Style and Tone

What do you do in the face of the unknown?

What do you cling on to when your very understanding of the universe is breaking down?

What are you willing to sacrifice when all the odds are stacked against you?

APERIS is set in a highly isolated environment, on a small station in the Antarctic wilderness. Inside is an enclosed, claustrophobic space filled with factional infighting. Outside is an echoing expanse of hundreds of miles of ice, snow, and ocean. Under the cold light of a quickening moon, dark tides swell. Ice glistens. The unknown beckons.

This is a game about the lines we draw, how we categorise and understand the world. How sharp is the divide between science and mysticism? Who decides what counts as success, and what as failure? And are we right to distinguish ourselves from the other, be it human, animal, object… or something else?

This is also a game about exploring unfamiliar landscapes and investigating the inexplicable. There are endless icy wastes beyond the doors of APERIS—walk too far, and you could easily step onto a patch of snow that no human has ever visited before. What might you find, out in the cold? Will you approach it with caution, or with reckless enthusiasm? Will you accept it for what it is—or try to probe deeper?

Players are additionally advised to bear these things in mind when signing up to play:

• APERIS is heavily inspired by the cosmic horror genre.
  • The game's horror will not primarily be based on extreme violence or gore (although Players may be exposed to these themes depending on the preference expressed via their Playstyle Quirks); rather, the game's horror will primarily be based on exploring experiences of overwhelming dread, feelings of powerlessness, and the limits of the human psyche.
• We expect PvP in APERIS. Players will be members of different factions with different goals, and conflict between these factions is expected to be a key theme of the game. Players should expect to be in conflict with another Player at some point in this game. This conflict will typically be pragmatic and faction driven, with more personal conflict covered by Ballgowning. Physical PvP is primarily expected to occur in Downtimes, although it is possible for physical PvP to occur in Uptimes. This will, however, be exceptional, and will only happen after planning with GMs and the other Player(s) involved. Physical PvP in emails should only occur with the OC consent of all GMs and Players involved.
• Players will not be prevented from playing APERIS via Player Character death, however Player Character death may occur upon request of the Player or if the Player leaves the game.
• APERIS may end in a way that the playerbase perceives as failure.

Inspirations for various aspects of APERIS include:

• The works of H.P. Lovecraft
• Delta Green
• SCP Foundation
• John Carpenter's The Thing
• Richard E. Byrd's Operation Highjump
• FOIP…