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Right so this is a thread! It is a thread for the whole RP board. Specifically, it is a thread for posting things that are relevant to the interests of the RP board as a whole!

Stuff this thread is for (partial list):

--discussing news relevant to the whole RP board

--gauging interest for a possible new RP before a signup is posted

--brainstorming ideas for a new RP

--suggesting a link to add to Useful Notes, or questions about Useful Notes in general

--suggestions for the RP board as a whole (unless we'd rather have that go to Feedback?)

Stuff this thread is not for (partial list):

--talking about something relevant only to an existing RP (that's what the individual chat threads are for)

So then, first bit of actual chatter: Added a neat site that roymbrog found concerning swords and combat to the Useful Notes index. Have a look if you're interested.

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I have some references as well :3

First up, this thing

http://rpmadesimple.com/the-rp-survival-guide/

There's a bunch of useful information here for character creation, interaction, and such

http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm

I know some people don't agree with me on this, but the Mary Sue test is pretty useful to make sure you don't go off the deep end. Yeah, yeah, whether or not someone is suish depends on how they're being played, but the fact alone that a person dumps all those traits on the character speaks volumes about how they view it. This is more about being cliche than a bad writer.

Also note that original fiction characters tend to get a free pass because they're protagonists in their own narrative, and often suish traits can just be a part of the setting.

FEMALE CHARACTERS

It's amazing how many people screw 'em up. First of all, they are characters first, female second. Being female is a trait and not an identity. Secondly, here's some stuff.

A flowchart

(note that some of a flowchart is a joke, and a lot of it is disturbingly true.)

An interesting article on the subject of strong female characters

How to develop a character personality. Not limited to female characters, but those are the ones people tend to have more trouble with.

There's also this trope to pay attention to and avoid.

Edited by roymbrog
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Also, people, remember the DBaD rule. VERY simple to follow, but a surprising amount of people don't. Doing so makes life a LOT easier for everyone regardless of the situation though.

[spoiler=DBaD] Don't be a dick. Treat others with respect and be nice to them and things get a LOT easier and freer for everyone. Also allows for a lot more flexibility in writing since you can trust the other person much more.

Edit: General question to all. Are there any RP's that people would like to see on the board? I, personally, would like to see a non-statted one set in a non-FEbased world.

Edited by Snowy_One
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ohwow useful notes submits

added that basic guide and the Mary Sue test to the index, might also add that Strong Female Characters article. (And while we're on the subject...)

I'm not too sure about upping the number of TVTropes links in Useful Notes, though, anyone else have any thoughts on that...? Though ofc discussion of tropes especially as a "what not to do" is usually legit in an actual discussion thread (i.e. this.)

also dangit roy you might actually drive me to blogging again (it'd be great)

Edited by kdanger
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

A few interesting links on characters and flaws that I'm salvaging from deep in the ROTE Chat topic, so I can know where to find them and reread them at leisure later. May be good adding for Useful Notes.

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  • 2 months later...

So, I've been having this urge again to post an old idea I had for an RP. Looking through some files I scrounged up the basic stuff I had for it and after dealing with my crippling paranoia of being on the receiving end of a Snowy-esque bombardment decided to go through with an Interest Check.

This takes place during a war greatly resembling World War 2, might even be WW2. Alternate rules apply as to where females were allowed on the frontlines and all that standard RP mumbo jumbo.

Anyways, the basic plot is actually quite simple, or is it . War were declared and the main group, a squad of normal soldiers, are out on the front fighting for their country. Morale is high for the squad and it's by no small part due to their Sergeant, a real "Father to his men" kinda guy. One day during a rather grueling battle Sarge actually ends up taking a round that was meant for one of his soldiers, and is killed. With their leader dead and his rather inexperienced second in command being promoted to fill his place can they really make it through the rest of the war? How many more of the team may have to die to end the fighting?

Find out all this and more in "Hopes End"

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Seems like a decent start, I think people might be more likely to reply with more information given. Here's a couple of ideas:

--Stats or no stats? You don't necessarily need to have a system yet for just an interest gauge, just know whether or not you want them.

--Scope: Obviously you're focusing on this squad, but how much are we going to see of the rest of the war? (Good to know because it tells people more specifically what the story will be like, and how manageable it will be.)

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(Un)fortunately for you I don't think I'd have much of an interest in this RP as it seems like the kind where characters can die quite easily. I've come to realize that is not a type of RP I do well in. As for the RP itself...

1) Go onto Cracked and take a look at some of the war stories posted there. A lot of interesting stuff happened during WWII and WWI that would fit right in and be right at home with the setting, such as the battle of Staligrad basically coming down to a battle for one key building or the attempt to build a gun so huge it was basically a weaponized suspension bridge.

2) Look up some of the root causes of the war and some alternate histories. You're already in one, so it might be worth it ask questions like 'What if Hitler had gotten into that art school? How would the American factories have run if women had been on the front lines instead of at home working in them? If the South had won it's independence in the American Civil War, would America still have joined in? If so, on what side? What if Japan had attacked Russia instead of America? What if the A-bomb had gotten delayed a few months?'. Things like that would serve to enhance your world greatly.

3) If you try for stats, try for a maximum amount of depth with a minimal amount of complexity. Especially if you plan on having characters die a lot. Having a way to quickly create a new and interesting character as well as provide ideas for characters on the fly would help (I suggest looking up the MAID RPG on this one as it allows for the player to create characters with interesting facets in only a few moments).

Your choice if you want to listen or not. I just hope you at least examine those options though.

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Cracked? Okay, so it's got some decent stories, as does Damn Interesting, but both generally center on crazy shit that went down, not the grim everyday realities. If you're going to go for those, don't make them your only sources.

For that matter...

--Technology level: Knowing what's already been invented/what's in progress for your setting will save you a headache, even if you don't spell it out in the RP. Which is again a research topic, some things came earlier/later than you might think, and perhaps more importantly you can find out the reasons for why things were invented when they were, rather than earlier or later.

--Conscription: Probably want to let the players know about this one. Who gets drafted? Who gets exempted? Who gets plain disqualified even if they volunteer?

If this is the first war in which $country has allowed women into the army, I'd imagine that they probably wouldn't be drafted, and that the volunteer count wouldn't necessarily be all that high since people are still getting used to the idea. (Of course, within the player party it'll be as high as the playerbase makes it.) If it's not a new thing, there are probably more of them, and they've probably worked out an alternate arrangement back home in terms of who staffs the factories, etc.

I don't really think that it ought to be necessary to have some sort of pull-traits-out-of-a-bag method for rolling new characters, if people lose characters and want to restart then they probably have an idea of what they want to make.

I dunno if I'll have the time/energy to join depending on when this pops up, but if for some reason you want a fountain of useless information about the Manhattan Project I can probably be that.

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Not sure if this is my style to be honest, realistic isn't really my thing.

Stats system would be somewhat difficult here, since in reality people with guns usually kill each other in 1-2 hits with very slow healing and no one coming back from the dead. I'm not sure if that'd make for very interesting combats though.

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Well, if you look through a couple of D&D books, they realistically claim HP is more an abstract of luck and stamina. The first good hit on you might get deflected, but later on as you begin to tire it might get you right through the guts.

Alternatively, use Morale as HP.

Edited by Furetchen
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Actually, Cynthia, a stat system would be pretty easy to implement. Especially when you remember that stats and 'fluff' aren't joined of necessity and a LOT of ammo gets wasted for every kill made. It could just be that most 'hits' are really just near-misses that force the character into cover or something similar with only blows that reduce the characters health to 0 being actual RPed hits. My bigger concern is that a stat system might simply be too bogged down for this. Maybe it would be fine for snipers/sharp-shooters, but can you imagine having to roll for every bullet in an assault rifle or machine gun? Not to mention the potential shift of combat if the people actually get close enough for hand to hand fighting. And what about mines? Tanks? Airplanes? At the least a bunch of stuff would need to be accounted for.

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This has got to be an acronym.

Anyway, I might join.

No it's not.

I think I got a pdf of it laying around somewhere. One time in /jp/ there was a thread about it, and a bunch of us were throwing around meido characters, but it never actually got off the ground and went anywhere. Maybe in /tg/ it would have.

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All right, I've got more stuff to share for plans regarding how this might work. It's not done by a long shot but the thing is coming along. Seriously though if someone might be interested in being my CO-GM type thing please speak up, I need a partner in crime for some ideas I've got.

4. At character creation, each character gets a certain amount of 'luck' points. These points can't be refreshed, but can be rewarded by me the GM for successful missions and the like. You can use a luck point to negate a roll, or automatically succeed at one. Since the supply is limited you can't just go rushing through things but they can also keep a character from dying to an unlucky roll and the like.

5. Grit, Luck, Skill, Comraderey, and Mechanical. Grit is basically physical strength, Luck deals with things that happen by pure chance and is separate from 'luck points' but can increase your starting amount. Comradeship helps out allies, skill deals with general rifle skill, and mechanical deals with mechanical

Weapons and vehicles, stuff in general would be based off their real life counterparts with possibly different names. Country of origin for the Squad will either be an Alternate Named United States, or a Commonwealth of some type.

IDEAS/REACTIONS. KEEP THEM COMING

Edited by Eail
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One more thing to add to the top. Should I just make this a slightly different rules World War 2 straight up? Or keep it in a vaguely similar type of alternate universe ALA Full Metal Alchemist, minus the alchemy of course.

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Straight up World War II, unless the differences really are that significant. I shouldn't have to come from New Persistanceland, from the southern Expanded Monarchy of Great Brittany.

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