Help Topic: Lifestyle

Category: Character -- You must be alive to use this command.

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When you log out, your character is still in the world. Are they
eating and drinking off-screen, so to speak? Are they still following
their usual routines, supposedly, or have they disappeared in a way
that should be worrying for those who care for them?

You can manage these details with the 'lifestyle' command. In this,
you can set what your character is supposed to be doing when you
are logged out.

Usage:
lifestyle
lifestyle <behavior> <option>

When setting options, most types of behavior are a simple toggle, such
as sleeping, eating, or drinking. You are either doing these things
off-screen or not doing them, for story reasons such as trauma.

If you are neglecting basic health activities due to trauma, then of
course it's better and more meaningful for the story to do those
activities on-screen where they can be roleplayed.

But these basic health activities can be tedious, so that is why
we will consign them to off-screen management if there is no story
to be written about them.

For the 'routine' behavior, you can enter a string of up to 200
characters to describe what your character is doing while off-screen.

Example:
lifestyle routine Aleph has been absent for several days.
or
lifestyle routine Aleph works at the chimaera factory every
day at noon.
or
lifestyle routine Aleph is at work all the time lately.

These kinds of messages can convey different things in a simple, IC
way. For the first one, there should be some concern. Where did Aleph
go? For the second one, perhaps someone looking for Aleph should
go to the chimaera factory at noon. Putting in a specific time is
a good way to point out where you can be found most often. The last
routine message makes it look as if Aleph is quite busy and may not
be hanging around with friends much these days, but there is nothing
to be worried about.

Other characters may find out this information by asking around about
you.

Note that the character limit for routines is because if there is
something that others may be worried about, you should not put all
the information about your plot hook in your lifestyle routine blurb,
but rather scatter it around the game world in a fun way for people
to find.

There is also the possibility to put some things about your character's
work ethic in your lifestyle/habits. This functions as an effort
percentage, from 1-100.

Example:
lifestyle work 50

This means that if you have a job, you're working at 50% effort, and
when there is a background dice roll associated with that job's payroll,
only half your dice will count towards the work you have been doing at
your job. It could result in docked pay, or even the loss of that job.

Or, it could result in a raise and greater affection with the employer
NPC!

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