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Story Stuff

Plot Summary
The name of the game is Portal Panic, which also happens to be the name of the universe's most popular game show. Problem is, Earth is a bit behind the times, technology wise, and doesn't get UBC (the Universal Broadcasting Company) so we know nothing about it.
In Portal Panic each team represents a planet (sometimes a planet may have several teams competing). Teams are comprised of idividuals randomly selected from a single planet. To make things more intersting, the people running Portal Panic have decided to form a team of players from a planet that knows nothing about the game. The planet is Earth and you just got chosen as a contestant. But with a game so big and popular you never know what's going on behind the scenes...

Portal Panic the Gameshow
Portal Panic is divided into rounds. Part 1 of the show has five rounds. Each round teams are sent through portals leading to different parts of the universe (cities, jungles, etc, etc, etc, you name it and there's probably a portal to it). All teams do not use the same portal each round but there's always between two and four teams per portal.
The teams must then explore their surroundings and find the escape portal to leave the area and advance to the next round. Some portals are easy to find, some aren't. Some areas are easy to search, some have obstacles, monsters, and the like that will get in the way. Teams may also attempted to mislead, hinder, or even attack other teams. Fighting is allowed and even encouraged. However, great lengths are taken to prevent the death of contestants including emergency nano treatment and in extreme cases teleporting severly injured players out of the game for treatment. With these and other measures in place, fatalities have been extremely rare.
Rules for later parts of the show, bonus rounds, and other special events change frequently and are not revealed to the players in advance.

Success, Failure, and Scoring
In most cases, a round continues until all teams have found the escape portal at which point they are ranked based on how quickly they discovered it compared to the "par" for the area they're in. Pars have been know to range anywhere from one hour to several days, with the majority being in the 10-30 hour range. However, many areas have more hidden in them than the portals. These other hidden things may help contestants find the portal, help them navigate the world, or give bonus points at the end of the round.
After a team passes through the portal there is one last task. To fully complete the round they must face another team in battle, with the winning team getting bonus points based on their performance.

Items and Powers
Since Portal Panic players often find themselves in tricky and/or dangerous situations, they aren't sent out unprepared. At the beginning of each round, every player spins the Wheels of Fate. There are two wheels, each with one hundred spaces.
The first wheel is the Wheel of Stuff. It will grant each player a single weapon or item depending on their spin. The second is the Wheel of Powers. It grants players a special ability of some kind.
Naturally some of the items and powers are more useful than others. Some have very obvious uses, while others require more thought. When the game starts all the spaces on the wheel on unknown but they will slowly be revealed as the game progresses.
These items and powers are taken away from the contestants at the end of each round.
Contestants may also carry and use any items they happened to have with them when they were selected/abducted/etc. They may also find various items while searching for portals. With a few exceptions, they are allowed to keep these items as long as they feel like carrying them.

Gameplay


Teams
Teams consist of randomly selected beings from a single planet. All contestants must be moderately intelligent (able to understand what's going on, speak a common language, and the like, so animals, plants, etc aren't eligable). Players are all one team, the Earth Team. However, if there gets to be a lot or players, you may be split into multiple teams.

Getting Your Stuff
Soon after each round begins you will roll two 100 sided dice http://www.wizards.com/dnd/dice/dice.htm to spin the Wheels of Fate. The first roll is for the Wheel of Stuff and the second is for the Wheel of Powers. The numbers on the dice will determine where the wheels stop and what item and power you get.
Keep in mind, you'll have to carry any items you get from the wheels and any stuff you find during the rounds if you want to keep them. There's no magical gizmo or power that lets you hold unlimited stuff. Well, there might be but you sure aren't going to find it easily.

Rounds and Between Rounds
Each round will have its own thread, the first post of which will contain a brief description of the place you'll be going, the general lay of the land, and who or what lives there.
The round starts at the Portal Panic studio where any special rules will be explained and contestants take their turns with the Wheels of Fate before being assigned a portal.
As the game master, I'll play any important NPCs and reveal what the Wheels of Fate have given you (see the section above this one).
Once you pass through the portal you're free to explore the area any way you please (just keep the initial description of the place in mind). You can search carefully, run around wildly, ask the locals for information, attack the locals, or whatever. Teams have total freedom to search for the portal any way they want.
Along the way, I'll frequently pop in to descibe the part of the area you're in in greater detail, control an important NPC or a rival team, tell you when you've found something such as a special item or the portal, throw an obstacle or enemy at you, and the like.
After leaving through the escape portal you'll fight against a rival team under my control. When the battle is over the thread for that round will be locked.

Between Rounds
Between rounds contestants stay in the Portal Panic Lounge, a luxory resort of sorts in the same building that the show is filmed in. There they can rest, relax, and interact with other contestants and teams.
There will be a special Lounge thread for everyone to post in between rounds.

Basic RP Rules

Moving Between Areas
When you move to a new area, enter a new building, etc, wait for the Game Master to describe it before continuing your explorations.