The RPG User Manual

[Remæus]

The RolePlayGateway User Manual

This is a general guide to roleplaying here on RolePlayGateway. Please feel free to submit further information to us. If you have your own tutorials or examples, contact an Admin or Mod and we will post it here for you. We will give you full credit for your actions.

This has been edited from its original form by Vexar and Remaeus. By breaking things into chapters you should be able to click the links below. That will enable a swift way of browsing through the guide at any given time.

Index:
Chapter 1… What is RPG and Roleplaying?
Chapter 2… Character Creation
Chapter 3… Roleplaying
Chapter 4… Frequently Used Terms
Chapter 5… Extra Information
Chapter 6… Tips and Links

[LordSaladin]

ROLEPLAYGATEWAY – AN OVERVIEW. By Lord Saladin

What is RolePlayGateway.com?

RolePlayGateway.com (RPGateway, Gateway) is a community dedicated to online, text based role-playing games, their players, and other skills and pastimes associated with role-playing.

Where does Gateway come from?

Eric Martindale. Essentially, the genius that is this fiery haired fellow is where RPGateway originates. Of course, however, nothing is ever quite so simple.

I have had the fortune of hearing the stories of old, and as such will give you a brief history of the site.

In the beginning, there was gundamwing.com. It was here that a great amount of chat based RPing was taking place, and a community soon began to grow, friends were made, legends were started, and people generally had fun role-playing.

Gundamwing.com then changed, and became animemetro.com. No longer just a chat based community; animemetro (AM) now incorporated forums as well, and saw a period of prosperity, (It IS still around today) and the community grew greatly. During this time, for reasons not worth discussing here, or anywhere, a certain amount of discontentedness grew among those who had been in the community when it was nothing but a single chat room.

So it was that Eric Martindale (Remaeus on the forums, AKA Master and Crescendo), in all his genius, decided that he would create the thing that people were really wanting, but had been lost in AM.

It was from there that gwing.net was created. The name, perhaps misleading, was in honour of the original gundamwing.com and its members. However, the RP in gwing.net was not limited to Gundam Wing, but all genres were welcome.

It was this site that was to become Gateway. It found, over the years that it was in existence that those who had originally migrated from AM remained, and more and more new people joined. I was, in fact, one of the people who was around when the site was a beautifully dark coloured, simple forum that was, essentially, still finding its feet in the greatness of the RPing world.

Eric, friends with the founder of another RPing site, roleplaygateway.com, would speak with Hilde (She is on these forums under that name as well), and the two found that they were wanting to move their communities in the same direction.

So, in their wisdom, a decision was made, raised from the question – Why, if we are moving in the same direction, should we be competitors? They obviously answered with something along the lines of “We shouldn’t, because that would be stupid.” So, a pool of resources, a lot of discussion later, and roleplaygateway.com was what replaced gwing.net.

Why? Why not keep the name that honoured the old days? Simple – it was misleading. As mentioned, it was easy to think gwing.net was a Gundam only site.

That wasn’t the impression that was needed for the community to grow. So, the name changed.

The release of PHPbb3, in Release Candidate stage, (for non techno geeks, that is what the forum is built from), was to spark a major change in the image of the website, to a more crisp, more professional aesthetic. The site you all see now.

And since that day, none of us have truly looked back, the community is growing almost exponentially, and we know that it will continue to grow as Eric continues his diligent work.


What is the belief of Gateway?

At Gateway, we aim to provide a community where you are welcomed with a warmness unmatched, made to feel right at home, given freedom and not being constantly watched by the staff members.

We will never delete an RP thread that has been made. We are not the type of organisation that will be uber strict, and come down like a tonne of bricks, issuing bans and official warnings at the first opportunity.

Free Form Role Play, that is Gateway. And as such, you should be allowed freedom; we give that.

Yes, a community. A community cannot possibly grow and become stable from a singular common interest. That is why, throughout the site, you will find many non-RP threads and discussion. From general, often random, discussions and debates, to gaming, martial arts, technology discussion, to places where you can show off skill such as music, art, writing ability, you will find a place to have a decent chat with people who share more interests with you than just RPing.

Alongside the forums, we also have an integrated chat service that will allow you to talk to staff and other members in real time, along with being able to RP in a chat style.


What do you guys get out of this?

The owners of Gateway run this entire operation completely voluntarily, with money direct from their own wallets. Madness, surely?

Well, for these people, Eric and Hilde, RPing has been a passion for many many years, and played a massive part in their lives. Making friendships that have grown beyond that of a computer screen in many cases, giving an escape to the madness that is the life of a teenager.

They, quite simply, want to ensure that people who share their passion are given, in some respects, the same opportunities they had, along with opportunities they didn’t have. The staff at Gateway are simply wanting to ensure that other people who share, or are just beginning to realise a love for RPing, can experience RP in the best way and in the best environment.

I, personally, enjoy watching as young people join the site, totally ignorant really to what RP is, then start up, and find they enjoy it, and subsequently grow in many different ways.


Who are the team, and what do they do?

The team are easily found by their different coloured usernames.

As to what they do, the Administrators, most easily signified by their names being in red, keep the site running, in ways that a fair numbers of us cannot even comprehend. Maintaining servers, SQL databases, making new CSS files so that the forum looks pretty, and many many different things.

They also work on making the community grow, Eric, for example, spends a ridiculous amount of time to make sure this site is at the top of Google searches for anything RP related.

Moderators ensure that content on the site is suitable. Making sure there are no spammers linking to porn sites or advertising such things as medicines or other random products.

All staff members are also there, and completely willing, to help the members of this community.

You mentioned non-RP things?

Yeah, a good majority of the site is RP based, but we also have a massive portion that is completely away from RP. From, as mentioned before, general discussion, to discussions on various other, more specific, topics, such as Technology, Martial Arts, and Entertainment.

Along with that, the Artwork forum is place for those artistically talented to show off their skills, and those who are less talented in that area to request artwork for many purposes.

The Writing forum is a place where you can show off your literary talents, and receive, if you show wish, feedback on your writing. The Growth section within the Writing forum also has a fair number of resources that are designed to help your writing get better, and a few interactive things where you can be given ideas on what to write.

The Music forum is a place to discuss music, bands, instruments and myriad music related subjects. You can even give links to your own music. NB: We do not, in any way, endorse copyright infringement, so any such links are not allowed.

So, what should I do?

If you are a new member, go take a look around, say hi to us all at the Welcome Desk so we know you are here. Scope out the thousands of RPs we have, decide if you wanna join any, look for topics of discussion that interest you, and put in your two cents’ worth.

In regards to RPs, you can, in general, just jump in with an introductory post, and enjoy from there.

You could even put profiles of your characters, or even journals, in the Characters forum, as a means of keeping a record of all your characters.

And, should you be of the disposition to enjoy text based fighting, you can make challenges in the Battle Arena.

In general, just have fun, that is what you came here for anyway.

[Remæus]

What is RPG?

RPG is a community based around Free Form Role Play (FFRP). It is a gathering place for both roleplayers and spectators.

What is Roleplay?
In its most basic form, roleplaying is simply acting. Regardless of the genre, this acting is within the constraints of a character profile and probably also those of a given scenario. Namely, the roleplayer acts in a way that they believe their character should act. Often this has little (or nothing) to do with how the out of character person would behave.

Roleplaying, in general, is when a gamer sets aside their own identity and plays out the actions, thoughts, and dialogue of a fictional character. There are many games available on the markets which make use of this concept, but all of these use fairly detailed rules and some form of random chance (dice, cards, or simply the game master's whim) to decide the character's attributes, abilities, knowledge, combat outcomes, etc.

Free form roleplaying takes this a step beyond. In FFRP, the player has complete control over the character they portray. There are no dice, no random elements other than characters' actions. No one can force actions on someone else's character. It's essentially text-based improvisational acting and cooperative writing.

The key element that keeps FFRP from becoming a free-for-all amongst ultra powerful characters is RESPECT. Foremost, respect for other players; and equally important, respect for the setting in which the character is played. Disrespectful gamers usually find themselves ignored.

[Remæus]

What is a character?
A character is an imaginary being that you create. You are the player of the game, while your character is the thing in the game.

Characters are who we are when it comes to roleplay. Characters are the personas we take on to game, or the people we create in our mind when writing. Having a strong character is the basis for role-playing well. 'Strong character' doesn't necessarily mean a hulking barbarian with rippling biceps that can tear trees from the ground and destroy universes. A strong character is one that is realistic and well-balanced-- that is, he/she has weaknesses, fears, and goals as all of us in the real world do. Characters can also already be pre-defined. If you want to play Heero Yuy from Gundam wing, that's fine. But remember, even the perfect soldier, has fears and weaknesses, he just doesn't outwardly show them.

Character Creation

Creating a character is the first step in any roleplaying game.

A free-form character is both easy and difficult to create; free-form means that you can do whatever you wish with the character's abilities, personality, traits, etc. The difficult part comes when you try to make the character interesting, both for you as the player, and for the players who will interact with you and your character. Sure, an all-powerful wizard would be fun and interesting for you to play, but not for the people playing the characters around him. And eventually, such a character wouldn't be challenging to play; just wave a hand and all his problems poof away. How much fun is that? Make him intriguing, give him a weakness, or a quirk, and don't make him The Most Powerful 'Mancer to Walk the Planes.

Here's some questions you might ask yourself when you're creating a character: 1) Who is s/he? What are the basic personality traits to this character? 2) What is s/he? Human, elf, dwarf, female, male, native, Outlander, 'mancer, noble, thief, etc. The list is endless! 3) When is s/he arriving in Lyran Tal? What's their background up to that point? Age? Upbringing? Is it a character you intend to play long-term, or a throwaway character for just an evening or two? 4) Where will you be playing this character? "Live" play in the tavern, or in written stories posted on the message boards? Will they be confined to a single region in Lyran Tal, or will they roam the continent? 5) Why tell this character's story? Why do they behave as they do? What drives them and makes them interesting?

It's not at all necessary to create an in-depth history and personality profile for your character, but many players find it helpful to know the answers to some of these questions as they start to play a new character.


Making a good character

Here are a few things you should consider when you're rping a character. Remember now this is only advice... here to guide you in maintaining a well-balanced, realistic portrayal of the character. You don't have to follow all (or any) of them, but simply use them as a reference.

Who is your character? Where was he/she born? What kind of family life and background did they have?

Did your character's upbringing as a child influence their beliefs today?

Did something traumatic happen to your character in the past? Are they haunted by memories of it? Does it affect how they act/what they do today?

What 'career' has your character chosen? How did they learn it? What are his/her strengths as a result? What about weaknesses?

Are they afraid of something (fears aren't necessarily visible by all)? What caused this fear? Are they working to overcome it? Or are they mastered by it?

[Remæus]

Wait, I'm not an adult...
It doesn't matter to me. I've seen 13 year olds who roleplay ten times as well as a 40 year old, simply because of experience. In my eyes, you're all 'adults' in terms of maturity, until you prove yourself otherwise.

This means that if you're typing in txt-tlk, godmodding, crossing IC and OOC, or any other type of general immaturity, you will no longer be considered an adult, but will be treated as a child, unsuitable for viewing potentially graphic roleplay. Cease and desist, or you won't be allowed here.

Orthodox?
Orthodox roleplay is playing in a method that allows the other players to determine how your character's actions affect theirs. Orthodox roleplay is often the most widely accepted and safe form of roleplay, although it is very difficult for beginners to get used to.

Instead of:

-= Punches Andy in the face. =-

You should use:

-= Swings his fist towards Andy's face. =-

Actions should be implied, not stated.

Unorthodox?


Rule of thumbs for all types of roleplay:
[*]Never use first person in actions. Use the character's name instead of saying "I" or "you".
[*]Imply, do not do. If the roleplay is in a certain tense, maintain that tense through your posts. Tenses can be past, present, or future. This is very difficult to maintain throughout a roleplay, but it is important to be consistent.
Past:

-= He swung his fist towards Andy's face. =-

Present:

-= He swings his fist towards Andy's face. =-

Future:

-=He would swing his fist towards Andy's face. =-

Future tense allows a roleplayer to be slack about being orthodox. It may be permissible to do this, as long as there is an understanding with the opponent.
Example:

-= He would slam his fist into Andy's face. =-

Fighting?!
Yes, you can fight using your characters! Fighting without an in character reason isn't roleplay, however. If you're only interested in fighting, it is recommended you head over to the GT League.

Often times characters have disagreements, much like in real life. Some people choose to avoid conflict, some like to start it. A good roleplayer will be able to maintain the personality of their character, and act accordingly to any situation that arises, including conflict.

Okay, now what?
You now know how to roleplay.

To help develop your roleplay, try reading 101 tips for roleplayers for some great ideas and suggestions.

More tidbits:

Ripped from Lyrantal Press, WIP to edit to suit RPG:

Roleplaying, in general, is when a gamer sets aside their own identity and plays out the actions, thoughts, and dialogue of a fictional character. There are many games available on the markets which make use of this concept, but all of these use fairly detailed rules and some form of random chance (dice, cards, or simply the game master's whim) to decide the character's attributes, abilities, knowledge, combat outcomes, etc.

Free form roleplaying takes this a step beyond. In FFRP, the player has complete control over the character they portray. There are no dice, no random elements other than characters' actions. No one can force actions on someone else's character. It's essentially text-based improvisational acting and cooperative writing.

The key element that keeps FFRP from becoming a free-for-all amongst ultra powerful characters is RESPECT. Foremost, respect for other players; and equally important, respect for the setting in which the character is played. Disrespectful gamers usually find themselves ignored.

[Remæus]

Glossary of common FFRP/chat terms and abbreviations:

Backstory: The history (or any part of it) of a character prior to the point where it's put into play.

Blending - (IC/OOC Confusion): Where a player mixes or "blends" realities between their character and themselves or uses OOC knowledge that wouldn't otherwise be known to their character either in active RP or in written SLs. This is undesirable and considered bad form. Remember, You are Not your Character!

Character: The fictional persona that one takes on when they RP (roleplay) within the room.

Erasure: When all players involved in a scene agree to declare that a scene or IC event never took place.

Freeform Roleplaying: Roleplaying where complete freedom is given to the players to control their own characters within a setting.

Godmoder: A player who creates or plays an invincible character. These are not conducive to cooperative roleplaying. Godmoding is undesirable and considered bad form.

IC (In Character): Anything that pertains to your character; their thoughts, actions, dialogue, etc. The part of roleplaying that maintains the illusion of the fictional reality where your character dwells.

Ignore: This is pretty self-explanatory; it's where a player either refuses to acknowledge the actions of another, or where a player actually uses the Ignore feature. It's usually a good idea to let your gaming partners know if you're ignoring a particular character.

Lurk: This is slang for when a player is in a chat room but not playing. Many experienced gamers will lurk in a room for a few minutes to get a feel for what's happening before they roleplay their character's entrance.

OOC (Out Of Character): Anything that pertains to you, the player; punties, IMs, e-mail, chatrooms, internet, Hosts, etc.

NPC (Non-Player Character): This is usually a minor character (think "bit part") that does not have an actual screen name. It can sometimes refer to playing a second character while under another screen name. See below for an example of this:

Zharyka: [Ellie] ::the serving girl blinked, staring at the strange creature that’d walked thru the Northern Portal:: Goodness sakes, what kind of Outlander demon is THAT?

Powergaming: This is when a player insists on calling actions for someone else's character. Like "Godmoding", it's not conducive to cooperative roleplaying, and is considered bad form.

Do this:

Freon: ::an aura of bone-chilling cold emanates from him, fanning out into the entire room::

Rather than:

Freon: ::a flick of his fingers and a chill runs down the spine of everyone in the tavern::

The difference is subtle, but the first one does not dictate action for the others in the room whereas the second one does.

SL (Storyline): Usually, the tale of a character's life. SLs can intertwine between characters, and the term can also refer to just a portion of a story, either written and/or roleplayed. Sometimes you'll see some pretty intense scenes being played out in the chat. It's a good idea to PM one of the players first before you have your character jump in, to be sure you won't be upsetting a storyline by doing so.

Spectators?
RPG Roleplay is the ultimate fiction story: it just keeps coming, from any angle you want to read it at. Like a character? Follow them. Go anywhere, anytime. Your Way.


What are IC and OOC?
IC and OOC stand for In Character and Out Of Character, respectively.


What is Godmodding?
Godmodding is making your character invulnerable, ignoring the actions of other characters, or just otherwise cheating. This will get you ignored, kicked, and ultimately banned. Play by the rules, be a mature adult, and you're welcome here.

[Remæus]

:: :: : Double colons surround a character's actions or thoughts. Anything between double colons has NOT been spoken aloud.

Zharyka: ::she took up a bottle of Luminiian white wine and poured a glassful for the troubadour::

@ : This symbol is used at the beginning of a line of text to denote that the action or dialogue is taking place somewhere other than the common room of the tavern. Some players use it at the end of the line as well, to reinforce the visual cue that they're not in the common room.

Zharyka: @::she stared up at the stars from her seat at the base of Cornelius Dreven's statue::

# : This symbol is used at the beginning of a line of text to denote lyrics being sung.

~ : This symbol surrounds telepathic thoughts.

(( )): Denotes OOC chat.

Multiverse?
The multiverse is where anything can happen, be it spell-casting wizards and psions, giant robots, a race of aliens from another dimension, or even a gun-toting western. The Multiverse is everything included into one, it is above all of the timelines and history of all the universes it contains, it's the chaotic fusion of everything you've ever dreamed in one realm. There's generally no overlying storyline or important characters, so you would be able to jump into a Multiverse area using your character without any previous knowledge.

Universe?
A world limited to a certain universe.

Subverse?


Alterverse?
Alternate Universe

I don't know how to use this...
Use the following rule of thumb: If it is [url=#]this color[/url], you can click it.

What are credits?
Credits are a multiversal form of currency, for use on RPG. They can be used to paying for most anything in character.

[Remæus]

Chapter 6


A few last notes:

Typos: Don't worry about correcting most typos. The other players will usually know what you meant, and correcting them just disrupts the flow of play. If you really feel it's necessary to correct it, do so within ::double colons:: not ((OOC)) because it will disrupt less.

ASCII Art, Phaders, illegible fonts, and hard-to-read colors: Don't use 'em! Seriously, if you use stuff like this, you're likely to get ignored. You're here to tell a story, not give your fellow players headaches, right?

Turn on your IMs: Because FFRP is all about cooperative roleplaying, it's a good idea to keep your IMs turned on so that your fellow players can contact you behind the scenes with important information.

Respect Copyright Laws: Don't infringe on other players' creative rights. Get permission to use others' work. See: The Copyright Website

Above all ... HAVE FUN!: Remember, this is a game and if you're not having a good time, take a break and come play some other time. The room will still be there.


What not to do:

I thought that I would post a summary of what I thought each would be. It might help voters make their decisions, as well as spawn some talk about what is permissible and what is not.


Metagame.
Taking something that you as a player have knowledge of and allowing your character to know, without rational IC reason.

Godmod.
Have an undefeatable weapon, an indomitable defense.

Argue.
Take it to PM. No need to argue at all, if RP is done correctly and respect is given to everyone.

Cybersex.
Unnecessary intimacy in public.

Use unbalanced characters.
Your character has amazing abilities, but no weaknesses?

Use uninteresting characters.
Having no personality or definitive qualities to the character.

Use txt-tlk.
omg u hav a prblm wit txttalk?!!

Use a style inconsistent with the current play.
If someone is RPing in real time chat style, you post para style, or even essay style. And vice versa.

Mixing your verb tenses also falls under this category. If play is currently in past tense, do not use present or future tense in your writing. If it is third person, do not use first, and in reverse, too.

Third person, past tense is the standard.

Use Mary Sue characters.

Mary Sue (sometimes shortened simply to Sue) is a pejorative term for a fictional character who is portrayed in an overly idealized way and lacks noteworthy flaws, or has unreasonably romanticized flaws.

Use stock characters.
Roleplay as a character from a series, in an otherwise diverse world of original characters.

Use stock storylines.
Use a storyline from a series, in an otherwise diverse world.

Fail to play the character.
If your character is afraid of insects, fail to make them react appropriately to a cobweb that is found in a room she enters.

Fail to engage potential players.
Failure to roleplay in a way that provides an opportunity for other players to jump in.

Force actions upon other players.
Referred to as non-orthodox, roleplay in a manner where another player has no choice but to accept an action.

Ignore actions made by other players.
If someone is in the game, refuse to acknowledge someone's post without previous provocation.

Mix Out of Character (OOC) and In Character (IC).
When speaking IC, refer to things such as the forum, a chat, a room, an instant messenger, in the OOC sense. While OOC, refer to your character in the first person...

Talk OOC in the roleplay.
Hold an OOC conversation in the same place as the roleplay.

Lantis' Free-Form Roleplaying Guide

Need character names? http://www.fantasynames.net