Tools of Our Trade
We have many tools at our disposal. Here are our favorites with explanations on how we like to use them:
OOC
Out of Character. Use it to get what you want and to better the storyline for you and others. Communication is key in getting what you want out of anything. If we don’t know what you want, we can’t help you get it. Always be open to negotiating for what you want out of a shared storyline. Work collectively to get what each player wants together. To retain the shared ambiance, illusion and environment strive to keep the OOC out of the rooms and the posts.
Instant Messages, a.k.a. IM’s
Some players allow role-play in IM’s. Ask before you jump! IMs are useful to clue players in if they miss in-room interactions too! Use IMs for all OOC conversations; this keeps it out of the room and allows for players to negotiate for what they want out of the current scene or situation in private.
Message Boards
Have a creative idea that simply wont work during in-room play? Ie: An attack on the evil goblins castle. Post it! Want to highlight your character(s) skills and abilities? Post up a story and show us how awesome your character is. What we can’t do in the room to other players we can easily do in a post to our own NPC creations.
Use it both for IC and OCC contact. A great way to keep rping when you find you and your partners on differing schedules!
In-room Play
Playing out a storyline in-room gets it a lot of attention! It gives people a reason to invest. In-room play can spice up any story! We at Evil Plotters Ink like to allow the In-Room interactions to color our stories. This adds a lot more magic to our play because even we get twisty surprises and intriguing new directions! Ahh, the possibilities are endless when we are open to whatever fates allow.
Profiles
This is most often the first impression your character will have on many. Make it count! Too much information and most will shrug and close it. Too little info can cause the same. “See pic” as a description? Did they miss that this is a text-based role-playing game? Text-based is the clue here. Take the time to describe your characters, it gives those of us reading the profile an insight to the character, to your style, to what kind of story may intrigue you or your character. Our profiles should be treated like public papers. Keep any “private” or “not easily known” information out of your profile. It really is too much information, especially if you don’t want someone playing off of them!
Interactivity
Be interactive! The more interactive and open a player is, the more people will play with them! Play with others, not at them.
Creativity
Taken from the online dictionary:
The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.
Don’t steal or “borrow” from others, that’s creative theft! Instead think for yourself, be creative, let your imagination run wild!
RESPECT
Treat the other players, their characters and creations with deference. Always, always follow the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
Communication
Communicate, communicate, communicate!!! Talk to the people you are playing with and let them know what you want. Listen to your play partners and find out what they want. Run into a snag? Talk it out. Share your stories so that those playing with you can invest in them.
Negotiation
You can’t get what you want if no one knows what it is… Do not expect to get only what you want and let others get nothing in return. FFRP isn’t a competition, there isn’t a trophy waiting at the end of the race for a winner. Everyone can win in FFRP through simple negotiation. Talk about what you want, listen to what the other players want, work together to meet those goals. Common sense really…
NPCs’
Yes, they are tools too! One of the most used tools for tabletop gaming are NPCs. You know, the bad evil mage who sends minions of monsters after you and your hapless fellow travelers, intent on thwarting you in whatever mission/goal/adventure you have been set towards? NPC have their own personal stories to tell in a way, with their own agenda and motives. We at Evil Plotters Ink use them too! They help create external conflict that aids in moving stories and they confront, confound and challenge our characters so they can grow!
