ooc Pen & Paper is Magic: A Survival Slice of Life Roleplay

[Cliffhanger 5]

Auditions are closed, but if you're interested in future games feel free to send me a PM and I'll alert you of any upcoming adventures you're qualified to join. Thank you for your interest!

 

 

What would you do if you were sentenced for a crime you did not commit? If you stood to lose years of your life rotting in prison for someone else's crimes, would you escape if you had the chance? You don't think the guards are chasing you anymore. The trees seem to close in around you and the wind's song has never been so cold.

You are surrounded by five prisoners. You do not know why they were arrested. You don't know if you can trust them. Returning to civilization means imprisonment and trekking off on your own will probably mean a quick end.

Friendship is magic, but can you be friends with criminals?

Hello, fellow roleplayers! My name is Cliff and I'm posting today because I'm looking for a smart and reasonable roleplayer to share in an adventure with me. I would like to share with one roleplayer a pen and paper game-esque experience in which I will be acting as the "Dungeon Master" of sorts. The best part is that you do not need to be able to write large posts or express yourself using eloquent language. The most important trait I am looking for is the ability to realistically portray your character.

The tone of this roleplay will be somewhat dark while maintaining the cartoon-ish sense of humor the show is known for. It will have a "slice of life" style tone to it revolving around episodic adventures you share with the other escaped prisoners, occasionally growing into larger adventures more along the lines of what you would expect from the two-episode season-starters in the show. The more typical episodes will cycle between being based on your relationships with the prisoners (such as episodes in the show that revolve around one specific character) and means of survival. In this way it strives to be a darker toned version of the show.

What this means is that while there will be darker themes and you will be expected to have a healthy respect for dangerous situations, you may build your initial character with the presumption that ponies in this universe behave as they do in the show when not under stress. Personalities may be exaggerated and silly - when appropriate - and dialog may be simple and fun.

Now, this is a roleplay first and foremost, but it also has game elements. What this means is that there will be rules for creating your character. I will be running a modded and simplified WoD-type system in the background with some "Roleplaying is Magic" mechanics mixed in. This is what will determine your successes and your failures in the roleplay based on stats that we will establish during character creation.

Are you ready for the rules? Good! Here are the basics of what you need to know:

- To join this roleplay, you should have an IM client. This is where the roleplay will take place.
- "Replies" should consist only of a single action at a time to give NPCs time to react. Long dialogs should be split into several IMs by sentence to allow your character to be interrupted. NPCs will be restricted by the same rules.
- I will always roleplay using text, but you may roleplay out loud if you have Skype and can speak clearly enough for me to understand you. What I mean by this is that you may dictate your actions and voice act your characters instead of writing.
- Thoughts should be avoided in favor of sensory information. What this means is that I should never be aware of what your character is thinking, only the physical cues they give off as well as their tone. Likewise, you will not know what NPC characters are thinking.
- You do not need a completed character sheet for the character you are using for this roleplay until you are chosen for the roleplay. I only need to hear your basic concept and the reason your character was convicted of a crime.
- Assume a basic "Don't ask, don't tell" rule when it comes to plot holes in the canon. For example, don't bring up the fact that many ponies are somehow named after their Cutie Marks or special talents.
- Though not a rule, you are recommended as the main character to create a character who represents the Element of Magic.

Though I may run larger games in the future, this roleplay will consist of only one participant. This person will be chosen based on several factors. Above all else I am looking for someone intelligent, mature, and reasonable. You should be assertive enough to point out if you think I'm handling something incorrectly and willing to accept my final judgement on the outcome of dice rolls. You should be capable of accurately portraying your character without being swayed by your own opinions or knowledge of game mechanics.

I would like to see at least one past character of yours when you apply. I would also like to hear a little about yourself to help me decide if you are a good fit for this roleplay. I am not bothered by short biographies and am looking for quality over quantity. This thread will be closed when a participant is chosen.

I'm looking forward to roleplaying with you! Cheers!

Edited February 3, 2013 by Cliffhanger

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

super complicated but the roleplays im in are in a stand still due to people going to school. I have MSN and the character i just created for another rp would be perfect for this if you allow cursing http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/mordecai-the-malicious-r2505   i look forward to hearing more and whatnot

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

I'd definitely be interested in this. I play D&D both as a DM and player all the time, so I'm no stranger to roleplaying, and I'm actually DMing a campaign over Skype right now, so I'm used to doing it over the internet. I was also chosen by Sturdy Wing to write the chapter on roleplaying for the player's handbook of Age of Equestria, a table-top game based on 3.5 D&D.

 

Link to my beloved OC Rambler here.

 

I have two questions, though. Well, really one is an extension of the first. First of all, if the player is supposed to be the element of magic, does that mean we have to be a unicorn? If we don't necessarily have to be a unicorn, can we be another non-pony race? Because I really want to try making a griffin or minotaur character and see how it works out.

[Cliffhanger 5]

Hello Notabrony and Alex! I'm thrilled to see that you've taken an interest in my roleplay.

 

As to Not's - I do hope you don't mind being called Not - question, cursing is perfectly fine. Since the roleplay itself won't be taking place over a public medium, vulgarity in speech is perfectly acceptable.

 

Moving on to Alex's questions, it's only recommended to play as the Element of Magic for group dynamic purposes as I will say that the other characters are built with each of the other elements in mind. I would say that for the purpose of this roleplay you can represent the Element of Magic in a more symbolic sense. For our purposes, you may try to justify this however you like so long as it doesn't overlap with another element and is justifiable. For example, you might want to say that the Element of Magic represents curiosity and the desire to learn more about the world around you.

 

It's alright if your character isn't very in tune with this element at the start of the roleplay or have lost touch with that part of themselves. For that matter, perhaps they never will find that part of themselves. I'm certainly not going to say it's mandatory to develop your character in some very specific way for the roleplay. IC actions should have IC consequences, in my humble opinion. I'm never going to turn around and say "Okay, you better have some character development soon to progress the story." Even if it was necessary for you to be in touch with your element to proceed with a certain action, I certainly wouldn't force it on you OOC because I perceive that the story should continue down a specific path.

 

Due to the nature of a unicorn character, I would highly recommend one if you enjoy spellcasting type characters. They easily have the most complex and varied abilities if we look at them purely in terms of a traditional roleplaying class. That aside, you aren't required to play a unicorn unless they appeal to you. It should also be noted that it will take longer to create a unicorn character for this roleplay because we will have to balance their powers. We'll likely be using elements of the Roleplaying is Magic system here and they will likely have an additional stat for the intensity of their magical powers.

 

Playing as a non-pony race would be more initial work since I'd have to do some rebalancing to account for the physical differences between a pony and a griffin or minotaur, but I must say that I'm intrigued by the idea. It would certainly set you apart and bring up some interesting group dynamics. Mechanically speaking, both could function as physically stronger counterparts to Pegasus ponies and Earth Ponies.

 

Now that I'm down that train of thought, I'd be willing to hear ideas for interpretations on non-canon races as well. The MLP universe is capable of hosting a wide variety of mythical fauna, after all. For example, a (non-shapeshifting) bipedal werewolf type creature or barghest that are interpreted in such a way as to fit into the canon universe could be potential races. If you put enough work into it, a race you create yourself could be applicable as well.

 

I would say that any such creatures would be ideally interpreted to be intelligent but not normally prone to involving themselves in pony society. The only other difficulty then would be explaining why they're being imprisoned by pony authorities - was their crime or the crime they were framed for so inexcusable that they couldn't simply be driven away again? - and to maintain the survival aspect of the game, make sure they aren't capable of simply leaving the group and striking out on their own, such as a very self-sufficient solitary predator.

 

Since this is a campaign being run for one person, I'm more open than I usually would be to the idea of rarer and more unique races. I definitely don't want to discourage playing as one of the canon races, of course, and am only saying that I'm open to hearing your ideas.

 

I eagerly await any further questions you may have. Thank you for your interest!

[Feather Gem 967]

I have a question, what's IM stand for?  xP  Because I would love to join in as my OC would fit in so well, and I've never played her before.

[Cliffhanger 5]

Hello, Feather Gem! IM stands for "instant message." An IM client would be something along the lines of MSN messenger, AIM, or Skype.

[Feather Gem 967]

Hello, Feather Gem! IM stands for "instant message." An IM client would be something along the lines of MSN messenger, AIM, or Skype.

Ah.

I don't think I'll be able to join then.  I usually just roleplay on the forums here.

Thank you for answering my question!

[Cliffhanger 5]

No problem, Feather Gem! If you change your mind or have any further questions just let me know.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

 

We'll likely be using elements of the Roleplaying is Magic system here and they will likely have an additional stat for the intensity of their magical powers.

 

 

I should probably mention that I have no idea what the Roleplaying is Magic system is, and my attempt to look it up yielded nothing. The same goes for WoD, although I might know it and not recognize the acronym.

[Faithful Dawn 8]

Hey, this fits with Faith's original plan perfectly. Faith is a known criminal over something she didn't do. I would love to expand Faith's arc and personality through this RP, count me in!

 

http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/faithful-dawn-r1732

 

I wish you good luck on this Rp.

[Cliffhanger 5]

To be perfectly honest, I've only barely skimmed parts of the Roleplaying is Magic book and found certain mechanics interesting. For example, certain aspects - though not all - of their health bar system and how they handle spells. If you were interested in making a unicorn character the spellcasting might be worth a look since I'm planning on using some aspects of it. It reminds me a bit of the "spellcasting" in the WoD book, Geist: Sin-Eaters, though I digress.

Here's a link if you happen to be interested: http://www.mlprim.com/s2e/

I must say that I do strongly dislike some parts of the book. For example, how unicorns get a bonus to their Mind score simply by being unicorns and such. I don't want to use such a strong word as "racist" here, but I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at. I know it wasn't the creator's intention and I simply dislike saying that one race of ponies is naturally smarter than the other and that the other naturally has more heart. I wouldn't even mind if they were only physical bonuses, but those should be based on personality.

Moving on, WoD stands for World of Darkness. I primarily roleplay horror and WoD is the system I'm most accustomed to. This is probably - loosely - the system I'll be running for this game, if you'd like to read up on what the different stats represent and the Willpower system. If not, I'll explain the mechanics to the roleplayer when we start.

Please let me know if you have anything specific you'd like more information on.

Edit: Apologies, Faithful Dawn. I was still writing this when you responded. I would like to thank you for your interest in my roleplay and let you know that your character looks good and has been put in for consideration. Let me know if you have any questions you'd like to ask.

Cheers!

Edited February 3, 2013 by Cliffhanger