Open Role-play, a how to guide. AKA: DOs and DONTs
By
Agent79,
Posted on: 2004-05-10 22:45 in Roleplaying
I won't flame you. You were polite, informative and humorous. Props to you. While most of them are fairly common sense type of things, not everyone on these forums has done this before so this probably a good post for newbies to read!
<bump> To a well written well said post. I'm a role playing Idiot and this post opened my eyes in a polite way.
You forgot one, Meff-let.
'Do not give your character god-like abilities.' This one comes in many different flavors, from the obvious to the subtle. A character may suddenly become the avatar of Phobius, god of the sun and wielder of the Nova Flame of Super Ultra Nuclear Pwnage! Or, the character may never take a hit, or get injured, or can shrug off a hail of bullets. Granted, the former is possible, should the char have certain power sets, but I don't think a Controller could take a Mack truck to the dome piece and laugh it off.
Reality good. A certain level of fantastical thinking is necessary, but being grounded makes for a better story. *takes her soap box home for some lovin'* 
"The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you are in the right."
- Mark Twain, Notebook, 1898
and
- Bart Allen, aka Impulse/Kid Flash/The Flash, Teen Titans v.3, #6
Meff-let? Wow, I think only someone I'm dating is allowed to call me that... anyways, you're right, I agree, sort of. Here's my take on it. (oh and if you're interested, I am writting these down elsewhere so they can be saved, updated and reposted in a cleaner less... sarcastic format... if anyone is interested.)
6. Unless the circumstances are very special, your character cannot be god. Not all characters are equal, this is obvious. Some like to play characters who are physically and/or mentally weak. Try it some time, it will make you a more creative role-player when you can't simply swat the throngs of villains into dust by gently whipping your hand to your head, running your fingers through your hair. It is acceptable to be God-Like, but use some discretion. If you decide to be invincible, nobody will want to play with you and your toys because, simply, nothing interesting can happen with you around and there's no way to get rid of you.
DO: "The mutant was on rage, Kevin knew this the instant it lifted the cab of a semi truck and hurled it in his direction. He thought fast and lifted a hand in concentration, the hulking machinery had stopped but inches from his hand, held in mid air by his incredible kinetic ability. With great force he hurled the truck back to where it had been thrown and he was confident the mutant was missing Kevin's talents, talents that ould save him."
DO NOT: "The mutant was on rage, Kevin knew this the instant it lifted the cab of a semi truck and hurled it in his direction. He stood unwavering, letting the machinery slam into his skull with the force of ten thousand moons falling from the sky. Using his telekenisis, Kevin folded the the mutant inside out while his psyhic abilities drained all knowledge from the monster. Using his blazing eye lasers, he melted the truck that had wrapped itself, futily, around his skull. From the deapths of space, he reached his hand through a gravitational worm hole and revealed a rifle the size of a space shuttle. He froze the ground underneath the entire chinese military before him and then raised his hands to the air, letting a blast of wind knock them helplessly to the ground. Using his incredible speed he ran around them in circles, firing his massive rifle, until his speed was so great that the earth rose to consume his prey. A small horse limped by in the aftermath, Kevin healed it and then granted it the mastery of fire equal to ten suns in streangth.
Ok, the point is. Be incredible, be super, be amazing, be down right unbelievable. Impress people, light the sky on fire with plasma, take a full clip of bullets to the chest, crush an army with your psychic ability, call forth the winds and the earth to defeat your foes, cure cancer. Do it all, it makes you a bad mo fo and everyone will be impressed. The trick is, however, do ONE and NOT ALL. Don't be realistic, be reasonable. Everything in the second example is fine... maybe not the horse, but the rest is ok, do it. Just don't do all of it, all of it at once, all of it with a single character. Don't even give him the ability to. Perhaps you are the unrelenting terrestrial incarnation of the fireicelightningearthwaterwindvodka god, Jake. That's fine, you've probobly got a pretty damn good story behind that but you know what? Your powers were capped at birth, or the magic stones that give you power were stolen, or you took a hockey puck to the head and forgot some, or every time you use your abilities you permenantly drain your life force. Get it? I hope so... because damn that was long.
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maybe not the horse
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But I liked the horse 
Very good post, perhaps we could convince someone to sticky this?
interesting...
I think most people should know this before they come here...
<shrug>
Ah well, good post
Some very basic rules, but very good information for new RPers.
On a side note, would anybody mind if I copied the general lists here to post on my site? I think they woudl be a valuble guidline to have, but I will not take other peoples posts without permission 
Sounds good, just remember to post the origional auther as SailorMeff, defender of pride and hope, bastion of all that is good, please send donations to 505 E. Red Her.... yeah take it :P
but you might want to watch out for the horse... it's up to something... EVIL!
Bah, when was the last time a horse tried to take over the world??? Now, Mr. Ed does not count since he was never convicted.
Thanks, I will add a link back the the origional post as well. I think something like this would be good for my help page.
I posted the tips at http://www.coh-fiction.com/help.php
Let me know if you approve and if you think I should change anything. I have a link back to this thread as well if people want more updates.
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maybe not the horse
[/ QUOTE ]
But I liked the horse
Very good post, perhaps we could convince someone to sticky this?
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Ah Contact... you liked the horse... of course, of course...
You cleaned me up fairly well, Meff. I do tend to ramble a bit... *cough*
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interesting...
I think most people should know this before they come here...
<shrug>
Ah well, good post
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Oh, if only that were true, Dark, if only...
"The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you are in the right."
- Mark Twain, Notebook, 1898
and
- Bart Allen, aka Impulse/Kid Flash/The Flash, Teen Titans v.3, #6
I cleaned you up? Jesus, I took maybe three sentances of yours and turned it into a page long addition. 0 0
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You cleaned me up fairly well, Meff. I do tend to ramble a bit... *cough*
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Tries (in vain) to not picture Meff giving Iceangel a bath.
I think this topic needs to be pushed back up to the top. Not that I ever had faith that people had any common sense in them, but I was hoping I'd never have to direct someone to this thread again... oh well.
Time to learn to read Nubcicle!
I reposted these, slightly combined on the First Strike Security forum.
Thanks,
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I cleaned you up? Jesus, I took maybe three sentances of yours and turned it into a page long addition. 0 0
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Yesh, but yours didn't have that little "You stupid wankers" flavor to it like mine did.
"The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you are in the right."
- Mark Twain, Notebook, 1898
and
- Bart Allen, aka Impulse/Kid Flash/The Flash, Teen Titans v.3, #6
Very good post.. How about this adding a rule to be really careful when using material from someones backstory or fics or similar without permission.
For example: If you for have created a NPC-char who is completely unknown to other people for some reason(Perhaps nobody cares, mysterious person, figment of imagination.), someone can't just come in and claim to know this person. It is a private creation and could really screw things up for a planned out char, especially if it's that figment of imagination angle.. =P In other words, don't modify peoples backstories to your liking without the complete consent of the player.
Hope this explanation made sense.. =P
Good rundown of rules - it reminds me a lot of the rules we employed playing on several different ElfQuest themed mushes (no doubt employed on other mushes, as well). It was particularly useful on the ones I played on because there were absolutely NO stats at all for characters, other than descriptive ones, ie no strength, no number representing ability to attack, etc.
Hamadryad
The Survivors, Infinity
I'll add another bullet to the guide for both "in character objectivity" and "character respect"
I'm at "work" right now so I can't type out my long rambling examples.
7. Know what your character does and does not know. Just because you read another persons origin or perhaps another of their open RP threads does not mean your character knows it too. Someone who has posted their origin is telling a story for everyones enjoyment. In most cases, though, the fact is that your character has no idea what another persons characters origin is. Just because you the person read it does not mean that you the fire slinging robot read it. Those of us in table top role-playing refer to this as objective role-playing. The idea is that you are a different person from your character so act that way.
DO: Old Spyce noticed the heroes below her completely unaware of her presence. One she recognized from years back; The Chalk caused quite a commotion when he revealed his claimed source of power to be a radioactive set of coloring chalks, Crayola nearly went out of business. The other two were mysterious, though vaguely familiar. Perhaps their paths had crossed once before?
DONT: Olde Spyce saw the heroes before her unaware of her presence. Each she well recognized. There was The Chalk who had derived his power from a magical set of radioactive coloring chalks, Crayola brand. The Bebop who was really a secret Rikti spy sent to scout Paragon City for weakness, his disguise the elaborate guise of a hero. Jason Schmidt, the dark wielder of time: none knew his true name was Jason Schmidt, but Olde Spyce saw it fit to call him that anyways. As She descended upon the group, she killed Bebop and unmasked him as a Rikti and proclaimed to the world GG I r0x0r.
Some high profile heroes may have certain aspects of their personal story revealed to the public. Some of us on the boards play very high profile heroes whose general origin is no mystery. Others play mysterious characters that, while they may have posted origins for the world to see, are complete mysteries to the city and all those within it. Just sit and think about it
would your character really know that the people he just met took down three hundred Outcasts in bunny outfits last week?
8. Respect other characters for the fact that they do not belong to you. I went over this previously but perhaps this warrants more attention. This doesnt mean to play nice. If your character has no respect for others, who cares; I know I dont. What this is respect as a player for another players character. I already went over how poor form it is to control another players character, but what is perhaps even worse is messing with that character: changing it, manipulating it, shaping it. Do not redefine another characters origin, do not play with their history, and do not claim to have been there because the fact is that you werent. I promise you, you werent there. Theres no example for this, just dont do it and NEVER KILL ANOTHER PLAYERS CHARACTER.
Here's the Rules of Role-Play that me and mine have been using for years. Dead simple, and sometimes damned hard to do.
1. Stop looking at the dice/cards/powers keys. They won't role-play for you.
2. Stop looking at your character sheet. It's a guide, not your character's life. If you don't know who your character is before you set pencil to paper (or in this case, archetypes to database), you won't know it staring at the stats.
3. Stop good role-playing when it interferes with good role-playing. Example: If you are playing a character that is an incredible chauvanist, it does nothing to move the story to be abusive to any and all females in your group other than to slow thngs down and cause hard feelings.
4. If the Story screws your character short-term, let it. It is a Story after all, not your own personal victory parade. The greatest stories have come from incredible defeat and the building back afterwards.
5. Rules are written on paper (or typed in pixels , not etched in stone.
6. There are no "official" answers, only official opinions.
When dice (or whatever we choose to use) conflict with the story, the story wins.
7. The storyteller has full discretionary powers over the session. The caveat to this is when it involves someone's character without their knoweldge or approval.
8. The stroyteller works with, not against, those participating. Role-playing is not a competition. It is cooperative.
9. Most importantly of all...a RP session that is no longer fun is no longer RP...it's a chore.
Granted, alot of these apply to table-top or chat-based RP, but many of them apply. Personally, I hold Rule #3 to be the most important, as it comes up the most.
Your millage may vary.
I would like to thank the OP for this thread. As a bit of a Newbie to the Roleplaying aspect of this game i am very thankful for the tips.
MLK Jr
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
I'd like to add this, not really a rule, more of a guideline.
Spell-, grammar-, and punctuation-check your posts. It does no good to write an awesome story when it is too illegible (or painful) to try to read.
I've seen some really good storytellers with this problem over the years, especially in email and BB format. It's sad.
Together we entered a city of strangers, we made it a city of friends, and we leave it a City of Heroes. - Sweet_Sarah
BOYCOTT NCSoft (on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/517513781597443/
Governments have fallen to the power of social media. Gaming companies can too.
OOC: For open bbs role-play there are a few rules I thought were common place and understood by all, I am apparently mistaken.
1. In your post you may include the reactions of other players to only a minimal amount. This minimal amount is no more then stares, looks, movements and superficial emotional reactions and always in a general fashion.
DO: "Members of the group chuckled to themselves; her comical routine of dancing and prancing about had brought smiles to many."
DO NOT: "Mr. Crowley was obviously amused by her antics, shaking his head and laughing, he told the group he was a frog."
The difference is that in the first you state that some onlookers may have a certain response appropriate to the situation in the second you actually choose the response of the other character. You never make a choice for another players character, especially if you don't fully understand that character's train of thought.
2. You may include the dialogue of characters other then your own, but only when the dialogue is accurate to the character's own habits. Generally, this is something you avoid simply because the end result is you are playing a character that DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.
DO: "Ms. Sharp agreed, and proceeded to tell those around her the story of her capture."
DO NOT: "Ms. Sharp said, "I was captured and it was bad. I am obviously a goat." The party now knew everything inside her mind."
DO: "The man in the black cloak gave a nod and agreed"
DO NOT: "The man in the black cloak said "Yeah, I completely agree with you! I love the taste of minced cat on rice!"
The difference is that in the first, you derive the information from previous posts and allow it to be entered into the "in character memory" of everyone present and you do so without making large decisions for the other player's character. In short, you do not risk putting words into their mouth that they might not actually say. Sometimes you don't want to give their actual response because you don't know that it's the one they will give... when you want to say they will agree, perhaps the character would rather disagree vehemently.
3. If the current story appears to be on an arc, aka things are happening in sequence, there appears to be a certain set of NPCs and the location has been cemented into the story until a change can properly be made at the pace of the story itself, DO NOT change the path of the arc.
DO: "The party of intrepid heroes had just arrived in the fabled city of Glendwynedale, but all was not right. She felt an evil presence in the air that concerned her and immediately voiced her thoughts, 'this place is not safe, and we should leave at once.'"
DO NOT: "The party of intrepid heroes had just arrived at the fabled city of Glendwynedale, but all was not right. She felt an evil presence in the air that concerned her and immediately took action. In a flash of light she had teleported the entire party to the white sandy beaches of Hawaii where they all had Jell-O shots."
The differences should be getting more and more obvious. In the first you leave it open that you dont want to be here, obviously this is part of a story arc which means GO WITH THE FREAKIN IDEA. NEVER alter a location simply to tell a portion of your own character's story. ONLY change a location to further the story and ALWAYS give the player the option of staying behind if the change of location is not imperative to the arc. This kind of change in location is typically the result of the ending or beginning of a new arc. (AKA the decision to change locations to Steel Canyon in our current arc)
4. NEVER KILL ANOTHER PLAYER'S CHARACTER.
DO: ...
DO NOT: EVER KILL ANOTHER PLAYER'S CHARACTER.
NEVER!
NEVER EVER!
It is ok to, sometimes, badly wound another player's character... but very rarely. Always give them an out such as the damage not being real, easily healed, superficial, or sometimes maybe the healer is right there... it's also acceptable for comical value as long as not entirely at the expense of the wounded character. In any case, always make sure that it won't have an adverse effect. NEVER KILL ANOTHER PLAYER'S CHARACTER. NEVER.
5. PAY ATTENTION. Read the posts before you, read the posts entirely, read the posts twice. If you dont know what's going on, if you dont pick up the traits of the characters and the NPCs around you, you wont be able to give a valid or valued post to the open thread... and NEVER KILL ANOTHER PLAYER'S CHARACTER. The point here is that you have to know what is going on and you have to know what the NPCs are capable of (if the NPCs have been described in detail. The general rule of thumb is that if you don't know what you are talking about, don't open your mouth.
Open role-play is a group of people getting around a camp fire and telling a story, improvising their role and their situation as it comes to their turn to play it. Give players a chance to respond. Never tell the whole story yourself. Be long winded, have lots of detail, give lots of dialogue. It's ok! Just give the other players a chance to respond. Remember, these rules... they aren't really rules, they're just guidelines. Some are bent, and broken without the play group ever giving a flying monkeys bootockles. But if you're unsure, follow the rules.
I fully expect to be flamed for this by... someone. It's going to happen, it always happens when you throw down rules. What I'd rather see, however, is some constructive addition or amendment of what I've put down. Have more? Go for it and post it. Etiquette is IMPORTANT when you are dealing with other people. Remember that a lot of us really love to write and we really love the character's we have developed. We tell their stories and adventures, we even sometimes pretend to be them and play out those stories. It's fun, it's why many of us role-play! Just remember that when you are going to be taking action for/on that character. You wouldn't want your neighbor to come over and repaint your car to their likings, it's your car. Don't come over and redefine another player's character, it's their creation.