Role Playing Rules and Guidlelines
Mar 16, 2022 9:50:54 GMT -6
Post by Admin on Mar 16, 2022 9:50:54 GMT -6
This is a thread on what the admin expects for writing and posting in this game. Some topics have expanded information on them with ideas on how to avoid certain "writing style" traps that people can fall into.
1. Grammar. Please try to remember to check each post thoroughly for spelling errors and grammar mistakes before actually being posted. Also, it helps to read the post out loud to see if it makes sense
2. Post content. Try and give whoever you are RPing with something to work with. There is no ‘set’ length requirement for a post, sometimes a short post work best. What I do not want to see is a single word reply. At that point try and at least add something like tone of voice or something else like what the person is doing at the moment, be descriptive. If you're stuck and need more to write describe the scenery/setting. Talk about body movements, talk about where the character's eyes are, whether they're paying attention, etc. Keep in mind that if you give people nothing to work with, they have no reason to engage your character. Merely posting in a scene isn't enough. Engage and interact.
On the other end of this, do not over write. No one wants to read a wall of text that gives them no opportunity to act/react. If your character has a lot to say, pause so other players can act/react. And, as with most rules, there will always be that exception here and there, but try and be aware and considerate of your fellow players and not overwhelm them with a wall of text that pushes past any chance of a response from them.
3. Internal monologue. Try not to tell what your character is thinking. Be more creative than that - does it show up on his/her face, does she suppress her thoughts to the point of showing no emotion at all? Giving thoughts is giving away a higher-level discipline for free, so don't do it. And when writing in third party, this is generally not an issue. Other players and NPCs can request/get a dice roll (Perception + empathy) to infer someone's internal monologue, so be prepared, your internal thoughts are not as safe as you think.
4. Don't assume the success of actions. You do not have control over anyone's characters but your own, so don't try to. As in real life everyone reacts to situations and to each other differently and you can’t read their minds as to what they will do in any given situation. For example, your character can call another to come and speak in private, but you cannot assume said character will come. If another player gives consent to another to perform an action, it must be stated in both players forums.
5. Etiquette on Posting. While we have no set rules on order of posting, it is polite to let everyone concerned have a turn. Player one posts, player two posts, player three posts, player one posts, etc. If two people post at the same time, the person who gets the post up last is the one to edit theirs to fit the previous response.
Be aware that many people have limited time or internet access and cannot post 12 times a day. We consider posting your character at least once a day quite suitable.
Please keep in mind hyper-posting between two players effectively silences any other players in a thread, especially those involving more than 2 players. Sometimes, it's better to remove the characters from the group/scene to continue the discussion in a separate thread, and then return once the conversation is settled. Sometimes it is necessary to utilize Downtime for such things. If there is a gap in time it can be filled with a conversation away from the current scene between players. Remember, you want to go with the flow, not disrupt it.
6. Interact with other characters. This one can't be stressed enough. We encourage your character to strike up interaction with other characters. There are always opportunities to join in conversations or scenes already begun and other players will appreciate the richness and depth interaction provides. The more you interact the more the STs can generate ideas and situations for your character.
When interacting, keep in mind that speech is highly important. A character that does nothing but walk around or smile, or sit and listen, or do nothing but internal dialogue that no one else can react to can be very boring indeed and will soon find himself abandoned and alone.
Also remember that you cannot control how other characters react to yours. It would be foolish to have expectations in this regard. Write your character's actions, feelings, thoughts and speech but allow other players the right to do the same for themselves. If their reactions were not as you'd expected, have your character deal with it.
7. Stupid hurts. All character actions have consequences; good or bad, and therefore players should expect them. If you make the choice to write something, you should be ready to live with the fallout that may or may not happen. Remember: Stupid Hurts.
8. The Rudeness of Powerplay. No one wants to play with someone who is best at everything. Not only that, all characters have weaknesses and flaws, just like we do in real life. We frown upon characters who appear invincible and all-powerful – it's illogical, self-centered and bad manners. Not even the STs have characters like that. This is where character sheets really come into play, be aware of what you can and cannot do.
On the other side, power playing is the perpetual victim. We don't like that either. The person always Loosing, getting knocked out and taken prisoner needing rescued every other scene. That is as tiresome as the power gamer.
9. OOC information.Out of Character Knowledge player is a big no-no. You as a player may know something by reading other character's posts, but unless this information is apparent to your character, you cannot use it. This is concern posts that are not yet completed. If you and player “X” are discussing a topic, you may not refer to that topic in any post that follows until that original post is complete.
10. Time line. As a general rule, threads start the day they are made and they cannot be referred to in future threads until they are completed. As such, back dating is allowed if two players are going to get together to discuss what happened in thread “X” or plan what needs to be done after thread “X”. Sometimes it may be more prudent to work out some of these things as behind the scene downtimes other times, staff may move the thread up to a more ‘current’ time and make a note in the initial thread to indicate this, this will most often be related to a plot thread. RP threads that are just that, Rp between two characters, will not be bumped up to a current time frame.
Another reason this is going to be important is there are times when the characters will not be on/at the Caern or in area directly around/near the caern. Sometimes you could be hours away from the caern, which will make traveling back to the caern is not feasible, or back to Omaha in general. At these times characters will not be available to post with players back at the sept til the current thread/plot line they are involved in is completed.
11. Third party writing is a must. Do not use first person. Please and thank you.
12. Out of Character Courtesy. We expect all players to behave like mature adults.
Always keep your character's personality and your own separate. While you may have certain thoughts or opinions about other players, never vent them through in-character actions. Also, never assume that in-character actions mean another player doesn't like you. Don't confuse IC and OOC – the two are not the same. Even if you do have a problem with someone OOC, don't take it out on their character. If you have an IC issue with another player that you cannot solve in a mature, neutral, diplomatic fashion, please contact a moderator. While we do want the game to be fun for everyone, we realize that sometimes players can disagree. We have OOC threads for communication between players. It's better to use them than to add an OOC comment to a character post. We expect no profanity, flaming or shouting to be directed at another player OOC – it's unnecessary and immature.
Fruitful discussion and on the spot problem-solving between players is highly encouraged. This cannot be stressed enough. Passive-aggressive is no less aggressive than shouting. Do not sit and assume all will be well, or fume in silence rather than bring up a sensitive or frustrating subject. Bring up any concerns or issues to staff if you feel a third party is needed to intervene in an issue.
Finally, understand that this is a role-playing game. We want you to feel welcome and have fun here, but we also want other people to feel the same and in order for that to happen we all have to be on the same page and try to do the best we can as far as posting goes. No one is perfect and we don't expect you to be. If you are struggling with your character, get with the staff and we can try and help you figure out a way to redirect your character.
1. Grammar. Please try to remember to check each post thoroughly for spelling errors and grammar mistakes before actually being posted. Also, it helps to read the post out loud to see if it makes sense
2. Post content. Try and give whoever you are RPing with something to work with. There is no ‘set’ length requirement for a post, sometimes a short post work best. What I do not want to see is a single word reply. At that point try and at least add something like tone of voice or something else like what the person is doing at the moment, be descriptive. If you're stuck and need more to write describe the scenery/setting. Talk about body movements, talk about where the character's eyes are, whether they're paying attention, etc. Keep in mind that if you give people nothing to work with, they have no reason to engage your character. Merely posting in a scene isn't enough. Engage and interact.
On the other end of this, do not over write. No one wants to read a wall of text that gives them no opportunity to act/react. If your character has a lot to say, pause so other players can act/react. And, as with most rules, there will always be that exception here and there, but try and be aware and considerate of your fellow players and not overwhelm them with a wall of text that pushes past any chance of a response from them.
3. Internal monologue. Try not to tell what your character is thinking. Be more creative than that - does it show up on his/her face, does she suppress her thoughts to the point of showing no emotion at all? Giving thoughts is giving away a higher-level discipline for free, so don't do it. And when writing in third party, this is generally not an issue. Other players and NPCs can request/get a dice roll (Perception + empathy) to infer someone's internal monologue, so be prepared, your internal thoughts are not as safe as you think.
4. Don't assume the success of actions. You do not have control over anyone's characters but your own, so don't try to. As in real life everyone reacts to situations and to each other differently and you can’t read their minds as to what they will do in any given situation. For example, your character can call another to come and speak in private, but you cannot assume said character will come. If another player gives consent to another to perform an action, it must be stated in both players forums.
5. Etiquette on Posting. While we have no set rules on order of posting, it is polite to let everyone concerned have a turn. Player one posts, player two posts, player three posts, player one posts, etc. If two people post at the same time, the person who gets the post up last is the one to edit theirs to fit the previous response.
Be aware that many people have limited time or internet access and cannot post 12 times a day. We consider posting your character at least once a day quite suitable.
Please keep in mind hyper-posting between two players effectively silences any other players in a thread, especially those involving more than 2 players. Sometimes, it's better to remove the characters from the group/scene to continue the discussion in a separate thread, and then return once the conversation is settled. Sometimes it is necessary to utilize Downtime for such things. If there is a gap in time it can be filled with a conversation away from the current scene between players. Remember, you want to go with the flow, not disrupt it.
6. Interact with other characters. This one can't be stressed enough. We encourage your character to strike up interaction with other characters. There are always opportunities to join in conversations or scenes already begun and other players will appreciate the richness and depth interaction provides. The more you interact the more the STs can generate ideas and situations for your character.
When interacting, keep in mind that speech is highly important. A character that does nothing but walk around or smile, or sit and listen, or do nothing but internal dialogue that no one else can react to can be very boring indeed and will soon find himself abandoned and alone.
Also remember that you cannot control how other characters react to yours. It would be foolish to have expectations in this regard. Write your character's actions, feelings, thoughts and speech but allow other players the right to do the same for themselves. If their reactions were not as you'd expected, have your character deal with it.
7. Stupid hurts. All character actions have consequences; good or bad, and therefore players should expect them. If you make the choice to write something, you should be ready to live with the fallout that may or may not happen. Remember: Stupid Hurts.
8. The Rudeness of Powerplay. No one wants to play with someone who is best at everything. Not only that, all characters have weaknesses and flaws, just like we do in real life. We frown upon characters who appear invincible and all-powerful – it's illogical, self-centered and bad manners. Not even the STs have characters like that. This is where character sheets really come into play, be aware of what you can and cannot do.
On the other side, power playing is the perpetual victim. We don't like that either. The person always Loosing, getting knocked out and taken prisoner needing rescued every other scene. That is as tiresome as the power gamer.
9. OOC information.Out of Character Knowledge player is a big no-no. You as a player may know something by reading other character's posts, but unless this information is apparent to your character, you cannot use it. This is concern posts that are not yet completed. If you and player “X” are discussing a topic, you may not refer to that topic in any post that follows until that original post is complete.
10. Time line. As a general rule, threads start the day they are made and they cannot be referred to in future threads until they are completed. As such, back dating is allowed if two players are going to get together to discuss what happened in thread “X” or plan what needs to be done after thread “X”. Sometimes it may be more prudent to work out some of these things as behind the scene downtimes other times, staff may move the thread up to a more ‘current’ time and make a note in the initial thread to indicate this, this will most often be related to a plot thread. RP threads that are just that, Rp between two characters, will not be bumped up to a current time frame.
Another reason this is going to be important is there are times when the characters will not be on/at the Caern or in area directly around/near the caern. Sometimes you could be hours away from the caern, which will make traveling back to the caern is not feasible, or back to Omaha in general. At these times characters will not be available to post with players back at the sept til the current thread/plot line they are involved in is completed.
11. Third party writing is a must. Do not use first person. Please and thank you.
12. Out of Character Courtesy. We expect all players to behave like mature adults.
Always keep your character's personality and your own separate. While you may have certain thoughts or opinions about other players, never vent them through in-character actions. Also, never assume that in-character actions mean another player doesn't like you. Don't confuse IC and OOC – the two are not the same. Even if you do have a problem with someone OOC, don't take it out on their character. If you have an IC issue with another player that you cannot solve in a mature, neutral, diplomatic fashion, please contact a moderator. While we do want the game to be fun for everyone, we realize that sometimes players can disagree. We have OOC threads for communication between players. It's better to use them than to add an OOC comment to a character post. We expect no profanity, flaming or shouting to be directed at another player OOC – it's unnecessary and immature.
Fruitful discussion and on the spot problem-solving between players is highly encouraged. This cannot be stressed enough. Passive-aggressive is no less aggressive than shouting. Do not sit and assume all will be well, or fume in silence rather than bring up a sensitive or frustrating subject. Bring up any concerns or issues to staff if you feel a third party is needed to intervene in an issue.
Finally, understand that this is a role-playing game. We want you to feel welcome and have fun here, but we also want other people to feel the same and in order for that to happen we all have to be on the same page and try to do the best we can as far as posting goes. No one is perfect and we don't expect you to be. If you are struggling with your character, get with the staff and we can try and help you figure out a way to redirect your character.
icon in the bottom right bar (may not be applicable if you're on Forums.net), or you can disable the welcome window and/or the icon by going to Plugins > Manage > Custom Mini-Profile Creator and changing the Show Help option.
