Online roleplay FAQ
(guidelines for chat roleplaying)
Welcome to the pathplay FAQ for chat roleplaying. This
FAQ was created to give people a better idea about the
basics of roleplay and how to be a better roleplayer.
since as of late we've been seeing alot problems arising
between the characters, we thought that this would be a
good reference for everyone. if you have any questions or
if you feel theres more to be covered, please email us with
them (place the word (FAQ)in the header) thanks for your support!!
Current Topics
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Godmoding
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Fighting
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Characters
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Locations
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EXP
what is god-moding?
God-moding in roleplay lingo, is a term for a person who
refuses to take damage during fights, has abilities beyond
normal characters (like omnipotence, immortality, unlimited
magic spells, ect) and also calls out the effects of any attack
delt upon another character.
What can I do to roleplay without godmoding?
Well...the best thing you can do is keep your Character's abilities limited
after all the majority of people in a roleplay are human to some degree (unless
you're doing a roleplay of all elves or vampires. rules vary from character to character)
so you have to keep in mind that most humans aren't capable of using a tremendous amount
of magical capacity. In some RPG's magic users can only learn a certain number of spells before
they start to forget the spells they already know. This makes things alot more challanging and
forces them to make a choice on wether to keep the useful spells or lose them to gain better ones.
Then we come to the inhuman characters ( demons, Vampires, elves, Garou, ect.) With them sticking to the ledgends
would be your best bet..either that or looking for references in source books like Vampire: the masquerade,
the Werewolf books or the TSR guides. Wizards of the coast may have something of
use for the mystical character types.
whats the best way to fight in RPGs
When fighting other characters..the best advice I can give you is to stay logical.. armored soilders cannot do acrobatics
due to the laws of gravity and physics. This may be a surprise to you, but if you've worn heavy armor in real life, you'd
know that you'd have more trouble keeping balance than trying to flip over a fireball. Another issue is attacking and damage.
in fighting the attacker will deal a blow (punching someone in the face, kicking someone in the head, ect) and that person will
take the effect of the blow accordingly. the attacker cannot call the full effect of the blow. I cannot hit someone and say that their
nose is bleeding, or that the person is unconcious.. it's just not fair to the other person.
also remember your enviornment plays a large part in roleplay..remember there are other people who may jump in to help your enemy or you
try to keep up with the action (even though lag and the number of people in the room at the time may make things difficult) if someone tosses
a dagger your way in the middle of the fight, duck at least you let them know that they weren't being ignored.
I came across an interesting system while playing Vandal Hearts. This is very true for RPGs and
accurate to IRL situations for the middle ages. The system goes as followed..
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Armored characters are strong, but slow: hevily armored characters won't be able to dodge as well as the lesser armored characters. no acrobatics, very good strength and power
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Remember the balance of Sword, air, staff, and spell: In a real mideval battle, archers would be placed strategically to take out swordsmen and guardsmen..so arrows would be naturally faster than
the sword, but in a close range situation an archer has very little time to react and very little to defend him or herself with..so at close range the sword and spear wins. Magic users are usually defenseless
with the exception of a few spells so naturally a well placed archer would be able to take down a mage with little effort unless the mage has set up a protection spell or has other means of keeping him or herself alive.
this is mostly a "paper, rock, scisors" type thing which works well in strategy.
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fighting styles differ in speed and power: as stated above, the armored characters are strong, yet slow in response time, but what of the lesser armored characters? characters who don't wear armor usually
have average speed and thats just the humans , inhuman characters are slightly above average but not faster than the speed of light, only faster than the human eye precieves. inhuman characters also have fairly good dexterity and reflexes
but so can a human character who has had years of training in that vocation.
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Weapons can be used by someone trained in that field of weaponry Soilders are usually trained to wield swords, but as they progress into Guardsmen they can wield axes and other weapons. noone can use an arsenal of
weapons flawlessly, but as their character progresses and learns different fields they can start to use other weapons.. anyone can lift a sword, but it takes time and practice to accually master the art of swordplay catch my drift?
I have non human characters, How can I use them in RPG
Good question!! Basically the non human characters used most in roleplay are elves, Wolves, Dragons, Vampires, and Demons. When picking one of these
characters it's good to find references to the character in question just to make a well rounded character. When creating characters you want to be
individual, yet stay true to the origin of that particular type of character. (for the sake of length I'll leave out Dragons)
Elves
The basic elf is roughly 4'5" to about 5'2". most elves that are seen by humans, have a slim build average life span for elves are usually somewhere between 100-500 years of age, but they mature alot slower than humans.
the average weapon for a elf is your basic sword or dagger and his/her fighting style roughtly involves a moderate use of kicking. Drow elves are night elves that cannot stand sunlight due to their extremly dark skin and
sensitive eyes, aquatic elves use trident-like weapons or nets (mermaid/mermen type weapons). They also need water to survive on land.
Dwarves
Dwarves are usually 4'5" and wieghing anywhere between 140-200 lbs. The wepon of choice for these characters are Axes, short swords, War hammers and things like that. Dwarves usually go for low attacks especially on taller
charcters. some Dwarves are uncomfortable and untrusting of humans so they tend to stay as far away from the as possible.Dwarf Villiages are hidden away from human contact. Grey Dwarves are the same but use more hammer-like
weapons than the axe or sword. they are also untrusting of humans or any other beings that are not like them. they stay underground to keep away from sunlight but unlike drow elves they only get sick from extended time in the sun.
Vampires
The basic Vampire is your undead human form, but different clans have different types of Vampire. most clans use magic , others force a person to become twisted grotesque vampires (nosferatu clan or "sewer rats")
Vampires fear sunlight and fire (both are capable of serious damage to them) Wooden stakes are known to immobilize , but not completely kill Vampires. The only way to truly kill a Vampire is to cut off it's head
and set fire to it's body. Vampires don't really have human features until they concentrate on their appearace, but there are times when the smell of blood is enough to reveal their identity and intentions.
Angels/Devils
Angels and demons are your basic "messenger characters". Angels are usually messengers from god , sent to deliver words of wisdom and devine inspiration to people, whereas Demons are sent from hell to cause mischief,
and to torment souls in one way or another, most only stay in the mortal plane long enough to complete their task and leave. It is possible for a demon to posess a human character, but if the body was distroyed or
exorcised, the demon would be sent back to hell instantly or only roam the world for a limited period of time until it is forced back or finds another host.
Wolves
Wolves or Canis Lupus, are mostly silent preditors. they hunt, they roam , they take care of their young. Like most animals, they don't really trust humans to a full extent (unless domesticated) and they pretty much stay
to their pack. only certain characters have the ability to talk to animals or learn from elves or some mages. Wolves are known to be very accurate in their attacks, often creeping upon their prey and striking with little
room for error. Werewolf characters take note that there are three stages to transformation and most of them depend on the lunar cycles. on a Full moon a werewolf can transform into full Lupine form as well as hybrid form.
I can fight anywhere I want right?
Hooold your horses partner. There are certain areas in chat based RPGs that you can't fight..for starters places that are Neutral like Inns and such. you can't be in a neutral room and say you're somewhere else so don't even
try it..if you're in the inn you're in the inn. if the battle takes place in the path, go to the path, or the forest ,or the woods..it's just that simple. Remember the locations in the RPG are mostly locations to places in the
chat so it's best to follow this accordingly.
How Does the EXP system work? and who handles that ?
The EXP system is basically a new thing that has come to Alamak in the past couple of games. It works like a basic Videogame , where monsters you fight will give out
EXP (which in most cases are divided by the number of people who slay it) This happens Randomly in any one game, and the Monsters are usually divided up amongst
the lands they are most commonly located in. The Monsters themselves are usually Played by either council members or MSM members. So usually if they are slain by
your character the person playing the monster will email it in to the email address. Also take note that if someone is caught impersonating an unauthorized monster for EXP purposes their
current EXP will be taken back down to Zero. Since the email address which is held for exp distribution knows the addresses which are commonly used, and EXP list updating is handled by MSM
members and myself personally. theres a small chance of anything like that getting by us.
Thats pretty much all I can come up with now, but there will be more questions for you all when I get some..if you have any questions to add remember to send them to RPGupdate@hotmail.com and they'll inform me.. happy roleplaying!!
