Integration
Integration is a term used to refer to the (!) integration of source materials into Multiverse Crisis MUSH's setting. We refer to individual setting as themelists, a list of which can be viewed using the -> +themelist <- command on-MUSH. The most basic requirement for the integration of a new themelist into Multiverse Crisis MUSH is a character application for a character from that source material, and an accompanying easily digestible explanation of what sort of source material it is.
The central requirement of new integrations is, very simply, a minimum bar of compliance with actual incorporation into MCM as a MUSH. There are MUSHes where players are allowed to wall themselves off and sandbox without ever exposing themselves to any outside elements, and it is both a point of policy and our setting design that such sandbox-fiefdoms not be an element of MCM.
Unification
When a theme is integrated, it is brought into the Multiverse in a process called Unification. Unification transplants, at bare minimum, all of the theme's locations of significance, whether that be a single city or an entire solar system, though it is more frequent that the entire theme comes with it. A Unified world is usually stitched into the surface of the Multiverse's superplanet, but may also exist in orbit, or somewhere in space surrounding it as necessary. In any and all cases, the theme is now permanently part of the Multiverse, and its timeline and dimensions have fully merged with that of the Multiverse. In other words, there is nothing to theoretically "go back to". The mechanism behind Unification isn't fully understood, and the Multiverse is what does the Unifying, not the theme in question, though it is not uncommon for Unification to coincide with particularly auspicious events in the theme.
Once a world is Unified, it exists within a discrete physical location on or around the superplanet, accessible by normal travel and by warpgate. Alternate planes and dimensions attached to inherently Multiversal themes come with it, and are likewise accessible, though they may end up scattered around the Multiverse rather than all in one place. In most cases, characters Unify with their theme, but where necessary, a character might enter into the Multiverse at some other, random point, possibly without knowledge of where their world actually is. All characters with an integrated theme have their world somewhere present in the Multiverse, though they need not define where, or even pay any attention to it if they have no desire to return to it.
Warpgates
All worlds are automatically connected to a central feature of our setting, the WARPGATE NETWORK. Whether a source material's setting is stitched into the Multiversal superplanet or materializes in space around the same, warpgates begin to open within the newly Unified world in relatively short order. Warpgates are what they sound like: points where it is possible to near-instantly travel between other warpgate locations. Any given theme will end up with at least as many warpgates as there are public points of interest, roughly as common as major airports, though since the primary purpose of warpgates is to allow players to get to scenes, they can show up wherever is convenient for RP.
The first warpgates of a new source material, which appear before anyone has explored the newly-unified world and before anybody from the newly-unified world has explored the outside, tend to be discreet and out-of-the-way. They are the sort of thing that might become a focal point of an X-Files episode, or a series like Stargate. They might be found in obscure caves, the catacombs of a particularly old European city, etc. They appear in obscure corners of prominent and public areas, being generally accessible, but not easy to stumble upon. More obvious and public warpgates follow after.
A world's warpgate network begins to expand across the world (and into the public eye) as its inhabitants explore the Multiverse, or as Multiversal forces begin to explore that world. The less trafficked an area is, the longer it takes for a warpgate to appear there-- particularly obscure or-difficult-to-reach locations like Dungeons and Dragon's Planes definitely take the longest time to become properly connected, and might even remain borderline warpgate-free.
These natural warpgates are impossible to destroy or meaningfully alter as a base assumption. Someone might intentionally blockade a warpgate, but the rule is that it is impossible to completely cut off a location from the warpgate network. Artificially constructed warpgates are both commonly built and more selective --they can be switched on and off or restricted to only allow specific people. Even with natural warpgates, not every warpgate connects to every other warpgate in the Multiverse, and it may be necessary to discover a succession of warpgates in sequence to arrive at especially out of the way places.
Language Barriers
In a setting as diverse as the Multiverse, language barriers would be a significant problem under ordinary circumstances. For reasons that are unknown to the Multiverse at large, shortly after Unification, everybody can understand everyone else whether they speak a language they have in common or not. The language being spoke doesn't change, and listeners can recognize which language is being spoken, but understand it with complete fluency.
This extends to extremely common written languages, but the written word translates much less consistently than the spoken word does. This is one of the few phenomena that "tweaked" the way existence works overall, at least for the Multiverse. Universal translation does not extend to secret languages, code languages, or languages of dead civilizations. If it is narratively important for a language not to translate, then it might not, and no one is quite certain why. For the sake of practicality, characters should always know at least one language that translates so they can communicate with other PCs on the MUSH.
Lastly, a word on the use of communication and language on the MUSH: Whatever speech quirk your character has, it should be readable in English to the people looking at it. If you use other languages at all, limit it to attack names, catch phrases, and the like. Throwing in random words or complete sentences of other languages, or sprinkling in honorifics like -san and -chan, are only counterproductive to player comprehension on an English-speaking MUSH. If your speech quirks are difficult to read, you should limit the MUSH's exposure to that as well. SO TYPING IN CAPS FOR A LOUD CHARACTER MIGHT BE OKAY and a limited amount of th1s m1ght b3 ok4y, 8U7 7H15 5H17 R34LLY W0N'7 FLY. This includes extremely heavy transliterated accents. Staff discretion will be applied on when to tell people to dial speech quirks back or stop them.
Spiritual Policy
The existence of souls and disposition of the afterlife are areas where, in the interest of our desired tone, avoidance of primacy conflicts, and broad mechanical compatibility, we have rules that retroactively override the rules of other source materials.
All sapient life has a soul. Souls are effectively indestructible, and are guaranteed a life-after-death that can only be permanently taken away by willful action on the part of the individual. That is, you can sell your own soul or maim it so horribly that you're a spiritual quadriplegic, but somebody else can't do that to you. What happens after someone dies adheres to their source material wherever possible, unless it otherwise contradicts the rules here. The usual trappings of souls refusing to pass on and becoming ghosts, an evil lich imprisoning a soul in an artifact, etc. typically remain unchanged, however destruction of souls or similar cessation of existence isn't a thing. A soul might be altered or damaged beyond recognition, possibly even leading someone to believe it might not exist anymore, but a soul cannot be affected to the point it ceases to pass into an applicable afterlife.
When it comes to deities and similar beings, their authority and greater power ends at the borders of their own worlds. Deities may have powers related to their divine portfolio that function wherever they go, as a PC and their Advantages, but any sort of divine authority over aspects of their world remains limited to aspects of their world. To the extent that it matters, some form of ambiguous meta-deity (referred to by a variety of names, usually Prime Divinity) is known to have spiritual authority over the greater Multiverse (and perhaps beyond), but is either unable or unwilling to directly act upon things that transpire there. It is probable that it handles souls belonging to themes that were assumed to have no afterlife.
Rating & Tone
Multiverse Crisis MUSH is rated American R. Further details on our content policy can be seen in the Policy file and tone-based restrictions or bans can be seen in Banned. Our broader tone is meant to be comparable to that of mainstream comic books.
