Chat RPG Edict for the New Chat Player

[Dracos]

Well, recent events have convinced me that perhaps a dissertation upon this subject  may well benefit some members of the board.   I'm going to go over in my own blathering fashion some of the various "Do's" and "Do Not's" of good chat rpg'ing.  I apologize ahead of time for the usage of other rp'ers in the examples.

First off how do you join one.  Nominally they usually are spontanous events which anyone who is in the room at the time can join in.  Though the wise player takes note of the appearent power levels of most players and tries to play a player that is within that range.

Example:
Player one: Olguin the wandering martial artist
Player two: Sally the wandering assassin
Player three: Kevin the drunken thief

Inappropriate Addition: Shair the nigh unstoppable weaponsmaster.
 Reason: Simply way too powerful in comparison to the other players.  Rob them of their ability to do anything.

Appropriate addition: Kaine the eccentric sixty so archeologist.
  Reason: Fills a niche clearly outside the other three and provides a strong roleplaying facet when mixed with the others.

When in doubt, go weak.  You can always play a new character if you die, but you ruin the game if you play a guy who makes the other players pointless in comparison.

What if you aren't there when it starts?   Well the polite thing to do is to ask either the most active participant privately or the room in general whether you can join in.  Show courtesy, some games quickly get arranged around who is playing.  Some can handle new additions easily.

Next, Combat.  Here is where courtesy and understanding is most important.

Do: ask for clarification ooc if you are unsure of what is going on.
Do: Be polite and ready to presume your opponents aren't level -2 pussy cats.
Do Not: Instant kill.
Do Not: Be completely invulnerable to everything.

Examples:
Do:
"Shair Leaps to the attack, his blade blurring in his hand in a dazzling series of feints before swiping at Bob's head."

The above scene allows the other player to decide what happens, to question how skilled shair is and decide fairly for themselves if the attack would harm their character.

Don't:
"Shair stabs Bob in the head and kills him instantly.   Then decapitates all of his friends with ease."

This results in angry players.  If your character is capable of doing this, it's probably inappropriate to play, but anyhow you still shouldn't decide for others how the attack affects them.  A rare type of exception is shown below:

Do Example:
"Shair stabs at Bob with the sword."
"Bob attempts to dodge back but is cut by the sword."
OOC: Bob, that sword is poisoned just so you know.
OOC: Gotcha, Shair.

The other face of battle is the opponent's side.  When you are attacked you have to figure out how it affects you and do it fairly.

Do:
OOC: Okay, hey Shair, about how skilled is your player with a sword?  And how fast is he anyhow?
OOC: Well, he's a weaponsmaster Bob.  Killing things with sword is his speciality.
OOC: Gotcha, Shair.
"Bob dodges back but fails taking the sword in the gut.  Blood spills forth from the wound as his eyes widen in fear."

Don't:
"Bob exudes a person forcefield of perfect invulnerability and pulls down Shair's shorts, then kicks him in the balls."

Stuff like this tends to drive any serious  gamer away, as well as sicken them terribly.

Realism, or better stated as plausibility.  Whatever you define for your character, stick to it in your mind.  Keep it internally consistant.  Just because another player's being an ass, don't lose your cool and engage in a pissing contest.

Do's:
John: "Bwahahaha... I'm god and  I'll smite you all."
Fred: OOC: John, Frankly i don't care.  And this has lost it's fun value.  See you guys, I'm going to go game elsewhere.

Don'ts:
John: "Bwahahaha...I'm god and I'll smite you all."
Fred: "Well Well... um... i got a plus seven knife of god slaying!"

Pissing contest started.  When you start one everybody loses.  You ruin the fun not only for yourself but for every other gamer in the room.  If you don't have the ability to match what you encouter, so what?  Then die.  It's not like it's ignoble.  Far from it, it's part of the game.

The importance of maintaining plausibility is especially important when you are playing well known characters.
Take Shampoo for instance:

DO:
Shampoo: *Glomp Airen-Ranma* "Take Shampoo on Date, Yes?"
Don't:
Shampoo: "Shampoo Stupid Violent Bimbo!  GRAAAAAAH!"
Don't:
Shampoo: "Shampoo knows everything in the world!"
Do:
Shampoo: *Draws bonbori* "You hurt Airen!"
Don't:
Shampoo: *Draws nuclear powered missle launcher* "You hurt Airen!"

Certainly some of the above instances of don't COULD potentially be legit in the right setting, but a gamer should try to stay in character to the best of their ability.

Above all, show courtesy to your fellow players.

Fearless Leader