Role Play is the main focus of The Sea of Storms. We have labored many hours to provide as much incentive for our players to Role Play actively despite the circumstances associated with a growing player base. Role playing is by far the most accepted means of gaining experience within the game. It also yields the greatest rewards often touching many different aspects of a character. This guide will first explain what we mean by being In-Character (IC) and Role Play (RP) and then we will explain some of the benefits that can be gained.
In-Character (IC):
Being in character refers to the process of playing a character in the game. This often requires you, the player, to dispel knowledge and information that the character you have chosen to play does not have. This is often one of the most difficult things for players to do effectively. We know much more about the world of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, than most people within the books know. You must always keep in mind that those characters that come from small farming villages often lead a quite a secluded life. Take the Two Rivers for example. Most of the people that lived there did not believe in Aes Sedai. Aes Sedai were often considered dangerous and at the very least worthy of respect and a certain degree of wariness. Trollocs and Myrdraal were things to frighten children with, they hardly exist (unless you are from the borderlands).
In general it is not believed that men can channel the One Power. The last male channeler was the Kinslayer himself. Male channelers are feared and despised as well as blamed for the breaking of the world. It is generally known from stories that all male channelers are touched by the Dark One and go insane. For this reason alone, men that are able to channel do NOT share this information with anyone, even their closest of loved ones.
Being IC is important, as the player must act and think like the character he/she is playing. Playing a character outside the norm is not prohibited as long as there is IC reason and justification for ones actions. Children of the Light are not going to befriend Aes Sedai unless the circumstances are pretty extreme and even then it is doubtful.
Things to remember:
- You only have as much IC knowledge as your character has.
- Your thoughts/actions/reaction/beliefs should be based on the character type and history of your character.
- Your character should be as human as possible having thoughts, ideas, emotions, prejudices, fears, strengths and weaknesses.
- There is more to playing a character than being a combat god. A well rounded character is often more fun to Role Play.
- Your character is limited by his abilities and you must stay within the bounds of those abilities.
- You become your character in Role Play.
Role Play (RP):
Role Play is the actual process of controlling your character. It is impossible to Role Play effectively without understanding the concepts of being In Character. Role playing involves two or more characters interacting. This is accomplished through several different mud commands that will be explained later. It is important to keep in mind the limitations of your character. If your character cannot channel than you cannot role play that ability. If your character is a farmer, then most likely he/she does not have the knowledge of metal working that a blacksmith would have.
It is important that while RP-ing that you provide a solid amount of detail to the other party. However it is also important to know what details are to be given. As a general rule of thumb, anything and everything able to be seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted can be shared. This includes but is not limited to: movement, change in expression, hand gestures, speech or sounds, etc. This does not include thoughts feelings, or ideas, however the change in expression, if any, may be shared.
Role Playing Commands:
There are two main commands that are used in all good RP sessions: Emote and Pose. Both of these commands accomplish similar ends but they do it in distinctive ways. First lets talk about the Emote command.
Emote:
Emote literally means to express emotion, especially in a theatrical way. This is important, as this is exactly what we are attempting to accomplish with this command. Emote is the command that allows you to describe what actions your character is taking. Lets look at an example to further explain how emote works.
Ex.
Bob is engaged in some Role Play and wants to share with his companion his great pleasure at the bounty of their recent travels.
| Command: |
Emote smiles broadly and laughs at the large pile of gold coins covering the table. |
| Result: |
Bob smiles broadly and laughs at the large pile of gold coins covering the table. |
As you can see, the basic syntax of the emote command is the word "emote" followed by whatever you want your character to be doing. A hint of the use of emote is to replace the word emote with the name of your character in order to make sure it is clear what your are attempting to say. It is a good idea to become familiar with the emote command, in fact most people use the emote command for everything from descriptions of the characters actions, to speech, to the weaving of the different flows of the one power, to emoting combat.
Pose:
Posing can achieve the same end as an emote, however it is more flexible in its interpretation. Unlike emotes, posing allows a player to describe the actions of others, the environment, the atmosphere of the room, or his/her characters actions. To understand how the pose command works, lets look at the above emaple but this time using the pose command.
Ex.
Bob is engaged in some Role Play and wants to share with his companion his great pleasure at the bounty of their recent travels.
| Command: |
Pose smiles broadly and laughs at the large pile of gold coins covering the table. |
| Result: |
smiles broadly and laughs at the large pile of gold coins covering the table. [Bob] |
Notice, how the string following the Pose command is echoed directly to the screen with who did the pose appended at the end? That is the only difference between the emote and pose commands, but its implications are far reaching. Let look at another example to show how Bob player can describe the atmosphere of a room.
Ex.
| Command: |
pose The sounds of laughter and the smells of roasting meat, stale tabac smoke, and spilt ale is almost over powering within the common room of the Drunken Dwarf Tavern. |
| Result: |
The sounds of laughter and the smells of roasting meat, stale tabac smoke, and spilt ale is almost over powering within the common room of the Drunken Dwarf Tavern. [Bob] |
As you can see the results are quite clear using the pose command and it adds a more in depth environment for which the RP is taking place. It is not uncommon for players to take temporary control over an Non-Player Character (NPC) for the purposes of Role Play. Only characters that the Player's Character (PC) would have IC control over are allowed to be emoted/posed for. In addition, characters that provide common functions (waitresses, bartenders, etc.) may be emoted for so long as the emotes are within the normal boundries of that NPC (ie. A dog barking is allowed, a dog attacking another player or NPC is not).
ITitle
Another important command is the ITITLE command. It allows you to type a brief description of what your character is doing currently. ITITLE describes your IC situation. For instance if you are sitting at a table in the common room of a tavern reading a book, you may want to put that information into your ITITLE. ITITLE is used when characters use the look command in a room that they are in. Let look at how this is used.
Ex.
| Command: |
ititle sits reading a book by the fire. |
| Result: |
Bob sits reading a book by the fire. |
The result is seen when people enter the area that bob is in or use the look command in the same area as bob. Note that this is not the same as the emote command which echoes the results one time. Ititles are semi-permanent, meaning they will stay with you even after you log off. Word of warning, Ititles are IC so it is important that you are aware of what your ititle says. It doesn't make sense for your title to say is here reading a book if you are sparring with friends in order to practice you spear forms.
Remember that ITITLEs are different than TITLEs which are seen on the who list and are Out Of Character (OOC).
Descriptions
Descriptions are one of the more significant parts of your character. Descriptions are used to describe your character general appearance. A good description will describe a character's physical traits, clothes and equipment, and perhaps moves and mood. A good description will not describe the character's thoughts, ideas, or feelings nor should it force a player into receiving a character a certain way.
You may store multiple descriptions by using the switchdescription command. This is useful for storing different descriptions based on a disguise or some other variable that has changed. Please keep in mind that all descriptions are IC. So do not claim to have a heron marked blade in your description unless you actually have a heron marked blade.
Bios
It is good practice to have a history for your character. This allows your character to become more fleshed out. It is also often a requirement in the guilding process. Bios do not have to be public (IC or OOC). However, if you do wish to share your character's bio, you can add it to our web page in the character section.
