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NEW FAQ
What Is Taxon?
Taxon is a project created by aliens of the far future. The Earth itself, and all humanity, is a distant memory, but our species has left behind a cultural archaelogy which greatly intrigues these aliens. Accordingly, the group of aliens known as 'the hamsters' are reconstructing certain aspects of Earth... as they understand Earth. But when your primary documents are episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The People's Court, you can get a... tweaked view of a culture. Their experiment is ever-evolving, as they gain a greater understanding of the specimens they have 'reconstructed'.
Okay, but seriously, what IS Taxon?
It's a smallprison model city contained within an underground cavern on a moon a long, long way away from the Milky Way. It contains everything growing carbon-based life forms need to function-- oxygen, sunlight... or at least, good facsimiles thereof.
More information on the city's physical layout and amenities can be found here. There is also the City Map. If you want to browse images of Taxonian archicture, check out Taxitecture.
Is Taxon a real, physical thing? Or is it some big shared hallucination?
Ah, that would be telling. Inasmuch as characters are able to tell, everything is tangible and physical.
What keeps characters from leaving Taxon?
The barriers are discussed in the City's writeup, but basically, as characters reach the borders of the city, they pass out.
What do characters do in Taxon?
In one sense: whatever they want. Much of the drama of day-to-day life in Taxon comes from interacting with your fellow prisoners.
Aside from that, comfortable survival is a goal of many of the displaced inhabitants: the city provides a token allowance that keeps characters from starving, but if you want creature comforts to replace those you have lost, you will likely need to get a job within Taxon, or provide a service to your fellow prisoners that they find worthy of paying you for, or steal what you want. For more on jobs, currency, buying things, and the Taxonian economy, click here.
There are two other monkey wrenches to a peaceful, boring life in Taxon: Adventure Zone, and glitches.
Adventure Zone is a district of the city in which Stuff Happens: dangerous and exciting stuff! Adventure Zone becomes a different place each month-- perhaps a hostile desert with a pyramid one month, perhaps a vigilante-infested cityscape with super-villains throwing automobiles the next. Players are encouraged to submit their own canons as nominations for Adventure Zone, as well as make general suggestions. Adventure Zone is something the aliens have created to keep theirpets guests from being too bored.
Glitches, on the other hand, have an effect regardless of whether characters go into Adventure Zone or not. Some glitches are personal and affect only a single character. Other glitches are more wide-ranging and affect the entire city. Many glitches are behavioral, such as characters turning into younger versions of themselves, or bursting into song. Players can request and suggest glitches. Some glitches are intended by the aliens and some... aren't.
For more on Adventure Zone and glitches, read their respective entries.
Finally, characters can investigate Taxon-- they can try and figure out why they're here, and attempt to escape and return to their homes.
Are there limits as to what my character can do in Taxon to affect it?
In short: yes. The aliens have learned through experience that some characters want to do things like blow up the city, which makes the aliens unhappy, because they are fond of their playground and have put a great deal of work into it. For this reason, some things like explosives are extremely controlled substances in Taxon. The aliens also do not particularly enjoy wide-scale, indiscrimate slaughter of the Extras.
If your character wants to engage in property damage or harming the native populace, talk to a moderator, and we'll explain exactly what sort of things the aliens will let characters get away with in the name of plot, and what sort of things they will interfere with.
As far as less destructive methods of research: go wild! Trying to figure out why you are here and/or escape is one of the 'joys' of Taxon. There will be occasional meta-plot hints dropped that characters are free to seize on and explore. Currently the citizens have no particularly organized research bloc going on, but individual citizens can certainly share their findings.
I want to meet people after my arrival post, but I don't want to use the wrong etiquette. HOW DO I DO IT?
We're a very easy-going bunch here; there are multiple ways to do this and none of them are wrong. The most common method is just to start a thread and wait for people to tag it. You can also ask others to start threads, or show up in existing open threads (just check player preferences first, it's one of the permissions questions we ask for), or talk to people OOCly, either by PMs or by posting your ideas in the OOC community. IN SHORT, THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER.
Speaking of arrival, how does that work?
When your character first arrives in Taxon, they will be in an unfamiliar, circular metallic chamber with a very SF feel to it. If they happen to look up, there's a strange futuristic alien-probe-type gadget on the ceiling (well out of touching range).
On their right wrist, they will find a bracelet fused to their skin. It's metal, and looks silver, but is made of a specific alien alloy that won't negatively react to their body no matter what their species is. The bracelet itself is what serves as the metaphorical ankle bracelet; it cannot be removed by characters no matter what.
Linked into the bracelet is the tablet, an integral part of life in Taxon. Your tablet is your communications device and personal computer. It can be popped out from the bracelet and used independently. For more on the tablet, check out the full tablet guide.
When you arrive, your tablet is broadcasting your arrival to everyone else in Taxon. Generally characters should not be aware they are broadcasting at first.
If your programmed possession in Taxon is small enough to be in the room with you/physically carried, it will be in the room with you.
The walls of the room are featureless except an open doorway that leads out into the ground floor of the Sanctuary. Once you pass through this doorway, it closes and disappears, leaving characters with no way to get back to the arrival room.
The ground floor of the Sanctuary is something of a museum of past Taxon adventures; it contains everything from mounted dinosaur skeletons to a display of 'live' zombies (securely behind safety glass, but prone to throwing themselves against it when your characters walk by). Newbie characters therefore get a crash course in the weirdness of Taxon upon their arrival.
Additionally, when/if they get around to poking on their tablet, they will find a blinking file that links to the Newbie Guide.
What sort of characters are allowed in Taxon?
All of them. Fandom, OC, film, TV, comics, video games, mythology, etc. There is no age limit on Taxon characters, although we reserve the right to reject child characters on grounds of Taxon-is-not-a-babysitting-agency. Players in Taxon should be over 18, or, at least, mature enough that we don't feel the need to ask you your age.
How many characters can I have in Taxon?
Player cap is six, although the more characters you have in Taxon, the closer the mods will be watching to make sure you are actually playing with all of them. Additionally, you may have no more than two characters from the same canon, and additionally-additionally, you must wait two weeks between applications.
How about fourth-wall puncturing in Taxon?
Don't do it. If a character makes a pop-culture reference regarding another fandom that is currently represented in Taxon, this is a no-go and the moderators will ask you to change it if we are aware of it. So no making jokes about, say, the Avengers movie as long as there are any Marvel characters currently in the game.
If your character is the sort who makes lots of pop culture references, there is a thing called fake fandoms to help you out. Basically, common media franchises have in-world equivalents that your character would use instead of the real one.
If you are making a pop culture reference for a fandom that is NOT currently represented in Taxon, we're not too strict on that one. If you can remember to use the Fake Fandoms, great. If not, that's okay, but our main concern is that no characters currently within Taxon are having their canons punctured.
My character doesn't speak English. What should I do about this?
You have two choices: you can have them speaking their native tongue but it will sound like 'English' to everyone else, and everyone else speaking English will sound like their native tongue to them.... or you can go the more RP-heavy but harder route of making them learn English/making others learn their language in-game. As far as Earth languages go, at least one current Taxon character speaks about all of them, so there are translation possibilities available.
My character is a vampire or a werewolf. How does the environment affect them?
Sunlight in Taxon affects your vampire character however sunlight normally affects them in their canon. The full moon affects your werewolf character however the full moon affects them in their canon. So forth and so forth.
Taxon has regular weather. You can always find out what the weather is in Taxon by checking the widget on the main profile page.
You've mentioned Extras a few times. What's the deal there?
The Extras are the back-drop citizens to Taxon. They are filler; like 'extras' in a film. They go about their lives, man the stores, take the tram, and react to the prisoner-citizens.
They do not all look human, being drawn themselves from a broad variety of media. You might find Avatar-esque aliens, or Tolkien-esque elves. They are also diverse in race and apparent time-period of origin.
While they have limited scripts, they basically respond to your characters with socially-consistent reactions: if you threaten or hurt them, they will scream/resist/fight back/run away. If you are polite to them, they are polite and friendly to you.
If your character interacts for an extended period of time with an Extra, that Extra will start to develop more of a personality... to an extent. They will never have the full depth of a true 'person', but they may adopt certain traits as influenced by your character. In this way, 'Named NPCs' are created. A guide to current Named NPCs can be found here. You are free to add your own, with a brief description of the NPC. That NPC is then available for use/interaction by other players.
What happens if my character dies in Taxon?
They will reappear in the arrival room with in a week. They also lose their programmed possession, or something else of value to them in the city. If you want your character to get bumped off, talk to a mod.
There are occasional exceptions to this; in Adventure Zone, for instance, your character can die with no 'ill effects' beyond the pain and horror of dying. Characters who have the ability to come back from the dead as a part of their canonical powers are also exempt from the penalties of in-game death.
I have a question that hasn't been answered here. What do?
Ask it in the comments, or PM a moderator!
Taxon is a project created by aliens of the far future. The Earth itself, and all humanity, is a distant memory, but our species has left behind a cultural archaelogy which greatly intrigues these aliens. Accordingly, the group of aliens known as 'the hamsters' are reconstructing certain aspects of Earth... as they understand Earth. But when your primary documents are episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The People's Court, you can get a... tweaked view of a culture. Their experiment is ever-evolving, as they gain a greater understanding of the specimens they have 'reconstructed'.
Okay, but seriously, what IS Taxon?
It's a small
More information on the city's physical layout and amenities can be found here. There is also the City Map. If you want to browse images of Taxonian archicture, check out Taxitecture.
Is Taxon a real, physical thing? Or is it some big shared hallucination?
Ah, that would be telling. Inasmuch as characters are able to tell, everything is tangible and physical.
What keeps characters from leaving Taxon?
The barriers are discussed in the City's writeup, but basically, as characters reach the borders of the city, they pass out.
What do characters do in Taxon?
In one sense: whatever they want. Much of the drama of day-to-day life in Taxon comes from interacting with your fellow prisoners.
Aside from that, comfortable survival is a goal of many of the displaced inhabitants: the city provides a token allowance that keeps characters from starving, but if you want creature comforts to replace those you have lost, you will likely need to get a job within Taxon, or provide a service to your fellow prisoners that they find worthy of paying you for, or steal what you want. For more on jobs, currency, buying things, and the Taxonian economy, click here.
There are two other monkey wrenches to a peaceful, boring life in Taxon: Adventure Zone, and glitches.
Adventure Zone is a district of the city in which Stuff Happens: dangerous and exciting stuff! Adventure Zone becomes a different place each month-- perhaps a hostile desert with a pyramid one month, perhaps a vigilante-infested cityscape with super-villains throwing automobiles the next. Players are encouraged to submit their own canons as nominations for Adventure Zone, as well as make general suggestions. Adventure Zone is something the aliens have created to keep their
Glitches, on the other hand, have an effect regardless of whether characters go into Adventure Zone or not. Some glitches are personal and affect only a single character. Other glitches are more wide-ranging and affect the entire city. Many glitches are behavioral, such as characters turning into younger versions of themselves, or bursting into song. Players can request and suggest glitches. Some glitches are intended by the aliens and some... aren't.
For more on Adventure Zone and glitches, read their respective entries.
Finally, characters can investigate Taxon-- they can try and figure out why they're here, and attempt to escape and return to their homes.
Are there limits as to what my character can do in Taxon to affect it?
In short: yes. The aliens have learned through experience that some characters want to do things like blow up the city, which makes the aliens unhappy, because they are fond of their playground and have put a great deal of work into it. For this reason, some things like explosives are extremely controlled substances in Taxon. The aliens also do not particularly enjoy wide-scale, indiscrimate slaughter of the Extras.
If your character wants to engage in property damage or harming the native populace, talk to a moderator, and we'll explain exactly what sort of things the aliens will let characters get away with in the name of plot, and what sort of things they will interfere with.
As far as less destructive methods of research: go wild! Trying to figure out why you are here and/or escape is one of the 'joys' of Taxon. There will be occasional meta-plot hints dropped that characters are free to seize on and explore. Currently the citizens have no particularly organized research bloc going on, but individual citizens can certainly share their findings.
I want to meet people after my arrival post, but I don't want to use the wrong etiquette. HOW DO I DO IT?
We're a very easy-going bunch here; there are multiple ways to do this and none of them are wrong. The most common method is just to start a thread and wait for people to tag it. You can also ask others to start threads, or show up in existing open threads (just check player preferences first, it's one of the permissions questions we ask for), or talk to people OOCly, either by PMs or by posting your ideas in the OOC community. IN SHORT, THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER.
Speaking of arrival, how does that work?
When your character first arrives in Taxon, they will be in an unfamiliar, circular metallic chamber with a very SF feel to it. If they happen to look up, there's a strange futuristic alien-probe-type gadget on the ceiling (well out of touching range).
On their right wrist, they will find a bracelet fused to their skin. It's metal, and looks silver, but is made of a specific alien alloy that won't negatively react to their body no matter what their species is. The bracelet itself is what serves as the metaphorical ankle bracelet; it cannot be removed by characters no matter what.
Linked into the bracelet is the tablet, an integral part of life in Taxon. Your tablet is your communications device and personal computer. It can be popped out from the bracelet and used independently. For more on the tablet, check out the full tablet guide.
When you arrive, your tablet is broadcasting your arrival to everyone else in Taxon. Generally characters should not be aware they are broadcasting at first.
If your programmed possession in Taxon is small enough to be in the room with you/physically carried, it will be in the room with you.
The walls of the room are featureless except an open doorway that leads out into the ground floor of the Sanctuary. Once you pass through this doorway, it closes and disappears, leaving characters with no way to get back to the arrival room.
The ground floor of the Sanctuary is something of a museum of past Taxon adventures; it contains everything from mounted dinosaur skeletons to a display of 'live' zombies (securely behind safety glass, but prone to throwing themselves against it when your characters walk by). Newbie characters therefore get a crash course in the weirdness of Taxon upon their arrival.
Additionally, when/if they get around to poking on their tablet, they will find a blinking file that links to the Newbie Guide.
What sort of characters are allowed in Taxon?
All of them. Fandom, OC, film, TV, comics, video games, mythology, etc. There is no age limit on Taxon characters, although we reserve the right to reject child characters on grounds of Taxon-is-not-a-babysitting-agency. Players in Taxon should be over 18, or, at least, mature enough that we don't feel the need to ask you your age.
How many characters can I have in Taxon?
Player cap is six, although the more characters you have in Taxon, the closer the mods will be watching to make sure you are actually playing with all of them. Additionally, you may have no more than two characters from the same canon, and additionally-additionally, you must wait two weeks between applications.
How about fourth-wall puncturing in Taxon?
Don't do it. If a character makes a pop-culture reference regarding another fandom that is currently represented in Taxon, this is a no-go and the moderators will ask you to change it if we are aware of it. So no making jokes about, say, the Avengers movie as long as there are any Marvel characters currently in the game.
If your character is the sort who makes lots of pop culture references, there is a thing called fake fandoms to help you out. Basically, common media franchises have in-world equivalents that your character would use instead of the real one.
If you are making a pop culture reference for a fandom that is NOT currently represented in Taxon, we're not too strict on that one. If you can remember to use the Fake Fandoms, great. If not, that's okay, but our main concern is that no characters currently within Taxon are having their canons punctured.
My character doesn't speak English. What should I do about this?
You have two choices: you can have them speaking their native tongue but it will sound like 'English' to everyone else, and everyone else speaking English will sound like their native tongue to them.... or you can go the more RP-heavy but harder route of making them learn English/making others learn their language in-game. As far as Earth languages go, at least one current Taxon character speaks about all of them, so there are translation possibilities available.
My character is a vampire or a werewolf. How does the environment affect them?
Sunlight in Taxon affects your vampire character however sunlight normally affects them in their canon. The full moon affects your werewolf character however the full moon affects them in their canon. So forth and so forth.
Taxon has regular weather. You can always find out what the weather is in Taxon by checking the widget on the main profile page.
You've mentioned Extras a few times. What's the deal there?
The Extras are the back-drop citizens to Taxon. They are filler; like 'extras' in a film. They go about their lives, man the stores, take the tram, and react to the prisoner-citizens.
They do not all look human, being drawn themselves from a broad variety of media. You might find Avatar-esque aliens, or Tolkien-esque elves. They are also diverse in race and apparent time-period of origin.
While they have limited scripts, they basically respond to your characters with socially-consistent reactions: if you threaten or hurt them, they will scream/resist/fight back/run away. If you are polite to them, they are polite and friendly to you.
If your character interacts for an extended period of time with an Extra, that Extra will start to develop more of a personality... to an extent. They will never have the full depth of a true 'person', but they may adopt certain traits as influenced by your character. In this way, 'Named NPCs' are created. A guide to current Named NPCs can be found here. You are free to add your own, with a brief description of the NPC. That NPC is then available for use/interaction by other players.
What happens if my character dies in Taxon?
They will reappear in the arrival room with in a week. They also lose their programmed possession, or something else of value to them in the city. If you want your character to get bumped off, talk to a mod.
There are occasional exceptions to this; in Adventure Zone, for instance, your character can die with no 'ill effects' beyond the pain and horror of dying. Characters who have the ability to come back from the dead as a part of their canonical powers are also exempt from the penalties of in-game death.
I have a question that hasn't been answered here. What do?
Ask it in the comments, or PM a moderator!