3. Rules: The RoleplayIn Character threads and the roleplay that occurs within them are governed by these addition rules.
3.1 Writing Basics3.1.1 Legibility and LengthFirst and foremost, your posts need to be legible. Not everyone is an English major and some might even speak English as a second language, however, if your posts are unintelligible then you’re hurting the RP instead of adding to it. Foreign languages, written accents, and other such stylistic tools are permitted when appropriate, but it is helpful to include a translation at the bottom of your posts. “Netspeak” is absolutely forbidden in IC threads as is “Onas-speak”.
Second, your posts must be worth reading. You should put effort into and take pride from your posts. This means absolutely no “one liner” responses in IC threads. Sometimes you lack inspiration or there is literally “nothing” for your character to do. (If there is absolutely nothing to say then you can inform the others in the thread to merely skip you. If there is nothing to work from and you can’t be skipped then PM your RPing partner and ask them if they can edit their posts to give you something more. If the thread has concluded and you only need a short exit then this is the only time such a post is acceptable.)
Some people write more than others *cough* Onas *cough* but try your best to keep up with your writing partners. However, don’t feel pushed to the extreme to merely churn out words. We don’t want you repeating yourself or writing about irrelevant things merely to increase a post length. It is for this reason that we have no set word count or post length. Just do your very best to create a quality post.
3.1.2 Tense and PersonKeep in mind while writing that all IC posts should be written in the third person and past tense. E.g. Roger sat at his desk and wrote the rules. The exception to this of course is dialogue which will often be first person present tense but may be any person or number. E.g. Roger sat at his desk and said, "
I suppose I should talk about this in the guide just to be thorough."3.2 General Thread Rules3.2.1 Thread DatingLet’s start with the big one, dating your threads. There are many threads with many characters and many things all occurring on this site. To avoid thread inconsistencies, space-time-continuum ruptures, and mental breakdowns it is important for everyone to be able to figure out when certain threads happened. This way we know the relation between threads (“Oh, so thread B actually takes place before Thread A”) and so characters are not in two places at once. Therefore, it is highly suggested that each thread’s first line includes the date AND the time that thread starts (e.g. 1200 Hours, March 5th, 2582). Tread trackers can help you keep all the threads ordered nicely and help you quickly know when and where your new thread is occurring. If you are still uncertain of the time and date then it is acceptable if you caption it something like “Occurs between ‘A New Hope’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’”. If you’re still absolutely clueless then start the thread without a firm date and come to a staff member or another knowledgeable member for help.
3.2.2 Post OrderSpeaking of time, next on the list is Post Order. Very simply, this principle is that you don’t just go around skipping other RPers simply because you are online to post and they are not. If Tris posted and then Onas posted and then Jules posted it is now Tris’s turn to post again not Onas’s even though Onas is always on to post and Tris is never on. There are however several exceptions to this rule:
- Tris specifically gives Onas permission to skip him.
- Tris hasn’t posted in over two days and you can’t wait any longer for him (depending on individual understandings between RPers, the “skip grace period” might be shorter or longer but two days is the site standard). In the event of several “no shows” in post order, you give each of them two days to begin counting at the moment the two days of the person before them in order expires. E.g. after four days you can skip the second person who has failed to post.
- You are in a very large thread and Tris’s character is not involved with your character at all (although it’s still best not to push too far ahead with your little corner of a thread and leave everyone else in the dust).
3.3 Realism and God-Mode (and Metagaming)When writing, please try and keep some level of realism. Yes, this is a science fiction site with spaceships, questionable science principles, lasers, etc. but you all should know what is acceptable and what is not. Stick to what exists in the Firefly universe and what actually makes sense. This links nicely into the next topic, God-Mode.
God-Mode (or God-Modding) is what it sounds like. Basically your character suddenly becomes ultra-powerful. This takes two forms. The first is that you’re basically a superhero. Your character gets shot twenty times and isn’t even phased as he flies through space without any type of suit and fires lasers from his ass while his tears cure cancer. That of course is a humorous exaggeration (personified by Khan in Star Trek: Into Darkness), but generally anything “super human” is god-modding.
Part Two of God-Mode is when you in effect take control of someone else’s character and respond for them (generally making your character always win). This does not only include literally saying what another character is doing but also includes declaring results that directly affect another character. Take the following examples. “Roger fired three shots at Ros.” That sentence describes only what Roger did and leaves the result open for Ros to roleplay several potential outcomes. “Roger shot Ros in the head three times.” That sentence describes what happens and leaves Ros with no choice but being shot in the head.
Please keep in mind that like the above mentioned Post Order rule, there are exceptions here too. One may control another character if:
- It’s merely a NPC that the poster has the rights to control.
- You have the other player’s permission to do so.
- It is something insignificant that no one would object to (e.g. “Roger shook Wisper’s hand” without Wisper first offering her hand to shake in a previous post).
When it comes to killing, maiming, and otherwise seriously wounding or affecting another character, always get their permission first… or simply refrain from controlling their character and let them write it how they want it. The power to kill characters rests only in the hands of the person playing that character*.
*Admins reserve the rights to kill long-time inactive players for plot purposes.
Finally, we have Meta Gaming (AKA Above the Board Knowledge). When writing IC you are that character, not you the player who controls him or her. The character only knows what he or she would experience in our little fictional universe. Meta gaming is when you give knowledge you the player have to one of your characters when that character has no way of knowing that information. For example, unless your character read an official report, heard from an eye witness, or saw it himself then he shouldn’t know that Vitale served with the Alliance during the war unless Vitale actually tells him. It doesn't matter that you read it in Vitale's app because your character never read Vitale's app. Just because you heard in a discussion thread of the upcoming plot that the team is walking into an ambush doesn’t mean that magically your character knows an ambush is coming. If a character has a secret that is possible but unlikely to be uncovered (e.g. secretly blind in one eye) then it is not okay for your character to come over and IMMEDIATELY notice the faintest of hints that something is wrong and IC call the character out for it without the other player’s permission first.
If you ever run into something questionable then ASK the other player first if that is something that would be common knowledge, and if not then would it be okay for just my character to know it/be told about it.
3.4 Character Creation in BriefCharacter creation is covered in more detail elsewhere, but here are the basic rules about characters.
3.4.1 ActivityDreaming of Serenity does not have strict rules (although some ship captains do), but we do require characters to be somewhat active. Our very reasonable requirement to respond to the occasional activity check (a week long window to check in). Failing to meet this simple requirement may result in the forfeiture of your reserved PB, any special positions held aboard ships, and potentially even the adoption of your character by another player or in the extreme the death of your character during a plotline. Special exceptions may be made if someone is going away on vacation, has had a serious event in their life, etc. But in order for us to make an exception, we need to know what’s happening. So stop in and tell us what’s up when you get a chance instead of disappearing for weeks or even months at a time. If you simply fall off the grid and pop back eight months later you shouldn’t expect your character to be waiting right where you left off no matter how good your excuse is.
As a courtesy to your fellow RPers. If you’re in the middle of an active thread in which others are eagerly waiting on you, and you know you’re not going to be around (even just gone for a few days) then let them know! Whether it is permission to skip you or merely an update so they know not to hold their breath waiting for your return, give them something so they know what’s happening.
3.4.2 Character LimitsOn a related note to activity, Dreaming of Serenity has a loose character limit. The basic limit is three characters per player. The term “limit” is misleading because there isn't an absolute limit that you cannot pass. Those members who are exceptionally active may be approved on a case-by-case basis for a fourth, fifth, etc. character to be determined by the staff.
3.4.3 NPCsNPCs (non-player characters) come in two varieties. The first are the lowly inhabitants of the ‘Verse that appear in our threads and have no site account for them. They are the “extras” walking down the busy street, the thugs who you fight in that warehouse, the bartender who made you pay for all the damage you caused to his bar, your character’s parents back home, etc. Then you have NPCs that actually have accounts and make posts which form an in-between tier. These characters have names, PBs, and basic applications including basic personalities and histories. The difference between these NPCs and main characters are that the NPCs are not as detailed in their creation and they serve the primary purpose of furthering the threads of others rather than building their own plots and major relationships. They are simply the supporting characters that stand out beyond the mere rank and file but are not the “stars” of the RP.
Many NPC accounts are created by and jointly controlled by the staff members for these purposes. Individual members are allowed one NPC account with additional NPCs potentially being permitted at the discretion of the staff. It is possible for a NPC account to develop to a level where you want to turn it into a regular character with a full character app and everything. It is also possible for a regular character to be downgraded to NPC level.
3.4.4 Psychic CharactersPsychic "River type" characters are
NOT generally permitted. We have had issues in the past with overpowered characters, and the possibility for a psychic character to be horribly overpowered should be apparent. Such characters might be permitted on rare occasions, but they will be subject to a higher level of scrutiny for approval and will only be granted to members the Staff trusts to RP them in a restrained manner. Once approved, the Staff may revoke said approval if the character's abilities are overplayed to the detriment of the site.
2.4.5 CanonsThis is an Alternate Universe (AU) RP and thus one may not use any canon characters from the series or movie. However, one might have had past interactions with the characters from the series within reason. You’re not going to be best friends with Malcolm Reynolds but maybe you crossed paths with the Serenity on a job five years back or maybe you saw that statue of Jayne on Higgin’s Moon and wondered what the hell that was about. Minor brushes like that are acceptable but shadowing our heroes from the series is not and shows a lack of creativity.
On the same note, one may not chose a play-by (PB) of one of the canon characters. Although they are not in our RP, those people still exist in our universe. Unless they’ve got an identical twin walking around then you can’t be Captain Joe Bag-of-Donuts played by Nathan Fillion. Fortunately for you, the list of canon PBs isn’t all too long so there are still plenty of great PBs out there to choose from.
3.4.6 Play-BysAll PBs must be of real people e.g. actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, etc. We prefer “celebrities” but anyone with a name and a face will generally be accepted (so long as they are not already
claimed). You may not use cartoons, anime, computer generated images, etc. for a play-by, sorry. And as mentioned above, canon PBs (and a few others) are off limits.
Because this is a website and not a real life movie casting, your choice of PBs is not limited to persons as they are today. Perhaps the perfect PB for your character would be Charlie Chaplin. He’s been dead for 45 years but you can always request him as your PB, slap some old pictures of him up, and voila! And you don’t have to go digging in the graveyard. Perhaps you want to use an older actor who is still alive but catch them in the glory of their youth (e.g. Desmond Matheson played by a young Harrison Ford).
3.4.7 Other ImagesOn the topic of images and PBs, avatars should be no larger than 300x250 and signatures should be no larger than 500x300. Other images may be posted at your discretion but also with your common sense. Don’t post anything that is so large it will stretch the board. Either resize it (if the site does not already do it for you) or merely post a link to the image. I shouldn’t have to say this, but please do not post any images or links that would violate our board Terms of Service (e.g. graphic violence and gore, pornography, etc.). Images that do not comply with these rules may be removed or altered by the Staff.
3.4.8 Creating a Well-balanced CharacterBack on the topic of characters, when coming up with your character please don’t create Mary Sue or Gary Stu. That means we don’t want a character that is perfect in every way, gets along with everyone, is pretty and fun and smart, etc. Those characters are unbelievably boring and generally are asking to get punched in the face (this also goes to the above mentioned realism issue and perhaps even the idea that one is god-modding other people to like you… but I was too busy fuming with rage over the idea of a Mary Sue). No one is perfect and it’s actually the flaws that make characters more interesting, fun to RP, and especially fun for others to RP and interact with. Your character can have strengths and be great at certain things so long as the character is also balanced by some failings and weaknesses.
Finally, it’s important to play to your character. By this I mean that when you RP you should stick to what is on your application. You should not make a character who is afraid of snakes and then have him calmly walking through a pit of snakes like it was nothing. Yes, characters do change, grow, and evolve over time… OVER TIME. Maybe you have your character slowly conquering their fear or working to learn a new skill but such things need to be worked out through RP as a gradual progression, and you also can’t have your character solve the only flaw he has and thus become perfect over the course of the RP. In short, if you post in a way that doesn’t seem to fit your character then you will be called on it.
