IC Rules

Combat roleplay can be exciting for all players involved. However, it also can be easy to get carried away. So although it has been said many time throughout this tutorial of ours, we cannot stress enough….

Roleplay Requires OOC CONSENT

In combat, both winning and losing sides must have consent in order to proceed with massive damage. While you may aim to hit someone with a knife, you may not slice open a major artery without consent. While most of the reactions posted should be done by the victim in any attack scenario, there are a few things we found extremely important to remind everyone of that require explicit OOC consent.

•Kidnapping

•Rape/Assault of any kind

•Removal of limbs, or any other permanent damage to a character

•Death

Another equally important thing to remember is that when you take damage your character must reflect that in some way. If you are reduced to zero hit points, you should not be walking about the city as though nothing has happened.

First off, this is a dick move, guys. You know it, we know it, other players know it. If you’re found to be doing this, staff have to take time to talk to you about it OOCly, and then you get to sit through Wicked & Runes “Why what you did was wrong and stupid” class. I promise, it’s not fun.

GOD-MODDING

and the simple science of don’t be a douche.

God-modding is taking control of another player’s character during roleplay. It’s frowned upon and with good reason: you only control your character and no one else’s. The best way to explain it is by example. Let’s say that I’m playing as Sally and my friend is playing as Sam.

This is my friend’s post:
Sam inhaled deeply, summoning as much power as he could handle. Then his wild gaze focused on his attacker and his jaws opened. Bright orange flames burst forth as both a warning and defense.

And this is mine:
Sally jumped out of the way of Sam’s attack and dashed behind him. “No!!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Sam’s back and knocked him forward, twitching and dazed. He couldn’t get up.

How do I know whether or not Samcould get up, or whether he fell at all? It’s not my responsibility to control Sam - I only have control of Sally’s actions. A better response would have been this:

Sally jumped out of the way of Sam’s attack and dashed behind him. “No!!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Sam’s back, making a loud Cracking sound.

This makes it so that my friend can respond to my attack - whether or not they choose to get hit is completely up to them. It’s usually fair to allow your character to dodge two of every three hits when doing combat roleplay. That makes it fair and a little more realistic. Keep in mind that god-modding doesn’t apply only to combat: it applies to every day interactions as well. Be cautious when typing posts. Make sure to keep it fun and fair.

Metagaming

Metagaming refers to the in-character use of any knowledge that you (the player) have that your character would have no reasonable way of knowing. This means something must either be told to you, or public knowledge in order for your character to know that.

Some examples of metagaming include:

Pursuing IC secrets based on OOC knowledge of their existence
Going to a location based on OOC knowledge of who will be there
Making assumptions based on OOC knowledge of the players or GMs
Creating “the best” character for a specific purpose
Changing your character’s behavior based on OOC knowledge

-Tips to help you avoid Metagaming-

Report players when you have strong evidence of rule-breaking, but avoid jumping to conclusions or making unfounded accusations. Speculation is a slippery slope.
Be aware of your own roleplay and how you’re using information. This is especially true for games that allow multi-playing (playing more than one character at a time). It is very easy to forget that your Character A learned something but that your Character B didn’t. It’s also very easy to assume that because Character A found out, Character B would find out too.
Take notes when your character learns something important that could put someone else at a disadvantage. How did they find out? Note-taking is also useful for keeping facts straight across alts.

IC Rules

Combat roleplay can be exciting for all players involved. However, it also can be easy to get carried away. So although it has been said many time throughout this tutorial of ours, we cannot stress enough….

•Kidnapping

•Rape/Assault of any kind

•Removal of limbs, or any other permanent damage to a character

•Death

Another equally important thing to remember is that when you take damage your character must reflect that in some way. If you are reduced to zero hit points, you should not be walking about the city as though nothing has happened.

GOD-MODDING

and the simple science of don’t be a douche.

God-modding is taking control of another player’s character during roleplay. It’s frowned upon and with good reason: you only control your character and no one else’s. The best way to explain it is by example. Let’s say that I’m playing as Sally and my friend is playing as Sam.

This is my friend’s post:Sam inhaled deeply, summoning as much power as he could handle. Then his wild gaze focused on his attacker and his jaws opened. Bright orange flames burst forth as both a warning and defense.

And this is mine:Sally jumped out of the way of Sam’s attack and dashed behind him. “No!!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Sam’s back and knocked him forward, twitching and dazed. He couldn’t get up.

How do I know whether or not Samcould get up, or whether he fell at all? It’s not my responsibility to control Sam - I only have control of Sally’s actions. A better response would have been this:

Sally jumped out of the way of Sam’s attack and dashed behind him. “No!!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Sam’s back, making a loud Cracking sound.

Metagaming

Metagaming refers to the in-character use of any knowledge that you (the player) have that your character would have no reasonable way of knowing. This means something must either be told to you, or public knowledge in order for your character to know that.

Some examples of metagaming include:

Pursuing IC secrets based on OOC knowledge of their existence

Going to a location based on OOC knowledge of who will be there

Making assumptions based on OOC knowledge of the players or GMs

Creating “the best” character for a specific purpose

Changing your character’s behavior based on OOC knowledge

Report players when you have strong evidence of rule-breaking, but avoid jumping to conclusions or making unfounded accusations. Speculation is a slippery slope.

Take notes when your character learns something important that could put someone else at a disadvantage. How did they find out? Note-taking is also useful for keeping facts straight across alts.

This is my friend’s post:
Sam inhaled deeply, summoning as much power as he could handle. Then his wild gaze focused on his attacker and his jaws opened. Bright orange flames burst forth as both a warning and defense.

And this is mine:
Sally jumped out of the way of Sam’s attack and dashed behind him. “No!!” he cried; a flash of lightning shot towards Sam’s back and knocked him forward, twitching and dazed. He couldn’t get up.