FAQ

What is this blog about?

This blog is used by the people building and creating The Veiled Kingdoms MUSH to share progress and solicit comments from anyone curious about the game.

What is The Veiled Kingdoms MUSH?

The Veiled Kingdoms MUSH is a text-based role-playing game inspired by Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. Rather than being set in the present day (as the series is) The Veiled Kingdoms is set in Victorian era London around 1888.

What’s a MUSH?

A text based environment for online socializing and collaboration. In our case, it will be used for collaborative story telling in the setting described above. For a more detailed explanation, see the Wikipedia entry for MUSH.

Can you describe the setting of the novels?

Sure! The novels are contemporary horror/mystery novels in which various supernatural being are real: vampires, shapeshifters, psychics, mages, and other creatures of myth. The existence of these beings is public knowledge and one of the major themes addressed in them is the issue of these beings’ rights. Preternatural societies tend to be hierarchical and full of politics and violence. For more information see the many articles about the universe of the novels at the Wikipedia.

How is the setting of The Veiled Kingdoms different?

First, tVK is set in Victorian era London. Second, the existence of preternaturals is not general knowledge. We feel that these differences will help us to drive RP in ways which would not be possible in a more traditional Anitaverse setting.

If you are breaking away from the typical Anita-verse MU*, why not create a completely original theme with dark settings?

Anitaverse provides a fairly well defined culture with a built-in fan base. That, and, despite the inconsistencies, we rather like Anitaverse. We played at one Anitaverse MU*, and we enjoyed the theme. However, we saw a great deal of room for improvements, so we set out to provide a different and hopefully better Anitaverse experience.

How is the system of The Veiled Kingdoms different?

Our system is cooperative rather than competitive and stresses story over everything else. To help build story, our system uses descriptors, lores, and assets tied to role-play hooks. Our system strongly stresses narrative consequences and structured negotiation. This means that we do not have timestops or miles of red-tape. Our players create the story, and our system exists to help them do that. We even offer players the opportunity to create new gifts (abilities, powers, skills) to custom-fit their characters. The heart of our system comes to this: Yes, you really are awesome!