Sessions take place every other Tuesday from 19:00-22:00 (BST). The full schedule for sessions can be found here. For information on what happens between sessions, see Downtime.
Sessions take place during the time that the Contingency is active in response to some threat. They contain the moment-to-moment action as the ancient network carries out its duty in safeguarding from crisis.
All sessions of Contingency will take place entirely over Discord. Players will be emailed an invite to the Contingency Discord server once the ballot has been completed.
Your main way of communicating actions in Contingency is through Discord messages. There are a number of styles that people usually use for this:
Although you are free to style your messages however you like, we ask that you only use square brackets for OC messages, to keep things clear.
Members of the Contingency are responsible for handling the various disasters as part of a crisis, and this is done through resource management. In Uptime, this is handled primarily through a Discord bot. Players have the power to Allocate resources between different locations within the world: supplying food, building up infrastructure, and helping those in need.
A full explanation, including relevant bot commands, can be found on the Crisis Mitigation page.
IC channels on the Discord server typically represent virtual communication interfaces between Contingency members, or occasionally specific physical locations (named after that location, with interfacing often done through remote means; exceptions may exist). If you can see a channel, you can message in that channel. Some channels may not be available to you at the start of the game, and the list of channels that exist may change as the sessions progress.
To check the description and find what that channel represents, check the pinned messages in that channel.
GMs and crew will be making use of a Discord bot, PluralKit, to play NPCs. These NPCs will have a BOT tag next to their names. Due to how PluralKit works, just turning on the @ option when replying will not notify the one playing them. Instead, if you want an NPC to respond to you, please use the 🔔 react on their message. This will automatically @ the GM or crew who wrote that NPC's message, and make it easier for us to navigate to where we are needed.
You are free to message in as many channels as you wish at once! There is no pressure to read everything all of the time, however, and you are free to self-regulate and mute other channels, only getting alerted if you receive an @. As a result, it is very helpful to draw the attention of other players, GM and crew when you respond to them, via @ing them (if PCs) or using the 🔔 emoji on PluralKit messages (if an NPC).
A place to ask OC questions, discuss things OC, or simply for OC memes.
Each player will have a personal channel at the bottom of the channel list. This is an OC channel just for your use, which only you and the GMs can see. It's a good place to do things like asking your GM something specific (e.g. for a secret plan). If there is something urgent you'd like us to see, please @ your assigned GM (you will find this out when invited to the server), the relevant GM for the topic in question (e.g. they are playing the NPC in a channel you have a question about), or @GM – please use this last one sparingly, as it will @ all 8 of us!
Everyone is free to post on the OC channels outside of sessions, but they will not be monitored constantly outside of session times. If you need to check something with a GM outside of session, we recommend you send an email to gm@contingency.oxfordrpg.com.
Please don't use Discord private messages for IC interactions in Contingency. Private messages make it impossible for us to keep track of what is happening during the game. If you want to be in a private location during a session, please move to a channel which no one else is currently active in.
You may use private messages to check things OC privately with other players/GMs that you do not want to discuss in the public Discord. Do not hesitate to come to the GMs if there is anything making you uncomfortable, we're here to help!
An uptime call (which is neither a video call or a voice call) is a 1-2 word message someone can use during Uptime in various ways, such as:
These are marked differently to IC messages, via the use of square brackets. When an uptime call is used, please respect it immediately.
The full list of uptime calls can be found on the Glossary.
A summary of ways to contact others in Uptime for quick reference: