Ronin Of Dreams
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Given the changes that are being enacted for the Role Playing boards, individual RPs will need approval by RP staff before an IC thread will be allowed. The process is intentionally meant to be simple, and only impacts the creation of an IC thread for your RP. Whether you put up an OOC thread directly or have chosen to use the RP General Discussion board to bounce ideas off the wall or even just check for participation interest on a theme or idea, your OOC post should contain enough information for RPers to have a general idea of what to expect from the RP. To be approved for an IC thread, an OOC should contain the following:
- The opening post of the OOC should be well-written and well organized, especially since it should contain the reasons for players to participate as well as outline what any applicants must submit to the DM in order to participate. The reason can be a central idea or theme, or an initial story plot outlined vaguely to keep the element of surprise for players. Stories evolve with participation, but that does lead in to:
- The OOC should show evidence of a concrete metaplot or theme of evolution. Secrets that need to be kept from players, but would drastically help explain exactly what is intended to happen, can be PMed to any of the RP Staff when petitioning for approval to aid our decision. If the RP Staff feels there isn’t enough plot or the presence of a theme for the RP to evolve along when petitioned, we will ask you first in order to ensure there is one before we approve the RP.
- The OOC should already have the interest, commitment, and acceptance of the minimum number of RPers needed for the plot. This number is set by the DM themselves when posting their summary of what the RP will contain. More is better, but an RP without enough folks to begin with is an RP already doomed to fail, so this minimum must be met before approval will be granted.
- The OOC should already be following the rules of the RP Boards, and the story that is being approved must also follow the same. In particular, this means the PG enforcement of expected content. As part of running an RP, a DM is additionally expected to help police their own thread to maintain PG standards. If a DM spots either something suspicious or something clearly out-of-bounds, they should PM any of the RP Staff immediately, assuming we don’t spot it first.
- Lastly, an OOC should make it clear whether or not the RP should be considered Canon for characters involved. The most critical aspect of an RP being canon is the permanency of Death for characters, and a character who dies in a Canon RP is considered dead for good barring significant efforts or even a separate RP just for their revival. The Elemental Championships are an example of a Canon RP, including an example of the price of reversing death.
Ultimately this all boils down to following the normal rules, and fleshing out an idea a bit more than a paragraph. It really is nothing major, and should become nothing more than a formality in short order.
- Example: Average Joe wishes to run a very simple RP to test out how his character would fare in a Free For All with three other opponents. Average Joe crafts a scenario to base an RP with that eventual intent as the plot, making it clear for applicants what it will entail. He decides that he’ll accept the scenario with a minimum of two approved bios in order to run it, and he decides that such will be Non-Canon for any character involved. Bios are submitted and Average Joe rapidly approves several, and decides to cap the RP at five approved bios for this RP attempt. He then PMs myself to petition for approval, and is subsequently granted the allowance to post the IC thread for the RP and kickoff in full.
New to RP? Drawn in by the announcements of the changes happening and want to dive in, but confused at some of the terminology? Here’s a quick-and-dirty guide to some of the more common abbreviations and terms you’ll find here on the RP Boards.
Bio - Short for biography, these commonly requested blurbs about your character may contain very few details on abilities and gear or a DM/GM might request quite alot of backstory. Each RP may differ, but there is nothing wrong with fleshing out a character’s backstory and adding clarity or flavorful description for your characters in your off time while waiting on an RP that strikes your fancy.
A common trait of most RPs, however, is that bios are expected to remain as a static reference once they are approved by a DM/GM. So if your bio submission is approved, check with your DM/GM before making any alterations on a whim.
DM/GM - “Dungeon Master” and “Game Master”. Here on the RP Boards, the term is fairly interchangeable, but refers to the master of the story contained in an RP thread. A DM/GM will run the RP, and may have additional rules of conduct for their Players to follow as part of their RP’s design.
IC - “In-Character”. Here we mostly use it to differentiate the threads containing the action, or the IC threads, from those holding the conversation and collaboration efforts of the participants, which is contained in the OOC thread.
OOC - “Out of Character”. These are events, conversations, and activities being performed by the player rather than their character. Most often this is only used to denote the thread in which all such business is conducted in the RP OOC boards, but rarely a DM or Player may need to add in a note within the In Character thread itself. Such a note will usually be in parentheses at the bottom of a post, and marks “OOC Info” or in some similar manner.
Player - This is any participant of an RP thread that is not the DM/GM, so probably you at some point I hope! Players need to follow not only the rules of the RP Boards, but also any rules particularly set out by the DM/GM of the RP thread they are participating in.
RP - Role-Playing. Quite simply what we are all here to do! For us here on the forums, it is taking up the role of a character and acting them out through literary expression as part of the greater story within a specific RP thread. Collaborating with DM/GMs and other Players to make something greater than the sum of its parts, while also having fun and refining our talents as we go.
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