Rules: Roleplay Rules [new roleplayers START HERE!]

[gimmepie]

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ROLEPLAY RULES​

Welcome to the roleplay forums! Here, we do written roleplaying. We most often only control one or a few characters each, which is what sets it apart from traditional fiction writing. Think of it as collaborative writing, where you are able to head back and read old roleplays as if they were just like any good ol' story.

If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, please read further, to learn the basics of what you should and shouldn't do around these parts of PokéCommunity!

WHERE DO I START?

The roleplay forums are divided into 3 different parts.

ROLEPLAY THEATRE
The place for general RP discussion and chit-chat, events, interest checks and help with anything RP related.

ROLEPLAY CASTING
Go here to find roleplays to join! Threads with + in their prefix usually accept new players. Roleplay Casting is also where you post a new roleplay of your own creation.

ROLEPLAY STAGE
Once you have been accepted into a roleplay, this is where you write it out. If you are the GM of a roleplay, this is where you post the actual roleplay thread once it's time to begin writing.​

The best way to get into the swing of things here seems to be to head right in to Roleplay Casting and sign up for a roleplay!

Once you are part of a roleplay group, you'll find it's easy to grow interested in the discussions in the Theatre, and you'll also most likely quickly get many helpful friends to chat with, perhaps even join us on Discord!

If you need that extra push or don't know which roleplay would suit you, you are welcome to send a Visitor Message to one of the moderators and we will guide you as well as we can to make you feel at home here.

If you for some reason don't feel like jumping into a roleplay immediately, you are of course welcome to read and post in the Theatre threads and talk about roleplaying in general first.

ABBREVIATIONS!

There are a lot of terms we use around the roleplay forums, and we most often shorten these into a few letters. Here is a list of common such things:

Spoiler:

RP - RolePlay

RPing - RolePlaying

RPT - RolePlay Theatre! What we usually abbreviate the name of the roleplay forums as.

IC - In Character. When you are writing in the actual RP threads, instead of writing as a user on a forum.

OOC - Out Of Character. When you are writing as a user on a forum! Yourself, that is.

SU - Sign-up. Refers to the form/sheet for characters you can find in an OOC thread. When you have filled it in and submitted it, that is your SU. Your character summary. Sometimes called CS (Character Sheet).

GM - Game Master. The creator or owner of a RP. The person who sets up rules, accepts SUs and usually guides the plot.

OP - Opening Post. Basically what it sounds like, the first post in a thread. Can also refer to Over Powered, referring to a too strong character.

JP - Joint post. A post jointly written by two or more people simultaneously through a platform like Etherpad or Google Docs, and put up as a single post.

​

WHY DOESN'T MY NEW THREAD SHOW UP?

A moderator needs to view it and manually accept it before you can see new threads you create in Casting and Stage. This is to prevent spam and ensure that GMs provide enough info for players to sign up for.

Submitted RPs are usually reviewed at least once every few days. If you're curious on what has happened to your thread, you can view the "Check to see if your roleplay has been approved v3". If you feel it has taken a rather long time since you submitted your RP, don't be afraid to send the moderator a polite PM or VM asking what has happened with it.

However, in the main forum, the Theatre, you can view your new threads immediately!

CATEGORIES

We'd like you to make use of the various categories (prefixes) when making new threads!

In the Theatre, you can choose between:

Interest Check - if you have an idea for a RP and would like to see how many others are interested before you make the OOC thread in Roleplay Casting!

Help Request - if you need help of any kind regarding specific RP stuff. Perhaps you have an RP idea that you don't want to put up as an OOC or Interest Check yet, because you need some help fleshing out the setting, plot or characters. Perhaps you would like some feedback on a character you have made or have thought of making. Or perhaps you have a specific issue when RPing that you need help with figuring out!

Guide - if you want to write a helpful bit of text on a RP related topic that might also be helpful for others to use as a reference and guide in the future, don't hesitate to post it under this prefix. Hopefully it will be helpful to the community!

Workshop - Got a general idea or premise but looking to develop it further with the help of the community? Then make a workshop! In these types of threads, you can band up with other people to build your RP from the ground up, incorporating player suggestions and getting live feedback on your ongoing RP work.


If your thread doesn't seem to need any of these prefixes - perhaps it's simply a question or discussion more in general - it is perfectly fine to post it without any prefix at all.​

In Casting and Stage, you can choose between:

Pokémon OPEN - an RP centered around Pokémon that is accepting new players.

Other OPEN - a non-Pokémon RP accepting new players.

Pokémon CLOSED - a Pokémon RP that will not be taking new SUs.

Other CLOSED - a non-Pokémon RP that is closed to SUs.

Please note that unlike in the Theatre, a thread in Casting or the Stage should always have the relevant prefix attached. When your OPEN RP is deemed full, remember to switch to the appropriate CLOSED prefix.​

DOWN TO BUSINESS - THE RULES LIST

These are things we need you to follow when being part of the roleplay community here.

1. Advertising other roleplay forums or sites is a big no-no! You may do so in your signature, but keep them out of your posts.
   
   
2. Double posting in RP threads is only permitted if the GM has given you the permission to do so.
   
   
3. Do not post in Casting or Stage threads if the roleplay has not been active either on the forum or our Discord for over two months. If, as the GM, you wish to revive your inactive RP and continue from where you left off, PM a moderator to discuss this.
   
   
4. All submitted RPs must have a decent plot and an explanation of how the roleplay will work. Usually this means at least a few paragraphs of background story, setting description and other things that prepare players for what they can expect from the RP. RPs that don't explain enough will be declined (meaning you'll have to re-make it and try submitting it once more!). Length certainly isn't everything, but super short OPs usually don't tell enough.
   
   
5. Stealing another person's plot is not tolerated. If you want to revamp an old RP, you must do so with the old GM's permission.
   
   
6. All active roleplays need a list of players. Make one before you submit an IC thread!
   
   
7. All RPs that seek to recruit players in Roleplay Casting, need a sign-up sheet for the players to fill in. It is up to the GM to decide how much information they want the potential players to present, however.
   
   
8. All submitted RPs must have a rating! Either posted in the title, in the rules section or just somewhere where everyone can see it, the rating has to be there somewhere! Rating RPs is the same way you would rate a movie or a video game. Who do you think the target audience is?
   
   Ratings from different parts of the globe are all accepted, but the most common are:
   • K or K+ - For general audiences. For kids. For everybody. These roleplays contain no adult themes and are suitable for all people of all ages! K+ are still for all ages, but contain very mild themes.
   • T - For the slightly mature audience, for teens (thirteen and older!) These roleplays contain slightly more mature content, including mild themes! Mild violence, mild romance, mild everything! Your players can handle a little... but not a lot!
   • M - For the mature! These roleplays are the higher spectrum and may contain gore, romance, violence, adult themes and coarse language. PokéCommunity has a swearing filter that can be disabled or enabled from your options - never try to bypass the filter. Remember that even though some gore, romance and violence is alright, there is a limit to what's acceptable on a well behaved forum. Sexual stuff will be deleted.
   
   If you find your roleplay hard to rate, please ask a moderator for help!
   
   
9. All IC Posts must be at least 100 words long in length. It's not hard to do, and it makes sure that something happens in every post!
   
   Don't know how to count your words? Copy and paste into Microsoft Word, if you've got it. If not, WordCounterTool.com is a helpful website.

MODERATORS

Currently, the forum is modded by gimmepie and Lynx. If there is anything you wonder about roleplaying, or PokéCommunity, or the meaning of life, or just anything in general, feel free to VM or PM <3

 

[le_poke-fantasizerr_:3]

ok, i started here wher e do I go now? :t051:

 

[ANARCHit3cht]

ok, i started here wher e do I go now? :t051:

The best place to go now would probably be the casting area to see if any roleplays are currently looking for players. If you find one you like that is looking for players, just read the thread over(particularly the rules) fill out a sign up sheet and wait to get accepted! Once that's done, start RPing in the roleplays main thread!

 

[le_poke-fantasizerr_:3]

thanks how do i like your post like gimmiepie because i like it

 

[gimmepie]

thanks how do i like your post like gimmiepie because i like it

There's a little Furret giving a thumbs-up in the corner of posts. You click that.

 

[gimmepie]

RP on Discord

RP on Discord

The Roleplay Theatre's Discord server is now open to shortform chat-based RPs! If you're interested in a more casual variant of roleplaying than we typically offer here on the forums, you can now request a channel for your very own chat-based RPs!

How Do I Get a Channel?
It's quite easy actually! Just like you would with any other roleplay here, you just need to submit an OOC/Recruitment thread to the Roleplay Casting subforum. Once you've gotten players for your RP, contact either myself, foxrally or one of our Discord Helpers and they'll create the channel.

Rules
To make sure everyone has the best time possible, we've got a few simple rules we need you to follow.

1. The RPT Discord server is an official part of our community. That means the general PC rules apply, so keep it clean!
2. These should be small RPs. Keep to four players or less.
3. Make sure you allow your fellow RPers a chance to post. Don't spam the chat with just your character or it'll be boring for everyone else.
4. Your recruitment thread should still include the basic requirements for any other OOC thread.
5. Any chat RP that hasn't had a post for a week or more will be immediately closed.
6. Any issues arising in these RPs should be taken to a moderator or discord helper.​

 

[gimmepie]

Just a note guys, if you're submitting an RP for the Discord server, please specify that you're aiming to host an IMRP.

 

[Amourshippingfan23]

Where do I post new RP thread? and must I make character first before I can make new RP thread?

 

[gimmepie]

Where do I post new RP thread? and must I make character first before I can make new RP thread?

You post the Out of Character/Sign-Up (OOC) thread in the Casting section. Then, when you have the appropriate number of participants, you can either submit the In Character (IC) in the Stage section or request a private RP channel on our Discord. You can create your character pretty much any time after your OOC has gone up or submit it along with the OOC if you wish.

 

[Amourshippingfan23]

Ok thank you very much:-)