TF roleplay

[Vanghar]

I couldn't help but notice how a number of people (including myself), have been conducting role-plays on the live chat.

As it is though chat has too downfalls, everyone must be online at once, and doesn't last that long (unless transscripts are kept).

I am therefore suggestion a rp board, so that people can play over longer periods of time, need not be online together, and makes it easier to make long detailed posts without having to stare at the chat window waiting. It may also encourage more people to visit this site, as I have noticed the idea is popular on other boards.

[ocalhoun]

How exactly does such a thing work? I might include something like it on my site.

[Vanghar]

Basically, it is what's know as "Play-By-Post". One person controls the game (The Games Master or GM), and all the other's are players. The DM then describes to the players various events, the players describe their characters, and so I goes on. Kind of like an interactive story. The best way to learn though is to play. Below are some guidelines I constructed on Doc's Lab board.

For the benefit of poeple with no/little experience in RPing as characters and/or DMs. Please feel free to post you own advice, but do not use this for you own petty arguements (as a certain unregistered individual has).


Terminology:

RPG: Role-Playing game
PBP: Play-By-Post (playing RPGs via a forum)
PC: Player character
NPC: Non-player character.
IC: In character
OOC: Out of character, can also be shown as ((text))


Advice to DMs:

1) When creating a game, be sure to give a detailed description of the game, system and premise.
2) Provide a character sheet base you want your players to use.
3) Allow players to submit characters before starting your game.
4) review all character to find/correct any mistakes.

It is you who is tasked with acually running the game. As DMs you post the general events, describe events/locations etc., and control any NPCs. You can also describe things happening to the players (i.e. transformations), and make them perform actions (such as running from and exploding vehicle, who wouldn't). But be reasonable when doing this, do not take sole control of the character as if it was a puppet.

Posting events is not your players responsibilty. They simply state what actions their character performs, how they react and what they say (etc.). Expect their posts to be much shorted than your own.

The only exception is if a player is absent for a while, in which case you commandeer their character as little as possible, making them take the most logical course of action. Do not kill their character.


Advice to players:

1) respect the DM, his/her dicision is final.
2) Do not pre-empt the DM, it is not your game.
3) Detailed and prompt character sheets are preferred.

You sole "duty" is to control your character, nothing more. You can say what they do, how they interract, what they say etc. etc., but you cannot say what events are happening beyond you taking action (i.e. you can press the bomb detonation button, but you can't say it explodes killing everyone). You should also not take command of anything other that your character. You should also not skip ahead a while, adn not give other people a chance to act.

As your posts are mearly your own actions, expect you posts to be short on avergage, unless you are conduction a lengthy speech or describing an action in great detail.

In some cases, you are allowed to have some control over another character, in order to make them perform an action that advances the story.

Remember: this is not your story; do not take command of it.


Advice to both:

Be as descriptive as possible, especially in the tf scenes. It make the game a lot better. For example "I watch as a strange bump starts growing from behind me, which quickly lengthens in to a liong, whippish tail. Green scales appearing over it's length." is a lot better than 'i grow a tail".

In regards to TF sequences, the DM points you in the general direction and can leave you to fill in the exact details, or they themselves can describe it in detail. It doesn't really matter.


As said before, this is advice gained from years of RP experience, not rules. I have no place to do such things. I apologise if I seem to over-impose myself.

The above text is mine. Feel free to copy for personal/non-profit reasons but give credit.