Hello everyone! We've put together an informative document to help you on your way with Interactive Role-Playing on LegendFire, a type of writing that is not only incredibly fun and challenging, but as a bonus will help you develop a number of writing skills along the way.
Interactive writing itself is a bit different from standard Tabletop or LARP-style role-playing. During these standard forms, there is a Game [or Dungeon] Master as well as representational figurines, dice, maps, diagrams, etc. Online, all you can use is text, and so writing skill plays the major role. It is the responsibility of the Story Crafters (SCs) to oversee their role-plays, its world, and its players.
I'm sure you've all read a book before. In books, it is the writer alone who dictates the places, characters, and events of the story; everything is based entirely on this person's writing. The characters do not have control over their own fate; they fulfill a set purpose in the plot, determined by the writer.
In contrast, role-play writing involves each player directly controlling a character, usually of his or her own making, while the main plot is assigned by a GM, or Story Crafter in LegendFire’s case. In this way, your character can come alive, make choices of their own, and entertain sometimes intricate subplots alone or in conjunction with another player’s character. Their fates, actions, and reactions are not set-in-stone, but active and controlled by you, while the Story Crafter throws different events, monsters, and NPCs (Non-Player Characters) your way.
To ensure character remain true to themselves in the midst of all this wild abandon, character profiles must be made and adhered to throughout the game. It is bad form for your character to do something out of character, unless there is a good reason for it within the story. The extent of what the characters can or cannot do must be governed by common sense on the part of all participants, and regulated by the Story Crafter. Information should be shared regularly through OOC (Out of Character) discussions.
When starting a new role-play thread, the Story Crafter will usually start a new OOC topic for their role-play and post a Casting Call, usually with a main story Prologue or an Introduction of some sort to help potential players know if they’re interested in joining. The SC should provide a character profile Template in their OOC Intro post for players to utilise.
Interested members who wish to join must draw up a character profile for the story and post it in the OOC for the SC to accept or reject. Once players and their characters have been accepted and approved by the SC, the game can begin. It is not unusual to be asked by the SC to make changes in your character profile, so don’t take it personally. Keep in mind that the SC invariably knows much more about the plot of the story than you do, and such changes will often be for the greater good of the story. Since the SC is putting the entire storyline together, following his or her advice would be wise.
In standard offline gaming, communication while role-playing is easy. Everyone is physically present in the same room, so you can simply talk to your friends to find out how to move through the story. Online, on a forum, however, the only means of communication is usually done though the OOC, or a separate Out of Character forum where questions can be asked, information traded, encouragement and feedback given, and announcements made, etc. Sometimes a form of Instant Messaging can be used. Most of us here use MSN Messenger, which you can download from here.
The Story Crafter should be the person who starts the role-play thread and takes responsibility for it. He or she must also start an OOC thread at the same time. If the thread with role-played story material is entitled "The Dawn Empire", the SC should also start a thread entitled "OOC: The Dawn Empire", and actively keep up communication with the players.
An active OOC thread is necessary for the survival of a role-play thread. In it, and sometimes via the Private Message system, you will do all your communicating with the other participants of the role-play. If you have concerns about overstepping your bounds in your next post, or simple queries about the main plot, post them in the OOC thread where the other players and/or the SC will respond and discuss it. SCs can also arrange real time chat meetings using MSN Messenger or some other IM chat box.
The Story Crafter will start off the role-play proper within the RP: Actual Story Content forum, usually with a Prologue or an Introductory post of some sort. A good idea is to describe the world a little, think about introducing the main plot straight away, and be sure to give the players a chance to introduce their characters. Within the ASC, everything is written up like a story.
Once the ASC Introduction/first post is up, the players can begin to respond. Usually this works by the first-in first-served method, but if you are a Story Crafter and have other requirements for your RP, they should be discussed in the OOC thread.
Your ASC writing should be your best, as anything on LegendFire should be. Try to spell-check, edit, and put a generally reasonable amount of effort into polishing and formatting it before posting. Be considerate of the others who will be reading what you post.
Like in published novels, realism is the key to the suspension of disbelief. Actions have real consequences. People stabbed with a sword should not be able to just get up and dash off once more into the fray. They will be hurt. They will bleed. They might bawl. It depends on the character’s personality.
This brings us to the guidelines:
Please don't make your character too powerful. Unless you are the Story Crafter creating some weird evil boss for the entire campaign, please avoid making your character overly powerful or god-like. Creating overpowered characters removes a lot of fun one can have while role-playing. Please consider the other participants. What fun is a story without some struggle? Take your SC's advice.
Usually, characters will be split up into main characters and supporting, or secondary characters. Main characters are crucial to the story; they will belong to the players who can post the most often. Supporting characters add spice to the story and make it much more complex and interesting. These players will likely post less often than the Mains, but are still important to the story. Supporting characters aren't central to the story, however, and should refrain from affecting the storyline too much without the SCs approval.
If you are a main character, please remain active in the storyline and don't fall back into a supporting character. If you are a supporting character, please don't overstep your bounds and try to be a main character, unless this is agreed to by the SC. If you feel you could post more and would like to take on the responsibility of a main character, and likewise if you are a main who finds you will be posting less for a time, discuss your situation with your SC. Otherwise, know your place as assigned to you to keep things smooth.
If you are stuck for a character profile at the beginning of the game, you may be able to make one up as you go, depending on what the SC prefers. At some stage, a character profile will still be required in the OOC for referral by all the players, the SC, and yourself. Please don't act randomly out of character. Almost all Story Crafters on LegendFire will require a completed character profile before allowing a player to join.
In the case where a player must temporarily "use" someone else's character withint the story, please make sure you keep that character’s responses “in-character”. The profiles are always in the OOC to refer to.
Please communicate with everyone in the OOC thread! Communicate, communicate, communicate. If you are planning anything major, do not hesitate to post about it in the OOC thread.
If someone criticises you or requests that you to change something you wrote, please try not to get automatically defensive and angry. Problems are best worked out with empathy on both sides, and no one can improve without some criticism. The SC is always there to facilitate. Please remember to be courteous to everyone, and really try to listen to what they are saying. Remember the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you like to be taken seriously and have your opinions respected and listened to, then please do the same for others; it’s only common courtesy.
Sometimes a story can stall, or players may forget major plots or subplots and be unsure where to take the story in their next turn. If this happens, there are a few things a SC can do to help his or her players out.
One is be sure everyone is up to date on what you’re planning. Another is to make up something like a chapter outline for players to refer to; some concise mapping of major tasks or chapter events you want to happen for this chapter. This may be as simple as the characters needing to get to a certain place before the end of the chapter, or more individual tasks for the players to fulfil within the story. For their part, players should exhibit some motivation and ingenuity and not let things get too lax and boring within the story.
If you think there are some subplots that remain unexplored by the characters, you or the SC can make up a list of these subplots to inspire ideas if people run out their own or are unsure of where they should take the story next.
Players and Story Crafters: do not fear making mistakes. If you have sudden bouts of inspiration, don’t hesitate to share them with the SC, or if it is not something that would bring about a major change to the plot, include it in your next post. If you’re unsure, asking the SC within the OOC thread is usually the best way to go. Players may get the best experience out of this by communicating and working in with other players as well as the SC to create joint subplots or story developments between characters. Don’t be shy; get to know the people you’re writing with.
When an ASC thread has lain dormant for a period of three weeks, it will be deemed inactive and closed. If things pick up, the original thread starter (the Story Crafter) can open it again by sending a Private Message (PM) to one of the Moderators.
If you are an SC and you know you will be absent for a period of time and unable to continue the story until your return, then you can also request that your ASC and/or OOC thread be closed for that time, and then have it reopened in the same way as described above when you’re ready to resume it. (This is helpful also if a number of players are away for an extended period of time.)
Although one of the most important factors of Interactive Writing is commitment, sometimes the demands of life cannot, and should not, be ignored. It can occur that an RP thread will be left unfinished, for whatever reason. If this occurs, it is possible that Story Crafters can be switched, if someone else is willing to take up the reins, and the previous Story Crafter gives permission for the change. The new Story Crafter should have the support of at least the majority of main character players, and should adhere to the original major plot of the role-play.
We'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this and get a general idea of what it takes to have a great role-play. If you have any questions or need additional help, feel free to send a private message to Nessa Arandur. Have fun!
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