The Rules, RP Guide and FAQ - The Gamer's Alliance ORPG

12-17-2007, 05:48 PM	#1
Kossage Councillor A Lost Soul Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 3,233 Character Details Name: Unithien Greyrain Race: Half-Elf Class: White Mage Faction: Church of the Memory of Cardia	The Rules, RP Guide and FAQ I'm basically just copying/pasting this from Raistlin's post from the last tGA: Here are some generalized rules that tGA has that took us roughly 5 minutes to type up. Most of them are common sense. Councillors: feel free to add anything to this thread. Generalized Rules for tGA The forums: "use your fucking brain." Do not flame, spam inordinate amounts, yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill. Also, Council will definitely not allow spam in Crossroads or any RPing threads. RPing: The Characters: When creating a character, you must reach a balance between fighting ability and magic ability. No starting character excels at both. You can be a pure mage, a pure fighter, or any mix in between. You must first post in the Profiles thread in Crossroads and have your character approved before RPing. Council members may recommend changes to your character. They may also demand changes, if your character is over-powered or just does not fit in at all. Be prepared for criticism, but, for the most part, Council will allow you to be original. Council will not recommend/demand changes unless they truly believe such changes would help your character fit in better. It is preferable that you start with just one character at first in order to get a hang of RPing and see how things work here at tGA. Once you've been writing posts in the RP for a while and if you wish to introduce another character to the story, you may so do, but always ask yourself first if you really need another character and if you do, what purpose they might serve story-wise compared to your already existing character. Races: The current playable races are: human, elf, dwarf and the hybrids of those three races. Humans live an average of 100 years, dwarves live 300 (half-dwarves, 150), and elves live 500 (half-elves, 250). Demigods (people who have a god and a mortal as parents) are not allowed, and characters cannot prolong their lives by any means. If you want another race, you are free to ask Council. No new race will live longer than elves (500 years), except for dragons, but dragons are unavailable for RPing at this time. RPing: The story of the RP is set in a Medieval fantasy world with very crude technology (technology level is on the level of the years 1300-1500 and cannons are the most recent weapons). This means that players cannot use futuristic stuff such as gundams. Players should stick to general fantasy conventions, settings and characters when role-playing. The RP at tGA is not battle-driven, although there are battles at times. Instead, the emphasis is on character interaction and storytelling. The RP at tGA is thus not a game that is meant to be beaten and won; instead it should be regarded as a collaborative creative writing process. Characters should fit into the world and be balanced and not over-powered. This leads to an important rule which is detailed in the next paragraph. No god-moding. God-moding is abusing the honor system and overpowering your character (or your faction, if you have one) to an unrealistic level. No, there is no strict definition or examples of god-moding. This goes along with the "use your fucking brain" rule. If Council finds you god-moding (to the best of their judgement), they can and will either: 1, demand that you edit your post, or 2, edit your post themselves and have you lose whatever fight you are in. Really, just make things interesting. And it IS alright to lose. Nobody wins every battle. You can control another person's character to an extent (such as conversations, battles etc.) if you feel confident enough to do so and if the player gives you permission to do so. However, you should first observe how the player RPs their character so that you get the idea how that character acts and what their personality is like. If in doubt, you can always PM a player or post in the OOC thread. If you end up making a mistake and someone asks you to correct your post about their character, please comply and use the edit button in your post to fix whatever went wrong; if this happens to your character, don't hesitate to ask the other player to fix their post about your character. If you feel uncomfortable RPing others' characters at first, you don't have to do that until you feel more confident about it. As the rules above show, the RP is generally quite lax on rules and is based on mutual trust, but Council will enforce the rules if we see blatant god-moding. But always remember that if you're ever in doubt about anything, asking questions in the OOC thread is always helpful. Oh yeah: and if a Councillor asks you to do something (though this most likely will not happen in the RP itself; this is just in general), just do it, please. They will have their reasons for it. If you have a problem with a Councillor, you should first try to resolve the issue with them yourself via PMing. If that does not work, PM Raistlin. DO NOT argue in the forums. That is senseless and just serves to make everyone think you are a whiner. If Raistlin is the one you have a problem with, then tough. And finally: Use your fucking brain. Thanks. -Raistlin, Council Last edited by Kossage : 06-04-2013 at 04:23 PM.

12-17-2007, 05:51 PM

Kossage

Councillor

A Lost Soul

Join Date: Jul 2004

Location: Finland

Posts: 3,233

Character Details

Name: Unithien Greyrain

Race: Half-Elf

Class: White Mage

Faction: Church of the Memory of Cardia

RP Guide

The big question players might have is how they should RP at tGA. Below you will find a guide which I've taken from Mederu's post that answers some of these questions. In case you have something you would like to ask that was not included in this guide, feel free to contact a Councillor or post a thread at the Feedback/Help forum.

So, below you will find the basic layout of a tGA character profile, and all the information you are expected to provide is listed. This is a mock up character I will use in this guide:

Quote:

NAME: Angelia Morie
AGE: 29
RACE: Human
SEX: Female
KINGDOM/FACTION: Libaterra / The Rebels
CLASS: White Mage
WEAPON(S): Staff, daggers
APPEARANCE: Long blonde hair, 5'3", blue eyes, diminutive frame.
PERSONALITY: Kind, giving, naive, soft-spoken, childish, well-mannered, knowledgeable.
BACKGROUND: Angelia was an orphan and never knew who her parents were. They may have died in one of the great plagues that sweep the lower regions of some of the city's poorer sectors, but she does not know if this is true. She was never taken into another family, as is the common case with many of her city's orphans, but the orphanage matron took a shine to the young, bright eyed girl. At the age of five, Angelia learnt that the matron was what the people of the city referred to as "a local wise woman", otherwise known as a white mage. Knowing that Angelia had discovered this, the matron decided to teach the child a trade, and so Angelia began to learn white magic.
She has become well trained in the white arts and does all in her power to help others. She left her home to travel to be part of the resistance, not wishing to help cause more pain but to assist with any existing injuries among the rebels. She does not believe in black and white, good and bad, but simply that people ought to be helped, no matter what their intentions or morals.

I will use this character to demonstrate to you how tGA RPing goes. Below you will find an example of how posts go on tGA:

Quote:

Angelia looked up at the stranger and smiled as she dressed his bandage, using her one free hand to brush a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. Her eyes met his momentarily as she glanced upwardly and she blushed, averting her eyes back to the task in hand. She cleared her throat, hand brushing down the first of the gauze strips.

"What did you say your name was?" she inquired, picking up more cotton wool and cloth. The blood was pouring down the man's leg and the gash the heated sword had caused was caramelising under the cool air of the night.

"Marius," the man answered, finally, making slight pained noises as Angelia ran her hands over the sore.

"Marius..." the girl repeated, cleaning the wound carefully and kindly, "Rebel?"

"Loyalist," Marius said, blankly.

"Ah." Angelia stood up and walked across her hospital tent, fetching more ointments for the pulsating sore.

That's pretty much it. It's in 3rd person and in past tense, any other way and it confuses the hell out of people. xP You provide description for your characters' actions, and they needn't be fighting constantly. They must communicate with other characters and react to them subtly.

Battles in tGA look somewhat like this:

Quote:

Angelia shuddered as she hit the ground, blood forcing its way out of every cut and wound it could find, out of every pore. Her eye lids closed over, but not entirely, her pupils following the shape of her aggressor moving across the ground. She watched it through the small slits of light that ran across her eyes, judging the creature's next move. Yet, she did not move. She was too scared. She was all alone, in the dark forest, with no one around for miles and bleeding in rivers. What could she possibly do?

No, your character does NOT have to be scared all the time. xP The basic fact I was trying to get across here with that your character, in the end, is just that. A CHARACTER. A PERSON. They are more likely to be afraid of something attacking them than be jumping to attention like a musketeer. xP

Here is BAD tGA battling:

Quote:

"HAHA!" Angelia yelled, triumphantly. She circled the creature, grinning, her staff held high in the air, "Afraid, huh? Come on! Attack me! I can take ya!"
The animal lunged at Angelia, and she suddenly pulled out a 10 foot sword, clobbered the beast over the head with her staff and chopped his head off with the sword whilst releasing an arsenal of 20,000 bolts of lightning on it.
"Told you I could take you!"

Do NOT try to be a God. Your character can be cocky, but he/she should be injured when attacking things like that. The characters are not invincible. xP

Here are some things you should keep in mind when RPing at tGA:

Absolutely NO god-moding. That means no battling as if you're invincible.
Your character must start off relatively average unless you are a Councillor, and even then they're not boring enough to have a perfect character. No archmages or half-god warriors for you guys, I'm afraid. xP
All new races must be discussed with Council, depending on whether you are RPing in the main Crossroads plot or in some independent plot in the Quest forum.
Your character must be approved by Council before use.
You cannot kill another RP character without their consent.
NPCs can be killed, but not plot NPCs. Plot NPCs should be fairly obvious as they will help lead the plot along.
It is preferred if you do not try and take over cities. ;D
Any misbehaviour will resort in your either being banned from that particular kingdom (And thus, your character put into exile), having your character killed off or, in extreme cases, the decision will go to Council.

Some general rules of thumb:

If you know the direction of the plot; shut your trap! xD Don't spoil it for anyone else!
However, remember that ANYONE can contribute to the plot and that the plot is NOT set in stone, so you're free to introduce new enemies and even suggest a change of direction in the plot as long as it doesn't contradict with what has happened before in the plot.
If you're in doubt what to do in the RP, you can always ask Councillors or other members for help.
Don't hesitate to be a little silly with your characters at times. You can play a drape loving pirate, for example. ;D
Please, please, PLEASE, give your character a flaw. Flawless characters are boring as hell. x.o If I see any amazingly intelligent, handsome, strong, fast, kind Ranger princes, there will be murder. xD
Last but not least: Behave yourself, post frequently and have as much fun as possible. =D

Last edited by Nic : 05-02-2013 at 11:03 PM. Reason: Just fixing typos. >_>

09-23-2012, 12:26 AM	#3
Nic Councillor Dotface Soapsbane Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 964 Character Details Name: Ax Race: Human Class: Warrior Faction: Blades of Vigilance	Frequently Asked Questions Q: Isn't there already a FAQ on the website? A: Yes, there is a FAQ at http://www.thegamersalliance.net/faq.html. However, that is a more general FAQ for the boards/tGA in general. This is a more specific FAQ for this tGA. Q: I wasn't a part of the last tGA. Can I still participate in this one? A: Of course. You don't have to have any prior knowledge to the tGA world to RP here. However, any knowledge you do have beforehand can only be beneficial. If the plot seems too confusing even after reading all the stickied threads, post your questions in the OOC thread in the Crossroads forum. Q: Are there any archives for the last tGA? A: Yes. Check the Archives forum for RPing threads from the last plot. Also, check the History section of the webpage at http://www.thegamersalliance.net/history.html for a detailed history including all past RPs. If you want to go REALLY far back, check out http://pub3.ezboard.com/bthegamersalliance. Q: What are the Kingdom forums for now? A: The Kingdom forums have been put in the Archives section and can be used as reference if one wants to look at old threads about the specifics of each kingdom. There will not be any Kingdom-specific RPs anymore. Q: What's the basic story? A: The story will take place approximately 10 years after the last tGA. To learn more of the setting, read both the New State of the World thread and the first post in the currently active RP thread (in Crossroads). Q: Do I have to be a good guy? A: Nope! You can be good, evil, or anything in between. Just remember that even villain characters are not allowed to god-mode. Q: Can I have more than one character in the RP? A: Yes, you can have more than one main character as long as you post each character in the Profiles thread and get them approved. However, it is better for new players to start out with one character in the beginning and RP like that for a few weeks or so to get a hang of RPing. If after that period you feel like introducing another character, you can do so but keep the number of characters limited. Q: Ok, my character profile has been approved, and I want to join the RP. How do I get my character into the story? A: You can begin your quest anywhere in the world. However, if you want to immediately meet other players' characters, it is better to read three or so of the latest posts in the current RP thread (stickied in Crossroads) and see where other characters are at the moment. Then you can conveniently introduce your character nearby and have them meet the other characters. If you still have trouble introducing your character, post about it in the OOC thread (in Crossroads), and other members can give you suggestions of how to proceed. Q: Will everything from the last tGA be incorporated into this new plot? A: No. Everything that doesn't fit/Council doesn't care for will be written out. Only things that we choose to include will be. However, players are free to try and incorporate things from the past RPs as well if they feel like it. Q: Where's the bloody map? A: The official world map can be found in the World Map thread. Q: Do I have to use my character from the last tGA? A: No, but you can. Otherwise, just make another character. Either way, you still have to post in the Profiles thread. Read through the first post in the Profiles thread to see what kind of a character template we use, and then post your character by using that template as the basis of your character profile. Q: Can only Council dictate how the RP plot should proceed? A: Absolutely not! The whole point of the RP is that Council sets the scene, and after that everyone is free to build on the foundations. The plot is open-ended: anyone, not just Council, can introduce new plots, enemies and such and take the plot towards a new direction as long as there is no god-moding involved. If in doubt, you can always PM a Councillor and ask if your idea could be used in the RP. Q: The person my character has been interacting with (Councillor or otherwise) hasn't posted in the RP, and everyone's waiting for a post. Can I continue the story, or must I wait for the player's or Council input before I post? A: There comes a time when Councillors or even veteran members won't be able to post often due to busy schedules and whatnot. However, even if Councillors aren't around, that doesn't mean the story is effectively over. If you want to continue your character's story, go for it as long as whatever you write makes sense and you won't god-mode. For example, you could have your character slip away during some battle or conversation and have adventures elsewhere until the players you interacted with return, after which you can decide whether to rejoin that plot or keep following your own plot. The plot is not set in stone and it may very well take new directions thanks to everyone's contributions, so don't hesitate if you want to go on another quest instead of following whatever main plotline is going on; perhaps that becomes the new plot if others decide to follow your lead. The world is yours to explore, so seize the moment! Q: I have an idea for the next plot; what do I do with it? A: Email Raistlin at raistlinknight@gmail.com or PM other tGA Councillors with your idea. However, note that your idea will most likely not be incorporated. Unless it's really good. Any other questions should be directed to the Feedback/Help forum. Also, if any Councillor/veteran member has a good Q/A for this thread, they can feel free to post it (SERIOUS posts only; remember, we get cranky when people spam in Crossroads). -Raistlin, Council __________________ ~ Last edited by Kossage : 06-04-2013 at 08:55 PM.

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