GENERAL GAME PLAY RULES (Posted July 6, 2009;
Revised February 17, 2010)
“The Sun Sets” is a play-by-post game set in central Magnamund during Darklord Gnaag’s invasions of the Freelands. The current year of the game is MS5062.
Play-by-post games share a lot of the typical characteristics of tabletop roleplaying games. However, there are certain specific conditions that exist in this type of game that require some additional rules for the players and GM. What follows are a listing of general, game-play rules that are applicable to “The Sun Sets”.
Specific exceptions to these rules will be considered by the GM on a case-by-case (and usually very limited) basis. However, players should expect that these rules will be universally enforced. Please understand that these rules exist so that everyone (including the GM) can enjoy this game. If you feel that you cannot adhere to these rules for whatever reason
1. Players are required to post once a day, Monday through Friday, for a total of five posts per week. This is a firm commitment, as it is required to sustain the continuity of the game.
A day is measured as the approximate 24 hours from one GM post to the next. Since we have a multi-national group of player characters, some players may find that they end up posting Tuesday through Saturday. However, typically the intent is that the weekends be an “off-time” for both players and the GM.
Exceptions to this commitment will be made for real-life considerations, so long as they are discussed with the GM
in advance. The GM will also announce breaks and game vacations for holidays or if it seems that around half of the players cannot participate in the game during a certain period of time. Overuse of exceptions to the posting commitment will not be permitted, unless the situation is particularly unique and the GM concurs to allow the sustained exception.
What happens if I miss a day’s post?
In order to keep the game flowing, the GM has to assume that your character does absolutely nothing during the time frame between GM updates. That can mean that nothing happens, that can mean that something bad happens to your “helpless” character as a result, and yes, that can mean that your character arbitrarily dies. I understand that is pretty harsh, but I am very up-front with the commitment I expect from the players in this game.
All that said, I am willing to work with players who are willing to take responsibility for their game play. Let me know a day or two in advance when you know you will be gone and give me a reasonable estimate of how long. Doing that will permit me to "auto-pilot" your character along with the story during that timeframe.
If you do not end up returning when anticipated, and I do not hear from you, I may need to suspend your character from the game. That will mean a delay on you rejoining the game until I can rework the character back into the story without disruption.
If, at
any point in time, you find yourself unable to keep up the one-post-a-day pace of “The Sun Sets”, the GM expects you to be honest about that. It is not something to feel bad or guilty about. We all have lives and those lives throw complications at us all the time. Life changes too, and just because you could commit to the game in 2008 does not automatically mean you will be able to commit to the game in 2009. The GM just asks that each player take responsibility for those situations and let him know what is up so a decision can be reached.
2. The game system for A Sun Sets is True20 Revised, with some modifications to make the game more “Lone Wolf” specific. Because it is very difficult to teach a game system in a play-by-post format, all players in the game are required to have a copy of the True20 Revised rules and be familiar with them. You do not have to be an expert, but need to know the basics of the system. For instance, how to make skill checks and challenges, the mechanics of your character’s feats, when and how Conviction can be spent, how combat works, how damage and recovery work (which is VERY different from any d20 game system), how your character’s magic works (if any), and so forth.3. In-Character (IC) posts should be made in the “Story Thread” thread. Out-Of-Character (OOC) conversation should be posted in the “OOC Discussion” or “Dice Rolling” threads, and should be kept out of the “Story Thread” as much as possible. The GM will post OOC material in his updates, but players should avoid it.
If, however, some OOC text is needed in an otherwise IC post, please color the OOC text
blue for this purpose.
4. IC posts made each day take place at approximately the same time, unless the GM’s post indicates that a split party might result in a separation of elapsed time as well as space (in general, the GM likes his sanity and will try to avoid such situations developing).
This means that all posts made by all players within a single day take place at the same time and no player’s post “pre-empts” another just because that player posted earlier in the day. This also means that the GM will permit all players to react to a given player’s post before actions in that post completely resolve. For example, if a player posts early and has a set of actions for his/her player character that end with the character dying, every player that day will have an opportunity to react to all those actions that their characters realistically can (including trying to stop the character dying, if possible).
If players wish to react to each other, players can edit their existing posts for the day. Please do not make multiple posts within a single day. Such editing can be done up until the GM posts his next update, but no later. If an edited post ends up contradicting another player’s posts (such a character saying something, and then the player changing his or her mind about what was said and editing it), the GM’s update will resolve those contradictions.
5. Generally speaking, avoid one-line, short posts. The pacing of a play-by-post game is typically slow anyway. However, if very short posts are made on a given day, that can quickly bog the game down into inaction by everyone. Paragraphs, particularly those containing actions as well as speech, are best.
Conversations in play-by-post games are difficult, but not impossible. If, between GM posts, two or more of you start a conversation, include that conversation into your one post for the day (either player; but make certain that all players involved DO post that day).
6. Avoid the temptation to post too much of character thoughts in an IC post, unless there is a particular reason other characters can or will know expressly what those thoughts are (like someone else using telepathy or the Sense Motive skill). You are making an IC post for your character. Generally speaking, no player characters are going to be mind readers and there are no cartoon “thought bubbles”.
I have no problems with someone
supplementing their IC post with a character’s thoughts in order to tell a better story. All too often, however, I see it being done by players for other reasons. The three most common reasons I have seen that are not particularly acceptable to me are avoiding direct roleplay with one’s fellow players, overplaying a “loner type” character into an outright exclusionary character, and attempting to justify/explain a character’s actions without that character actually answering to (and being answerable to) the other characters (if there is “roleplaying cheating”, this latter example is probably the closest thing to it).
If you, as a player, wish to share and convey your character’s intents or motives to your fellow players, do so in the OOC Discussion thread. Remember, you are one player in a group of players, not a bunch of individual players interacting individually with the game being run by the GM. If, for instance, it seems like your character gets roleplaying as too much of a “lone wolf” (pardon the expression
), than you may find yourself having to make a new character sooner than you probably wanted.
7. If you have any questions for the GM or one of the other players regarding a given day's posts, put those in the “OOC Discussion” thread. Just remember that there are significant time zone differences between players (and the GM), and it may be quite late in your time zone by the time another player can respond. In many cases, they may not be able to respond at all in a timely fashion.
8. Dice rolls should be placed in the “Dice Rolling” thread. Feel free to use your own dice or online dice rollers, as you prefer. I personally find online dice rollers to be inconvenient and do not think they really add any “honesty” to the game anyway. I will also occasionally post GM rolls in that thread, though I will generally only do so in cases where I need to make a roll “for” one of the players.
9. Always try to roleplay your character in the given situation that character is in every day. Some days, that is going to be difficult (for instance, your character is “trapped” by events outside of their control which prevent them doing a lot). Remember that, even when a person cannot do something productive or constructive in a given period of time, no human being is a statue. You can still describe a character doing nothing. Consider that an opportunity to expand on the appearance or description of your character. Or describe facial expressions or the like to what might be happening around them.
Past that, it is possible that one or two days in a row will result in you making very short posts that do not really do anything. However, if the span of posts stretches past two days in a row, than consider that your character might be just standing by when her or she can (and should) be doing something. Stretch your imagination. You may learn as much about your own character as anyone else ever does.
10. All players need to maintain a .SIG file in their Profiles, kept up to date on a daily basis. Though an individual player can include more, if appropriate, the following minimum game information should be included:
Conviction: # (Virtue/Vice)
Defense: # dodge/# parry
Toughness Save: +#
Lethal Damage Conditions:
Non-Lethal Damage Conditions:
Fatigue Conditions:
Fortitude Save: +#
Reflex Save: +#
Will Save: +#