I'm interested in joining the roleplays, but as I've said before, joining is really daunting.
Maybe like Adrammalech said, going with a sort of "You character is new, so you learn with them" kind of thing might be pretty effective and interesting. Then just address important past plot points as they become relevant. Probably in the think tank.
So maybe instead of a story summary, write a "style guide" for beginners. Something that covers some of the rules of the roleplay. Things that I can think of to cover are how to introduce characters, a basic template to fill out for the character's bio, when and where it's ok to talk out of character, how the whole "Dungeon Master" thing works, what happens if your character is interacted with but you don't have the time to roleplay, incredibly major story plots that even a new soldier would probably have heard rumors about... stuff like that.
I'd be willing to help out in writing some of the newbie guide, but of course being a newbie myself, I can only help in regards with what a newbie would want to know and basic character bio stuff.
Our stuff is kinda jumbled up, we started the RP in quite a whirlwind and didn't think much about post sequence as we made stuff up.
Entering the RP:
Post in the tank or message the GM to declare your intent to join. Create your character along the guidelines, and then post the biography in the
Character Bios. After that, you can start doing journals about personal life and base life as regularly or rarely as you like, and will get assigned missions as the GM sees fit.
The Complete Ruleset (press the "
↑" arrow to go to the post):
Zombieplitter53's official-ish rules for the RP (-ish because, like the American Justice System, there are always rules).
Character Creation Synopsis:
- You can have two "main" characters and a squad of less detailed characters
- You can have any motive for joining except being blackmailed/coerced into service
- Your character requires no experience, but it's highly recommended to have military service for soldiers
- Your class is "assigned" (based off your decision) after your first mission so shouldn't be part of your origin story unless they were rescued from another roleplayer's mission
- Your character can have any body type (but should be reasonably athletic for soldiers) and mental quirks as long as they aren't so pervasive that it would disqualify them from even a desperate consideration (i.e. frequently harming teammates or superiors)
-
Character bios are completely up to you, there's no standard format any of us used. Generally the good things to have are: Full Name, Age, Gender, Nationality, appearance description, and a primary reason why they'd be recruited
- If your character's quirks are
really out there in terms of science fiction or serious mental defects, you should ask the GM first
FLAWLESS SEGUE
The GM:
- The GM role by itself essentially operates as the Commander's computer, posting mission briefs and assigning soldiers to tasks. They also resolve disputes and have editting/deleting power over posts if need be.
- Our GM is
ZombieSplitter53 and controls Morrigan (the Commander), Bradford (the Executive Officer), Shen (the lead engineer) and Vahlen (the lead scientist); essentially controlling how "game progression" would work in terms of equipment, research, and mission timing
- Zombie is very accommodating and will work with you to do certain story tasks. Generally, if what you want to do affects something in the base structure, mission sequence, research order, or any other players you haven't deliberated with, you should clear it with the GM
- If you're unsure about something, ask the GM
- If another person has infringed on your character, ask the GM
- If you're too busy IRL to do a mission in a reasonable timeframe, ask the GM
Thread Types:
In-character:
Story of Defiance (main RP),
XCOM Missions and
EXALT Missions (structured missions only)
Out-of-character, on-topic:
Character Bios and
Character Catch-Ups
Out-of-character, anything goes:
The self described "full of shit" think tank
Rules (includes the rules, alien types, and class progressions):
Character Sheets
Collaborations:
Usually collaborative posts are declared in a message or post here and then scheduled at a time that works for everyone. It's generally good manners to tell someone your post will affect them in some way. If you have a solo post that affects someone in a way bigger than "there's murmurs about you," you should tell them beforehand. If your post affects someone in a way that would change their appearance or operating procedure, you should absolutely ask for permission first.
Example - I'm writing a non-collaborative post. My character Emily will briefly interact with Marine's character, Desmond, in some way.
Okay to solo post:
Emily tells her friend that she thinks Desmond is cool.
Check with the RPer:
Emily says "how's it going" in passing to Desmond, to which he will reply "I'm doing well."
Check with RPer and GM:
Emily decides Desmond is a butthead and sucker punches him in the middle of the mess hall, starting a brawl and giving him a visible black eye.
