Style Guide

STYLE GUIDE

Unlike the Discord Guidelines and Forum Guidelines, the points below are simply community standards and basic considerations we expect fellow RPers to give their partners. The admins will not be actively policing what players write in threads or do with their characters unless it breaks an explicit rule or crosses boundaries, and it is brought to our attention.

POST LENGTH

We do not have a word minimum. Often, a few sentences will suffice as a reply if that suits a player, but proper grammar and spelling helps avoid misunderstandings or confusion. In the end, it is up to the player to judge whether they have given their partner enough to respond to, and partners are free to ask for elaboration if something is unclear.

STACKING ACTIONS/DIALOGUE

Remember that you're writing with a partner, not writing a book. Having too many actions or too much dialogue in one post often leads to concurrent conversations and actions as your partner works to catch up with you, or the first half getting ignored as they focus on the most recent action/dialogue section. Ask yourself "Am I giving the other character time to respond?" if you're working with a lot of actions and dialogue.

OMNISCIENT NARRATORS

If you write in a style that has an omniscient narrator, keep in mind that players are in charge of what others may or may not know about their characters if it hasn't been established in character. Characters are allowed to have secrets and they may not be able to control who knows what if they reveal themselves in a thread, but no one should assume someone is guaranteed to know a detail about a character. As always, this is a matter discussed between players.

THE DICE AND CONSEQUENCES

Engaging the dice system means accepting the accompanying risks, and numbers leave little room for interpretation. Consequences are expected to appropriately reflect the rolls, and the varying degrees of success or failure. For example, in a potentially lethal situation, a player will not be required to kill or maim their character. However, a critical failure is still a critical failure and a player is encouraged to interpret it as such, in the context of the situation. The dice system is designed to introduce an element of unpredictability.

IC =/= OOC

Roleplay is meant for fun, exploration, and creativity. Unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it is never to be assumed that in-character actions reflect a player's out-of-character opinion, stance, or thoughts/urges. Refrain from projecting a character's actions on the roleplayer.

We encourage mature discussion around character choices and development, making it an interesting character exploration moment rather than a moment of hostility. Also, other characters will do things that you don't like, which is inevitable in collaborative writing. Players will need to learn to work with it. Keep discussions civil and authentic, remembering our basic guidelines.

OPEN THREADS

We have a thread prefix option in the posting panel that allows players to mark their threads as "Open," which means anyone can enter it freely. If a thread does not have this prefix and you want to join it, you should ask all the participants in the thread and get their permission. Without permission, your presence may be unwelcome in the thread.

THREAD COUNT

Players may participate in as many threads as they like, so long as they believe they can respond to their partners in a timely manner.