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Lazarene Role Play Index
A full index of guides and rules for role-playing in Lazarus
Important links:
- Regional Message Board rules
- LazMap dispatch
- Roleplaying Tips and Suggestions by Santheres,
- International Incidents (New Player) guide by Santheres
- National and International Roleplaying subforum
Who can create an official role play group in Lazarus?
- Official RP groups can be residents, citizens, or nations from other regions part of those official groups,
- Nationstates or Lazarus forum based RPers, who can link to a specific thread or dispatch,
- Official groups or organizations that comply with the Regional RMB rules, and the Nationstates Terms of Service. These are meant for fun after-all and to not break site rules or bother other players.
Registration Form:
Telegram this form to New Rogernomics to be added to the list below:
Official role play groups list:
| Name (Dispatch) | Leaders/Recruiters: | Location: |
| Example name (Dispatch url) | Leader: Nation name Recruiter: Nation name | Lazarus RMB NS/Lazarus forum thread url Discord server url |
Lazarus RMB Role-playing rules
If you see any of these on the RMB, call them out. Mention New Rogernomics or send a TG as then we can enforce these rules.
- 1. No godmodding/powergaming posts.
- 2. No posts that cause unnecessary drama, such as insults, religious intolerance, racism, and so on. Usually these are against the general RMB rules and even the NS terms of service rules too.
- 3. No posts that wouldn't be realistic from their nation factbook or from their in-game statistics. This goes in line with godmodding.
- 4. No posts that are just borderline spam and don't benefit anyone. Usually this goes in line with the general RMB rules.
- 5. National in-game population statistics do matter. Don't even try to argue that a nation that is in-game 1 million is in fact 1 billion, this is just unfair to everyone who has been in the game a long time. You can do the reverse though, which is downsize your nation. Just don't overplay your nation and claim it is far bigger than it is in-game. There are exceptions to this as mentioned below
- The role-play is collectively agreed upon to use statistics created by the official role-play group for the role-play,
- The role-play god-modding was un-intentional and was corrected,
- The role-play post just had an un-intentional mistake in it.
Current RP GMs:
New Rogernomics - Vice Delegate/Herald & First Citizen (PM)
You can apply to be a RP GM below and get regional officer power for post suppression.
Role Play GM application:
Note: Joke applications will just be trashed and ignored.
Lazarus Role-Playing Guide
By New Rogernomics
Lazarus has had a thriving RMB role-playing scene, though it hasn't exactly had rules or direction, which this guide will hopefully help establish, alongside a general index of rules.
1. Developing national role-playing
Nation role-playing is a unique world of its own and different from character role playing, which is mentioned further in the index. This is because you are not just representing a single person, but an entire nation, with different political, religious, and social views of its people, perhaps even your government is totalitarian and repressive and only a few actually support it willingly. In this case you have to develop a character that can respond to internal and external input into their role-play leader character. The external input would be other nations interacting with your own and responding to your role-play leader character.
Some general nation RP rules:
- Nation role-plays should be conducted as if you are the leader or a group within in that nation,
- Breaking character should be avoided, as it can mean confusing people,
- Develop a character profile for your nation leader, such as with interests, hobbies, and general info such as age, hair color, and so on.
- What is the character's general attitude when talking to others, such as are they polite or quick to anger?
- Avoid changing the character drastically mid-roleplay unless there is a solid role-play-based reason to do so, such as a character twist (where they turn out to be evil/deceptive/plotting).
- Supporting characters should have their own opinions too, as having everyone agree with your leader all the time won't be realistic and could be really boring for other role-players after a while.
- Use IC and OOC tags for your role-playing, as others need to know what in-character is and what isn't.
- Don't do godmodding, which means responding as if you are another nation or deciding for them how their nation acts.
Role-playing tags you can use:
- In Character (IC)
- Out of Character (OOC)
- Location such as a place or a ship for example
- Time (specific time or day/night)
Using IC tags to establish setting:
Though usually what is an IC tag for setting is pretty obvious, so using an IC tag isn't required if it is obvious that it is an IC line.
Using OOC tag to advise the other role-players of something:
In this case it could be possible that other role-players might think that the AI cracking the code meant learning all their plans.
2. Writing a roleplay post
When writing a role play post, you need to decide several things, your setting, what characters will participate, and what the objective or end result of the post will be. It should be as long or as short as necessary to get the point across. It doesn't always have to be a huge number of a paragraphs, if the point is made clear and it feels right. It shouldn't also be the end, so there should be some understanding this will a continuation at the end of the post.
Though a general template might be:
You want to make sure that the reader or other role-players understand the setting and what the post involves in the first line, with one sentence setting statement. Then you want to have an introduction or prelude to the content or the body of your post. Then you want to have your body answer the key questions about who it this post is about:
- what you are trying to do with this post,
- how do you plan to write this post such as its tone, pace, and other factors,
- where does this take place,
- and finally, why this post matters.
3. Nation role-play settings
Unfortunately, with a lot of role-plays, the setting could be way different than what you are used to, or you don't like something about it. That is okay and it can help you develop your characters and nations further. It doesn't have to become the official lore of your nation, and in fact no nation can force you to do so - a key problem of role-plays can be god-modding. Don't let other nations write your nation's lore, unless you agree to that lore being part of your roleplay.
That shouldn't stop you participating if you want to though, not every role-play has to be something you set in stone for your nation. A good example of where you might want to explore is if your nation has one setting. One role-play might be science-fiction, and your nation is present-day, in which case you might have to create new characters and explore what your nation would be like as future tech. You could write a nation factbook for future, fantasy, and for modern tech, it is all up to you. It never hurts to explore, and if it doesn't pan out then it is easy to never make that lore for your nation and just take the experience for what it was.
In case of my own nation, New Rogernomics, it has been science-fiction, modern tech, and now it is near-future tech. Though I only really keep a near-future tech factbook, and one that is orientated towards role-playing, it doesn't need to be that way for your nation, and there is no limit to the number of factbook pages you can generate.
4. Role Play Suggestions
Though it is possible that we could enforce some rules outright that might feel draconian, as there are some general suggestive rules that could work great for one role-playing group and terrible for others. These are some suggestive rules that you might consider when nation-roleplaying or role-playing in general, depending on what the role-play is about.
National Statistics
- Keep your nation within one billion for role-playing purposes or set a general limit of where population numbers no longer factor into the role-play. The reasoning for this would be that if you had nations of a few billion role-playing against a nation of 30 billion, there is no real contest in a realistic sense, even if you were to make the rules that a nation of 30 billion could only fight with a fraction of its realistic manpower. It could be easier to just limit standing military forces per nation based upon a population limit.
- Keep the numbers of military forces realistic to each role-play and avoid over-the-top displays of military manpower or force. You should really consider whether it is actually necessary to use vast armies, as simply focusing on some military units, ships, or commanders, would be good for character development and allow other role-players to get a feel to the struggle and effort in the war.
- During a naval conflict consider the distance between nations by sea and the difficulties of actually getting there for each nation. Even the most advanced navy has to establish supply lines. One good example might be the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas war where the UK was forced to navigate huge distances. It took a long time for the UK to reach the islands. Not every naval conflict has to be a rush to action and can be a series of diplomatic events leading to a final major confrontation eventually.
- Consider international disagreements over borders. It is possible that you might have trouble getting somewhere, which could mean you have to move military forces across difficult terrain to avoid those disagreements, or maybe it is more of a trade issue and not a military one and you struggle to reach certain nations to trade with them because of a dispute with another nation. Not to mention, perhaps this nation is neutral and doesn't want foreign military forces going across their borders.
- Consider conflict zones and active border confrontations. You might struggle or be prohibited from crossing over certain territories, and to do so might have a role-play cost, in either upsetting a nation diplomatically or leading to conflict with them. Also, perhaps it is something more complex like a troubled part of the world full of terrorist insurgencies, and those terrorists don't want you flying over their airspace or moving through their areas of contention.
- Consider Exclusive Economic Zones and disputes over sea lanes. A whole score of disputes can arise over this, from fishing disputes to access to military vessels and oil or gas exploration. Even when neighbors are peaceful and friendly to each other, disputes can arise over natural resources and access to territory.
- It might be a good idea to have a national map for each nation. This can be as basic or complex as you wish, but would be pretty important for a military conflict, as it explains the basics of where they could attack/land, whether your nation is landlocked or separated by sea from other nations and gives general information perhaps about climate or distance between other nations if it is part of a regional map.
- Use Wikipedia for an idea of what size your nation might be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area
- Explore graphics software such as Inkscape or GIMP to generate your own map or edit a generated one.
- Explore online map generators for your nation: https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/
- Consider whether you want to be landlocked, have a lake, have an ocean, or be surrounded by mountainous terrain. These are natural barriers to or easy access to your nation for trade or invasion.
The general idea about national factbooks is that they never really stop growing, and you really don't need to post more than you have to if it takes away from enjoyment of doing role-playing. Factbooks should give you and others a general idea about your nation, and the basic statistics and information that someone might need. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate or up to date, only reasonably so.
The key things you want for your nation factbook are:
1. An introduction paragraph about your nation. This should include information like the geographical size of the nation, the type of political system it might have such as a monarchy or republic, climate information, and finally perhaps what regional or international groups it might be part of, for example, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), or the Organization of American States (AOS). If your nation it is a socialist or communist state, or fascist state (Francisco Franco's Spain for instance), then you might be part of defunct or historical organizations instead, such as the Communist International*2.
2. Etymology, if you want to. This means where your nation name comes from. You can find something from Wikipedia or straight out make it up based upon a historical figure of your nation, or a specific tribe. I'll be showing an example from my own factbook further down to show how you can do this. Though this is optional, it adds a distinct Wikipedia or more professional like flavor to your factbook:
Etymology
Roger (sometimes spelled Rodger) is an English surname of Anglo-Saxon origin.[1] The name Roger is derived from the pre-7th century Anglo-Saxon (Teutonic) name Hroðgar, which means 'fame and spear' ('hroð' fame or renown, 'gar' spear), the first reference to which is in Beowulf, the epic poem of the Dark Ages.
The name is also found in the Netherlands and Normandy in the forms "Rutger" and "Rogier". The Latin form of the name is Rogerius, as used by a few medieval figures. The variant Rosser comes from a Welsh derivation of the Old Norse Rhosier meaning “renown for his sword” (or spear).
3. History. This is really the vital part or the body of your factbook, if you are doing historical role-playing. This is also the most difficult part of the Factbook, as you are having to make up global history or add your own into it. It is recommended to not fight history too much however, and to try and fit your nation in. You could make your nation un-aligned or aligned in WW1 or WW2 for instance, it is up to you. Though obviously if you are a science-fiction based or future tech, then probably you can just start from the relevant point of your history and leave historical stuff out. Up to you.
4. Geography. You probably want to make your own national map. You can take one off say the regional map of Lazarus or make your own. If you want to make your own then I suggest the following, which you can find mentioned in my LazMap dispatch.
- The Fantasy Map Generator by Azgaar for map generation due to its extensive settings and options.
- Inkscape (Free) or GIMP (Free). I personally prefer Affinity Designer (Paid) and others might prefer Photoshop/Creative Cloud (Paid), though I use Inkscape for the Lazarus regional map because it is free. Free is easiest when you are collaborating with others too, as not everyone has paid software and free software is easy to download.
- NASA projection map generator (for different projections of the globe): https://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/gprojector/
- More specific to science fiction mapping is the SciFi World Generator by donjon, which generates the global climate statistics and a whole lot of stuff that you might have missed or found hard to generate yourself.
The key features of your geography though should be what is your nation's climate, does it have desert, forests, rivers, lakes, an ocean, and where is the capital located, are there any major cities or port cities and airports, and finally how are your roads connected, and are there distinct features like mountains that others should be aware of.
Think in role-play terms too, as it isn't likely anyone is going to invade your nation through a massive mountain range - unless you are both landlocked, as they'll go around or invade by the coast. Historically though it does happen, such as the Carthaginians crossing the alps to attack the Romans, and modern border disputes between China and India. In economic terms, a mountain range isn't great for trade either, as it means having to spend money building tunnels and bridges across harsh terrain.
5. Culture. This is fairly important in terms of developing the national character of your nation, as it can mean the difference between your nation being friendly and welcoming to foreigners, hostile to foreigners, or just plain odd. Really up to you how you want your nation's culture to develop. But key things to include might be what they eat - the national dish or favored restaurant for eating, what they drink, if they have any national festivals, art, music, or sports. News media is another thing you might want to put in here too, as you likely have national news organizations or tv channels.
6. Politics. You can be as basic or extensive here as you want, but really the basics here should be the leader or leading organization of your nation in the case you have a council or military junta group. Perhaps things aren't as clear cut, and maybe you want to write something that outside observers have recognized about your nation, especially if you are North Korea like dictatorship (in which case dissidents are writing parts of your Factbook most likely). You also want to include information like your national legislature(s) and important political figures.
7. Military. I normally put the military as a sub-section in the politics section, though it can be put as its own separate section as well. The military part should include whoever leads your nation's military outside of the commander-and-chief (who might be the dictator or democratically elected or appointed leader). It should also include the name of your air-force, navy, army, and military equipment or vehicles your nation might use. You can also add insignia and all kinds of things here. Knock yourself out. Like culture, you could really spend forever writing this section and never be satisfied.
8. Economy. With economy, it really depends on how much you like math and statistics on sectors of your economy, and I really don't, but that doesn't mean I don't put it in for those who really want to know and for my personal benefit. You should be discussing here at least the major sectors of your economy that are assigned to your nation by the game, which you find on your nation page, and any sectors you think you should include that the nation page doesn't mention or get into much detail about. I recommend putting the key economic statistics on the national Factbook info box as it can be easy to get to, and no one has to go searching in Economy for it. Finally, this should be honest, as in you should be assuming international organizations are writing this section rather than some state propagandist.
9. Demographics. I might really want to get out Mark Twain quotes (also attributed to Benjamin Disraeli), "Lies, Damn, Lies, and Statistics", as really you can tell the truth here or fudge it. If you are a dictatorship or corrupt regime, then you don't need to tell the truth, maybe there is something don't want to tell others about, so don't mention it. But if you are an honest and hardworking democracy, such as my nation, then you have to be honest and straightforward. That means including what religions you have, the languages of your nation, the main ethnicities or where they are from, and all the possibly interesting or really boring details about your population.
10. International relations. Kind of not necessary unless you intend to mention another nation as part of your role-play, or maybe it is a puppet nation you want to include. You could also put the role-play disputes and conflicts you had with other nations here for easy reference. This is totally optional in my opinion. You can leave it out.
Here is an example of my own Factbook's contents categories:
- Overview,
- history,
- geography,
- culture,
- politics,
- economy,
- demographics,
- and international relations.
Code:
[floatleft][box][size=130]Factbook Contents[/size]
[hr]1 [url=#Overview][b]Overview [/b][/url]
2 [url=#History]History[/url]
- 2.1 [url=#Prehistory]Prehistory[/url]
- 2.2 [url=#Past]Past[/url]
- 2.3 [url=#Present]Present[/url]
3 [url=#Geography]Geography[/url]
- 3.1 [url=#Climate]Climate[/url]
- 3.2 [url=#Environment]Environment[/url]
4 [url=#Culture]Culture[/url]
- 4.1 [url=#Art]Art[/url]
- 4.2 [url=#Media]Media[/url]
- 4.3 [url=#Cuisine]Cuisine[/url]
- 4.4 [url=#Sports]Sports[/url]
- 4.5 [url=#Trivia]Trivia[/url]
5 [url=#Politics]Politics[/url]
- 5.1 [url=#Government]Government[/url]
- 5.2 [url=#Law]Law[/url]
- 5.3 [url=#Military]Military[/url]
6 [url=#Economy]Economy[/url]
- 6.1 [url=/#Agriculture]Agriculture[/url]
- 6.2 [url=#Tourism]Tourism[/url]
- 6.3 [url=#Energy]Energy[/url]
- 6.4 [url=#Transport]Transport[/url]
- 6.5 [url=#Science_and_Technology]Science and Technology[/url]
7 [url=#Demographics]Demographics[/url]
- 7.1 [url=#Ethnic_Groups]Ethnic Groups[/url]
- 7.2 [url=#Major_Cities]Major Cities[/url]
- 7.3 [url=#Language]Language[/url]
- 7.4 [url=#Religion]Religion[/url]
- 7.5 [url=#Health]Health[/url]
- 7.6 [url=#Education]Education[/url]
8 [url=#International_Relations]International Relations[/url]
- 8.1 [url=#Embassies]Embassies[/url]
- 8.2 [url=#Disputes&Conflicts]Disputes & Conflicts[/url]
[/box][/floatleft]6. National Factbook info box
This is important to put out things like your national flag, emblem, motto, anthem, national map thumbnail, and economic statistics.
Here is the code for my own nation's Factbook info box to take a look at:
Code:
[floatright][box][align=center][size=120][b]Kingdom of New Rogernomics[/b]
Authairea ([url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Authairean[/url])[/size]
[hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/ukExcJr.png[/img][/align][hr]
[align=center][b]Motto:[/b] [size=85][url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]"Freedom and Justice"[/url][/size]
[hr][b]Anthem:[/b] [size=85][url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]"Rise Heavenly Flower"[/url][/size][/align][hr][align=center][img]https://i.imgur.com/WqKc1jo.png[/img]
[size=95]Location of [url=/nation=new_rogernomics]New Rogernomics[/url] (dark green).[/size][/align][hr][b]National Animal[/b] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribble]Tribble[/url]
[hr][b]Capital[/b] [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Astroberg[/url]
[hr][b]Largest City[/b] [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]New Gironde[/url]
[hr][b]Official Languages[/b]
• [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Authairean[/url] • [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language]Sign Language[/url] • [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language]English[/url] • [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic]Arabic[/url]
[hr][b]State Religion (2018)[/b] None
[hr][b]Ethnic Groups (2019)[/b]
56% [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Authairean[/url]
4 Minorities [spoiler=show]25% Eastern European
10.5% Asian
7% Middle Eastern
1.5% Other[/spoiler][hr][b]Demonym[/b] [align=right][url=h/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]New Rogernomican[/url]
[url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Authairean[/url] (Informal)[/align]
[hr][b]Government[/b] [align=right][url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Unitary parliamentary
constitutional monarchy[/url][/align]
• [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Monarch[/url] ([url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Feuran Authairas[/url])
• [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Prime Minister[/url] ([url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Mark Rosendale[/url])
• [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Chief Justice[/url] ([url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Michelle Voulorte[/url])
[hr][b]Legislature[/b] [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Parliament[/url]
• Upper House [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Council of Ministers[/url]
• Lower House [url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]National Assembly[/url]
[hr][b]Establishment[/b]
[url=#Consolidation[]Consolidation[/url] c. 11th century
[url=#First Kingdom]First Kingdom[/url] 13 March 1087
[url=#First Republic]First Republic[/url] 14 November 1863
[url=#Second Republic]Second Republic[/url] 2 January 1913
[url=#Second Kingdom]Second Kingdom[/url] 12 May 2008
[hr][b][url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]Area[/url]
• Total[/b] 640,679 km2
246,201 sq mi
[hr][b][url=#Population]Population[/url][/b]
• April 2019 estimate 26.558 billion
[hr][b][url=/nation=new_rogernomics/detail=factbook/id=368015]GDP (nominal) [/url][/b] 2019 Estimate
• [b]Total[/b] 9,570 trillion [img]http://i.imgur.com/G68Rit3.png[/img]
• [b]Per capita[/b] 360,367
[hr][b][url=http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=329515]Gini[/url][/b] (2010)
[img]https://i.imgur.com/bYOBvjo.png[/img] 3.22
[color=red]low[/color]
[hr][b][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index]HDI[/url][/b] (2018)
[img]http://i.imgur.com/G68Rit3.png[/img] 97.3
[color=green]very high[/color]
[hr][b]Currency[/b] [url=#Draemark]Draemark[/url] (DRA)
[hr][b]Time Zone[/b] CET (UTC+1)
- [b]Summer (DST)[/b] CEST (UTC+2)
[hr][b]Drives on the[/b] right
[hr][b]Calling Code[/b] +8107
[hr][b]ISO 3166 code[/b] KNR
[hr][b]Internet TLD[/b] .knr
[hr][b]Calling code [/b] +8107[/box][/floatright]7. Structing your Factbook
Depends on whether you are using the on-site Factbooks, the on-site Nationstates forum, or off-site Wiki's like the one on the Lazarus regional forum. Though this will be covering on-site specifically. If you want to learn about off-site wikis, then I only know about the Lazarus forum one that I run, which is structured to act somewhat like Wikipedia.
This is the structure that works best for the dispatches:
- Overview
- 1 line space
- Factbook info box
- 1 line space
- Factbook contents menu
- 1 line space
- Body of Factbook
8. BBCodes
Here are some BBcodes you probably want to know about.
Background block creates a colored background around text or an image:
Code:
[background-block=#cca]Text[/background block]
Code:
[floatleft]Content[/floatleft]
Code:
[floatright]Content[/floatright]
Code:
[size=110]Text[/size]
Code:
[font=times]Text[/font]
Code:
[sidebar][img]https://media.giphy.com/media/ZdO4P32UtAC5AB2rWU/giphy-downsized-large.gif[/img]
[center][i]Consider voting on World Assembly resolutions[/i][/center][/sidebar]
Code:
[box]Content[/box]
Code:
[floatleft][box]Content[/box][/floatleft]
Code:
[table][tr][td]Table row 1 data[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Table row 2 data[/td][/tr][/table]Factbooks or general dispatches might have something you want to copy or experiment with, in which case you can find the raw with the raw link for that dispatch. Not all dispatches have this link at the bottom, but it is as follows, dispatch ID # such as 1751984, and then /raw=1:
Code:
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=#/raw=1It is also advisable to view these threads on the Nationstates forum if you are interested in roleplaying:
- Roleplaying Tips and Suggestions by Santheres, which provides a good overview of the types of roleplay and how to go about it.
- International Incidents (New Player) guide by Santheres that provides a very extensive list of links to topics that can help you develop your nation, its factbooks, and get an idea how to best go about interactions with other nations, or even getting actively involved in role play on the main Nationstates forum.
- There are many more such threads in the National and International Roleplaying subforum, so you may wish to explore all these additional threads as well.
Footnotes
*1. God-modding otherwise known as power gaming includes when a player: "[...]tries to force others to participate in unwanted role-playing. For instance, a player who unilaterally describes his character as doing something with (or to) another character that would usually require the other to play along — such as having a fight or a sexual encounter — is considered to be powergaming."
*2. The Soviet Union itself was a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meaning that on paper, Russia was its own independent nation within the Soviet Union, as was Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and so on.
The Basics of Good RPG PBeM Writing
Written by Rebecca Tifft-DonovanThere are two common misconceptions about quality writing; the first is that quality writing can be achieved simply by using good writing techniques and the second is that quality writing can simply be achieved by having an interesting plot. In fact, quality writing can only be achieved when a balance is formed between the two. This basic writing course was made in an attempt to assist new PBeM writers, and perhaps encourage more people to start games of their own.
Before we venture into the depths of proper grammar and punctuation, I have one suggestion to make. Game Masters (GM's) should always write their turns out in a word processor then transfer the text into their email program for delivery to players. This practice not only assists in keeping spelling errors to a minimum, but can also allow the GM to easily correct common grammar problems.
Some word processors like Word for example, have built in routines that check your grammar. To access them (in Word) simply click on 'Tools' then 'Options.' Click on the 'Spelling & Grammar' tab. Make sure that there are checks next to 'Check grammar as you type' or 'Check grammar with spelling.' Either way, grammatical errors will appear as a wavy green line either as you are typing or when you spell check your document. You will also have to set the writing style; I suggest 'Formal.' Additionally, you can choose to 'Show readability statistics,' which allows you to see how the computer rates your document. At the end of your spell check the computer will tell you how many words you've used as well as what grade level would be most appropriate for your document based on the length of your words and sentences. You should probably be shooting for a grade level between 5 and 10. It also gives a readability percentage (the Flesch Reading Ease), try to keep that above 75%. Passive voice sentences should be limited though sometimes they work far better than active voice depending on the situation. Keep your passive voice as low as possible, certainly no more than 20%.
Basic Tips to Good Writing
1. Be Consistent
If you use a certain type of speech or slang or certain types of symbols to represent a break in the story, be sure to keep using it throughout the writing. Nothing will confuse a player more than changing dialects or slang terms.
2. Build Continuity
Reread the last turn you sent before writing the next turn. Keep in mind that you said the dragon was to the left, not the right. If the innkeeper's name was Harold two turns ago, it should still be Harold when the PC's return. Unless, of course, Harold died suddenly and his twin brother Arnold took over the family inn. However, if that is the case, make sure you have the heartbroken Arnold inform the players of his brother's untimely death.
3. Know Your World(s) Well
This is a subcategory of being consistent. If you have stated that elves are seven feet tall with snow-white hair and purple eyes, do not allow a player to have a four-foot elf with bright red hair and blue eyes without a good background explanation. Remember that exceptions to the rules you have set for your world are rare. If you accept an exceptional elf into your party, do not have them run into three or four more elves that bend the rules. Likewise do not have the Elite Battle Guard of the Kernoshian Empire arrive in blue power armor one day and red the next unless it is a special holiday that calls for the wearing of red by imperial order.
4. Write Believably
If you want the High Senator of Ackrendar to be from a Celtic-inspired world and speak in an Irish brogue, use the proper grammar, style, and dialect rules. To aid you in your quest of proper dialects, we have developed a few guides for you: Knightly Speech and Scottish/Irish Brogue.
5. Proofread
Once you finish writing the turn, reread it. Then reread the previous turn and the one you just finished together. They should flow together smoothly. Additionally, proofreading your work will allow you to catch errors the spelling and grammar checker may have missed.
6. Plan Your Plot in Advance
Have a master plan well laid out in advance. PC's tend to do strange things that test even the best-laid plans (of mice and men), but having a well developed plot will help pull you out of the tough spots. It will also help ensure that your villains remain consistent to their character.
7. Vary Your Sentence Structure
It is quickly and exceedingly dull to read even a short narrative wherein all the sentences seem to be stamped out by cookie cutters. In order to keep interest, it is advisable to alter the structure of your sentences.
Boring:
More interesting:
Common Errors
1. Dialogue
Spoken words should always be encased in double quotation marks (" and "). Further, only one person should be speaking in any given paragraph. Switching to a second speaker indicates you should switch to a new paragraph. Commas should separate spoken words within a sentence. Further, commas should always be confined within the quotation marks.
2. Tense
This goes along with being consistent. Past tense is most often used in writing; the reader reads as if the events have already taken place. Present tense is less commonly used and, in my humble opinion, more cumbersome to read. However, either tense is equally correct. The main problem with tense is that people tend to switch tenses from turn to turn, or sometimes even in the middle of a turn. (I know I have done it once or twice.) This error most often comes from GM's pasting character responses, which are often in present tense, into turns, which are often written in past tense.
Wrong:
Right:
3. Who/Whom
In modern speech, the word whom is almost unheard of. However, in RPG writing, especially fantasy, the use of the word is most appropriate provided it is used correctly.
Who is correct when used as the subject of a sentence, the subject being the thing doing the action of the sentence:
Whom is correct when used as the object of the sentence, the object being the thing receiving the action of the sentence:
In the first example, someone brought the news of the shipment. That someone was the subject; they did the action. Conversely, in the second example, Groa would like to thank someone for bringing the news. Groa is the subject (I in the example) and the person she has to thank is the object since that person is receiving the action.
4. Subject/Verb Agreement
It is important to make sure that your subject and your verb agree with one another. This does not mean they must be on speaking terms; instead, this means that they should both be singular or plural in nature. While this sounds simple, this type of error is actually very common. Keeping your writing in past tense does help to deal with this problem as many past tense verbs do not alter between singular and plural.
Wrong:
Right:
In the first example, the troop, not bandits, is the subject. Troop, while indicating multiple members, is a singular noun and requires a singular verb. This is the most common form of this error. The second example shows a noun linked by the word and. Though each individual noun is singular, the linked noun is plural and requires a plural verb. Finally, when nouns are linked by the word or, the verb should agree with the noun closest to the verb as shown in the third example.
5. Pronoun Agreement
In addition to your subjects and verbs agreeing with one another, your pronouns should also agree with your subjects.
Wrong:
Right:
Care must be taken when using words such as: everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, and someone. These words indicate the need for a singular pronoun: he, she, or it. The first example shows how to correct the problem by eliminating the word each; bandits requires a plural pronoun so use of the word their is acceptable. The second example shows the correct form using a singular pronoun. Though he or she is used, either pronoun could have been used independently, depending, of course, on the make up of the group. The third example shows a singular pronoun referring to the plural subject of the previous sentence. The corrected form redefines the subject of the second sentence making the singular pronoun correct.
6. Contractions
While often used in everyday speech, contractions are inappropriate for writing and should not be used outside of dialogue.
Wrong:
Right:
7. Apostrophes
Though usually helpful punctuation can be easily misused in a variety of ways.
Wrong:
Right:
It's is the contraction of it is. Its is the possessive form of it. Nouns ending in s should not have the standard 's added for possessiveness, instead only the apostrophe should be added. Inanimate objects should not be given the human quality of possessiveness as shown in the third example.
8. Commas
I have noticed that comma errors fall into one of two categories: over-usage or under-usage. Errors of either form can easily lead to writing that is difficult to understand at best. Try to keep these guidelines in mind when using commas.
Commas should separate any phrase that is unnecessary to the sentence. The following example could simply read:
Sample: The bandits attacked the caravan in a fury.
Should Read: The bandits, riled to a murderous rage by Groa's moving speech, attacked the caravan in a fury.
Dependent clauses should also be separated from the main independent clause of the sentence by a comma.
For her part, Groa fought with a determination unmatched by any of the bandits.
Commas should separate phrases beginning with which, but not those beginning with that. Phrases beginning with that often limit the preceding noun while phrases beginning with which often give more information.
The bandits slaughtered the caravan guards that did not immediately surrender. The caravan, which was loaded with supplies of weapons, was stripped clean.
Do not use a comma to join two sentences together. Instead, restructure the sentence, form two sentences or use a semicolon.
Wrong:
Right:
When listing items, commas should be used between each item. The use of a final comma before the and at the end of a list is a question of style, just remember to be consistent. Either of the two examples below would be correct, but should not be used together.
When tallied, the raid had cost the bandits one horse, twenty arrows, and the services of two men while they recovered from wounds. Groa considered the raid a success, however. The bandits recovered three cases of steel swords, fifteen quivers of arrows, three prisoners and two casks of ale.
9. Commonly Confused Words
Be sure to use the proper word for the meaning you intend. Some words to watch out for are: affect, effect, there, their, and they're.
By combining proper use of grammar and punctuation with an intriguing story, you have the beginnings of great narrative. Weather used in a pbem or in straight fiction, I hope that these basics have helped. Good Writing.
For those interested, this article contains 2505 words and 10% passive sentences. It has a readability of 69.8% and a grade level of 6.6.
Sourced from defunct RPG site.
The Ultimate FFRP Bio Guide
Written by EphialtesIn General, using this template is a good way to start:
Now many people wont use all of these topics, and it is perfectly fine to use as many or as little as you like, but the more in depth your bio is, the easier it is for other FFRPers to get to know your character, making it easier to RP with you.
The Basic Bio
A fairly simple off-the-top-of-my-head bio is also known as a Basic bio.
Here is an example:
A few smaller FFRPs may accept this, but it only tells the very basics of your character and gives no depth for other RPers to work with.
The Intermediate Bio
The most common type of bio for characters give quite a lot of information, and takes some time to write up. It is also known as an Intermediate Bio.
Here is an example
Almost all bios will look like this, even out of fairly experienced FFRPers. This gives enough information for people to know what they are working with, and will be accepted in most advanced FFRPs.
The Advanced Bio
The last type of bio is the Advanced bio. Most FFRPers will not put this much effort into making a bio, but it is quite an accomplishment if you can manage it.
Here is an example:
In Conclusion
As a beginning FFRPer, do not worry to much about making your bios this detailed, just worry about giving the others you will be FFRPing with enough information to know your character. Most of the time you will make a bio, find if you like or hate the character and then add onto the bio and continue to use the character in other various FFRPs in the future. If you are going to use a character a lot, find an artist to help you draw up the character and some of its equipment for an added element.
Don't struggle to hard on bios when you are first starting out. Just pick it up as you go, and eventually you will be making Intermediate and Advanced bios in your sleep.
Sourced from defunct RPG site.
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