How do I begin roleplaying?

Kudos to Fader for starting the original thread and to Sirayn whose handwriting this whole introduction is. I merely updated the links.

 

What is roleplay?

 

Roleplay is a type of interactive writing. Each person plays a role as a certain character in that setting. Roleplay gives you the opportunity to write as a character based in the Wheel of Time setting. Your characters will interact with other characters in this setting; what you do will affect that setting, and that setting will affect you.

 

Generally speaking at this site you can roleplay up to four characters at once. There are special rules for other types of characters. All characters are a member of one Division; current Divisions are the Aiel, the Band of the Red Hand, the Black Tower, the Children of the Light, Freelanders, Seanchan, Shayol Ghul, Warders, White Tower and Wolfkin.

 

What is the Dragon Reborn Portal Stone World?

 

Taken from the drpsw site: Dragon Reborn is a Portal Stone World very similar to the books written by Robert Jordan, allowing role-playing in a time where the Dragon Reborn is discovering himself, and preparing the world for the Last Battle. The Dragon Reborn PSW offers you the opportunity to Role Play as a member of the following Divisions: Aiel, Atha'an Miere (now a Freelander group), Band of the Red Hand, Black Tower, Children of the Light, Freelanders, Ogier (now a Freelander group), Seanchan, Shayol Ghul, Warders, White Tower, or Wolfkin.

 

How do I roleplay?

 

This roleplay takes place on message boards located here. You will write a piece from that character's point of view, third person past tense being customary, and post it as a new thread or part of an existing thread. Other players will then reply posting pieces from their character's point of view. However, there are three key points of etiquette to be aware of before you start posting.

 

1. PERMISSION. All characters must have a biography, or bio, which must be approved and cross checked before roleplay begins. You must, within reason, have specific permission for any special or remarkable skills, gifts or possessions. Your character must not for example wake up one morning and have a dramatic Foretelling unless you have specifically been awarded the Foretelling Talent by an appropriate member of staff. There are limits on this; if your character was raised as the literate son of a high lord it would be reasonable for you to assume that he can read the Old Tongue; that same character is unlikely to have woodcraft or tracking skills which a common born character might have.

 

2. MODERATION. A perfect character is considered flat and there is generally little interest in interacting with them. Nobody wants to play the less interesting henchman to your stunningly gorgeous, fabulously intelligent, super-powered legendary princess heroine. Your character will not be perfect! Just like an ordinary person, they will have strengths and weaknesses, good points, bad points, flaws and complexities. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. Sometimes they fail utterly at everything they turn their hand to. That's where the interest is in roleplay. Think hard about your character's flaws and play them.

 

3. CONSENT. Talk to other players before you start plot involving them and make certain everyone is happy. Never ever kill another player's character without their permission. This is considered a huge breach of etiquette. Ordinarily you should not do something which would have a significant effect on other people's characters without gaining their permission. Most players will be open to new possibilities. If you are having difficulty getting players to agree to your plot, and you feel they are being unreasonable, you can always turn to the staff for help.

 

How do I get started?

 

It's as easy as one two three:

1. Check the Bio Rules, Timeline and PSW history.

2. Get your character concept written up into a bio and get that bio approved and cross checked.

3. Start your roleplay!

 

Your character concept is the initial idea you have for this character. You might want to play the angry Illianer innkeeper who joins the Band of the Red Hand to protect her war-obsessed young brother, or the subtle, devious Cairhienin spy, or a sultry and empty headed courtesan from the Domani courts. Bear in mind the MODERATION rule from above. You might want to play the legendarily beautiful, high spirited, flawless princess fleeing an arranged marriage who has amazing strength in saidar and is destined to become Amyrlin Seat, but your bio will not be approved until you have taken the perfection down a notch.

 

What is a bio and how do I write one?

 

Your biography or bio is basically a character sheet which lays out certain key details about the character you'd like to play. It's like the foundation on which you can build your roleplay. You can't start roleplaying until this bio is approved and cross checked, and it's the basis for everything you do from then on, so think about it carefully.

 

Your character will fit into one of the Divisions listed above. Each has slightly different bio requirements and you can check them out here. Most will want you to list your character's name, age, origin, description, personality, history and possibly some notes about any skills or agenda they might have. Other characters are not aware of this bio, only other players, so feel free to write about their motivations and secrets.

 

Any tips on writing a good bio?

 

This page lists some good guidelines. Even if you're not interested in the White Tower, read it and take away general tips: for example, rules about being from a continent in the known world, never mentioning Forsaken or main plot characters such as the Dragon Reborn, and not being a blademaster or the world's foremost expert on Sharan lore are common to all Divisions.

 

Any tips on making a good impression?

 

- Read the requirements carefully and follow them. This shows that you respect our system and that you're willing to fit in.

- Be polite and constructive with other members. You need to compromise as much as they do. Negotiation can be frustrating, but everyone should be informed and in agreement before you affect them. Keep it civil at all times and don't descend into insults or slanging matches.

- This goes double for staff, who not only contribute their time free to run this game for you, but also work very hard. They appreciate people treating them well.

- Good writing is always a plus, but for people who feel they will never be Tolkien, we also have much love for friendly players who contribute to the atmosphere and are always around when somebody needs help.

 

Can you show me some other resources?

 

Our drpsw.com site contains a wealth of information about the DRPSW, the One Power system, weapon scores, Divisions and all sorts of other fun.

Our old boards contain much roleplay for those who'd like to see what we've been up to.

The concordance contains everything you'll ever need to know about the Wheel of Time. What existing book might a lady of cultured tastes be reading? Is there any herb to treat blood loss? This site has the answer ... and if there's anything it can't tell you, the Wheel of Time encyclopaedia has it.

Old Tongue dictionary for when you can't remember that word al'Lan Mandragoran used to describe a love lost beyond regaining.

And lastly, a dictionary and a thesaurus are your friends.

 

So how come you have planning boards here but the information is listed somewhere else?

 

Many of our Divisions have their own informative offsite located elsewhere. It's simpler for us to run our own sites, with our own moderators and permissions, and these can offer useful information to anyone interested.

 

Dragonmount has however consolidated all planning boards back to onsite. To view all a Division's boards here, you need to be added to that Division's User Group and usually there are roll call / sign up threads for that on top of each Division's Public Boards here at DM.

 

Here's a list of Divisional web sites and offsites:

 

Aiel -

Band of the Red Hand - http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/band/site/

Black Tower - http://blacktowerdiv.wordpress.com/ http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/blacktower/

Children of the Light - http://www.shayol-ghul.com/col'>http://www.shayol-ghul.com/col

Freelanders - http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/freelanders/

CotS Group - http://www.shayol-ghul.com/

Warders - http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/warders/

White Tower - http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/whitetower/

Wolfkin - http://wolfkin.wordpress.com/

 

How do I advance?

 

You may be thinking right now that you'd like to play an Ajah Head, the M'Hael, an Aiel Society Leader or even a queen. How do you get there? The fast answer is to refer you back up to the PERMISSION rule. If a position is open, ask and you may get. Let's assume for a moment that the position you want is high up or already full and there's no way people are going to approve you to get it straight away. How do you get ahead in the roleplay?

 

Staff look for many qualities when deciding these matters. Seniority, ie length of time in the roleplay, is one but not the most important of those qualities. Generally speaking you will not be considered until you've been in the roleplay a few months because people drop out fast and never make use of the shiny tricks we might have given them. However, come back in six months' time and you have as much chance as somebody who's been around years.

 

This definitely ties in with the how to make a good impression question up there. People like members who give a lot to their groups, who are active and keep a high profile, who give help gladly whenever they're needed. Have your own opinions by all means, but be polite on the boards, play by the rules and recognise when it's time to drop a topic. A good way to get ahead, and I can't stress this enough, is to contribute. There are projects under way all the time that could use help. Some are glamorous top jobs like the main timeline work whereas others are unsung necessities which keep everything running behind the scenes. People remember who helps out.

 

It should also be mentioned that some regularly open positions such as Sitters in the White Tower Div are determined by election. Therefore be helpful, make yourself popular, and you're already ahead of the game.

 

So do you have some kind of overseer people and who are they?

 

The RP Admin is responsible for all the RP's (both the DRPSW and the ToW).

 

Each Division has their own coordinator called Division Leader and if you have some questions pertaining to a particular Division, they are the people to contact.

 

Role Play Administrator - WhiteWolf (PM him)

 

Assistant Role Play Administrator - Raeyn (PM her)

 

Division Leaders are as follows: (within brackets are clickable links)

• Aiel - Essy (PM him)
  
• Band of the Red Hand - Quibby (PM him)
  
• Black Tower - Jocelyn (PM her)
  
• Children of the Light - Nynaeve (PM her)
  
• Congress of the Shadow - Ata(PM her))
  
• Freelanders, Atha'an Miere, Seanchan and Ogier - Kura (PM him)
  
• Warders - Matalina (PM her)
  
• White Tower - Jaydena (PM her)
  
• Wolfkin - Taymist (PM her)

 

I have more questions!

 

Pick one or several:

- Email or Private Message (PM) a Division Leader, or email anyone else who offers assistance. Other contacts will also work well. Everyone is here to help out.

- Post on your Division's board listed above.

- Post on this board.

 

Cheers! Hope that helped.