Welcome to the barnd-new RP forum, made by the very kind Jamie Durrant ![Big Smile [:D]](/emoticons/emotion-2.gif)
. New to RPs, and want to know more? Look no further ... An RP is a role-play. It's based on the same sort of thing as RPGs, which are usually role-playing games for the PC. Basically:
- You have a character which you try to develop.
- There are a few other players in the game too.
- It's a huge world of some sort.
- There is sometimes a quest or underlying story to the game, sometimes not.
Is an RP for you? Yes, if you enjoy playing together with other people, writing stories or imagining events. To give some RP examples:
- A B&W2 RP might see you as a God among men, playing both you, your creature and your people. You might write about building your city, learning miracles, creature against creature, god against god fights, huge epic battles between thousands and anything else in the game. It's sort of like playing it, only more creative.
- A Fable-style RP might pitch you as a lone hero, doing whatever you want. You can go questing, searching for your past, looking for money, or hunting for power - on your own, or with other players. This one would be open-ended, and you can do whatever you like.
- A Dungeons & Dragons RP would have you as a group of heroes, maybe fighting other heroes, but probably with an underlying storyline and end - eg once you've killed the dragon, you've won.
- A space RP would put you in a Freelancer or X2 setting, perhaps, seeing you do quests across the galaxy and rescuing princesses and whatnot. It's really up to you.
You can have any sort of RP. Just make your own, if you want to (or get some experience first). There's a couple of basic rules to any RP, though, to keep in mind:
General RP Rules ~ No Godmodding! ~ You are not almighty. You can't do everything and be everywhere. You have to be realistic and you have to play fair.
~ No Metagaming! ~ Just because you know something, this does not mean your character does. Your character just can't 'know' things he or she should have no right to know, such as knowing where other gods are at the very beginning of the game. Use your common sense.
~ Be descriptive and detailed ~ Make sure each post you make is in your best english and always try to be descriptive. Try to tell us what your doing, whether it be making an army or training your Creature. You can't suddenly have an army of enormous proportions if you haven't commented on it in any of your previous posts.
~ Remain in character and keep to continuity ~ Always try to stay in character for the RP, use the RP discussion thread to talk about things. Also, remember to keep to continuity - don't try to change the past or add to it.
~ Try to stay the same pace with everyone else ~ Don't get to far ahead or to far behind everybody else. Try to keep 'time' in sync with the other players.
~ Use your common sense ~ Again, just use your common sense and be realistic. [EDIT - Lord Terrible] Wow, hot-diggity! An RP forum! This is great
Teh Fight should DEFINATELY be kep out of here at all costs... It has as much to do with roleplaying as bananas have to do with octet streams.
God-modding; Know your Enemy Those unfamiliar with board roleplaying might not be too sure what godmodding is. While they will quickly learn it is a bad thing, they might do it unwillingly or unknowingly. Here are some examples:
[indent]*GenericNewb swings his flail as hard as his strength allows him to, and GenericEnemy is knocked unconscious from the powerful blow to his head* [/indent]This is what happened; GN attacked GE, which is fair, but in the same action he also determined the result on him. This is usually decided by the other player. It's not that you can't harm somebody else, it is just considered ![G o o d [Good]](/emoticons/g_o_o_d.gif)
karma to leave the attack open-ended, ie. leave the other player in control just before the attack is about to hit. Example: [indent]*The bullets were flying from the muzzle of GenericOldbie's assault rifle in a way that resembled a match accidentally dropped in a whole box of chinese crackers. GO was having an increasing amount of trouble fighting the recoil, keeping the firearm levelled at GenericEnemy running some 50 metres away. The rounds dotted the rubble around him with small explosions in dust, but none of them seemed to come really close to GE. GO halted his fire momentaril, realigned, and sent a short volley at a point just before the cover he could see GenericEnemy was heading to...*[/indent] - You aren't invincible. This game isn't about the Heroic Adventures of You. It's supposed to be fun for everybody, including your enemies. If we continue the above scenario...
[indent]*GenericNewb skilfully dodged the hailstorm of bullets from GenericOldbie's nest. Having spotted a nearby wall of rubble suitable as cover, GN dived for it and narrowly escaped a bullet flying past his arm. Now in safety, GN takes out a grenade and throws it at the fortification.*[/indent] Please. That's no fun, GenericOldbie had made such an effort. We're not asking you to take 10 rounds to the chest, but get grazed in the leg at least. Or something. - Modifying/ignoring the actions or intents posted by other players. If Trogdor makes a detailed post describing how he set your thatched roof cottage on fire, don't mess around with time/space to delive a sword to his foot just in time to distract him from the burnination. Or course, n00btards are to be ignored at will.
- In extension to the previous: Don't make your character too powerful. You are supposed to be on an equal standing with your roleplaying peers, as mentioned earlier, not to rule the entire RP. It can be done if the others accept as a part of the storyline, but it still takes an experienced roleplayer (Kaiser for example) to pull it off. It's no fun playing against somebody who can't die, and you might quickly find yourself without the attention of the other players if you abuse your made-up superpowers.
As a rule of thumb, the effect on your environment you can have is proportional to the amount of effort and seriousness you put into doing it. For example, somebody going "I stab Lord T in the stomach and he falls to the floor" will be harshly ridiculed/ignored by me. Somebody writing a 300 word description of a combat sequence with blows being dealt and parried at both sides, ultimately ending with a blade closing in on my abdomen, however, will probably be awarded with a detailed post of how I get stabbed and falls.