peckishmods | FAQ & RULES (Reply)

RULES

✩ Roleplaying etiquette

Our goal first and foremost is always to have fun and create some joy. Peckenpaugh aims to be welcoming to new and inexperienced players, especially those that may join up without having friends already in the game. For this reason, we ask that you try to make your characters available for public interaction — make public posts, write open threads and hit people's opens! Many players are fine with having their open threads hit multiple times and will often indicate such with (Open+), Open to Multiple or similar headers. If you are unsure, hit up their Dropbox and ask! Please also be sure to ask before joining in on a group thread (a narrative thread with 3 or more participants) that does not explicitly include your character.

Be conscious of the divide between IC and OOC information. Do not abuse OOC knowledge about a character or plot point. Communicate with other players — if you'd like to do or be included in a particular plot, talk it out! If you are having trouble with another player, we encourage you to speak with them, directly. Misunderstandings often happen in a text medium. If you feel you need a mod to help mediate, please contact us.

Submit all IC/OOCs, logs, letters and in character journal entries to the main community, peckenpaugh. All OOC posts (memes, ooc announcements) should be posted to the ooc comm, peckish_ooc. This is also where all mod announcements, sign-ups and the monthly plot calendar will go. Please remember to tag your posts as appropriate. You are encouraged to also tag any entries where you’ve made qualifying activity to better keep track for monthly checks.

When posting logs, please use something similar to this format:

Peckenpaugh is generally rated PG-13. When it comes to R-rated content, you must post warnings and keep it under a cut. Sex scenes should be fade-to-black; you can write whatever you want in private, but it should not go in the main comms.

The Rule of Cool
In general, what we're most concerned with as mods is telling a good story that everyone can enjoy. We're always going to encourage plots and character beats that players can respond to in a positive way. What this means is, if an event or behavior breaks the rules in world but is harmless and cool, even if characters involved are potentially caught or turned in, we as mods will generally work to ensure characters do not face severe in character consequences. We don't ever want to discourage exploration of the setting or content creation. So, the rule of cool is: if it's neat and fun for a lot of players, even if students are violating some rule, we'll do what we can to mitigate IC consequences.

That said, if the in-world rule breaking is excessive (extremely dangerous activities, extremely illegal activities, bullying or otherwise extremely inappropriate behavior) the IC consequences will generally fit the crime.

✩ Character limits

Each player may have two characters to start without caveats. For the first month of play, only Junior and Senior names are available. Sophomores may start in October. We plan on extending character limits further as the game progresses. Do not feel obligated to max your characters each time the limited is lifted. Play what you are comfortable with and will most enjoy.

Anticipated calendar for character limits (all dates potentially subject to change):

October 2019: 3rd characters, sophomores become available
Early 2020: 4th Characters. Will consider updating limits on athletes & student involvement positions.
Spring 2020 - Super Senior Sale. Players may take an additional senior even if they already have 2. Can take a 5th character if that name is on the senior cast list.

In order to apply for additional characters after your first two, you must have successfully made activity for the previous month and/or have been in the game for 30 days.

For Fourth or Super Senior character clearance you must provide 3 pieces of activity per current character during AC and seek approval under the Seek Approval section of AC. Once you have received approval, you are free to apply.

If you receive an activity strike, fail to check in to AC in a timely manner, or drop a character in a given month, you will lose any holds and approvals for additional characters. You will need to make AC the following month to re-establish holds. You cannot place a hold while on hiatus. If you are otherwise active but a character just isn't working out for you and you'd like to drop them to pick up something else, please dropbox us to discuss.

You can't play:

Your own roommate.
Your own sibling.
Characters on the same athletic team.

You can play a maximum of:

One (1) character in the same house/year combo.
One (1) character per limited slot club or class.
Two (2) non-halfblooded characters (i.e. pureblood & muggleborn)
Two (2) characters in the same year.
Two (2) characters in the same House.
Two (2) Quodpot players. (1 Varsity, 1 Jr Varsity)
Two (2) Quidditch players. (1 first string, 1 reserve)
Two (2) cheerleaders. (1 max on school squad)
Two (2) characters with part-time jobs. (At different locations.)
Two (2) band members. (In one or both seasonal bands.)
One (1) Club President.
One (1) Teaching Assistant.
One (1) athletic Captain.

✩ Activity requirements

Each month in the last three days of the month we will run an Activity Check. Players must check in and provide two pieces of activity per month. Activity can take the form of:

PRIMARY ACTIVITY: (You must have one of these)

A first-person journal post.
A public IC/OOC. (Up to two players may claim activity for the same IC/OOC if it was a collaborative project.)
A third-person log, narrative prose scene or combination of two narrative scenes that have a total of 6 replies from your character.

SECONDARY ACTIVITY: (You may only utilize one of these per month)

A single comment thread with a minimum of 6 comments by your character.
An entry with ten (10) comments from your character across the post.
A narrative prose scene in an IC/OOC with a minimum of 3 replies from your character.
Two owl/gift/misc posts.

Activity Check runs for the last three days of the month, every month. A reminder post will always go up roughly a week before Activity Check. If you do not think you will be able to at least check in during those three days and are not on a hiatus, you can Dropbox us anytime to let us know and provide activity that way.

Peckenpaugh runs on a three strike system: provided you check in to AC, you can fail up to two times. On the third failure, you will be asked to drop a character. Strikes are against the player, rather than against individual characters. We reserve the right to decline activity that we feel is insufficient.

If you are struggling to make activity, please let us know! Real life should always come first and a roleplaying game should never compound your stress. We'll do our best to accommodate you. Please note: if we notice an end of month activity scramble two or more months in a row, we may reach out to discuss your character load with you.

✩ Hiatuses

Real life should always come first. If you need to take a break from the game or will be unavailable for two or more weeks, please post to the hiatus page letting us know. We encourage you to also make either a post to peckish_ooc or a comment in the ooc chatter post notifying everyone of your absence.

You can take up to two months of hiatus before a mod will contact you to inquire if you want to stay in the game.

✩ Questions?

We want to build something dynamic here with you at Peckenpaugh. If you ever have any questions about the setting, game plot or NPCs, please do not hesitate to contact us through the mod Dropbox or via email. There's a good chance you're touching on something we haven't thought to cover! We'll use your questions to expand upon the game and its setting, creating a better realized experience for everyone.

We will answer all questions, requests for NPC interactions and other Dropbox messages to the best of our abilities. If you have not received a response in 7 days, feel free to bump your request. If you are trying to organize an event that would require mod involvement or permission, please give as much advance notice as possible. We encourage players to explore the setting and metaplot as much as they'd like - particularly in groups! Characters may pick up interesting threads through this type of plot exploration, but in the interest of collaboration, most important plot details and major developments will be delivered outside of the Dropbox during events and in character announcements.

FAQ

✩ Is this game canon/Pottermore compliant?

Short answer: No, not really.

Peckenpaugh is canon compliant to the seven main Harry Potter books. The game generally follows Pottermore's rules for how magic works, with a few of our own flourishes. The extended properties - the Fantastic Beasts films, Cursed Child and the "Magic in North America" articles - are effectively non-canon. While Peckenpaugh does rely on some of what Rowling has established as a framework, we want to build something that is more authentically North American, less illogical and problematic. Any information revealed following game start can also be considered non-canon.

For a detailed overview of Peckenpaugh's magical North America, please visit our collaborative world setting page. Briefly, here are some important notes:

Dragots are America's wizarding currency. It comes in gold coins (for fractional amounts) and paper bills (for multi-Dragot amounts). One dragot is roughly equivalent to five US dollars.
Both "muggle" and "no-maj" are common terms for non-magical individuals.
While wizards were heavily isolated in the past, in the last 100 years, there has been a major shift toward being more accepting of wizard-muggle marriages, muggleborn wizards and immigrant wizards.
Blood purism exists, but it doesn't look like what you see overseas. While a lengthy pedigree certainly doesn't hurt, and purebloods tend to marry other purebloods, North American purebloods put a greater emphasis on your financial and social status - where you are in life and how you behave - than on whether someone two generations back married a muggleborn. Being disowned for running off with a muggle is not unheard of, but keeping up appearances is what matters. Purebloods tend to dominate government offices and major businesses, and nepotism is rampant - think high society or country club over "blue blood."
The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) is the governing body of the United States. In addition to an elected President (President Jack Du Pont), each state has their own elected representative (West Virginia's current rep is Iphigenia Cog, a freshman senator). The Congress itself is headquartered in New York City, but its various Bureaus can be found all over the country. Most relevant for our purposes is the Bureau of Magical Beings (BoMB) located in Morgantown, WV.
The United States is big and sprawling. That means several things:
- There are many wizard-only communities in the United States ranging from small towns to bustling cities. Large muggle cities usually have magical neighborhoods or sub-sections, as well. It's entirely possible for wizards and witches to live isolated from non-magical life. It's also wholly likely that the weird couple sharing an apartment wall with you apparate to work and have a kneazel for a pet. Feel free to get creative!
- There are many magical schools in the United States, private schools, public schools, boarding and day schools. The US is notably home to four Great Schools of Magic (public boarding schools based loosely on the Hogwarts model): Ilvermorny in the Northeast, Peckenpaugh in Appalachia, Vercoer Academie in the South, and Bottleby High on the West Coast. These schools are the largest and oldest in the United States, carrying a great deal of prestige (if not always proper funding).
- Apparition and Portkeying are, as a matter of necessity, the most popular forms of transportation in the US, and it's somewhat unheard of for a witch or wizard to forego their Apparition license. Compared to their UK counterparts, North American witches and wizards are generally able to apparate much farther distances and side-along additional passengers without incident. This is due to having so much practice, and not any sort of innate talent. Brooms are still popular, and the Floo Network still exists, but is not as well connected - particularly if you live in a muggle neighborhood. There are a few other methods of magical transportation discussed on our world setting page.
Underage wizards are free to carry wands, but magic use outside of the school setting is restricted until the age of 16. Apparition license is also available at 16. Legal adulthood at 18. Drinking at 21.
Quodpot, a winter sport, is the most popular broom sport in the United States. Quidditch has always had its fair share of fans, and as the world has become smaller, its popularity has only increased. Peckenpaugh plays American-rules quidditch, which is functionally the same as European Quidditch, but the Golden Snitch is valued at 50 points.

If you ever have any questions about the setting and canon compliance, please don't hesitate to contact us via email or dropbox. There's a very good chance we've overlooked something!

✩ What is Peckenpaugh's content rating?

Peckenpaugh can be considered PG-13-ish.

The game is a mix of light-hearted slice-of-life and supernatural mystery. Elements of horror and weird fiction are present — think Welcome to Night Vale and classic 80s horror. Anything that might be considered R-rated or NSFW should be marked and kept behind a cut. You are free to write what you want in private, but depictions of sex should not appear on the main comms.

✩ Is the game played in real-time?

Yes. 1 Day IC = 1 Day OOC

The game is set in the present day, beginning September 1, 2019. Cultural holidays, moon phases and other events will follow the 2019 - 2020 calendar unless otherwise noted.

✩ How do the journals work?

The magical journal system was invented in 2011, but did not see widespread adoption until around 2015. Journal systems are closed networks - meaning journals are magically linked and cannot communicate with journals outside of their web. All Peckenpaugh journals belong to the same network. Each journal is private, bound to its owner so that only they can read what is inside. Things written or pasted into journals may be enchanted (“warded”) so that only certain people can see them. Because of their versatility and security, magical journals are incredibly popular with the students of Peckenpaugh.

Some general guidelines about journals:

All things written are auto-signed with the writer’s name in small print at the end. Nothing in the journals is anonymous - or, at least, it shouldn’t be.
The content of strikethroughs is considered completely illegible. Students can see that something has been crossed or scribbled out, but they cannot decipher the original words.
Private wards must be clear and specific. When writing wards, be sure to delineate who is included in the ward. “Warded to Friends” is not acceptable unless you list the friends included in the ward. Wards like “to Girls,” “to Varsity Quodpot,” or “to Everyone but Oliver” are fine.
Pictures can be magically pasted in the journals. Please be considerate with image use. If an image is very large, put it under a cut to save reading lists.
The pages display all liquids. Ink, paint, highlighter, glitter pens, tears, blood, juice - whatever!
Journals make noise! A relatively new feature — so not everyone may know — users can enchant their journals to notify them if they are warded or if their name is mentioned publicly on the network. Ward-writers can also enchant their wards to ring or make other sounds. To avoid being too disruptive, sounds are limited to just a few seconds long and are typically about as loud as a ringtone. That doesn’t mean they can’t be obnoxious. These features are not incorporated by default and the charms must be activated.
”Icon Reaction” comments do not exist in-universe. That is, any comment that is just a blank field with a reaction image icon is not something other characters can see. It’s simply a way to silently indicate that a character had a specific reaction to a particular comment, even if they didn’t actually engage the conversation.

The majority of gameplay is done through first person journal entries and their comments. There will also be regular events in the form of IC/OOC posts, playgrounds where you can thread lengthier scenes or simply talk about what your character is doing. You can also do prose logs, third person narrative scenes.

✩ Can I npc unplayed students, staff and townies?

Within reason. For unplayed PC names, please refrain from attributing too many traits or too much backstory. With the adult NPCs, small actions can be taken without mod approval. For example, “Healer Greatheart made us all tear a page out of our textbook today in Pre-Healer” and “Mr. Ellerby made me mop the floor at work three times today” are both fine. More consequential interactions should seek mod approval first via the dropbox. “Healer Greatheart gave me a detention when I refused to rip a page out of my textbook” and “Mr. Ellerby kept me way past close scrubbing floors” should be dropboxed for approval, first.

If you need an NPC for a plot or gag, feel free to use the freshmen.

✩ What if I want to play a transgender and/or a nb character?

Peckenpaugh welcomes trans and nb students, both IC and OOC. You are free to play whatever you'd like! For the sake of keeping the five-to-a-room dorm organization, please assume your character is already placed in the dorm of their choice. If you have any questions about similar narrative scenarios, please don’t hesitate to dropbox or email us!

✩ What's the deal with the "has playable sibling" and "local npc relative" tags on the cast list?

"Has Playable Sibling" simply means that the name for sure has an established sibling on our cast list. If a name you want does not have this marker, that doesn't necessarily mean they’re an only child! Your character may have younger or older siblings or siblings that are attending another school. Additionally, we will allow relationships not already established (half or step-siblings, cousins) within reason. Both characters must be approved before these links can be official, however. You cannot claim an unused name on the cast list as a relative, but if you are interested in establishing something like this, you can request it on the Wanted Lines page!

The Local NPC Relative marker indicates that the name in question is related to a town or staff NPC. The nature of these relations is not delineated (except in the case of Bertram Beridze, who is the grandson of Birdie Beridze, the Music teacher), and does not necessarily mean that the NPC in question is a parent. They could be an aunt, uncle, grandparent, sibling or cousin. It's up to you! Just be sure to note the relation in your family section. Also, you do not need the Local NPC Relative tag to have your character hail from Elflock Falls.

✩ Where can my character be from?

Not everyone at Peckenpaugh is from good old Elflock Falls. It is, after all, one of the United State's four Great Schools of Magic (even if it doesn't always seem like it), and attendance carries a great deal of prestige. Peckenpaugh's strong ties to the MACUSA's Bureau of Magical Beings also makes it a popular choice for employees of the department to send their children. Most of the student body comes from Appalachia, the Great Lakes portion of the Midwest and the near Southern states, but students come from all over the US and even parts of Canada and Mexico.

Here's a map of the draw of all four Great Schools of Magic.

✩ Is there a uniform? What's the dress code?

Peckenpaugh does not have a daily school uniform, but students are expected to adhere to a standard dress code. Owing to the fact that these are wizards, it's a little more lenient than your typical public school — crazy hair and piercings are welcome, and no one's afraid of seeing bare shoulders, so tank tops are allowed — but revealing clothing, dirty/damaged clothing or anything with offensive slogans is against the rules. Students who violate dress code are given generic school T-shirts and sweatpants to change into, and may go back to their dorms to change after classes.

For special occasions and at times when students are representing the school off campus — Quodpot games, field trips, tournaments, etc. — there is a formal robe.

✩ When is curfew? What about other school rules?

CURFEW: On weeknights, students must be on campus by 10PM and back to their respective Houses by 11PM. On weekends, campus curfew is 11PM and House grounds curfew is 11:30PM. House curfew lifts at 5AM, campus curfew at 6AM. With a few school sanctioned exceptions, students are not permitted to have sleepovers. Punishment for being caught in the wrong House after curfew is typically minor, though.

RESPECT LOCAL LIFE: Peckenpaugh is home to a wide variety of creatures both magical and mundane. Run-ins are unavoidable, but official school policy states that all life should be respected. Don't harass the locals. Far more of them are sapient than you'd think, and they will complain to staff if students are threatening, destructive or just particularly annoying.

OTHER RULES: Peckenpaugh holds its students to the same standards of any school of magic. Cheating, plagiarism, violence, bullying, etc. are swiftly punished when caught. Hide your alcohol, cigs and other paraphernalia. No weapons (small pocket knives are acceptable), respectful wand use. Rules-wise, there aren't many surprises. We will make note of any specific, unusual rules if they do come up.

KID JAIL: We want in-character reprimands like detention to be seen as RP opportunities and not punishments. Often, these will be rolled into pcal slots. If your character is misbehaving and you would like to see if they're caught, you can always Dropbox for a mod roll. If a character's misbehavior is blatant or egregious, staff may step in and issue a punishment whether or not the player has sought it out. We will always work to accommodate interesting narratives and content creation in Peckenpaugh, but in order to keep the faculty, staff and other adult NPCs looking competent and being believable, we may need to intervene from time to time. We will always try to state potential consequences for actions as early as possible in an effort to allow player characters time to withdraw from those activities.

✩ Are there teachers on site at the dormitory houses?

Each House's house has a room for a staff member chaperone, but there's not always an adult spending the night. Every evening not long after House curfew, a member of staff stops by the dormitories to do a headcount and ensure everyone is accounted for. Sometimes, that staff member (it's usually the Head of House) will spend the night in the chaperone quarters just to keep an eye on things. If rule breaking or point loss is especially egregious in a given house, they're more likely to have a faculty chaperone on site. This is not intended to disrupt anyone's late night shenanigans, and is simply in place from an OOC standpoint to acknowledge that the staff is looking after the kids. We can always say that the night the kids picked to have a wild late night party is the night there was no chaperone at their dormitory.

✩ How will apparating work in Peckenpaugh?

Peckenpaugh is liable for student safety throughout the academic year. As such, students must sign in and out when leaving/returning to campus and are not permitted to leave Elflock Falls without the written permission of a guardian, Head of House, or the Administrator. While apparating around town is permitted, apparating or portkeying outside the municipal limits is forbidden — no weekend excursions to Las Vegas, guys. The fine folks at Payless Portkey Source know who you are and will laugh at you if you give them a forged permission slip or fake ID.

As for magically popping around town, much of Elflock is protected by anti-apparition charms. Peckenpaugh campus is within an anti-apparition zone. Businesses, most homes and many public buildings are also protected by anti-apparition magic. While students can certainly apparate around town, they won't be teleporting into any bank vaults or living rooms. If you attempt to apparate into a protected zone, you will be safely expelled to the nearest open area and the owner of the property will be notified of an attempt to trespass. Attempting to apparate within an anti-apparition zone simply results in spell failure. In general, if you are trying to be sneaky, it is safest to just be sneaky on foot or broom. Apparition is a detectable spell, meaning any students attempting to infiltrate something will receive a negative penalty to any stealth rolls that the mods need to do.

✩ How does the internet/muggle technology in general work on campus and in Elflock Falls?

Here's the thing: West Virginia's cell coverage and internet suck. Even for muggles. You've got to be at the top of a hill to get service half the time, and even then it's unreliable. Generally speaking, you're probably better off sending your "k mom"'s via owl and your memes through the journals. The Peckenpaugh computer lab does have a reliable (if slow) internet connection, but traffic is monitored and several sites are blocked outright — just like any school internet. Thankfully, rumor has it that Clara Honeyduke at the Gastrognome lets kids piggyback on her wifi connection, especially if they keep buying hot chocolate.

As for other technology, it can be a bit wonky — malfunctions, screen glitches, power flickers and other assorted nonsense are common. Outlets aren't standard in Elflock or at Peckenpaugh, but there are a few in the classroom buildings and all the dorms. They are always in high demand. Do not hustle the freshmen into paying you for charger time, you will get a detention.

✩ Are there any forbidden areas?

Curfew must be followed, faculty living quarters are off limits and the area surrounding the Falls is restricted. For student safety, Repelling and Featherfalling Charms have been put in place around the Elflock Falls to ensure that anyone foolish enough to take a leap from the top lands safely in calmer waters. When these measures were put in place almost three decades ago they unfortunately made jumping off of the falls more popular, and subsequently an alarm system has been put in place. Otherwise, students are free to explore anything within the Anti-Apparition Zone.

✩ Who won the house and quidditch cups in years past?

In May 2019, Mothgarden took the Quidditch Cup soundly, but the House Cup was a much closer race between all four Houses. The two front runners, Mothgarden and Thorntrail, did themselves in, hemhorraging points during a month long end-of-year prank war. Ultimately, 2019's House Cup went to Deeplurk in June.

The year before that, Thorntrail won the Quidditch Cup, narrowly beating out Wildgulch, who still managed to take home the House Cup, overall.

While House Cup competitions tend to be close, Wildgulch and Thorntrail are historically the winningest houses. Deeplurk holds the record for most points lost because of backtalk, and it's generally accepted that at some point during the year, Mothgarden will absolutely wreck their point standing, often pulling their rivals in Thorntrail down with them.

✩ What's the deal with special slots and student leadership positions?

Peckenpaugh offers a variety of special slots to create a unique experience for each player character. Athletic spots, part-time employment and limited slot clubs and classes offer narrative opportunities and a bit of extra flavor. If you are interested in content creation, Student Leadership Positions may interest you. Student Leadership Position holders are encouraged to collaborate on and plan their own events, contribute to pcal and hype upcoming plots. It'll be easy to find a reason to post with a student leadership spot. While there are no activity requirements for these positions, we do encourage players to engage with their clubs, teams and classes. Make use of a special spot if you've taken it! If it goes neglected, we may ask you to surrender it.

Please note that Peckenpaugh has no Prefect equivalent. Student leadership does not equate to student authority. While students with special positions are, themselves, held to a higher standard, no student is expected to police the behavior of any other student.

Student Leadership Positions

Club Presidents: Elected by their peers and approved by a faculty sponsor to lead club meetings and organize events. Beyond that, each club president's responsibilities are different. Club presidency is a self-selected slot, and must complete a student leadership addendum for their application.
Quidditch/Quodpot Captains: Selected by the athletic director and heads of house after a recommendation from a previous captain. In character, captains get a say in picking their teams (this is hand-waved), organize and run practices, make plays and lead their team during games. Quidditch and Quodpot captains are pre-determined spots, but still require a student leadership addendum on their applications.
Cheer Captains: More than just magical gymnasts and dancers, Peckenpaugh's cheerleaders are the heart and soul of the school. Cheerleaders decorate lockers for birthdays, perform during games and pep rallies and organize events. On the athletic side, they'll be designing wild magical cheer routines and organizing training/practices. While regular cheerleaders are self-selected slots, the cheer captains are predetermined. They must still provide a student leadership addendum on their applications.
Teaching Assistants: Stake your claim as The Best — or, at the very least, as the teacher’s pet — by becoming a teaching assistant. Teachers select their assistants for a variety of reasons, but skill and passion are the most important qualities. TAs are expected to tutor students, assist in grading papers, and sit in on a few classes for older/younger years. Depending on the course, there may be more responsibilities - leading lectures, running study groups, additional projects. TAs are all self-selected and must complete a student leadership addendum for their application.
- Music TA/Drum Major: The TA of Music also serves as the Drum Major of the band — effectively serving as TA, Captain and Club President all in one. For the purposes of character limits, Music TA/Drum Major functions as a club president but also gets the benefits of a TA.
- Muggle Tech Studies TA: If you are interested in this position, please reach out to us as it is somewhat unique and we want to make you suffer for your hubris.

✩ What are the expectations for Student Council?

In character, Student Council is a model government / public service group. Members had to run for office and were elected by the student body. OOC, Student Council is, on the surface, a flavor club for characters who are socially motivated; planners, kids with an abundance of school spirit, and future activists, politicians and MACUSA president types are what we want filling these roles. Characters should both want to be there and at least be able to fake being passionate about Peckenpaugh. Which brings us to the primary purpose of the club: Student Council members are here to build hype for upcoming events and drive activity. The expectation is that Student Council members will make public comments and posts and engage the greater student body in discussions about upcoming events. It doesn't always have to be event reminders; you can talk logistics, planning, or general excitement. Student Council is not a stand-in for a Prefect system; Student Council members have no authority over their peers. It's also not an Event Committee/Event Planning club, but they do have their hands in raising funds for school events and supporting other clubs when they are sponsoring a major event.

Student Council will receive credit for/OOCly influence and control several major public service/volunteering events and fund raisers throughout the year.

✩ How does part-time employment work?

Peckenpaugh students can earn a little extra spending money and get their first glimpse of soul crushing capitalism through part-time work. From an out of character standpoint, the intent of part-time employment is to give players a way to broaden social circles while also adding specific flavor to their character. From time to time, student workers may get small pcal events and NPC interactions.

This is a relatively low-key slot and is largely self-managed by players. Part-time work is slot-based and first-come, first-served. You can check out what businesses have open positions and how many slots are available on the Elflock Falls page. Just list where your character works on their application and we'll make note once you're accepted!

It is up to you to say when your character is working. Please keep in mind that per labor laws students can work between 4 and 18 hours per week during the school year; no more than 3 hours per day on school days (including Friday) and no more than 8 hours a day in general. Sophomores may also not be able to work before 7AM or after 7PM until they are 16. Also be aware of your characters' schedules when deciding if you want to take a part time job. A student taking 8 - 9 classes and participating in 5 or more extracurriculars almost certainly does not have the free time for a part-time job.

✩ What's the min/max for classes and clubs?

Students must take a minimum of five and up to nine courses each year. Eight and over is considered a heavy course load. Valedictorian candidates usually take between seven and nine courses.

While none of Peckenpaugh's clubs or athletic activities technically overlap, the faculty tries to discourage students exhausting themselves by limiting them to seven extracurriculars. This number includes clubs, sports (Quidditch, Quodpot, Cheer), band and TAships. The average student is usually involved in around five clubs.

✩ What's the deal with Core/Elective/Advanced/Specialty classes?

The Core classes, Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, are the foundation of most magical curricula. Students are generally expected to take four full years of core classes, but Peckenpaugh administration may make exceptions for students looking for a highly specialized curriculum, particularly seniors. Core classes are often prerequisites for more advanced courses of study. OOC, we do not require characters to take Core classes, but would prefer each student is enrolled in one or two.

Elective courses are still vital to a young person's education, but there are so many it's impossible to take them all. Peckenpaugh requires that students take a minimum of two electives each year, or however many is necessary to meet the minimum five class requirement.

The Advanced Studies are specialized courses that typically require knowledge from at least one other field. The class size for Advanced Studies is generally smaller, allowing students to get individual attention from their teachers. As they are quite demanding of a student's skill and time, each student is allowed to take only one per year, and some students forego them, entirely. From an OOC standpoint, we have limited Advanced Classes to ensure that there isn't too much overlap on certain character types.

Special is a catch-all label for any class that is particularly unique in how it is conducted. There are three "types" of Special course at Peckenpaugh:

Muggle Tech Studies doubles as study hall and is not a proper course
Apparition is offered to anyone over the age of 15 midway through the academic year. It runs for roughly two weeks. You do not need to list this course on your application and it does not count toward your total class load.
Specialized Courses are highly advanced and narrowly focused, often derived from one or two other classes. The Specialized Courses are open only to juniors and seniors and will afford some sort of IC bonus — abilities and pcal slots. Specialized Courses are held bi-monthly during the "Specialty Course" time slot. The specific days they are held will be announced in each monthly pcal. Rosters for Specialized Courses are generally chosen by the instructor from waiting lists. Characters enrolled in these courses should be passionate, gifted and/or overachieving.

✩ I have some questions about one of more unusual classes at Peckenpaugh...

Peckenpaugh offers a number of classes that don't appear in Harry Potter canon, are altered from canon, or are mentioned only in passing. We've taken a lot of liberties, and many of the classes are made up wholesale. Those that aren't were likely inspired by Gooseberry High. If you have any questions about a specific course, please feel free to drop us a line. We'll try to keep the below list of notes up to date.

Animagus Studies does NOT follow Rowling's established path to becoming an Animagus. Students in Animagus Studies must spend time developing their Transfiguration skills, meditating and preparing and consuming special potions.
Symbology references Sigils, simple images that channel simple but ongoing effects (protection, improved mood, etc.), and Glyphs, complex images that can be activated to recreate a more complex spell. They also spend time on magical writing systems like Runes.

✩ What's Gooseberry?

Gooseberry High was an original wizard school game that ran on InsaneJournal and Dreamwidth from 2016 to 2018. The game centered on Gooseberry Alternative High School, a prestigious mountain boarding school in Utah, and the students that attended between 2013 and 2015. The school closed permanently in 2015 after a mysterious catastrophe involving missing students, dark magic and a forest god. Peckenpaugh's current senior class would've been in eighth grade at the time of these events.

Peckenpaugh and Gooseberry occupy a shared universe, but Peckenpaugh can be joined and enjoyed without any knowledge of Gooseberry! The two games share themes and world-building, and the current social climate of the magical US reflects the tragedy at Gooseberry, but references will generally only be made in passing.

We'd like to thank Meggie & Marin, mods of Gooseberry High, for giving us permission to build on the world they so lovingly established.

FAQ & RULES