Starless Skies: Zodiac Group CYOA (Archived)

System & Rules

If you're here to read the story, you can skip ahead to the chapter that says "Character descriptions".  The rest before that is just story-preparation stuff.  Enjoy the story!

Hey there! So this is going to be a group cyoa (yes, I made that term up), a combination of an apply fic and an rp. The way it works is you make a character, and I write a story, but at the end of each chapter your characters will be given a decision they have to make, and you'll respond in the comments with your character's decision. This will affect the course of the story and change the plot and outcome. After the story ends, this should read like a normal book.

So, here are the rules:

1. Be nice. We all know what this means. Be kind.

2. Hate the character, not the player. Inter-character drama and tension is encouraged, so this one is especially important.

3. Keep it PG-13. Swearing (withing reason) is fine, but nothing beyond that.

4. Be active. This is really important. I can't write the story unless I get people's responses with their character's actions. The way this works is I post a chapter, and you have three days to respond with your character's choice, or I'll just assume that your character is paralyzed with indecision and make something up. If you're going off wattpad for a trip or vacation or something, you can either a) ask someone else to play your character, or b) tell me and we'll invent some reason why your character isn't going to be around for a few chapters. If you want to leave the game, either a) hand your character off to someone else, or b) we'll work together to kill off your character. Password is how many days you have to respond.

5. Be creative. This isn't a rule, more of a guideline. There are always more options than I present, if I say "go left or right" you can say "my character climbs a tree to look around". I'd love to see this story go in unexpected directions.

6. Have fun! Ayyyy!

How the system works:

Step one: I get thirteen character forms, and can start writing. Chapters will be fairly short on average to maximize branching, and so I can get them out more quickly.

Step two: The players read the chapter and answer with their character's decision, using the response form, or ask clarifying questions of me if they need to.

Step three: After I get all the answers, I write the next chapter. Rinse and repeat.

It's likely that at some point, the group will split up. If that happens, ONLY READ THE SECTION WITH YOUR CHARACTER. It will be clearly labeled. This is to simulate your characters having only limited information. Honor system guys!

The plot (dun dun duhh!):

Thirteen high schoolers went to a summer camp and all got put in the same group. On a hike into the woods, some idiot tripped into a pond and vanished. Things got weird from there. Where are they? Where did these strange tattoos come from? Why do they suddenly have supernatural abilities?

Hope you enjoy!