Role Playing Education

Lesson One

“There are known knowns, and known unknowns, but there are also unknown unknowns. Stuff that you don’t know that you don’t know, ya’ know?!” –Gin Rummy

---

There are three basic times of Knowledge in any Role Playing game. They are:

Known Knowns

Known Unknowns

Unknown Unknowns

Each of these plays a vital part in the role playing experience except Unknown Unknowns.

A Known Known is something which both the player, and the character they are using, know, this can be as simple as the name of another character, or as complicated as everything about another character. The main distinction that must be recognized with Known Knowns, is that even though The Player may know _______ their Character does not know ______ until it has been revealed or told to them through the context of the game.

Known Unknowns are very similar to Known Knowns, they quiet simply something which the Player knows, but their Character is currently unaware of. This can be as simple as another character’s mood or ‘off screen ’ actions, or as complicated as the entire villain’s evil plot. It is very important to respect the difference between Player Knowledge and Character Knowledge.

Player Knowledge is the knowledge possessed by the player. This means that everything the player reads, talks about with the other players, or simply infers from his or her knowledge of the other player’s playing style become part of their Player Knowledge.

Character Knowledge is the knowledge possessed by the character. This means everything that the character encounters learns or is told about the game world, the other characters around them, or even themselves becomes character Knowledge. The primary thing to remember about Character Knowledge is that all Character Knowledge must be explained. There must be some way either through their experience, the abilities at their disposal or otherwise that your Character may have learned or gleamed any knowledge they possess.

The purpose of differentiating the two is that, should a Character act upon, or even be shown to possess Player Knowledge, than to an objective party it would appear as though that character possessed an unnatural ability, to read the minds of the other characters, foresee the future, perceive events to which they had absolutely no connection or any variety of other extra-sensory abilities.

Baring characters who actually possess such abilities, this it to be strongly discouraged.

Common examples of Characters acting on Player Knowledge include, heroes who inexplicably wind up exactly where the big showdown is going to happen, Characters who ‘know something’s up’ Characters who ‘feel’ that something is wrong regardless of their actual ability to perceive danger, or Characters simply ‘not feeling right about ____’ Any of these barring explanations for the Character’s actions is to be strongly discouraged during any serious Role Play.

Note: Bye ‘explanations’ I mean either specific experiences either within the game itself or in the Character’s background that explain why they would be skeptical of another Character, or abilities listed on the Character’s Character Sheet through which they could sense dishonesty, perceive danger or otherwise be able to acquire the required Character Knowledge.

The third type of knowledge, the Unknown Unknown, is also to be greatly discouraged. Unknown Unknown knowledge is the only type of knowledge which should probably never appear in any quality Role Play.

In theory and Unknown Unknown is Knowledge which both The Player, and the Character do not possess. As such one would think that such Knowledge would never appear in a Role Play, seeing as no one is able to possess it. Not true. There are Players out there who will deliberately withhold things about their Characters in order to make them seem ‘more mysterious’ or ‘more dramatic.’

What these Players fail to realize is that by withholding things from their fellow Players they are in fact restricting the other’s ability to play with them. If a Player knows something about another’s Character that they find interesting, they can guide the story toward revealing it to their own Character, almost certainly causing an interesting & fun storyline along the way.

It is important to remember that the Character Sheet is not something which should actually tell the reader how the character behaves. A thorough Sheet might give the reader the basic impression through the choice of abilities, the choice of adjectives in the appearance, and other categories, along with the Character’s Background, but overall it shouldn’t be the Sheet which defines the Character, it should be the Player.

---

This brings us to

The Character, The Player & The Role.

Now most of you probably think you have a pretty good grasp of the difference between the Character and the Player. You probably do, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from everything I’m going to say about them. Particularly important is to keep in mind The Role of your character.

The Role, as one might expect, in a Role Playing game is paramount. However all too often I see Players neglect or even ignore to cast their Characters in an appropriate Role.

Roles are quite simply, the position within a given story that a character fulfills. Roles can be as simple as a protagonist, or as complicated as primary manipulative antagonist. However regardless of what Role your character plays, it is important to recognize it and play towards it.

A game in which every character attempt to have the story revolve around them, indicative of posts habitually referring to the emotional reaction of the character rather than the physical one, is destined to become either stale or dry, as for those who don’t actively engage in drawing the story toward themselves have no fun, or hectic and chaotic, in which all the character attempt to relate to the same events to themselves at the same time.
A brief listing of possible Character Roles is:
Primary Protagonist
Secondary Protagonist(s)
Primary Antagonist
Secondary Antagonist(s)
Protagonist Support(s)
Antagonist Support(s)

Now virtually any of these Roles can take upon whatever form is best suited to the Character occupying them. For example a couple of different examples of Characters behaving in the Protagonist Support Role would be; The Dutiful Friend, The Caring Instructor, The Romantic Interest, or even The Nemesis.

The only thing which more or less remains constant about the behavior of any Support Character is that they ask questions of whomever they’re supporting, a Support Character is like the friend who asks the Main Character what they’re going to do just before the final showdown, or even the Romantic Interest who pleads with them not to go.

Support Character do not get to have The Scene revolve around them, but that does not mean they do not play a vital Role in creating it. A game with no Support Character always results in either non-stop combat, or villain-hero dialog.

A Secondary Character is similar; however they’re more likely to be directly involved in a specific Scene than a Support Character. A Secondary Character is like the villain’s assistant, the hero’s side kick or even one of the Protagonist’s close friends. They’re not the cause of any of the direct conflict in the Scene, but they still contribute to its resolution.

The main thing to remember about Secondary Characters is that they almost always have direct a direct connection with the Primary Character of that specific Scene. The Secondary Antagonist would be the trusted lackey the Primary Antagonist sends to harass the heroes while he stays behind safe in his evil lair. The Secondary Protagonist would be the hero who out of concern for the Primary Protagonist goes out to face the Primary Antagonist, knowing they don’t stand a chance.

Secondary Characters provide direct actions for the Primary Characters to react to directly to. This prevents a game from becoming nothing more than the villains scheming in their lair, while the heroes go out for pizza.

Now most of you probably think you know what I mean when I say Primary Character. You think that this is the Main Character, and his Nemesis. Robin & Slade, Ichigo & Aizen. Well you’re Wrong.

Yes a Primary Character is one of the two Characters around which the plot of a specific Scene most centrally revolves, but this does not mean they are the Main Character. A Main Character is a Character that the story revolves so tightly around that removing that Character would cause irreparable damage to that story.

The difference is that even without a Primary Character to play off of, Secondary and Support Characters can freely interact amongst themselves, causing interesting and perhaps even progressive plot lines to develop. Main Characters Have to have the spotlight, Primary Characters know how to share.

A Primary Character is likely the most difficult Character Role to play as. Not only does it require the most work and attention of any of the other Character Roles, but it requires The Player controlling it to know when to push the plot forward, and when to sit back and let it simmer gently. This is especially important when engaged in a fast-paced Forum Based Role Play, because while simmering allows the other Characters involved to take the spotlight for a moment, but if a specific storyline is allowed to simmer for too long, it will boil away.

Losing a storyline, for any reason, is bad. Having an unresolved story in a Role Play means that all the Players involved will have to doubt whether or not their Characters can relate back to anything which went on in that lost storyline.

Now this brings me onto my next point.



The Player.

You are The Player. The Player is anyone involved in actively playing any of the Characters involved in any of the active elements of a Role Play. Now the most important thing for any Player to remember is to remain objective. No matter how much you love your Character, no matter how awesome you think he or she is, no matter how much work you’ve put into carefully laying each and every brick of their background, you Must remained objective.

No matter how much attention you have paid to your Character, you must not allow yourself to become emotionally attached to their actions. If another Character insults yours, if another Character breaks the heart of yours, you must not allow yourself to react on emotion. While it is perfectly acceptable for your Character to react emotionally, you must allowed yourself to calmly and objectively make certain that your Character’s response is appropriate for your Character.

If someone breaks your Character’s heart, and your Character blast them through a wall, then this must be In Character for them. If your Character is the altruistic hero, who firmly believes that good exists in all life and there is no such thing as innate evil, someone who couldn’t even imagine taking another life no matter the circumstances and has never once doubted any of their beliefs, The Only way it could possibly be appropriate for your Character to react to having their heart broken by blasting the offending Character through a wall, is if you were going to use this even as a Dramatic Change in your Character’s persona.

A Dramatic Change is any event which can be used to explain a significant change in the behavior of a Character. Being Brainwashed, having their Heart Broken, Killing for The First Time, any of these would be acceptable precipitants for a Dramatic Change. However, a Player must remember that the only way to reverse a Dramatic Change, is with another Dramatic Change. Being Un-brainwashed, Finding Love Again, Reaffirming their Belief System, something, anything to explain why the Character changed, and then changed back.

Regardless of the Character, if the Player doesn’t justify their actions, if the Player doesn’t remember to be objective bad things will happen. Feelings could get hurt, otherwise promising storylines could become so muddled they ultimately become the textual equivalent of a tar pit, or worse, other Players will just leave.

No one likes playing with a Character who is so utterly random that they simply do whatever they want with little or no explanation, and the relationship between Players is just as important as the relationship between Characters. While two Characters may be archrivals that doesn’t mean, and shouldn’t mean that their Players are archrivals as well. Players should never become personally involved with their Characters. No matter what the game is, it’s still a game. That’s why they’re called Role Playing Games, and the purpose of any game it to have fun.

If you aren’t having fun, you should tell the other Players, or better yet, the Game Master, because if you’re not having fun, than you’re not getting anything from the game. A game where the Players are having fun, regardless of its setting or the Characters involved, is bound to be far more successful and interesting than a game where everyone is just playing along for the sake of manners.

The Character

“Character–noun
The aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.”

Your Character should not be easy to summarize. People are not easily summarized. No matter how hard we try there is always something about someone that doesn’t fit neatly into the box. Thusly there is no reason why your Character should. If you’re playing the cut throat assassin who’s given up on people deeming them all worthless and irredeemably, give him a soft spot for kittens. If you’re playing the hardnosed bounty hunter who drinks liquor and hits on ladies, give him a personal code to live by.

Characters should never be able to be easily summarized. Think of some of your favorite characters from your favorite shows. Think about what made you love them, what made them great. It wasn’t simply their amazing powers, or their innate ability to think of a witty line. It was the story behind them. The emotions and the drama that was drawn out by the story, that’s what made them great characters, the different elements of their Persona.

Persona is a psychological term, and as defined by C.G. Jung one of the fathers of modern psychology it means. “The mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality, as contrasted with Anima.”

Anima is another term, and again as defined by C.G. Jung means: “The inner personality that is turned toward the unconscious of the individual.”

It’s this duality that gives people their depth of character, and Players should strive to show this with their Characters. A flat Character, the manipulative villain, or the altruistic hero, while playable, is completely lifeless. Characters need to be given motivation, just like people or actors do. A villain who does evil, simply for the sake of evil isn’t very compelling, nor is a hero who simply does good because it’s good.

Again think of your favorite story or comic book characters. Why did they do what they did, Batman fights crime because he’s desperately trying to make up for something which wasn’t really his fault. He feels guilt and conquers it when he’s defeats his enemies. As long as he keeps fighting, he hasn’t really failed, and since he can never actually succeed at protecting his deceased parents, he’ll keep fighting forever.

Superman works to protect a world that isn’t even to satisfy some predicated mission he feels was cast upon him by the father he never even got a chance to know. As the last of his kind it’s up to him to make their mark upon history. He can’t be just a man, he can’t let himself falter even once, because if he does, than not only will he be remembered for that one mistake, but so would his entire people, a people he’s never even known.

Each of these Character have both a Persona, the public face they show to the world, and an Anima, the hidden face they keep to themselves. Superman tries to please a father he’s never even known, and Batman tries to make up for a mistake that wasn’t even made. Neither of them could exist without their Persona, and that’s what makes them such compelling Characters, because even though they are what they seem to be, they’re only that way, because the need to be in order to deal with the world.

You should try to mimic this sort of duality in your Characters, the evil villain who does evil in vengeance for a perceived crime done against him in his past, or the great hero who stands strong for those around him because he cannot allow himself to be otherwise.

One of my personal favorite things about Characters isn’t their powers or their actions, it’s their history. Why do they behave the way they do? What causes them to see the world the way they do? Who is it that they’re willing to bow to, and why?

One of my personal favorite Characters comes from a show entitled Black Cat. The Character’s name is Creed Diskenth. Coming from a wealthy family, from a very young age he was beaten by his mother, his father never shown it is assumed he is either absent or no longer around. His mother would use bouquets of roses, and so as an adult Creed is obsessed with roses and seems to equate them with violence. Creed murdered his mother when he was about seven, and subsequently ran away becoming one of a number of members of an order of assassins.

The main character of the show shares a similar past, adopted by the assassin who murdered his family he was trained to kill from a young age, and ultimately graduated by murdering his caretaker. Throughout the series Creed shows significant romantic interest in the main character, however almost all of this is predicated on the main character’s eyes. Creed believing that the main character, previously to giving up killing; possesses the eyes of a murderer, seeks to restore his lost companion’s bloodlust.

Creed is clearly thoroughly insane, but even his insanity is justified.

“All actions are judged by the motive prompting them” –Mohammad.

What truly defines a twisted Character isn’t its actions; it’s the motivation behind that action. Creed is obsessed with the main character, not just because he needs to be for the story to be interesting, but because he senses a kinship with him. And as such, Players shouldn’t just have their Character’s perform actions, but give their Characters their own motivation to perform those actions. If a hero needs to defeat a villain, it makes a far more compelling story that if he simple does defeat him. If a villain needs to take revenge for some perceived injustice dealt him, than his actions too are far more compelling. Even if they’re the exact same actions, knowing the motivation behind them compels us to understand them, or better yet seek to understand them.

Nothing is as powerful as villain whose actions we sympathize with, or who we simply cannot bring ourselves to understand. If a villain does something wicked for a reason we can understand, we feel torn, we don’t want him to be as evil as he really is, by the same token, if there is a villain who we simply cannot bring ourselves to understand the motives behind, but say, still hold some manner of logic to them, than we feel he truly is as twisted as he seems.

The Role in Review

Now I’ve talked a lot about a lot. But there is one thing that I simply feel that I must make clear, and that quiet simply is that while roles are important to the progression of a story, and that while stories are important to the enjoyment of a Role Playing Game on more than a whack-a-mole level, Roles should changed.

It’s no fun for once player to have to play the supporting friend for the entire game, some people may be comfortable in a particular role, but that does not mean that they should be allowed to simply sit in that role forever. Just because someone is comfortable in or lets themselves be forced into a role doesn’t mean that it’s the best role for their character to be playing at that time.

This doesn’t mean that people should ever try to force roles onto people, but it does mean that roles are not iron clad. I feel as though I may have confused some people with my earlier use of the terminology ‘scene’ by a ‘scene’ I meant a particular event which occurs within the Role Play. A scene is like, the villain hero fight, the romantic conversation between A & B, the dinner shared by C & D, the gathering of all relevant parties before the climatic showdown. A scene can be anything really, but the point is that while one character can step into the spotlight for one scene, another scene might revolve around another character entirely.

It is important however for The Player to know when their Character is stealing the scene. Stealing the scene is bad, not just bad in fact, but very bad. Stealing the scene is when a Character does anything which pulls attention away from anything else to point it at themselves. This is like a Character going onto a tirade about how much they ___ or virtually anything that involves a Character saying “this reminds me of” and is not concluded in the same post containing that dreaded sentence start.

Recognizing the scene is an important ability that I personally think all Role Players should have. It is not however an essential one. Most of us are able to pick up on when a moment has passed innately, and when we don’t it doesn’t really matter because the moment has passed and the other Players are moving on with the game.

---

Basic Play and Basic Player Etiquette

Now most of you probably think that this section doesn’t need to be read, that you already know everything there is to know about basic play and basic etiquette. Well ya don’t. I don’t, and if I don’t then it’s a sure bet that you don’t.

But here’s what I do know.

Self Important Characters are a Pain. They hog up the story, nobody really likes them except their creators, and even when they’re played well they’re not fun to play with. These Characters are the, Sasuke Uchiha of the game, the overly dramatic overly self tormented person who won’t just get over themselves and let the other Characters help them. It doesn’t even have to be a protagonist, sometimes villains can do this too, and I for one am always amazed at how well some people are able to take otherwise perfectly good adversaries and turn them into whiny moaning drama queens who go on a ten page tirade about how their mother’s never got them a puppy while they’re supposed to be fighting the heroes.

Another thing, while I’m on the subject. Villain Monologs, while great in Cartoon Shows because you can have the heroes doing something to foil the villain’s scheme off screen. There is no off screen in a Role Play, anything that’s going to happen has to have something said about it, thusly when a Character who is supposed to be providing adversity for the others starts off on some long winded speech that they won’t finish for three more posts, everyone else is left sort of high and dry on something to do.

And speaking of the No off Screen element of Role Plays let me just point out for the record that any “And this is what they were doing all that time…” Type of thing is cheap, and while not against any sort of rules I’ve ever encountered, I really feel that they violate the spirit of the Role Play, since any post containing past actions, short of how to explain why a Character hasn’t been around due to the Player’s absence, really can’t be responded to. Past actions can’t be reacted to, only acknowledged, and when a Player hasn’t been present to acknowledge there is nothing conflicting with what their Character may have been doing, but when a Character states that they were doing something previously, all the impressions of the other Players are changed.

It is important to keep in mind the impression your Character’s action make on the other Players. Personally I find this s important I am a little neurotic about being misunderstood, and go to great lengths to detail an action which might be otherwise misunderstood. Thus far no one has ever told me this is a bad thing short of the fact that it makes my posts so long that some people simply ignore them to wait for the cliff notes.

On this note I would just like to point out that there is nothing worse, in my eyes, than someone who isn’t willing to give a Game enough effort to even bother reading some of the more lengthy posts end to end. This shows such laziness that it’s really just despicable. Now I will admit there are those people out there who post things that just ramble on and on about nothing of particular consequence, the flavor of their sandwich, how much they hate/love another character, on and on they ramble it’s really quiet annoying.

But this is where Player to Player relations come in. When a Player and another Player know each other outside the Game, than they can make basic assumptions about whether or not that Player’s post is going to be worth reading, but when one Player doesn’t know another Player, or even that other person’s playing style, than they cannot assume that the post can be skipped over.

Calling Hits is another thing which should only be done after an intimate repartee has long been established. For those of you unfamiliar with this terminology I have just one thing to say, familiarize yourself with it. If you’re looking to Role Play with people, particularly people who have done so before, it’s probably a good idea to learn the sort of terms that they’ll be using so that A: You don’t end up sounding like an idiot, and more importantly B: so you know what they’re talking about.

Simply put Calling Hits is when one Player has their Character actually strike another Player’s Character during their post. There’s an old comic book artist’s saying that states that the reader never gets to see the actual hit, and for the most part it holds true. You never see someone with their knuckles flat against their target. It’s all action and reaction, wind up and follow through. This is how it should work in Role Playing Games as well.

In the traditional Dungeons & Dragons games Players would use a set of statistics math dice and numbers to figure out whether or not one Character could strike another. Since most of us don’t have that kind of patience, let alone the ability to do so within the Forum, it’s best if we just all follow the unspoken rule of not actually striking another Player’s Character without their permission.

An example of Calling a Hit would be something like. “Fred lit Stan on fire.”

In this example Stan as no choice but to either directly refute Fred’s post. “Stan was not actually on fire, having managed to…” or accept that he is now on fire. “Stan burned and screamed running about madly as he attempted to extinguish his torso.”

The correct method of would look something like. “Fred tossed a bucket of gasoline at Stan, sending a lit match close behind it.”

This is not only more interesting, since it breaks the action up into a couple of different motions, but it gives Stan’s Player far more options. He can dodge the gas and the match, avoid the gas but not the match, avoid the match but not the gas, or he can take the hit.

Taking the Hit is just as important an aspect as Calling a Hit, the only difference is that, while experienced Players will often Take Hits, they will seldom call them. By the same token inexperienced Players will often Call Hits but seldom take them. The problem with this is of course that a group of inexperienced Players may not even realize they’re doing anything wrong until an experienced Player *ahemmeahem* steps in and tells them so.

Knowing when to Take the Hit is an important part of being a good Role Player. If your Character can’t realistically avoid something, don’t let them avoid it. If you’re a perfectly normal human being shot at, Take the Hit, even if it’s just the classic John Wayne Shot. For those of you not familiar with this reference, in most of his movies John Wayne a classic hero of the western movie genre would often take a gun shot in the shoulder, and just sort of shrug it off.

In reality, while adrenaline is a wonderful hormone and many feats of heroism and amazement can be attributed to it, IE getting back up after getting shot and still escaping the bad guys, pain does exist, and as such it is one of the spectrum of emotions you should seek to include in your Characters. Emotional Pain is one kind of pain yes, but Physical Pain is much more interesting, and tends to result in your Character being more relatable and less of a self indulgent brooding shut irritation.

Now this brings me to my next topic.

---

Now again, most of you probably think that you know your Character’s like the back of your hand. After all you made them, and they’re the most amazing thing ever to walk out of your battered little teenaged brain. Well for once you may be right. You may know your Character as well as you possibly can.

But hey, guess what. Character’s Change. That’s right, that ultra amazing super-powerful swordsman you dream about meeting at night will never be the same the moment you take him out of his box. That’s sort of the point. Just encase you didn’t catch that, I’ll explain myself. The point of introduction a Character into a Role Play, isn’t to see how awesome and dramatic you can make him so you can win the love and respect of your Co-Players, the point of most, ‘most’ because all Role Plays have different directions based upon their set up, the point of most Role Plays is to have fun and develop an interesting story using the Characters created by a pack of friends and a setting agreed upon by all those involved.

Now since your wonderful ultra awesome masturbatory fantasy you’ve had in mind since you were twelve has now been shattered by the woefully cold light of reality I’ll give you a moment to recover.

Alright that’s long enough.

To get back on point, Players need to be able to recognize events that will change the way their Characters will behave. Now since most people, and this goes for Characters as well, are pretty well set in their ways by the time puberty gives up, it can take a lot to change a Character even a little. This does not mean that a Character will never change.

If I can step into the realm of philosophy for a moment, and no doubt confuse the snot out of 90% of you.

Science, certain Religions, and Ancient Philosophers all agree that Humans, lack the tools to perceive “The Thing in itself.”

Simply put this means that we ‘see’ things the way they are because we judge them as such. All our perceptions are based on assumptions and, frankly experiments. A rock isn’t hard by the very nature of it being a rock, after all iron and diamond are both far harder than rock. A rock is hard because it’s harder than bone, and bone, as an element of the human body is something which we, as humans, feel we possess an advanced understanding of. A rock is hard because when rock meets bone, rock wins.

This is the same reason why say, someone who is physically able, finds something light, while someone who is less physically able, may find it heavy. The factual weight of the object doesn’t change between the two people, simply their perception of it does.

Now apply this to relationships.

What do people judge relationships based on?
How does that element vary between different people?
How does that variable effect their perception of the relationship?

Now it’s fairly well agreed that people judge things based upon their past experiences. It is also fairly well agreed that no two people can possess the exact same past experiences. Now what does this mean? That no two people can possibly judge the same relationship exactly the same. Simply put they lack the tools to.

This is where the fun of a Role Play is born. Each and every Character involved is different, assuming they are actually different Characters, and each and every Player involved is also different, assuming they are actually different Players. So not only should each and every Character judge a situation, an object or relationship, differently, but each and every Player will develop different reactions for their Character to perform. Then because each of those Characters reacted differently, their experiences will be different, and because their experiences will be different, they’ll be different.

This is how your ultra super awesome Character is developed. Character Development isn’t just something that happens outside the Game. If it is, than the game tends to be boring. Characters should change grow develop relationships, lose relationships and ultimately grow to become, if not better, different people.

One of my personally favorite things to do is to develop a Character who can fit into multiple Role Playing scenarios, because I know that every time I play him/her the result with be different, even if I’m playing with the same people as before.

Review Questions.

• What is the only type of Knowledge that is not vital to the Role Playing Experience?
  
  
• What are the only two Roles which there cannot be more than one of each?
  
  
• What is the difference between a Primary Character and a Main Character?
  
  
• What is the most important thing for a Player to remember?
  
  
• Should Characters be easily summarized?
  
  
• Are Roles set in stone?
  
  
• What is the difference between Calling a Hit and Taking the Hit?
  
  
• Where does Character Development take place?

Post Script: Also, I'm taking questions in this thread if any of you have any, and if I can't answer it, or if you can and I haven't gotten around to it, feel free to do so yourselves.

Wow..... o.O

Hi! I have one question. ^_^

There is always the possibility of encountering others in RPs who do not follow these rules. If such a thing occurs, how should we react?

For instance: Someone calls a hit on my character; should I simply take the hit and move on, or is there a more eloquent way to handle the situation?

Excellent question Charm and I applaud you for it.

Now as a general thing I would advocate playing nice, but also informing the other of their error. Personal Messages can be a great way to air your grievance without making it into a scene or interrupting the flow of the game.

I would just take the hit, probably using some trick of the trade to keep my Character from taking too much damage, assuming it's something that would even damage him/her, if it isn't taking it doesn't really matter, and then send whomever it was who called the hit a nice short little Personal Message containing something along the lines of. "Hi, uh, yeah I'm just sending you this to ask if you could refrain from calling hits against me in the ____ Role Play. I don't really like it and..."

Most often people who Call Hits don't even realize they're doing something wrong, so just popping them a polite little message to inform them that it's in poor taste is not only an excellent way to handle the situation, but a great way to educate the other person.

And if you really don't want to take the hit, than you can just restrain yourself from replying until they've gotten the PM, and in it say something along the lines of asking them to rephrase, and explain why you don't want to take the hit.

Couldn't you call a dodge? Just to make it simple?

Well as a general think dodge is difficult when someone outright calls a hit.

Calling a hit tends to look something like
"Jack swung his leg and landed a hard round house kick against Sue's belly."

Dodging when someone outright says they hit you is almost in as poor taste as outright saying you hit someone.

What if someone outright K.Os u? Same thing?

._.;
I see where this is going, I get it.

redeagle321 wrote:._.;
I see where this is going, I get it.

XD no it's fine Red. Adds flavor to the rp

It's a little different when they start taking over your Character's actions. If someone says that someone else's Character takes upon a quality, sick, in love, unconscious, than that's God Moding, something which I really should've addressed, but it was getting kinda long.

I may add a Chapter Two.

But simply put when one Player takes over the actions of a Character that isn't theirs that's a pretty far from OK as things get. I would probably go with something like.

"Sue was not in fact unconscious, but her gut did hurt. She..."

Taking the hit, but outright denying the effect that someone else tried to force upon you.

A proper way to politely ask someone if you can KO their Character without out right asking, is to add extra description to the attack.

"Jack swung his leg in a round house kick, his strong legs providing well enough force to knock out a normal person."

I also took out the calling of the hit. See here it clearly implies that taking this hit would A: knock you out, or B: put a normal person close to being knocked out.

If the defending player is not objected to becoming unconscious at your hands. Than they have that option, while if they are, they also have an easy out of simply dodging the blow. Good Players however will often split the hair, block the blow, take some damage, but not enough to go outright KO, just because fights are more interesting when each party involved takes some damage. You never see an epic fight where both people just keep dodging the other's attacks.

Post some more, TDG. I'ma print this and make it into a book. :D

Any advice on controling two or more rp people at once? (just want to see what you'll say)

I would post as though they were two different posts, though separate them using either a triple space.



or a hard line break.

---

which can be added to any message by typing [ hr ] closer together.

@.@ finally! some rp guidelines