Traditional versions of The Program tell the story of a single instance of the government-enforced death game. PV3, however, will tell the stories of two consecutive games, tracing developments in the overall plot of the Program world.
The final Program of 2025, hosted in mid-December, saw a number of seniors drawn from National Summit Academy in Denver, Colorado, selected. The game progressed normally for roughly the first forty-eight hours, but at that point was interrupted by an operation from armed forces hailing from the United Kingdom. These agents caused severe damage to the infrastructure of the arena, and rounded up the bulk of the surviving students, spiriting them away to the UK.
The loss of the students represented a significant public black eye for the American regime, even as it was claimed that the cowardly British had swooped in and disrupted The Program by executing all those participating. Unwilling to let the failure define this iteration of The Program, the American government, roughly a month later, responded with a retaliatory strike, kidnapping a class from the UK and placing them in the same arena, now restored to functionality. The message was clear: if the UK took objection to what America did with its own citizens, then some of the UK's would take their place.
While in eras past, this sort of metaplot might play out in Announcement fluff or some staff-written fashion, we're trying things a little differently this time. Handlers will be able to participate in both of the Program versions taking place.
The first version, featuring the characters from National Summit Academy, will not resemble a traditional Mini version except in plot and certain mechanics. The run time will be comparatively brief, and it will launch slightly before and run alongside Sandbox for the primary version, which will feature the students from the UK (whose version which will be the official PV3, and play out like any other Program game. You can think of the Prologue version as something like PV2.5). Moreover, this game will not include rolls. Its conclusion is known from the start. Two days into the version, right before the fourth announcement, it's stormed by British troops and surviving characters are rescued (or choose to remain behind, though any students who do so are summarily executed by the American cleanup force to silence witnesses). Afterwards, surviving students will have to grapple with their new situation and the loss of all that is familiar to them.
Characters for the first game will not require traditional applications, and will instead use a special, streamlined profile. Critiques will be quick and somewhat minimal. Certain topics or themes will be disallowed due to this.
Each handler may have only one character survive until the rescue, and to be counted among the survivors a character must have at least ten IC posts. Each handler may, however, roleplay up to two primary characters at any given time, and upon the death of one of their characters, may replace them with another. Furthermore, they may have one additional NPC (defined here as a character who scores no kills, lives for fewer than ten posts [all in a single thread], and does not survive) at any given time. NPCs will not be required to have profiles (though such are still allowed). If you'd rather have one primary character and two NPCs, or three NPCs, that's fine. If you change your mind about a character's NPC status and want to promote them, that's fine, so long as you fill out and get approved a profile at that time and so long as doing so does not leave you with more than two primary characters.
Handlers will be allowed to participate in both the Prologue version and PV3 proper or exclusively in either one of the versions, as they desire.
We'd like to take a moment to discuss our philosophy and rationale for the way we're handling PV3, as well as to preemptively address a few likely handler questions. The Program universe has historically struggled in some ways to define itself as a unique experience when compared to TV and Second Chances. The metaplot of the version seemed most ripe for exploration, especially given that we've already seen it as a reactive universe (the introduction of collars in PV2 being an example of this). At the same time, the comparatively-extreme nature of the universe has led to the ascendance of certain themes and tropes, which have proved periodically problematic.
We feel that the current setup should provide the best of both worlds in a number of ways. Handlers interested in the themes historically prevalent in The Program still have ample opportunity to explore them, as the characters in the Prologue version still hail from that culture. Moreover, there will be greater opportunity to challenge those themes, both in the context of characters being removed from their home society and learning how the rest of the world operates, and in the context of outsiders being brought to Program America and seeing it through their own lenses.
We also feel that providing an opportunity for canon Program-verse roleplay outside of the standard games is a worthwhile endeavor. In a way, this is a test for a new, much more interactive mode of handling things like the test runs from Main or organizations like STAR (that said, there are no plans for the rescued students to become Program's STAR). While the plot is still driven by staff's plans and desires, handlers are given the opportunity to participate with a great deal of freedom, shaping elements of the plot as they like. While many plot elements will remain the purview of staff, we hope to allow greater handler control and participation going forward.
A few things this does not mean:
- This does not mean that no escapes from The Program will be considered. Escapes remain as possible (yet difficult) as always, even in PV3 proper. That said, be advised the universe of The Program is not one that is particularly amenable to escapes.
- This does not mean that every Program version henceforth will have some big metaplot movement or some extra element. PV4 may be back to business as usual. It may feature some wholly different RP hook.
- This does not mean that the survivors of the Prologue version will, in the long run, have meaningful plot involvement or matter to the universe. It's possible, but not super likely, especially as it would require handler buy-in (which is to say, we're not going to NPC-ify these characters without approval, and we're not currently planning much opportunity to do stuff with them after PV3 closes, though this is always open to change).
What you need to know:
Prologue version characters are all Seniors from National Summit Academy in Denver, Colorado. Denver is a large city in close proximity to Colorado Springs, the latter of which hosts major military installations including NORAD and the Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Bunker, created to protect government elites in case of nuclear war. National Summit Academy, despite its prestigious-sounding name, hosts a very mixed population. Some students are the children of elite military families, but others are struggling students or troublemakers the system is hoping to slap into shape. This leads to the school's performance averages being unremarkable, though it tends to a wider divergence from the mean than might be expected.
Characters submitted for the Prologue version will use the following abbreviated template:
Code: Select all
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Height:[/b]
[b]Weight[/b]
[b]Eye Color:[/b]
[b]Hair Color:[/b]
[b]Kills:[/b]
[b]Weapon:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Interests:[/b]
[b]History:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Reputation:[/b]Staff are going to be liberal with approvals here—this is not a full-on SOTF application experience. That said, due to this we are asking that certain topics not factor into character histories, as we're not going to be vetting them as thoroughly. No physical or sexual abuse, sexual assault as victim or perpetrator, or major self-harm. We're not going to be compromising on this—it'd take too much in the way of staff resources given the scope of the version—and we reserve the right to add to the list.Name: Your character's name. First, last, and (optionally) middle.
Gender: Your character's gender.
Age: Your character's age. This should be 17 or 18 assuming normal progression, with up to a year's variance to account for being advanced a grade or held back a grade.
Height: Your character's height. Imperial units, please (This is, after all, America), though you may additionally provide metric measurements if you so desire.
Weight Your character's weight. Once again, Imperial units are a must, metric may optionally be added too.
Eye Color: Your character's natural eye color.
Hair Color: Your character's hair color. If this differs from their natural color, note both.
Kills: How many kills your character scored/will score in the Prologue version. The options are as follows:You may increase this number later, but only with permission and discussion from the staff team as a collective. You may decrease it at will, without any need for approval. If you really, really want to write someone with more than three kills, you'll have to sell staff on it. This will be a hard sell. Staff reserves the right to make the higher kill categories unavailable if they become too popular.
- One or None: Your character either killed nobody, or just a single classmate.
- Two: Your character killed two classmates.
- Three: Your character killed three classmates.
Weapon: Your character's assigned weapon. Please check all other characters and the master list to make sure you don't duplicate. Staff reserves the right to veto stuff and to bar categories (guns, knives, etc.) if they become too prevalent.
Appearance: A brief paragraph detailing your character's notable physical features, clothing preferences, etc. Please include the outfit they were wearing on the date of their selection. This day was a December day in Colorado. There was snow on the ground, though it was largely melting, and the temperature was somewhere in the range of 34-40 degrees Fahrenheit, though much warmer indoors.
Interests: A brief paragraph explaining what your character likes to do, what they like about these activities, and when and how they got involved with them. Please make sure you have at least two or three distinct activities.
History: A brief paragraph or two hitting on your character's life thus far, including notable incidents and any relevant family circumstances.
Personality: A brief paragraph about how your character acts, what sort of person they are, how they feel about the world, and so on.
Reputation: A brief paragraph explaining how your character is generally regarded by the population of the school, as well as whether there are factors which complicate the accuracy of this assessment.
The Prologue version will have a brief applications period, then will open with a thread detailing characters' selections, which all characters may participate in. There will be a single memories forum for pre-arena flashbacks. The Prologue version will advance at roughly one twelve-hour period per real life month. It will end with a single thread detailing the students' rescues.
To survive, a character must have at least ten posts, of which at least five must be in-game (meaning up to five can be memory). They must also be confirmed in the final thread. We're limiting it to one survivor per handler. Adoptions will be allowed for the Prologue version, though activity will not be enforced and thread limits may be looser. However, for purposes of survival eligibility, adoptions will not be considered; you can't give someone else one of your characters to sneak two out. NPCs, as defined above, are ineligible to survive unless commuted to full characters.
Following the conclusion of the Prologue version, another board will be opened to detail the lives of the rescued students in hiding in a UK safehouse. This will run concurrently with PV3 proper, until at least the start of Endgame (though potentially longer).
Sandbox for PV3 proper will start soon after the Prologue game, and run alongside it. This will follow a much more traditional procedure, feature regular profiles and critiques, etc.
Characters for PV3 proper are from Saint Editha Academy in the village of Bellington in the UK. Bellington is a village somewhat isolated from major population centers, boasting roughly twenty thousand residents. The characters will be abducted en route to a shelter during an American bombing raid. Further information on the state of the UK in the Program universe, Bellington as a setting, and Saint Editha Academy (including details on the school uniform) will be forthcoming in following weeks.
None of this is launching just yet—we're still compiling the arena (which will serve double duty) and pulling together some final details (including information on the UK school and some further details regarding the Prologue game). We're announcing this now, however, so that handler questions and concerns can be addressed in advance, and so that handlers can start concocting concepts, since there's a good chance stuff already thought up for PV3 based on past versions may not be a smooth fit.
We're tentatively looking to begin the Prologue version in four to eight weeks, with the actual version applications opening a month later, but this is all very subject to change and delay, as is everything on SOTF. Similarly, some setting/template/plan details may be changed or amended according to feedback, staff pique, etc.
As you've likely noticed, this stuff is actually happening now but it didn't seem worth rewriting the whole huge post so here it is in a more convenient location but otherwise unchanged.