Weekly Role-Play Challenge

[Taven]

Weekly Role-Play Challenge

So what's this weekly role-play challenge thing? Well, there are a lot of tools for role-playing on Armageddon. Sometime we use them, and sometimes we don't use them as much as we would like to. This challenge is meant to look at the various game tools available, and select one per week to challenge you to use in your role-play, more then you already do. The goal is not to insult anyone's role-play, or say that one way of role-playing is better then another, but rather to try to enhance role-play by use of the tools available.

So some important things about the challenge:

• There will be one per week, and you can make suggestions for future topics
• Participation is 100% voluntary, and you don't need to say you're participating
• There is no prize for completion or punishment for failure, it is all about being your personal goal
• You don't have to post if you made or did not succeed with the challenge, but you can
• As usual, do NOT post IC information about your character

Feel free to post any questions, examples of the current challenge (not anything IC or sensitive), ideas, suggestions, or more. Don't post anything that is bashing role-play, or someone's preference to role-play a certain way. Discussions on if something is good role-play, or what makes role-play role-play, are topics that should have their own thread.

[Taven]

Challenge #1: Thinks and Feels

This challenge is about using the think and feel commands. Often times we as players know what our PCs are thinking and feeling, but we don't always use these two commands. Using them can make for more depth in a scene, and also let others better know the reasoning for what is happening (be it staff who is watching, if you submit a log later, or anything else).

Here are some ideas for times when you might be able to work thinks and feels into your role-playing:

• When foraging or crafting - use the opportunity to think about anything bugging your character, or concerns they have, or anything else they might ponder
• When you would normally idle - instead of sitting and idling at the bar, you could think about your PC's vast boredom
• When saying one thing, but actually thinking another
• Interspersed into daily situations

Examples

Code Select Expand

You begin crafting a roasted kalan fruit from a kalan fruit you are carrying. 
You start preparing some food.

You manage to burn the fruit.

The tall, muscular man grows tired quickly of turing the fruit so slowly, and ends up setting it on the grill, where it burned just like the previous one.

You think:
     "If only I didn't have to hold it up /over/ the grill while it roasted. It makes my arms tired, and turning it is silly."

[...]

Feeling discouraged as you put another fruit in your belt with the four other burnt ones, you think:
     "Damn, I suck at this."


Code Select Expand


[on a PC with a messed up face]

The good-looking man sends you a telepathic message:
     "I don't always look for curves. I pay special attention to the face too you know."

You feel self concious, as absurd as that might be.

You send a telepathic message to the good-looking man:
     "Yeah... Faces. *seeming a touch subdued*"

You think:
     "Why should I even care? This is fucking ridiculous."

Think    (Communication)

This command is used to express what your character is thinking. Use this as a role playing tool for the little things your character would like to say or do, but won't for whatever reason.

You can include an optional description of how your character is feeling while thinking by using '-' (if it's a single word) or by including the description in parentheses (for one or more words).

Syntax:
    think <message>
    think -<option> <message>
    think (<option>) <message>

    Examples:
    > think By Suk-krath that templar is chapping my hide.

    > think I wish I had a drink of water.

    > think -frustrated Where did I leave my apartment key?

    > think (quite elated) I can't believe my good fortune!

    Note:
    Use of this command will not interrupt any ongoing movements such as
    picking locks, and will not take you out of hiding.

Feel    (Communication)

This command is used to express what your character is feeling. Use this as a role playing tool for the emotions your character would like to experience.

Syntax:
    feel <emotion>

    Examples:
    > feel annoyed

    > feel joyful

    Note:
    Use of this command will not interrupt any ongoing movements such as
    picking locks, and will not take you out of hiding.

    A grammatically correct form is to use a noun or adjective to describe
    the emotion your character will experience instead an adverb.
    (E.g. "anger" instead of "angrily", "passionate" instead of "passionately").

    To depict longer lasting states of mind, use the 'change mood' command.

[Down Under]

Putting Mood in your prompt does wonders for encouraging thinks and feels. (Thanks Galdun!)

[boog]

Mood is the one inner-RP command I never use. I always forget it. Grr.

Taven, you are such a darling.

[Morrolan]

I always have a "default" mood for my characters, or maybe a couple of them.  Leaving the city?  Cautious.  Meeting a higher-up? Nervous.  The rest of the time?  Grumpy.  Or perky.  Or whatever my character is usually like.

I have also experimented with triggers.  Once I had a character who, whenever he crafted something, his mood changed to "calm".  This required logging all of the success messages of things he would make, or at least all of the things he would enjoy making, and setting up triggers in my client.  Then I would adjust his mood based on the situation, but crafting always calmed him down.

I also experimented with random mood shifts by client-side manipulation.  That was less successful, and I abandoned it.

[Zoan]

Half-elf? #trigger {^Welcome to Armageddon.$} {change mood %random(%case("DEPRESSED", "ANGSTY", "SUICIDAL"))}



Edit: Don't know if I did the code right, but you get the idea.

[Delirium]

I always have a "default" mood for my characters, or maybe a couple of them.  Leaving the city?  Cautious.  Meeting a higher-up? Nervous.  The rest of the time?  Grumpy.  Or perky.  Or whatever my character is usually like.

This is a really good idea. I've always struggled with using mood, because I felt like I had to change it often. Think & feel come more naturally.

I'm gonna try this.

[Taven]

Mood is definitely a command not listed in the challenge that could also be utilized. I've heard that mood is harder to notice staff-side, however (I think Talia mentioned that somewhere?). I've never used it much, but I think the main way I would use it would be as a backdrop for my thinks and feels. I did use it when I had a character who had gone partially insane, and had split into two personalities. He would have a "dark" mood and a "normal" mood that I'd set, thus letting me keep track of which side of him was presently surfaced. I would also use my thinks and use the feel part to assign a think to either the normal him or the dark him.

Playing crazy people is a lot harder then it looks. In the end, I think his crazy side sort of faded out, which is very anticlimactic.

Please note that you can also use thinks, feels, and the mood command if your PC is normal. O_O

[Talia]

Yes, mood is not obvious during the normal course of roleplay to staffers who are just watching you. We'd actually have to specifically examine how your mood is set, unless we happen to be watching at the time that you set it. But roleplay commands like think and feel are part of roleplay, so we see those as you do them. All in all, IMO, think and feel are much more useful from an immediate roleplaying perspective, both for the player and for staff. But the idea to put mood in prompt and use it to inform thinks and feels is a neat one; I might start doing that myself, if it doesn't make my prompt too Tekawful-long. (I already do a lot of thinking and feeling, but every little bit helps.)

[Case]

I do not do either as often as I would like. I have generally used them as little guides for myself when I start off a PC but over time I get better at knowing how my PC would react and my use of them drops off. I am going to give this a try.

[Riev]

Of late, when I have the time to play, I've noticed that I tend to do more thinks, but not as many feels. I will think a lot, because of the current role, and because he doesn't have many people to talk to or at least respond to him... but feels...

My best feel was "feel it would be funny if he had tripped down -all- the stairs"

[Taven]

Of late, when I have the time to play, I've noticed that I tend to do more thinks, but not as many feels. I will think a lot, because of the current role, and because he doesn't have many people to talk to or at least respond to him... but feels...

My best feel was "feel it would be funny if he had tripped down -all- the stairs"

My last PC did some thinking, but had a plethora of "you feel bored" or "you feel insanely bored" in their life (not all of it, for those who played with them, but there were some tavern sitting moments). But I mean, you can also be more creative with feel, too...

Code Select Expand


Forage rock
You forage another fucking worthless chunk of rock.

em grunts, tossing aside the rock as suk-krath beats down oppressively

feel really sick and tired of this krath damn heat, and the sweat trickling down your face and into your eyes, making them sting.

I sometimes get a little narrative with my feels, so that they could have been done as thinks, but sometimes a feel just makes more sense to me. For example:

Code Select Expand

feel like you wish you could wrap your hands around his throat and strangle the life out of him. Or beat his face into the wall. Either would work.

[Whiran Luck]

I have mood in my prompt. I don't use it all the time, but I do definitely use it more often when it's staring me in the face. I could probably stand to think or feel more often, but it's often rather difficult in the middle of the scenes that need it the most, because I'm busy juggling just keeping up with the action. I find I think and feel most often when I am doing things solo. Mood, when I use it, is -excellent- for setting the tone with characters, not only their thinks and feels but their reactions and actions. When my character is angry, they're going to react to people much differently than when they're cheerful. I also use it to remind me when my character should be feeling something on a continual basis, for example, an injury, that I may forget just because the code says it's healed.

I can fully attest for those interested in more consistant character play, having it in your prompt is invaluable. Also invaluable:

alias mood change mood

That way, changing your mood is as easy as typing: mood sickeningly happy.

[Taven]

Challenge #2: Hemotes (AKA Hidden Emotes)

This challenge is about using the hemote command. There's a lot of times when a character's actions might be little, and hint at something past the obvious. Using them can make for a more in depth scene, fleshing out all of your character's actions.


Here are some ideas for times when you might be able to work hemotes into your role-playing:

• When talking with someone you actually don't like, but are pretending to (or someone you do like, and don't want to know)
• When trying to conceal nervousness, or another emotion (anger, irritation, boredom)
• When lying
• Reflecting distractions that aren't obvious--thinking, limited Waying, watching others in the room

Examples

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At your table, you say in sirihish, smiling at the tall, muscular man, letting your emerald-hued gaze slowly roam over him:
    "I've always found you attractive, Amos."

phem: Your lips curl slightly as you look the tall, muscular man over.

[Alternatively:] Phem: Your gaze lingers on the tall, muscular man's glittering jewlery.


Code Select Expand

At your table, you say in sirihish, sighing:
    "What a slow day at the bar."

hem: You keep stealing glances at the next table over, eyes moving subtly to each person as they speak.

Hidden Emote                                                 (Communication)

   Hidden emotes should be used to represent subtle motions that wouldn't
be obvious to the room you are in.  Only those who are actively watching you,
or who are very observant will notice these.
   Hemote supports a small language which allows you to refer more
effectively to other characters. See 'help emoting' for more details
on using the language.
   You can also use @ to place your short description arbitrarily within
the emote.

Syntax:
   hemote <message>

Example:
   hemote rubs ^me fingers lightly together

Notes:
   Avoid using this command for emotes that would physically interact with
objects or characters.  They will not get a message if they don't notice it.

   Read the helpfile 'Emoting' for more information on emoting in general.
It has important information about how to refer to characters and objects.

   To get a possessive version of this command, use 'phemote'.

   Use the keyword command to make sure you are targetting the right
character or object.

   Those who see these will receive an extra prompt of 'You notice: '.

[TOOL]

Code Select Expand

>hem slipping a hand under the bar casually, @ scratches his groin.

>think (relieved) No one saw a thing.

[Kevo]

I like to use hemotes to put information that would otherwise only be available once we get a tdesc for items. I've always wanted to play a detective style char, so I put in a lot of CSI-style information, such as silt on your boots, emoting the smell of spice wafting from them, blood or dirt under fingernails. I've had great results from other PC's with this, and I particularly enjoyed playing a serial-killer who was once caught simply because of one of these hemotes, and a studiously observant militia member. Conversely, I've had other PC's misinterpret these signals, and develop completely false assumptions. A wonderful tool.

There's also the obvious application of mudsexing, where your partner might know what your skin feels like, but the room (yes, I'm an exhibitionist) wouldn't. It's also good for roleplaying a diseased char, in which the effects of the disease wouldn't be obvious, except to the trained eye.

phemote Thin black lines course across @ eyes. (for Raza Raza worm)

Hemote's one of my fav commands. Hope this helps someone with creative ideas for it's use.

[Taven]

Challenge #3: Biographies

This week's challenge is to write at least one biography for your current PC.

Here are some ideas for bio topics/titles:

• Supplemental Background - Adds anything that didn't fit in your initial background
• Log: Family Scene - A fake log of interaction with a virtual family member depicting a character-changing event or encapsulating typical family relations.
• Relationships: Positive, Negative, Neutral, Business - Defining your relationships with others
• Opinions on ____ - Magickers, kanking, foreigners, killing/morality, etc etc. You can use a bio like this to define your character's views on the world

Remember that the possibilities for bios is endless! One thing that might help you is this article. However, I don't believe it has been updated to include the fact that you can now write your bios while not in game. If you click on the "My Accounts" link underneath the logo on the main page, you can view your biographies, and add one by clicking the green add button by your PC's name. The one thing you must be careful of, if you write long bios like me, is that the online tool will not tell you if you are over the character limit. It will just cut you off. A way around this is to check your bios ICly, to see if all your text is there. You don't need to worry about this unless your bios are very large.

Biography    (Character)

As the name of this command suggests, this command allows a player to access/annotate a historical account of their character's life. Its intention is to provide a means to update a character's story beyond his or her initial background as significant events unfold. Entries made into a character's biography must conform to the same standards and style of a background.

Notes:
    It is strongly suggested that you not use this command in rooms with
    message boards, to avoid inadvertently writing personal information to
    the boards rather than one's biography.

    Be advised that this is not to be used as a personal diary, blog or
    notepad. This is not an electronic sticky pad to jot down ideas, thoughts,
    or things to remember. A good rule of thumb is to write entries where your
    intended audience is expecting to read and be enlightened by the story of
    your character's life.

    You may not delete your initial background. The delete functionality is
    provided mainly as a courtesy in the event there are problems during adding
    an entry.

    You do not have to save after editing/adding an entry, it automatically
    saves when you finish editing.

    You can view and manage all your biography entries for all characters on
    your account through the 'My Account' link on the main Armageddon webpage.

    Syntax:
    biography
    biography <#>
    biography add <title>
    biography delete <#>
    biography edit <#>

    Examples:
    biography
    biography 1
    biography add Another year gone
    biography delete 6
    biography edit 6

[Taven]

This changes over tomorrow, so don't forget to write a bio!

I have yet to write a bio. 

[Saellyn]

This changes over tomorrow, so don't forget to write a bio!

I have yet to write a bio. 

Get on it, quick!

[Down Under]

I'm going to write a couple from work.

[Taven]

I'm going to write a couple from work.

You should! I still haven't done mine, something very atypical for me. I'll likely put off changing the topic on this until late tomorrow... Not that a change in topic means you can't write bios.

[Taven]

Challenge #4: The Slow-Down Movement Challenge

This week's challenge is a little bit different then our usual ones, which typically focus on a specific command to implement in your role-play. This challenge doesn't focus on a specific command, but instead deals with how your PC moves through the world. It was suggested as the challenge of the week by a fellow GDBer.

The goal is to move through the world more slowly. Yes, we all have to rush somewhere sometime, but take the time to toss out an emote as you walk. Take the time to read a room description, or look at an NPC in the room. If you move past a PC and look at them, don't look and rush off, give them time to react. If you're leaving and need to log out, instead of quickly saying bye and hopping up to run off, try (if you have time) for a more leisurely leave taking that allows everybody to say farewells. Basically, the idea is to give yourself more time to react to the world and the world more time to react to you my moving more slowly. Obviously, this challenge isn't saying you should stop and stroll past a mekillot, but rather to walk more slowly as time allows.

Ideas: (use some of them some of the time, as you like)

• Read a room description in full when you pass through it
• Look at NPCs as you pass
• Emote about the vNPCs in the area (crowds at the bazaar, wagons on large streets, etc.)
• If you look at a PC, let them react before continuing onward
• Use emotes with the walk command (remember that you can't use ^, !, #, & while moving)
• If you're planning on quitting out or leaving a room, do so slowly to give people a better chance to react

[Down Under]

Challenge #4: The Slow-Down Movement Challenge

This week's challenge is a little bit different then our usual ones, which typically focus on a specific command to implement in your role-play. This challenge doesn't focus on a specific command, but instead deals with how your PC moves through the world. It was suggested as the challenge of the week by a fellow GDBer.

The goal is to move through the world more slowly. Yes, we all have to rush somewhere sometime, but take the time to toss out an emote as you walk. Take the time to read a room description, or look at an NPC in the room. If you move past a PC and look at them, don't look and rush off, give them time to react. If you're leaving and need to log out, instead of quickly saying bye and hopping up to run off, try (if you have time) for a more leisurely leave taking that allows everybody to say farewells. Basically, the idea is to give yourself more time to react to the world and the world more time to react to you my moving more slowly. Obviously, this challenge isn't saying you should stop and stroll past a mekillot, but rather to walk more slowly as time allows.

Ideas: (use some of them some of the time, as you like)

• Read a room description in full when you pass through it
• Look at NPCs as you pass
• Emote about the vNPCs in the area (crowds at the bazaar, wagons on large streets, etc.)
• If you look at a PC, let them react before continuing onward
• Use emotes with the walk command (remember that you can't use ^, !, #, & while moving)
• If you're planning on quitting out or leaving a room, do so slowly to give people a better chance to react

Yes!

[Kismetic]

I do this often enough, and yet, during the times when I'm in a hurry, I still hear about it.  You can't please everyone, I figure.  Good idea, nonetheless.

[boog]

I rarely ever speedwalk through places, especially if I'm with a group or with another person, roleplaying. I think, sometimes, I piss people off by going so slowly and 'seeing the sights'.