XIII/FAQ
Q: Is XIII a PKer group?
A: No. We are a death cult. We will PK, certainly, but that is not the point or raison d'être of this group. The point is to sow fear of, and spread the word for, the Awful Number. And to assist in the dominance of the New Flesh. The New Flesh refers to zombies, for the record. If PKing allows us help the zombies, or helps us to proselytise, or babble maniacally about Thirteen, or have fun with people with spooky names and/or bad fashion sense (or good fashion sense! hey, I <3333 pinkgothic... even though she fights for the wrong side... sigh)... Then we will PK. But this PKing is always subordinate to the RP of the cult, its short or long term objectives, and/or the LOLz. It is definately not our primary focus.
Q: So I'm dead. Can I get a revive?
A: No. See below.
Q: I've been Combat Revived. Should I go jump off a tall building?
A: No. See below.
Q: But... but... I don't have any zombie (or survivor) skills, that's lame, what am I supposed to do?
A: If you're willing to hit the IRC and metagame then we will help you level. Many of us are with established zombie hordes that are known for levelling their babahz very efficiently. We make use of this experience. With help, it's easy to level up as a zombie, so don't ask for a revive solely because your zombie skills are weak. Instead, work with us and we'll help you. See also below, about Dual Nature play. And if you're alive, just play as normal low level survivor and FAK your way to the top...
Q: What does it mean to be a "Dual Nature death cult"?
A: Let me refer you to what our wiki page has to say about this:
- "XIII adheres to the Dual Nature policy -- albeit with our own particular "interpretations" and practices.
- "Primary among these "intepretations" is the cult's attitude towards revivification. Cult members will never actively seek revives from outsiders. We will, however, revive each other as and when we see fit, to further the cult's goals. We may also sometimes disrupt "organised revivification". And, on occasion, XIII members may even engage in mass "combat reviving" as a means of (re)introducing zombies to the meaning of Rebirth and Transmutation.
- "Even while being Dual Naturists, members of XIII are dedicated death-cultists. As such, whilst alive they will not actively seek death (unless ordered to in greater cause of the Awful Number) -- but neither will they fear it. Nonetheless, we are not fools, and living cult members may take whatever measures they deem necessary to protect themselves -- as long as this does not involve direct hostility against our zethren.
- "XIII freely make use Trans-mortal tactics, including active coordination between their living and dead members. We ascribe this cooperation to a "hive mind" effect among the cult's fanatical followers. It does not extend to outsiders. (Possible exceptions may be made for very close and well-established allies who share a similar philosophical outlook to ours.)"
Here's the skinny on what that means in practice:
- We embrace whatever state we find ourselves in, breathing or zombie. When dead -- for whatever reason -- we do not immediately seek a revive; when alive, we try to stay alive as long as possible, while still performing "cult work".
- Whenever possible, we make use of transmortal tactics, i.e. inter-zombie-survivor coordination.
- We are pretty heavy on the RP, but also on teh LULz. Play up the crazy death cultist and the silly sexual innuendoes and the gothy and horrorpunky references. And the ketchup jokes. You can never have too much ketchup... RP is fun. Jokez is fun. So are successful, well coordinated strikes. Doing this with style and wit is overflowing with WIN.
- We will revive our members... You don't have to be a zombie forever. However, there has to be an in-character reason for you to get revived, and usually this is going to involve how best to serve the cult's goals. And as I've explained, passively setting yourself to be in a position where you're likely to be revived is acceptable.
But if you're not comfortable playing as a zombie for extended periods of time, then this is not the group for you.
Q: What are "transmortal tactics," exactly, and how does XIII make use of them?
A: Transmortal tactics are simply tactics that involve coordination between survivors and zombies and/or which involve a change of "states" in using them. Examples of include pinatas and suicide reviving. But strike teams comprised of both zombies and breathers are also examples of transmortal tactics.
Transmortal tactics are XIII's preferred modus operandi. The "classic" XIII strike involves .... Erm, nevermind. If you're not a cult member, there's nothing to see here, move along... ;P
Q: Do I have to metagame to be part of XIII
A: Yes.
Now, we understand that everyone is different -- with different attitudes and different time commitments, etc.. We are totally cool with different levels of metagame involvement. But you will be expected to metagame to some extent.
Ideally, we want you on IRC and participating in live, coordinated strikes. And chillin' with us, we're a fun bunch. If insane zombiesexdeathvoodoocults are your thing...
However, at the minimum we expect you to sign up on the forum and check it regularly. You are expected to keep up with the forum, including following our targets/operations and helping them along -- as well as providing updates, intel, Situation Reports, etc.
We do want team players....
Q: Are there any tools, scripts, programmes, etc. I should have as a member of XIII?
A: Yeah... We want everyone use Iwitness. You should also learn how to make normal screenshots with PhotoShop or MS Paint, whatever works for you. Viktor Suvorov's Profile Viewer quite simply kicks ass. And UDTool can also be useful: I find its Inventory Combiner pretty much indispensible.
I used to recommend Udwidget; however, it slows down your entire internet, and even though it has some very cool features, it's just not worth it!
Q: Back to that whole PKing business for a sec... What about bounties, the Rogues Gallery, the PKer/BHer community, all that stuff?
A: All said and done, the cult doesn't give a gangrenous dingo's kidney about the RG, about waving our bounty count around like an e-penis, about the "PeeKer community" or Boontang Huntarz or the DEM or any of that cracker-assed corpoate sell-out elevator muzak pseudo-jazz crud.
On this level, we are like our brain-eating zethren: PKers are food like every other thing that breathes. BARHAH! is a philosophy that transcends the ego, the individual. It puts the needs of the horde above the petty interests and glorification of the individual. The cult deeply repects this attitude which our zethren have taught us, and we follow its ideals in many ways.
In practice, we don't want big bounties. Ideally I 'd love to see all our members be "RG clean", i.e. have NO bounties on their heads. This is a philosophical position, sure, but it is also a very pragmatic approach. (The specific pragmatics are none of your beeswax. Move along.)
This philosophy is also why the transmortal tactics I described above (well actually, I didn't decsribe them, suck it up princesses ;P) are ideal: they let us get away with murder, but keep us off the Rogues Gallery....
Of course real life is not so neat and tidy. And we will PK. And some us will get bounties on our heads. Whatever.... And not everyone is going to agree with that "mini-manifesto" I just wrote, again, whatever. I'm not trying to tell you how you should play UD... But within the context of this group, I'd like people to at least understand this "philosophy" -- even if you don't agree with it -- and try to keep it in mind when you're playing your XIII alt. Merci.
