Roleplaying Etiquette

This guide is here to serve you in your roleplaying endeavours here within the Hands of Darkness. It is important to have respect with the community in which you roleplay, as well as showing manners of common courtesy. With that, we’ll be covering some important factors for you to consider while roleplaying with your friends and guild mates. Roleplaying is a fun activity and requires all the participants to work with each other in a common purpose, but first let’s ask ourselves what is roleplaying?


Roleplaying

Roleplaying is taking up and playing the role of a fictional character that is created by you and controlled by you. It can take place in a number of forms but for the sake of keeping things minimal, we use forums in a post-by-post style to act your character and move along in a storyline created by members of community. Basically you are an actor in a story, taking on a character role and playing their characteristics, reacting to situations and environments as the plot advances.

With this in mind there is a friendly etiquette to which most roleplayers abide to, these help participants of roleplay come together and work as a production team to enact the story to its climax. Below are a few common courtesies that roleplayers like to conform to.


Joining a Story

The simplest and fastest way to join in on a roleplay situation is to discuss it via the OOC (Out of Character) thread belonging to your story. Here you are free to ask questions and ask other members where you can join in on their current roleplay situation. It is always best to make sure you are welcome within an RP before you start posting as some are created around tightly woven stories that your presence in could upset.

God modding and Bunnying

This is one of the finer points of Roleplaying. Bunnying is the act of changing the situation of another roleplayer’s character, either through moving them from their current location, writing conversation in their name or by-passing the interactions made between your character and the environment. Bunnying is only acceptable when the person / situation you intend to move forward has been granted either by the GM or the other roleplayer.

Bunnying is typically seen in fight scenes where an attacker will Roleplay an attack and also Roleplay the defending persons reaction.

Example:

Darth Anaireo: Swings his lightsaber severing the arm of Darth J'kaura, he stands gloating over the severed appendage as J'kaura falls to the floor in pain.

This would be considered bad, in that Darth J'kaura was not given the chance to evade the block and his actions afterwards were also controlled by Darth Anaireo.

God Modding on the other hand is the act of when being faced by incredible odds pulling off moves in RP that could be seen as overly incredible. God Modders will essentially have characters that have no limit to their power, a typical Star Wars God modder will often see themselves pulling off feats not even Revan or Luke Skywalker could do.

Example:

Darth Inanivis: Seeing herself surrounded by 300 Republic troopers thinks deeply into the force using it to raise them into the air where she unleashes a torrent of force lightning upon them, she cackles as they fall to floor dead.

God modding is often linked with Bunnying as they not only pull off incredible actions but will also Roleplay the outcome of them, they will often downplay other characters strengths to make themselves seem more superior.

Manners, sharing and communication

Think of roleplaying as if you were acting in real life. Make sure you show your respect and consideration towards other roleplayers and always ask permission or questions if you find yourself unsure. Always remember that others are always willing to help. Remember to share the lime light in the heat of the story and communicate is key to create a better environment for those taking part.

Most stories should have an OOC topic in which you should use for any questions regarding the story and actions of fellow participants, and should act as the central focus point for any communication required.


Attitudes under the Sith Empire (Old Republic Era)

As the Hands of Darkness is a Sith aligned guild it may be useful for you to understand the attitudes within the Sith Empire for Sith, Bounty Hunters and Agents. This will help you during roleplay to understand how classes are often seen behaving.

The Sith are arrogant and believe themselves superior this is due to their indoctrination and belief. They are cut throat in nature and tend to take extreme, often violent responses and actions to manipulate or advance to their goal. However, this being said they are not completely without reason but the Sith way is to show know fear or mercy but unfortunately are treacherous with lies. However, even within their ranks remains and level of respect and trust among them until they decide to turn on one another. It is not uncommon to see the Sith fight with their own allies and with themselves.

Meanwhile, Agents under the Sith Empire are likely to show signs or similar appendages to that of their Sith counterparts. As we have seen from the information thus far they are as ruthless, cunning and calculating, and look down at signs of weakness within the ranks. However, Agents may allure towards a more subtle and manipulative approach as they make up the intelligence of the Empire and will use anyone to meet their ends to carry out their deeds. The Agents are loyal to the Sith Empire and their skill is loyal to them in their service.

Bounty Hunters are the black sheep; their attitudes depend solely on their own ethics and creed. They show a more individual mind set, not conforming under any of the Sith Empires doctrines. Times are tough for the Hunters with dangerous bounties on Republic and Sith targets but the Bounty Hunters have the advantage of being weary of the Sith and their relationships, as every Bounty Hunter is a survivalist and know fare well the dangers of aligning with the Empire for credits. The Bounty Hunter abides by his own rules, his skills and his own attitude. Don’t expect a the Bounty Hunter to stride up to you and offer a handshake.

As you can see there are varied attitudes, but have patience and understanding of these while roleplaying will reduce the misinterpretations of people’s actions which might sometimes come across as an attack. Remember roleplaying is about using your skill and imagination to a character to become and actor in a story. It is harmless fun and much enjoyment can be had from coming together as a guild to write as a roleplaying community.

That being said I will leave you with some common keywords and their descriptions you might come across while writing. Hopefully these will add to the understanding of roleplay and create a better experience.


Common Keywords

IC – In Character: this refers the act of roleplaying your character.

OOC – Out of character: This refers to speaking out of character, you as a person.

GM – Game master: this is the person who is in control of the story.

Power Gaming/God modding – This is the act of making your character fairly invincible. In real terms every character has their strength and weaknesses; however, allowing your character to obtain or have super skills and strengths does not provide a challenge for other roleplayers and is generally unaccepted within roleplay.

Meta Gaming – Roleplay your own characters knowledge base. If for example an enemy attacks you with a melee move that your character has never encountered, you can’t roleplay your character as having the knowledge to evade it. Stick to what your character knows.

Mary Sue – Having a character that is perfect in every way. Remember to roleplay with a sense of realism. If a piece of rubble falls on your character form the environment, you’re going to be hurt.

Bunnying - The act of moving a situation and or another roleplayer forward in the story without the GM or roleplayers permission.