OOC:
At the last guild meeting I put up a suggestion for next week: That for a full week, the guild channel was to be in-character only.
In other words: Starting Sunday the 25., and a week forward, all communication on the guild channel should be as if you really were ?inside? your char ? to spark some good old fashioned Role Playing.
I think the suggestion was well received and voted for, and I was asked to give a short presentation of RP?ing at the meeting.
However, I decided to write a longer guide for the forums, so here we go ? Hyperion?s amateur guide to RP (be warned: LONG post):
First of all I?m in no way a RP guru, but I think it?s great fun ? and an essential part of the game ? to pretend I?m somebody else.
When I wanted my lowbie trader Teq Vargeen to enter the guild, she tried to enter by insulting Cogs so many times and made so many scarcely concealed threats (?Say, that big bot of yours looks like it has terribly fragile knee joints. What a pity if something bad should happen to them?) that for a moment I was really afraid old Coggy was genuinely angry and would refuse my alt entry into the guild
Great fun.
Problem with RP?ing is that not many players are into it, and that it takes time. It?s much quicker to say ?Tank, go pull mob? than ?My dear Atrox friend. Would you feel guilty if we picked on the next evil OT employee there?? or ?I want blood! I WANT the next OT worker dead! Slay him! Slay them all!? or whatever fits your character?
So usually, if you start some heavy-duty RP in a newly found team, they?ll not know what to say. That?s why guild and trusted friends are the best forums to do it under.
First the basics:
IC (In Character): Usually ? if RP is to be fun ? you?ll have to stay in character (IC) all the time. Use /say, /w, and /s to express yourself, and use the /me to add emotional expression to your words. When staying in IC, do it 100%.
You?re not playing a game, or even playing Anarchy, you?re actually ON Rubi-Ka. The person next to you is not a player, but a half-naked doctor, an aggressive soldier, a cunning bureaucrat or what have we. Omni-Tek really DOES exist and rules the planet. You didn?t stay up late and played last night, but you may be tired because you were fighting evil all night long. You didn?t loose 200k xp, you suffered a blow to the head and forgot much new knowledge. You didn?t go LD, you fainted for a moment. And so on. Common aspect is: Try to forget about computers, RL, numbers, ADSL, statistics, skills, XP, ARKs and so forth ? try to make Rubi-Ka come alive as a real place inside your head?
OOC (Out of Character): However, sometimes there are things you just HAVE to say in an ordinary manner, like telling about your latest RL success or what have we. The most common way to do it is to write ?OOC: My bike got stolen last night?. Cogs usually uses a double paranthesis ?((My son?s bike was stolen last night))? What ever you choose, just mark clearly that you?re stepping out of your character. And try to limit it to the absolute necessary, if you want to rp seriously.
Another very good way is to use /tell for personal, OOC messages. If you?re standing right next to Flame, use /say for RP, and /tell for OOC, eg: ?/say Oh, true, my friend Flameforge. I decided to try another path?? along with ?/tell Flameforge Yeah I did an IPR and switched to AR instead?.
Get the picture?
Then to the more personal approach:
My way ? but by all means not THE way ? to do it is to start by more or less defining my character. Who is he? What does he believe in? What are his morals? His interests? His goals?
If I know who my char is, I also ?know? how to react. Ket, for example, is in many ways an old puritan and lives in celibacy. So when Auropia starts dancing in the semi-nude, he gets offended. He would likely file a complaint to his superior (as the Muir Templars have a very strict hierarchy), so when I play Sek next (he?s leader of the Templars), he would likely ask Auropia to behave ? in a very arrogant manner.
So, in essence, I don?t even have to make up my chars? reactions, they are pretty much given from their in-born personalities.
Does this sound reasonable?
So, things you *could* consider when defining your char:
Faith:
Is he a devote Catholic? Is she nihilist? Atheist? Satanist? Something completely different?
Goals:
Does he just want to live in peace, get married and have children? Does she want supreme power? Simply get laid? Save mankind? Suffer? Make others suffer? Pay back for something, even?
Rubi-Ka:
What is his role in the conflict? How does she feel about Omni-Tek? WHY does she feel that way?
Morals:
Does he believe that killing is a necessary evil? Does she enjoy it? Is he a womanizer (like Cogs)? Is she a slut? Is he a monk? Does she believe in medieval virtues? Is he a barbarian?
Personality:
Is he arrogant? Kind? Soft? Evil? Ambitious? Bitter? Submissive? Strong-willed?
Background:
Was she raised by caring parents? As an orphan? Made in a factory/laboratory? Did he have a sunny childhood? Was her parents murdered? Did she get beaten up daily, starved and abused? Did his brother symbolize every virtue in life only to fail in the end? Has all her dreams come true? Or have they only caused her agony? Has he spent his life in solitude travelling R-K? Or did she spent her youth in smoke-filled bars and beating kids up in the back yards?
Present:
Is he a life saving knight? A secret transvestite? Or both? A caring doctor? A vicious mass murderer? A self-made police officer? Spy? Secret admirer of Henry Radiman? Or of Philip Ross, even?
For inspiration, use books, movies, whatever. I personally ?stole? my Muir Templars from the books about Hyperion by Dan Simmons. They?re not the main characters of the book and nowhere described in details. But since the book is 1500+ pages long, you still get an impression of who they are. In the same way, if you choose to play the main character of a book or movie (say, Luke Skywalker), you?ll be very confined to precisely that char (since we all know what Luke has been through, done, said, will be etc etc). But perhaps you could be inspired by the Hutts (just not Jabbe, of course) and play a very ruthless criminal Hutt-type with their beliefs, faith etc.
As an example I?ll describe my own Templars ? read it if you feel like?.
The Muir Templars is a mystical brotherhood living solely for the preservation of nature. They revere the mythical Muir as a semi-god, and base their lives and actions on the Teachings of the Muir (The Muir is actually an American conservationist born 1838, and his ?teachings? is his many philosophical writings about the beauty of nature and the need to preserve it. Look for John Muir on Google if you?re curious).
They live in a very strict hierarchy, are very wealthy, but yet they always dress in simple robes and hoods (that?s why all my chars wear robes and hoods instead of tank armor/web cloaks and helmets). Also, they?re all very tall and slender and have Asiatic features. They live in strict celibacy, keep largely to their own affairs, but they try to keep influence in many matters by a more discrete way and by preaching the Teachings of the Muir to their surroundings. They never get excited, always keep calm, are highly educated, and always behave in a civilized way. They travel space in huge, sacred trees engineered into space ships and supplied by mystical, filed binding creatures know as Ergs. They highly revere all life forms and hold special feelings for sentient beings like the Seneschai Empaths.
The only thing I?ve had to change was that no Templar ever shows any sign of humour. That was too hard to live entirely without ).
Dan Simmons? inspiration is obviously the Templar Knights from the time of the crusades (celibacy, wealth, education, secrecy, simple, uniform armor, discrete, political influence and so forth) ? only with the added twist of being fanatical defenders of the environment instead of Christianity.
Very little is written in the books about the members, but 3 Templars appear: Ket Rosteen, Sek Hardeen, and Het Masteen. I?ve built on the little there was to form them:
Ket Rosteen (NOT ?Ketro?, MP) is the Voice of the Templars, their spokesperson. He?s very conservative, but also very soft. He may be the one who mostly impersons the views of the Templars. He believes in Nature, in friendship, in compassion, and in civilized behaviour. He?s also the oldest and advisor to the Leader, Sek. He feels sorry for the loss of all life, but he reckons Omni-Tek is destroying the wild life of the planet and so he?s forced to fight against the Corporation. His aides are his trusted Erg and his helpful Seneschai.
Sek Hardeen (Crat) is the Leader of the Templars. He?s younger, more aggressive, more arrogant, and more ruthless. He believes that Omni-Tek must be annihilated and is a firm believer in the saying that the goal justifies the means. He believes in friendship as the best means of survival. He does not seek power in the sense of controlling others, but wants to build the Templars? power base, be it economically or politically, so the day of the destruction of OT comes closer faster.
Het Masteen (Doc) is the True Voice of the Tree, an honorary title awarded for great faithfulness and great devotion. He?s the youngest of the 3, and could be considered more naïve. However, he?s not stupid, he?s just very devoted to the cause, and the Templars. He believes in preservation of life, in compassion, and will always try to aid those in need. He?s in a terrible dilemma over Omni-Tek as he sees them as a great evil, yet he feels guilty for the taking of life ? even Omni lives.
I then decided to add 3 more FEMALE templars ? even though there?s no indication whatsoever in the books that such may exist.
Meg Sylveen (Enforcer) is Defender of the Tree, another honorary title. She?s more cheery that the usually rather stern Templars. She enjoys battle, so the fight against OT is a joyful combination of pleasure and work for her. She cares not much for politics but will always help a friend in need.
Teq Vargeen (Trader) is a mere Warrior of the Muir. She?s not very high ranked in the hierarchy, which probably links to her very rebellious nature. She?s allowed to stay within the ranks because of her skills and devotion to the cause, but the constantly rebels against Sek?s leadership and finds Ket a boring old fool. She can also be rather rude, but she?s nevertheless to be fully trusted. Despite her good looks, she?s also one of the very few women left where Cogs hasn?t tried to get some nookie ? and he?d likely regret it if he tried.
Zeq Morween (Fixer) is? Well, I?ve yet to find out
If you managed to get through all of this, you?ll probably see the point. I don?t have to make up something for Sek to say. I know who he is; he?s defined inside my head, so I more or less just have to let that specific person speak?
OK, this turned out to be a rather huge description. I just hope you can use some of it.
Below I?ll post me original, IC presentation of the Templars. I hope many of you will post (or repost) your stories about yourself.
Thanks for listening )
The Muir enlighten your path!
Ket, Sek, Het, Meg, Teq, and Zec