Prelude: What is Jumpchain?
Hello, my name is YJ_Anon. Some of you probably already know me; if that's the case then please feel free to skip ahead to the next chapter to get to the actual story. This chapter is meant to serve as an explanation of Jumpchain for those who are unfamiliar with how it works, and is most likely old hat for those who know what it is.
Jumpchain is a series of CYOAs, which stands for Choose Your Own Adventure. While other CYOAs come in the form of books- including some of the Goosebumps novels- and include their own stories, Jumpchain CYOAs are essentially games that you play to create your own story; a writing prompt, basically. You may roll dice to determine certain things- in Jumpchain this often includes your starting location, age, and sometimes other details- but for the most part you're making your own decisions on what you do or what you have. Each individual CYOA in Jumpchain is commonly referred to as a "Jump"; a single Jump document typically covers a single series or property. We have over a thousand of them, ranging from Avatar: The Last Airbender to Zootopia, and each one typically shares a common format that makes them easy to use and understand once you get the hang of them.
Jumpchain was created by an anon on 4chan's traditional games board (/tg/) called Quicksilver. Although 4chan has evolved quite a bit once the community grew, the core of Jumpchain remains the same. The basic premise is that there is a person- called a Jumper- who is offered a deal by a mysterious benefactor, sometimes referred to as Jump-chan. The Jumper is often a self-insert for the person who is playing the CYOAs- as is the case in my story- but there are also those who use original characters or canon characters as their Jumper.
Jump-chan is bored by the lack of adventure in the Jumper's world, and offers to send the Jumper to another world for ten years to help alleviate their boredom. Pokemon is typically the first world visited, but here I've decided to use Resident Evil instead. In order to give the Jumper an advantage in the world they're visiting, Jump-chan gives them 1000 Choice Points which can be used to buy things in the Jump document. Supernatural abilities, skills, and other perks can all be bought with CP, as can items such as firearms, buildings, vehicles, and even things like food or knick-knacks. Followers and companions can also be bought with CP, though it is commonly ruled that in order to recruit canon characters they must decide to follow you on their own, in addition to paying CP for them.
Companions are those the Jumper decides to bring with them on their journey. Followers are the same; however, they are different from companions, and are not always able to use certain options that companions can use. Commonly, a Jump will allow you to "import" a companion, giving them their own CP to spend as well as an Origin. An Origin is basically a backstory; it gives them a history in the world they're in, with memories to go along with that, but can also come with disadvantages. The exception to this rule is the "Drop-In" origin, which is essentially your standard Isekai option- the Jumper or companion suddenly appears in the world, with no history or memories of having lived there before, with everything that they've purchased already on their person or a part of them. Because my Jumper chose a non Drop-In Origin, for the first few chapters he'll essentially have amnesia in regards to his past life- only remembering the life he's lived in the world of Resident Evil, and not the one in "our" world.
While most options in a Jump are beneficial, the Jumper can also take drawbacks to get more CP. Drawbacks are negative things that happen during their time in a world; things like permanently missing a limb, being hounded by enemies, facing a particularly powerful enemy, losing your powers, gaining a weakness, having bad luck, or having to accomplish a certain task are common. A Jumper's stay in a world lasts ten years in most cases, so it's important to consider your options carefully.
If the Jumper dies during those ten years, they are sent home- all of their purchases going with them. If they survive, they are offered a choice- they can either stay in their current world, go back to their original world, or continue onto the next world. Any option they pick will allow them to keep the purchases they made with CP; however, if they decide to go to a new world, the Jumper will get a new stipend of CP to spend on additional purchases, while also keeping the things they got before.
Jumpchain is a cycle; the Jumper picks a Jump, gets CP to spend, and goes to the world that the Jump covers. When they decide to move on to the next Jump, they get more CP, which means more power and another ten years in a new world. The cycle repeats with the Jumper visiting more and more worlds, becoming gradually more skilled and more powerful. Once the Jumper is done collecting power, they go to an End Jump- a final challenge. If they die, like before they return to their own world. If they succeed, they unlock the power of their Spark- a power that allows them to travel to different worlds on their own, without Jump-chan having to send them there. They also gain a massive boost in power.
In addition to regular Jumps, there are also supplements that are available to use. The most commonly used supplements are those that were made by Quicksilver, called the Body Mod and Cosmic Warehouse. The first allows the Jumper to redesign their body; the other allows them to create a space that follows them where they can store the things they've obtained. When Pokemon is taken as a first Jump, Body Mod and Cosmic Warehouse are the rewards for successfully completing it. What happens when Pokemon isn't taken first is usually left up to interpretation; in my case, I've decided to use Body Mod along with the Resident Evil Jump, with Cosmic Warehouse being the reward for if my Jumper successfully survives the Resident Evil world.
There are also Gauntlets, which are basically Jumps where the Jumper loses all of their powers, items, their Cosmic Warehouse if they have one, as well as all their companions until the Gauntlet is over. A Gauntlet is a challenge where dying doesn't result in the Jumper being sent home; however, they won't gain anything from the Gauntlet either, instead moving onto the next Jump or Gauntlet. In a Gauntlet, the Jumper has only their Body Mod body and their skills and wits to survive with. They start with no CP, and drawbacks are usually their only source of CP; there are things to buy as normal, though.
Ultimately, the best way to learn about Jumpchain is to try it out for yourself and ask questions in the communities that are familiar with it, since there's too much history and minutiae for me to cover more than the basics here. I'd recommend trying out the Pokemon Jump first, since it goes over the mechanical side of Jumpchain in more depth. While in my opinion the Jumpchain thread on /tg/ is the best place to get information, there are also threads on other websites such as Spacebattles and Reddit. I'm fairly experienced with Jumpchain myself, and have made several Jumps including my first one, Young Justice, which is what the YJ in my name stands for (in case you were wondering what that was about), so I will also be able to answer questions here if you ask.
Thanks for reading this introduction, and I hope you enjoy the story that follows it!