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Offline Draconium

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RP Help Desk
« on: December 17, 2008, 11:41:22 pm »
How To RP: A Tutorial On The Fine Art Of RP’ing


NOTE! THESE ARE NOT RULES BUT GUIDELINES TO HELP YOU BE A BETTER RP PLAYER

Note! This article concerns itself with forum based text role plays. Though other types of role plays exist; they are beyond the scope of this article.

What is RP’ing?

RP’ing stands for Role Playing. You assume the role of a character from a videogame, movie, book, anime, or their own character (known as an OC, short for Original Character)  and you interact with the other posters who have done the same via forum posts. The interactions build a story around a basic framework set by the creator of that RP, who is known as the Gamemaster (GM for short).

Your first RP:

To find an RP that appeals to you, look through the forum. It is best to look in the actual RP topic to best get the “feel” of it.

To join, first make sure that the RP is still open for registration. If it is, sign up with your character using a character profile. GMs may have varying formats for their character profiles, so check carefully before signing up. Note that some GMs may require your character to be approved by them before you can post.

Once you have been approved or once you have made your character profile if approval is not needed you may now post your first in-character (IC for short) post.

In-Character Posting:

Remember, when you post IC, you are no longer yourself but that character. When you react to something in game, you should react as your character would, notas you would.

Example: If you are a lighthearted person but your character is unfriendly.

Your IC posts should reflect this. You shouldn’t be posting about your character having a friendly conversation with another character but you should be posting about your character ignoring other characters or insulting them.


Bear in mind that you (as the player) may know something that your character doesn’t.

Example: Your character passes by another character. You know from the latest post that the character has a pistol concealed in his jacket. But your character does not know that.

Without a good reason to find out (the other character draws his pistol and starts shooting or it falls out of his jacket); your character doesn’t know that the character he passed is armed.


Another thing is: BE AWARE of your character's physical limits and be realistic (to the RP's setting).

General posting guidelines:

Post in the third person. First and second person should be restricted to IC dialogue.

Type out your actions instead of setting them off with asterisks or some other punctuation mark.

Example: He kicked down the door vs. *kicks down the door*

You should ALWAYS leave your interactions with other characters open ended. This allows the other players to respond as they please.

Out of Character Posting:

This refers to you posting as yourself. Generally, this is restricted to communicating with the other players. It is usually set off from IC posts with the tag OOC (short for Out Of Character) and by parenthesis.

Etiquette:

The most important thing to remember is that GMs have supreme authority in their RP. If they tell you something is disallowed, do not argue with them. It is disrespectful and you can get in trouble if they report you to the staff.

Also, GMs can eject unruly or disruptive players. If you have been ejected from an RP, do not post in it. If you do post in it, the GM can report you to the staff and you can get in trouble.

Regarding posting, do not hurl your character into an action sequence and leave them there. If you must take a break isolate your character from the rest of the others.

Godmoding (also but incorrectly called godmodding) – this covers a wide variety of behaviors. This behavior is usually considered to be very rude.

Passive godmoding: this consists of warping events to your benefit when the RP doesn’t go the way you like it. It can also refer to the creation of an extremely strong or downright invulnerable character or gifting a character with perfect equipment or abilities.

Arbitrarily giving your character new powers is a form of passive godmoding.

Active godmoding: this is broken into 2 types:

Autoing: This refers to interacting with another player’s character or an interactive object and deciding the outcome. Although this mostly appears in combat, it can show up in dialogue in the form of one player “putting words in the mouth” of another player’s character.

Example: Character A throws a knife at Character B, killing him.
This phrasing does not allow the player who plays Character B to do anything.

The appropriate phrasing is: Character A threw a knife at Character B.
This phrasing allows the player who plays Character B to dodge or take the hit.

Character-Jacking: This refers to taking control of another player’s character. (NOTE: This maybe done if consented to by the player who's character is being taken control of. However, it is extremely rude if done without consent.)

Note: Godmoding may not be prohibited by the GM's rules. Remember, GMs set the rules for their RP.

________________________________________________________________________________________
Update log:

12/20/08 (20:01 - 8:01 PM) - Added extra info on "Character-Jacking" [(NOTE: This maybe done if consented to by the player who's character is being taken control of. However, it is extremely rude if done without consent.)]

5/7/09 (21:31) - Added extra info.
________________________________________________________________________________________


Let me know if something needs to be added or if you have any questions.

« Last Edit: May 07, 2009, 09:32:07 pm by Draconium »
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Offline Kobuk

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Re: How To RP: A Tutorial On The Fine Art Of Rp’ing
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2008, 01:26:22 pm »
Adding a staff post here to let all members know that when you role play (RP), that all rules be followed for role playing which are here:
http://forums.furtopia.org/index.php?topic=42811.0
.......and also the main Furtopia Rules located here:
http://forums.furtopia.org/index.php?topic=42607.0
While the Gamemaster is in control of how the RP is played and so forth, the Furtopia staff can, and will, (depending on situation/circumstances) intervene at times to "keep things on track" so to speak should there be any disruptive behavior or rule breaking.

If any Gamemaster or member sees a problem in an RP that needs the attention of the staff, then please report it to us and we will look into the problem. :)
« Last Edit: December 03, 2011, 10:10:10 pm by Kobuk »

Offline Alsek

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2009, 12:51:54 am »
Can we contribute information in this thread?

Offline Draconium

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2009, 09:35:24 pm »
Can we contribute information in this thread?

Oh yeah! Please do!
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Offline Alsek

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2009, 06:45:36 pm »
Not all characters were created equal: How to Avoid godmoding and get your characters approved.



Note: This is a sort of an informational post. This explains Godmoding as I have come to think of it. It also contains tips and suggestions for avoiding Godmoding, and the character approval system. This also contains personal opinions.



Part 1: Godmoding

A lot of times in the course of a game, people will battle with uneven characters will battle. Often times when this happens it turns into a huge annoyance, because the weaker side will call out godmoding when it is undeserved, and the stronger side is afraid to call out godmoding when it really should be.


Godmoding does not mean that one person is ridiculously powerful compared to another. Characters are going to be uneven in power and control. That's how it is in real life. If they aren't, then realism and interest go right out the window.


So what is godmoding? Godmoding means that a character is going beyond what he or she should be able to do given the situation.


For Example:


You could have one character that is the president of The United States, and another that is an unarmed homeless old man.


If the two characters were to fight one another, of course the president would be able to blow the old man away with firepower. He has Lots of guards, He's the commander and chief (he therefore controls the military), and he could even drop a nuke on the old man if need be. The President of the United States, Vs. The unarmed, homeless old man... The president wins... Hands down.



So let's say... This homeless guy is suddenly a former master of Kung Fu... (it wouldn't surprise me if someone tried that... Or even better... let's say he's a ninja now... O.o) Not only would the player be godmoding by changing the characters past to make the current situation easier for him, He STILL should not be able to come anywhere near HALF the strength of the president. If the old man was to get anywhere close to being even to the President in power, the player of the old man would be godmoding, to a HUGE extent.


If you're old man character really was supposed to be a former master of kung fu (or heaven forbid... a ninja... o.o) I recommend putting information like that in your character sheet so that no one will be able to accuse you with coming up with it on the spot.

If your trying to keep it a secret for later, you really shouldn't worry about that. Though the players may know, their characters will not. If players make their characters know, that would be, yet again, ANOTHER form of godmoding.



Omniscience in characters is one of the most annoying kinds of godmoding there is. Unless your characters really are supposed to be all knowing, Make sure you keep a close eye on the difference between what you know, and what your character knows. This could even mean the death of your character. Do not change what your character would have done just to keep something you don't want to happen from happening.


Back to the Old homeless ninja... If for some reason you still insist on not putting such information in your character sheet, at least elude to it within your first couple of posts. It doesn't have to be too obvious, just enough that if you are accused of coming up with it on the spot, you can quote your old post to show that your hobo had been a ninja master all along...    O.o


Now. You will have your differences in power, but that does not at all control the intelligence and strategy of your characters.


If your homeless old man can outsmart the President character into a situation where he is unarmed and defenseless, then by all means, go for it. This is not Godmoding, this is simply using strategy.
 

Don't be afraid to play your characters to their fullest extent. Use your mind to win, not raw power. Anyone can say, “oh well I've got 300 tanks and you only have 100 so I win!” It takes some effort to win when you have less power.


It's also a lot more fun.


Part 2: Character approval.


Now one might be thinking, “I don't want to play in a game with a bunch of people as powerful as the president running around blowing the small characters away... If that's not Godmoding, then how do we prevent it?” That's where character approval comes in.


The GM has the right to approve of, and disapprove of characters. When you submit your character sheet, it usually has four reasons.


   1. So that other players have some idea what your character looks like, and what he's capable off. This often gives some background that explains why your character is capable of doing what he can do, and sometimes why he is doing what he is doing. (this is the obvious one)
  
   2. So that the GM has a chance to prevent overpowered characters (like the President of the United States) from entering the game if he or she chooses to.

   3. So that the GM can prevent Godmoding before it even starts.
  
   4. So that the GM can keep the game within the theme that he or she has chosen. (e.g. If it's a RP about the civil war... having a character from a different Galaxy show up in an intergalactic space ship is not a good idea. Even if it where somehow feasible, and you had a good explanation as to why it could happen (like... Hey, his home planet has better technology than this one...) ...if it doesn't fit in with the theme, It will more than likely be denied. We don't need Scotty beaming your character down into the midst of a story about fantasy characters overthrowing an evil tyrant king. As sad as I am to say this... I've seen someone try to do something similar. It was not here, Though.)


GMs: Enforce your rules. Don't be all soft on a rule because you're afraid of annoying one player. If the game is to be any fun, the simple rules have to be enforced. No one wants to play with someone that's Godmoding. If it keeps up, the game is likely to die very, very fast.


If your game is going to be more on the side of serious writing (the kind that requires some skill, and a lot more time.) I recommend approving characters on a case by case basis. (e.g. “(playername1) Your character is approved, (Playername2) Your character is approved, (Playername3 Your character is not approved.) If you don't approve someones character, tell them why. That way, they can either fix the problem, or start over completely with a new character that won't have the same issues.


A recommendation for things to look out for:


-Ninjas (Almost always means either godmoding, or an overpowered character is about to happen. I have nothing against Ninja... They are just too powerful) Of course if it's a RP about ninjas this may be unavoidable...


-Characters that are in high positions of authority. (use your best judgment, this can be either very good or very bad)


-Characters with way too many powers. (this should be obvious... Unless the player found a way to balance it out with an immense weakness...)


-Pyrotechnic engineers / Engineers in general (Know the player. If you know they are someone who isn't going to misuse it, then let them. If you are unfamiliar with the player or are familiar with the player and he or she has a bad history of Godmoding, I highly recommend against it. Nothing like having a sudden well timed explosive to make someones situation a lot easier...)


-Dark Shadowy characters. i.e. The cool [usually not the main character] guy in the fantasy movie you watch last night. (we all see them... All the time. It's usually one of the first kinds of character a newbie will try and make. Though they are playable, they require a lot more skill to control than a regular character. Therefore, The newbie/really hard to control character mix usually results with either godmoding, or completely unrealistic emotionless characters [or both.] It's frustrating for both the person playing the character and the people playing with that person. Though often these characters are seen as not having emotions at all, they DO. They simply have a much better hold on them, and choose not to show them. They still act on emotion whether or not they choose to show them as the reason for their actions. This is often what causes the problem.


It really all boils down to knowing what to look out for and knowing the people you're playing with. Both of those come with time. When you continuously play with the same people (such as how it would be in a community like this one) you can get some idea where characters are heading. But, don't be afraid to let people experiment and have some fun.



I hope this has been... In some way helpful... Maybe it just refreshed things you already knew but hadn't thought about in a while... If anyone wants to help by adding to this... just let me know, I'll edit it in and give you credit.
« Last Edit: May 11, 2012, 11:12:01 pm by Alsek »

Offline Draconium

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2009, 09:24:35 pm »
Thanks Alsek!

You may want to change the engineers category to "combat scientists":
 
I've also worked in a better description:

Use your discretion when you allow someone to play as a "combat scientist". Again, know how that person RP's. There is moderate potential for abuse with this character class. The reason I warn about this is because the combination of smarts and battle prowess can unbalance the game.

There are some things I wanted to add on the beware of [insert character]:

Mages: This character class can have a high potential for abuse. Use your discretion when approving this character. Make sure you know how this person RP's. If you are sure that they won't abuse this character class, let them use it. If they are noted for godmoding, then I'd recommend that you don't allow them to play as mages. The reason I warn about mages is I have seen cases (not here) where mages were all but invulnerable and were essentially physical gods. Granted, if this is an all magic RP, then it may unavoidable. But for a "magic-modern" fusion, then mages should not be that powerful.

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Offline Thyclaine

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2009, 07:51:36 pm »
I hope this thread can be used for questions as well. If not, sorry.

I've noticed that most RP's here are "shorthand". A few lines, or up to a paragraph with most characters created in the loose "Name, Age, Appearance" format. I'm used to posts that are huge and have many paragraphs, and the characters have their own forum where their profiles are put up in great detail.

Is there an old rule about longhand RP's here that I'm not aware of, or do most people here just like to RP in Shorthand style?

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Offline Draconium

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2009, 11:10:58 pm »
Is there an old rule about longhand RP's here that I'm not aware of, or do most people here just like to RP in Shorthand style?

As far as I know, there is no rule forbidding longhand RP's. Each RP'er has their own distinct style and some may choose to put immense amounts of detail, while others post with sparse details. In general, from what I have observed, most people lean towards the shorthand style.
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Offline Kaloth

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2009, 08:17:08 pm »
Is there an old rule about longhand RP's here that I'm not aware of, or do most people here just like to RP in Shorthand style?

As far as I know, there is no rule forbidding longhand RP's. Each RP'er has their own distinct style and some may choose to put immense amounts of detail, while others post with sparse details. In general, from what I have observed, most people lean towards the shorthand style.

I find that I lean towards the shorthand type because whenever I try to write a long post, when I go to hit post I find that three other people posted before me, making my post obsolete.

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2011, 06:02:42 pm »
Combat Resolution in RPs
and Why Godmodding is Bad

The intent of this post is to analyze the guiding spirit of forum style RPs such as the ones on Furtopia, and show how and why godmodding and similar RP activities that are frequently banned in RPs go against the spirit of the RP itself.

GNS Theory models various forms of RP (and preferred RP styles) as belonging to one or two of three categories: Gamist, Narrativist, or Simulationist.  In short summary, a Gamist RP is played with intent to win, a Narrativist RP is played with intent construct a collaborative novel of sorts (this includes elements such as theme and dynamic characters), and a Simulationist RP is played to mentally simulate a fantasy world (this more heavily emphasizes character/world consistency and character immersion).  Different RP mediums are more compatible with some of these styles than others, and different players prefer some styles over others.

Forum RPs here, particularly "serious" forum RPs, tend to be Sumulationist with a touch of Narrativist.  With only one exception (a RNG based RP hosted by Landrav and Avan), none of the serious RPs I've seen here have been Gamist to any measurable degree.  In other words, the goal in an RP of this type isn't to win; rather, the goal of RP is the creation of the fantasy world itself.

Simulationist and Narrativist RPs are bound to have conflict; just like Gamist RPs, these RPs are also largely founded on conflict.  In a Simulationist RP, the conflict would be resolved by what would happen if the situation were to actually take place.  Take this character for example:

Name: Riél
Species:  Anthro (Black Wolf)
Age: 19

Appearance:  Riél wears very simple attire: a plain shirt and pants with a belt.  A grey spot that covers his right ear and a sizable portion of the right side of his face is his only physically recognizable attribute; aside from this spot, his fur is completely black, and he appears to be completely ordinary.

Background:  Riél is an interrogator for the criminal justice system of [City], who begrudgingly accept his employment on account of his superior ability to act in that capacity.

Skillset:  Riél is a master interrogator.  To him, knowledge is safety, power, and influence, and other people, or as he calls them, "targets", are sources of such knowledge.  Because his style of interrogation could just as easily involve him taking a beating as giving one, Riél has high endurance as well as moderate unarmed combat skills.  For the most dire of circumstances, Riél carries an extremely well concealed whale's tooth formed into a dagger at his right hip, but he uses it rarely and usually foregoes other weaponry because he prefers to give the illusion of being unarmed.

Riél's an interrogator by profession, and a master of that art.  He also has experience in controlled, one-on-one brawl from that context.  Therefore, he can almost always tell when other characters are lying (he'd have to, given his competency at his profession), and he would also have above average but not excellent in traditional one-on-one combat (on one hand, he brawls daily as part of his job, but on the other hand, he could summon guards to help him at any time at his workplace and only fights one-on-one there).  However, he would probably fail at any contest that would be based on wealth (though not poor, he's not in the elite class), politics (he's only used to working on one person at a time, and has no relevant experience), or multi-man combat (he's used to only fighting one person at a time).  In order to RP well, it would be appropriate to have him succeed at tasks that he could not realistically fail at as well as let him fail at tasks that he could not realistically succeed at.

In the case that conflicting character strengths do not make the resolution of a contest obvious (for example, two combat based characters face off), the resolution of that conflict becomes more complex.  The contest becomes a play-by-play, and each independent action's success is determined based on what would be the most reasonable outcome given the definition of the characters.  There is a *very* slight amount of competition here; the goal as the player of a character is to have the character engage in actions that would most play to their strengths and maximize their chance of success (for example, for the case of Riél, those actions would be "get the opponent alone" and/or "get the opponent talking").  Again, it's worth reiterating that reasonable expectations are the most important thing to adhere to; it's better to let your character fail at a task than to break previously defined rules (character scope, world mechanics, previously defined actions and attributes, realistic expectations, etc.).

Most play based rules in RPs I've seen here revolve around this concept, as breaking these rules also breaks the realism for conflict resolution.  Godmodding usually makes a given character more likely to succeed at a given task at the cost of that character's consistency or consistency of world mechanics.  Character jacking and autohitting usually make a given character more likely to succeed at a given task at the cost of other characters' consistency.  Having a character act and escape a conflict before other characters have a chance to react gives a character a pass against failing at the cost of realistic plot/storyline resolution.

I realize what I've said is long.  I'm taking the time to discuss it because many RPers become downright agitated when players have characters break realism for the sake of having their own character perform comparatively better in the RP.  This in turn helps to kill the RP as invested players leave in frustration.  RPs take a lot of time to set up and require a large communal time commitment, but have a huge payoff in fun.  It really *stinks* when they die, and it's really sad for everybody involved when RPs die sooner than they should.

Hopefully, this long winded explanation should shed light on why exactly things such as godmodding, autohitting, and character jacking are frowned upon so strongly in RP.
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Offline MattJF15

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #10 on: September 05, 2012, 01:36:36 am »
I have a question about roleplaying rules... Rule 1a.
:D

Offline Alsek

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2012, 03:05:35 am »
Can you post the question here?  Or you may PM me or any other Moderator if you like.   :)

Offline MattJF15

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2012, 09:15:37 am »
Ok :D Is male on male content not aloud? Such as cuddlling and other stuff that isn't against the rules ...
:D

Offline Kobuk

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2012, 09:44:17 am »
Ok :D Is male on male content not aloud? Such as cuddlling and other stuff that isn't against the rules ...

It depends on the content. Item #'s 2f and 2g are what you need to read in the main RP forum rules here:
http://forums.furtopia.org/index.php?topic=42811.0

Offline MattJF15

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2012, 10:03:47 am »
I mean that the content isn't  going to go against the rules :D
:D

Offline Kobuk

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #15 on: September 05, 2012, 10:10:52 am »
I mean that the content isn't  going to go against the rules :D

You need to specify the type of content you are talking about. Unless I or the other staff has more information, I can't give you a proper answer as to what is and isn't allowed.

Offline MattJF15

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #16 on: September 05, 2012, 10:18:21 am »
cuddlling kissing holding hands hugging
:D

Offline Kobuk

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #17 on: September 05, 2012, 10:27:36 am »
cuddlling kissing holding hands hugging

As long as it's kept to a mild type of action, then it should be ok as Rule # 2f already explains.
Quote
f) Mild PG type romance/activities such as hugging, kissing, holding hands, "puppy love", etc. are allowed.
But if there's a type of role play action you want to be a little more "excessive" with, then PM a Mod or Admin and we can review your request/action and determine if it's ok for posting.

In short: If you feel that something "might" break the rules, but you aren't sure, then PM the staff and we'll review it and answer any questions you have. :)

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #18 on: September 05, 2012, 11:20:59 am »
thanks ;)
:D

Offline Draconium

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #19 on: April 03, 2013, 08:13:49 pm »
Due to incidents well beyond my control, I was absent for a while.

Anyways, Kobuk sent this to me over a year ago and I feel obligated to answer him:

Quote from: Kobuk link=action=profile;u=440

Just out of curiosity, What advice and tips can you offer when it looks like RP's are only being played by 2-3 members? Is that even enough for RP's? Or what about RP's where a person can't even tell what's happening because members can't use proper grammar and punctuation when describing actions, talking to someone, etc.?


Quantity of players does not equal RP quality.

As for poor grammar and spelling, ask the poster to clarification or to try and make their posts more coherent. If they refuse and their posts are irritating the other players, the GM may ask them to leave.

I'm going to go into a little spiel here.

The minimum number of players for an RP is two. No less. The quality of this RP is highly dependent on the skill of the RPers.

Generally, as the number of players increase, the more opportunities there are for richer world building and plot construction. In addition, the good or even decent RP'ers can cover for the poor ones. However, the risk of continuity errors dramatically increases as more players join. In addition, the chance of conflict between the players also increases.

If there are conflicts between the players, the GM should tell them to leave it out of the RP and take it to PMs or someplace private. The GM should use their best judgement for resolving conflicts; this is something I cannot be more specific on because each and every situation is different.
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Offline Jacoby Quinn

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #20 on: August 08, 2013, 10:52:14 am »
could a character with a well rounded ability, suited for both combat AND problem solving be considered overpowered for the simple fact that they rely heavily on this ability?

if you have the choice between toolbox or multi tool, the multi tool is obviously better right?

so are they overpowered because they chose a problem solving ability rather than a combat ability?
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Offline Mylo

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #21 on: August 08, 2013, 11:23:28 am »
could a character with a well rounded ability, suited for both combat AND problem solving be considered overpowered for the simple fact that they rely heavily on this ability?

if you have the choice between toolbox or multi tool, the multi tool is obviously better right?

so are they overpowered because they chose a problem solving ability rather than a combat ability?

I would imagine that's for the Gamemaster to decide.

Offline HazardJackal

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #22 on: August 26, 2013, 06:42:10 pm »
As i'm starting a new RP that i have been planing for awhile now, i'd like to ask a few questions, as i don't want this one to do a faceplant right out of the gate (as most my others have) especially a failure based around rules; therefor i want to make sure everything checks out.

Now, I'd assume that it would be acceptable to have a Yoda-like character, one who is very powerful and a master at their craft, under the control of the DM.  For example: Archen, the wise raccoon, master of fire magic, among other things.  His role however, is not as a player, or part of a party of adventurers, but as the quest giver, advice giving type.  

And what about having a party of heroes of mixed skill levels?  Such as having Rhasken, an expert sneak and warrior, along with Gnargle, the former miner who is has no weapon training or knowledge, and fights purely on instinct.  Having these two together is acceptable, yes?

I'm also assuming that a ridiculously powerful boss-type character is acceptable, for a boss battle situation.  There are no rules against this, are there?

Another thing, could a character's skills be based on die rolls? (Rhasken for example, started out as random fodder, but he rolled three 20s in row [not kidding, me and my friends were almost speechless] which we translated into him not just being incredible luck, but also having some real skill. [which increased even further when he rolled yet another 20 later on]) Well, for that matter, are dice even allowed? I know many of the RPers are opposed to it, but could i still use them as DM?

One last thing, are there any restrictions on the level of realism in an RP, as in how much luck can influence events, and how much could you stretch a character's relative durability? (As in, could a character barely scrape by death) I've had some squabbles about this before, and i was wondering if it was a rule or just a preference.
Thank you.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2013, 02:34:05 am by Trenyth »

Offline Alsek

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #23 on: August 27, 2013, 02:40:22 pm »
The GM can do what-ever they want really.  The thing with having a yoda-like character,  wise and extremely powerful,  is that they can steer a story in the right direction if used subtly,  but overuse them and the rest of the players are not going to have any fun.  I point to Yoda himself as an example.  Even though he's extremely wise,  masterful at his arts,  and very, very powerful,  he doesn't go himself to fight Vader.  He attempts to train Luke.

I would suggest using them in passing if you use them at all and use them to set up a plot device rather than your protaginist.  If you decide to use such a character as you main character,  consider limiting their power.


Having an overarching evil enemy is also a fantastic idea,  but it's a good idea to introduce the character as, "The main Villian."  A lot of times when you introduce the main villain to inexperienced players they'll just asume the character is a jerk but nothing particularly special and something they can take on their own.  You will want to make sure the other roleplayers are on the same page the the character is,  in fact,  the main villain,  and that all of your characters will need to work in tandem to take him down.

I would not advise playing only the main villain.  If you're going to play the main enemy,   make sure you're also playing a friendly character trying to fight him.  Otherwise,  people may acuse you of using the villain to God-mod or power-play.



Furtopia does not have any specific regulations on how you set up your game in regards to things like dice rolls,  but personally,  i would never use such a system.  For one,   it would be strictly on the honor system,  and we all know that there will always be at least one person who takes advantage of this when it suits them.  Rather,  i would stress that players are not pitting, "Their character," against other characters, "To win."  What they are doing is working on a story together and that sometimes letting your character lose a battle,  or even die is better for the story than their character always winning.


Realism is up to the GM.  GMs are responsible for controlling this sort of thing.  Personally,  when I GM,  I expect people to maintain a certain level of realism.  Of course characters in these games tend to be a bit more durable than the, "Average Joe," but that does not make them Godlike.  If someone takes a few bullets to the chest,  they had better not go for a jog or start fighting people in their next post.  Allowing your character to go through struggles and have hard times is a large part of the fun of playing them.




NO ONE likes a Marry Sue.

Your character doesn't have every skill in existance.
Your character should have flaws and weaknesses.
Your character is not invincible.
Your character does not always have to get what the character wants... (It's usually more interesting when they DON'T)

And most importantly: More than any setting,  special quirks,  gimmicks,  powers,  or whether or not they, "Win,"    What will make or break a game is how convincingly characters interact with one another.   The dialog,   the conflict,  the companionship,  the struggle,  the emotion...  THAT is what makes the game fun,  and what will make a game worth playing.  It should seem like real people talking with one another... Fighting,  and loving one another.  If you can do that?  The game is made.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2013, 02:41:59 pm by Alsek »

Offline HazardJackal

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Re: RP Help Desk
« Reply #24 on: January 31, 2014, 02:37:00 pm »
If i were to do what was essentially a single-player RP, would it go here, Furry Role-Playing, or to Furry Story Telling?