FAQ
Character Creation
Playing the Game
Story and Plot
Setting
Out Of Character
-What does "Original Character" mean?
An original character is any character you made yourself. For the purposes of this game, you are allowed to play fan characters, which means original characters from a world you didn't make yourself. For example, you can't play Naruto, but you can play a character you invented for Naruto's world. Or you could play your steampunk wizard from that novel you've been writing. Just try not to make characters who really are another character with some minor change or a character who is ridiculously powerful. Those sorts of characters will not be approved.
-Are canon characters allowed?
As this RP is for original characters only, characters from a published canon (such as Naruto) will not be accepted.
-What's the character limit?
Each player is allowed five (5) characters total, and applications must be written for each. See the application process for more details.
-What's a Mary Sue and how do I tell if my character is one?
Wikipedia gives a good, descriptive article on the usual attributes of 'Sues.' There are Mary Sue tests that can give you some sense of whether your character is a Sue or not. In general, Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) characters tend to be exceedingly powerful, cliché, and need the story to revolve around them. As such, they are not much fun for other people to roleplay with.
-I want to play a non-human character (cat-girl, pokémon, etc) Is that allowed?
Of course. Wolves, dragons, anything you can think of. Feel free to extrapolate!
-I like playing villains. Do I have to play a good guy?
There is nothing which requires you to play a good guy. If you think your character would start stealing or getting together a gang, then feel free to try and do that. Between-character tension can be fun to play out. Just remember, you aren't allowed to kill characters without the player's permission (which goes for your character as well) and things are not required to turn out like you think they will.
-How do I start a new thread?
Simply figure out what your character would be doing and create a new post. It is suggested that you talk to the other players and get more people involved or plan out things the characters would be doing productively in order to make play more interesting.
-How do I join an active thread?
If the thread is set in a place close to you, feel free to have your character simply show up by posting in the thread. If the thread appears to be trying to accomplish something specific between a set group of characters or set in a less common area, it's polite to check with the other players involved before joining. Please follow posting guidelines when active in a thread.
-I'm not having fun with one of my characters anymore. How do I drop that character?
Start by informing a moderator of your intentions. If you have an ending planned for your character, that is fine, but the moderators still need to know what is going on. Finish up any threads you have open, and then remove your character's journal from the community.
-This thread is taking forever and I'm bored. What can I do?
Summarize, summarize, summarize. You don't need to act out every little thing. If you and the other people involved in the thread are fine with it, feel free to assume you succeed at simple tasks like cooking breakfast without having to act out setting the fire up, choosing all the ingredients, etc. Those sorts of things fill time without being that exciting and tend to bog down quickly.
-My character wants to punch another character. How do I settle in-character disputes?
It is polite to start by informing the character's player of your intent. They might know something you don't that would change your action. Then, post your character's action. You cannot write the punch connecting without the consent of the other players in the thread. They have the right to react and attempt to dodge. By the same token, if their character is dodging everything with ease and you think that shouldn't be the case, inform the moderators in case someone is god-modding.
-I need to interact with a specific character, but they are in a thread that is behind mine in time. What can I do?
You're a bit stuck in that situation. Threads should try to stay generally in the same time area as each other and a certain amount of fudging will occur for smoother play. However, all you can do is talk to the players involved and see if they can summarize or otherwise speed up their current thread. If not, you might want to start a new thread that tucks your character out of the way until they catch up to you or even start the new thread you need to act out with the other player writing in both threads. That second option only works if the end results of their prior thread can be predicted generally and should not be used too often due to confusion.
-Can I as a player change the world or plot?
I certainly hope so. If you knock down a building, it's knocked down. If you build something, it's built. If you manage to create a plant that grows in this environment and plant it, it will spread. Just remember, make these changes in character. Try to figure out what your character would do to change the world and then try and act that out. Still, don't forget that there may be occasional happenings that will be out of your control and will effect your character, like an earthquake.
-What's the name of this place? What's it like?
Hesperadia is in a deep valley located somewhere in the world. Its summers are warm and its winters are cold, and there's always something to do. For full information on Hesperadia, visit this post.
-Who do I go to if I have a question? Who plays NPCs?
NPCs are played by the mods. However, small NPC actions, such as a squirrel bite, are in the player's hands.
Your two moderators are:
Chex --- dragonalchemist (pretiossissime @ AIM)
Sand3 --- sand3, (thevilcomputor @ AIM)
There are several ways to get in touch with the mods:
*Comment on the FAQ post
*Send an email to dragon.alchemist(at)gmail(dot)com
*Contact via AIM at the above usernames
-This person is being unfair/trolling/being mean. What should I do?
Contact the mods. The situation will be examined and both sides will be taken into account before a decision is made and action is taken.
-I'm not going to be able to post for a while. What should I do?
If a player really can not post for a period of time, they should place their characters out of the way and announce a hiatus on the OOC community,
hesperadiaooc
The character must post when the hiatus ends if the hiatus is longer than a month. If no post is made one week after the hiatus end date, warnings will be issued on a three-strike policy. Please no hiatus longer than two months without some sort of real life emergency that prevents you from posting at all.
Playing the Game
Story and Plot
Setting
Out Of Character
Character Creation
-What does "Original Character" mean?
An original character is any character you made yourself. For the purposes of this game, you are allowed to play fan characters, which means original characters from a world you didn't make yourself. For example, you can't play Naruto, but you can play a character you invented for Naruto's world. Or you could play your steampunk wizard from that novel you've been writing. Just try not to make characters who really are another character with some minor change or a character who is ridiculously powerful. Those sorts of characters will not be approved.
-Are canon characters allowed?
As this RP is for original characters only, characters from a published canon (such as Naruto) will not be accepted.
-What's the character limit?
Each player is allowed five (5) characters total, and applications must be written for each. See the application process for more details.
-What's a Mary Sue and how do I tell if my character is one?
Wikipedia gives a good, descriptive article on the usual attributes of 'Sues.' There are Mary Sue tests that can give you some sense of whether your character is a Sue or not. In general, Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) characters tend to be exceedingly powerful, cliché, and need the story to revolve around them. As such, they are not much fun for other people to roleplay with.
-I want to play a non-human character (cat-girl, pokémon, etc) Is that allowed?
Of course. Wolves, dragons, anything you can think of. Feel free to extrapolate!
-I like playing villains. Do I have to play a good guy?
There is nothing which requires you to play a good guy. If you think your character would start stealing or getting together a gang, then feel free to try and do that. Between-character tension can be fun to play out. Just remember, you aren't allowed to kill characters without the player's permission (which goes for your character as well) and things are not required to turn out like you think they will.
Playing the Game
-How do I start a new thread?
Simply figure out what your character would be doing and create a new post. It is suggested that you talk to the other players and get more people involved or plan out things the characters would be doing productively in order to make play more interesting.
-How do I join an active thread?
If the thread is set in a place close to you, feel free to have your character simply show up by posting in the thread. If the thread appears to be trying to accomplish something specific between a set group of characters or set in a less common area, it's polite to check with the other players involved before joining. Please follow posting guidelines when active in a thread.
-I'm not having fun with one of my characters anymore. How do I drop that character?
Start by informing a moderator of your intentions. If you have an ending planned for your character, that is fine, but the moderators still need to know what is going on. Finish up any threads you have open, and then remove your character's journal from the community.
-This thread is taking forever and I'm bored. What can I do?
Summarize, summarize, summarize. You don't need to act out every little thing. If you and the other people involved in the thread are fine with it, feel free to assume you succeed at simple tasks like cooking breakfast without having to act out setting the fire up, choosing all the ingredients, etc. Those sorts of things fill time without being that exciting and tend to bog down quickly.
Story and Plot
-My character wants to punch another character. How do I settle in-character disputes?
It is polite to start by informing the character's player of your intent. They might know something you don't that would change your action. Then, post your character's action. You cannot write the punch connecting without the consent of the other players in the thread. They have the right to react and attempt to dodge. By the same token, if their character is dodging everything with ease and you think that shouldn't be the case, inform the moderators in case someone is god-modding.
-I need to interact with a specific character, but they are in a thread that is behind mine in time. What can I do?
You're a bit stuck in that situation. Threads should try to stay generally in the same time area as each other and a certain amount of fudging will occur for smoother play. However, all you can do is talk to the players involved and see if they can summarize or otherwise speed up their current thread. If not, you might want to start a new thread that tucks your character out of the way until they catch up to you or even start the new thread you need to act out with the other player writing in both threads. That second option only works if the end results of their prior thread can be predicted generally and should not be used too often due to confusion.
-Can I as a player change the world or plot?
I certainly hope so. If you knock down a building, it's knocked down. If you build something, it's built. If you manage to create a plant that grows in this environment and plant it, it will spread. Just remember, make these changes in character. Try to figure out what your character would do to change the world and then try and act that out. Still, don't forget that there may be occasional happenings that will be out of your control and will effect your character, like an earthquake.
Setting
-What's the name of this place? What's it like?
Hesperadia is in a deep valley located somewhere in the world. Its summers are warm and its winters are cold, and there's always something to do. For full information on Hesperadia, visit this post.
Out Of Character
-Who do I go to if I have a question? Who plays NPCs?
NPCs are played by the mods. However, small NPC actions, such as a squirrel bite, are in the player's hands.
Your two moderators are:
Chex --- dragonalchemist (pretiossissime @ AIM)
Sand3 --- sand3, (thevilcomputor @ AIM)
There are several ways to get in touch with the mods:
*Comment on the FAQ post
*Send an email to dragon.alchemist(at)gmail(dot)com
*Contact via AIM at the above usernames
-This person is being unfair/trolling/being mean. What should I do?
Contact the mods. The situation will be examined and both sides will be taken into account before a decision is made and action is taken.
-I'm not going to be able to post for a while. What should I do?
If a player really can not post for a period of time, they should place their characters out of the way and announce a hiatus on the OOC community,
hesperadiaooc The character must post when the hiatus ends if the hiatus is longer than a month. If no post is made one week after the hiatus end date, warnings will be issued on a three-strike policy. Please no hiatus longer than two months without some sort of real life emergency that prevents you from posting at all.
