Help Files

Campaign-Related Roleplay Information

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Auril
Staff Member - Quests
Posts: 522
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 5:01 am

Help Files

Postby Auril » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:18 pm

These will be added to the extensive array of help files on the mud, but for now, here you go.


HELP ROLEPLAY RP

Roleplay is about your mud character having his or her own personality. It's about being a 'real' person in the world of Toril, rather than just logging onto an account. It's about speaking and behaving as your character, 'in character', and not as a 21st century human living on Earth.

Roleplay is about participating in a truly dynamic playing experience, different every time. You can learn everything about the hard coded mud. Zone fights, quests, what pops where, but every RP event is unique. And every RP event is flexible, shaped by how the players react to the situation. In RP, the players shape the development and outcome of the event, in real time, far more than is possible anywhere else on the mud.

Turning the RP toggle on indicates that you're potentially interested in roleplaying. It doesn't mean that you are roleplaying right now, or that you'd drop everything to start roleplaying, but it does notify other players and the Role Play-Quest gods that if they're looking for someone to roleplay with, you might be interested.

The INFO files have much more information for those interested in roleplay.

Note: You cannot have both RP and AFK toggled at the same time.


INFO ROLEPLAY RP

Welcome, welcome! You'd like to learn more about roleplaying on Torilmud? You've come to the right place. Pull up a chair, grab a glass or mug of your favorite beverage, and I'll give you a few hints and tips.

If you've seen the HELP ROLEPLAY entry, you know that roleplay, or RP as we usually say, is about making your mud character a person. Someone who has a personality, a character, who speaks and acts in certain ways, and is mostly consistent in their words and deeds. People being what they are, no one is completely consistent!

Who should you be? Anyone you want! That's the fun of it.

How do you do it? Speak and behave just like the character you want to be. When you're roleplaying, you should generally be in character (IC), not out of character (OOC). Does that sound simple? It's not! Unless you're just being yourself. Which is certainly acceptable, but if you want to be yourself, you don't need to be on a mud to do that!

Can you convincingly be someone else? You'll never know until you try!

For your player character to seem like a real character, you might want to think about a few things. What does your character look like? What do they sound like, how do they talk? Are they generally cheerful or sad, friendly or hostile, pleasant or vicious, gregarious or reserved, open or hidden, honest or dishonest, and anything else you can think of? What are the reasons they're cheerful, sad, friendly, hostile, and whatever? What's their personal history, where have they been, what have they seen and done in their life?

You probably won't know all of this when you start. Even those of us that RP a lot don't know all the details of our characters! That, too, is part of the fun: Figuring out, over time, just who your character is. Plus, your character can change over time, can develop and grow and be shaped by things that happen to them. You may be learning things about your character for years!


INFO RP_INTRO

If you haven't roleplayed before, there are several things that will make it easier.

First, read all the INFO RP files. Not immediately, but they'll give you a better idea of what goes on with RP on Torilmud. Consider carefully the help files about your race and class as well, for they give guidance about the average person who's chosen your path. Of course you are exceptional, but knowing more of the average could help you shape your character. Other factors, such as alignment and physical stats, could come into play, but that's up to you.

Second, it's possible to RP by yourself, but most people find it more enjoyable to RP with other people. Most RPers will be open to a brief in character (IC) conversation, though even among the folks with RP togged on, some are more likely to RP than others. Learn which PCs are usually RPing, which PCs are 'real characters', and become acquainted with them. Sometimes they will know of possible RP activities you could participate in. Often, the RP gods are running a series of events, a 'story arc' which can take weeks, months, even years to complete: Familiarity with the current god-run campaign(s) will increase your opportunities for RP.

Third, the closer your character is to your own personality, the easier it will be. Your character will still speak and act somewhat differently than you, unless you happen to be a warrior, rogue, cleric, or mage living on Toril with a mystical Internet connection. But if your character is close to your own personality, then your own reactions will be appropriately in character in many situations. You won't have to think about every little thing.

Fourth, if you're going to be RPing with other people, your character shouldn't be better at anything than you are. If you try to RP the greatest warrior in the world, but have no idea what to do when you get into battle on the mud, that won't be convincing RP. Other RPers will, appropriately and in character, mock you for your boasts.

Similarly, if you try to RP a wise and knowledgeable historian, but don't know the mud timeline, the differences between Torilmud and standard AD&D, and so on, then you won't convince anyone with your RP. If you can't tell a joke in real life (RL), your character can't be a humorist, only an incompetent humorist. On the other hand, if you can tell a joke in RL, you can still RP an incompetent humorist on the mud.

Fifth, you can practice RP by treating the mud as real. In most hometowns, the standard mud mobs or non-player characters (NPCs) will say something or do something. And there will be zone echoes about sunrise and sunset, birds flying overhead, and so on. Does your character react to any of these? If so, what do they do?

Note that some of the mud echoes do not lend themselves to good or convincing RP. For example, in some caves, deep underground, you can still 'see' the sun rise or set.


INFO RP_OPPORTUNITIES

Most of your RP will take place with other players. These may be conversations, or various adventures that you decide to pursue. In the past, some players have planned fairly large RP events, and these can be a lot of fun!

Some of your RP will take place in your own head, as you figure out just who your character is.

There are times you can RP with the RPQ gods. These may be part of a scheduled event. Such events are sometimes posted on rpnews. Or this may happen as a surprise, when you suddenly get an RP invitation.

You may also request that the RPQ gods arrange an event with you or for you. Send your request via mudmail to one of the RP-Quest gods, as shown in wizlist. Include a brief description of the event and what you hope it will accomplish.

The gods may choose to plan, help with, or run such an event. The more players you want to involve, and the more closely linked your event is to any campaign the gods are already running, the more likely the gods are to help with your event. Note that if the gods do get involved, the resulting event may bear little resemblance to what you expected.


INFO RP_EVENTS

A 'RP event' could be any roleplaying, but usually refers to a planned event. These may be planned by players, or may be planned by the RPQ gods. If the event is planned by the RPQ gods, it may be scheduled so the players know about it ahead of time, or it may be a surprise.

Events will almost always involve several players, perhaps many. On Torilmud, it is rare for the RPQ gods to plan and run an event for a single character.

All players participating in an RP event planned by the gods must have RP togged on. If it's not on, you will be asked to leave the event.

Events planned by the RPQ gods will revolve around some task. You may have to fight some mobs. You may have to deliver something to someone. You may have to locate a particular item. You may have to help someone do something. You may have to discover certain information. You may have to do all of the above, or you may have to do something completely different.

All events planned by the RPQ gods can be 'won'. There will be a way to succeed in what you have been asked to do. Whether you succeed depends on you and your group.

Events planned by the RPQ gods are always run 'live'. The gods can react and modify the event based on what you do, so your deeds and words may greatly shape the event.

If an event is a surprise, one or more players will, somehow, be issued an invitation to RP. If no one accepts the invitation, the event simply won't happen.

If an event is scheduled, in general there will be no invitation, no signal of "OK, we're starting now." The players should check that an RPQ god is vis, but that may be all the gods provide at the beginning. If in doubt, you should send a "Are you there?" petition. The players who wish to participate in a scheduled event must, on their own, get together and do something. If the players just stand around waiting, the event may never happen.


INFO RP_INVITATIONS

Invitations to RP from other players may happen simply by someone talking to you, in character. Or perhaps someone will have planned and publicized an event of some sort.

Invitations to RP from the gods come in three forms. One is via an announcement on rpnews about a planned event. This will list a time and either a location or a player to contact. If an event is scheduled in this way, that will probably be the only invitation you get, and the interested players are responsible for gathering together and starting to RP.

A second type of invitation begins with a non-player character (NPC), perhaps a standard mud mob or maybe some NPC you've never seen before, making an unusual comment, or perhaps trying to strike up a conversation. That will be an RPQ god, playing that character. Usually this comment or conversation will include a hint or clue of something you might do.

The third type invitation takes the form of a novel echo. If you 'see' something that you've never seen before, that's usually an indication that the RPQ gods have something planned, and are looking for interested RPers. If you want to RP, you should try to figure out what the echo indicates.

If you think you've been invited to RP, then you should react in character. Talk to the NPC. Say something or have some reaction to the echo. If you're busy or not interested right then, it's still good to do something, even if it's just providing some in character excuse. You can just ignore any invitation, but if you completely ignore too many invitations, you'll be less likely to get them in the future.


INFO RP_CHANNELS

RP primarily takes place by what can be seen by anyone in the room. These include any actions/commands you might do: eating and drinking, killing mobs, and so on. It includes the public communication channels such as say, shout, and emote. And it includes any use of socials. Whisper and ask may also be used effectively in RP, since everyone in the room can see that you are whispering or asking, even if they can't see what you've said.

Using these means of communication and methods of interaction is how you show others the persona you've created. There are many socials, some of which are good for RP. Most RPers create at least some of their own actions, using emotes. Some RPers use emotes to customize their speaking. All of this is part of revealing your character and having your behavior reflect your character's traits and personality.

If you are taking part in some roleplay event, and the RPQ gods are observing your roleplay, the gods generally expect all of your actions, says, shouts, emotes, and socials to be in character, and part of RP. If they aren't in character, the gods will view them as poor RP. Actions that are the result of a trigger are usually viewed as poor RP, too, since no one does exactly the same thing in response to the same stimulus every time. There are a few exceptions, where such an action is appropriate for your character: A priest of Lathander who always prays at sunrise, for example, or someone who is sitting who always gets to their knees before standing.

If you must make an out of character statement, most players put an 'ooc' at the front. For example:
Player says 'ooc Someone's at the door, hang on'

Some players use tells and gsay mostly in character, but many players do not. Some players are sometimes IC with their tells and gsays and sometimes OOC. If it's not clear, you can always use tell or gsay to ask them! The RPQ gods do not normally see gsays and tells, and so never treat them as part of RP.


INFO RP_GODS

Torilmud has a group of immortals whose primary responsibility is roleplay, known collectively as the Role Play-Quest Sphere (or RPQ gods).

They offer various opportunities for roleplay through events they have planned and run. Players may know about these events ahead of time (usually via a listing on rpnews) or they may not (and will be alerted by a sudden invitation). The RPQ gods may also take advantage of RP sessions that players have initiated.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about RP or RPQ, you should send mudmail to one of the RP-Quest gods, as shown in wizlist.


INFO RP_REWARDS

RP is primarily about being a character, and developing your character. To encourage that, the RPQ gods may provide you with some small rewards. These rewards may help you further develop your character's personality.

The initial rewards are designed to acknowledge your participation in RP. Higher levels of rewards are designed to reflect your character's specific personality and taste, based on what the gods have observed. Attaining these higher rewards is difficult, and requires a great deal of RP activity. A historical note: Restrings were fairly commonplace on some earlier versions of this mud, but they are now considered a high level RP reward.

Items given out as RP rewards, or restrung items which were restrung as a RP reward, are awarded to the specific character that earned them. They are not awarded to a player. They are to be kept on that one character. Giving them to another of your characters, or to someone else's character, is prohibited. If you do so, the gods may confiscate the item. The only exception would be if you could, ahead of time, convince the RPQ gods that there was a good RP reason for you to be giving this item to someone else. This would likely require a RP event or story, and even then the gods might decide you couldn't give the item away.

Trading RP reward items, including restrings or restrung items, is strictly prohibited. If the RPQ gods notice you even trying to do so, the item will be confiscated.

Of course, while you are roleplaying, you may find yourself killing and looting mobs, and collecting their money, weapons, or armor. Those would be yours to do with as you please, just as they are when you're mudding ordinarily.


INFO RP_NPC RP_NPCS

In RPQ events, you may encounter many non-player characters (NPCs). Some of these will be ordinary mud mobs, that are always there, and they won't do or say anything out of the ordinary.

Some of the mobs will be special NPCs, created by the RPQ gods for that event (or many events), and actively run by the RPQ gods. Sometimes the RPQ gods will use ordinary mud mobs, rather than specially created NPCs.

These NPCs are real characters. They will have a personality, skills, and resources. You are expected to recognize that personality, those resources, and deal with the NPC appropriately.

The NPC will speak and act and respond to you according to its personality. If you need them to do something, you may need to speak to them politely, or threaten them, or grovel before them, or bribe them, depending on their personality. Dealing appropriately with an NPC is often the primary challenge of an event. After all, everyone knows how to kill mobs, and many people know where various objects can be found on the mud. But can you figure out how to get some NPC to help you?

The NPC may use its resources and skills, as needed. If you attack the leader of a city, he could call every guard in that city to come to his aid. If you insult an assassin, he may have a pointed way of answering insults. Yes, if you're involved in a RP session, the RPQ gods are allowed to kill you under such circumstances.

These special NPCs will also react to circumstances, not only to you, but to other NPCs. Some NPCs, if threatened by you or another NPC, will attack. If attacked by you or another NPC, some NPCs will fight. Some NPCs will choose to flee and hide. It is usually the case that if a key NPC dies, or even if they run away and hide, you will be unable to 'win' the event.

These special NPCs will develop a history with you. Your interaction with a specific NPC in one RPQ event can and will affect its behavior towards you the next time you encounter it in an RPQ event. Your interaction with these NPCs outside of RPQ events, however, is irrelevant. It will not know about the hard-coded quest it helped you with, the number of times you killed it, or any such matters, and will think you delusional if you insist such things happened.


INFO RP_PENALTIES

During RP events, the usual penalties apply for violations of mud rules. However, there are very few additional penalties that are specifically a part of RP.

RP penalties typically are along the lines of 'be careful what you ask for, you might get it.' In this case it's 'be careful what character you RP, the RPQ gods may enforce it.' Sometimes you may find the burden that you have placed upon your character, or the gods' interpretation of that burden, is too heavy. You are welcome to ask the RPQ gods to help you change that burden, but it may be quite costly.

Of course, participating in RP events has all the same penalties for your character as ordinary mudding: You might get killed, and you might lose money, weapons, or armor.

In RPQ god-planned events, the chance of dying may be quite high. Of course, in many RPQ events, the enemy will fight like 'ordinary mud mobs'. But in some events, they won't. Your enemy may use tactics that the mud artificial intelligence routines don't know. The NPCs may use resources that their character has (such as political and organizational resources), but that the mud code doesn't recognize.

RP is about a dynamic, flexible, challenging environment. That includes combat. You have been warned.


INFO RP_RIGHTS

1. RP is not a right. No one is required to RP with you, and that includes the RPQ gods.

2. Each player has the right to control the life, personality, and development of their own character(s). No player should attempt to create a significant, unwanted, emotional or life-changing event for another player's character without the prior consent of that player. Similarly, other players should not attempt to inflict such events on your character without your permission.

The RPQ gods are allowed to inflict life-changing events on your character, without your permission, if we determine that your RP warrants it. But the gods are generally opposed to doing so, and usually characters respond to warnings of an imminent change before the gods feel compelled to inflict the modification.

It is possible that someone will attempt to significantly change to your character, without your permission, and you will decide to accept it as part of your character development. Unless you complain to the RPQ gods, the gods will assume that any attempt to change your character is not an unwanted event.

The more times you accept someone's attempt to change your character and make it part of your character development, and the more different people you let change your character, the less likely the gods are to take any future complaint seriously.

If a character attempts to inflict a significant event on your character, it's best if you can RP your way out of it. If that isn't possible, you may ignore the event and speak to them, player to player, asking them to stop. If they persist after that, notify the RPQ gods.

3. Though no one may inflict significant emotional or life-changing events on your character, no one is required to support your attempted characterization. If you can't find your way to Split Shield, no one is required to agree that you're an experienced adventurer. And insulting you, under such circumstances, will be completely in character for most characters.


INFO RP_ABUSE

'I'm RPing' is not a valid excuse for the abuse or violation of any mud rules. Player-killing, sexual harassment, killing shopkeepers, and all other forbidden activities and actions are still forbidden, even if you claim to be roleplaying.

'I'm only RPing' is not a valid excuse for offensive or abusive speech or behavior if it seems to be directed at the person behind the character. Torilmud has rules against sexual harassment and hateful and offensive speech, and the Forgers' have requested you treat others with common courtesy. All of this still applies in RP for your interactions with _players_. For many PC's, an appropriate personality may be vicious, nasty, and hostile, so between player _characters_, the boundaries are more flexible. But we strongly advise that it be completely obvious that you are being hostile in character.

If a character is interacting with your character in a manner that makes you too uncomfortable, perhaps hassling you personally or in any way, speak with them player to player, to indicate your concern. The player must know you feel they are moving past appropriate boundaries. They are expected to modify their interactions with you so that it is clearly RP, just as you are expected to deal with it in a RP manner when it is RP. If you've spoken with them and the behavior continues, notify the RPQ gods.

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