Calm before the Storm

[Lord Meeker]

Much as been going on in the Alleyverse that is for sure. But I felt like I needed to post this because much of us don't know what Freeform Roleplay is. Well, I found something that should define it thoroughly I hope. It is in the spoiler below, for length. This should help everyone learn how to do FFRP correctly. Anyways another reason to post this it to start an FFRP that heats up to The Guild War, if it does result in that. All of that will occur here to give us some practice. As I am posting this. I will be explaining/ storyboarding my quest in the quote below. I expect this to take at least a month and a half, and hope that many of you Alleyversers participate in this! Another thing, all guild interactions should happen here, unless it is top secret. Just as a heads up, please put non-rp chat in a different color or quote.

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I have taken upon myself a sacred quest and duty, I have uncovered things that must remain a secret lest the end of the Alleyverse occurs.

"Rules" of FFRP

Spoiler

• The central defining characteristic of freeform roleplay is the lack of any central organizing body or power.
• In freeform roleplay, no one in particular calls the shots or even has the authority to call the shots.
• In freeform roleplay, all the power for shaping the fantasy world is in the hands of every individual player.
• No one person or group of people has the right or authority to decide the rules that will be followed in freeform roleplay.
• In "pure" freeform roleplay, no one can dictate what specific kind of character you play.
• The "genre" of your character will usually be determined by the nature of the community,
• However, the specifics of your character including race, personality, "alignment" and so forth are left entirely up to you.
• You aren't forced to cram your character into a specific class.
• There are still going to be restrictions on what you can do as dictated by the community standards of etiquette.
• In freeform roleplay, strong, well-developed characters are vital specifically because no central authority will be telling you what to do or where to go.
• The player will be making ALL decisions regarding your character's actions.
• Freeform roleplay no one person dictates the particulars of a setting.
• Typically, one person will start by describing the general setting and then others will pitch in, adding more and more detail.
• Plots are actually emergent phenomena that arise from IN CHARACTER interactions between different characters and different groups of characters.
• EVERYONE has a chance to contribute something to a plot.
• That is to say, everyone is allowed to make modest contributions to a story through their character.
• This isn't to say people cannot organize and 'combine their efforts' as it were into establishing a major new plot thread.
• The central concept of freeform roleplay is freedom.
• All players have equal control over events in the freeform world and in fact over the world itself.
• Everyone in freeform roleplay is both narrator and character at the same time.

 

@MacThorstenson  thoughts as by @Voidus

Spoiler

1. Trust the other players and communicate with them, it may take a while before you all share the same understanding of how your RP should operate, but trust that other players are also just trying to have a good time for the most part, if you feel like someones characters actions are unrealistic, talk about it. I'd suggest avoiding dropping some kind of official GM or mediator on all conflicts like this because as a player having one source of authority just say 'No, you're not allowed to do that' is somewhat stifling and doesn't give you a good play experience, hearing from multiple other players that your actions are breaking the immersion of the game or causing discomfort is still saddening sometimes but it at least promotes the sensation that the primary goal of the RP is the enjoyment of the group as a whole. This flows into combat as well, if character 1. is hiding in a building, rifle drawn and takes a shot at an unaware character 2, player 2 can't just say 'I dodge' because that makes no sense and most players would probably agree on that. However player 1 also should have talked to player 2 about killing off their character, seeing if they were ok with it and if they weren't discuss what options they have. Maybe character 1 tries to take the shot but they in turn get ambushed by another PC or NPC, maybe they take the shot but miss any vital spots, character 2 slinks off to fight another day. Maybe they deliberately don't kill character 2 and instead they try to capture them now. If you feel like another PC is doing something that is likely to cause your character to try to kill them, let that player know ahead of time and you can maybe retcon some of that decision so they're not in mortal peril.

2. OP characters are fine, but usually not very interesting. My personal experience that I'd like to showcase this with are two of my characters from one of the Reckoners RPs, Soulcaster had the power to pull the consciousness of anyone, human or Epic, into an Astral plane of his creation and control, pretty much instantly incapacitating any other character if he wanted to. Metronome had the power to accurately know what the time was. That's it. I found Metronome vastly more interesting to play as, because if I wanted Soulcaster to actually get in combat with anyone then that combat would last all of about half a second. That being said an OP character has it's own type of interactions that you can't get with a moderately or non-powered character, maybe your OP character is a fight junkie and is constantly annoyed by the fact that no one can actually fight them on equal terms. They'd go out of their way to avoid fights because they know they'll just end up getting disappointed. Which brings me to...

3. Non-combat encounters are usually more interesting than combat. Combat seems like it should be very interesting, and when you think about your character design your first thought is probably going to be about how you can make their combat interesting or better, but combat will probably be one of the less interesting encounters you have, combat will probably start becoming stale for any character of a limited powerset, you'll figure out the best way to use your powers, then do that every time with some small changes depending on who you're fighting or what your environment is like. But non-combat interactions can be almost infinitely varied and provide far more interesting ways to utilize both your powers and your characters personality, steelpushing a coin at the speed of light into someone skull sounds cool, but when you do it against the 100th opponent it starts getting a bit stale. Trying to subtly move around a person while talking to them in order to get into the exact right position to steelpush a small statue of a cat off the table without them noticing because your character has an incredibly strong fear of both cats and miniature figurines is both novel and potentially more challenging.

4. PCs dying should not be game-ending. If a player character dies either as part of a PvP or some other interaction, that player needs to be able to continue to play, either creating a new character or have some method to revive their existing character. This both prevents the game from feeling like a tournament where the goal is to kill all other characters to win, and also means that players are likelier to be fairer in their assessment of their own characters ability to survive something because worst case, they create a new character.

5. Your character is not their powers. Designing the powers for your character should be one of the least important parts of their character. Those powers may have some large impacts on their personality such as a Hemalurgist who despises the death that had to happen for them to gain their powers, but that's still somewhat one-dimensional. Who are they without their powers? Design their personality first and then consider how those powers might alter the rest of their personality. The powers that your character has are not nearly so interesting as who they are without those powers, or how their personality influences their use of those powers.

 

---

Rhazien left the gathering room. The room was rather more a representative table, where the guilds met and discussed topics. Much of them dissolved over arguing over Hemalurgy. No Rhazien could not stand this. He immediately dissolved the Ghostbloods. He did not want to be puppets to anyone or any group. He rubbed his Ghostblood tattoo absentmindedly. Septimus and Nei'an immediately took control forming the New Ghostbloods. He sighed. His spren, Atha, sat on his shoulder. He turned once more looking at the Mediator building before descending the stairs.

Rhazien wore a simple traveling cloak, black on the outside and red on the inside. The only armor he wore were upon his arms. Spikes jutted from his pauldrons. He checked his aluminum shortswords at his waist and his broadsword upon his back. He secured his aluminum Kunai on his person. Rhazien flipped his hood up sidestepping into an alley, a safe, neutral one. He unhooked a white mask stylized with red. Placing it over his face. This was the true face of Rhazien. The world would fear him regardless of his association. Yes, fear. His favorite emotion to force upon other people. He was no longer Sahin the Just rather Rhazien the Undefeated. 

He walked to the place where he had stashed his most important belongings, notes, money, and other interesting things. He pulled a few bricks from a house, uncovering the satchel. Rhazien snatched it. He quickly checked the inside making sure nothing was taken. He breathed a sigh of relief. He checked to see if anyone was following him. He saw no-one. Good. nobody could know what he worked on.

Time to be going. He threw on the satchel and fled the alley.

[Kidpen]

I still don't understand why you're RP character is the same as the villain in HGC. Are you writing his backstory?

Oh, and this is helpful. Thanks.

[Lord Meeker]

1 minute ago, Kidpen said:

I still don't understand why you're RP character is the same as the villain in HGC. Are you writing his backstory?

 

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No. This is something totally seperate. 

 

[Kidpen]

I look forward to seeing what happens.

Although I am a bit confused to be honest.

[MacThorstenson]

@Mraize can you also include that post voidus made a while back about this? Ill try to find it.

[Grey Knight]

Suddenly, Drako emerges from an alleyway, right beside Rhazien. He struggles not to outpace the smaller man as they jog along.

"Hey, buddy!" he says cheerfully. "How's it going?"

[MacThorstenson]

What follow are just some of my thoughts on the nature of free-form roleplaying, character design and how to have fun with fights, I am by no means an absolute authority on the subject but the Reckoners RP went for several years in this format so I think broadly speaking I can outline what I found worked and what didn't during that time.

1. Trust the other players and communicate with them, it may take a while before you all share the same understanding of how your RP should operate, but trust that other players are also just trying to have a good time for the most part, if you feel like someones characters actions are unrealistic, talk about it. I'd suggest avoiding dropping some kind of official GM or mediator on all conflicts like this because as a player having one source of authority just say 'No, you're not allowed to do that' is somewhat stifling and doesn't give you a good play experience, hearing from multiple other players that your actions are breaking the immersion of the game or causing discomfort is still saddening sometimes but it at least promotes the sensation that the primary goal of the RP is the enjoyment of the group as a whole. This flows into combat as well, if character 1. is hiding in a building, rifle drawn and takes a shot at an unaware character 2, player 2 can't just say 'I dodge' because that makes no sense and most players would probably agree on that. However player 1 also should have talked to player 2 about killing off their character, seeing if they were ok with it and if they weren't discuss what options they have. Maybe character 1 tries to take the shot but they in turn get ambushed by another PC or NPC, maybe they take the shot but miss any vital spots, character 2 slinks off to fight another day. Maybe they deliberately don't kill character 2 and instead they try to capture them now. If you feel like another PC is doing something that is likely to cause your character to try to kill them, let that player know ahead of time and you can maybe retcon some of that decision so they're not in mortal peril.

2. OP characters are fine, but usually not very interesting. My personal experience that I'd like to showcase this with are two of my characters from one of the Reckoners RPs, Soulcaster had the power to pull the consciousness of anyone, human or Epic, into an Astral plane of his creation and control, pretty much instantly incapacitating any other character if he wanted to. Metronome had the power to accurately know what the time was. That's it. I found Metronome vastly more interesting to play as, because if I wanted Soulcaster to actually get in combat with anyone then that combat would last all of about half a second. That being said an OP character has it's own type of interactions that you can't get with a moderately or non-powered character, maybe your OP character is a fight junkie and is constantly annoyed by the fact that no one can actually fight them on equal terms. They'd go out of their way to avoid fights because they know they'll just end up getting disappointed. Which brings me to...

3. Non-combat encounters are usually more interesting than combat. Combat seems like it should be very interesting, and when you think about your character design your first thought is probably going to be about how you can make their combat interesting or better, but combat will probably be one of the less interesting encounters you have, combat will probably start becoming stale for any character of a limited powerset, you'll figure out the best way to use your powers, then do that every time with some small changes depending on who you're fighting or what your environment is like. But non-combat interactions can be almost infinitely varied and provide far more interesting ways to utilize both your powers and your characters personality, steelpushing a coin at the speed of light into someone skull sounds cool, but when you do it against the 100th opponent it starts getting a bit stale. Trying to subtly move around a person while talking to them in order to get into the exact right position to steelpush a small statue of a cat off the table without them noticing because your character has an incredibly strong fear of both cats and miniature figurines is both novel and potentially more challenging.

4. PCs dying should not be game-ending. If a player character dies either as part of an PvP or some other interaction, that player needs to be able to continue to play, either creating a new character or have some method to revive their existing character. This both prevents the game from feeling like a tournament where the goal is to kill all other characters to win, and also means that players are likelier to be fairer in their assessment of their own characters ability to survive something because worst case, they create a new character.

5. Your character is not their powers. Designing the powers for your character should be one of the least-important parts of their character. Those powers may have some large impacts on their personality such as a Hemalurgist who despises the death that had to happen for them to gain their powers, but that's still somewhat one-dimensional. Who are they without their powers? Design their personality first and then consider how those powers might alter the rest of their personality. The powers that your character has are not nearly so interesting as who they are without those powers, or how their personality influences their use of those powers.

*More stuff to come later, this post got bigger than I originally intended

 

[Lord Meeker]

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I will add thing to my post @MacThorstenson.

 

[MacThorstenson]

Thank you @Mraizebut give the credit to voidus. this is his copied word for word.

[Lord Meeker]

"Not much. Just disbanded the Ghostbloods is all. Not a biggie." He replies to Drako.

Now how to lose this man?

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Sorry for a short post, but @MacThorstenson when will you get me the link?

 

[MacThorstenson]

 

[Kidpen]

Kalmar was ready. He had sailed the seas to get to this strange land. Now he needed to find the jungles. The beans must be found and prepared in order to convince Voidus that Kalmar was worthy of being sent to Earth. As he walked, he came across two people talking. "Hello, do you happen to know of a good place to stay for the night?"

[Blazenella]

Septimus sat at the council table, his head in his hands. He grabbed a bottle of wine, hands shaking. Everything they'd worked for. Everything they'd fought for. Gone. All because Rhazien simply felt like it. 5 people remained in the room with him. The rest had just left for either the DA or TUBA. Nei'an sat to his right. " Storms that man..." Septimus muttered, downing the wine and angrily tossing the glass aside. " Rhazien is gone. This place is forfeit to us. I will NOT let the Ghostbloods crumble." Tapping Steel he ran towards the exit. He looked out towards Rhazien, talking with 2 others. He glanced at the guards, who were about to leave. " Stay where you are men, the Ghostbloods aren't finished. But make sure that man isn't ever let in here again..."

[Lord Meeker]

People. Rhazien did not want to deal with people. The person who had spoken turned out to be Kalmar one of his old opponents.

"Hello." Rhazien replied. "I do indeed know a place I will take you and Drako there."

He began walking down the street, drawing odd looks from the people around him.

[Kidpen]

Kalmar pauses. This man seemed familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on it though. Surely it will occur to him later. “Thanks. I’m Kalmar. You are Drako, I assume?

[The Forgetful Archivist]

Another person emerges from a dim alley and quickly walks towards Rhazien, looking curiously at the other people walking with him he passes a box to Rhazien "instructions are enclosed" he mutters before running back into the Alley

[Lord Meeker]

"Yes, I know who you are and what you can do," Rhazien replied without breaking his stride.

He could not help looking about. Yes, they were an odd group. The Alleyvillage was quite large. It was easy to get lost in this place. He could empathize with Kalmar. They walked down the street, stopping at an intersection. Rhazien pointed to a sign that read Alleyvillage Inn. He turns accepts the box discretely, slipping it into this cloak and robes.

"There you go!" Rhazien exclaimed. "Now I must be off."

He runs through the traffic, phasing between the wagons and people. He teleports to the top of a roof. He looked back at Drako and Kalmar, before vanishing into the alley below.

"Sir do you want a cookie?" A man asked him.

"Not now thank you." Rhazien turns to the man upon seeing Rhazien, he disappears from the alley.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Mraize

[AonEne]

1 hour ago, MacThorstenson said:

Trying to subtly move around a person while talking to them in order to get into the exact right position to steelpush a small statue of a cat off the table without them noticing because your character has an incredibly strong fear of both cats and miniature figurines is both novel and potentially more challenging.

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This is hilarious. 

So, do I have to know any backstory/rules to join this, or can I just do it? 

 

[Kidpen]

Kalmar has a realization. Rhazien! This is sure to be interesting. "Goodbye Drako" And with that he puts on his Traveler's lenses and starts following Rhazien, staying far enough behind that he will likely not be noticed.

[Grey Knight]

1 hour ago, The Forgetful Archivist said:

Another person emerges from a dim alley and quickly walks towards Rhazien, looking curiously at the other people walking with him he passes a box to Rhazien "instructions are enclosed" he mutters before running back into the Alley

A gauntleted hand lands on his shoulder, gripping Forgetful tightly.

"Archivist," Drako said coldly. "I believe we have unfinished business."

[Gancho Libre]

Nei'an loved hotdogs.

but he loved chouta more.

this will be relevant later.

[Kidpen]

24 minutes ago, Gancho Libre said:

Nei'an loved hotdogs.

but he loved chouta more.

this will be relevant later.

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You don't have to do a different color here...

 

[Lord Meeker]

Rhazien takes out the package. Opening he sees a set of instructions. Was this part of his quest? He would surely find out. He carefully unfolded the paper and read the following.

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@AonEne you just need a alleyverse character!

 

Edited April 26, 2018 by Mraize

[Gancho Libre]

the paper said:

"fool! this is fake. I swapped it out.

sincerely, Nei'an"

chouta had dripped onto the paper

(see, it was relevant.And to answer your question, I'm just so used to changing the color I forgot I didn't need to.)

Edited April 26, 2018 by Gancho Libre

[Blazenella]

27 minutes ago, Gancho Libre said:

the paper said:

"fool! this is fake. I swapped it out.

sincerely, Nei'an"

chouta had dripped onto the paper

(see, it was relevant.And to answer your question, I'm just so used to changing the color I forgot I didn't need to.)

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XD The New Ghostbloods top operative at work!