Role Playing Game : some rules
Role Playing
What is Role Playing? Role-playing, very basically,
is acting out a role and pretending to be that person within a given storyline
( the Game ). Who among us hasn’t pretended at one time or another that
we were a character in our favourite film, book, or TV series? Well, that’s
what role-playing is, you get to play at being one of the heroes within
a story. In our Role Playing Games you get to be the character you create,
either completely fictional, or maybe based on someone you know or a character
from a book. Remember the Plaza Name you chose when you joined? Well,
that was your first step into Roleplay. That is who you are on the Plaza.
In the Role play games you get to flesh that person out, with as much
detail as you choose. Family, history, background information, description.
You name it, there is no limit except that which you set yourself. Many
Gondorians write their Character Biographies, these can be accessed through
the Kingdom Pages. The more involved you get, the more richly defined
your character will become. At all times remember to keep your character
as true to Tolkien as you can, and adhere to the Rules within given threads.
You will find that the development of your Character and that Characters
personality will be a very rewarding experience for you. If you wish to
write and submit a Character Biography send us all the relevant
details and information to gondor@lotrplaza.com. We
look forward to reading them. Once approved they will be added to our
Kingdom Pages where all may view them.
So how does it work then? One person, with the aid of perhaps
one or two assistants, plays the role of the GamesMaster. The GamesMaster,
or GM, constructs a tale or runs one submitted by a fellow Gondorian.
The GM begins the tale and those that join in the Game have to abide by
the GM's rules. The most frequent form of these rules will follow this
section. So the GM starts the Game by posting the overall story line as
it is known to the Players at the beginning of the Tale. The GM furthermore
will write a description of where the group is, what the group sees and
what is happening at the current time. Then each Player has the chance
to respond and interact with each other and keep the flow of the Tale
in motion. Regularly the GM will provide prompts for the Players and keep
the story line moving on. Often there is no limit to the number of posts
you may make in a single twenty four hour period. Nevertheless if the
GM instills one, always adhere to it. During the course of these Tales
you will be opening new chapters in your characters life and each RPG
is an adventure of that character, shared with the other participants
of the Game.
What element do I control? You should look at it like this: The
RPG is a novel. The GM writes the novel and perhaps his or her own characters
actions, as well as the actions of Key enemies / allies not played by
another Plaza member. These others are called Non - Player Characters
or NPC's. You play one character in the Tale, and you decide what
actions your character takes when options present themselves, and what
your character says and generally how he / she behaves. You command all
the aspects of that Character. Your chance to immerse yourself in the
version of Tolkien's Middle Earth presented to you by the GamesMaster.
Your characters life within that environment is yours to control. The
GM might exercise some restraint, depending on how well you Roleplay and
the requirements of the Game. In those times, remember it is the GM's
Game you are playing, and his or her decision on matters of debate must
be adhered to. The idea is to stretch your creative talents and enjoy
the interaction and development of ties with your fellow players, hopefully
having a good deal of fun along the way!
1: No god-moding / Power Gaming.
Basically what this means is that your Character must act within a realistic
set of limitations. You may be a skilled Ranger, a capable warrior,
but that doesn't mean that you can wipe out entire battalions of the
enemy single handedly! In fact it pays to consider that every single
battle you are involved in is the one you may not walk away from. You
need to keep your actions believable at all times. If the group of Players
faces a half dozen Olog Hai you are not going to get away with posting
about how you kill them all with your deadly blades and turn around
grinning! Those who God Mode are the ones who post that sort
of thing. No Player is super human, no Player is infallable. You will
see that many choose to maximise the realism by adding in details of
injuries their characters sustain. This is far more interesting as it
influences future interaction for the character and sets new limitations.
A Character who has been shot with an arrow in the leg isn't going to
be running anywhere, or a wounded arm might prevent you from climbing.
Combat God Moding is not punishable by death, but it is discouraged
and any Power Gaming Posts will be deleted by the GM or the Rulers.
There are two other forms of God Mode, aside from in Combat.
The first of these is a Character God Mode. An example might
be deciding that you are the offspring of two Valar, or the daughter
of an Elven King and Queen. This kind of detail has to be permitted
by the Kingdoms Rulers, and will in all cases in our Kingdom be turned
down. No single Character in Minas Tirith is going to be above another
through lineage alone, except in the case of the Two Rulers, who have
been entrusted by Eru to play the Plaza Versions of Aragorn and Arwen.
An hierarchy does exist within the Rangers, but those of Rank have had
to work hard to deserve their Rank. The third form of God Mode
is a Storyline God Mode. A post that drastically alters the course
of a Storyline must be cleared with the GM at all times. Remember, the
GM has a plot outlined. It takes a lot of commitment to run an RPG.
Respect the GM's right to maintain his or her vision. Cases where this
rule has been broken often lead to a degeneration of the Game, because
nobody, including the GM, knows what is going on. Another form of Storyline
God Moding follows :
Mithril is very rare and very expensive,
so not everyone will have mithril items. Rangers have strict
rules on the possession of mithril items. Sometimes such items may be
discovered on an RPG. This is the only acceptable way to obtain such
items unless they are a gift from a Ruler. Nevertheless you will only
obtain such items if the GM permits. So someone helping themselves to
a randomly located Mithril sword they found just lying in the mud, is
Storyline God Moding. Please see the Ranger Headquarters for
more details on the Rangers policy regarding Mithril items.
2: No Autoing.
This rule really regards two issues. Autoing is a short term for
automatic hit. This is discouraged. If you are fighting one of
a large force of orcs, as you will like as not end up doing some day,
its fair enough to Auto them within the boundaries of realism.
See God Moding. Nevertheless if a GM has presented the Arch Villain
of the piece and someone posts that they ' climb the wall to where stands
the enemy leader and, taking blade in hand, beheads him!' well that is
autoing, and God Moding on two levels. The second way of autoing occurs
when you battle each other. I'm sure that anyone would be pretty upset
if someone posted doing permanent damage to their character and there
was no law against it. So a post between two Plaza Player Characters that
are fighting ( a rare circumstance ) that reads ' Player A attacks Player
B and before Player B can react his right arm lies on the floor, severed
at the elbow!' I won't go into why this is blatantly incorrect! I'm sure
you can figure it out for yourself!
3: Equality.
The only person with complete authority over the RPG is the Game Master.
In all matters the Game Master is the judge. The exception to this is
when the Rules of the RPG are broken, and in that circumstance the Rulers
and / or Admins might get involved. The latter when it comes to serious
infractions. These kind of infractions might include offensive posting,
or inappropriate posting. Most of the time no such instances will occur.
Under normal circumstances it is against the Rules to post in a condescending,
patronising or otherwise hurtful manner to another. No one player is above
any other. Within an existing hierarchy, our example being the Rangers,
it is all well and good for a Senior Officer to Command those he or she
is responsible for. Nevertheless it is not acceptable for a Ranger of
lower Rank to start making orders unless circumstances have placed that
character in a position to do so! For example a Corporal where there are
no Senior Ranks available in the given place, or a Full Division Member
where there are no active officers. That same Full Division Member might
make suggestions to his / her officer but never make demands. That is
part of the essence of Role Play.
Foul language is not tolerated on the Plaza anywhere, offensive posts
are not tolerated in RPG's. This word of warning extends to all involved.
For example the Commander of the Rangers may have to deal with a subordinate
breaking conduct or disobeying / countermanding orders. In that eventuality
it must be dealt with in character and with the proper decorum befitting
one of high rank. Although the GM controls the flow of the game, even
the GM must act in accordance to this policy. Too much bossiness can make
the players angry, and make the game boring. If as GM you want the game
to follow a set path, then find a way that still makes the game fun for
all concerned. An inflexible Game Master is one that will find him or
herself struggling with this. There will be times when a clever or industrious
player finds a way around your trap other than the alternate route you
wanted the Company to take. If you allow them to make use of their idea
it may mean sacrificing a battle you had planned. Yet if the means of
circumventing the trap is plausible you should not deny it. Merely shift
the battle!
Above all else show courtesy and respect to your fellow gamers. Any examples
of what you as a player feel is inappropriate posting should be reported
to your Rulers or Game Masters for them to consider. I cannot stress enough
the importance of keeping infringements out of the Game. They are to be
dealt with by those responsible for running or housing the Game. Which
leads to the next rule...
4: No O.O.C Posting!
This one is important. It’s also known as "Staying In Character", or IC.
Out Of Character, or OOC, is considered off-topic, and should be kept
to a seperate thread, e mail, or only posted in the RP thread if ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY! Out of character or O.O.C posts are distracting and often
detrimental to the flow of a game. Furthermore, nine out of ten times,
they address disagreements that should be dealt with through the Game
Masters or the Rulers. Here is an example : David is playing Rathimir
Vulhausen. He posts this ' Rathimir sees the defeat of the Balrog at the
hands of the lone Ranger Scout, and he cannot believe his eyes! Surely
the Demon is not truly dead!?' He follows it up with ' ( OOC - Ranger
Scout Danton, you could never have defeated the Balrog on your own! Be
realistic! This is blatantly against the rules!)'.
Now David has a point. Clearly Danton is God Moding, yet it is not Rathimir's
place to deal with it. His post is fine but his O.O.C is not. It is the
Game Masters position to either reprimand Danton and set him straight,
or to have Danton's post deleted. The kind of O.O.C above provokes Danton,
and could lead to a string of insults flying about in O.O.C messages that
clutter up the thread. It also promotes ill feeling between the given
members.
5: Be Courteous!
This is one of the most important rules of all. You need to think about
the other players in the game as well as yourself. After all, RPGs are
supposed to be fun. So no telling another player that he or she is not
allowed to play, is not wanted in the game, or doesn’t have enough experience
to play! Such remarks are upsetting and also a breach of the Equality
Rule above. If you have a problem take it to your GM or respective Rulers.
Remember that not everyone is going to be the most fantastic writer you
have ever read. Not everyone is going to have much online gaming experience.
Newcomers will take time to adjust to the Rules of the Games. Basically
the keyword is tolerance and even the most experienced gamers occasionally
make a mistake. So being kind and respectful and fair goes down as a definite
piece of legislation!
Well, I think that’s about it. Hopefully I’ve cleared up a few points,
and made it so that future RPGs will be a little more enjoyable for all.
Written by Naith Liathant, based on an original
structure written by Trey Andurandir.
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