Roleplay Guide

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Roleplay Guide

This guide contains information for roleplayers, both new and experienced, that are making story on Crossroads. This page is a work in progress and will be added to over time.

Roleplay Etiquette

‒ General guidelines for RP etiquette

Overview

The purpose of these guidelines is to set expectations for how players should behave while interacting within the community. These guidelines serve to promote a play-to-lift mindset and to help those who might be new to Crossroads (or RP in general) with best etiquette practices.

Guidelines

• Be collaborative, not competitive! Roleplay isn’t about winning, but about collaborative storytelling.
• Always consider the question: “What would make this scene more enjoyable for everyone?”. Balance this with understanding what your character would do to try and create the most rewarding experience for all involved.
• When entering a scene, it is good to wait a post or two to get an idea of the scene your character is entering so you can better engage with your fellow players.
• When exiting a scene, wait for a round of posts before leaving, just in case people want to respond and/or attempt to stop your character. If you are unable to wait for OOC reasons, it is good practice to communicate that with those who are in the scene with you.
• Walk away from a scene entirely before using OOC teleports (such as /warp or /home), unless given consent by the people were you in a scene with.
• Be wary of excessive “shotgun posting” in scenes. This is when someone is posting out of the understood post order and/or in rapid succession. While understandable for quick quips, it can get overwhelming for some in a scene with many people. It can also be viewed as rude as it does not provide opportunity for others to react to your posts.
• Also, try to be mindful about “thought posting”. Thought posting is when you are emoting your character’s internal personal thoughts during a scene, and not having them be spoken out loud. Especially when it involves negative thoughts about another character, this can be seen as rude as these sorts of “thoughts” cannot be addressed or responded to fairly, and can feel one-sided and unfair.
• Try your best to avoid “Lamping”. Lamping is standing around and spectating a scene without actively engaging with it. If you approach an active scene, even if you only plan to observe the goings on, it is best to post every so often and make yourself known!
• Treat and react to the world realistically. While the map may not have representations for how many NPCs and animals exist, they are still present and should be included in your roleplay. This also includes representing your character's emotions, especially during high-stress scenes, such as fear and anxiety. All creatures are capable of these emotions to some degree!
• Ask your fellow player(s) for consent before performing any healing and/or negative consequences. Communication is key, especially surrounding the comfort and story progression of your fellow players.
• Take turns sharing the spotlight - give everyone a chance to shine. Try to keep your posts balanced so that others have room to contribute and share in the scene.
• Be mindful and respectful of everyone’s time. Scenes and storylines grow best when they are allowed time to breathe, and are allowed to flow at a steady pace that keeps everyone engaged.
• Take the time to celebrate and thank each other. Small gestures and a little bit of encouragement goes a long way in inspiring one another.
• Skill rolls in everyday RP are optional and are not strict pass/fail states. They’re simply meant to help guide how your character might perceive and/or react to the world around them - things in which they may have already formed their own opinions on! Players should acknowledge skill rolls appropriately and in a way that is satisfying for both sides of the roll. There is guidance on how each skill roll should be used in their RPR tooltips, and some systems on Crossroads do have enforced skill rolls and rules.
• Not everyone speaks English as their primary language. Please be gracious and grant people time to translate and/or type as needed.
• Try to acknowledge everyone in a scene at least once when possible. This helps your fellow roleplayers feel appreciated, especially in scenes where your character might not have a reason to speak to a specific person. You can always politely note their presence in your narration, but the character is choosing not to speak to them.
• Additionally, be mindful to emote in various ranges if you are utilizing mumble or whisper. This is to avoid the appearance of ignoring someone who might not be close enough to realize you've been emoting at them. As an example, you can emote in Say range that you are leaning over to whisper to another character. This will also help people know that you are not AFK.
• If your character is acting cruel or unkind, it can help to acknowledge that in your posts! Use words like cruel, snarky, or rude to express that. Making this effort shows that you, as a writer, are aware of your character’s tone and actions and can help to prevent misinterpretations of intent. This may seem minor, but it goes a long way in shedding tensions as part of a collaborative RP experience.
• Be mindful of your LFRP advertisement in-game. If you are advertising on the map and people arrive, remember to turn it off at a reasonable time so you are not overwhelming yourself and/or those who have arrived.
• Show, not tell! Instead of stating how others should see your character, try your best to describe their qualities in a way that allows others to draw their own conclusions. It makes the experience feel more immersive!
• Sometimes crashing unequips items and/or runes. Allow people the opportunity to double-check and reequip their items and/or runes after returning from a crash.

Identifying Races

These guidelines dictate the rules in place for what mechanical parts of our systems are allowed to be used to identify races.

All Races

• Using racial spells when playing a class that gets no spells whatsoever.
• Using Flight as a class that gets no spells whatsoever.
• Using a race-specific special ability. (Yuan-ti Bite, Radiant Consumption, Saving Face, Surprise Attack, Stone's Endurance)

Mind Flayer

• Mind Blast on any class
• Levitation when playing a class that gets no spells whatsoever.

Vampires (True and Fledgeling)

• Spider Climb
• Vampiric Wildshapes (As vampires can not be druids)
• Racial Regeneration
• Vampyric Bite

Air Genasi

• Mingle with the Wind (climbing)

Water Genasi

• Water Flee Rules

Hag

• Water Flee Rules

Actions/Information that can't be used to conclude a character's race In Character

• When using racially granted spells as a spellcasting class, this may not be used IC as an indication of a character's hidden race. This is true for any spell while playing any spellcasting class, even classes that normally cannot gain those spells. This may be used to make tactical decisions, such as avoiding or utilizing specific spells; but spell damage also can not be used to IC determine a character's race.
• Fluff spells can't be used to determine a character's race.
• Immunities or damage resistances can't be used to determine a character's race.
• The additional falling distance for Air Genasi can't be used to determine a character's race.