A Guide to Roleplaying

[Moirear Sian]

• Chapters:

• Beginning in Illarion

• How to get started and play with a new character in Illarion.

• Character History

• Contemplations on designing a character's history and their impact on the game.

• Character Conception

• Thoughts that go into creating a character and its background.

• Character Speech & Typing

• Thoughts concerning a character's manners of speech.

• Collective Storytelling

• How to avoid egotistical role-playing, and create interesting stories.

• Character Development

• How to let your character "naturally" evolve in the game's environment.

• The Thin Red Line

• Thoughts about the seperation between In-Character and Out-of-Character.

• Mutual Respect

• An ode to fairplay and some thoughts against cheating.

• Danger: Game Functions

• How to properly use things like the #me-command, or the F12-button.

---

More coming soon.

Everybody is warmly welcomed to contribute.

[Dónal Mason]

Also, add something about proper speech. No slang, but no "Thou", and other such things that Brendan once called "Flowery English".

So...

Typing in Illarion.

I wouldn't mind helping out a little with some of this, even though I don't play much any more.

[Moirear Sian]

Good idea. I added it in, thanks.
Could you write a first draft of that chapter?

[Sam]

Sounds like a good idea. Just wish I knew enough to help.
It seems like you have most things covered with the chapter names. Perhaps a few ideas of what to do other than work might be nice.
I look foward to reading it.

[Dónal Mason]

Sure. How long do you want it?

[Moirear Sian]

@Sam: Thanks.
But I think you -could- help out, I believe you're a great role-player.
Do you think you could tackle a first draft of the "Mutual Respect"-chapter?

@Donal: Anything from a few paragraphs to a full, printed DinA4-sized piece of paper. I'd like to keep it as compact and comprehensive as possible, but if you're feeling particularly elaborate, that'll never hurt.

[martin]

How about the following procedure: Whoever thinks that she or he is able to write one chapter does that as soon as possible (and stating that here). Then s/he posts it here and others can discuss it.

Martin

[Lysu Davanum]

That is already happening Martin . I will be writing Thin Red Line.

[Moirear Sian]

Yes, I hope people start on it already in self-initiative.

[Sam]

I'm not great at writing but I'll have a go. Please anyone else, don't let this put you off writing as well. I might get a bit of mine cut and pasted into yours then #me basks in shared glory.

This guide could be "OUR" main chance to put right what a lot of people have complained about. Part of Illarions problems can be fixed by the programmers, part by the GMs and a large part by ourselves. I need as much help as I can get so get writing. I know it's hard, frightening even, but Give it a go.

[Caranthir the great]

Just as a small thought/reminder; The Guide should be rather "suggestive", if possible.

[Korwin]

As I recall it, Brendan wasn't opposed to flowery English, but it's improper use. Assuming you know what you're doing, and your typed lines are still intelligible, I think it's a fine way to add personality to your character.

[Aristeaus]

Belannaer grabs a papyrus and a feather pen to write. He starts to write:

To skilled mages only.
Greetings my friend(s) mages! I am in need of thy help,
to teach me in magic. I await thy reply.

Thanks,

Lord Belannaer.


Belannaer finishes his letter, grabs a hammer and a nail. Then he hammers the letter on the wall in the main path of Troll's Bane.[/i]

If players insist on using the archaic tongue, then I must impeach them to use correct grammar when doing so. The above post is just an example of one such posters inability to do so.

*The word thy, was used instead of thine
He used very little archaic and mixed it in not-too-seamlessly with modern language..this is an eyesore

*If you insist on using archaic then at least do some research before going about speaking like a complete and utter twit.

*If you cant be bothered...then dont use it.

*Use this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ar ... quivalents


Brendan

Though art moaning biach

it's thou loser, thou hehe

hehe damn, see that why i dont bother with it

thou..
thou..

yeah that sounds better

I use it a bit since we are reading BORING puritan books in my Honors English class.

Thank you Aristeaus, Athian and Deies for that Spamalisious tidbit. Now back to the topic.

Although Mishrack has stated this before I dont think it is plagiarism although i think it was meant as a joke hence the smiley.

Brendan is right you shouldnt use that if you dont know how, I have seen plenty of examples with several players. Please from now on use Brendans link if you even chose to speak like this.

Good days,, hehehe

[Brendan Mason]

I have something to add, as another name for a chapter, or perhaps to be included in character development.

Character History

That which has happened to the character in the past, before they came to Troll's Bane. How this past has shaped the way they behave presently. How this past will shape their future, and how they should react to various races and situations.

[Sam]

OK Time to put my money where my mouth is. I have no idea if this is what you wanted. Please feel free to rip it apart, I'm tough, I can take it.
Too long? Too short? Completely missed the point? Help me out here


• Mutual Respect
An ode to fairplay and some thoughts against cheating.

Hmm..A long poem about fair play and not cheating. OK but it won't rhyme.

It's a bit difficult this one as most of what you need to know about this subject probably has been supplied by the previous chapters.

Part of the problem is that Illarion is a game without end (Hopefully). With a normal game you "Win" when you have achieved what you were supposed to and got your reward. There is no winning in Illarion, there is no goal, no final reward, so people often substitute this end goal with trying to be the best at everything. This is the wrong way to look at it. You should think of Illarion as almost being like the Sims (no, come back and sit down again, it's not that bad). Your object in Illarion is to have your character live a life. The good thing is it can be any life, and you're not ruled by a clock. For once you don't have to be a warrior or a powerful mage, though you can be if you want to. You can be almost anything your imagination can create.

Mutual Respect.

This does not mean everyone being nice to everyone else.

On the boards it means realising that we are all different people, of different ages, from different parts of the world and with different beliefs. The other person thinks they are as right as you do. You might, through reasoned argument, persuade them to change their minds, or you might not. Getting personal will not make things better. Consider the other persons point and accept or reject it. Sometimes you will have to agree to disagree it doesn't mean you've lost. The boards are not a competition. Read what you write in a posting and think about if it adds anything to the discussion. If it doesn't then don't post it. Many's the time I've written a post only to Back page out of it.

In the game it means giving other people a chance to shine. Not taking centre stage away from someone just because you can. Understanding that someone's idea of Roleplay might differ from yours. By all means discuss the differences but be prepared to learn as well as teach.

How do you play fair? I'm trying hard not to write a list of DON'TS.

Firstly you need to understand your character and be true to it. It's natural to want to push your character and see what can be done. It's human nature to explore and try new things. This is not a bad thing, but always remember "who" your character is and play that life. Even if your character has the ability to do something for someone, don't do it unless it fits in with your character's story, no matter how much gold or glory is involved.

Your character interacts with other characters in the game. It is unaware of the player behind the character. This means your character would never bury an axe in another characters head because of what the player said on one of the boards.


Misuse of in game items is to be avoided. This is not playing fair and is bordering on cheating.

Examples of misusing things :
Drinking potions while fighting or performing an action that would make it difficult or unwise to do so.
Using the cross to make you fit and ready for action again. The Gods grant you the spark of life but your body is still injured.
Using objects for a use it could not be used for. Such as trapping creatures with breakable objects. Or using unsuitable objects for weapons.


Why not cheat?
We've all got games and I'm sure at some time we've had "help" to get past a certain level, boss or whatever. This is to get to the end and finally claim your prize. As mentioned before there are no prizes in Illarion. If you cheat you may well get to be a grandmaster in all things quickly, or own all the rare items but why bother. The game of Illation is to grow a character and interact with others. There is no cheat that will help you do this. Cheating in Illarion is like getting a new game, putting in a cheat code at the start which takes you straight to the end and gives you all the rewards. Yes you got to the end but you missed the game.
One of the things I like about Illarion is you don't have to be a great and powerful anything. You can be a normal run of the mill person and still have plenty of fun and adventures.
I don't consider working hard at your chosen profession to be cheating, boring perhaps but not cheating. Taking advantage of bugs or technical hiccoughs is cheating.

[Fooser]

I suggest a new category:

The most important thing of all
Visit the greatest fansite in history, Ultimate Illarion.

[Moirear Sian]

@Sam: Looks good to me. Thanks.


---

• Beginning in Illarion

• How to get started and play with a new character in Illarion.
  
  Alright, so you're creating a character.
  
  You have the character creation screen in front of you. Popping those points into those abilities; Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, and Essence, to name them all. Pushing them up and down. I know it. You may be tempted to pump those points into certain stats you deem useful. Besides—once you've set them—they are fixed and do not change within the game. But think about what those numbers imply to your roleplay.
  
  Someone who has excessively high Strength and Constitution, and low Intelligence and Perception, is a massive, short-sighted, dim-witted hulk. A character with next to no Agility whatsoever, and extremely high Essence, trips over his own feet every two steps and is as slow as a snail, but at the same time, makes for an excellent leader personality and literally fills a room with his presence.
  
  So, even if you think it's best for you to have maximum scores, at the sacrifice of other, extremely low scores, you should know that it's considered weak roleplay if you neglect to play weaknesses as well as strengths. Thus, you may rather want to aim for balanced ability ratings. An average rating in an ability means the character is "normal", and it's not hard to know what normal is, if you try to picture the abilities in real life.
  
  A high rating in strength would mean your character is very strong, but it could also come with the drawback that of your character's intelligence rating being very low, and your character very dumb, and with low essence, also rather dull—assuming that possibility, it's definitely weak roleplay if your dull and dumb character is advising strategic plans to a party of player characters. A character without weaknesses is simply not interesting, even downright boring to some.
  
  We all admit that drama draws our attention, but you can take it too far as well. If you create and cause unnecessary drama with your character in the game, it might seem artificial to others. Playing out weaknesses of a character, however, can be source of natural-seeming conflict, and therefore lead to believable actions or interactions.
  
  You get the picture. If it's still unclear to you, you may find this link useful.
  
  The possibility of other weaknesses than just what's implied by the ability ratings is also worth considering. Try to come up with additional original weaknesses and quirks of your character. Does your character gesture alot when he's speaking, or does he always fiddle with a coin? Does the character have trouble understanding a certain language, or is he just extremely disgusting and repelling? You can let such things develop later on in the game, as well, but the earlier they are there, the better.
  
  You might find it useful if you write down things you've entered for the character like height, weight, age, and such, as if you for example are not playing for a month, you might simply forget these things! It happens to many players, and we're all just humans. Within the game, there is no possibility to check these statistics ever again.
  
  Now, to follow those thoughts, you should consider some other things. Try imagining the character's background, and what goals the character has—what things could drive your character to what he or she does? Go to Moonsilver if you haven't yet before and read up on things, like the Gods, History, and details about the races.
  
  Consider writing down some history behind your character for yourself. Where did he or she come from? What are the family relations of the character? How did they get to the island where this game takes place? What will your character be doing? Will your character even have an actual profession, or will it be a beggar?
  
  It's all up to your imagination. But consider some limitations. The race as well as gender have great influence on your character's role in the game. Not everybody is treated equally, and not every character is nice. There are some even downright evil characters. How will your character react and think, in respect to somebody's gender or race? Also, keep in mind that people will react differently, according to your own roleplay. If your character is a manically laughing lunatic who's randomly swinging big axes, he's less likely to find friends in a town like Troll's Bane than an unarmed and soft-spoken wandering healer.
  
  Not only will the roleplay of other player characters in the game limit the possibilities of things your character can do, but so will technical aspects of the game's client. A new character may be, for example, extraordinarily strong, but he has no fighting skill whatsoever when he's starting out new in the game. In other words: he won't necessarily be respected as a an old weapons master right off the beginning, if an actual skill related is tested in the game. You have to consider this aspect with every new character, and how you will form your roleplay around it: you start with no skill and no items whatsoever, except for a hammer, and a shovel.
  
  Does this mean you have to go mining to get resources and money right off the beginning, and stretch the concept of your character if he or she would never go mining? No it doesn't. First and foremost, roleplay your character appropriately to whatever you thought up about how your character reached the location and state in gameplay. There are many ways to let your character gain resources in the game, however you can roleplay to figure out how. You can use this as an oppurtunity for character interaction: a character could learn the trade from an older, and more experienced character by assuming the role of an apprentice, or let the character exercise with others.
  
  Mind you, if you forget your character begins play with as good as nothing, your roleplaying might lead you to strange situations and awkward roleplaying ("I was an architect and carpenter where I came from, I built half of Treubanthas!" - "Then why can't you carve a walking stick for me?"). Of course, you can argue with typical excuses like amnesia, temporary weakness, or illness; but something else always enrichens the game's atmosphere and makes your character much more credible and memorable.
  
  A good background will do the same. But don't let the background interfere with what goes on in the game. In the game, you see yourself how good your character is doing at something. Being unrealistic about things can lead to irritating some role-players who prefer a more serious or realistic environment.

[Moskher Heszche]

I'll be writing on "Character Development" thanks to a suggestion by PO Lysu and the comment by Brendan Mason earlier.

[Moskher Heszche]

Character Development by Mitch Hall

If you're reading this in order, you've already gotten through a section on Character Conception a few chapters back, and you may have even played the game for a bit; however, your character isn't finished being made yet. His story, like a real life, will develop more over time. Characters changing over time is called character development.

First, character development should be related to the environment the character is in. Pay close attention to the environment in the game. In real life, when a crooked accountant, for example, is caught and put in prison, it is likely that he will change more due to the environment than someone who had a much harder life. Keep watch for times where the environment changes radically and think about how that might change your character. If the peaceful city of Trollsbane becomes wartorn as orcs invade and lay waste to the city, it is likely that all the characters involved should have changed as a result of that experience. Perhaps now they are predjudiced towards orcs. Perhaps they become survivalists and start to store away goods in case another such attack comes along. Perhaps they become more like the enemy so as to be ready if it happens again, wearing metal armors and always carrying a blade, just in case. Here's an example of bad use and good use of the environment:

Bad Use of Environment:

The Halflings of Greenbriar have been suffering from a curse that has laid waste to their farmlands and are literally starving. Bolstock the Halfling has perfected his ability to skip stones and announces a celebration in his very own honor, complete with an eating contest!

Good Use of Environment:

The Halflings of Greenbriar have been suffering from the aforementioned curse and are starving. Bolstock the Halfling has a chest full of bread and cakes that he had stored away. Knowing that if he gives bread to his friends, he will soon starve as well, he becomes distrusting and paranoid, perhaps even trying to escape Greenbriar in the night, leaving his friends behind.

Another thing that is important to character development is interaction. Have you ever been in a long-lasting relationship only to see it end with one conversation? That's a big change that happens only with a small amount of interaction. When you're interacting with someone in the game, think about how that interaction is making your character feel. Are the feelings so minor that they only change your characters point of view on a limited subject or are they so immense that they threaten to cancel out the person your character once was? This is how a character can develop through interaction. Here are some examples:

Bad Use of Interaction:

Jeneya, Lady of the Court, is speaking with her advisor, Halimshal the Wise. Halimshal is usually trustworthy, but lately his information has been blatantly false and has even gotten Lady Jeneya in trouble with the King. Lady Jeneya continues to take his advice, even as it's not getting any better.

Good Use of Interaction:

Jeneya, Lady of the Court, is having the same troubles with Halmishal the Wise as talked about above. She starts to get suspicous of his actions and dispatches spies to see if he's meeting with cohorts of her enemy, Baron Grandal.

The most important thing about character development is that a character develops logically. It is nice to see a hero fall or to see a villain become an anti-hero, but it is no fun at all when it makes no sense. It should be apparent to all that it was a series of logical events that lead to a change in one's character. For example:

Bad Logic:

Markos plays a holy crusader named Phred. One day, he decides that Phred is too much of a goody-two-shoes and decides that he will play him as a typical anti-hero filled with angst who fights evil only out of anger and frustration.

Good Logic:

Markos plays the aforementioned holy crusader Phred. For a long while, Phred has been a Paladin within the Holy Order of the Red Hand which fights for the honor of the God Malachin. There is a beautiful maiden named Alexis who serves the Paladins their pies and mead, and Phred has fallen madly in love; however, Paladins of the Red Hand have taken a vow of chastity and he is not allowed to congregate with women. Phred is so enthralled by the beautiful Alexis that he goes to the High Templar and denounces his vows. Malachin, the God of Hunters, is displeased with his actions and afflicts the lovely Alexis with a horrible desease. Losing love and honor, Phred is now a lonely man who is no longer roused to battle for the sake of honor, only anger.

Environment and interaction are not the only means to character development, but as long as they follow the third part, logic, it's undoubtly a good example of character development. Other examples of things that might change a character include, but are not limited to holy and unholy rituals, quests, intervention by the gods, demonic possession, or any number of other strange things that you can think of. All you have to remember is logic. If you can answer the question, "Why has your character changed?" without relying on faulty logic, you're on the right path. Just remember to take it slow and easy, and enjoy your character's changes.

[Lysu Davanum]

I'm sorry, but I really think I am rather.."unfit" to write the Thin red line part. If anyone else thinks he is capable, please do so.

[ezo]

Danger! In-game functions

At first glance the in-game functions such as the F12 key and #me-commands might seem simple but it is imperative that they are only used in the correct circumstances. Here are some examples:

#me-commands

1. Your character is hungry

Do not: Simply type “#me is hungry” (This will not help to create a roleplay environment that others can work with)

Do:

A) Use your character’s expressions to convey the point

B) Use your character’s actions to convey the point (e.g. licking of the lips)

C) Let others around you have time to reply to your roleplay (instead of grabbing an apple of the nearest tree straight away)



2. Your character dislikes another

Do not:

A) Again do not simply type “#me doesn’t like character X” (Remember other characters can not read your players mind just because the text appears on the screen)

Do:

A) Use your character expressions to convey the point (e.g. giving the other character a look of distaste)

B) Use your character action to convey the point (e.g. do not act nicely towards them yet do not go over the top unless you have proper justification for doing so)


The F-12 key


So you have this handy little tool that means you can see people’s names and/or numbers? Contrary to what some people might think you cannot use this whenever you wish to do so.

Poor uses of F-12

A) Someone is hiding from you and you don’t know where he or she is? Do not use the F-12 key to reveal the location of all characters on your screen the basic rule of thumb is “if you can’t see them your character can’t”.

B) Do not relay the whole of a players ID to another character if you are describing them IG. Nobody has perfect eyesight after all. (for example if a characters ID was (25548) either (255**) or (25***) should be used.


Good uses of F-12

A) Another player is abusing in-game technicalities or you suspect them of powergaming yet don’t know their chars name? Using F-12 means that you can relay their player ID to the GM’s

B) You have lost track of who the players around you are or can’t remember the name of your friend chatting to you over the campfire? Pressing F-12 means you can.

C) Bandits have just attacked you and you are asked for a description? If you used the F-12 key when you were attacked you can then relay up to three digits of the players ID to the band of vigilantes.

[Lysu Davanum]

Maybe you could give an example with this Ezo:

B) Do not relay the whole of a players ID to another character if you are describing them IG. Nobody has perfect eyesight after all.

Like, only give an inscription with (54***)

[ezo]

Ok, thats sorted

[Moirear Sian]

Nice work, everybody.

[martin]

Just a remark from some lazy guy:
Try to keep it short.
People will not read 20 pages just to get a rough idea of something.

Martin

[Christiana]

perhaps you can edit the finished parts in the first post.

good work!

[Lysu Davanum]

It has already been done Christiana They are links now, go check.
And yes, nice work ^^

Lysu

[Estralis Seborian]

I want to encourage all of you in this project. Good work!

[Christiana]

oh, nice!

[Sam]

Thanks for the positive remarks but don't be afraid to do a bit of constructive criticism.

I was worried about the length of the chapters but it's hard to get the information across in a shorter length. I could take some of the humour out but I didn't want it to be too serious.

If you think I've missed something tell me, or even better write a paragraph or two, and I'll put it in. Or if you've written something that makes mine look like it's written in crayons then post it. I don't mind scrapping mine if someones got something better. This is not about me it's about getting this right