Downtimes and Turnsheets

Downtimes in Palimpsest take place in player characters’ waking lives across Untir.

Between each uptime of Palimpsest, several months of in-game time will pass. Player characters' actions during this time will be conveyed to the GM team through Turnsheets.

For experienced players, it is also worth noting that the structure of responses to Turnsheets will be a little different compared to previous Trinity games—further details of this can be found in the 'Responses' section of this page.

A Turnsheet details what you would like to do in Downtime following a session. In Palimpsest, players will take one major action per Turnsheet which effectively communicates the main goal of your character during Downtime. The GMs will then respond before the following Uptime with information about how your character's choices turn out. Your Turnsheet may also include minor actions, which are limited to trivial acts that will typically only receive a single line response, if relevant/necessary.

Once your character has been approved by the GMs, we will send you a link to your private user page — this can also be found by clicking the human-shaped icon at the very top right of the Wiki. At the bottom of your user page should be a series of red links titled 'Turnsheet #'. These link to pages that don't exist yet, so when you are ready to begin writing up your actions, click on the link for that week and then click the 'pencil sign' icon on the right-hand toolbar to get started. Hovering over it will bring up the 'Create this page' dialogue.

Once created, the Turnsheet page will have a handy template to save you time and to allow your GM easy reading. You don’t have to stick to it 100%, but similar layouts allows us to quickly and easily see what you are attempting to do with your time. (Please don't delete { {tag>turnsheetX} }, or any other tag at the bottom of the page or we won't be notified when you've submitted it!)

While player writing is often incredible, the primary purpose of a Turnsheet is to communicate a character's goal and how they might set out to achieve it. To this end, please aim to keep your turnsheet on-topic, focusing on helping guide us GMs where you want to take your character's story next!

When you're happy with your Turnsheet, click the save button in the bottom left and you'll have a Turnsheet that both you and all the GMs can see. It’s worthwhile doing a quick preview before saving, to check that everything reads how you want it to, but don’t forget to then save.

You can continue to edit your Turnsheet until the deadline (which will be communicated on the discord server after each Uptime) as nothing will be taken as final by the GMs until that point. If you need it you can ask for an extension, however (due to the short timescale for writing Turnsheets) please be aware that if you miss the deadline your actions could have less impact on other players due to less time for GM discussion.

Your turnsheet's major action represents the primary focus of your character during the downtime. These typically require a significant amount of time and effort to accomplish, and will receive a writeup by one of the GMs. The major action has no explicit time duration (it can last a few seconds or go over the whole downtime), but it should be the main thing your character (or at the very least, you OC) want to focus on.

Your actions should include:

1. An overarching goal which your character wants to achieve.
2. Your character's motivation for wanting this goal, or more broadly their state of mind while pursuing this goal.
3. Any future goals this might contribute towards (which you hope to explore in future turnsheets.)
4. A plan of how your character intends to achieve this goal in practice.
5. A list of other Player or Non-Player Characters who are involved in your Major Action.

Player turnsheets will have a template that will help to guide you towards these elements; please also seek to respond to anything else on the template!

Try to be as concise as possible when writing your plans—longer plans don’t always mean better plans! If in doubt about the scope of the Major Action, always ask! Just contact the GMs with any questions and we will do our best to help with any queries you may have.

A Minor Action is something that takes little time or effort to do, and doesn't advance the plot significantly.

In Palimpsest minor actions will be limited to one or two sentences of description, and should usually be able to be responded to by the GMs with “You do this”. You will be allowed two minor actions per turnsheet.

If your minor actions are to accompany other players on their major actions, you will not be very useful to the action, and will not get any personal benefit from the action. If the action would require significant time or effort just to tag along, the GMs may say your character is too busy to attend. If you do want to accompany another character on their major action, why not just make it your major action too!

If you are giving something to another player please note this in your minor actions, even if the exchange occurred as part of your major action. It can be helpful to list any items you are expecting to receive, but if you put it in your turnsheet and the sender does not turnsheet to give the item to you, the response will likely be along the lines of “You wait patiently, but it doesn't turn up”.

Your Minor Actions can include other PCs and NPCs, i.e. “I go for a long walk with another PC to pass the time.” You will need to discuss this OC and all agree to the action. GMs will also clarify with players involved before writing the Turnsheet.

It is our intention to ensure every Turnsheet receives a response before Uptime begins. To achieve this, please try to meet deadlines in order to guarantee a response! Nevertheless we are fully aware that (especially given that it is exam season) sometimes deadline-related difficulties may arise, and will do our best to accommodate!

Turnsheet responses will be added to the end of your submitted portion of the Turnsheet on the wiki. If you have any questions about your Turnsheet response, please contact your GM before the start of the session and we'll try to clear anything up.

These responses will differ somewhat from previous society games held in Trinity. They will be split into two roughly equal parts—the 'reality' of the outcome of your Turnsheet action, and a 'Telling' of it—either created by your character or by someone else in response to something they have done. This can (and likely will) be rendered in various ways; this could include a Maeran pamphlet, a Bahlong-style pot, or a performance by a Hen Eibari Bard—and more unconventional forms too. If you have a particular idea or vision for what the 'Telling' part of your Turnsheet looks like, you can communicate this to the GMs in the Turnsheet submission.

Want to see what a turnsheet submission will look like in Palimpsest? Go here for more.