-Kama-
Posts 414
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PART 1 of however many this takes:
**** This series of posts are in NO WAY to be construed as HARDLINE rules of RoT. They are however to be viewed as common sense aspects tied to online RP play and how an EVENT specificly advertised as an RP EVENT should be handled. ****
---all information posted has come from various online sources and is basicly just copied from there ---
Definitions
Here are several definitions you will often encounter while role-playing.
RolePlay: To assume the role of
RP or RPing: Means Role-play or Role-playing
OOC: Out Of Character or (( Insert text here ))
IC: In Character ( i.e. To resume the role you were role-playing as.
Meta Gaming: using information that was obtained our of character in character. IE: a char out of normal talk range of the rest of the group passes along information the rest of the group that they can not possibly be able to know or hear, OR: automatically calling another char by name because of the IG floaty over their head when said chars have never met or been pointed out to one another.
God Moding: forcing another character into an action not of their own volition (volition: The act of willing or choosing; the act of forming a purpose; the exercise of the will. ) IE:, CharX: *kicks charY in the ballz* VS. *CharX: attempts to kick charY in the ballz*
What is role-playing?
Basically, the words speak for themselves. Role-playing is playing the role of a character/person. In this case that character is usually your own creation. A more detailed expalanation is given below for those of you that still don't get it. If you do understand however, you can skip ahead to the next section.
So lets start off with the word “role”.
Definition of "role": A character or part played by a performer
Pretty simple right? No? Ok, keep reading.
There are three important keywords in the definition given above.
Character: That would be the character you have created and will be playing during the game. It may evolve and change such as all humans do, but you must always remember to play along the lines of what you have written. People don't suddenly decide to go evil one morning.
Part: The part your character will play in the story line. Note that the part you'll be playing isn't necessarily going to be super important and many other people might be playing a similar part too. It's up to you to make it unique, but be careful not to try and be the center of attention. Usually, characters will evolve around the story line more than the story line around the characters.
Performer: That would be you; the player, the performer, the actor. And of course, we all know that to be a good performer we need to know our role/part. *hint* *hint*
On to the word "playing".
Playing:
- To occupy oneself
- To take part in a game
- To act
- To act or conduct oneself in a specified way
- To be performed, as in a theater
- To assume the role of; act as
- To pretend to be; mimic the activities of
- Fun or jesting,
- To participate in; engage in
- And so on!!
Now, you see the many definitions the word playing has? The words in bold type are words you MUST REALLY remember when you role-play. The two definitions started by underlines are the ones that apply to the role-playing context the best.
I hope you get a better understanding of what role-playing is.
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commonly used "expressions" in an online rp enviroment.
* action or emote here * -- the use of asteriks to bracket a players IC emote or action is commonly a universally accepted method.
OOC comments within the game chat and environment --- there are many accepted forms of designating a comment as being Out of Character in online play. the use of a few //, /// at the begining of your statement, or use of doubled up brackets such as (( yakity yak yak ))
Chat use during RP events:
/s or shout:
usually reserved to OOC comments by players, ie: "I am looking for a group to go to such-n-such place", or "Hello all!, its great to be back in RoT today" kinda stuff, Though it as also very handy for DM's to use when running an event and he/she wants to generate interest throughout the server's population, or his players are scattered in several zones and he needs to make sure the entire group gets the info.
/p or party chat:
used for general chit chat amongst a group while playing together. in everyday use this is usually more or less an OOC com line. though in NWN alot of times you'll find that DM's like to have their groups using the party chat for the sole reason it allows the DM to see what players are saying to each other even when the DM is on a seperate board/zone from his group
the downside to party chat is:
1.] that ONLY those in your group and the DM can see/read anything you type, leaving those outside the group lost and in the dark.
2.] It frequently blurs the line between IC knowledge and meta-gaming
Local or Open Chat:
while this is probably the best form of chat for RP, it has the major disadvantage in a DM'd event of only being able to be seen by the DM while on the same board/zone as his group.
edited by -Kama- on 1/30/2010
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-Kama-
*****Retired DM team, forums administrator, custom content creator and manager, & builder.*****
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-Kama-
Posts 414
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Part 2
*taken from another RP site in it's entirety*
System of free form role-playing
There isn't really a system for free form role playing, that's why we call it free form, we have no dices to regulate how hard we stab, slash, punch and kick or how good or bad our luck turns out and so on. Now this may seems complicates, the training wheels from your bike have been taken off. “HO NOZ!!! I'M GUING TO FALL!1!1!!1 WAAHHH!1!1!!”
Really now, calm down.
The way it works is simple to understand and hard to apply but after a while it grows in as a habit so don't worry little ones you'll grow big _some day_ ... I swear.
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So, how do I play "the right way"?
There are four important things you should remember to play a good character/role. This doesn't include all the regulations people can apply to their game.
First off the biggest thing you should always and I say ALWAYS remember to use your sense of judgment. If you tell me you have no sense of judgment please give me a gun and I will shoot myself. We all have a sense of judgment; some just have it less developed than other. Those people need to start off by work on developing that sense of judgment before they get yelled at for being stupid. This is the first and ultimate point a player should work on. If you have a bad sense of judgment you'll never be a good player because you'll never be able to judge a situation in order to react to it properly as you would if it was real. Don't be stupid and use your brain, it's there for a reason!
Second, follow your character's personality traits at all times! If you drift off into traits of character you never had mentioned in the personality part of your sheet before and nothing triggered you to evolve this way people will say you suck at role-playing and they'll ditch you soon enough.
Third and fourth, respect others and play fair! These are very important things to remember when you play. If you don't respect the other players OOC, you're going to have a hard time playing with them, which could and probably would lead to unfair playing because you might want to over power them showing them you're the best. Respect also applies for the DM(s). If you don't respect them then you can say bye bye to your little character they're going to kick you out of the game one way or another and you don't see the face of light ever again!
Lets recapitulate! First, use your sense of judgment to deal with situation wisely while, second, still following your character traits and third respecting your fellow players and DM by playing fair.
When you think about it, this all comes back to something we like to call GOD MODING. If you go against all the four wonderful things I've listed, you end up having an incoherent god moding character and I swear, no one likes that.
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So, how about fighting now?
God Moding - /godmode on
God moding, also known as power play is VERY and maybe TOO common amongst newbies. Don't know what god moding is? Well, I'll tell you and better yet show you.
God moding is consisted of going against all rules and regulations in a role playing game along with disrespecting other members and GMs. Basically, your character is a total god that can't be killed or have a punch landed on but that can take on anything and come out with not even a scratch.
Auto Hits - You die, I winz!
Auto hits are something I've seen one too many times. They really should NOT be used at any cost what so ever never ever ever ever ever!!!!!!! Role-playing is meant to be consensual, this means generally before you even fight in an RP you'd be best to discuss it with the one your attacking (preferably off the board so as to not interrupt flow of RP) and make sure that the opportunity to attack is well chosen. Don't just walk with the player IC being all friendly to turn on him seconds after.
We understand that people might anger you while you play and you might want to attack him or her. Keep in mind that when you attack you MUST NEVER SAY in any case what so ever that you have done any damage to them. Doing so is considered as auto-hitting.
Example of auto-hitting and how to correct it.
Auto-hitting:
Jack swings his two handed bastard sword at Jill's legs cutting them both off.
Auto-hitting corrected:
Jack swings his two handed bastard sword at Jill's legs in attempt to cut them both off.
Never write the outcome of your actions! Instead it's best to state your characters intentions to his actions.
Now let's see how to reply without auto-hitting or god moding.
Auto-hit and god mode reply:
Jill's legs are slashed but not cut off. She runs over at Jack and slashes at him, aiming for his wrist cutting them making Jack unable to hold his sword anymore.
Auto-hit and god mode reply corrected, possibility number 1:
Jill jumps back as she sees the blade of the sword coming at her. Thought she had jumped back Jack's attempt at cutting her legs off fails but instead it manages to slash at her legs. Still standing despite the pain given by the rather deep cuts on her legs Jill runs over at Jack as she screams out a painful battle cry while attempting to slash at his wrists in order to disarm him.
Now you see here that Jill ‘s legs are hurting very badly. This will affect her balance and endurance in battle especially if she gets hit on her cuts again. You must take in consideration the pain of your character for the following posts.
This could also have turned out in the following way.
Auto-hit and god mode reply corrected, possibility number 2:
Jill jumps back as she sees the blade coming at her. Thought she jumped back she soon realized it wasn't enough. Soon enough Jill crumbled to the ground in pain as he legs gave in on her.
This is most likely the end of the battle for Jill. As you've noticed there are plenty of possibilities to make a simple move turn out either good or bad with out having to god mode.
Now let's move on to things you should take in consideration about your character when you fight. There are two main things I will discuss: physics and weaknesses.
Physics
– Damned physics! It's your fault I can't fly!!
People tend to forget about the laws of physics when they gear up their characters. They give them 10 weapons, a big heavy armor and a bundle of random items to carry yet they can still jump as if they were light like a feather and run as fast as the wind.
I understand that some characters might have inhuman strength but take in consideration that not everyone can and that no matter your strength, there is always a limit. This subject touches god moding as well as fair fighting and conscience of your characters state and position. Gravity only pushes down, that's why things fall to the ground.
Lets take a few things in detail now.
Overall clothes and armor: It's always best to research and study on what your character will be wearing, how much it weights and what the movement capacities are with what you plan on making him or her wear.
Knight and armor: If your character is a knight or has a wonderful shiny armor all over him, his armor probably weighs half as much as he does. Knowing that you should remember that this would complicate your character's movement and restrain him from doing certain things. The way armor is pieced together is an important factor to how much your character can move.
Weapons and fighting styles: When it comes to fighting styles and weapons, it's the same thing as clothes. Do your research on the fighting styles and weapons you want to use with your character.
The katana in detail: I've noticed a lot of people liked to use the katana probably due to all the anime they've seen heard of and have been around. I've also noticed that some people were not aware of all the other wonderful Japanese weapons that existed and why they were created. Now well all know what a katana looks like but have you ever heard of the wakizashi? The wakizashi is a sword just like the katana but shorter. It was created for indoor fighting because some have noticed that the katana was too long and that restricted people's movement. Next time, when you choose a fighting weapon try to evaluate if you'll be using it inside or outside in order to judge how much your movement might be restricted.
The sword in particular: A simple sword may not seem that heavy at first grasp after being swung a lot you will eventually grow tired, especially your arm, no matter what your endurance may be. Also remember that thought you may see a lot of people do fancy moves in movies and video games most of the time they will get you killed 9 times out of 10. Even now, the fancy moves in video games are hard to do. I would namely point out Soul Calibur II for Playstation2 and Game Cube as a good resource. Try making fancy moves against the computer when they're at hard or very hard mode. It's not easy... unless I just suck at the game.
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Weaknesses
– I r the invincible!
This also comes back to god moding. All characters and I say ALL character MUST and DO have weaknesses. If you're thinking about making this ultimate character with no weaknesses please give me a liter of Javex or two I feel thirsty.
The lack of weaknesses is one of the major and biggest problems with newbies. They come online thinking they'll be god like people and I blame their ego for it. Just because you are cool in real life doesn't mean you'll be uber strong out on the internet. Now lets take a certain things into detail.
Gods, angels and demons: I've seen a few role-plays out here about god, angels and demons. I personally dislike them due to the people that over do the lack of weaknesses and the huge amount of power given to their characters. Gods, angels and demons are pretty much like normal people, they can die. The only reason they are considered as gods, angels or demons is because of something inhuman they have once done in their existence. Thought they probably have a longer life span and have superb strong points they also have weaknesses. It's a good thing to research on existing gods such as the popular roman mythology gods and Egyptian pharaohs, which were also considered as gods.
Immortals: No matter how immortal you say you are, you should know you aren't. Vampires and undead are usually countered with holy magic and objects or simple sunlight. Thought in some special cases vampires may be countered by other things such as werewolves and may not be necessarily killed with sticks in the heart. It's up to you to do your research. Usual in vampire role playing game the GMs will set up specifications on how the vampires can be defeated.
Weakness or personal issue
– Argh! I'm so scared!!
I've seen people bring up a few “weaknesses” for their characters with out thinking about it too much. Personal weaknesses can be over come and that's why they are BAD! They don't have to be avoided but they aren't things to actually be considered as weaknesses but more as issues and things to make your character more interesting.
Suggested weakness traits:
Elemental weakness - Elemental weakness is the easiest to focus on. If you can blow fire, coldness would likely not appeal to you. Remember, if you're always in the tropics, this wouldn't count as a counter balance weakness.
Counter Balance - You can move quickly, remember that objects have matter. Your brain can't always register and translate data at a fast speed, this means you might hit the tree before you see it. Also remember that speed often associates with lack of defense due to light armor or no armor at all. You can't have both good armor and good speed.
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-Kama-
*****Retired DM team, forums administrator, custom content creator and manager, & builder.*****
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