Something I recently realized: this Roleplay forum typically has shorter responses than I'm generally used to. See, I'm a tabletop roleplayer, so as GM I'm used vividly describing the world around the players. With most of the RPs I checked, the GM seems to mostly be there to prod the players in the right direction now and again. So what I'm getting to is this: How would you guys prefer to roleplay? Is it mostly short speech bubbles, or do you go into detail of what's happening? As I said, I'm one for lots of detail, and generally appreciate descriptive posts, but if you people do it differently, I'd like to know so I can act accordingly (wouldn't want me to expect poetry when everyone prefers to get to the point). For my part, I'll definitely get descriptive at times, as this story has a good amount of exploration aspects, where it'd be good to know what's happening around you. ... Aaand then there's a second thing: how much control do you guys get on the story? I'm used to a player only controlling a character, though it seems that sometimes players get to say what's going on around them. I'd like to know where you guys stand on that; personally, I'd prefer to allow just minor changes, though if you have ideas for more major things we could discuss it OOC (though depending on how things go, I might be more willing as we move along). To summarize: I'd like to know how descriptive your posts are and how much you feel you should be able to control as a player (i.e. can you control more than just your character?). (Sorry for the questions; I'm just relatively new to this type of roleplaying.)
As for me, I'm used to the shorter kind of "script" roleplaying, but I've attempted longer descriptions before. So, if everybody else is okay with the longer style, I'll be okay with that too. And as for how much control we should exercise? Just my character is fine. I'm not good at thinking up scenes/items/whatever.
I try and be as detailed as I can if possible. Otherwise, if most of the details are already there, then I just do quick script replies.
I have no personal preference due to lack of experience with this type of stuff. I am good with only controlling my character.
I've only ever had control of a single character in RP. Like with the introduction I submitted earlier, more detail is better in my book. I actually found I hard time writing Mister E's letter because I didn't want to infringe on the character or do anything you think he wouldn't say, Vurrunna.
This is exactly what's tripping me up. Being someone else's character is always very hard for me, because I just don't feel the same connection to them as to my own characters...
Okay, so I'm taking it that the majority of you are generally able to describe what you're doing; if not, that's totally fine. I generally prefer that you at least make it obvious what's happening; going into detail is nice, but by no means required. Something I forgot to mention: all of your characters will have had some chit-chat time before the story begins, from when they were waiting to see Mr. E, just before getting gassed out. Zayabucket, if you wished to go with the idea that your guy was one of Romanoff's experiments/subjects, I'd say he was one of the ones that survived, and was thus contacted by Mr. E (he would have lost most of his memory with Romanoff). Otherwise, I'd like to have some extra background info on your guy before we proceed. I mention this whole past-meeting thing because I had an idea; just to get a feel for the group and get some understanding of how you guys operate (and to show how I operate), I thought we could do a little test run, based off of this waiting room scene. I just thought it'd be good to get the ball rolling, and maybe pick up on how you people post and how your characters act. Participation isn't required, though I think it could be helpful/useful/fun/what-have-you. ***************************************************** It was a dark night as Mr. E's new explorers began to arrive at his manor; at least, he'd said it was his manor, though there was little reason to doubt his word, with the exception of a few mysterious, red stains and obtrusive claw marks found on the walls. Still, once one got over such things, it was rather pleasant in the parlour where the explorers would wait to see Mr. E, and the servo-bots had worked diligantly to remove or cover the majority of the stains and scratches. One such bot found itself standing in the cold, pounding rain as the first of the explorers arrived. It bowed it's head and spoke to the strange individual before it. "Greetings. Mr. E shall be seeing you shortly. For the time being, may I take your coat and lead you to the parlour, Mr., Ms, or Mrs....?" ************************************************* Yeah, I may have let my inner writer out a bit too much, but hey! A good story is what everyone should want, I geuss. For this tid-bit, introduce your characters as they arrive, with maybe a brief description of them if you're feeling extra writesy. Also, this portion will be in the past tense; when we begin the actual RP, it will be mostly in present tense. It helps the reading flow when the tense is consistent.
Shall we reply in a separate thread or... *************************************** "Paige... Gale Paige... And no thank you, I prefer to wear my jacket when I can." She looks about her surroundings. "This is Mr. E's manor right? It looks a bit... Erie..." She says with a shudder... "Must be the cold I guess... Anyway, where is the parlor?" ***************************************
Ah, yes, silly me; I meant to say the test run would be in this thread, since I want the main RP thread to start with the adventure right off the bat (I had to rewrite that post a few times when my phone closed). My thinking was that this is background, so it'd fit better here. If it'd be a better idea to set up the main thread first, I can do that as well. **************************************************** "Ah, Ms. Paige. Please follow me to the parlour. Er, don't mind tha stain right there; one of the chefs spilt some tomato soup." The servo-bot led Gale to a comfortable looking lounge areas, with a curious number of drapes and rugs in some peculiar arrangements. "Tea shall be served shortly, after which shall be time for scones, after which Mr. E shall arrive. Please make yourself comfortable, and ask one of the other servo-bots if you need aid; I shall be at the door." **************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gale has had many experiences with cleaning bodies... she's pretty sure she knows what tomato soup and "tomato soup" smell like... but she follows the servo-bot anyway... "nice... aesthetic decisions... what with the rugs and drapes... and thank you... i'll take earl grey if you have any..." she sits down in a random armchair... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He came to Ander Romanoff for help after an accident that left him with only a short time left to live. He had already figured out a way to keep someone alive without them requiring a physical body but required assistance as it was only mathematically proven. It was certainly not perfect, as it had a relatively low change of success, plus he had very limited resources & time so he could not physically construct the device. He came to Romanoff & convinced him to help by both giving him the little he had, & by offering himself as a test subject if the procedure worked. Romanoff worked quickly to get everything in place. Romanoff refined the original idea, heavily increasing the chance of success & allowing the subject to interact with computers as software. The whole thing was done in complete secrecy with only the two of them knowing. The process was successful & he became one of Romanoff's test subjects. He suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar place with barely any intact memory. He forgot who he was before the experiment & no longer had any memory of Romanoff. Not even his name or race could be recalled. He eventually found out that he was in a computer in a USCM storage warehouse. He waited patiently for an opportunity to obtain access to some sort of vehicle. Eventually he was able to move to a small aerial surveillance drone as it was receiving data wirelessly from one of the computers. He took control mid-flight during the drone's patrol & awkwardly flew away. After flying for several hours the power in the drone was running low so he attempted to land somewhere with a possible replacement vehicle. He landed at a small outpost somewhere & quickly sent himself wirelessly to a nearby computer. After the discombobulation of going from drone to computer, he searched the computer & found that the outpost was run by a small secret organization. Wile searching, someone noticed the computer acting weird & tried to figure out what was wrong & soon found out that there was something actively manipulating the computer. At first they thought someone was remotely hacking them but discovered that it was software alone that was doing this. He tried to escape but they had already shut down all wireless signals. He tried again to escape but through other computers in the system but was unsuccessful & eventually was caught. They tried to figure out where he came from but were unsuccessful due to him not being an AI as they had assumed. He eventually communicated to them that he is sentient & that he lost most of his memory. He ended up joining the unnamed organization. (it is too secret to have a name) One day he found an envelope hanging from a tree by a piece of string in the middle of the woods. It contained coordinates, a date, & a simple letter that said: "I require your assistance with a particular mater. Many of the questions you have about yourself may be answered if you accept. Come given coordinates if you accept. --Mister E" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He arrived at the manor wearing a dark cloak, disguising his mechanical body. "Greetings... Please direct me to where I will be meeting Mister E." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The servo-bot jumped, awoken from its standing slumber, and stared blankly at the cloaked figure before it. "Who... Ah! You must be that particular individual Mr. E mentioned! Yes yes, right this way, if you please..." The servo-bot wallked ahead of the 'man' to the parlour, giving him the standard introductions ("Don't mind the stain; the chef's spilt some tomato soup.") before arriving in the over-rugged and over-draped room, interrupting the lower-level servo-bot explaining the particular furniture choice of this very room. "... And this rug was from the Dread Pirate Rubert's mansion, and these drapes belonged to President Candington of the Phobical Parades, and those-- "*Ahem,* SB-12, I believe that will be enough. Please see to it that this new guest is properly... seen... to." The door-opening servo-bot returned to his door-opening duties, leaving the two guests with a bot all too willing to help.
The note was on Luie's desk when she entered. At first, she assumed it was a notice from her landlord, but as soon as she saw the elegant print she knew otherwise. She thought it was strange that someone would take the time to deposit a letter directly on her desk, but figured it probably wasn't your standard junk mail, so she sat down and started reading. "To the Esteemed Scientist Luie," it read. Flattery. Someone, she immediately realized, was trying to sell her something. "Forgive me," it continued, "for exaggerating, but I truly think your talent in your field is under-recognized. Since that unfortunate incident on Rho Gina 12, you seem to have dropped off the radar. I don't blame you for that, but you deserve better than a historical footnote. "And I believe I have a job for which your skills are uniquely suited. A friend of mine, Andre Romanoff, a cutting-edge scientist like yourself, has been missing for a while. But his ship has turned up recently, drifting in space; while I'm no layman, I expect someone specializing in chemistry, such as yourself, may be able to understand his research and notes more easily. He specialized in biochemistry, after all. In conclusion, I'm requesting your assistance in understanding and interpreting any research of his that we might be able to discover. I'll also be able to repay you handsomely," and here he named an estimate, which was enough to set her mind racing. The things she could accomplish with that kind of money! But then again, she chided herself, there are setbacks. Risks. False promises... "If you would like to accept," the letter continued, "come to these coordinates, and we can discuss matters further." Below was a set of coordinates, as well as the date and time to be there. The letter was signed, "Mister E." Luie read and re-read the note, and finally tucked it into her pocket. She re-read it many more times before the deadline, but in the end she decided to take the man up on his offer. Though she'd only planned to go out of curiosity, to see how the mysterious Mr. E planned to go about this mission, and what exactly he was doing. Gio would've reminded her that curiosity killed the cat. (Ah, darn. I'd meant my introduction to involve the mysterious computer guy, but it seems I wasn't quick enough. Oh well...) - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luie had dressed up for the occasion. Surprisingly enough, her old Apex uniform still almost fit her, so she wore that as well as a small shoulder-bag containing a recording device, a small flashlight, and various other notions. The rather short Apex became progressively more nervous as she approached the mysterious manor. What if it was a trap? What if she made a mistake? What if she was never really meant to be here? She wiped a hand across her glasses, taking a deep breath to calm herself, as she prepared to knock on the front door.
The door-bot huffed indignantly as the Apex walked past it, then glared daggers at the back of her head as she stood before the door. "WHY HELLO THERE" the bot said a bit too loudly, looking unnaturally pleasant. "May I take your coat and lead you to the parlour?" Without waiting for a response, the bot stomped into the manor, loudly and quickly listing off its introdutory statements ("Chef's spilt some tomato soup right there already, so don't worry if you sludge around in your dingy boots."). Arriving at the parlour, the bot swung open the doors, staring back at the Apex with a strange look of pure hatred hidden behind pleasantry. "Make yourself comfortable, though that might be hard as we are sorely lacking of bananas, and we also happen to deplore the drab design sense of the Apes." ************************************************* Right now, he's supposed to be ignoring whatever reaction Luie might have, so I went past a few points where normally I'd wait to see how you'd respond.
Ooh, how intriguing. Monte watched the Apex entering the mansion from his hiding spot in the pouring rain. Miniknog? The uniform suggested so. She was the third to enter that he'd observed. The first, a Floran. The second, who knows? A minute or two later, the same robot he'd overheard escorting each guest within returned to its post. I suppose it's time I made my own entrance. And what an entrance it would be! He'd dressed for the occasion, in his very best double-breasted coat and tails. The short cape he wore over his shoulders was well-worn but crafted of fine fabric. He quickly checked the contents of his pocket-dimension hidden in his plumed tricorn to make sure all his tricks were still in place. Perfect. "Good evening to you! I prefer to keep my coat, thank you, and call me Signor Spaventra, if you don't mind. I suppose you'll wish to escort me this way? Lovely weather tonight!" He leapt from his perch to surprise the escort robot, eager to meet his fellow adventurers. (I've given Monte a pocket dimension inside his hat that he can store things in and pull out out will. It has the storage capacity of a large backpack. If that's overpowered let me know and I'll cut it.)
After being startled by the door-bot's unnecessarily loud greeting, Luie had attempted to stammer out an apology, but she could never get more than a few words in, let alone catch her breath as she hurried after the insulted bot. She soon realized and regretted her mistake of not seeing it when she'd arrived at the door. She was marginally relieved when they arrived at the parlor and the bot had left. She looked back to make sure it had gone, then turned to the assorted characters already seated in the parlor. Still dripping wet, the only thing she could think to say was, "Are zhey all like zhat?" ----------------- Ignoring Luie? I understand, don't worry. xD She's very ignore-able, to be honest. Also, accent time! I might eventually stop modifying most of her words to reflect it, but just so you know: it's basically (supposed to be) a French accent.
(Considering how much Matter Manipulators can hold... I think it's safe to assume magicians might use similar technology in their hats. Yeah, it ought to be fine.) "Buh--wazza--I don't--uh... *Ahem,* er, yes, right this way, sir... (I'll leave this blank, as I imagine Spaventra has some tricks he'd like to unveil.)[DOUBLEPOST=1444017272][/DOUBLEPOST] "Certainly not," chimed one of the servo-bots coming in with various tea pots, passing by another servo-bot before setting the dishes on a small table and standing aside with yet another servo-bot (they were quite hard to follow). "He must be cross with having to stand in the rain. Serves him right, skimping out on cleaning up all the bluuuuh, I mean, tomato soup earlier, which spilt in the hall and was a right pain to clean! Eh heheh... Excuse me a moment..." The servo-bot quickly scampered off looking very embarassed, leaving only the the more talkative servo-bot from earlier. "... Have I told you two where these rugs and drapes came from? This rug's from the fur of a Flannel Bat-Hawk, and this rug's from inside a magical box..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 5 foot tall cloaked figure shrugs & takes a couple of slow steps deeper into the shadows behind him.
"Certainly." Hands clasped behind his back, Monte followed the robot as he gave a bewilderingly half-hearted tour of the mansion. "Hm. I've never known tomato soup to be made with blood." The home of this "Signor E." was opulent, but the eclectic arrangement of furnishings gave Monte a feeling of impending malevolence. He couldn't wait. When the robot at last lead him to the heavy door to the parlor, Monte took a moment to remove from his hat his viola and one of his more spectacular mixtures of smoke bomb. "Your master wishes me for my talent, and my talent he shall receive in spades," he said to the escort bot. With a single motion, Monte threw open the doors and tossed down his smoke bomb. Under the cover of glittering purple haze, only the stick-thin silhouette of Monte could be seen, dramatically playing an eerie arpeggiated upwards scale. As the smoke cleared, he took a bold step forward into the room and announced, "At last we meet, my enigmatic friends. Monte Spaventra, at your service." (Oh, if we're talking accents, I imagine that universal translators might give Monte a slight Italian accent when translating to human languages.)
She couldn't understand why someone - or somebot - would feel the need to pretend "tomato soup" is anything else. After all, it's easily explained as having been needed for a test or experiment, right? Yet, she hadn't thought Mr. E was a scientist... Her thank-you died in mid-word as the servo-bot who'd answered her scurried away. Reluctant to drip on either the furniture or the rugs, the still-wet Apex stepped away from the doorway. "Er... excuse me, but does anyone have a towel?" Though she missed seeing the doors open and the purple haze appear, the eerie music that suddenly swelled into existence sent a shiver down Luie's back. She cautiously, fearfully, turned to see the source of the sound. As the tall, thin being stepped out of the glittering mist, she involuntarily stepped back. This, she decided, shivering both from her wet clothing and the sudden chill that seemed to have swept the room, certainly was unlike any research party she'd heard of before! (I find accents tend to make things seem more foreign/diverse, as well as give characters unique ways of speaking to make them stand out more.)
