We obviously have some work to do on the Sleepwalker trait, but let me try and answer the questions and restate what I've said on the Discord server.
The Sleepwalker trait was intended to be something weird and mysterious that you opted into to find out what it did, accepting the consequences of it. We never confirmed things for this reason; if you took the trait believing that it was something that you found acceptable to gain the trait points for, then that was your decision. We never said it just teleported you around. But, obviously, now the cat's out of the bag, so the experiment is over and we need to rework it to be more clear. The ultimate goal with Sleepwalker is just to do silly stuff and create weirdness and levity.
Every time a GM logs into the game, there is a small chance they will be randomly assigned a Sleepwalker to log into instead. They are then given a prompt to do something weird with the character. Usually we end it by sticking them somewhere strange; in someone else's bed, perhaps, or out in the forest, or whatever. GMs have no control over who they sleepwalk and never go into it with a plan, it's pure improv. We try to avoid talking as a character, but as people tend to engage with us, sometimes very insistently, there's only so much we can do to avoid it and we try to talk in a way that's obviously "out of it."
In light of this, we're very happy to help people build the trait off their characters if they don't desire to keep it. We won't penalize you for this; just make a version of the character without Sleepwalker and we'll change it out. We will also not behave in ways that you don't want us to while sleepwalking, we want to respect your wishes and your vision for your character. You can always communicate about those wishes with us and we will listen.
Q: What can the dms do or not do?
A: Whatever they want, within reason. They are logged in as your character. We try to follow the path you have left out for your character and any character details we have picked up on. I think we're largely successful at this, because most people have not even noticed the times when someone was sleepwalking.
Q: What if someone intiaties combat with you? Is your character just left beat up and stolen from because "they were sleepwalking"?
A: I don't think it's really a feasible question. The chances of your character getting into combat are remote, especially because we know better than you how to steer them away from that. However, if someone mugged your character while they were sleepwalking, they would probably get mugged. That does, at least, create a roleplay thread for you to follow up on, as people know you were mugged even though you don't remember it.
Q: Why wasn't this stated outright from the beginning? Was it stated in the changelogs and I just wasn't aware?
A: That was the whole point. You chose to opt into a trait that we did not tell anyone what it did. It was a surprise.
Q: What if someone pickpocketsfrom you while sleepwalking?
A: Then you get pickpocketed. It's a negative trait. You will lose things with no explanation as a Sleepwalker. Sometimes we use them, sometimes we give them away, etc. That should always be an expectation you have if you take the trait.
Q: Can players be informed/asked if the staff wish to have the character do stuff when they're wandering around.
A: Don't take the trait if you don't want the staff to sleepwalk you.
Q: If someone wishes to retcon a character decision a staff made while someone's character was sleepwalking, is that allowed?
A: Of course!
Q: Is there any "tell" to other characters that your character is sleepwalking?
A: No obvious visual tell, but clearly they don't act like themselves, and we try to make them behave how you would expect a sleepwalking person to behave.
Q: I'm curious why this didn't notify players when "fated" is an entirely
separate trait that basically exists to give staff permission to mess
with players a bit.
A: That's an opt-in flag for events to let us know who wants to be more deeply involved. This is a negative trait that was created as a surprise for people to unravel.
Q: What happens if you log in while you are sleepwalking?
A: You reassert control of the character and we are booted out.
My question to you is, why did you pick it when you didn't know what it did? I understand the displeasure from getting something other than you expected, but when something in this game is vague, it's probably not because it's straightforward! We did not tell anyone that it merely moved you around.
That said, we will be changing the description now to make it clear what the trait does, and as previously mentioned, refunding it from anyone who doesn't wish to have it. Thank you for your patience and your understanding.
