's easy for people to have gone unnoticed for a long time.

However: As with pitches involving inhabitants of Bete Noire, we'll be judging these apps carefully and closely, and we will not accept this kind of app as a first character.

For more information, contact the moderators.

What language do the inhabitants of the city speak?
All of them.

That is to say, the curse of Babel does not apply to Bete Noire. In effect, there are no different languages within the city's borders. Understanding, linguistically speaking, is universal.

Does my character still have to eat and sleep?
Yes. You can find a job, in Bete Noire, or you can steal, or you can kill; you can find an apartment or a mansion (not much in between, in this city); you can, for a time, stay in the Hotel, but there are prices you have to pay for doing so. The mods will be keeping an eye on this, but, for the most part, it's up to you how your character fares monetarily in Bete Noire.

You said there was money. What's the currency?
Bete Noire takes all kinds of currency from all worlds. Somehow, everyone just seems to be aware of the underground exchange rates.

Can my character leave the city?
Yes, they can!

Bete Noire is connected to a version of Earth. This is the 'base Earth'; all possible universes in the multiverse grow, somehow, from this version of Earth. It's essentially the modern-day world, plus the supernatural; think a variation of the Marvel 'verse, or the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Characters can travel to and from this Earth, during the day only (as Bete Noire's power is stronger at night), with mod approval.

Canon updates, likewise, are allowed. A character may go back to their universe and experience more of their own canon, and then be returned to Bete Noire. While they are in their own universe, Bete Noire is nothing but a distant dream, easily dismissed and forgotten. This also requires mod approval.

What if my character's darker urges aren't just about sex?
Bete Noire is called the City of Sin for a reason. All kinds of crime and debauchery happens here. Run it by the mods if you want to do horrible things to NPCs, and make sure you don't do anything to someone's character without permission. Also make sure that you warn for extreme content.

What if I don't feel comfortable roleplaying sex?
There's no requirement to roleplay sex here! If you'd rather, you can fade-to-black or stay inexplicit with your logs.

So does my character have to have sex at all?
No. But the city drives everyone towards their baser, oftentimes more sexual urges, and if your character abstains, they may find that the city begins to drive them insane.

What kinks are allowed?
The mods will not allow logs involving bestiality or sex with underage characters.

Beyond that, we encourage you to work it out with the players involved. On the player contact page, there will be a section where you have the opportunity to say what kinks you are not comfortable playing out. We ask that you respect each other's wishes, in this case.

Logs involving rape and non-con or dub-con sex are allowed, but there must be a warning on the log.

Is there an out-of-character chatroom?
Yes - you can find us on AIM at betenoirerp.

My character would have knowledge of a fandom character, because they would have seen the movie/tv show/read the book. Can I break the fourth wall?
After careful consideration, the mods have decided that no, characters cannot break the fourth wall. If both you and the other player have a good reason to do so, talk to the mods.

How does combat work?
If you and another player want to get into combat, with each other or NPCs, work it out OOC. If you can't reach an agreement, contact the mods, and we'll use our magical modly powers (ie, a D10).

What if I want to app a character that has, in canon, died?
This is definitely allowed. They cannot have knowledge of canon that happens subsequent to their death (Harry Potter's parents can't be aware of how Harry's doing at Hogwarts, for example), but they can be taken from any moment up to their death, their death itself, or even from after.

Can I make plot?
Yes, please! We love player-driven plot. The metaplot is intended to be background; this RP is about your characters, and it's made so that you can have fun.

As a side note, the moderators are not married to the metaplot. If something it isn't working, we will revise as necessary to make sure that people are having a good time.

Do I need a PB?
A PB, which stands for 'played by', is an actor to use in Livejournal icons to represent your character. No, PBs are not required in this game; however, we do strongly recommend that you have icons that represent the emotions of the character, whether this is images of a cartoon character, a PB, or whatever you like.

How many characters can I play?
For the moment, you can play three. After you pass each successive activity check, you can play one more (one additional character with every month of full activity), topping at six. If you feel that you have an urgent situation that requires more characters, let the mods know; this rule is bendable.

I just apped. How long will you guys take to get to it?
Most likely, we'll process your app within the next few days. If there's a problem, or the mods are busy, it may take longer. If there's been no response for a week, it's okay to poke us over PM or email (betenoire.mods@gmail.com).

An app below mine has been processed, but mine hasn't. WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
Odds are your app is an OC or AU fandom character app, or from a canon that the mods are unfamiliar with. We tend to go for efficiency in app processing, and thus will sometimes process some apps out of order. Rest easy; we'll get to it, most likely within a few hours of the last app.

I'm not sure what to write for the second third-person sample. Are there any options besides smut?
This is a question we get very often. And the answer is yes, there is.

First, we would note that the sample is erotically-focused, not necessarily smut. A lot of players have made the topic of theirs sexual tension, the lead-up to smut, masturbation, and sometimes voyeurism, like watching something they can't have. Likewise, characters that are more violently-inclined sometimes have used torture, fistfights, and other examples of the character's darker inclinations.

As such, if you strongly feel that erotically-focused does not work for your character, focus it on one of their other darker urges instead. What we want to see is how you'd treat your character in a more intense moment, whether sexual, violent, or just plain dark.