Open Role-play, a how to guide. AKA: DOs and DONTs
By
JusticeZero,
Posted on: 2004-07-15 10:11 in Roleplaying
It's interesting that everytime I read a post like this the first thing people start in on is posting in the third person.
Now I've done PBEM games, as well as hosted a game of my own for "Planescape." And I'll admit that I enforced the "For the love of God write ONLY what your character does or says. Unless you're telepathic no one knows what you're THINKING FEELING Etc..." rules
However, I always felt like I was somehow gyping the "Audience" if you will. Granted you don;t need to have a huge long internal monologue on your deepest thoughts on pizza, but on the other hand I think it can serve as a useful tool for character development.
I myself admittidly suffer from what I call "Mental Vomit." In that I want to post everything I can about a character because I LOVE telling a story. I know how to back off if asked nicely however. The problem arises when people do NOT know when to back off. Hence why I think such rules are typically applied. It's not to single a few people out, but its to cover everyone because a SELECT few refuse to play nice.
Still... It's aggravating. But now I'm babbling so I'll hush up.
*Drops 2 coins in the pot*
There are formats where that sort of self serving dialogue is certainly innapropriate, thankfully the bbs isn't one of them.
It would be very odd, perhaps annoying too, to have to listen someone speak both in the first and third person in game the same way they commonly might on the forums... in fact I would look like a complete loony bin in game.
The third person is a wonderful writing tool... not so good when yo are actually, physically... sorta... in the first person.
However, in a way, I covered the only real problem I can guess at having result from this for the forum's open rp with the Objectivity rule.
How difficult would you say it should be for someone to incorporate 100% immunity from someone else's abilities? Because today I was in a scene with someone and they were attacked (with no apparent rhyme or reason that I could see) by some tanker. Said tanker has no powerswhatsoever that would provide resistance to my powerset in game. When I posed trying to stop them from attacking, I got this pose about 'his helmet utterly protects against all psychic attacks.' I quite wish this was an isolated incident, really. Honestly, i'd be pretty gratified if I could get someone to clutch at their head or stumble briefly on occasion, but as a rule, if someone attacks, they attack with utter immunity to anyone else's attacks. If I can't affect someone, and it's not a no-brainer or just me not being the right person for the job when others present are, i'm certainly not going to acknowledge any damage CAUSED BY them, no matter how extreme a stretch it may be..
A no attack "Group-Friendly" Defender is like a "Team Friendly" basketball player who won't dribble, run, or shoot, under any circumstances. "I'm a PASSER."
Just because there are rules doesn't mean everyone follows them. Some people are just plain power tripped or lack the creativity to face defeat. You can either tell them off, ask them to stop, ignore them or simply avoid roleplaying with them... not much else.
On a side note, attacking another player in open RP is typicall poor form. Not always, though. If you do attack someone in open RP, it's ussually best to let them decide the result of your attack... it's kind of a respect thing.
Another less... attractive (but really fun none the less) way to deal with it is to simply take action, disregard the rules yourself and ply for a post the way they do...
"Mindguy97's mental assaults seemed to carry little weight in this losing battle, Tankerl4m3r had prepared and his helmet was of nearly flaless design, sending assaults on his mind bouncing off like tennis balls being thrown against a concrete wall. One last shot, it's all Mindguy97 had in him.
He would make it count. For the final act he snatched a piece of crumbling brick from the wall he propped himself up by and threw it with all the accuracy of an all-star pitcher. A simple clunk, a loud curse and then a gurgling groan.
Tankerl4m3r lay helplessly on the ground foaming at the mouth, his eyes focused on some object only visible to him. At mindguy97's feet, the helmet rolled to a stop; a large dent on its forehead was the period to seal this encounter."
Hey, not much you can do ya know? Some people just can't lose if left to their own devices.
*shrugs* I suppose I could break out the powerposes, it's just the comments like "Total immunity to mental powers isn't a power, it's an accessory" that annoyed me. I'm sure I couldn't get away with claiming total immunity to physical attack as a Controller with no physical defenses mentioned anywhere.
A no attack "Group-Friendly" Defender is like a "Team Friendly" basketball player who won't dribble, run, or shoot, under any circumstances. "I'm a PASSER."
[ QUOTE ]
"Total immunity to mental powers isn't a power, it's an accessory"
[/ QUOTE ]
that's too good, I'm laughing, serious, look at the smiley face! 
Well, at risk to sound like I'm trying to mediate something... when in reality I typically instigate things, I'll tell ya to just pass it off. Don't let it get to ya and live your life however you want yada yada yada jesus loves you.
... But if I were you I would have told him...
******: "Total immunity to mental powers isn't a power, it's an accessory"
Meff: "So you have a gucci bag on your head?"
******: "No, it's a super streangth polymer alloy blend only found in blackholes, I call it noobtronium."
Meff: "I remove your gucci bag and boil your brain inside your skull."
******: "I hit you before you can."
Meff: "I used my invisible snatching hands."
******: "You can't do that, that's not real."
Meff: "Invisible, mind controled hands of god aren't a power, they're an accessory. Now shaddap, your brain is boiling, remember?"
Then send him flame email or... sign him up for weekly religious newletters to his email...
((This is a repost of an old thread I started not long after the game was launched. My intent is to educate you, the forum troll, on proper rp etiquette. People have been great about these, they really have. I am bringing this back again, however, for all the new posters to see. For the most part you're all doing wonderfully and I hope things stay that way. I encourage everyone to read this post even if you followed the thread when it was first started; there are a few new things.
This entire post brought to you out of character.
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.
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.
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 that 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 would 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 telekinesis, Kevin folded the mutant inside out while his psychic abilities drained all knowledge from the monster. Using his blazing eye lasers, he melted the truck that had wrapped itself, futilely, around his skull. From the depths 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 strength.
Ok, the point is. Be incredible, be super, be amazing, and 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, and 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 probably 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 permanently drain your life force. Get it? I hope so... because damn that was long.
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 applies not only to their player characters but their NPCs also. If someone has introduced an npc it might be a good idea to ask them in OOC post or privately by mail if this npc of theirs is something they care about. Discretion is key, sometimes it is very obvious that an npc is simply an extra: meat on the table, perhaps meat that speaks and gives out some story, but meat none the less.
This doesnt mean to play nice. If your character has no respect for others, who cares? I know I dont. What this is, 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.
9. Respect other players regardless of their actions. Previously I spoke of respecting other players characters and stories; now I speak on respecting the player. We all play and play from different walks of life. We are different people with different beliefs, routines, jobs and phone numbers. There are few rules that hold true on the internet but there is one I believe will be present for a very, very long time: somebody will always offend somebody. Even the most PC poster will end up offending somebody. I do it all the time, in many cases I see myself as a grievous offender. I will, however, rarely tell a person to keep it to themselves because what offends one will not often offend the majority (but face it, who gives a crack line about the majority anyways?). This is besides the fact that nine times out of ten the person offending had absolutely no intention of doing so. The key word is tolerance.
Offending a person on accident and deliberately upsetting someone are two very different things. There is a shining difference between the two that sets them apart: you can apologize for something you didnt intend to do and people will accept that.
Everybody is a little bit racist, were all a tad sexist, that guy favors somebody over anybody and some people just plain hate animals. Is it wrong? I dont care, its the truth. Just remember that first sentence there and keep your cool. Make every attempt to be respectful. Don't agree, don't take it on the chin, don't whine about it; that isn't my point. Send a PM or post a reply if you think you must. Just be respectful of another person's valid oppinion and remember that trashing them to the computer screen is fine, just resist doing it to the keyboard.
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 are not rules, they are guidelines. Some are bent, and broken without the play group ever giving a flying monkeys bootockles. Sometimes you simply have to break a rule to keep everyone happy, or at least the story moving. 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.
--SailorMeff
--Jeff R. W.
P.S.- Remeber this guide applies only to the forums, it was compiled for exactly that. This isn't a guide to role-playing in game or on a kitchen table with you friends. That doesn't mean it doesn't apply, though. We can all admit that this is a list of common sense spelled out in caps, that's all it is. But that common sense can help you in game and when you pick up a pencil and start filling in dots.