What is American Gothic?

American Gothic is meant to be two things; a community that that exists in reality, and a world that lays beyond the untamed wilds of imagination.

American Gothic is a Storyline for a role play chat room. It is a community where friends can come together from all across the world to share in the joys of a common love for storytelling. designed to cater to everyone, there is no need for dice or a need to learn and be restricted by elaborate rules in American Gothic. There is no need for books, game masters or character sheets. all that you need to bring in order to join us is a sense of fair play and your imagination.

Beyond the confines of reality however the true heart of american gothic takes shape. set on the streets of modern day New York, American Gothic is the result of deams and nightmares that have been given a magical breath of life. It is a story of the mundane world that we all know, as it clashes with the world of the supernatural. in an average day, demons seek to steal the mortal soul, vampires hunt and hunger for blood, immortals wield swords and men bend the laws of reality with there minds, and of course a cab driver has no qualms about flipping you off for trying to cut him off. American Gothic is a place of shadows and it is a world of secrets all comming together into one vast and living story.

So screw your courage to the sticking place. lend your eye a terrible aspect as you, and take to the streets of New York, American Gothic style. I dare you.

Most of the world will tell you that boogie men, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night, do not exist. the rest of the world hopes that you believe it.

The truth is much more disturbing. american gothic is the story of those who use those very lie's and hide behind them for survival. it is the tale of all those things that live under your bed, lost in the shadows and inside your worst dreams. they are who you are looking for when you look over your shoulder and find nothing. they are on the line when your phone rings and noone is on the other end. they are there, around you, weither you admit it or not.

so give me the 4w's...

• who: to date we have seen everything from vampires, immortals and ghosts, to a street artist, an escaped mental patient, and a cab driver. american gothic accepts supernatual and mundane personalities alike. the sky is the limit and we love diversity. "cannon characters", or personalities from copywritten material are not allowed.
• what: there is no set game system for this room. american gothic is free form, though game system characters are allowed. the only system rule is that you remember to respect all other players and their stories.
• when: NOW! this is a modern set room, with all the comforts and history of our time.
• where: the streets of new york city, and its surrounding areas. the story is not limited to new york, but it is focused around it.
  there are two other special rules that are generaly accepted: the silence. and the laws of cause and effect.

the silence: american gothic is a world of "us" verses "them" the supernatural verses the mundane. it is a world of shadows and whispers, and even whispers are concidered dangerous. in order to maintain the balance of secrecy there exists the law of the Silence. an unspoken, and unwritten trust that the preternatural protect their own by keeping themselves from mundane attention.

For thousands of years this code has been held to safely. lapses have begun to occure though. too much has been slipping into the public eye, the result has become the law of cause and effect.

cause and effect: examin the weight of your actions, for they will have consequences. there are forces that will act against the lawbreaker, the neglagent, and the foolish. keep the Silence well or be prepared to pay the price for your action.