Role-Playing Forum - Terms, Rules and Guidelines

Discussion in 'Roleplaying Forum' started by DarkUnderlord, Feb 17, 2002.

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  1. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    I was thinking of starting a new role-playing thread (it had to do with a cloning experiment going horribly wrong and there was a drag queen clone.... Ummm... Jinxed gave me the idea... :wink: ) Anyway, I thought I'd lay out some rules first. So I started writing these but then thought it would be a better idea to just make some overall rules for the role-playing forum in general. So, I think what we should do is come up with anything else we can. Then, compile it all into a reasonably ordered list and get Oyarsa to post a 'sticky' on the forum with the final product. For the moment though, this thread is where we can work on the rules and guidelines that we want.

    ----------------------
    Definition of Terms
    ----------------------

    Thread - The overall topic/conversation/story. That is the whole shebang, all posts included.


    Post - An indiviual reply made by one person to a thread. Good threads are made up of lots of these. Threads where people get flamed also have lots of these as well....


    [OOC]
    Enter your message here
    [/OOC]

    - Out of character. This is used to tell other role-players things that you want to get across. Things such as 'I'm going away for a few days, so I won't be able to post for a while' or 'Hey a***hole, edit your previous post. You killed me you prick, I wasn't meant to die until later you dips**t' or even 'I think we've spent too long in the inn, so I'm moving my character outside. I hope some of you follow. I'd really like to role-play in another part of town.' or perhaps 'Just a question, how are we supposed to kill this monster that we're supposed to be fighting?' or anything else that you might want to ask or tell the other role-players in the thread.


    PM - Private Message. Can also be reffered to as 'Elecktronic Messaging Service' or 'Telegram' if you prefer a more game oriented term. This is a method of 'posting' people private messages. See forum help on how to use it --Link---. It is useful if you want to ask someone a direct question and you don't want to post an 'ooc' message in any particular thread. Especially useful for notifying the moderators when you want a thread or post removed for some reason (Better give them the reason as well, otherwise they may not co-operate).


    --------------------------------------------------
    Rules and Guidelines for the Role-Playing Forum.
    --------------------------------------------------

    1) The Creator has TOTAL CONTROL. That is, the person who started the thread, and therefore created the story has full editing control. If there is a post that they want removed because it doesn't fit their story, they can 'Telegram' the Moderator and the moderator WILL listen to them without question. That way, Nazi Dictators like myself can stop all of the Boneheads like you from ruining our threads :smile:

    2) If your character ends up 'dead' (perhaps someone fought you and said they killed you) Then you are DEAD. You either have to be resurrected by someone (perhaps you could role-play another character who sees the fight and decides to resurrect you or something) OR you can join in the thread again as a NEW CHARACTER.

    3) Please be detailed in your posts. Certainly, there's no need for a marathon of text, but we would all prefer a bit more than:

    "And then some dude resurrected me and I got back in the fight and I shot him and he died." Instead, what might be better:

    A lone dark figure who had been standing in a corner across the room saw my pathetic dead corpse laying on the ground. He waited until the others had left before approaching me and using a revivifier on me. I breathed air again and looked up.

    "Thank you", I said.

    "You are most welcome", came the reply. "I had hoped I might meet you here...." And so on and so on.....

    4) You can role-play as many characters as you want. Ie, If you decide to be a party of people, you can role-play everyone in that party. OR, if you decide to, you CAN play as more than one character. For example you can play a good, staff weilding wizard who is a member of the city guard AS WELL as playing another character, say perhaps a gun-toting techie who is a member of the party that the city guard is looking for. If you do this, make sure it is clear to everyone else who you are 'playing' when you post. Particularly, if you have both characters together in the one post, make sure it's clear who is doing what.

    5) Please sign your character's name (and position, occupation etc..) at the end of your post. That way, we can all be reminded of just what character you are again as well as your position (so we don't forget and have to go look it up in previous posts). An example of this would be:

    Blah blah blah here's my post etc....

    - Joe Bloggs, Captain of the Blackhills City Guard.

    6) No 'All mighty and powerful' characters please. Ie. Don't pop in with 'Thy Ultimate Weapon of Death That No-one Can Dodge [TM]' or don't play 'The Most Powerful Mage in All Arcanum and No-one can Beat me Cause I'm All Powerful So THERE!'. I think we would all prefer just 'normal' characters. We're not against you being a reasonably skilled character, we just don't want God-like, invincible characters that have THE most powerful weapon in the world in their posession.

    7) Have fun and don't be stupid. If any post is made that The Creator doesn't like, you will either be Private Messaged you OR he/she will just have a moderator remove it. Any posts that might have been made in reference to any post removed or altered, the Creator should Private Message those people and ask to alter if necessary. OR put up a post with a bit of [OOC] text explaining what they want to happen.

    :cool: If you have any thoughts, suggestions or if there is anything you'd like to say about the direction of the thread as it moves along, post them in the thread with '[OOC]' and '[/OOC]' around them. Enter your message inbetween the two bracketed OOC's. For example:

    [OOC]
    I want my character to sneak off during this next fight, so no-one attack me directly please. My character is a skilled prowler/thief which will be hiding in the shadows.
    [/OOC]

    Something like this can give other role-players an indication of what you're intending to do. That way, no-one will unnessecarily screw up someone elses post. Of course, what exactly happens is anyone's guess, but if there is a time when you WANT a specific thing to happen, this is the way to notify everyone else.

    9) The stories should loosely based on Arcanum, but there is a bit of room if you want to get creative and perhaps have a new weapon (Eg. Double Barrelled Shotgun) or a new race (Troll, Goblin etc...) or a new anything else you can think of. Basing stories on the world of Arcanum will make things simpler as all of us here should have a general idea of what you're on about.

    10) When you first create a character, give us some details. And not just what they look like. Be a bit more specific in terms of:

    Race - Orc, Elf, Troll, Goblin etc....
    Alignment - Good or Evil?
    Aptitude - Tech or Magic?
    Spells - Teleportation, Fire college, Water college etc....?
    Skills - Lockpick, prowl, pickpocket etc...?
    Weapon(s) Used - Bow and Arrow, Firearms, Axe, Venemous Sword?
    Age - Old, young?
    Physical Description - Tall, short, hair colour, eyes... All the usual guff.

    That way, when other people use your character and reference them in their own posts, they have a better idea of what your character is likely to do.

    11) Overall... Be DESCRIPTIVE. If you are a member of a band of elves, tell us about the other elves. What are they like? What are their habits? What do they do for a living? If you're fighting someone, what weapon are you using? How good are you with it? What weapon is the other person/creature using? What does the zombie that you're fighting look like? Is it hideous? Does it smell? If you're travelling into a new town, tell us about the area, lay it out for us. Where are the inns, the stores, what kind of town is it? Are the people friendly? A decent, solid DESCRIPTIVE post is a good post. Short little posts with little or no explanation or description really don't tell people much.
     
  2. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    I'll stick by that, except for the death thing. What if someone makes a super post, and kills every character? What then?

    Otherwise, great work DU.
     
  3. Sheriff Fatman

    Sheriff Fatman Active Member

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    I'd go with most of it, except the stuff about supplying details. Game mechanics based stuff gets in the way of role-play, I think, and people should infer such things as alignment from you actions, not a sign on your hat.

    Good work DU.

    <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sheriff Fatman on 2002-02-17 10:49 ]</font>
     
  4. Just A Geek

    Just A Geek New Member

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    Two things.

    The death thing. (I'll get to that later, since it's probably going to end up in me rambling)
    And giving out details of the character when you begin. I mean, obvious stuff is fine. (Like if they are a Half-Ogre, that's kinda obvious) But as far as what they can do and stuff, there really is no need to explain all that to other people. I mean, part of what I enjoy about roleplaying is finding out about other characters ICly.


    Now, for the death thing. Not saying this should be be a rule, it is just what I personally do. If you plan on killing someone else's character, first off, don't make it happen in a single post. It's not all that fair. Secondly, me, personally, if it comes down to it, before I actually go about killing someone's character, I try to talk to them privately, to see if they really mind or not. If they don't mind, then perhaps the two of us could work out the 'death scene' together and make for a really good addition to the story.

    Cuz, I mean, for the most part, you aren't playing AGAINST people, you are playing WITH people, essentially creating a story.

    Oh, and one more thing. About whoever starts the thread has total control over it, I am not so sure about. It all depends on the way it starts out. If it's really vague, and there is no real plot (ex. "Let's just form up a party and see what happens"), then I don't think anyone should have control over it. Until someone adds some sort of plot element to it. Then they should be responsible for helping guide the story along. However, if the inital post in the thread already has some plot elements in it, then yeah, they should have "control." Like the thread I started (but got wiped out when the server reset). It began with this female dark elf concocting this evil scheme to blow up a factory. Now, I had wanted it to go like she had managed to escape afterwards... those involved so far would be going after her, trying to track her down and bring her in. But also she would be trying to sabotage them and stuff, and, well, I had this whole grand scheme, but alas, it had to end. Ah well, that's life, huh? :smile:

    Well, I've started rambling. Thinking back, There are probably a couple more things I want to say, so I'm not stopping now.

    Yes, be detailed, but don't be TOO detailed. This isn't some essay writing contest. But if you're posts are getting long, please use paragraphs.

    There can be "all mighty and powerful" characters, as long as they are mainly used as plot devices. Ex, some evil villain the group must overcome, or something like that.


    But, these are just my personal opinions. Not saying anyone has to play any certain way, just the way I like. And note, not all of this is coming from what I've seen here. Just a culmination of stuff that has frustrated me through my years of RPing in other places. :smile:
     
  5. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    No..I am only going to be on the RPG forum now.
     
  6. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    Well then, I think that eliminates any excuses you might have lined up for not writing good posts in a RPG thread then...
     
  7. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    It all sounds good to me exept the Death thing. And with the playing a lot of people. I think it should only be 2 people. Like mabey an evil cahracter and a good character or something.
     
  8. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    I think you're just looking for an excuse to spam Quethim!
     
  9. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    I will make better posts on the thread...I have been doing fairly good so far..wouldnt you say?
     
  10. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    In the past couple of days, yes. I must admit though Quethim, that most of your previous RP posts were either really stupid or almost impossible to follow.
     
  11. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    Okay, from your suggestions, how's this for a revision:

    1) - Alter slightly. If someone creates a thread, the moderator should certainly listen to them (So, no TOTAL unwaveiring, unstopable control). The moderator should not just mindlessly listen, instead, the moderator should certainly respect the thread creator more than anyone else (if an arguement arises)

    2) - Shouldn't be altered, once you're dead, you're dead and you need a plausible reason to have your character appear back in the thread. Ie. resurrection. HOWEVER, we will add in a new part here...

    (Proper sequential Numbers will be given when we've nutted it all out)

    2b) When you kill someone (ie in a post, there's a battle and you attack them and kill them) don't kill them all up in one go. So, don't pop in and start the fight, attack everyone and kill people all in one post *cough* like me *cough*. Instead, arrange it. Perhaps an '[OOC]' message saying 'I'm about to attack and fight people' or something and then the battle should last over a few posts so that everyone ha a chance to 'defend' themselves and fight back. If you then intend on killing someone, PM them and ask if it's okay to kill their character. Perhaps even suggest a way that they can rejoin in the thread (so we don't kill everyone off and are left with no-one left to play).

    3) I re-iterate, be detailed, not things like:

    As it is short, undetailed and makes little sense. Firstly: It wasn't a cart. Secondly: Heard a gunshot and ran down the road, fair enough, but the person is dead? Did we check the body? How do we know the person is dead? Thirdly: Why run into a bar? Why not check the body, call a superior, TALK TO OTHER PEOPLE NEARBY??? Fourthly: Why would a guard do something stupid like run into a bar and yell out a question to everyone?

    In cases like these, the thread creator can exert their influence and ask the moderator to remove the posts. Or, the creator could 'OOC' or PM the offender and ask that they edit the post themselves. How this pans out and what is decided will have to be determined on a case by case basis. But there is plenty of room to manouver and there are consequences should the offender ignore the requests.

    4) - No problems raised so far.

    5) - Okay, so maybe not at the end of EVERY post, but just as long as we know what character you're playing, we should be fine. So certainly, if you play more than one character, this might be necessary.

    6) - There CAN be almighty powerful characters. BUT... Make them few and far between. Ie. Usually, the ONLY almighty character in the thread is the MAIN character that everyone is supposed to be hunting down to kill. Like The Soulreaver in the Soulreaver thead.

    7) No-one has any prob with rule No. 7?

    8) All is 'cool' here.. Heh.. It's supposed to be an 8.. Oh... Let me disable smilies.. There.

    9) Hmmm... I've thought about this... I reckon if someone wants to start up a new thread that is NOT based on Arcanum, then that should be fine. Just as long as they make it clear what story/setting/background there is. Ie. In space etc...

    10) Okay, so maybe not. Details of a character should be gleaned over time. Not announced up front in one great big post.
    11) Ummm... Am I the only one that noticed this rule is the same as number 3?


    Now, any comments or additions to add? Beacsue if this is all okay, I'll type it up a bit better and numbered correctly, then get Oyarsa to post the final result as a sticky. So, are there any other problems before we go ahead with this? Any rules or terms I missed? Anything, ANYTHING we might want to add?

    _________________
    DarkUnderlord
    ----------------
    Moo... Moo... I'm a Troika cow.

    <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DarkUnderlord on 2002-02-21 00:00 ]</font>
     
  12. Just A Geek

    Just A Geek New Member

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    Don't forget the most important rule.

    The Golden Rule: There are no rules.

    Seriously. If the rules get in the way of the story, then bend em, or outright break them, for the good of the story. Not saying that people should just go hog wild or anything, but if it benefits the plot, go for it.

    Now, this applies more to actual game mechanics than 'how to play', but still.

    Okay, okay, so I am just borrowing the idea from my White Wolf books. It's still something to be considered, no?
     
  13. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    You are correct, of course. But never the less, I think we should have at least some rules and guidelines up here so that people who come to this forum can get an idea of what goes on and how they can join in on the fun.
     
  14. Sheriff Fatman

    Sheriff Fatman Active Member

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    Ahhhhhh, that takes me back a few years, to the old "it's not a rule, it's a guideline" quip when people would quote sections of the DM's guide at me.

    "Waddya mean, I can't hear him? I rolled a six!"

    Those were the days.
     
  15. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    I bet my imagination is way better then any of yours. But yes my posts are real dumb. I was and still am a DM for Dungeons and Dragons and my quessts were really good.(I even made an underwater quest). But theres one thing"There are no rules". You can cheat but then again the DM can too.
     
  16. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    Your imagination is probably trapped inside your mind.. SCREAMING to get out....

    You can say that again... I feel somewhat annoyed that after I spend a good solid 10-20 minutes writing a post, you come in with 'Then I shot him and he died' and then change your character a post later.....

    We have only your word... But 'underwater'? Sounds exciting. It must have been very hard to come up with, such a leap of the imagination.

    I re-iterate my previous comment, I do believe we need some guidelines/rules so that if people come in and post stupid things, then they know what's coming to them....

    Plus, newbies won't feel so 'out of place' when they post. They'll have an idea of how the system/process works and how the story flows...

    Actually, we should write an introductory paragraph for people who are new to the forum, where we can explain how it works and how they can contribute. Then they won't feel all shy and scared... :smile:
     
  17. Quethim

    Quethim New Member

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    Do all of you really think I am bad with this stuff?
     
  18. DarkUnderlord

    DarkUnderlord Administrator Staff Member

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    Well... To your credit, you try... But, your posts ARE a little short and they do make little sense even at the best of times. Your characters seem to do things that a normal person in that situation wouldn't. Things like bursting into an inn and blurting out things to the effect of 'Hey, what's going on?'.... I think if you tried just a *bit* harder and realy tried to write a sensible post.. Taking the time to write it out clearly, in proper english, good spelling (actually, your spellings' not bad) but making a post with a bit of GUT in it. Something solid that explains what you're doing, rather than making your character run frantically after the main character all the time.

    I don't know what everyone else thinks. But that's my opinion. Perhaps you just need to put a bit more effort in?

    _________________
    DarkUnderlord
    ----------------
    Moo... Moo... I'm a Troika cow.

    <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DarkUnderlord on 2002-02-21 22:17 ]</font>
     
  19. Jarinor

    Jarinor New Member

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    Well, you don't really think through your posts enough...you almost force other characters to do things which you want done...I think you'd better remember that you're not the DM here :smile:.
     
  20. bryant1380

    bryant1380 New Member

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    I agree, Jar and Dark Underlord. Quethim, you SO totally did not go with my post on Jarinor's newest thread, "The thread which needs a title." DId you not read my post??????? You were a rookie under me!!!! I am playing as the captain of the guard. Now, if you hadn't have wanted to be forcibly put in that role, ya shoulda pm'd me and I would have edited, or change the story so that it wasn't you. BUT YOU DID NOT EVEN FUCKIN' DO THAT!!!! You just made a whole different story. I'm sorry Q, not trying to flame you, but it just kinda pissed me off. You could have told me, and I would have GLADLY changed it for you, but it looks like you didn't even read my fuckin' post.

    But hey, I'm a newbie at this roleplayin' so I'm not gonna say anything. Jar, good thread by the way... I'm enjoying the hell outta myself in it. Tell me if I do something stupid or undesirable.

    [edit]DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry just had to let it out.... :smile:[edit]

    Sorry Q, just got a little hot under the collar. Maybe you didn't even know that was you I was referring to... But I certainly gave enough hints. Cute and fuzzy toon.... Never mind Q, not mad at you, matter of fact, ignore this post, because to your credit, I should have sent YOU a private message instead of assuming that you just "knew" that was you I was referring to in my post. Sorry buddy.




    <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: retard on 2002-02-22 09:25 ]</font>
     
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