planning Crossing Paths (a learning RP)

[glacialchill 17]

<p>

Link to the RP thread!

 

Purpose
Seeing as several of my friends show interest in RPing, and while I am moderately experienced but unused to forums-style RP, I hatched the idea of an RP where&nbsp;beginners&nbsp;can get their feet wet. This is that RP.

Plot/story

     Welcome to the seventy-fifth annual Ponyville Arbor Day Fair! The sun is shining, the breeze is cool and refreshing, and a feeling of good cheer is in the air. Entertainers have gathered to the fairgrounds, and stands selling foods both familiar and exotic are scattered among the attractions. Ponies from all around have gathered to this event, which has gotten a surprising amount of publicity considering that the previous year, it was forgotten about completely.

     But unknown to the majority of the ponies present, a threat of unknown origin has been made with the fair as it's target. This has been kept secret to avoid mass panic, for if the Arbor Day Fair goes another year without a single pony attending, the tradition might die out.

Starting character roles:

Pinoak is an entertainer for the fair, and has gathered a good amount of viewers.
Azure owns a food stand nearby Pinoak, and is having success in selling his wares to the ponies who come to watch Pinoak's shows.
Pixel Mouse showed up to the fair like any pony would do out of interest. (unless you have another idea.)
Kismet had a premonition that something different would happen this year that will make it stand out from the previous years.With this knowledge, she helped with decorating the fair, but is beginning to doubt herself.
Iron Wing helped with the initial construction of the fair booths/attractions, and also caught wind of the threat due to her military connections.
Standoff knows of the threat through military connections. (I'll let you decide if that's the reason you came in the first place.)
Judith was asked to act as a low-profile guard, blending into the crowd and keeping watch until the first sign of trouble.
Dusk Charger (to be honest, I have no idea why he would show up. you think of something.)<br />
Gale showed up with only mild interest in the actual event, and is more interested in leaving the fair well-fed than actually participating in anything.

Keep in mind that this isn't meant to be some grand adventure story. More of a "lets get the basics of RP down in a relaxed environment." I'll update this section with the ideas people post.

Who we are accepting
Anyone, really. This RP is full, so nopony else will be doing actually RP. You can tag along and give advice OOC, though. While this RP is geared toward those who are less experienced, it would be nice to have more experienced people to point and laugh> kindly show us our mistakes and help correct them before we splatter them all over a more serious RP. I'll keep this section updated with a list of who applied and got in. I'm hoping for about 6-8 ponies, because having too many will make a mess.

key
Name: Character, position

glacialchill: Gale, DM
Azure Flames: Azure Flames, get your ovens warmed up
Pixel Mouse: Pixel Mouse (male), welcome aboard
Face-to-face Manface: Standoff, nice to have you here
TBB Symphonia: Judith, welcome to the party
Witch Doctor:  Dusk Charger, your'e in
LeJAKoJAK: Pinoak Stringhoof, on stage in five
Love*Potion: Kismet, your'e in as well
Iron Wing: Iron Wing, Let's get you in the action

and then, the rules...
1. The OOC thread is where most of the correction will happen.
If you think someone has made a mistake, give them a little heads up; ex:

((hey Glacial, that was some serious powergaming. Careful about that.)) 

 

[continue RP as usual]

Then, make another post on this OOC thread to add details about what exactly they did wrong, and a few ways to correct what they did and avoid doing it again. Remember, this is a friendly learning experience, no harsh words, please. I'd hate to kick someone for something like that...

2. Rewinds
If one of us makes a royal mess of things, don't flip the table because the RP is ruined. if needed, we can set up a rewind on the OOC thread, decide where things went wrong, pick up from the post before, and hopefully not mess everything up over again.

3. Newcomers and "graduates"
(I secretly fantasize about this becoming an ongoing thing, so I have come up with a system for leaving and entering.)

If you have been here long enough to have gotten the hang of things, and want to move on, just say so on the OOC thread and we can work out a way for your character to leave, opening up a slot for newcomers to jump in (after giving us some foresight on the OOC thread) and get a share of the learning experience.

4. Disagreeing with the DM
I encourage it for this RP. As I said, I am new to forum-styled RP. Any help and suggestions are welcome. I know it's usually acceptable for the DM to wield an overwhelmingly powerful character, but That's not what I'm trying to do. If I mess up, tell me.

5. Be flexible.
This is not a strict RP. The reason it is here is so that we can make mistakes. So don't get upset when someone else rolls in with a 20,000 year old warlord alicorn OC, that is what we are trying to fix. Inversely, don't get upset when your 20,000 year old warlord alicorn OC needs to be changed, because this is where we will try to make it more acceptable so you will be included in other RPs.

6. Keep it family friendly
Nobody, of any age or experience will be rejected simply because of one of those two things. So keep the conversation rated that way, hm?

 

7. I'll add rules if I think of any good ones.</p>

Edited March 21, 2013 by glacialchill

[Azure Flames 303]

sound fun and since im still new to RPing i feel like this will help me so count me in

 

here my OC: http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/azure-flames-r2623

 

if i need to add anything else just tell me 

Edited March 6, 2013 by Azure Flames

[glacialchill 17]

Nice to see some interest! Azure, I checked out your OC, and he seems good to me. Just make sure you check your grammar, because that makes the difference between having a smooth RP and tying to decode what happened. The fastest way to do that is just to read over it once before posting.

 

Anyway, welcome aboard! I'll put your name up on the list as an applicant, since we're still in the planning phase.

 

(I messed up my grammar as well and had to edit. XD I never claim to be perfect.)

Edited March 6, 2013 by glacialchill

[Pixel Mouse 84]

Sounds like fun. I'm a total newb to RPs, so you can count me in.

My character is Pixel Mouse.

Here.

[glacialchill 17]

So I was looking at the OCs that we are planning to use, and I think it would be easiest to simply meet up in Ponyville, perhaps for some kind of occasion so everyone has an excuse to be there. That way, it isn't like we just popped into Ponyville for no reason. If you have any ideas what that event might be, post 'em. 

 

also, I realized that I had forgotten to link to my character. Sorry! The link is right here.

 

Also, I think I might switch this to a "searching" thread once we get the location and event down.

Edited March 8, 2013 by glacialchill

[Sunbro 4 Lyfe 939]

Ok ok ok. We need to set some ground rules. The building blocks to any rp here.

 

 

First off a smart thing to do is to put the links of the OC's next to their name. This makes things easier for the rp'ers E.G. Lets say "pony A" walks up and talks to "pony B" but wants to get a look at the character to better visualize themselves in this conversation. They go here, click the link for the pony they want and now they have better info.

 

And now to the rules. First, you ALWAYS need at least decent grammar. Whether they're new or not if their sentences make no sense or are filled with mistakes then it will be a struggle to role play  Next is god modding and mary sues (or at least what we call them over here). These are thing like controlling other characters or being OP when you're not supposed to. One time for example The rules stated "you cannot die" As in "if your OC is on the verge of death then we will keep him alive so you don't have to leave." So one guy gets riddled with a full mag of bullets and behaves like nothing occurred. That's bad. Or like controlling another character without permission. Basically you cannot bend the rules.

 

Another is the DM. If what I read is correct then you believe the DM can be this ultra powerful character? no. The DM must obey his own rules as well as keep them in law, You cannot be immortal, control others and be a jerk and then go."yeah, but I'm a DM." I made that mistake. Trust me.

 

Another rule that is a MUST is that the rp must be kept pg-13. no sexual content is allowed. Even though it's a role play the official forum rules still count. This is the same for swearing, though that is mainly set as a minimal priority, so it is technically allowed (i believe).

 

In terms of The OP thing it's rather simple. This is what I do.

Role plays can be split into kind-of separate categories. The are Romance role plays, Where you romance with ponies. They aren't generally exiting unless a twist is thrown in. Then there are SOL role plays, or "Slice Of Life." These are your role plays which are kind of mixed. You can romance, or have some form of argument but they are generally what they imply; a "Slice Of Life". Then you have your action role plays. These are things like, battles or an apocalypse or something. Then there are two more. There are the kind based in a point in history, i'm in a role play set in rome, and the kind based on fiction. Video games, books e.t.c.

Now, if it is categorized under the first one then you can pretty much allow an OP character so long as the DM allows it. If it is something like and action or adventure, Then OP characters will just be unfair, basically a mary sue.

 

And a few FINAL things. When you go onto the roleplay tab, have a look at the topics at the top. There is one called the "what to report" An if you read through that then you can find what should be reported. they're not major so if you are reported for any of those reasons you may not even gain any points! and lastly, When the role play is created put a link in the OOC topic and vise versa.

 

 

does this help you? 

Edited March 8, 2013 by darklord60

[glacialchill 17]

Hmm... somewhat... Myself, I am mostly worried about how the formatting works. Considering I'm used to a "chat room" style and not a "block text" style. Either way, thanks for the info! All Roleplay sites seem to have slightly varying rules regarding who gets to use somewhat OP characters, If anyone does at all.

[Senor Citizen 516]

HA'E AT 'EM, ME LADS!

srs now.

Okay, I'm actually a pretty experienced RPer, but I figure I can keep you boneheads in line.

OC here.

[TBB Symphonia 39]

I've only been doing Rp's for about ten days, but I have participated in many Rp's thus far. I would consider myself a experienced writer and would be thankful if you let me join. Please message me back if I am able to join.

 

In this Rp, I will most likely use my newest oc. Judith

 

 

[Brain Drain 93]

I would like to get my feet wet in these forms of RP. And i would like someone to look over my OC to see if i'm missing anything or i over did it. Thank you for your time.

 

OC: http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/witch-doctor-r2720

[LeJAKoJAK 49]

It seems like fun. I'll join in with my OC, Pinoak Stringhoof. (The link is in my signature) I'm still fairly new to forum roleplaying and I'd like to see if can transition my tabletop RPing to forum gaming.

[glacialchill 17]

Wow, I thought this thread had died, so I stopped checking the forums for a bit. I'm happy I was wrong!

 

LeJAK, your OC looks totally awesome. I look forward to RPing with you.

 

Which Doctor: I'd be worried about your OC contradicting himself. looking at his personality, I see... 

Shy around big groups of ponies (shy), very brave (not shy), gives wisdom to others when needed (not shy), sneaky (shy), like to party (not shy), quiet most of the time (shy). 

Not sure if I am interpreting that wrong, and if so, sorry.

Also, getting trained by a cannon character is a but tricky... can't have every pony who brews potions get trained by Zecora can we?

Finally, watch your grammar. Grammar is massively important.

 

Manface: cool, nice to have you on board.

 

symphonia: sorry, I don't quite have the time to look at your OC right now, I'll get back to you on that.

 

anyway, my story plan is this. There is a public fair going on outside Ponyville, and Pinoak has gotten a position as an entertainer. Which Doctor has decided to attend for some reason, perhaps the party games or searching for other practitioners of dark arts? Standoff just jumped in for whatever reason, as usual. More later, when I don't have a time crunch.

[LeJAKoJAK 49]

I can't wait to play man. I can help in giving advice on back stories and character building if needed. I'd like to help if I could.

[Love*Potion 575]

Oh dear! There are so many ponies here! Am I too late or am I able to join? I am still very new here and would love to "get my hooves wet" in the RP world! I need some practice before I do anything more serious. After all, this is my first time participating in ANY kind of RP, so be patient with me!

 

I hope to be a part of this exciting new adventure so let me know if I am able to join!

 

P.S. - I actually don't even know how to start.

I have an OC I would like to use but that is about it.... I need help!

[Azure Flames 303]

@Love*Potion

well have made a page for your OC on the site yet in the roleplay character section

if not here the link 

if you already have one just link it in your post on this thread so glacialchill can check it out i guess

Edited March 14, 2013 by Azure Flames

[Love*Potion 575]

Thank you so much @@Azure Flames,!!

 

Like I said I am a total newb! I will set up my OC page now so everyone can see.

 

Wish me luck! Here I go!

Yay! Thanks to the wonderous advice of @@Azure Flames, I have now successfully created my very first OC! Woopie!

 

Hope you all enjoy her and please message me with any questions/comments/concerns. Hope to meet you all soon!

(Oh, and please let me know if I am permitted into the group)

 

Here we go: http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/kismet-r2794

[glacialchill 17]

whoa! again, I'm surprised to have gotten more replies since I last checked. Usually my forum threads have a habit of dying before their time.

 

Love Potion, your OC looks awesome. I feel like she and Gale will either get along really well or get on each other's nerves. XD

 

Symphonia, your character's backstory is, well... already a story in itself. Which can be a bad thing. It makes it hard to answer the question of "why is she here, if she has such great importance somewhere else?" Also as I know from my own experience, having a complex backstory makes it difficult to not turn the RP into another story centered around yourself, or be that one person who wields an invincible character (which you have to admit... She very nearly is.) Other than that, she looks good to me. 

 

Anyway, to finish my story setup...

Pixel Mouse and Kismet will likely have also just  attended the party for the fun of it, unless you can think of something else. Azure will possibly have opened a small concessions stand nearby Pinoak's to sell bread or pastries or something. Now to add the excitement that might be necessary for an RP such as this, let's throw in a threat of unknown origin that has been made against this particular gathering for an unknown reason. This threat has been largely kept as a secret to avoid mass panic, and the only ones who know of the danger are Judith, (who has been called on to protect Ponyville should the threat turn true,) and Standoff, who has been made aware of the threat through his old connections from the military.

 

and with that, we have a basic layout, 8 ponies to play, and a few experienced people to guide us as we stumble through this. 

 

To answer LeJAK, anyone is free to give advice, that's the point. I admit I'm not a perfect RPer, that's why I made this. XD

 

I'll close registration now. If someone wants to join, you might have to wait until another feels it is time to drop out. Anyone who has told me the OC they want to use at this point is in. 

 

[edit: Thanks for the catch, Azure. I quite literally thought her name was Kimset instead of Kismet. XD]

Edited March 16, 2013 by glacialchill

[Azure Flames 303]

lol i get to sell bread, pasta, or something XD 

so do i get to choose what i'm selling or are you choosing for me? 

cause bread and pasta don't sound like fair food  im think more popcorn and cotton candy but it your RP so it's up to you to decide wat i sell 

 

oh and i think u misspelled kismet name in your the story setup

Edited March 15, 2013 by Azure Flames

[Brain Drain 93]

I think i fixed most of the problems with my OC profile but I'm not that sure still if there's anything wrong still let me know.

 

 

http://mlpforums.com/page/roleplay-characters/_/witch-doctor-r2720

Edited March 15, 2013 by Witch Doctor

[Iron Wing 237]

Basically you got my interest in this roleplay. I think i am a more experienced roleplayer and i would join with Iron Wing. If there is interest how to play a more powerful character without exaggerating, i also could play Duran the lynx. Both characters are linked in my signature.

 

I also love to help inexperienced players to fit their characters with their play style and sign up voluntarily to tutor new players.

 

And here is my first critique: You did not mention where the rp is placed / which scenario is set. I would suggest a "Slice of Life", or for short SoL-Rp within Ponyville or a village nearby.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Iron Wing

[glacialchill 17]

Actually, I did just outline the setting and premise of the rp, but considering the fact I'm presenting at a science academy and hjave to use my phone to post, I. Can't update the first post. XD

 

All the slots I was planning to have are filled as well. Might be able to fit you in, though. XD

 

Witch doctor, your OC looks much better!

 

And Azure... it's your stall, sell whatever the heck you want! You are the cook here. XD

[Love*Potion 575]

When will we know to start the RP? Who will lead it? (@@glacialchill, I assume?) How will we start it? Do we know where the story is going (Or is that the fun part?  ) 

Also, I know we are all meeting somewhere - a fair? - Is this in Ponyville or near it? Also, what is this gathering called? What is it celebrating? Why does it attract all these different ponies with different personalities and backstories? 

(and what is Kismet's role in all of this?)

 

Again, I am new so help me out if you can! Let me know how I can become a better Rper- I can't wait to get started!

[Brain Drain 93]

Actually, I did just outline the setting and premise of the rp, but considering the fact I'm presenting at a science academy and hjave to use my phone to post, I. Can't update the first post. XD

 

All the slots I was planning to have are filled as well. Might be able to fit you in, though. XD

 

Witch doctor, your OC looks much better!

 

And Azure... it's your stall, sell whatever the heck you want! You are the cook here. XD

Yea, I started to read it and saw what you were saying. Thank you for the help with it and when are we getting started?

[glacialchill 17]

Love Potion: Sometime soon, (maybe in the next few days when I'm not swamped with work, I know I chose a bad time to start this) I'll make a new thread in the Roleplays section and put a link to it on the first post of this thread.

The fair is, (and I will put more detail in the first post) at Ponyville. Since I hadn't really thought through what the fair is celebrating, let's make it Arbor day. (If you have another idea, by all means speak up.) I'm used to player-driven roleplays, so unless I can think of a specific reason why you are there, you will make up your own role as you go.

 

Witch Doctor: I'm glad to help, but I feel like I might have mislead you a bit. your character doesn't need to be all-shy or all-bold. It's just that having too many contradicting aspects makes It hard to keep your character believable. By all means, your character can like to have fun, but having fun at a crowded party while also being shy of large groups makes things... weird.

[Brain Drain 93]

I understand what you are saying. I think I'll remake him because he was my first and i was over thinking it. My second pony came out much better than Witch Doctor so I'll just remake him.