Jupiter's Children: Role-Play

Role-Play

Role Play can take all sorts of forms, from social to combat, romance and comedy, and a mixture of all, Like a movie or TV show, though, Role Play is truly entertaining when something happens. It doesn't have to be much of a something, look at most sit-coms, where the characters give us 22 minutes of entertainment over a minor event.

RP on a game like Jupiter's Children can range from simple, day to day events to world-wide conflicts. Most will lean towards the former. It tends to be a lot easier to manage. That's not to say the latter won't happen, in fact it can happen quite often. This is a superhero game, where people do Big Things and Major Catastrophe (the event, not the villain) waits around every corner... or so it seems!

In this page, Plots refer to goals of the Players involved rather than their characters. Characters can have all sorts of plots, from a place to put a house to plans for global domination. :) Role-Play Plots vary from small to large. Confusingly, they all tend to be referred to as Tiny Plots. Not because of their size, but because the games they run on are usually called TinyMUSH or TinyMUX.

Here, we'll refer to low-scale plots as Tiny Plots while the larger scaled variety are called Global Plots. Whether Tiny or Global, plots are events that are arranged by players to entertain others within a formalized structure.

Note the formalized structure part.

Informal plots arise from RP in spur-of-the-moment situations. They can be little things or wild and fantastic. They can involve just a couple PCs or dozens. The key is that what occurs within the informal plot generally doesn't effect the rest of the environment in a major way. There may be news blurbs (posting news on the bboard is highly encouraged, not only to let people know what happened but to entertain others), thrown around cars, holes in buildings, police running around, and even military precision strikes (air, artillery, SEALs, etc). But, in general, even if it makes front page news for a few days, the rest of the city, much less the world, goes on with life as normal.

In these informal plots, players are encouraged to come up with their own consequences to the actions of their PCs.

For example: Did your team of super-villains rob a bank? Did they get away clean, or will there be wanted posters? And if so, how much is the reward? Will they be wanted Alive, Dead or Alive, or Dead? (Be careful about the latter! :) ). Make a bbpost about the crime so heroes know there's someone to hunt. The key in this example is to give other players hooks they can use to involve their characters.

But what if nobody gets involved? Well, that doesn't mean nothing happened. Just that events were either "off screen" or can transpire in the future. Maybe the next time those villains meet, one can discover a bug in their headquarters. Where will that lead? It's okay to come up with reactions to Character Actions on your own. Or to ask other players or staffers for ideas. Asking can be a wonderful resource, leading in directions you never expected!

Jupiter's Children's policies allow players to manage plots of any level. In general, players don't have to worry about seeking any kind or permission for their RP.

In general.

The rest of this file deals with the exceptions. :)

* Plots with a formalized structure.
* Plots that require redescing the grid.
* Plots that involve thematic changes.

Formal Plots

Formal plots can be large or small. These are plots where players want some kind of formalized agreement or some level of impartiality. These are also plots where a player has an idea and wants to present it to the rest of the players in an Out of Character method. Or perhaps, the player has an idea, but would like someone else to run the plot so they can participate in it. Players with plot ideas may also just want to make sure that the plot is "OK" with staff or the other players, seeking a formal recognition. And sometimes, players just want someone else to help organize or run the plot.

Redescing Plots

Most of the descs on the grid are for general areas of LA. Only rarely are specific buildings or other structures mentioned. Instead, most of the grid involves neighborhoods, often seen from the point of the Interstates. If players involved in a scene, whether planned or spur-of-the-moment to change the landscape dramatically enough that the room's desc needs to be altered they should be prepared for two things:

To provide a revised desc
Ask.

If, however, the players plan to change things back in the future (Ie, the change to the landscape is temporary enough the room doesn't need redesced) then there's no worries.

Also note that this only applies to events that the players would like to have made part of Jupiter's Children's grid.

Players from other games might be surprised at how often permission will be given here at JC.

Note that for areas players have built themselves, the limitations are up to those players that designed the area.

Thematic Changes

These kinds of plots are rather tricky. The theme for Jupiter's Children was written with specific concepts in mind. That is one of the reasons JC has an original theme; to help make those concepts a reality. There sre somethings that will be much more readily accepted than others.

Things like adding In Character organizations, background material for other countries, states, or major NPCs. Adding to the grid, such as other cities, countries, or areas.

Things that will probably not happen: Altering the Jupiter Effect, changing the Metahuman Registration Act, changing the games focus from LA, altering thematic elements in the game's history, and other such sweeping changes.

Plots

So what do you do when you find yourself with one of these plot types?

First decide what scale the plot falls under. Is it a Tiny Plot or a Global Plot? IE: is it something that involves a few PCs or should it involved most, if not all, the PCs?

Plot Application

Once that's decided, the player(s) should apply for the plot. Amazingly enough, applying for the plot is so much like applying for a character that the same form is used. Plots have a focus, concept, affinity, description and all the rest. (Some may even have a picture.) Unless an organizational character is desired, the plot won't receive a login and password.

If a plot is going to involve multiple characters, be sure to include their names.

Also be sure you have their permission to include them first. :)

When the plot is approved, make a posting for it on the bboard in #5 "OOC: Tiny Plot News".

Tiny Plots

Tiny Plots are organized for a small number of player characters, ranging from 1 to 10 or so. They can still involved lots of NPCs, hundreds or even thousands, and can also involve more PCs in non-primary roles. Most Plots on a game are Tiny Plots. Goals can be short or long-term, the plot itself can be very structured with detailed events or free-form with no more an an amorphous idea of the path to the goal.

Things to keep in mind for Tiny Plots:

Try not to re-write geography. Keeping track of what is where is difficult enough as it is.
Avoid having effects from far away affecting the main play ara. A war between two countries is alright. Having our fair city's docks come to a close and a recession, strikes, and an economic crisis as a result of the war is pushing it.
Be prepared to build it. If a plot creates a new area, other people might want to use it for their RP. News files might even be asked for as the plot is integrated into the theme at large.
Be responsible. Plots are there to entertain people... Not control them. Players have a way of doing the most unexpected things. Work with them, not against them.
If not sure, ask. You can always ask. Sometimes the responses are even helpful. When not, we still try to make them entertaining.

Global Plots

These are the plots that shake the world! Or at least LA. A Global Plot involves the majority of the players, events that will be added to the theme, or major redescing projects. Sometimes all of the above. These are the plots that transcend the limitations of the Tiny Plot. Another aspect of a Global is that much more support is provided by the staff. An organizational character may be applied for, a bboard might be created, an email address given, wiki pages created, etc. The most important aspect of a Global is that, since it involves so many players, it requires much more organization.

That does not mean that the organization will be performed by staff, however. When a player comes up with a Global, it's just as much their puppy as a Tiny. Maybe even more so.

One thing about a global plot is that the organizer should be prepared to wait a while before starting it. A few days, perhaps a week, at minimum, to give the players a chance to familiarize themselves with the plot and decide if they want to participate. This also gives time for players to make suggestions... and that input can really improve the plot. The plot maintainer may also discover that all the other players aren't as enthusiastic as they thought. Be prepared to make compromises and take suggestions and criticism in good spirit.

This is, afterall, a plot that will involve most, if not all, of the players on the game. They have every right to decide if they'll play with it.

The Strangeness of JC

This is buried back here so that only people that actually read the files can discover it. Evil! So evil! But cute, too. Don't forget the cute.

What the guidlines for the TP rules are about is a wide-spread acceptance of a plot. If we of staffly persuasion say no to an idea, it doesn't mean the players that present it cannot RP it out. What it means is that the RP will not be presented to the game as a whole and it will not be considered part of the theme.

So, as an extreme example, players can, through their RP, reverse the collapse of Jupiter back to a planet, link several inter-dimensional gates to trap the Moon into a perpetual cycle, and start a war which places them as the supreme rulers of the Earth. And it's perfectly okay that they continue to play in such a way that the results are the theme for their characters.

But that doesn't mean the rest of the game will follow suit. They can inform other people of the differences, and those others can play along if they want. "Want" is the key operative word here. Because that is what cooperating is about.

Basically, player cooperation is believed in so much here that players can legitimately do things that would not ever be allowed on most games. But players should also realize that the rest of the players on the game have the same right to decide whether or not to play along... and that includes the players that are responsible for the game and the game's theme itself.

If players decide they want to go ahead with such an alternate version of the theme they are free to do so. Just make sure that anyone else that comes in contact with the participating characters is briefed on the matter. If the group involved becomes large enough, a new bboard and mail alias (see 'help @malias') may be created for them to help organize things. In short, while the Staff will be quietly supportive, don't expect them to do the work of keeping an alternative theme going. In the extreme example above, the players involved would also be expected to build an alternate universe for their story to be continued.

Another thing to remember is the nature of the play world. This makes it easy for players to integrate their characters back into the mainstream theme if desired. It can provide both a start, or a closure, to such an alternative theme. Players can decide that their characters will be, or just were, in an alternative world. Other players can decide that their characters have joined the original characters in the alternative world somehow... or that they are actually playing more than one character. That more than one character could be alternative aspects of on PC, or the player can apply for another character to play in the alternative theme.

The key elements, as usual with any RP, are communication, politeness, and cooperation.

A major component of the politeness is asking for permission before using another player's character in role play, even if the play is alternate to the 'real' theme. It is their character, afterall, and the same rules of politeness should be observed for an alternative theme as for the mainstream one.

The ability to play alternative themes is a function of the consent rules on Jupiter's Childrens. if players don't want to consent to elements of the theme they have the freedom to do so... but it's their responsibility to inform any others who play with them of the changes so they can consent to them as well. Or decide not to. And it is perfectly reasonable to continue RPing with a character in another theme that another player doesn't recognize while not applying that changed theme to their character.

Alternative-theme play should never be forced on anyone. There should always be an easy method to leave it... and there should be a method for people that want to join in with it to do so. Try to avoid the cliquishness that such alternative themes tend to give rise to. Try to make the alternative an exciting opportunity for those that are in it as well as for any that may want to join.

A last note...

Don't take an alternative theme too seriously... because it isn't real.

Just like the mainstream theme isn't real.

Key the echoing laughter through the hallways... ;)

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Jupiter's Children : RolePlots